Various - 1994 Sunbelt Records Sampler

 

If you're a fan of North Carolina hip-hop, you should try to find this various artist compilation album released in 1993 on CD format only. It features NC artists of all kinds who were signed by Sunbelt Records in the early 90s. Sunbelt Records was a record label originally owned and managed by D.S. Davis from Charlotte, NC. , and later managed by Vincent Black.

To be honest 75% of the material in this comp isn't really my cup of tea (Singers, R&B...), but it contains 3 dope hip-hop tracks recorded by the group Lower Level, Double Threat, and Rashi & Ali, all of them produced by Lower Level's members KHB & Will Nice.

I think that I don't need to introduce this group but if you don't know Lower Level yet, you need to know that it was a crew from Charlotte, NC comprised of Jay Flav, Money Milt, and the brothers Will Nice and KHB. Sadly, KHB passed away this year... Rest In Peace. 

Lower Level crew at Reflections Studio - 1993 - Photo courtesy of Joseph Caldwell 

Lower Level dropped their debut 12" (Top Notch / Flavorable Fluids) in 1995 on Queen City Production Records. This ultra rare wax is a must have !!! One of their joints features on the excellent Kakalaka Raw compilation album released by Mark Sparks in 1996, and some of their unreleased joints were also dropped in 2016 by Chopped Herring Records.

About Double Threat, he was a Charlotte,NC-based emcee. I had the pleasure to talk to him and he gave me more details about his story and about the record label. 

Double Threat : " Well, originally, Sun Belt Records got started because of me. The Owner D.S. Davis was a semi-close friend who was a hustler / dope man, and I used to always tell him he should put some of that money behind me. He'd always say ok but I figured we were just kidding until one day he reached out to a mutual friend and told him he wanted me to go in the studio, I pulled up at the friend's house as he proceeded to tell me D.S. wants to put me in the studio, he pulled up in his car, proceeded to tell me he wanted to put me in the studio, so I told him ok and to call me later to let me know when he laughed and said NOW!!!! My reply was now meaning next week, and he said no now, and I already have you beats to choose from. Needless to say, I went in and freestyled 5 songs in 3 hours, then he sent one of them to Jack the Rapper 3 weeks past the deadline, and they accepted it (unsigned hype). 

Double Threat : " The plan was to get me a record deal but after that music conference, D.S. went to visit Devante Swing of Jodeci for advice, and Devante told him to start his own label, and I was his first artist, then the next to sign was A-Plus.

I recorded multiple songs from '93-'95 up until around 2007. 

I started out with a buddy of mine in a group called POI (Point of Intrest) in Jr. High School, we rapped with classmates such as Sunshine Anderson (heard it all before) and Beverly Crowder who was signed to Babyface's wife's label, but then I went solo and Double Threat was born. Some people think Double Threat means that there's two people, but it doesn't. It means that I am a double threat because I can spit knowledge or gangster shit. 

Right before we started recording the compilation album D.S. went to prison on trafficking charges, so his partner in the company took over and continued to run the company, and then he ended up getting busted on drug charges, and that shut it all down. After that, I started producing my music and started rapping with my old rap group member from POI, and we changed our names... he was no longer known as The Prince Supreme, his new name was Tragic and Double Threat became K.O. The Kotic One. We did such songs, "Madd Atonement", after we went to the Million Man March  and we teamed up with a rapper by the name of Poker Face a.k.a the Glass Maker and Tomeka from the group A-Plus which later became the mother of my child. I did so many other songs with the hopes of starting my own label but I owned my company and it was growing really fast and then I started a family and I walked away from the music all together. "

About Rashi & Ali, they are also from Charlotte, NC. Rashi is from Keyway, that's Westside like West Blvd. Ali is from Beechwood like Hovis Rd, Northwest Charlotte. Ali is currently in Prison, so only Rashi gave me some info about their duo.

Rashi told me that they're both South Mecklenburg graduates. They first met in High School and the connection between both of them happened through some friends, particularly Reece Way who is Anthony Hamilton's brother. They formed the group around 1989-1990 and their name was originally "Third Degree Roshi and Ali".

Third Degree Roshi & Ali (Early 90s) - Photo courtesy of Rashi

They were spotted in the early 90s by Sunbelt Records during Auditions at King Richard's Nightclub. More tracks were recorded at the time by Rashi & Ali but nothing came out unfortunately because of the same problem as Double Threat... the executive producer was indicted. 

Mad Props to Double Threat & Rashi. Thanks for your time fellas.