Released in 1997, "The Ghetto Professionals Present: Brick City Kids" remains a gem of late 90s underground hip-hop. It came out on Ghetto Gold Recordings / Rawkus and it features two major voices from Newark, NJ : Tame One (R.I.P.) and El Da Sensei of the Artifacts, who both also formed the duo Brick City Kids. It's the only official release by Tame One and El Da Sensei under that name, making this 12" a particularly valuable document of their collaboration.
Behind the project was the Ghetto Professionals production crew, comprised of JuJu of the Beatnuts who needs no introduction, Vic Padilla a.k.a. V.I.C., a Beatnuts affiliate and member of The Groove Merchantz alongside Godfather Don, and Mike Heron, a producer who played a key role in the development of Hydra Records before later working with Rawkus Records.
The 12" consists of only 2 tracks : "Brick City Kids" (Clean / Street & Instrumental) on the A-side, and "What What" on the B-side. Together, the two songs form a cohesive and authentic snapshot of independent East Coast hip-hop in the late '90s. Nearly three decades later, this record still holds up remarkably well, serving as both a tribute to the talents of Tame One (RIP) and El Da Sensei and a reminder of the contributions of V.I.C., JuJu and Heron to the golden era of independent hip-hop.
I wish more tracks from this collaboration had seen the light of day. Maybe one day, the Ghetto Professionals will dig into their vaults and finally unveil some unreleased Brick City Kids tracks... Peace
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