"Originally released on CD and cassette in 1996 on Sugar Shack Productions out of Vancouver, Canada, Social Deviantz debut LP has gone on to become highly sought after and with good reason. Those in the know will tell you that this is one of the finest hip-hop albums to drop in 1996 and that's saying something in a year that gave us Stakes is High, ATLiens, Illadelph Halflife, The Score, Reasonable Doubt, Ironman, and Ridin' Dirty amongst others.
Essential Mental Nutrients is hip-hop born out of youthful hunger and adversity, as well as a healthy appreciation for sampling and getting high, the very best type of hip-hop. Not the hip-hop of lazy established artists but the sound of a young trio eager to make a name for themselves in a city that, at the time, hadn't figured out how to monetize the hip-hop sound, much to the discontent of its many talented artists. DJ Junya's jazz influenced samples remind us very much of 93 'Til Infinity and set the perfect soundscape for MC's A-Train and Fatbone to weave their weed infused tales of growing up alienated by a city in a constant state of flux. As A-Train himself puts it so eloquently "Vancouver: Terminal City, part-time playground for the rich, where hippies go to be yuppies and yuppies go to be hippies... and promoters at bars and nightclubs were saying "rap isn't music" well into the nineties, while a slow-motion heroin apocalypse dovetailed with a massive influx of bad construction and foreign investment to produce the glittering world-class Olympic-level alienation we have today".
Not only is this a great record musically, it is almost certainly our most professionally crafted release to date. The audio has been remastered by Grammy nominated sound engineer and longtime friend of the group, Greg the Stuntman, at Suite Soundlabs in Vancouver and sounds incredible, even if we do say so ourselves. It has also been pressed on 180g black vinyl to enhance the audio further. The same level of detail has been applied to the artwork too, with the original sleeve artwork recreated from the original images by former Sugar Shack owner and renowned Vancouver artist, George Vergette. Lastly, group member A-Train has put together a collage of photographs and commentary for our first ever printed inner sleeve. All in all a beautifully crafted end product." - djshaker (DWG Crew)
From Terminal City Magazine - May 1997
300 copies only (with 100 split between the group and distribution).
