It's the 20 year anniversary of the excellent album, "The Produce Aisle" released by Burnt Batch, hip-hop group formed at Edison High School in Stockton, CA around 1992 and originally composed of Pismo, Rukus and DJ Pause.
The album only released on vinyl, came out on Shou Records in 1999, a record label managed by Pismo who also produced all the tracks of the album. It was made of Smooth and Jazzy productions and it was considered by URB magazine to be one of the most slept-on albums of the year '99.
Rukus & Pismo - Photo courtesy of Pismo Shou
Pismo recently dropped some info about the story of this album on his facebook profile and he allowed me to blog this here :
Pismo : "I produced and wrote this full length album from 1997 through 1998 between 4 different places of residency ranging from Southside Stockton to Oakland when I lived on High St and also in the Murder Dubs. I usually recorded in make shift bedrooms, closets or bathrooms to complete the album. My pop screen was a pair of cut up pantyhose I wrapped around the rim of a plastic container top and bent a hanger around it so it could be positioned in front of the cheap mic I had.
I spent all the money I had on a Roland VS-880 to record the album....and I was broke... A female (who shall remain nameless) showed mad love and supported me by purchasing a ASR-10 Sampler once she realized how desperate I was to make this album.
- Burnt Batch member Lon Kennard p.k.a. Roguery (formerly known as Rukus) was on lock down during this period but was still featured on the album through a recorded telephone call.
- The single "Artform" featuring Plado was released as I was finishing the album.
- My brotha Dejon M Bennett a.k.a Plado / Samraw from Twisted Mind Kidz introduced me to TRC Records/Distribution which later led to worldwide distribution.
- My brotha Bill Davis p.k.a Thecreos of Zebra Records Tokyo got me my first show in Asia (Sold Out in Kichijōji, Tokyo) with Jaysun after I found out the record kept selling out in Asia and Europe.
This was my first international release. I've seen, traveled, wrote, performed, rapped, sung, laughed, experienced and learned A WHOOOOOOLE LOT since then.
I am forever grateful to all the people that contributed in anyway to this record....it was a magical time. It started a whirlwind that is still going for ya boy...worldwide. Wait til you hear the new shit,
Here's to another 20 years! BURNT BATCH!!!"
If you don't have it in your record collection yet, you should try to find it asap, it's a nice LP from the Bay Area ... a classic to me !
Mad Props to Pismo
