12" - 1994 - Basement Records
Da Uptown Vandals dropped their first and only 12" in 1994 on Basement Records. Another indie hip-hop 12" which is really hard to find... The group was founded around 1991 and was comprised of Big French, Taboo, Dow Jones, E-Clips, Harlem River Fats, and Soul Fire. They all came from Harlem, NYC and most of them were related and/or been friends since teenagers.
Da UpTown Vandals - Photo courtesy of Big French
The wax is composed of a unique single entitled "Vandals In The House" which is available in 5 versions : "Big Bottom Mix (Club)", "The Vocal", "The Rythm", "Boom Box Edit (Radio)" and "No Bull Shit Mix (Main)". All the productions were handled by Sugar Ray and Big French.
All I can say is that Big French and Sugar Ray were long time friends. They met at school...they became best friends then started Mad Bull Productions together. The 12" came out on Basement Records, a NY-based record label owned and managed by a Russian guy named ILYA. Da Uptown Vandals made a lot more music... a full album was recorded by the group but the record company failed and it never came out. Fingers crossed to see this album released one day.
I dedicate this short write up to Sugar Ray who unfortunately passed away around 1999-2000... Rest In Peace. Mad props to Big French.
