Innercity Griots

Innercity Griots is the second studio album by American hip hop group Freestyle Fellowship. It was released on April 28, 1993 on 4th & B'way Records and distributed through Island Records.

Innercity Griots
Studio album by
Freestyle Fellowship
ReleasedApril 28, 1993 (1993-04-28)[1]
GenreHip hop
Length65:25
Label
Producer
Freestyle Fellowship chronology
To Whom It May Concern...
(1991)		 Innercity Griots
(1993)		 Temptations
(2001)
Singles from Innercity Griots
  1. "Bullies of the Block"
    Released: 1992
  2. "Hot Potato"
    Released: 1993

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Christgau's Consumer Guide(neither)[3]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[4]
Pitchfork9.0/10[5]
Q[6]
The Source[7]
Tom Hull – on the WebB+ ((2-star Honorable Mention)(2-star Honorable Mention))[8]

Nathan Bush of AllMusic gave the album 5 stars out of 5, praising the group's creativity and range as well as the album's production, which he felt showed an improvement from their previous effort.[2] Jihad Hassan Muhammad of The Dallas Weekly commented that "they gave an unlikely musical offering at the time when everything was gangs and sets thrown as far as hip-hop was concerned in Los Angeles."[9]

In 2012, The Daily Californian included it on the "10 Albums for the Hip-Hop Layman" list.[10] In 2013, Spin included it on its list of the 50 best rap albums of 1993.[11] In 2015, NME placed it at number 51 on its list of the "100 Lost Albums You Need to Know".[12]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bullies of the Block"
4:55
2."Everything's Everything"
  • Freestyle Fellowship
  • The Earthquake Brothers
  • L. McCann
3:47
3."Shammy's"
  • Freestyle Fellowship
  • The Earthquake Brothers
  • Daddy-O
4:16
4."Six Tray"
4:39
5."Danger"
  • Freestyle Fellowship
  • The Earthquake Brothers
3:58
6."Inner City Boundaries" (featuring Daddy-O)
  • Freestyle Fellowship
  • Daddy-O
  • R. Willis
4:39
7."Cornbread"E. Hayes, Jr.4:21
8."Way Cool"
  • Freestyle Fellowship
  • G. Redd
  • R. Bell
  • R. Mickens
  • D. Thomas
  • R. Westfield
  • G. Brown
  • C. Smith
4:22
9."Hot Potato"
4:30
10."Mary"
3:45
11."Park Bench People"
  • M. Troy
  • The Earthquake Brothers
4:59
12."Heavyweights" (featuring Cockney "O" Dire, Archie, Volume 10, Spoon, and Ganja K Chronic)
  • Freestyle Fellowship
  • The Heavyweights
  • The Earthquake Brothers
6:11
13."Respect Due"
  • Freestyle Fellowship
  • The Earthquake Brothers
3:53
14."Pure Thought" (CD bonus track)
3:04
Total length:65:25

Personnel

Information taken from the liner notes.[13]

  • Freestyle Fellowship – vocals, production, mixing
  • The Earthquake Brothers – production, mixing
  • Bambawar – production, mixing
  • Daddy-O – vocals, production, engineering
  • Edman – production
  • JMD – bass guitar, timpani, drums, percussion, production
  • Kevin O'Neal – upright bass, production
  • Kim Buie – executive production
  • Kedar Massenburg – executive production, mixing
  • Matt Hyde – engineering, mixing
  • Rich Herrera – engineering, mixing
  • Dawud – engineering
  • Aceyalone – mixing
  • Ed Lawson – mixing
  • Robert Harris – bass guitar
  • Don Littleton – percussion
  • Marvin McDaniel – acoustic guitar
  • Rodney Millon – guitar
  • Onaje Murray – vibraphone
  • Tom Ralls – trombone
  • Christy Smith – bass guitar, upright bass
  • Alfred Threats – bass guitar
  • Jon Williams – trumpet
  • Randall Willis – tenor saxophone, saxophone, flute
  • DJ Kiilu – turntables
  • Mathmattiks – turntables
  • Spoon – vocals
  • Cockney "O" Dire – vocals
  • Archie – vocals
  • Volume 10 – vocals
  • Ganja K Chronic – vocals

References
  1. Madden, Sidney (April 28, 2015). "Today in Hip-Hop: Freestyle Fellowship Drop 'Innercity Griots' Album". XXL. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  2. Bush, Nathan. "Inner City Griots - Freestyle Fellowship". AllMusic. Retrieved May 9, 2010.
  3. Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: Freestyle Fellowship". Robert Christgau. Retrieved May 15, 2017.
  4. Fox, Marisa (July 23, 1993). "Innercity Griots (1993)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  5. Pemberton, Rollie (11 October 2020). "Freestyle Fellowship: Innercity Griots Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
  6. "Q review". Q: 88. July 1993.
  7. "The Source review". The Source: 79. March 1993.
  8. Hull, Tom (April 19, 2021). "Music Week". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
  9. Muhammad, Jihad Hassan (February 14, 2013). "Hip-Hop's Black History Album List Part 2". The Dallas Weekly. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  10. Bell, James (September 19, 2012). "Goin' Off: 10 Albums for the hip-hop layman". The Daily Californian. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  11. "Freestyle Fellowship, Innercity Griots (4th & B'way/Island/Polygram)". Spin. November 21, 2013. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  12. "100 Lost Albums You Need To Know". NME. March 6, 2015. Retrieved May 20, 2017.
  13. Freestyle Fellowship (1993). Innercity Griots.
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