In 1995, Sensational, going by the name of Torture back then, came to the attention of WordSound through Bill Laswell. It was then that he started recording his debut solo effort, "Loaded With Power", an album like no other in the annals of hip-hop. CMJ called it, "The most bold and experimental hip-hop record of the last couple of years," but even this is an understatement. The tripped-out flows, the broken beats, the lo-fi ambience all created an epic event in hip-hop that largely went unnoticed by the Puffy-worshipping masses. And to think, it was all created by one man using only a four-track, a drum machine and a turntable.
Sensational, in fact, has never been one to sample. Even though he upgraded to an 8-track for his sophomore effort, "Corner The Market", all of his sounds were original and played all the way through a track (since he didn't have any type of sequencer). He even got a real microphone this time around (instead of recording vocals through his headphones like on Loaded), wowing heads with his blunted poetry-in-motion-sickness.
Sensational currently lives on any couch he can crash on, and makes blazing hip-hop each and every day of his life.
His brutal, minimalist style rubs some folks the wrong way, as if it were pretentious or overwrought. Nothing could be further than the truth. This is basement, 4-track, dirty analogue drum machine hip-hop at its best. Sensational is an eccentric guy to be sure, but his imagination and hyperreal/surreal lyrics and flow never fail to provoke and challenge his listeners.
Don't sleep.