J-Live – The Best Part

If you're a fan of 90s boom-bap, this should be part of your collection. Great album and pressing. Highly recommend.

Very under-rated. High quality hip hop. Get a copy of this because there are some cheap ones out there.

One of the best. Even my used copy that looks a little rough around the edges still sounds great.

This album should have been a 90s classic. Instead, it never came out in as intended and was only released on a small label in 2002. There's rumors floating around as to why it never got a proper release. With beats from Pete Rock, Prince Paul, 88 Keys and DJ Premier this release was destined to be something special. this is one of my favorite 20 hop-hop albums ever. it's a quality album in every form and hip hop heads should spend some time with it.

When I heard FatBeats was reissuing this masterpiece (for me) I was beyond excited and expectations were high. They delivered a quality pressing. Sound is clear and dynamic. No surface noise. No sibilance. Clean pressing. The bass is right were it should be; punchy and warm but not overpowering. I have loved this album since I discovered it in 2003; so hearing this pressing sound as good as it does made for an excellent experience.

Package is nice, wide-spine decent cardboard stock. The color is a bit "unexpected" (i'm not sure how the red fits into the color scheme here) but well done. Comes with a lyric sheet insert... which for an old head is a nice throwback to the days of liner notes and CD inserts. It's not listed as 180g but it is def a heavier weight vinyl.

a few annoying things: it came with paper sleeves, the hole for the spindle was a bit too tight and needed some wearing. finally they do an excellent job with most of the musical transitions from Side to Side (this is difficult here for this album because a lot of tracks bleed into each other and works well on continuous play). However, the end of Side 1 the transition out of Vampire Hunter J is a little jerky... the intro band music from YES! suddenly stops. Other Sides end and transition smoothly. This is the only complaint I have musically or sonically. Otherwise a flawless product.

Anyone familiar with the album should pick this up immediately. music fans who love that mid-90s hip hop should give this a long overdue listen. per the Fat Beats description.... "This album has been built, robbed, destroyed, rebuilt, held up, postponed, cancelled, shelved, bootlegged, analyzed, exploited, slept on, supported, patiently awaited, and appreciated, long before you got your hands on this slim neat little package."

best hip hop album of '99 imo....probably followed by lootpack's "soundpieces: da antidote!"

Actually this isnt strictly a bootleg, the story goes that this was pressed up by J-Live himself after he was screwed by a label and the rumours were it wasnt to come out. A strong LP debut of raw hip hop that shouldnt have been scuppered by label politics, finally released on Triple Threat Productions 2 years later.