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Lord FinesseThe Awakening

Label:

Penalty Recordings – PREP3035, Penalty Recordings – PREP 3039, Penalty Recordings – PREPV3035

Format:

Vinyl, LP, Album
Vinyl, LP, Limited Edition

Country:

US

Released:

Genre:

Hip Hop

Style:

Conscious, Boom Bap, Instrumental

Tracklist

Album
A1Da Sermon (Intro)
A2Time Ta Bounce (Interlude)
FeaturingDoo Wop
A3True And Livin'
Engineer, Recorded By, Mixed ByGordon Williams
Written-ByR. Hall*
A4O' Lord (Interlude)
FeaturingO.C.
A5Brainstorm / P.S.K. (No Gimmicks Remix)
Engineer, Recorded By, Mixed ByTroy Hightower
FeaturingKRS-One, O.C.
Written-ByK. Parker*, O. Credle*, R. Hall*
A6Taking It Lyte (Interlude)
FeaturingMC Lyte
Written ByLord Finesse, MC Lyte
A7Gameplan
Backing Vocals [Additional]Melanie "Missy" Coakley
Engineer, Recorded By, Mixed ByChris "Conman" Conway*
FeaturingMarquee
Written-ByR. Hall*
A8Actual Facts (Bonus Track)
Engineer, Recorded By, Mixed By [Uncredited]Chris "Conman" Conway*
Producer [Uncredited]Jesse West, Myke Loe*
Written-By [Uncredited]D. Murphy*, J. West*, M. Dixon*, M. Loe*, R. Hall*, W. Mitchell*
B1Words From Da Ak (Interlude)
FeaturingAkinyele
B2Flip Da Style
Engineer, Recorded By, Mixed ByChris "Conman" Conway*
Written-ByR. Hall*
B3Showtime (Interlude)
FeaturingShowbiz
B4Speak Ya Peace
Engineer, Recorded By, Mixed ByChris "Conman" Conway*
FeaturingA.G.*, Diamond*, Marquee
ProducerMyke Loe*
B5Food For Thought
Engineer, Recorded By, Mixed ByChris "Conman" Conway*
Written-ByR. Hall*
B6Da Kid Himself (Interlude)
FeaturingKid Capri
B7Hip 2 Da Game
Engineer, Mixed ByTroy Hightower
Engineer, Recorded ByChris "Conman" Conway*
Written-ByR. Hall*
B8No Gimmicks
Engineer, Mixed ByTony Smalios
Engineer, Recorded ByChris "Conman" Conway*
FeaturingKRS-One
Written-ByK. Parker*, R. Hall*
Limited Edition Instrumental Vinyl
C1Time Ta Bounce (Interlude) (Instrumental)
C2True And Livin' (Instrumental)
C3O' Lord (Interlude) (Instrumental)
C4Brainstorm / P.S.K. (No Gimmicks Remix) (Instrumental)
C5Taking It Lyte (Interlude) (Instrumental)
C6Gameplan (Instrumental)
D1Flip Da Style (Instrumental)
D2Showtime (Interlude) (Instrumental)
D3Speak Ya Peace (Instrumental)
ProducerMyke Loe*
D4Food For Thought (Instrumental)
D5Da Kid Himself (Interlude) (Instrumental)
D6Hip 2 Da Game (Instrumental)
D7No Gimmicks (Instrumental)
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Companies, etc.

  • Record CompanyFunkyman Productions
  • Distributed ByTommy Boy Music, Inc.
  • Manufactured ByTommy Boy Music, Inc.
  • Produced ForFunkyman Productions
  • Produced ForDangerous Minds Productions
  • Phonographic Copyright ℗Penalty Recordings
  • Copyright ©Penalty Recordings
  • Pressed BySpecialty Records Corporation
  • Published ByBDP Music
  • Published ByZomba Enterprises, Inc.
  • Published ByBrooklyn Based Music
  • Published ByTop Billin' Music
  • Published ByTechnician Tunes
  • Published ByQuee Creations
  • Published ByDusty Fingers Music
  • Published ByOne Four One Music
  • Recorded AtSoundtrack Studios
  • Recorded AtGiant Recording Studios
  • Recorded AtChung King Studios
  • Recorded AtPower Play Studios
  • Mixed AtSoundtrack Studios
  • Mixed AtGiant Recording Studios
  • Mixed AtChung King Studios
  • Edited AtBattery Studios, New York
  • Mastered AtSterling Sound

Credits

  • A&R [Direction]Lord Finesse
  • A&R [Supervision]Lord Finesse, Martin Moor
  • Art Direction, DesignSandy Lawrence
  • Bass [Additional Instrumentation]Dinky Bingham
  • Concept ByLord Finesse
  • Coordinator [Project]Michael Ambrosio
  • Design [Logo]Eric Orr
  • Engineer, Edited ByTim Donovan
  • Executive-ProducerLord Finesse, Neil Levine (3)
  • Keyboards [Additional Instrumentation]George "G.O." Washington
  • LegalWard White IV
  • Mastered By [DMM]Tom Coyne
  • Other [Grooming]Markita Ferguson
  • Other [Styling]Keir Worthy, Sandy Lawrence
  • Photography ByMoB*
  • ProducerLord Finesse (tracks: A1 to A7, B1 to B3, B5 to D2, D4 to D7)

Notes


Tracks A3, A7, B2, B5, B7 recorded and mixed at Chung King Studios, New York, NY.
Track A5 recorded and mixed at Soundtrack Studios, New York, NY.
Track B4 recorded and mixed at Giant Studios, New York, NY.
Track B8 recorded at Powerplay Studios, L.I.C., NY.
Tracks A4, A6, B6 mixed at Chung King Studios, New York, NY.
Track A1, A2, B3 mixed at Giant Studios, New York, NY.
Track B1 mixed at Powerplay Studios, L.I.C., NY.

Edited at Battery Studios, New York, NY.
Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York, NY.
Direct Metal Mastering.

KRS-One appears courtesy of JIVE Records.
Kid Capri appears courtesy of Columbia Records.
MC Lyte appears courtesy of First Priority / Atlantic Records.
Diamond appears courtesy of Mercury Records.
Akinyele appears courtesy of Loud / RCA Records.

Track A8 "Actual Facts (Bonus Track)" is mentioned on the hype sticker but not credited on the cover or label.

US pressing of "The Awakening" album with bonus Instrumental LP.
(note: some copies has white labeled Instrumental Vinyl)

Cat#: PREPV3035 - The Awakening (cover)
Cat#: PREP3035 - The Awakening (labels)
Cat#: PREP 3039 - Limited Edition Instrumental Vinyl (labels)

Manufactured and Distributed by Tommy Boy Music, Inc.
Printed in Canada.

℗ © 1995 Penalty Recordings.
(note: Instrumental Vinyl has a different date at copywrite signs "℗ © 1996 Penalty Recordings".)

On track A2 Doo Wop is credited with the group name as: Doo Wop of Da Bounce Squad

Barcode and Other Identifiers

  • Barcode (Text): 7 08047-3035-1 0
  • Barcode (Scanned): 708047303510
  • Matrix / Runout (A-side runout): PREP ̶P̶R̶-3035A RE1 DMM
  • Matrix / Runout (B-side runout): PREP 3035-1-B, [SRC logo]
  • Matrix / Runout (C-side runout): PREP-3039-A, [SRC logo]
  • Matrix / Runout (D-side runout): PREP-3039-B-Re, [SRC logo]
  • Rights Society: ASCAP
  • Rights Society: BMI

Other Versions (5 of 24)

View All
Title (Format)LabelCat#CountryYear
The Awakening (LP, Album, LP, All Media, Promo, Limited Edition)Penalty Recordings, Penalty RecordingsPREP 3035, PREP 3039US1995
Recently Edited
The Awakening (CD, Album)Penalty RecordingsPENCD 3035US1995
Recently Edited
The Awakening (CD, Album)Penalty RecordingsPREPCD3035US1995
Recently Edited
The Awakening (LP, Album)Penalty RecordingsPREP 3035US1995
New Submission
The Awakening (Cassette, Album)Penalty RecordingsPREPC3035US1995

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Reviews

  • Goonz's avatar
    Goonz
    I agree the skits had some great beats, I just wish Lord Finesse made a full song with some of them
    • vinally-yours's avatar
      It was the 90s and I had disposable income. One of my routines: Buy the magazine Hip Hop Connection, read the reviews, go to the record shop (Arcade Records RIP), listen to the records in their booth. That would explain why even now I ask “Who’s Lord Finesse?”.
      The Awakening is pretty lyrically solid. Standouts are Brainstorm / P.S.K. (No Gimmicks Remix), Gameplan and Speak Ya Peace, but I would question styling the LP “Conscious.” Although to be fair Lord Finesse does keep the Hip Hop sexism clichés to the bare minimum.
      It’s the bonus instrumental LP that truly shines. All killer, no filler. Particular killers of note are True And Livin,' which perversely sounds better than the vocal track, as well as Food For Thought, Hip 2 Da Game and No Gimmicks.
      With it’s fine production The Awakening is a a worthy member of the Golden Age of Hip Hop (the 1990s). Back then, like now, great female MCs were few and far between. So, whatever happened to Marquee?
      • DJHydroponic's avatar
        DJHydroponic
        Lord Finesse is back with his third release, The Awakening. The Awakening is a great album, full of classic dope beats and features some great collaboration tracks with artists such as Oc, Krs-One, Ag and Diamond D to name a few. Production wise I cant fault this album. The beats are full of deep funky bass, sampling from many soul and jazz songs , great vocals and rhyming, and a certain funky sound that you expect from a Lord Finesse album. The track Actual facts is arguably the best song of the album, the whole album is a timeless master piece.

        There is only one draw back with this Lord Finesse release the number of interludes and skits on this album, 7 in total, but they are laced with some off the best beats I’ve heard by Lord Finesse. Don’t let that put you off buying a great album from the golden years of hip hop.

        Bottom Line is if you could only buy one album this year, do yourself a favour and cop this one. Any fan of Hip-Hop will simply Love The Awakening.

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