Okayplayer: True Notes, Vol. 1 [Explicit Lyrics]

Track Listings

1. ?uestlove - Intro

2. Aceyalone & Madlib - K.O. Player

3. Little Brother - On And On

4. Dilated Peoples - Okay

5. Skillz - Take It Back

6. Jean Grae - Keep Livin'

7. Hieroglyphics - Respect Deez

8. Dice Raw - I Do What I like

9. Nicolay & Supastition - The Williams

10. The Roots - Y'all Know Who

11. Little Brother - Shake It

12. Blackalicious - Just What Can Happen

13. Truck And Mac - Bang Bang

14. Skillz - Pastor Skillz

15. Baby Blak & Adam Bomb - Can't Help Them With That

16. Jean Grae - Fall Back

17. The Chapter - For The Wreckord

18. Rjd2 - Act 2

19. ?uestlove - Outro

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
For the first release on the Roots' Okayplayer imprint, ?uestlove ditches his drum kit for A&R duties, whipping together a compilation of tunes by hip-hoppers from their Okayplayer.com web community. High-quality contributions from established artists like Hieroglyphics ("Respect Deez") as well as Okayplayer's online submission contest champs the Chapter and Nicolay & Supastition prove that the groundswell of rap talent lurking below major-label sightlines is real. Little Brother demo their Pete Rock-like soundscapes on "On and On," while the Roots crew offers "Y'all Know Who" with Black Thought blazing through some bruising bass lines. Standing out among the healthy dose of new-school rappers is old schooler Skillz (formerly Mad Skillz), who delivers the most original left-field cut of the lot: "Pastor Skillz," an organ-fuelled fire-and-brimstone parody of a church sermon. On "Keep Livin'," Jean Grae weighs in with her typically wonderful punch-line-heavy raps, spitting over Scarface's "My Block." While True Notes does come with its fair share of filler, it's still a first-rate compilation celebrating a can't-miss movement. --Dalton Higgins

Okayplayer: True Notes, Vol. 1,Various Artists,Deconstruction,Alternative Rap,Pop,Rap,Rap & Hip-Hop,Underground Rap

Okayplayer: True Notes, Vol. 1 [Explicit Lyrics]

Okayplayer: True Notes, Vol. 1 [Explicit Lyrics]

Average customer rating:

Enjoyable compilation

Pretty Good... Not what I expected

Its okay ( 3.5 )

This is Pretty Tight

The Roots track

Okayplayer: True Notes, Vol. 1
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Okayplayer
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
Experimental Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
Pop Rap | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B00022353A
Release Date: 2004-05-18

Tracks:

?uestlove - Intro
Aceyalone & Madlib - K.O. Player
Little Brother - On And On
Dilated Peoples - Okay
Skillz - Take It Back
Jean Grae - Keep Livin'
Hieroglyphics - Respect Deez
Dice Raw - I Do What I like
Nicolay & Supastition - The Williams
The Roots - Y'all Know Who
Little Brother - Shake It
Blackalicious - Just What Can Happen
Truck And Mac - Bang Bang
Skillz - Pastor Skillz
Baby Blak & Adam Bomb - Can't Help Them With That
Jean Grae - Fall Back
The Chapter - For The Wreckord
Rjd2 - Act 2
?uestlove - Outro

Amazon.com

For the first release on the Roots' Okayplayer imprint, ?uestlove ditches his drum kit for A&R duties, whipping together a compilation of tunes by hip-hoppers from their Okayplayer.com web community. High-quality contributions from established artists like Hieroglyphics ("Respect Deez") as well as Okayplayer's online submission contest champs the Chapter and Nicolay & Supastition prove that the groundswell of rap talent lurking below major-label sightlines is real. Little Brother demo their Pete Rock-like soundscapes on "On and On," while the Roots crew offers "Y'all Know Who" with Black Thought blazing through some bruising bass lines. Standing out among the healthy dose of new-school rappers is old schooler Skillz (formerly Mad Skillz), who delivers the most original left-field cut of the lot: "Pastor Skillz," an organ-fuelled fire-and-brimstone parody of a church sermon. On "Keep Livin'," Jean Grae weighs in with her typically wonderful punch-line-heavy raps, spitting over Scarface's "My Block." While True Notes does come with its fair share of filler, it's still a first-rate compilation celebrating a can't-miss movement. --Dalton Higgins

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyable compilation.......2005-11-30

Standout tracks:
#2 - K.O. Player. Ace's distinctive flow with Madlib's skills make for a good intro track.
#5 - Take It Back. Great production gets you nodding your head right along with Skillz's raps.
#6 - Keep Livin'. Why Jean Grae keeps getting slept on is anyone's guess. As this track proves (recycled beat or no), it's not for lack of talent or insight.
#12 - Just What Can Happen. Gab is dependable as always, plus great production by Jumbo, who is really starting to assert himself in recent QP releases.

Good tracks:
#8 - Respect Deez (Hiero)
#9 - The Williams (Nicolay & Supastition)
#10 - Y'all Know Who (Roots)
#14 - Pastor Skillz. Quirky, and a lot more fun than I thought it would be. Not a track for head-nodding or dancing, but good stuff nonetheless.
#18 - Act 2 (RJD2)

The rest are merely average. But as a previous reviewer noted, while this may not be an amazing comp, it's definitely a satisfying one, and certainly worth the purchase price.

Pretty Good... Not what I expected.......2004-12-31

Seeing the Okayplayer label made my heart skip a beat. "An album masterminded by ?uestlove? A lineup including Hiero, LB GoG AND the Roots!?" After listening to it, I came out satisfied, but not amazed as I expected. While the tracks by the aformentioned artists as well as the madlib produced second track and RJD2's instrumental are superb a lot were skippable including the old Roots track. Still worth buying.

Its okay ( 3.5 ).......2004-10-26

This album is nice w/ the exception old the already mentioned " throw back " tracks disguised as new tracks. Little Brother and Nicolay come through ( as usual ) and these cats are definitely worth keeping an eye on. If you haven't copped The LB's " The Listening " and Nicolay & Phontes " Connected ", you have NO IDEA what you're missing, and the immense talent these dudes poses. Peace

This is Pretty Tight.......2004-10-11

I like this album. Hopefully the underground scene can come back into effect like 1998. But with bootleggin and the cursed "MP3s" good music like this won't sell once again. Being a producer, the production is good but also different, I have to check out the Foreign Exchange album. Big-Ups to Hieros for the statement "producers making the hits with the same percussions". That is so real it is not even funny.

Top 3 Songs: On and On (LB), Respect Deez (Hiero), The Williams (N&S)
Bottom 3 Songs: Keep Livin (JG, re-used Scarface beat), Bang Bang(T&M), I Do What I Like (DR)

The Roots track.......2004-09-30

Why is the Roots song from the soundtrack of the movie The Wood(1999)? They should of put a new song on the cd.