JULY 2007
UNEARTHED RECORDINGS FROM CT HIP-HOP LEGEND DOOLEY-O’S BASEMENT COMPILED INTO THE BASEMENT TAPES DROPPING OCT 16TH
Triple threat MC, DJ, producer, Dooley-O proves that New York City was not the only breeding ground for ground breaking Hip-Hop music in the late eighties and early nineties as is shown through the release of The Basement Tapes. Music all recorded from 1988 through ’94, the recordings are literally dubbed from lost tapes found stashed away in the Connecticut resident’s basement. What is most interesting is that with much of the production coming from Dooley-O who is credited to unearth the crate digger classic, “It’s New Day” by the Skull Snaps, it’s not surprising to see many of the samples were reused by other artists to later become some of the classic tracks we all know and love.
Listening to these recordings, it’s almost like opening a time capsule to a time when making Hip-Hop music was pure and just about having fun, untainted by the pressures of industry related matters. In his own words, “Listening to The Basement Tapes brings you back to that time. We were just messing around, having fun,” says Dooley-O. The images collaged on the album sleeve contribute to that time machine effect containing pictures of Dooley with his crew KGB (Kids Getting’ Busy), other graffiti writers of the Connecticut area, and of Dooley in the studio with Rakim (above the “Dooley” on the front cover).
It was later on that Dooley would put a demo together and shop it around to labels in New York in hopes of landing a deal (see image of label contacts on artwork). Through a convoluted set of circumstances, these meetings pulled his cousin Stezo into the limelight who had been doing backup dancing for EPMD at the time. Stezo would be the one to pen a deal releasing an album on Fresh Records which would feature many of Dooley-O’s unaccredited influences.
Ultimately, the result was a number of these recordings never seeing the light of day until now. The name of this release was not chosen as a sly marketing ply to incite a certain underground feel because Dooley literally pulled out cassette and DAT tapes from his basement of which actual pictures of the tapes are contained in the liner notes. Initially set for a release in 2006, Dooley’s basement tapes will finally see an official release nearly twenty years later. |
