[Comp] PAULA PERRY - "FORT KNOX"

The name Paula Perry first came to attention as the ruff female voice of Masta Ace's The I.N.C. collective. First introduced on Ace's '93 classic "Slaughtahouse" where she made hip-hop fans around the world take notice with a strong solo cut of her own called "Who U Jackin?". When it then came time for the second Ace release with the clique, "Sitting On Chrome", Perry was given a much more prominent role, holding her own against the seasoned leader and fellow emcee Lord Digga on several stand out songs from the LP. The original idea from here was for each member of The I.N.C. quartet to deliver solo albums of their own, starting out with R&B singer Leschea's "Rhythm & Beats" in '97, where Perry made an apperance on the opening track "My Flow". 

These cameos and the self-released solo 12" "Paula's Jam" B/W "Problems" not only made heads take notice, but also got the ill spitting female emcee a deal with legendary power house Motown. In 1998 she recorded her solo debut for the imprint, executive produced by Masta Ace and Mister Cee and entitled "Tales From Fort Knox". The first, and unfortunately only, single from the LP was the heavy hitting DJ Premier produced "Extra, Extra" which showed a take-no-shit emcee that was really coming into her own as an artist. The B-side "Down to Die For This" was no lesser track, featuring heavy names Easy Mo Bee and Jesse West on production and guest vocals, respectively. While this 12" managed to make some noise on the underground circuit, and rightfully so, the tired bosses at Motown didn't find the sales satisfactory which led to the shelving of "Tales From Fort Knox", despite the project being already completed and assigned a catalouge number for both vinyl and CD release. There were however a few promo copies of the album pressed up on cassette, and although a rip never has surfaced online, it has been available for a lot of dough on eBay so somebody out there is sitting on this long lost gem right now. Hopefully one day it will be released through some small imprint, it's always a real shame when a honest artist's entire work is never heard by the intended public.

After the Motown deal fell through, she has only released a few independent 12":s, most of it quality stuff, the latest being 2000:s "Y'all Chicken Makes Me Laugh". My man ANT has collected all of Paula Perry's released solo material from this period for us all to enjoy, making his own version of what "Tales From Fort Knox" might have sounded like; and indeed, many of these tracks might have orginally been recorded for that project (the intro is in fact the actual OG intro, once posted by Domingo via Soundcloud). Super thanks to ANT for this dope compilation, and for the rest of y'all, enjoy and TURN IT UP.... Also while searching images for this post, I found a 2009 mixtape by Paula Perry called "The Godmommy" @ DatPiff, so peep that as well.

 

01. "Fort Knox: Intro"

02. "Paula's Jam" (Ft. Que45)

03. "Down to Die For This" (Ft. Jesse West)

04. "Extra! Extra!"

05. "Four P's in a Pod" (Ft. Precious Paris)

06. "N.V. In Em" (Ft. 4LB)

07. "Y'all Chickens Make Me Laugh"

08. "Reasons" (Ft. Que45)

09. "Six Pack" (Ft. Nikki D, Heather B, Bahamadia, Rah Digga & Precious Paris)

10. "B.Q.E." (Ft. Mr. Cheeks)

11. "Getta Grip Muthafuckas" (Ft. Mr. Cheeks)

12. "Paula's Jam" [Knobody's Remix] (Ft. Que45)

PAULA PERRY - "FORT KNOX"