THE UN - "UN OR U OUT"

Damn, remember when you first heard The UN on Pete Rock's "PeteStrumentals" project - the grimey beats coupled with the hungry street rhymes of Roc Marciano, Dino Brave, Laku and Mic Raw? I was for one was totally blown away by the sheer power of this quartet - I head Roc Marciano on "The Heist" with Busta, Rae & Ghost but I didn't really connect the two. Later on I bought their 2005 debut album on CD "UN Or U Out" which picked up right where "Cake" and "Nothin' Lesser" had left off... With production from Pete Rock, Large Professor, Oddisee, Mahogany and overseen by Q-Tip and Alchemist, the LP was the eptiome of an underground classic and proved at a time when a large chunk of the culture was getting heavily watered down that masterpieces was still being made.

Sadly enough, a lot of heads still don't know about this superb release, believing that Roc Marciano's debut was "Marcberg", which might have something to do with the album being out of print for a long time and the original vinyl copies only being released as promos. Indeed it did feet a bit rushed and left some questions unanswered - for example the LP version of "The Art" faded out after about 1:30, while the original, full song appeared on the terrific "World Domination" mixtape which was released around the same time. However, the good folks at Fat Beats is doing a proper re-release of the original "UN Or U Out" which will be available on both 2xLP and cassette starting April 15. Two bonus tracks from the original sessions that was not featured on the original album will be included in this new version. Robbie @ UNKUT uploaded the previously unreleased "For The Luv" a while back, and now it has become apparent that the second bonus track is the excellent "UN House" which appeared on Roc Marciano's slept-on debut mixtape/street album "Strength & Honor". Stream it below and pre-order the album @ Fat Beats (2xLP, CD, cassettte). As a bonus I also uploaded the complete version of "The Art" which I described above, a dope jam produced by Mic Raw, mixed by Pete Rock and egineered by Jamie Staub. I hope the re-release it restores this version as the short edit was most likely a mistake... TURN IT UP!!