Monday, April 16, 2012

The Legion - "Straight Flow"


Heads in love with that vintage South Bronx boom bap sound that know their hip-hop history is in for an unexpected suprise. Affiliated with Black Sheep and Showbiz & AG, The Legion (a trio made up of Molecules, Chucky Smash and Cee-Low) had a minor hit with their single "Jingle Jangle" in '93 setting up listeners for their heavily underrated debut album "Theme + Echo = Krill" (click on the link to check it out if you're still sleeping) the following year. Despite dropping a dope underground album and a pretty sick '98 single they fell victim to label politics and besides the occassional Molecules production credit (including D.I.T.C., Dres, Milano and Mos Def) they pretty much dissapeared from the scene without a trace.

Therefore, I'm glad to announce that the trio is releasing two previously unreleased songs on 7-inch vinyl via Ill Adrenaline Records this week. While it's not exactly new material, it's at least unheard music from a legendary underground crew; and pressed up on wax nontheless. Both songs are self-produced in 1995 and recorded over at what used to be D&D Studios. The A-side "Straight Flow" is even accompanied by a brand new video which can be seen up top and the B-side is a joint titled "Automatic Systematic". This is obviously great news enough but what's even more amazing is the word over @ UGHH that The Legion is recording a rugged brand new full-length album for 2012 with production by Molecules, DJ Premier and Showbiz. Reminds me a lot of when Freestyle Professors' returned with "Gryme Tyme" a couple years back, and that turned out to be even better than anyone could have expected. 

As a bonus track I added The Legion joint "Freestyle Demolition", a pretty slamming track that appeared as the B-side to the "Jingle Jangle" 12-inch but didn't make it to "Theme + Echo = Krill". While you're bumping that make sure to order the limited "Straight Flow" 7" single while its still available (the order site also allows you to check out audio snippets of both songs).

1 comment:

  1. They also appear on the song "Aim, Fire, Spit" on Beneficence's Sidewalk Science album a year ago

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