Sons Of The P
Sons of the P is the second studio album by American hip hop group Digital Underground.
It was released on October 15, 1991 via Tommy Boy Records. Main recording sessions took place at Starlight Sound in Richmond, with additional recordings done at Unique Recording Studios in New York, Axiom Recorders in Tampa and The Disc Ltd. in Detroit. Production was handled by D.U. in-house production team credited as The Underground Production Squad, with Atron Gregory and member Shock G serving as executive producers. It features contributions from George Clinton, Stretch and Treach.
| Sons of the P | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 15, 1991 | |||
| Recorded | 1991 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | West Coast hip hop | |||
| Length | 1:04:40 | |||
| Label | Tommy Boy | |||
| Producer | The Underground Production Squad | |||
| Digital Underground chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Sons of the P | ||||
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The album peaked at number 44 on the Billboard 200 and number 23 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in the United States. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on April 9, 1992, for selling 500,000 copies.
Its lead single, "Kiss You Back", reached No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 13 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 5 on the Hot Rap Songs, receiving Gold status by the RIAA on March 5, 1992. The song featured multi-layered choruses and background vocals sung by Boni Boyer, who briefly worked with D.U. shortly after her stint with Prince's Sign o' the Times/Lovesexy band.
The second single from the album, "No Nose Job", did not reach the Billboard Hot 100, however it made it to No. 28 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and No. 27 on the Hot Rap Songs.
George Clinton, who participated in the writing and recording of the title track, contributed vocals, marking one of his earliest studio guest appearances on a hip hop release, preceded only by Kurtis Blow's 1986 song "Magilla Gorilla".
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| PopMatters | 7/10 |
| RapReviews | 8/10 |
| Robert Christgau |  |
| The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |  |
| The Source | |
Musician reviewer wrote: "this hour of power pulses with fat, spacious grooves, the kind you feel from head to toe...Throughout, funk serves as a truth ray, zapping racism and hypocrisy with thumping beats". Q critic gave the album 3 stars out of 5, saying that the album "had booty-shifting basslines to rival George Clinton and some engagingly daft lyrics". In his 'Consumer Guide' column for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote: "you can wear out the hard and the brother-brother-brother, but you can't wear out the cosmic slop", highlighting songs "The DFLO Shuffle" and "Kiss You Back". In retrospective reviews, DJ Fatboy of RapReviews compared the album to the group's previous work, saying "Sex Packets is the more popular album, but Sons of the P is the more worthwile offering", stating "album expands and goes deeper than it's predecessor, and to this day, still stands as the best effort Digital Underground ever put on wax".
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The DFLO Shuttle" |
| 5:13 |
| 2. | "Heartbeat Props" |
| 7:28 |
| 3. | "No Nose Job" | Jacobs | 4:59 |
| 4. | "Sons of the P" (featuring George Clinton) |
| 9:05 |
| 5. | "Flowin' on the D-Line" |
| 3:05 |
| 6. | "Kiss You Back" |
| 6:11 |
| 7. | "Tales of the Funky" |
| 5:31 |
| 8. | "The Higher Heights of Spirituality" |
| 0:48 |
| 9. | "Family of the Underground" (featuring Stretch and Treach) |
| 5:47 |
| 10. | "The D-Flowstrumental" |
| 4:53 |
| 11. | "Good Thing We're Rappin'" | Jacobs | 11:36 |
| Total length: | 1:04:40 | ||
- Sample credits
- Track 2 contains a sample of "Freak of the Week" as performed by Funkadelic.
- Track 6 contains a sample of "(Not Just) Knee Deep" as performed by Funkadelic.
- Track 7 contains a sample of "One Nation Under a Groove" as performed by Funkadelic.
- Track 9 contains a sample of "Family Affair" as performed by Sly and the Family Stone.
Personnel
- Gregory "Shock G" Jacobs — rap vocals, singing, acoustic piano, digital keyboards, synthesizer, drum programming, sampler, sequencing, producer, mixing, executive producer, concept, illustration
- Ronald "Money-B" Brooks — rap vocals
- Ramone "Pee-Wee" Gooden — rap vocals, singing, digital keyboards, synthesizer
- Blocko — rap vocals, singing
- Randy "Stretch" Walker — rap vocals
- Tupac "2Pac" Shakur — rap vocals
- "Bigg Money Odis" Brackens III — rap vocals
- Stuart "Shorty B" Jordan — rap vocals
- Descaro "Mack Mone" Moore — rap vocals
- Mark "M.C. Clever" Moore — rap vocals
- Shirley "Shassiah" Tabor — rap vocals
- Ronald "Omar" Everett — rap vocals
- Ken "Kenny K" Waters — rap vocals
- Master Mind — rap vocals
- D-Love — rap vocals
- O.B. — rap vocals
- The God Rakiem — rap vocals
- George Clinton, Jr. — singing
- Earl "Schmoovy-Schmoov" Cook — singing
- Boni Boyer — singing
- Roniece Levias — singing
- Jeremy "Jay-Z" Jackson — additional vocals, drum programming, sampler, sequencing, turntables (track 5)
- Marlon "Dr. Illenstein" Kemp — additional vocals, concept
- Anthony "Treach" Criss — additional vocals
- Otis Dunn — additional vocals
- The Conditioner — guitar
- Juan Carlos — live percussion
- Deon "Big D the Impossible" Evans — drum programming, sampler, sequencing
- David "DJ Fuze" Elliot — turntables
- 2Fly-Eli — turntables (track 9)
- Darrin Harris — recording & mixing (tracks: 1-4, 6-11)
- Steve Counter — recording (tracks: 1-4, 6-11)
- Marc Senasac — recording & mixing (track 5)
- Jeff Gray — mixing assistant (tracks: 1-4, 6-11)
- Lynn Levy — mixing assistant (tracks: 1-4, 6-11)
- Malcolm Sherwood — recording & mixing assistant (track 5)
- Atron Gregory — executive producer
- Mark Weinberg — art direction
- Victor Hall — cover photo
Charts
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA) | Gold | 500,000^ |
| ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
External links
- Sons Of The P at Discogs (list of releases)
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