Abstract Tribe Unique - Showtyme Instrumentals

Showtyme Instrumentals

An Older Selection Of Tracks

According to the Anticon Giga Single, I made my own selection of tracks and called it my own "Giga Single". It was at a time when 2Mex was my favorite MC and the Visionaries visited my hometown and gaved one of the greatest concerts I have ever seen. It's a pity that I don't have a track with Key-Kool on it. But there are some tracks with 2Mex featuring Xololanxinxo, Iriscience, Busdriver, Riddlore, Nodody and Mum's The Word on it. And there are also tracks with other artists to explore...

Record Science - Giga Single

Abstract Tribe Unique's Golden Quartette

As I mentioned before, in 1995 Abstract Rude was close to a record deal at Grand Royal home of the Beastie Boys. The album Mood Pieces was meant to be released there but only two tracks made it onto a compilation from the label. Behind the scenery there exist two records which have never been released, one only made it to the test pressing status, while the other probably went for promo status, but I'm not sure if it really is a promo record or just a test pressing, too. What I'm talking about is the "Blast Off Into Infinity (12" Test Pressing)" and the "Ohh I'm a Getcha (12" Promo)".
What I think is, that Mike D visited a Good Life session where he probably was impressed by a performance of Abstract Rude & the Tribe Unique and asked them for a demo tape. In his raps, Abstract Rude mentions "I handed a tape to Mike D from Grand Royal" multiple times and also "MC A plays the bass on OG Crew" which might be a hint for a different unreleased version of the "Heavyweights Round III" track, probably the one that was deleted on utube. Also a rough version of "Blast Off Into Infinity" was deleted!
The Blast Off Into Infinity record has stamped in the date NOV 17, 1995 while there isn't no direct clue on the "Ohh, I'm A Getcha" record when it was pressed except that it contains the hint, that it was mastered at Capitul Recordings. But I think that through Aceys deal with Capitul, Abstract gained access to the golden chambers and for that reason, I will definitely date it to '95.
In '97 ATU had a deal with the crown loyal label Big Dada, which resulted in another 12" with two tracks from the Mood Pieces album and later on in '98 followed a 12" on Deemo Records containing the track "Caught Up In the Rappcha" together with a track from Syndrome on the flip-side.
I think that these records give a good hint, how many obstacles upcoming artists have to pass and I don't want to know, how many patience was put into the "Mood Pieces" album through the years before it was finally self-released by ATU. Although I'm not a 100% familiar with all the background info, I think that the given hints paint a good picture of what was happened and I'm glad, that beside a ton of unreleased underground stuff, "Mood Pieces" was finally released in '98! A record that captured me from the first time I heard it and may never let me go...

Blast Off Into Infinity 12"

Ohh I'm A Getcha 12"

My Experience Is 12"

Caught Up In the Rappcha 12"

Alien Nation - Millenium

I let myself some time to post up the Alien Nation stuff which I was maniacally collecting for some years now but herewith it starts! It is the Aliens first album which was meant to be released on Pallas Records, only a promo single was. The whole album was mastered in 2003 by Al T who also produced most of it. There are also 2 tracks by Fat Jack and one by Dee Jay and features come from Abstract Rude (dope track!) and Mikah 9 and I think KoKo.

I'll offer you two different versions, the mastered and an unmastered version which is very interesting too, because some tracks on it are way more longer!

Millenium unmastered

Millenium mastered

Painting A New Picture

Next stop P.A.I.N.T.     ATU doesn't exist anymore in the way we knew it from before. Abstract Rude, Fat Jack and Zulu remained while DJ Drez joined in. Abstract Rude got more dominant in the group as you can see on the cover, that the group isn't stated as Abstract Tribe Unique anymore but Abstract Rude + Tribe Unique. You can also realize this fact in the album itself, it is not solely produced by Fat Jack, but also Daddy Kev, Rob The Viking and Kenny Segal. Vocally there are also a lot of features on the album of rappers that didn't belong to the Tribe, for example Awol One, the Heavyweights, Slug, G&E, Moka Only, LMNO, Busdriver, 2Mex, Xololanxinxo, Eyedea and some fine female artists. The overall sound got more clean and is probably meant to address the masses and not only the headz but maybe it was necessary to get a record deal on Battle Axe, the label of the Swollen Members who partly  serve a different audience. It is more clearer on this album than it was on the South Central Thynk Taynk, there the sound also got more clean and lost a bit of its roughness. You can say that ATU switched the station (oh what a coincidence!) to target a greater audience by reinventing themselves and painting a new picture with this album...

P.A.I.N.T.

Instrumentals

Underground Fossils

To come closer to the complete discography of ATU, I'll go back in time exactly to 1997 when this album was released. I have no clue if the tracks of this one were produced before or after the Mood Pieces album but as mentioned on the Mood Pieces post, there were two records released in 1995 on Grand Royal and one in 1997 on Big Dada containing tracks from the Mood Pieces album. The Underground Fossils album was first released on Vinyl and on tape and later on CD in 2002.  This one contains female and male background vocals like the Mood Pieces album, also from Ebony Prince. As I'm listening to it now on "Yesterday and today" I heard Abstract Rude calling out the name of Ebony Prince at around 4:12. He must have been an old member of the Tribe Unique but I think that he hasn't been on Tribe's releases since South Central Thynk Taynk. Probably he was a dancer and not on the backing vocals ordinarily.
As mentioned before I can't surely say when it was recorded but what I think is that this one and the Mood Pieces were ATU's early productions. Both sound very similar while South Central Thynk Taynk has a different sound. On the two first mentioned ones Fat Jack uses his rough snares which are typical for him. They are like the high-pitched sound of two sharp blade edges grinding on each others. He uses this type of snare and variants of it very often.

Underground Fossils

South Central Thynk Taynk

This is the second ATU album which I count to my favorite albums. The overall music is moodier than on the Mood Pieces album but it is mixed in a similar way. Unfortunately I don't have some more detailed information about this release except that the record is a treaty because of its rareness and that both records are colored differently. Wait, now I remember one think! The song Front Row was also on the "Dead Homiez" Soundtrack with a different mix and lasting 5:54 instead of 4:44 minutes. I think I also have to mention the appearance of DK Toon and of Orion South. Last but not least I can just wish you a relaxing listening experience....

South Central Thynk Taynk

Master Pieces

There are two other fine records which also belong to my personal favorites. Both albums are from Abstract Tribe Unique and the first ones name is "Mood Pieces". It was supposed to be released on the Beastie Boys label Grand Royal. Abstract Rude often used the verse"I handed a tape to Mike D from Grand Royal". To show proof of his connection I will also mention 2 records that are dated around 1995, have tracks off Mood Pieces on them and are Test Pressings from Grand Royal. Another proof is the appearance of 2 tracks from ATU on the "Grand Royal Mixed Drinks Vol II" compilation. But the Mood Pieces album wasn't released on Grand Royal and it slept until 1998 when ATU released it by themselves. On its way, two other 12 inches with tracks from the Mood Pieces were released, one on Deemo Records and one on Big Dada Records.
The album itself is well mixed, so that it can be heard in one piece. In my opinion it is ATU's best release, because everyone who worked on this one gave their best. Fat Jack created so beautiful beats! To give an example, he is able to produce bass-lines that constantly move forward and put samples on it that make you feel to move with the bass-line to a certain point and than in the opposite direction. It feels like you move away from yourself to come back to you again. I can remember when I randomly got to a Hawaiian Christian website were they wrote that ATU is dangerous for young people because ATU makes them addictive to their music and I think they were right :D Especially with the tenor voice of Abstract Rude and his flow and the beautiful background vocals this is more a master piece than a mood piece...

Mood Pieces