“These rare finds are songs recorded in our earliest stages of developing our sound. Straight from the 4-track tapes. Enjoy!”
Much like last year’s Dreamworld: Othaside—albeit without the fidelity upgrade—Lost in the Underground Pt. 1 is a humble reminder that Blackout is not just the best producer of the classic Memphis era, but one of the greatest of all time. Beyond the reverent efforts of the artist’s own Snubnoze imprint in recent years to unearth previously unheard recordings and reissue past material to a new audience, history weighs heavy on 2023 with regard to one of hip-hop’s most distinctive and enduring milieus: this year marks three decades since the first releases by pioneers like DJ Paul & Lord Infamous, Lady Bee, and Criminal Manne, and earlier this month Tommy Wright III paid tribute to Princess Loko on what would have been her 44th birthday, a year after her verse on Wright’s “Still Pimpin” was sampled on Beyoncé’s Renaissance. All this to say that getting six fresh heaters from Blackout right as we head into the autumn months just feels right. Not to mention the fact that this short mixtape features some of his best and most complex beats, every sputtering hi-hat and offbeat synth interjection exemplifying the essence of the scene even at such an early stage. The featured MCs include Lil Slim, who complements the cemetery trudge of “Fuck Dat Talkin” with a plodding double-tracked flow, the ghostly adlibs and triplets skulking right behind the beat; frequent collaborator Lil E, his immediately recognizable anxious tone conflicting with a tempo so sluggish it sounds like the tape recorder itself is dying; and Terror, bringing it home to the freshly dug grave in the dreamlike “Evil Fasho.” Everything heads old and new could possibly want is here on Lost in the Underground Pt. 1: twisted toybox arpeggios, sparse but solid bass, Blackout’s iconic shoutouts. The “Pt. 1” in the subtitle has exciting implications to say the least.
Noise Not Music 