- A hugely important retrospective that captures the early years of Baltimore club music.
- For anyone with even a passing interest in Baltimore club, Unruly Records is like the magna carta—the label that laid out the framework for what would go on to become one of the East Coast's most instantly recognizable sounds. Started by DJs and producers Scottie B and Shawn Caesar in the early '90s, Unruly was instrumental in fusing together Miami bass, breaks and house music thanks to pioneers like DJ Class, DJ Booman and Miss Tony.
One of the most frustrating aspects about being a Baltimore club fan is that the back catalogues are notoriously hard to track down. There are a couple reasons for this—producers cycled through aliases like Jason Bourne with passports while pressings were usually done in very limited runs—and that makes The Early Years a landmark release. Compiled to celebrate the inauguration of Baltimore Club Day (June 17th), Scottie B and Shawn Caesar collect and remaster some of Unruly's earliest releases for an important and timely retrospective.
Listening to The Early Years from beginning to end is like watching a genre crystallize in real time. Some of Baltimore club's defining tropes—tinny synths, big breaks, blown-out kicks, rattling subs—are here, but others are only in germinal forms. In fact, the only even remotely raunchy sample is the "Where the hoes at?" line from Jamar Giddins and Caesar's collaboration "Booty Mission," under the name Blunted Dummies.
Instead, The Early Years is a versatile and expansive look at the influences that shaped Baltimore club. "Booty Mission" is built around a break, and it traces a direct line to Jamaican sound system culture with its ska-like upstroke and selector vocals (a reminder that across the Atlantic, jungle was evolving at the same time). The spoken word rap of the famed Miss Tony on "Whatzup? Whatzup?," on the other hand, has hints of both New York hip-hop and ballroom.
What sets these tracks apart from contemporary Baltimore club music is the tempos. There isn't a single track here above 130 BPM. In fact, something like DJ Class's "Roldatshit" is almost sluggish compared to a banger by James Nasty. But slowness doesn't equate to softness. Each bass pulse on "Roldatshit" sounds like it's literally trying to come out of the stereo to put you in check, while Scottie B's edit of K-Man's "Blow" is assault-by-whistle.
All these influences and sounds on The Early Years come together into something distinctly Baltimore. If you wanted a blueprint for the city's trademark thump sound, look no further than KW Griff, AKA Griff-Man's, "Break It Down." The track takes a Think break—a recurring motif in Charm City club music—and adds a slight delay on the fourth kick in each measure. Likewise, the adrenaline rush of "Boomy Bomb (Griff and Boo 'Doo-Dew' Mix)" is ripe for battle dancers. But on The Early Years you can tell these producers are still trying to work out that 410 sound. "Whatzup? Whatzup?," with its compressed and flat chords, is something you could imagine Evan Baggs rinsing. "And The Beat Goes," on the other hand, has hints of contemporary UK techno, with an Amen break under a bubbling arpeggio that builds with pressure but never quite releases.
Every few years, Baltimore club resurfaces in the mainstream. From The Wire's soundtrack with DJ Technics to M.I.A.'s interpolation of Blaqqstar's "Hands Up, Thumbs Down," from LMFAO "Shots" to Drake's Honestly, Nevermind album, the genre seems perennially on the precipice of mainstream fame, yet never quite gets the attention and accolades it deserves.
This is equally true in the underground. There have been Boiler Room retrospectives and Pearson Sound remixes, but the originators aren't hopping easyJet flights between the Mediterranean and the Adriatic for a run of summer festivals. Of the artists collected on this album, it's only Karizma (here under his K-Man alias) who regularly tours internationally. This is a huge oversight, and one that consistently tokenises Baltimore club as a regional music phenomenon instead of recognizing it for what it actually is: a foundational genre in contemporary club and pop music. With the release of The Early Years, hopefully a broader audience will understand that history and just how hard the breaks of Baltimore club bang.
Tracklist01. Blunted Dummies - Booty Mission
02. Griff-Man - Break It Down
03. DJ Class - Roldatshit
04. DJ Booman - To 'Da Rhythm
05. Miss Tony AKA Big Tony - Whatzup? Whatzup? (How You Wanna Carry It)
06. Selectah Road Runnah - Boomy Bomb (Griff & Boo "Doo-Dew" Mix)
07. Underground Trak Team - And The Beat Goes
08. K-Man - Blow (Scottie B Edit)