Kooley High: David Thompson 10th Anniversary (Colored Vinyl) Vinyl 2LP Kooley High

Aside from a certain Petey Pablo track, North Carolina rarely gets credit as one of the main bastions of hip-hop, yet legendary artists such as Biggie Smalls, Big Daddy Kane, and Terminator X have all relocated there at some point in their respective careers. It may come as a surprise that two NC natives, Pigmeat Markham and Bill Curtis (of the Fatback Band), separately released early rap songs that predate “Rapper’s Delight.” Decades later, the Tarheel state is still churning out excellent hip-hop. J. Cole and DaBaby are some more mainstream examples, but I prefer the Triangle’s underground scene, which has launched the careers of Little Brother and Rapsody, the latter of which was featured on To Pimp A Butterfly. Rapsody started rapping at NC State in Raleigh when she joined H20, a campus hip-hop organization. There, she met Charlie Smarts, Tab-One, Foolery, DJ Ill Digitz, and Sinopsis, who all started a new group called Kooley High. Before Rapsody pursued a solo career, the group produced a mixtape, EP, and two studio albums, the second of which is David Thompson, one of the group’s most enduring works to date. The album is undeniably an ode to the state of North Carolina and its capital city, and is named after the famed basketball player who took NC State to the 1974 NCAA championship. During the recording of the album, half of the group relocated to Brooklyn, NY, forming the basis for the single “Dear Raleigh,” in which Tab-One, Charlie Smarts, and Rapsody reminisce on Hillsborough Street institutions such as Cup-a-Joe, Char-Grill, and SchoolKids Records (before it moved to Mission Valley). While “Dear Raleigh” was produced by Tecknowledgy and remixed by Sinopsis, the rest of the record is split pretty evenly between DJ Prince and Napoleon Wright II on production duties. “Days Passed Me By” (the best beat on the record) sees Napoleon chopping up Bonnie Raitt’s “Thank You” into a laid-back head-nodder reminiscent of DJ Premier‘s beat for “Everything I Am.” If you’re a fan of warm, crackly boom-bap beats, heady lyrics, tight flow, and Southeastern college basketball, this is for you. First time vinyl edition of 700 pressed on blue and orange 2LP with new artwork to celebrate the album’s 10th anniversary.

• 2012 full-length from North Carolina’s Kooley High featuring Rapsody, Homeboy Sandman, Skyzoo, Mez + more
• ‘classic Kooley blue & orange’ colored double vinyl pressing
• first time on vinyl
• housed in full color pic sleeve w/ new artwork
• limited edition of 700
• original release year: 2012
• music label: M.E.C.C.A. Records 2022

reviewed by SHH! 07/2022

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