On an unseasonably cool evening, a swarm of Hip-Hop fans, friends of friends, and industry folk packed themselves into a small space in Chelsea to see what a project with Action Bronson, Termanology, Raekwon, Joey Bada$$, Black Thought, P.A.P.I. (formerly, N.O.R.E.), and Lil Fame of M.O.P. would sound like. Oh, and that’s just the guests on the first three tracks and Statik Selektah is on the boards for all of those three tracks, in addition to 15 more. With the humidity and heat from the room rising to dangerous levels, along with the dwindling beverage situation, Statik had the unenviable task of going through each track as they were played, shouting anecdotes over the unruly crowd.

Luckily, we were able to make our way to the front of the room, next to Term and Ea$y Money (both featured more than once on Extended Play) to catch a few stories along with some interesting Snapple cap-esque facts. Here’s a quick breakdown of our favorite verses and five facts we learned/confirmed:

5 Favorite Verses:

1. Black Thought on “Bird’s Eye View”
2. Action Bronson on “The Spark”
3. Termanology on “Make Believe”
4. Meyhem Lauren on “Big City of Dreams”
5. Bun B on “Funeral Season”

 

 

5 Facts We Learned/Confirmed:

1. When Black Thought is in the zone, he only needs 4 minutes to record a track. That’s it. He’s also very busy.
2. Statik Selektah used to visit Havoc’s crib in the process of recording the album. At the time, Prodigy happened to be locked up. Statik Selektah would talk to Havoc about what Prodigy was writing while he spent time behind bars. Eventually, that material from prison turned into the track “Pinky Ring.”
3. Yelling and doing ad-libs like Onyx is tougher than you think.
4. P.A.P.I. was one of the first New York emcees to unabashedly speak out against the West Coast-East Coast beef in the 90′s.
5. Statik Selektah stands by the statement that Mac Miller is one of the toughest emcees out, especially since the “most dope” rapper grew up on Big L, A Tribe, and other New York legends.

When you have a new Statik Selektah project on your hands, you never doubt the production. But with a crazy guest feature list like the one on Extended Play, the only reservation you could possibly have is how Statik managed to make the records sound organic without having some of the biggest names in Hip-Hop outshine each other and step on each other’s shoes. Consider that reservation obsolete, if you had it. DJ’s, you should take note on how to produce a street tape or compilation album together because Statik Selektah has not only masterminded 18 classic beats yet again, but he’s also helped put together an accurate and important presentation of the trendsetters, old and new, of Hip-Hop. Look out for Extended Play on Showoff Records/Duck Down Music Inc. on June 18th.

Photos by: Virgilio Mendez
Bryan Hahn (@notupstate) and Virgilio Mendez (@REGULARGUYV)