Grand Puba, Masta Ace, & Main Source Helped Create a Brand New & Heavy Sound (Video)

In 1992, Delicious Vinyl hosted a unique compilation album in the form of Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1. In many ways similar to Guru’s Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1, the LP merged the sounds of distinct genres into a fusion of Funk, Jazz, and Hip-Hop, in this case, to showcase the musical style most commonly associated with the album’s lead artist, the Brand New Heavies. The London, England group first conceptualized in the 1980s had made a name for itself two years prior with an eponymous debut, but Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1 introduced the mostly instrumental band as an outfit whose sound could blend with a blossoming U.S. export, Rap music.

This Pharcyde & Brand New Heavies 1992 Yo! MTV Raps Left The Mic With A Fat Lip (Video)

Reportedly born out of a Brand New Heavies performance in which Q-Tip and MC Serch made cameos, each of the LP’s ten tracks featured a guest appearance, and the lineup rivaled many likeminded compilations of the early ’90s, when Hip-Hop was still young enough that the idea of releasing an entire album featuring different rappers on every track often came from an act outside of the genre’s confines. Black Sheep, Edo G., Gang Starr, Grand Puba, Kool G. Rap, Masta Ace, Main Source, and the Pharcyde all showed up for the affair, helping the Brand New Heavies earn some stripes from the most discerning Hip-Hop fans, stateside and abroad. Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1 offers a snapshot of the group in a manifestation of itself unlike that most American listeners were familiar with – that of one spearheaded by a female vocalist, originally N’Dea Davenport. However, the group’s most informed fans were not surprised to hear an album sans Davenport, as 1991’s Brand New Heavies was released in the United Kingdom as a nearly entirely instrumental LP.

In addition the the album’s ten new songs, Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1 was given the self-titled theme-song treatment, for its high profile music video. “Heavy Rhyme Experience Theme” combined elements from the compilation’s songs “Who Makes The Loot,” “Wake Me When I’m Dead” and “Bonafied Funk,” bringing the Brand New Heavies together with Grand Puba, Masta Ace, and Main Source, respectively. The end result fully lives up to the song’s title.