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To the East, Blackwards

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To the East, Blackwards
Studio album by
X Clan
ReleasedApril 24, 1990 (1990-04-24)
Recorded1989–1990
StudioI.N.S. (New York City)
GenreHip hop
Length45:49
Label
Producer
X Clan chronology
To the East, Blackwards
(1990) 		Xodus
(1992)

To the East, Blackwards is the debut studio album by American hip hop group X Clan, released on April 24, 1990,[1] by 4th & B'way Records and Island Records.[2] It was produced entirely by the group and recorded at I.N.S. Recording Studios in New York City.[3]

To the East, Blackwards charted at number 97 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums. "Raise the Flag", the album's lead single,[2] peaked at number 12 on the Hot Rap Singles.[4]

Music and lyrics

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The album's production is characterized by witty scratching and funk beats,[5] including samples of music by Parliament-Funkadelic, Zapp, and Roy Ayers.[6] The group includes producers Grand Architect Paradise and The Rhythem Provider Sugar Shaft,[3] lead MC Brother J, and Professor X the Overseer, who punctuates Brother J's raps with certain keywords and phrases.[2]

The group's lyrics heavily promote Afrocentrism, railing against racism and socioeconomic oppression of African-Americans,[7] and feature references to African-American revolutionaries and Egyptian places and deities. Music journalist Jon Pareles writes that "they want to shift the cultural credit back to Africa, instilling pride in a younger black generation and revising the historical record (itself a matter of heated debate)".[8]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Chicago Tribune[10]
DownBeat[6]
Los Angeles Times[11]
NME7/10[12]
Q[13]
RapReviews9/10[2]
Record Mirror3/5[14]
Select4/5[15]
The Village VoiceC[5]

In a contemporary review for DownBeat, Bill Milkowski wrote that X Clan "offer food for thought with a backbeat ... Their mission is to educate, using hip-hop as the medium. And it's funky, too."[6] In The New York Times, Jon Pareles called it "incantations for the converted ... rapped in the artificial-sounding tones of radio disk jockeys."[8] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice facetiously cited its "hallmarks" as "obscure Egyptological insults and flowing funk beats." He viewed it as a product of the rise in "message rap" at the time and stated, "prophets and demagogues of every description join the myriad of hip hop wannabees, enabling lugs like these avowedly non-'humanist' Brooklynites to make their subcultural dent."[5]

In 1998, To the East, Blackwards was included in The Source's "100 Best Albums" list.[16] In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Andy Kellman cited it as one of the best hip hop albums of 1990. Kellman observed "an infectious vigor with the way each track is fired off" and stated, "X Clan relentlessly pushes its pro-black motives and beliefs, and though the points are vague at times, at no point does it ever grow tiring."[9] John Book of RapReviews felt that, although the beats were "just revisions of the well worn and proven", the album was about "how Brother J and Professor X presented themselves over those beats, it had the feeling of a live show or even a rough demo."[2]

Track listing

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# Title Songwriters Producer(s) Performer (s)
1 "Funkin' Lesson" J. Hunter, L. Carson, A. Hardin, C. Gray X Clan Brother J, Professor X
2 "Grand Verbalizer, What Time is It?" J. Hunter, L. Carson, A. Hardin, C. Gray X Clan Brother J
3 "Tribal Jam" J. Hunter, L. Carson, A. Hardin, C. Gray X Clan Brother J, Professor X
4 "A Day of Outrage, Operation Snatchback" J. Hunter, L. Carson, A. Hardin, C. Gray X Clan Brother J, Professor X
5 "Verbal Milk" J. Hunter, L. Carson, A. Hardin, C. Gray X Clan Brother J, Professor X
6 "Earth-Bound" J. Hunter, L. Carson, A. Hardin, C. Gray X Clan Brother J, Professor X
7 "Shaft's Big Score" J. Hunter, L. Carson, A. Hardin, C. Gray X Clan
8 "Raise the Flag" J. Hunter, L. Carson, A. Hardin, C. Gray X Clan Brother J, Professor X
9 "Heed the Word of the Brother" J. Hunter, L. Carson, A. Hardin, C. Gray X Clan Brother J, Professor X
10 "Verbs of Power" J. Hunter, L. Carson, A. Hardin, C. Gray X Clan Brother J, Professor X
11 "In the Ways of the Scales" J. Hunter, L. Carson, A. Hardin, C. Gray X Clan Brother J, Professor X

Personnel

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Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[3]

X Clan
  • Brother J (Jason Hunter) – production, rapping
  • Grand Architect Paradise (Claude Gray) – production
  • Professor X the Overseer (Lumumba Carson) – production, rapping
  • The Rhythem Provider Sugar Shaft (Anthony Hardin) – production
Technical credits
  • George DuBose – photography
  • Hugh Aladdin Ffrench – engineering
  • Mitchell Hartman – artwork
  • Kevin A. McDonagh – design
  • Herb Powers – mastering

Charts

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Chart (1990) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Pop Albums[17] 97
U.S. Billboard Top Black Albums[18] 11

References

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  1. ^ "X Clan - To the East, Blackwards CD Album". CD Universe. Muze. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d e Book, John (January 30, 2007). "X-Clan :: To the East Blackwards :: 4th & B'Way/Island Records". RapReviews. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c To the East, Blackwards (CD liner notes). X Clan. New York: 4th & B'way Records. 444 019-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  4. ^ "Hot Rap Songs". Billboard. June 9, 1990. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Christgau, Robert (December 4, 1990). "Turkey Shoot". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  6. ^ a b c Milkowski, Bill (September 1990). "The Rap Race". DownBeat. Vol. 57, no. 9. Chicago. p. 39.
  7. ^ Serrano, Shea (July 24, 2008). "X-Clan's Brother J drops some knowledge on the difference between racism and racial pride". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  8. ^ a b Pareles, Jon (December 16, 1990). "'Radical' Rap: Of Pride and Prejudice". The New York Times. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  9. ^ a b Kellman, Andy. "To the East, Blackwards – X Clan". AllMusic. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
  10. ^ Tanzilo, Robert (June 21, 1990). "X Clan: To the East, Backwards (4th & Bway LP)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  11. ^ Hochman, Steve (May 5, 1991). "Rating The New Rappers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  12. ^ McCann, Ian (May 26, 1990). "Wordy Rapping Hoods". NME. London. p. 33.
  13. ^ Bradley, Lloyd. "X-Clan: To The East, Blackwards". Q. London. Archived from the original on December 13, 2000. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  14. ^ The Pop Detective (May 26, 1990). "X-Clan: To the East, Blackwards". Record Mirror. London. p. 19.
  15. ^ Harrison, Andrew (July 1990). "Fear of a Blackwards Planet". Select. No. 1. London. p. 118.
  16. ^ "100 Best Albums". The Source. No. 100. New York. January 1998. Retrieved November 24, 2007.
  17. ^ "Billboard 200". Billboard. August 18, 1990. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  18. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. July 28, 1990. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
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