Today In Hip Hop History: Poor Righteous Teachers Dropped Their ‘Pure Poverty’ LP 33 Years Ago

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On this date in 1991, Trentonians Wise Intelligent, Culture Freedom and DJ Father Shaheed followed up their debut album Holy Intellect with their sophomore smash Pure Poverty, which was released under Profile Records.

Produced primarily by NJ producer Toney Dofat aka Tony D, the 13 track full length studio effort didn’t receive the mainstream success as did its predecessor, however, marketing dollars for conscious artists became less available for conscious artists and more available for “gangsta rap” artists such as DJ Quik whose debut album Quik Is The Name went gold in four months on the same label.

Sure shot singles from PRT’s second album include “Shakiyla”, an ode to the everyday Black woman, their own rendition of the 5% Nation’s national anthem “The Enlightener”, which they entitled “The Nation’s Anthem” and the mathematically saturated “Methods Of Dropin’ Mental”.

Salute to Wise, Culture, Tony D and a supreme RIP salute to Father Shaheed, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 2014 at the age of 45. The Hip Hop world will never forget this timeless gem!

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Poor Righteous Teachers Dropped Their ‘Pure Poverty’ LP 33 Years Ago first appeared on The Source.

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Poor Righteous Teachers Dropped Their ‘Pure Poverty’ LP 33 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.

Today In Hip Hop History: Poor Righteous Teachers Dropped Their Debut Album ‘Holy Intellect’ 34 Years Ago

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On this date in 1990, Trenton, NJ-based rap trio Poor Righteous Teachers released their debut LP Holy Intellect on the Profile/Arista imprint. This album was one of the first full length albums that proudly projects the teachings of Allah’s 5% Nation, which was popular at the time among rappers such as King Sun, Lakim Shabazz, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim and others. Wise Intelligent, Culture Freedom and Father Shaheed created a cultural buzz around their reggae-esque sound and style, which opened up the space in a crowded market of artists to released an anticipated sophomore album.

Produced primarily by “Tony D” Dofat, Holy Intellect’s twelve tracks focused on the teachings of the 5%, but also included party anthems such as the album’s premiere single “Rock DIs Funky Joint” and a beautiful love ballad for the positive Black women entitled “Shakiyla”.

The album was named in The Source‘s 100 Best Albums Ever while the main single peaked at Number 4 on Billboard’s Hot Rap Singles.

Peace to Wise, Culture Freedom and Father Shaheed for this important piece of Hip Hop history!!

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Poor Righteous Teachers Dropped Their Debut Album ‘Holy Intellect’ 34 Years Ago first appeared on The Source.

The post Today In Hip Hop History: Poor Righteous Teachers Dropped Their Debut Album ‘Holy Intellect’ 34 Years Ago appeared first on The Source.