The Big Sleep

Big Red and Diamond D
-Created A Monster
-How They Want It

One of my absolute favorites from the time that I never got a copy of. I always wondered why it was so slept-on. Why it made so little noise. Turns out, it was a super-limited pressing in 1994, so imagine my surprise and delight when, around 2000-2001, someone decided to repress it! Not only would I finally get my hands on a copy (copies), but all kinds of people who missed it the first time around would surely not fall victim to the same fate twice. This record was too good.

So what happened, you ask? Well, by most accounts (including my own), it was unceremoniously slept-on once again. Just a shame. Not only is this Diamond D in his production prime, with thick, bass-heavy stuff set off by slow, jazzy Quincy Jones horns and moody vocal samples, but it does as good a job as any record of exemplifying street-level independent hip-hop of the era.

I know all the record-collector purists out there crossed this one off of their lists once it got repressed, which, to the rest of us, means that there are still available (and affordable) copies floating around out there to be found. Don't sleep this time around.