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1995 studio album by Das EFX
Hold It Down is the third studio album by American
Brooklyn -based hip hop duo
Das EFX . It was released on September 26, 1995 via
East West Records . Recording sessions took place at Ian London Studios in
East Islip , at Northshore Soundworks,
D&D Studios , The Music Palace and
Chung King Studios in New York, and at The Sewa.
Production was handled by
Easy Mo Bee , Solid Scheme,
DJ Premier ,
DJ Scratch ,
DJ Clark Kent , Kevin Geeda, Peter Lewis,
Showbiz , Soul G.,
Pete Rock and Das EFX themselves, with
PMD serving as an executive producer. It features
guest appearances from
KRS-One and PMD.
The album peaked at number 22 on the
Billboard 200 and number 4 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in the United States. Its singles "
Real Hip-Hop " and "
Microphone Master " made it to the
Billboard Hot 100 , reaching No. 61 and No. 86, respectively. The song "Represent the Real" first appeared under the title "Represent the Real Hip Hop" as the B-side to KRS-One's "
MC's Act Like They Don't Know " single, which was released during the summer of 1995, taken off of his eponymous album
KRS-One .
[8]
Track listing
Title Writer(s) Producer(s) 1. "Intro (Once Again)" Andre Weston William Hines Peter Lewis 1:08 2. "No Diggedy"
DJ Premier 4:03 3. "Knockin' Niggaz Off"
Easy Mo Bee 3:24 4. "Here We Go" Weston Hines Chris Charity Derek Lynch Solid Scheme 4:05 5. "
Real Hip-Hop " (Original Version) DJ Premier 4:09 6. "Here It Is" Kevin Geeda 4:59 7. "
Microphone Master " Easy Mo Bee 4:30 8. "40 & a Blunt" Easy Mo Bee 3:17 9. "Buck-Buck"
Das EFX 3:12 10. "Intro" 0:09 11. "Can't Have Nuttin'" Weston Hines Gerald Stevens Soul G. 5:34 12. "Alright" Easy Mo Bee 4:23 13. "Hold It Down" Easy Mo Bee 4:47 14. "Dedicated"
DJ Clark Kent 3:46 15. "Ready to Rock Rough Rhymes" Solid Scheme 4:34 16. "Represent the Real" (featuring
KRS-One )
Showbiz 3:19 17. "Comin' Thru"
DJ Scratch 3:32 18. "Hardcore Rap Act" Solid Scheme 4:30 19. "Bad News" (featuring
PMD ) DJ Scratch 2:20 20. "
Real Hip-Hop " (Pete Rock Remix)
Pete Rock 3:58 Total length: 1:13:39
Sample credits
[9]
Track 6 contains elements from "Blue Prelude" written by
Joe Bishop and
Gordon Jenkins and performed by
Nina Simone .
Track 12 contains elements from "Different Strokes" written by John Andrew Cameron and John Zachary and performed by
Syl Johnson .
Track 13 contains elements from "Slum Creeper" by
Quincy Jones .
Track 14 contains elements from "Lock It in the Pocket" written by Richard Steacker and performed by
Grover Washington Jr.
Personnel
Andre "Krazy Drayz" Weston – vocals, producer (track 9)
Willie "Skoob" Hines – vocals, producer (track 9)
Lawrence "
KRS-One " Parker – vocals (track 16)
Parrish "
PMD " Smith – vocals (track 19) , executive producer
Rodney "DJ Dice" Battle – scratches
Peter Lewis – producer (track 1)
Chris "
DJ Premier " Martin – producer (tracks: 2, 5)
Osten "
Easy Mo Bee " Harvey, Jr. – producer (tracks: 3, 7, 8, 12, 13)
Chris Charity – producer (tracks: 4, 15, 18)
Derek Lynch – producer (tracks: 4, 15, 18)
Kevin Geeda – producer (track 6)
Gerald "Soul G." Stevens – producer (track 11)
Rodolfo "
DJ Clark Kent " Franklin – producer (track 14)
Rodney "
Showbiz " LeMay – producer (track 16)
George "
DJ Scratch " Spivey – producer (tracks: 17, 19)
Peter "
Pete Rock " Phillips – producer & mixing (track 20)
Charlie Marotta – engineering (track 1) , mixing (tracks: 1, 18)
Eddie Sancho – engineering (tracks: 2, 5)
Norty Cotto – engineering (tracks: 2, 5)
Luis Tineo – engineering assistant (tracks: 2, 5)
Ken Wallace – engineering (tracks: 3, 6-8, 11-15)
Ivan 'Doc' Rodriguez – mixing (tracks: 3, 4, 6-8, 12, 13, 17)
Mike Tuosto – mixing (track 3)
Rick St. Hilaire – engineering (tracks: 9, 19) , mixing (tracks: 9, 11, 15, 19)
Kenny Ortiz – mixing (track 14)
Gordon "Commissioner Gordon" Williams – engineering (track 16)
Jamie Staub – engineering (track 20)
Alli Truch – art direction
Romon Kimin "Ro-Starr" Yang – design
Butch Belair – photography
Charts
References
^
Erlewine, Stephen Thomas .
"Hold It Down - Das EFX | Album | AllMusic" .
AllMusic . Retrieved April 20, 2024 .
^
Ashon, Will (November 1995).
"Das EFX: Hold It Down " (PDF) .
Muzik . No. 6. p. 90. Archived from
the original (PDF) on April 2, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022 .
^ Red (October 1995). "Flippin Da Traxx: Das EFX – Hold It Down".
Rap Pages . Vol. 4, no. 9.
Los Angeles . p. 32.
^ Juon, Steve 'Flash' (December 5, 2017).
"Das EFX :: Hold It Down :: East/West Records" . www.rapreviews.com . Archived from
the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2024 .
^ Gabriel, Rashied (November 3, 1995).
"Music Reviews" .
The Austin Chronicle . Retrieved April 20, 2024 .
^
Hinds, Selwyn Seyfu (November 1995).
"Record Report" .
The Source . No. 74. New York. pp. 91, 94. Retrieved January 5, 2015 – via
archive.today .
^ Robbins, Ira.
"Das Efx" .
Trouser Press . Retrieved April 20, 2024 .
^ Ducker, Jesse (September 25, 2020).
"Revisiting Das EFX's 'Hold It Down' (1995) | Retrospective Tribute" . Albumism . Retrieved April 20, 2024 .
^ Das EFX – Hold It Down (CD).
EastWest Records America . 1995. 61829-2.
^
"The Billboard 200" .
Billboard . Vol. 107, no. 41.
Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 14, 1995. p. 88.
ISSN
0006-2510 . Retrieved April 20, 2024 .
^
"Top R&B Albums" .
Billboard . Vol. 107, no. 41.
Nielsen Business Media, Inc. October 14, 1995. p. 26.
ISSN
0006-2510 . Retrieved April 20, 2024 .
External links
Studio albums Singles Featured artist Related articles