Schoolly D is the debut album by rapper Schoolly D. The album was released on Schoolly D Records in 1985 and in 1990 on Jive Records, and was produced by Schoolly D and DJ Code Money. It features three singles: "Put Your Filas On", "P.S.K. What Does It Mean?" and "Gucci Time".
The album cover featured drawings of a b-boy set against a yellow background. The speech bubbles used proxies for swear words, such as "sheet" and "flucking".
The album is considered to be the predecessor of gangster rap and a major influence on the first albums of Ice-T and Public Enemy as well as an influence and sample source for Beastie Boys and countless others.[1][2][3]
Simon Reynolds of Melody Maker described the debut in 1986 as "the most extreme hardcore hip-hop record I have ever encountered." and that "It is so far from r'n'b and from funk, so far from ingratiating pleasantness, that the only comparisons I can think of are white ones, groups like the Swans or Killing Joke – precision machine music, a pop abattoir, it can rightly be considered avant-garde."[5] Reynolds went on to state that the strongest track was "P.S.K. (What Does It Mean)" and that "Put Your Filas On" was "another standout."[5]
Track listing
Note: the tracks "Maniac" and "Gangster Boogie" are included in the UK cassette release.[6]
