Sach - Essential (LP - Orange Vinyl)

While G-funk dominated hip-hop airwaves through the 1990s, the pulse of underground rap was maintained at the Good Life Café, an open-mic workshop at the corner of Crenshaw & Exposition in Los Angeles. After Freestyle Fellowship became the first Good Life group to invade the national consciousness in 1991, a young duo called THE NONCE were their heirs apparent, seemingly primed for a breakthrough. Composed of Leimert Park natives Lance ‘Nouka Basetype / Sach’ Caldwell and Yusef ‘Afloat’Muhammad, The Nonce had already been rapping and recording together for years prior to arriving at Good Life. The Nonce signed to Wild West Records / American and completed a record called ‘World Ultimate’ in 1995. An early single called “Mix Tapes” emerged from the ‘World Ultimate’ sessions. With its dense percussion, rolling bass, spare horn samples and deft turntable scratches, it’s emblematic of the sound that would pervade the classic album. The song charts Sach and Yusef’s growth from mixtape p