Station Identification

Station Identification

A two-man crew from New Jersey, Channel Live (Hakim and Tuffy) started their career as background dancers for Naughty by Nature. They were taken under the wing of KRS-One, who produced much of this debut album (along with a young Salaam Remi) and costarred on their signature single, "Mad Izm": a smokers' anthem that was hard to escape in 1995 and still gets clubs hyped up today. Station Identification would sell enough to go gold, and although Channel Live went on to release a few more projects (including Armaghetto and Secret Science Rap), the duo is frequently regarded as a one-hit wonder. But there are some very solid joints here, including the spooky, Gravediggaz-esque title track, the freaky synth- and sax-propelled "Lock It Up," and "Sex for the Sport," which sounds like some sort of Group Home outtake. For fans of that classic East Coast underground vibe (see: Smif-N-Wessun, Artifacts, Jeru), this will definitely hit the spot.

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