| Release Date: | |
| Format: | 2LP Splatter |
| Label: | Tommy Boy |
| Catalogue Number: | 016998517314 |
Pressed on Clear with Red and Blue Splatter Vinyl
Includes 2-panel Insert with Credits, Shout-outs, Photos and more.
When Queens natives Capone-N-Noreaga dropped their 1997 debut album, The War Report Hip Hop was in the middle of a transition period. A new crop of MCs were coming in, many of the benchmark artist of the late 80s and early 90s were starting to fall off and labels focused their efforts on getting artists on mainstream radio, ushered in by the Jiggy Era. For Capone-N-Noreaga this commercial shift was not an option - they represented Queens to the fullest, carrying the torch passed down from MC Shan.
To make the Queens connection even deeper, the mastermind behind The War Repost was QB Legend Tragedy Khadafi, who discovered and molded the duo into the flagship artists for his newly christened 25 to Life Records. In many ways, Tragedy was the unofficial 3rd member of the group as he appears on more than half the album. The War Report represented a new era of street science and gritty New York beats; tracks like Illegal Life, Stick You & T.O.N.Y all became anthems that summer, making this one of the Greatest Debut Albums in Hip Hop History according to Complex Magazine.
From the moment you hear the piano of Bloody Money it sets a clear tone for this album, the War has begun. With features from Tragedy, Iman Thug, Mobb Deep and uncredited Busta Rhymes ad libs CNNs debut is treated as almost a revolving door of like-minded MCs determined to keep the music pure. Rounding out the production aspect, The War Report features EZ Elpee, Nasheim Myrick, Buckwild, Lord Finesse, Marley Marl and super DJ Clark Kent who all bring their unique style while all meshing together perfectly to make this debut a capsule to late 90s Rap.
Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Bloody Money
3. Driver's Seat
4. Stick You
5. Parole Violators
6. Iraq (See The World)
7. Live On Live Long
8. Neva Die Alone
9. T.O.N.Y
10. Channel 10
11. Capone Phone Home (Interlude)
12. Stay Tuned (Interlude)
13. Capone Bone
14. Halfway Thugs
15. L.A, L.A
16. Capone-N-Noreaga Live (Interlude)
17. Illegal Life
18. Black Gangstas
19. Closer
20. Capone Phone Home Outro
21. Thug Paradise
22. Closer (Sam Sneed Remix