''Boxcar Sessions'' is the debut studio album by American rapper
Saafir. It was released in 1994 via
Qwest Records
Qwest Records was an American record label run by Quincy Jones.
History
Qwest Records was established by Quincy Jones in 1980 as a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records, although Jones remained under contract with A&M Records until 1981. Th ...
. The recording sessions took place at Pajama Recording Studios in
Oakland, California
Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...
. The
production was handled by DJ Jay-Z, J Groove and Big Nose, with Sleuth and Saafir serving as executive producers. It features
guest appearance
The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting.
The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...
s from Big Nous, King Saan, Poke Martian and Rashinel.
Critical reception
''
Trouser Press
''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who, Dave Schulps, and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...
'' wrote that the album "has promisingly jazz-flecked beats and a pleasant flow, but the rapper’s lyrics are hollow, crude and obnoxious."
Alex Henderson of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
compared Saafir's musical style favorably to such celebrated hip hop artists as
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,[Q-Tip< ...](_blank)
,
De La Soul
De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...
,
Digable Planets, and
the Pharcyde
The Pharcyde is an American hip hop group, formed in South Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles in 1989. The original four members of the group are Imani (rapper), Imani (Emandu Wilcox), Slimkid3 (Trevant Hardson), Bootie Brown (Romye Robinson ...
. Henderson stated that "between Saafir's rapping style and the jazzy production, ''Boxcar Sessions'' is fairly fresh sounding."
Track listing
Personnel
*Reggie "
Saafir" Gibson — vocals, mixing
(tracks: 3, 4, 8, 9, 12, 15–19), executive producer
*H. "Poke Martian" Norris — vocals
(track 3)
*Hasaan "King Saan" Mahmoud — vocals
(track 7)
*Rick "Rashinel" Trammell — vocals & mixing
(track 10)
*Ty "Big Nous" Alston — vocals
(track 13), producer & mixing
(tracks: 10, 13)
*Jeremy "Jay-Z" Jackson — producer & mixing
(tracks: 1–3, 5, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 18)
*James "J Groove" Carson — producer
(tracks: 4, 6, 15, 17, 19), mixing
(tracks: 4, 17, 19)
*Crayge Lindesay — engineering
*Brian "
Big Bass" Gardner — mastering
*Neil "Sleuth" Johnson — executive producer, management
*Kevin Hosmann — art direction
*Victor Hall — photography
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1994 debut albums
Saafir albums
Qwest Records albums
Reprise Records albums