''Death Before Dishonesty'' is the debut solo studio album by American rapper Bootleg. It was released on March 23, 1999, through

Relativity Records Relativity Records was an American record label founded by Barry Kobrin at the site of his vinyl record shop, Important Record Distributors (IRD) in metropolitan New York City. The IRD distribution name was later known as RED Distribution and ag ...

. The recording sessions took place at Silver Sun Recording Studio in

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

and at

Chung King Studios Chung King Studios was a recording studio that operated in New York City under that name from 1986 to 2015. It was founded by producer John King and engineer Steve Ett with financial backing from the Etches brothers, occupying three different loca ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. The

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

was handled by Frank Robinson, Jermaine Tipton, Steve Pitts and Cory "Co-P" Peterson. 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 Ghetto-E, Mr. Big, Swift-D, Tommy Clipp, Femme Fatale, Jake The Flake, Maddam Dane,

MC Breed Eric Tyrone Breed (June 12, 1971 – November 22, 2008), better known as MC Breed, was an American rapper best known for his singles " Ain't No Future in Yo' Frontin'", which peaked at #66 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and " Gotta Get Mine" (fe ...

Ras Kass John R. Austin II (born September 26, 1973), better known by his stage name Ras Kass, is an American rapper. He is a member of the hip hop Supergroup (music), supergroup The Hrsmn, along with Canibus, Killah Priest, and Kurupt in 2014. He is als ...

Shawnna Rashawnna Guy (born January 3, 1978), better known by her stage name Shawnna, is an American rapper and singer from Chicago, Illinois. She is best known for her guest appearances on Ludacris' 2000 single " What's Your Fantasy", as well as his 2 ...

and Sophia Taylor. The album peaked at number 91 on the ''Billboard'' 200, number 18 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

and topped the

Heatseekers Albums The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

in the United States. It was supported with two promotional singles "No Future" and "Fantasies". The album marks the Bootleg's temporary departure from

the Dayton Family The Dayton Family is an American hip hop group from Flint, Michigan, composed of Ira "Bootleg" Dorsey, Raheen "Shoestring" Peterson and Matt "Backstabba" Hinkle. Its name derives from Dayton Street, one of Flint's most crime-ridden streets. Mu ...

Track listing

Personnel

*Ira " Bootleg" Dorsey – vocals, co-producer (tracks: 1–3, 5, 6, 10–12, 15, 16), recording assistant (tracks: 1–3, 5, 6, 8, 10–13, 15, 16), executive producer *Frank Robinson – producer (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 10–12, 15, 16) *Jermaine Tipton – producer (tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 10–12, 15, 16) *Steve Pitts – producer (tracks: 2, 8) *Cory "Co-P" Peterson – producer (tracks: 9, 13) *Bernard Terry – recording (tracks: 1–3, 5, 6, 8, 10–13, 15, 16) *Johnny Y – recording (track 9), mixing *Maurice Baker – mixing assistant *Kerry Horton – associate executive producer *Chiu Liu – art direction *David Bett – art direction *

Ken Schles Ken Schles (born 1960) is an American photographer based in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, New York. He has published five monographs over 25 years. Schles' work is held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The B ...

– photography *Cliff Cultreri – A&R

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1999 debut albums Hardcore hip-hop albums Relativity Records albums Albums recorded at Chung King Studios Gangsta rap albums by American artists