''S.I.O.S.O.S. Volume One'' is the debut album by American hip-hop group Spooks, released on February 8, 2000 by Antra, Artemis and Sony Music. The title is an

initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

for "Spooks Is On Some Other Shit". The album launched the single "

Things I've Seen "Things I've Seen" is a song by American hip hop group Spooks from their first studio album, '' S.I.O.S.O.S. Volume One'' (2000). The song was written by Spooks and Rick Dahrouge, who also produced the track, and was released as the second sin ...

", which charted at number 11 on ''Billboard'''s Hot Rap Singles chart and number 94 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart as well as went to number 1 in Europe and became the most played song internationally from 2001 to 2002. Spooks went gold in 5 countries and became eligible for a European platform plaque. Spooks eventually sold several million records.

Critical reception

''S.I.O.S.O.S.'' garnered a mixed reception from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. Steve 'Flash' Juon of ''RapReviews'' found some songs of lesser quality and the rappers' voices to be nondescript, but gave praise to tracks like "Sweet Revenge", "Karma Hotel" and "Jungle House" for their haunting experimental beats and use of Ming Xia's vocals, concluding that: "Whether you buy into their claim that they represent a totally new direction in hip-hop or not, it's not hard to enjoy the positive aspects of this album - it's hip-hop, well done." A writer from Entertainment.ie also praised the group's mixture of hip hop and soul music with Ming Xia's chorus delivery, but was critical of their comedy skits and views on the music industry, concluding that: "If the Spooks cut out the foolery and focus on their musical talent, which on this evidence is considerable, they could go far." Jim Alexander of '' NME'' commended the Fugees and

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name the RZA ( ), is an American rapper, actor, filmmaker, and record producer. He is the ''de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having produced most albums ...

influences found throughout the various tracks, and singled out the group's singer Ming Xia for "adding a touch of steely R&B modernism, a welcome female counterpoint, and enough hook-laden soul to catapult them into the big time." '' Vibe'' contributor

Jon Caramanica Jon Caramanica (born 1975) is an American journalist and pop music critic who writes for ''The New York Times''. He is also known for writing about hip hop music. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, Caramanica received his ba ...

said that despite Ming Xia's appearance throughout the record, he criticized the rappers traversing from different topics and styles as being "disorienting", concluding that: "''S.I.O.S.O.S.'' compromises compelling parts that never yield a revolutionary whole." AllMusic editor Steve Kurutz said of the album: "''S.I.O.S.O.S.'' (Spooks Is on Some Other Shit) is an eclectic mix of jazz, reggae, hip-hop, and neo-soul, and it's also not that good. Spooks consist of four gruff, male MCs and female singer Ming Xia, but five is truly a crowd and often the arrangements are so cluttered that the vocalists trip over themselves and interrupt each other like overeager grade-schoolers."

Track listing

* signifies a co-

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

. ;Sample credits *"Other Script" contains a sample of "Say It with Silence" written and performed by Hubert Laws. *"Safe House" contains an interpolation of "

Calling You "Calling You" is a song from the 1987 film, ''Bagdad Cafe''. It was originally recorded by Jevetta Steele. Bob Telson, the songwriter, also recorded his version. Both versions appeared on the movie soundtrack. The song was nominated for the A ...

", written by

Bob Telson Robert Eria Telson (born May 14, 1949) is an American composer, songwriter, and pianist best known for his work in musical theater and film, for which he has received Tony, Pulitzer, and Academy Award nominations. Biography Robert Eria Telson wa ...

, performed by

Jevetta Steele Jevetta Steele (born November 11, 1963) is an American R&B and gospel music singer. Early years Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, Steele eventually migrated to Minneapolis, Minnesota to become a criminal lawyer. Steele later embarked upon a sol ...

. *"Something Fresh" contains an interpolation of "

Mama Used to Say "Mama Used to Say" is the debut single release by the British R&B recording artist Junior, taken from his debut studio album, ''Ji''. Formats and track listings ;12" vinyl #"Mama Used to Say" – 6:40 #"Mama Used to Say" (Instrumental) – 6: ...

", written by Bob Carter and Norman Giscombe, performed by Junior.

Personnel

Adapted from the liner notes of ''S.I.O.S.O.S. Volume One''. ;Spooks *Booka-T *Hypno *Ming Xia *Vengeance *Water Water ;Additional musicians *Dan Askew – guitar (track 12) *Rick Dahrouge –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, guitar, bass (tracks 3, 11, 14) *Randy Feinberg – guitar (track 14) *Lawrence Griffith –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(tracks 7 and 9) *Jay "Rock" Kulikowski –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(tracks 3, 11, 14) *Pete Mitchell – drums (tracks 7, 9) *Vladimir Narcisse – keyboards (tracks 7, 9) *Irina M. Perez – keyboards (tracks 7, 11) *Charmel Rogers – guitar (tracks 7, 9) ;Production *Jeff Abell – engineer, mixing engineer *Eric Agosto – assistant engineer (tracks 1, 2) *Al Boogie – engineer (tracks 12, 13) *Cheek – mixing engineer (track 3) *Daryl Dahrouge – engineer (tracks 3, 7, 9, 11, 14) *Greg Frentzen – assistant mixing engineer (track 3) *Herb Powers –

mastering engineer A mastering engineer is a person skilled in the practice of taking audio (typically musical content) that has been previously mixed in either the analog or digital domain as mono, stereo, or multichannel formats and preparing it for use in distr ...

*Tim Wayne – engineer (tracks 1, 2) ;Artwork *Toupee –

art direction Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and unify the visi ...

and design *James Hicks – photography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siosos 2000 debut albums Albums recorded at Unique Recording Studios Spooks (group) albums