''Unforgiven'' is the third album by the American rapper
X-Raided
Anerae Veshaughn Brown (born July 30, 1974), better known by his stage name X-Raided, is an American rapper. In 1992, Brown was sentenced to 31 years in prison on murder charges, which Brown denied, maintaining his innocence. The lyrics of his d ...
, released in May 1999 via
Black Market Records
Black Market Records is an American record label based in Sacramento, California, founded in 1989. Its acts included Brotha Lynch Hung and X-Raided. Although Black Market Records is an independent label, it operates in multiple countries on a sca ...
.
It featured production from X-Raided, The Verbal Tek/Bomb Productions, RAW and DJ Shareil. ''Unforgiven'' was X-Raided's first album to make it to the
''Billboard'' charts, reaching number 14 on the
Top Heatseekers
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 ...
and number 54 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, ...
.
X-Raided worked on ''Unforgiven'' while serving 31-years to life for murder at
Salinas Valley State Prison
Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP) is a California state prison located north of Soledad, in Monterey County, California, adjacent to the Correctional Training Facility (aka Soledad State Prison).
Facilities
The prison consists of five faci ...
in Soledad, California. Unlike his previous album which contained low quality vocal tracks recorded over the phone, the vocals for ''Unforgiven'' were recorded inside the jail, using smuggled equipment.
Recording
Unlike X-Raided's previous album, ''
Xorcist'', which was recorded over the phone from Sacramento County Jail, ''Unforgiven'' was recorded inside the jail and featured vastly improved sound quality.
It was rumored that a prison guard helped him smuggle recording equipment.
According to ''
Vibe
Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing.
Vibe may also refer to:
People
* DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ
* Lasse Vibe (b ...
'' magazine, 65 tracks were recorded in total. Some of the leftover tracks were later released on a
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
''Speak of the Devil'' (2000),
with him choosing an anonymous pseudonym Nefarious to comply with the
Son of Sam law.
Critical reception
''Unforgiven'' received mixed reviews from music critics, with them highlighting the album's unique recording process.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
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 ...
thought it is "hard to view it as anything other than a novelty", adding that the vocals sounded isolated from the instrumentals.
''
The Source The Source may refer to:
Film and television
* ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford
* ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation
* ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...
'' Eric K. Arnold wrote: "Considering the extraordinary circumstances under which ''Unforgiven'' was produced, the surprisingly clear sound is indeed impressive." He commended X-Raided's vocal performance, but criticized the lack of diversity in his lyrics.
In a retrospective review, Steve Juon of ''RapReviews'' said that ''Unforgiven'' is "far from a perfect album", as he believed that while the sound quality improved since the previous album, it was still below other albums recorded in a studio.
Track listing
#"Madman Intro" – 0:37
#"Misanthropy" – 5:36
#"Unforgiven" – 3:30
#"Who Is Ya'll Niggas" – 4:23
#"Spitten Venom" – 3:20
#"Mortal Combat" – 4:31
#"Macaframa" – 5:26
#"Take Flight" – 4:48
#"Cemetery Fulla G's" – 3:16
#"Dead on Arrival Pt. 1" – 4:26
#"Land of the Lost" – 4:40
#"Kick It 2-Nite" – 3:14
#"Mama's Pride & Joy" – 4:35
#"Whatever It Took" – 3:34
#"On the Rise" – 4:48
#"Outro" – 1:05
Charts
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Unforgiven Vol 1
1998 albums
X-Raided albums