A hard rock mash up – Bandleader Paul Ngozi’s split album with his drummer and co-vocalist Chrissy Zebby Tembo . LP includes oversized 8p. booklet detailing Ngozi’s arc, rare photographs, discography and annotations Each album released under license from the Estate of Paul “Ngozi” Nyirongo.
Zamrock was a bona-fide rock scene, with albums released through independent labels based in Zambia. This music scene was complete, encompassing the genres of rock, acid folk, fusion, Afro-beat, South African jazz and traditional Zambian melodies. It quickly became a uniquely Zambian movement, befitting of its name. The Ngozi Family,WITCH and Amanaz sound nothing like other rock music from the African continent or elsewhere. MORE
We are reissuing six essential albums from the ’90s Memphis Rap scene, each licensed directly from the artists. These albums were originally released on rare tapes, only distributed in and around Memphis. This is the first time they appear on LP; each album is pressed on limited edition colored vinyl, and comes in an OBI wrapped jacket that contains an oversized 12 page book that details the historical precedent, genesis and arc of this important American musical scene. This series follows the sold-out box set The Story of Memphis Rap.
• Shawty Pimp & MC Spade – Vol. 2 (1994) – Sep. 17
• MC Money & Gangsta Gold – Da Hard Ov Frayser (1995) – Oct. 15
• Carmike – Comin’ At Yo Ass (1994) – Nov. 12
• Gangsta Blac – Breakin Da Law (1994) – Dec. 10 MORE
With Pale Shades Of Grey, we complete the trilogy Egon started with Forge Your Own Chains and followed with Tickets for Doomsday – another batch of rare, largely uncompiled – and sometimes barely heard – heavy psych-rock. Pounding drums, scathing fuzz guitar and morose, contemplative lyrics will bring you up on a downer.
Pale Shades Of Grey, as the title hints, is and perhaps the most contemplative of the series, ruminations dark themes of love, death, pain and triumph, as performed by high school and college bands, Nigerian rockers an Irish pub band from Michigan and, above, a group of somber land-locked Nebraskans dreaming about being by the ocean. A unique and compelling listen, and surely a worthy companion for these times.
Joe Bataan’s Ghetto Records catalog includes 7 landmark albums of Latin jazz, deep soul, raucous boogaloo, and heavy salsa. The albums are now available in stand-alone LP format via our Rappcats store and at the Now-Again Bandcamp and can also be purchased as a value-priced bundle.
Ghetto Records was Joe Bataan’s way to get over on The Man and out of the ’hood, a bold move by an artist looking for independence and creative control in an industry that had exploited his talents and treated him like chattel.
As Bataan puts it today, “Ghetto Records was part of my journey, a stepping stone to everything else that I’ve done. I learned enough that it enabled me to get out of the box with my thinking, it showed me how to deal with adversity.” Like many dreams and schemes born of the street, this one was audacious, perhaps even reckless to a fault.
Hatched from desperation yet full of hope Ghetto Records came crashing down shortly after its inception. The seven albums in the Ghetto discography languished out of print – until now. These are the definitive reissues of these albums, licensed from Joe Bataan, with his oversight and input into a 15 page oversize book by Pablo Yglesias that details Bataan’s larger-than-imagination life and his little Latin label that could.
“There’s a reason that it took nearly half a century for Joe Bataan to allow these records to be issued again – his label was born out of rebellion and frustration with the music industry. He refused to be burned a second time,” says Eothen “Egon” Alapatt, Now-Again’s founder and president. “It took years to gain his trust, and I knew I would finally earn it – because I, too, wanted to know the true Story of Ghetto Records.” MORE
