WOW. My first album is 20 years old. Thank you for such an amazing career.
Listen to it today, pay what you want!
Heed the Call! Today we celebrate the album that made me. Download it for free or fee here and listen along as i tell a little story!
I wrote some thoughts on this album way back in 2006 and found them, so here you are!
Originally typed on Tuesday, October 10, 2006 at 5:07 PM
Updated a bit with current takes.
The Making of "The Call" by Random
One of my favorite sections in The Source Magazine was the part where they'd get an artist to break down their album, track by track, and explain the concept, a cute story behind it, or whatever. So I always said I would do that one day. Why not on my first album?
Introduction prod by Random and DN3
I wanted an intro with a rap in it. I knew that from the beginning. I was thinking about Common's intro for "One Day It'll All Make Sense" (was that the intro or track 2?), Ludacris’ albums always start with a rap… so I wanted to sum up the album in one shot. First time I recorded it, I recorded it on a totally different track, much slower. Then one day, DN3 played me a joint called "Satisfaction," and I needed that. My only gripe was that it didn't have a bassline. A reviewer said it was worthy of being a full song, it was so hot (so for the remix tape, it'll have a bassline and an additional verse, pleasing him and myself at the same time...that's "Satisfaction"). The beginning 8 bars are from a beat I made in like 2003, the sample is from "Travelin' Man," and it says "Just Call," so I thought it would fit. I found a poem online called "Heed The Call," written by a guy (so sorry I forgot your name!!) and I contacted him about reciting it on the album and he was excited. I thought Oh!Mega had the perfect voice to get across the message of the poem, heeding the call. Thanks Courtney! The Opening Movement (Focused) prod. DN3
They always say (and I dont know who "they" are) that somewhere near the beginning of the album, you should have a track that hits the listener, makes them want to bob their head..a track stating who you are... all of the greats, from KRS to Rakim to Redman to Jay-Z do it. This was that track for me. Everytime I go to DN3's house I say "So wassup?" and he knows what that means: break out the beats. So he said, "I just finished this joint." and WOW! I was on it instantly. I had 1 1/2 verses written to a 'skill joint' as we call them (a rap not really about anything, just braggadocio), but didn't have a beat in mind. I spit them over that track and it was a match made in heaven. This was recorded about mid-'05, and I say in the song "'05, RAHM Nation brought the thirst back," and planned on updating it.... Unfortunately, not long after recording this track, DN3 suffered what we refer to as "The Great Crash of '05." He lost a most of his files on his hard drive, including beats, and about 55% of "The Call." The Opening Movement's master files were gone. DN3 was considering quitting music altogether. I wasn't having that! All we had was an MP3 of it, and that's what went on the album. DN3 put it in some mastering software program, jazzed it up... and voila! Raze The Bar prod Samik
This is my favorite story to tell. I met Samik when I was engineering at a studio outside of Philly, his studio was right across the way. this was about in 2002 or so. we heard each other’s beats, and a mutual respect was formed. I didn't know it then, but Samik's a pretty well-connected cat. I didn't see him again till about 2004 at a club, and he passed me a demo cd of some of his artists. Nice stuff. So when 2005 hit and I began working on "The Call" I knew that I would call Samik for a banger. luckily his phone number was on the CD. I didn't know how to begin the conversation, I mean, "Hey, you probably don't remember me, but I'd like a beat" might not have worked well. I don't remember what was said to be honest, but I remember him asking me to come out to his crib to listen to some tracks. Let me set the scene. It was a SUPER rainy day. his house is literally an hour from me, and I even had to get on the highway to get there. (Come to think of it, it always rains when I go to his house.... sign?) It's pouring, my old '89 Blazer (RIP) is struggling. I get lost. I get lost again. Finally we meet at a mutual location and I follow him for what seems like 30 more minutes. we get to the crib, and not long after, it stops raining. figures. I'm totally soaked. We get in and exchange ideas. he makes a drumbeat, I'm feeling it. I get hungry, so I make a run to Wendy's. I get some nuggets. I come back, and the track that we now know as "Splash Woman" is done! amazed, I sit down and the lyrics just fly out of me. bam, 3 verses and a hook done in what seemed like 20 minutes. Still amazed, we lay the track down. Then when I left Samik's crib, it started pouring again. I got lost, and my car runs out of gas right next to a gas station. What a day. Raze came out of me just so fast as well. One of my favorite guys to make music with.
The "Sick and Tireds" I do on the 3rd verse was an old idea from a song I had in about '99 called (surprise) "Sick and Tired." I used to rap it at the open mics, acapella and get a great response. unfortunately, some of the things I said back then were still true today so I didnt have to change too much. and no, I wasn't dissing 50 Cent.
Still Ain't Good Enough prod Fingaz Fingaz has been a good friend to me for quite some time. He still cuts my hair when I come back to Philly. We kept each other focused with the music thing, through thick and thin. We'd encourage each other. I'd play him my newest beat CD, and he'd say "I gotta step my game up!" I'd do the same. He showed me how to use the MPC, so when I got my own, a few things came back to me from those lessons. Fingaz had been giving me CD's for weeks, and I had almost had the entire album mapped out, and there was no Fingaz beat on the itinerary. Then he gave me a CD with not one, but 2 heat rocks that I HAD to have. They were both supposed to make the album, one being "Still Ain't Good Enough" and the other being an early version of "Luminescence" that was to feature Baron of Red Clay (Baron, we gonna release that one day!) Anyway, the concept came to me immediately. The beat hit so hard, and had a bit of a bounce to it, so cats would be bobbin their head, and not even realize I was telling them something serious. I started the verse off super-fast, to grab the listener as well. I was pretty much speaking my mind on political affairs, and this wasn't long after Katrina, so they weren't gonna be positive. I mentioned Kanye's remark (the line goes "I ain't mad about Kanye's comments, I'm more mad they call Kanye conscious"). The reviewer at hiphoplinguistics.com made that verse a Quote of the Month, so I'm proud of that. I've heard it's ruffled some feathers, but it's cool. It's all true to me. The last verse is especially personal to me, as an educator. I spoke from the mind of the child that I'm trying to reach, who could care less about school, because he knew at a young age that the system is screwed up. ironically, this is my students' favorite song. When we play Uno, they'll say "You Still Ain't Good Enough" as their way of talking trash. HA!
Tainted Love prod 9th Wonder
I never do “girl jawns,” as we called them. But every one of my heroes (LL Cool J, Biggie, 2Pac) did. So I’d decided maybe I make one song that has 3 parts, all about the 3 stages of relationships---the beginning, the middle and the bitter end. This could’ve all been one song, but I thought breaking them up into 3 parts and sprinkling them across the album was much more fun. This is about what I call the “First Month Front”—where everything is so perfect because you and her are showing each other your representatives – the person you THINK they want, not who you actually are yet. Motivate prod by me, add'l vocals Hope McDowell
This was the first and last song we recorded for the album. I took it for granted because I had recorded it earlier that year as soon as I finished "Fundamentals." However, the sound quality wasn't great, but Hope's vocals blew me away. Hope and I had recorded stuff together on a smaller level, but this was her first time in a major studio and she didn't disappoint. 3 days before our deadline, I brought Hope into the new studio and we rerecorded the joint. Hope was sick with the flu, and drank tea in-between recordings (Thanks Shorty!), but got it done like a soldier. I still think the original (bad quality) version is better, but the world will never know. Hope is extremely talented, ALSO – Hope shot the cover photo for the album! She’s got an amazing vocal range. I hope (no pun intended) to work with her again, but it may be tough on the long-distance tip. To me, this song isn't a love song, but most think it is. It's more of a letter to those who keep me going in life, who stick by me. one of the few RandomBeats you'll hear on The Call.
The Art of War feat. Ohene
PURE ANGER and FIRE! LOL I didn’t know what I was doing but O had kinda pioneered and re-revolutionized rapping in strange time signatures, so he had most of the crew trying 6/8-time rhymes, so I knew that whatever I got Ohene to rap on had to be in that configuration. No concept just bars!
If I Wait featuring Hasan Salaam and Majesty prod DN3
This is another one that I knew what I was gonna do and how, before I laid it down. I met Hasan and Majesty during a New York trip with the Grassroots Artist MovEment (GAME). I also met Immortal Technique, Red Clay, Ravage, and a bunch of other super creative, positive minds. We all met up and rode a bus to Albany for a show, freestyling and listening to each others beats the whole way. This trip changed my outlook on music FOREVER. Seeing this many revolutionary minds on one bus let me know that Hip-Hop wasn't dead. I was totally inspired and came back to Philly and got working on "Archetype", and all the while laying the foundation for "The Call." Prior to this I was recording music that wasn't me: it was watered down, it was commercial, it was forced. It was on this trip that I found my identity as an MC. No one around me at that time was doing revolutionary music, so I found myself doing "What They Do" as the Roots put it. But to be surrounded by 30-40 people who were all about the music, that affected me. Anyway, the song is saying that I can't wait another minute to fight for change, to speak up, because it might be too late. Ohene told me he reverts to the last bar of my verse "You can't say nobody ever told you the truth" all the time when referring to his music. When it's all said and done, everybody will be able to look back to some point in their lives, when they heard the truth...did they choose to accept it or reject it? The beat is another banger by DN3, and many folks say this is the best song on the album.
On The Grind prod Ohene, add'l vocals Nasheda Shockley This is my soul right here, probably my favorite track. 2 years back, I was working on a song for a mixtape I never released, and one of the bars of that, "Momma told me I was wastin' my time, all that did was make me stay on the grind," became the hook of this song. It's the truest thing I ever said. My mom doesn't support me doing music AT ALL, I don't even think she's listened to my album. She's always encouraged education, because its one thing that can't be taken away from you. It's hard to convince her that I don't make music to be rich and famous, that I'm not chasing some unrealistic dream, I'm just doing it because I love it, and people have told me I'm pretty good at it. I go off on a few tangents, but bring it right back home by the end. Its about the constant hustle of an indie artist: the love, the hate, the phoniness, the struggle. I'm still on the grind.
Tainted Love part 2
This track was called “Your Love Has Faded” and that’s usually phase 2 of a long-term relationship. Yes, it happens. Love the soulful flip, and my favorite line is the end – The secret to happiness, aint really a secret / as hard as you work to get it that’s how hard you work to keep it.” BARS!
Please Don’t Let Me Die feat. Hezekiah prod by Storyville
My least favorite track. And Not for any other reason except that I got struck with major Demoitis on this one. That’s when you’re so in love with the first draft of the recording that nothing else stands up to it. The first time we recorded this was on a completely different beat, and I loved it so much. Some clearance issues led to us going to a fully live produced track which is awesome, but honestly just wasn’t what I wrote to, so I never got comfortable with it. If this was a Roots album they would’ve named this like “Part 5” or something because this was maybe the 5th draft, and I gave in when we couldn’t get the sound of the original. I love the story and lyrics though, very glad we kept it on the album. Shouts to Hez!
Interlude (the Prayer)
A short prayer that I wrote and read… it’s powerful. My pastor had a sermon about Heeding the Call which inspired this album completely, but actually led me to a weird place with religion. I emailed him about me wanting to move to a new place and to get some advice and prayer and he didn’t respond. I then instead of getting upset, went to my bible. And this is where the prayer came from. The piano is by Ohene Savant, who is just as talented on the mic as he is on the keys. He gave this the perfect vibe. I listen to this track more than most. We even sampled the piano on a track we did later called “I Pray”
Blackout produced by Peru
I felt like this album was way too serious, too somber and too political, and one day at the studio, my homie Chizz said “you need to have one track where you just black out!” And so this idea was born. I met Peru one time only, and he gave me a beat called “Luda.” I'm glad to know I'm not the only person who names beats after who they want to hear them... I named the “Motivate” beat “For Jill (Scott).” But I knocked out some of the harder verses I had written at the time and knew I had to balance that with a short and simple chorus that anyone could work with. I had a blast making it and I make sure to perform it everytime as my ending track.
Push produced by Storyville (then known as Problem Child)
This was PC's first production that I had ever rapped on. I tell this story a lot, but I was working 2 jobs when I made this album, teaching and working at Toys R Us. On this particular day it was snowing, it was cold, and my Blazer didn't have any heat. I had just finished a rough day with the kiddos, and then I had to do a night shift at TRU. I parked at the parking lot, with about 20 minutes before I had to clock in, and I wasted as much time as possible before I had to get out of the car. I hit play on my CD player and this beat played. The chanting, the viola, it really took me to another place. I stayed there for another hour and wrote what would be the 2 verses of “Push” there. “I change for work so I can work for change.” Too real. The production is so sick on this track... I think Problem Child has the skills to be the future of music. His musical vision is really on another level.
Salvation featuring Wordsworth prod by DN3
During the making of this album, I listened to a lot of my favorite music – a lot of Marvin Gaye, a lot of Stevie Wonder, and a lot of classical, but only a little hip-hop. 2 albums to be exact: Kanye's “Late Registration” and Wordsworth's “Mirror Music.” I feel like songs like this show that the most. I wanted my own version of “Heard Em Say.” I couldn’t reach Kanye (his line was busy), so I contacted Wordsworth through myspace.
This song is another that took shape many ways. DN3 played me a track called “Zoom,” because it sampled “Zoom” by The Commodores. I loved it instantly. I found a great singer from Detroit named Nadir, who sang a hook that I really liked, but the part I loved the most was him just saying the word “Salvation.” I also met another singer from Philly named Ron Damian, and I asked him to come up with something, and I liked his words a lot, so I combined Ron and Nadir's choruses to create something totally new. I'd always wanted to have a “take em to church” clapping section at the end, so DN3 and I did that in post-production. “I wasn't raised on a bad block, but round here fiends'll snatch your lawn chairs if you ain't got em padlocked.” Real talk there, we had our lawn furniture yoinked a few times until we got Master locks. Wordsworth is and continues to be one of my favorites and one of the most consistently dope MC's I've heard.
Tainted Love Part 3 prod Random Beats
My 2nd production on the record. I sampled the same track Jay Electronica would use for “Exhibit C,” shouts to Just Blaze. Instead of writing a sad lovesick jam, part 3 is the end. But the guy is excited about the freedom he’s about to get. If I’d done a part 4, it would be the guy begging to come back after he realizes what he lost. But sometimes when relationships end, it isn’t a sad occasion. I said “We ain’t happy, girl, what I’m supposed to do, cry?” and MAN I have been there, dawg. Walk away yo, just bounce. No reason to stay somewhere and be miserable.
Luminescence feat. Reef The Lost Cauze and Neo P prod by DN3
I told Reef and Trav one thing when we started recording… “Body me.” That’s the assignment on a song like this. Just kill it. Pretend that Jay Z (or insert your favorite rapper) is about to get on the verse after you. I said something to the effect of “kill me… cause I’mma try to kill you.” LOL. It’s the law of the land. that sounds kind of barbaric for a rap song, but that’s literally the mentality when you get a guy like Reef the Lost Cauze on a record. Eat or become food. Philly in a nutshell. So Reef and Neo P did what they do… bodied me, haha. Love this track. Shouts to DJ Akshun for the precise cuts. Closest I’ll get to a Gang Starr track. The vibe is of all the music I listened to coming up. Battle raps!
I Still Care
This might be the saddest song I’ve done, which is a lot when I have a whole list of sad songs. Never performed this live, no way I could get through it. Writing a verse about getting cheated on, then another about our country, when the concept is maintaining the love and turning the other cheek when you don’t receive the love you think you need and deserve. Still hurts listening now. The story wasn’t true in the first verse but the 2nd, about Katrina, was very real. Shouts to Ohene and his wife Sheda who made this song what it is.
Listening back I understand why I didn’t think I’d write another album after this. I laid out a lot of pain and hurt that I never thought I’d recover from, and put it all down in this very very chunky album.
The Call (poem by Hope McDowell)
Looking back this is like the sledgehammer on the top of a pretty heavy-handed message filled album – and sometimes that’s necessary. I love the poem – again, can’t say enough about Hope’s talent, as she shows up so many times on this record in different creative forms.
“don’t expect payment from human hands, either.” SHEEESH
20 years later that is the most real thing.
When I listen to this poem today, I feel the challenge more than ever. The call to do it the hard way when you see everyone else cutting corners is a tough one to accept, a tough task to take on. But when you realize it’s literally life and death, it’s not that hard of a choice. Do the right thing. Heed the call! Who knows, it might just work out in the end.
BONUS TRACKS
WHOLE LOT TO LOVE feat. DN3 prod DN3
I almost went a whole album without a “The Rap Game Jawn” – where I lament on how wack hip-hop is for nice guys, and how it praises folks who sell out their beliefs for the dollar bill. BUT NOT US!! I used to write so many songs about this, so I kinda shoehorned this one in. It was a last remnant between “Fundamentals” and “The Call,” and needed a home. Format-wise, it’s odd, as it’s got a sixteen bar chorus – the length of a traditional verse, not hook, so that sends it to a strange place, but I love the movement within the song. DN3 killed this verse, I love it so much, and the production is going so many interesting places.
CITY BOY – prod by Capp The Genius
This was the actual last remnant of “Fundamentals” – the album that Wikipedia keeps mentioning is my actual first release – but it only existed on a burned CD-R in a slim jewel case. This track was on there... and became a local hit in Philly open mics and small gatherings circa 2004-2005, I’d played “City Boy” everywhere up and down the east coast, and it didn’t really have a home. So we re-recorded it and gave it a little facelift to get it onto this album, but I didn’t want there to be over 20 tracks so I made the last two one combined track – another weird thing I’ve seen The Roots do. Also, I wanted to hide the very very famous sample that drives this song.
Thank you for reading all this, I had so much fun writing it, and even if a handful of you make it this far, I appreciate you so much. This is MY BABY. A classic, whether 6 or 6 million hear it. The work we put in, in the tiny rooms, was truly the momentum shift that I’d needed and this album absolutely changed my life.
Much Love
Ran
2006, and then 2026.