''And Now the Legacy Begins'' is the debut album of Canadian hip hop duo Dream Warriors, released April 23, 1991. It was released worldwide on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

and in the United States on sub-label

4th & B'way Records 4th & B'way Records (pronounced and spelled out completely as Fourth and Broadway Records in the UK) is a US-based subsidiary of Island Records that specialised in street-oriented music such as hip hop. Established in 1984, it was the flagshi ...

(although it was not a hit in the U.S.). The album is regarded as one of the finest

alternative hip hop Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confor ...

records of the golden era. Dream Warriors > OverviewAllMusic. Accessed on January 20, 2010.

Singles

"My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style", the album's most successful single, sampled Quincy Jones' "

Soul Bossa Nova "Soul Bossa Nova" is a popular instrumental, composed and first performed by musician and record producer Quincy Jones. It appeared on his 1962 '' Big Band Bossa Nova'' album on Mercury Records. Jones said that it took him twenty minutes to com ...

" — which was also known to Canadian audiences as the longtime theme music of the television game show ''

Definition A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definitio ...

'' and later was known as theme for the

Austin Powers ''Austin Powers'' is a series of American spy action comedy films: '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997), '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' (1999) and ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002). The films were produced an ...

movie series. The song was a hit in both Canada and

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, winning a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

for Rap Recording of the Year in 1992,. "Wash Your Face in My Sink" and "Ludi" were also notable singles.

Reception

The album received high critical acclaim. ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' highly recommended the album, praising its "stunning, almost seamless sample-driven tracks." Ned Raggett of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave it 4½ out of 5 stars, noting that "the duo plays around with any number of inspired samples and grooves, from jazz to harder-edged beats, with style and skill."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

of ''

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'' gave the album a three-star honorable mention, and quipped that it was "West Indian daisy age from boogie-down

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

", choosing the tracks "Ludi" and "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style" as highlights. It peaked at #18 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and #34 in Canada, where it received

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

certification. Over 800,000 copies were sold worldwide. In 2013, the album made Ballast's list of the top 50 Canadian albums of all time. In 2018, the album won the

Polaris Heritage Prize The Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label. The award was established in 2006 with a $20,000 cash prize; the prize was incr ...

Jury Award in the 1986-1995 category.

Track listing

Samples

*"My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style" – Contains a sample of "

" by Quincy Jones *"Ludi" – Contains a sample of "My Conversation" by Slim Smith & The Uniques *"U Never Know a Good Thing Till You Lose It" – Contains samples of "Sing a Happy Song" by War and "Wild and Loose" and " The Walk" by The Time *"And Now the Legacy Begins" – Contains samples of "Shine Your Light" by The Graingers and "

Genius of Love "Genius of Love" is a 1981 hit song by Tom Tom Club from their 1981 eponymous debut album. It reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Disco Top 80 chart. Background "Genius of Love" is Tom Tom Club's second single. Although the album had not ...

" by Tom Tom Club *"Tune from the Mission Channel" – Contains a sample of "Oh Honey" by

Delegation Delegation is the assignment of authority to another person (normally from a manager to a subordinate) to carry out specific activities. It is the process of distributing and entrusting work to another person,Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole ...

*"Wash Your Face in My Sink" – Contains a sample of " Hang on Sloopy" by Count Basie *"Face in the Basin" – Contains samples of " Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins and "Funky Stuff" by Kool & the Gang *"Twelve Sided Dice" – Contains a sample of "Riding High" by Faze-O *"Answer for the Owl" – Contains a sample of "Just Kissed My Baby" by The Meters

Chart positions

Accolades

(*) signifies unordered lists

Personnel

Adapted credits from the liner notes of ''And Now the Legacy Begins''. *Pete Ashworth – Photography *Dream Warriors – Producer, Mixing *Krush – Producer *Maximum 60 – Producer, Engineer, Mixing * Ron Nelson – Producer, Engineer *Split Personality – Producer, Mixing *Swifty – Artwork *Wrighty – Artwork

References

{{Authority control 1991 debut albums 4th & B'way Records albums Dream Warriors albums Island Records albums