''Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell'' is the fifth studio album by hip hop group

Jedi Mind Tricks Jedi Mind Tricks (JMT) are an American underground hip hop group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1996 by two high school friends, rapper Vinnie Paz (Vincenzo Luvineri) and producer Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind (Kevin Baldwin). In ...

. It was released September 19, 2006 through

Babygrande Records Babygrande Records is an American independent record label based in New York City, founded by Chuck Wilson. Babygrande is distributed by The Orchard and represented by the Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood. History Babygrande Records wa ...

. The first single, " Heavy Metal Kings", featuring

Ill Bill William Braunstein (born July 14, 1972), known by his stage name Ill Bill, is an American rapper and record producer from Brooklyn, New York City. Having gained fame in the underground hip hop group Non Phixion, Ill Bill is known for his diver ...

La Coka Nostra La Coka Nostra (short LCN) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group composed of DJ Lethal, Danny Boy (rapper), Danny Boy, Ill Bill and Slaine (rapper), Slaine. Biography Founded in late 2004 with no intention to record an album, La Coka N ...

, was released in early August through iTunes and a limited edition vinyl pressing. Additional guest appearances on the album are provided by

Shara Worden Shara Nova (previously Worden) is the lead singer and songwriter for My Brightest Diamond. As a composer she is most recognized for her choral compositions and the baroque chamber opera "You Us We All". New music composers Sarah Kirkland Snide ...

My Brightest Diamond My Brightest Diamond is the project of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shara Nova. The band has released five studio albums and a remix album, five studio EPs and four remix EPs, and made several tours across the United States. Histo ...

Sean Price Sean Duval Price (March 17, 1972August 8, 2015) was an American rapper and member of the hip hop collective Boot Camp Clik. He was one half of the duo Heltah Skeltah, performing under the name Ruck, along with partner Rock. Early life and educa ...

R.A. the Rugged Man R.A. Thorburn, better known by his stage name R.A. the Rugged Man, is an American rapper and producer. He began his music career at age 12, building a reputation locally for his lyrical skills. Thorburn signed with major label Jive Records at ...

, Block McCloud and

Army of the Pharaohs AOTP logo ''(as seen on In Death Reborn)'' Army of the Pharaohs (most commonly abbreviated as AOTP or A.O.T.P.) is an American underground hip hop collective originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, formed by Jedi Mind Tricks founder ...

members Chief Kamachi and Reef the Lost Cauze.

Overview

As with previous Jedi Mind Tricks albums, many of the track titles appear to be lifted from previous songs by heavy metal groups. For example, "When All Light Dies" was previously the title of a song by

Trivium The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but t ...

; "Serenity in Murder" is also the name of a Slayer track; "Razorblade Salvation" is also a song by

Sinergy Sinergy was a Finnish/Swedish heavy metal band started in 1997 by American musician Kimberly Goss. The idea for a "balls-out female-fronted metal band" was first formed when Kimberly Goss of Dimmu Borgir met Jesper Strömblad of In Flames w ...

; and "Black Winter Day" is the name of a track by

Amorphis Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including progressive metal, ...

. The album title, as well, could potentially be a reference to the

Kreator Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédé ...

track "Servant in Heaven (King in Hell)" from their ''

Violent Revolution ''Violent Revolution'' is the tenth studio album by German thrash metal band Kreator. It was released on 25 September, 2001 and is the band's first album to feature lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö. After almost a decade of musical experimentatio ...

'' album. Much of the lyrics reference heavy metal also, i.e. "I'm a Cannibal Corpse" (When All Light Dies) and " Calculate infinity with

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." (Serenity In Murder). ''Servants in Heaven'' became the group's most commercially successful release, being their first album to break into the ''Billboard'' 200, and also landed in the top ten on the Independent Albums chart, and the top fifty 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 Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated Jan ...

chart. The album was warmly received critically, especially when compared to their two previous efforts, ''

Visions of Gandhi ''Visions of Gandhi'' is the third studio album from underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks, and their first album on the Babygrande record label. Jus Allah split from the group after the release of their album ''Violent by Design'' (2000 ...

'' and '' Legacy of Blood'', which both received mixed reviews.

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 databa ...

gave the album a positive four star rating; writer Marisa Brown stated: An exclusive version of the album was released at

Trans World Entertainment Kaspien Holdings, Inc. (formerly Trans World Entertainment) is an American company that provides software and services for ecommerce. Kaspien Holdings operates on Amazon in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, France, Italy, Germany ...

chain stores. This version features three bonus tracks, a remixed version of "Heavy Metal Kings", performed with

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

hardcore band Terror, the D-Tension mixtape track "Pretty Little Whores", featuring

OuterSpace OuterSpace is an underground hip hop duo from North Philadelphia. Originally a trio consisting of three Puerto Rican friends that then took the artist names Planetary, Jedeye and Crypt the Warchild. The founding member Mario Collazo (Planetar ...

, and "Blitz Inc.", featuring

King Syze David Albaladejo (better known by his stage name King Syze) is an underground rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of Puerto Rican descent. He is a member of the underground hip hop supergroup Army of the Pharaohs (AOTP), having featured on ...

and

Esoteric Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...

, as well as a bonus

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

, featuring the "Heavy Metal Kings" music video.

Track listing

^* = Bonus tracks

Samples

Put 'Em In The Grave *"Threat" by Jay-Z *"Twinz (Deep Cover '98)" by

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx borough of New York City in the e ...

*"Quiet Storm" by Mobb Deep Suicide *"1-800 Suicide" by Gravediggaz Serenity In Murder *"Made You Look (Remix)" by Nas (Vocals by

Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper from Yonkers, New York. He began his career in the 1990s as a member of the rap trio The Lox, managed by Ruff Ryders and signed with B ...

) *"Still D.R.E." by

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

*"Day One" by

D.I.T.C. The Diggin' in the Crates Crew, commonly known as D.I.T.C., is an American hip hop collective formed in 1992 in New York City. The collective's name derives from the act of seeking out records to sample for production. The collective is compo ...

(Vocals by Lord Finesse) *"Quiet Storm" by Mobb Deep (Vocals by

Prodigy Prodigy, Prodigies or The Prodigy may refer to: * Child prodigy, a child who produces meaningful output to the level of an adult expert performer ** Chess prodigy, a child who can beat experienced adult players at chess Arts, entertainment, and ...

) Heavy Metal Kings *"Estuans Interius" by

Carl Orff Carl Orff (; 10 July 1895 – 29 March 1982) was a German composer and music educator, best known for his cantata '' Carmina Burana'' (1937). The concepts of his Schulwerk were influential for children's music education. Life Early life Carl ...

*samples "Hell on Earth (Front Lines)" by Mobb Deep Shadow Business *"Il Mio Coraggio" by

Ornella Vanoni Ornella Vanoni (; born 22 September 1934) is an Italian singer-songwriter and actress. She is one of the longest-standing Italian artists, having started performing in 1956. She has released about 112 works between LP, EPs and greatest hits alb ...

Razorblade Salvation *"Dumb I Sound" by Sufjan Stevens Outlive the War *"Noi Siamo Zingarelle" by Giuseppe Verdi Gutta Music *"Yo No Soy Esa"by Mari Trini Black Winter Day *"Tear Me Apart" by Alberto Daglio

Credits

Vinnie Paz Vincenzo Luvineri (born October 5, 1977), better known as Vinnie Paz (formerly known as Ikon the Verbal Hologram), is a Sicilian American rapper and producer behind the Philadelphia underground hip hop group Jedi Mind Tricks. He is also the fr ...

- Lead vocals * Stoupe the Enemy of Mankind - Producer *

- Vocals *

- Vocals * Block McCloud - Vocals *

Reef the Lost Cauze Sharif Talib Lacey, better known by his stage name Reef the Lost Cauze, is an underground hip hop artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cauze became well known on the underground circuit towards the late 1990s and more so in the early 2000 ...

- Vocals *

Chief Kamachi The JuJu Mob (originally credited as ''Chief Kamachi & The JuJu Mob'') is a four-member underground hip hop group originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was founded in 2004.Matt Jost, Chief Kamachi & the JuJu Mob :: Black Candles ...

- Vocals * Terror - Vocals *

- Vocals *King Syze - Vocals *

- Vocals *

Crypt the Warchild Marcus Albaladejo (born August 18, 1980), better known by his stage name Crypt the Warchild, is an underground rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Albaladejo is one half of the rap duo OuterSpace and is a member of Army of the Pharaohs. Cry ...

- Additional vocals *Liz Fullerton - Additional vocals *Scott "Supe" Stallone - Production, mixing, engineering, bass, keyboards *D-Tension - Production * 7L - Production *Damian Cusamano - Bass *DJ Kwestion - Cuts *Michael Sarsfield - Mastering *Chuck Wilson - Executive producer *Yan - A&R *Jesse Stone - Additional A&R, marketing *Jill Shehebar - International marketing *Michael Schiller - DVD creative *Paul A. Romano - Art direction, artwork, design

Singles

Charts

Awards

*HipHopDX 2006 awards **"Verse Of The Year" - " Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story" (performed by

)

References

{{Authority control Babygrande Records albums 2006 albums Jedi Mind Tricks albums Horrorcore albums