''The Slickness'' is the first solo studio album by

Prince Po Lawrence Baskerville (born August 12, 1969), better known by his stage name Prince Po, is an American rapper and record producer from Queens, New York City, New York. He is a founder of Nasty Habits Entertainment. Early life Prince Po was born L ...

, one half of American hip hop duo

Organized Konfusion Organizing or organized may refer to: * Organizing (management), a process of coordinating task goals and activities to resources * Community organizing, in which communities come together to act in their shared self-interest * Professional organi ...

. It was released on Lex Records in 2004. It peaked at number 53 on the CMJ Top 200 chart.

Production

80 percent of the album was written at Danger Mouse's house in

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 ...

. The album's production was handled by Jel,

Madlib Otis Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American DJ, music producer, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. He is widely known for his collaborations with MF DOOM (as Madvillain), J Dilla (as Jaylib), ...

, Danger Mouse,

Richard X Richard Philips, better known by his stage name Richard X, is a British songwriter and music producer. Gaining attention as a pioneer of the bootleg craze, Richard X has earned success as a producer and remixer. He has helmed hit singles for arti ...

J-Zone Jay Mumford (born February 26, 1977), better known by his stage name J-Zone, is an American record producer, drummer, multi-instrumentalist, rapper, and writer from New York City. Career Known for his quirky lyrics and trash talk style of rapp ...

, and

himself. In a 2005 interview, Prince Po stated that his favorite song on the album was "Be Easy". The song was dedicated to the late Matt Doo, who drew the cover art for

's '' Stress: The Extinction Agenda'' and committed suicide years afterwards.

Critical reception

David Jeffries 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 databa ...

called the album "a victory for all involved." He added: "It's rough and rugged, real and approachable, and you'll have to make plenty of room on your mixtapes for all the highlights within."

Jamin Warren Jamin Warren (born 1983) is co-founder and chief executive of Kill Screen, a video game arts and culture company that ''The New Yorker'' called "the McSweeney's of interactive media". He was formerly the host of the PBS webseries Game/Show. Warre ...

of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' wrote: "Despite a handful of occasional blunders, Po helms an excellent release." DJ Anna of ''

XLR8R ''XLR8R'' (pronounced "accelerator") is a website that covers music, culture, style, and technology. It was originally also a print magazine. History and profile ''XLR8R'' was founded as a newsprint zine in 1993 by publisher Andrew Smith in Sea ...

'' commented that "Madlib, Danger Mouse and J-Zone create the background for Po's mesmerizing delivery here, and each track drips with heart and soul as a classic voice collaborates with the best of today's talent." Meanwhile, Dom Passantino of '' Stylus Magazine'' wrote: "You just can't help but wonder what it'd be like if he put everything of himself into it." A single from the album, "Hold Dat", received a favorable review from

DJ Shadow Joshua Paul Davis (born June 29, 1972), better known by his stage name DJ Shadow, is an American DJ, songwriter and record producer. His debut studio album, '' Endtroducing.....'' was released in 1996. Biography Early years (1989–1995) DJ Sh ...

. Writing for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', DJ Shadow said: "Underground rap is finally emerging from its own conservatism and embracing the present, evidenced by the adventurous production on this single from Richard X." ''

CMJ New Music Monthly CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

'' placed the album at number 19 on the "20 for 04" list. Tom Dunmore of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' placed it at number 7 on the "Most Beautiful Sleeves of 2004" list.

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from the CD edition's liner notes. *

– vocals, production (8, 12), mixing (8, 12) * Jel – production (1) * Marty Delafongio – mixing (1–3, 7, 9–11), guitar (3) *

– production (2, 7, 9) * Carla Holden – extra vocals (3) * Danger Mouse – production (3, 6, 11), mixing (6), executive production *

Jemini Jemini were a British pop group from Liverpool, best known for scoring ''nul points'' and finishing in last place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with " Cry Baby". Early career Chris Cromby and Gemma Abbey (born 10 March 1981) met in 1995 ...

– vocals (4, 11, 13), co-executive production * Rell – vocals (4, 13) *

– production (4, 13), mixing (4, 13), remix (13) * Stone – vocals (5) *

– production (5, 10), mixing (5), vocals (10) *

MF Doom Daniel Dumile ( ; July 13, 1971October 31, 2020), best known by his stage name MF Doom or simply Doom (both stylized in all caps), was a British-American rapper and record producer. Noted for his intricate wordplay, signature metal mask, and ...

– vocals (6) *

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon The Chef, or simply Raekwon (), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success ...

– vocals (9) * J-Ro – vocals (10) * Cairo – vocals (11) * Ehquestionmark – artwork * Maya Hayuk – photography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Slickness, The 2004 debut albums Prince Po albums Lex Records albums Albums produced by Danger Mouse (musician) Albums produced by Jel (music producer) Albums produced by J-Zone Albums produced by Madlib Albums produced by Richard X