GOTTA BE LYRICAL by R.A.N.

Hailing from Memphis, TN, Gotta Be Lyrical is the sole offering by Lil Ced and Big Syl known as R.A.N. (Ruthless Ass Ni**as). Originally released in 1993 on cassette, this hazy southern horrorcore rap album is seeing its first release on vinyl.

This is part of Now Again Records multiple LP series on the History of Memphis Rap, which attempts to capture Memphis and its underground rap scene as it began to produce some of the most distinctive music of the ’90s.

This was a unique hip-hop strain – visceral and often vicious. It was a local, low-fi, cassette-tape based movement – yet it went on to change the course of rap music.

These albums have never been pressed on vinyl – until now. From Skinny Pimp and Carmike to Gangsta Blac and Shawty Pimp, these albums have been relegated to the proverbial bins of history and bootlegged, with unofficial copies still fetching top dollar on the secondary market. These albums were all licensed directly from their original creators, and come on limited edition colored vinyl with artist-approved imagery for their first LP iterations.

You can read the story of the Memphis Rap scene in a 12-page, oversized booklet with notes by Torii MacAdams. It captures the story of Memphis rap starting with the city’s founding and ending with an auto supply shop that sold these albums over the counter, with all points in between.