Oooh He Got an Exclusive Bonus Song

Okay, there's a good chance most of you reading this don't know who the Sons Of Sam are, so I'll start out by filling ya in. They're two brothers from New Jersey - Samson a.k.a. PA-Kid & The Xav - who released a killer indie 12" in 1993 called, "Ooh He Got an Afro." It was their only release, so in modern days it became a perfect example of "random rap:" a rare, virtually unknown but incredibly dope 12" on a 1-shot label (Workshop Records). You might think from their name that they're on some horrorcore - or at least over-the-top violent gangsta rap - tip, but they're really not (and the Sam in their group name is actually a reference to their real father, named Sam).

Anyway, in 2009, the greatly under-appreciated record label Vinyl Addicts got in touch with the Sons and released a bunch of lost music that they'd recorded in 1993-1994 but never released (The Unbirth EP). And now in 2010, we're seeing a second stage in the recovery of their music, this "Ooh He Got an Afro" repress on Promo-Only Records ("Promo-Only" is actually the name of the label).

Now, a flat-out repress of their original 12" is nice enough. It's a fantastic record and it's incredibly rare ... and expensive. But it's definitely one of those "raers" that's worth it... the music features great, crisp jazz samples married to very hardcore beats. It's just one of those records where the samples, the flows, the beats, the rhymes all just come together for that perfect hip-hop moment. "Ooh He Got an Afro" samples a classic Main Source record on the hook, and honestly, this could play right alongside the best of Breaking Atoms. If you like east coast 90's hip-hop at all, then there's no way you're not feeling this one.

So great, a repress! Hook me up! But it gets better.

Not only does this repress include "Ooh He Got an Afro," the instrumental and its B-side "Charisma," but it has an additional, exclusive unreleased song titled "Rising Son," which was actually the first song they ever recorded and uses a line from Chill Rob G's "The Power" for the hook. This song is completely in the vein of "Ooh He Got" and "Charisma" stylistically, and its right on par. fans' expectations will be happily met. Not only that, but it also includes an Instrumental mix of "Charisma," which was never on the original track. So it's an exclusive song and an exclusive instrumental.

It's limited to 500 hand-numbered copies (mine is #31)*, comes in a sticker cover and can only be gotten... for free. Yeah, you read that right, though I admit it's a little misleading to phrase it that way. See, you can only get this 12" as a free promo when you order a Sons of Sam t-shirt or hoodie (which, of course, are not free).

As you can hopefully make out in my photo, it's a black tee (or hoodie) with the green Sons of Sam logo that matches the 12"'s sticker cover. You can see the designs for both, check out sound-clips, and place an order all at the label's official blog, prom8nly.blogspot.com. They ship from Germany, but I got my copy here in the US very fast. It's not the cheapest of the recent limited editions, but it does come with some nice apparel, so that goes a good way towards balancing out any issues of value discrepancy.

*Update/Errata 10/04/10 - I've been corrected that this isn't strictly a limited pressing. 500 copies were pressed up initially, but it isn't being promoted as a limited edition and there's no promise that it won't be repressed - if there's a demand for more, more will be made. So don't be surprised if you order a copy down the line and you get #501. ;)