Lyricist Lounge, Volume One

Lyricist Lounge, Volume One
Compilation album by various artists
Released	May 5, 1998 (1998-05-05)
Recorded	1997−1998
Studio	Various Temple of Soul (New York City) Firehouse (New York City) The Chop Shop (New Jersey) Animation Sound (New York City) Ozone (New York City) Soundtrack (New York City) Poke's Crib (Staten Island) Animal Tracks (Brooklyn) D's House (Brooklyn) Platinum Island (New York City) Unique (New York City) Mark Dann (New York City) Rawkus (New York City) The Red October Chemical Storage Facility (Los Angeles) Circus (Brooklyn) Westlake Audio (Los Angeles)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	2:13:47
Label	Rawkus Records
Producer	Anthony Marshall (exec.) Danny Castro (exec.) Perry Landesberg (exec.) 88-Keys Charlemagne Curt Gowdy Cut Chemist Derrick Trotman DJ Nu-Mark DJ Scratch El-P Ge-Ology G.M. Hi-Tek Keith Horne Kenny Diaz Megahertz Native Sun Nottz Shawn J. Period Saul Williams Stix Bones V.I.C. Will Tell
Various artists chronology
Soundbombing (1997) Lyricist Lounge, Volume One (1998) Soundbombing 2 (1999)
Singles from Lyricist Lounge, Volume One
"Body Rock" Released: March 3, 1998 "C.I.A. (Criminals In Action)" Released: November 10, 1998

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Robert Christgau
The Source

Lyricist Lounge, Volume One is the second hip hop compilation album by American record label Rawkus Records. The double-disc was released on May 5, 1998, as the first installment of the Lyricist Lounge album series, based on New York's Lyricist Lounge showcases.

Recording sessions took place at Temple of Soul, Firehouse Studios, at Animation Sound, at Ozone Studios, at Soundtrack Studios, at Poke's Crib, at Animal Tracks Studios, at D's House, at Platinum Island Studios, at Unique Studios, at Mark Dann Recording Studios, at Rawkus Studios and at Circus Studios in New York City, at The Chop Shop in New Jersey, at the Red October Chemical Storage Facility in Los Angeles with additional recording at Westlake Audio.

Production was handled by Shawn J Period, 88-Keys, Kenny Diaz, Will Tell, Charlemagne, Curt Cowdy, Cut Chemist, Derrick Trotman, DJ Nu-Mark, DJ Scratch, El-P, Ge-Ology, G.M., Hi-Tek, Keith Horne, Megahertz, Native Sun, Nottz, Saul Williams, Stix Bones and V.I.C., with Danny Castro, Ant Marshall and Perry Landsberg serving as executive producers.

It features contributions from Bahamadia, Black Thought, Common, Company Flow, De La Soul, Jurassic 5, Kool Keith, KRS-One, Mos Def, Natural Elements, O.C., Pharoahe Monch, Punchline, Q-Tip, Rah Digga, Ras Kass, Saul Williams, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Talib Kweli, Tash, The Last Emperor, Thirstin Howl III, Wordsworth and Zack de la Rocha among others.

The album peaked at number 167 on the Billboard 200 and 52 on the Top R&B Albums chart in the United States. It was preceded by two singles: "Body Rock" and "C.I.A. (Criminals In Action)". "Body Rock" peaked at #15 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, #65 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, #29 on the Hot Rap Songs chart, and #11 on the Dance Singles Sales chart. "C.I.A. (Criminals In Action)" peaked at #33 on the Hot Rap Songs chart.

Track listing

Disc 1: De La Soul Hosts the Lyricist Lounge at Tramps

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Street Promoters (Skit)" (performed by WiseGuy)	G. Thomas Anthony Marshall Danny Castro		0:44
2.	"Intro" (performed by De La Soul)	Kelvin Mercer David Jude Jolicoeur Charles Njapa	88-Keys	1:41
3.	"Bring Hip Hop Back" (performed by Cipher Complete)	Fred Neal Jr. Rodney Wood Dorsey Wesley	Megahertz	3:55
4.	"Keep Pouring" (performed by Diaz Brothers, Matrix and A-Butta)	Kenny Diaz C. Marshall Anthony Cruz	Kenny Diaz	5:29
5.	"Blood" (performed by Sarah Jones)	Sarah Jones Franklin Brown M. Jengkens	Stix Bones Native Sun	5:13
6.	"Body Rock" (performed by Mos Def, Q-Tip and Tash)	Dante Smith Kamaal Fareed Rico Smith Shawn M. Jones	Shawn J Period	5:11
7.	"Bathroom Cipher" (performed by Hazadus, J-Treds, Thirstin Howl III, Kwest tha Madd Ladd and I.G. Off)	F. Swinton Jason Hill Victor DeJesus Thomas St. John Christopher McKenzie Njapa	88-Keys	4:24
8.	"Da Cipher" (performed by Punchline and Wordsworth)	Rashaan Truell Vinson Johnson Richard Pimentel	Curt Gowdy	4:09
9.	"Famous Last Words" (performed by Word A' Mouth)	Ismael Diaz Miguel Herstein William Tell	Will Tell	5:05
10.	"No Matter" (performed by Prime)	E. Louis Derrick Trotman	Derrick Trotman	5:20
11.	"Action Guaranteed" (performed by O.C. and Ras Kass)	Omar Credle John Austin S. Jones	Shawn J Period	5:24
12.	"All in My Own" (performed by Mike Zoot)	Michael Whyte S. Jones	Shawn J Period	7:33
13.	"The Phone Call (Skit)" (performed by WiseGuy and Wordsmith)	G. Thomas V. Johnson		1:03
14.	"Live from the D.J. Stretch Armstrong Show with Your Host Bobbito 'The Barber'" (performed by Black Thought, Common, Pharoahe Monch and Absolute)	Tarik Collins Lonnie Lynn Troy Jamerson A. Flores Victor Padilla S. Jones	V.I.C. Shawn J Period	10:09

Disc 2: Kool Keith and Sir Menelik Host the Lyricist Lounge "Live" at Shea Stadium

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"Ohm" (performed by Saul Williams)	Saul Williams M. Jengkens	Saul Williams Native Sun (co.)	3:28
16.	"Intro" (performed by Kool Keith, Sir Menelik and Survival Soundz)	Keith Thornton Phillip Collington James Knight Mario Moorehead Tesfa Zawdie Andrew Joseph		1:35
17.	"Mayday" (performed by Natural Elements)	Cruz Agu Obiakor Len Lesmond Henri Charlemagne	Charlemagne	5:38
18.	"The Manifesto" (performed by Reflection Eternal)	Talib Greene Tony Cottrell	Hi-Tek	5:44
19.	"Be OK" (performed by Bahamadia and Rah Digga)	Antonia Reed Rashia Fisher George Spivey	DJ Scratch	5:44
20.	"Lyrics" (performed by A.L.)	Alex Mosquera K. Diaz	Kenny Diaz	3:47
21.	"Outside the Lounge" (performed by Talib Kweli, Shabaam Sahdeeq, WiseGuy, Word A' Mouth and Lil' Sci)	Greene Marcus Vialva G. Thomas Herstein I. Diaz John Robinson Tell	Will Tell	7:07
22.	"Holy Water" (performed by Lord Have Mercy and D.V. Alias Khrist)	Wayne Notise Kenneth Scranton Dominick Lamb	Nottz	6:23
23.	"Jayou" (performed by Jurassic 5)	Dante Givens Marc Stuart Charles Stewart Courtenay Henderson Mark Potsic Lucas Macfadden	DJ Nu-Mark Cut Chemist	4:04
24.	"C.I.A. (Criminals in Action)" (performed by Zack de la Rocha, KRS-One and The Last Emperor)	Zacharias de la Rocha Lawrence Parker Jamal Gray Keith Horne	Keith Horne	5:20
25.	"Society" (performed by Problemz)	C. Bullock S. Pile Roy Ayers Donna Hathaway	G.M.	5:16
26.	"Weight" (performed by Indelible MC's: Company Flow, The Juggaknots and J-Treds)	Justin Ingleton Paul Anthony Smith Peridot A.C. Smith Hill Jaime Meline Leonard Smythe	El-P Mr. Len (co.)	6:13
27.	"After the Show" (performed by Wordsmith, Rise, Punchline, Jedi and A.L.)	V. Johnson Jean Myrthil Truell M. Duffoo Mosquera Gerard Young	Ge-Ology	8:08
Total length:				2:13:47

Notes

• Track 11 features additional vocals by Kimberly Diamonds
• Track 12 features additional vocals by Shawn J Period
• Track 17 features additional vocals by Ka
• Track 24 features scratches by DJ Spinbad and DJ Daze
• Track 25 features additional vocals by Nicole Willis

Sample credits

• Track 3 contains a sample of "One Day" written by Jeru the Damaja and DJ Premier
• Track 24 contains excerpts from "La Murga Pana Mena" written by Perez and Willie Colón as performed by Cal Tjader
• Track 25 contains an interpolation of "Our Ages Our Hearts"

Charts

Chart (1998)	Peak position
US Billboard 200	167
US Top R&B Albums (Billboard)	52

Singles chart positions

Year	Song	Chart positions
		US Hot 100	US R&B	US Rap	US Dance
1998	"Body Rock"	115	65	29	11
	"C.I.A. (Criminals In Action)"	—	—	33	—

External links

• Lyricist Lounge (Volume One) at Discogs (list of releases)