Boogie Down Productions - Edutainment 2xLP - Yellow & Black Swirl (/2500)

Get On Down (20245, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

The fourth album I picked up on Record Store Day this year was the double LP reissue of the fourth Boogie Down Productions record, Edutainment.  I was really excited about this one as this was the most recent Boogie Down Productions album that had been released when I first started listening to them.  I've had the CD for decades and I have a mediocre single LP pressing that I picked up a few years ago, but there's a whole lot of songs crammed on to each side of that record.

This reissue is the first ever double LP pressing of Edutainment to be released.  Now, it wouldn't be truthful if I didn't mention that I'm bummed that this new reissue didn't include the two bonus tracks from the CD, "7 Dee Jays" and "30 Cops Or More."  Not that either is anywhere near the stongest song on the album, but for completist purposes, it would be nice.  I'm sure the nine minute run time of "7 Dee Jays" was the main culprit that probably would have pushed it to a triple LP.

That said, just having the vinyl version spread out over two LPs is a massive improvement over the original pressing.  Plus there is one extra bonus track, the remix version of "You Know The Rules."    Now there has finally been a high quality rerelease of every Boogie Down Productions full length (and the first KRS-One solo album).  It would be nice if someone tackled Live Hardcore Worldwide, but I don't think it's super important in the grand scheme of things.  The main album run is all out there and reasonably affordable (by today's vinyl price standards anyway).  And what a run of albums it was.

Boogie Down Productions - Edutainment:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kA9-4nMh9LtkMuoYvf2ZmIk12rdNpYFo4

Boogie Down Productions - Edutainment LP

Jive (1990)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Edutainment was the most recent Boogie Down Productions full length album that was out when I first started listening to them.  It's never been the album that I tend to go to the most.  I like most of the others better, but I think because of that it always sounds fresh and exciting every time I put it on.

I was never the biggest fan of the album's main single, "Love's Gonna Get'cha," and I think that might be the reason I wasn't as drawn to the album as a whole when I was younger.  But today, when I put on the album and spin through classics like "Blackman in Effect," "Ya Know The Rules" or "The Racist" you get that incredible mix of killer beats with intelligent and well composed lyrics that dominates just about every BDP album.

So maybe this is the least successful of the 5 BDP albums for me, but when you are comparing it to some of the most incredible and well regarded albums in the history of hip hop, you may come up a little short here and there.  That's not to say that Edutainment isn't a classic in its own right, it's just probably not the album I would direct a new fan to first.

Boogie Down Productions - Edutainment (Youtube full album steam):
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_niBt3FGQ7FGaec2AvItUXIQ5-YIuPkHA0