Zulu Warriors - Warrior Dub (1989)

"2000 Style Inna Warrior Dub" by Zulu Warriors & Naph-tali


Naph-tali collaborated with dub producer and artist Jah Warrior on the single "2000 Style".  Then, Jah Warrior performed by the name Zulu Warriors.  The moniker only lasted for the aforementioned single and one album, 1989's Warrior Dub.

Here is the complete Zulu Warriors discography:

2000 Style (1989 single by Zulu Warriors & Naph-tali)
Warrior Dub

"Dub Away" by Zulu Warriors


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Sound Iration - In Dub (1989)

"Iration Time" by Sound Iration


Vocalist Tenastelin and the dub band Sound Iration collaborated on the single "King of Kings".  Both of their debut albums were also later released as a compilation.  Sound Iration sent out their only album In Dub in 1989.

Here is the complete Sound Iration discography:

The Seventh Seal (1988 single)
King of Kings (1989 single)
Dream (1989 single with Bim Sherman)
In Dub
Dub Liberation (1990 remix album vs. LIDJ Incorporated)

"Holshe's Dub" by Sound Iration


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Tena Stelin - Wicked Invention (1989)

"Jah Equity" by Tenastelin


Tenastelin (or Tena Stelin) was the featured artist on Brain Damage's album tracks "Spirit World" and "Genetic Weapon." This UK dub vocalist released his debut album Wicked Invention in 1989.

Here is the discography surrounding Tenastelin's debut album:

Commercial Bwoy (1986 single)
Jah Equity (1989 single)
Wicked Invention
Urban Getto Youth (1990 single)

"Burial Tonight" & "Commercial Bwoy" by Tenastelin


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Poster Children - Flower Power (1989)

"She Walks" by Poster Children


Park's debut album was produced by Brendan Gamble.  Another who weaved his way through bands and studios (primarily as an engineer), Gamble's first album recordings were with the Urbana indie punk band Poster Children.  Poster Children released their debut album Flower Power in 1989 on the Limited Potential label.

Here is the discography surrounding Poster Children's debut album:

Another Face (1985 single by ¡Ack-Ack!)
Automatic (1986 single by ¡Ack-Ack!)
Better Than God (1986 compilation song by ¡Ack-Ack!)
Toreador Squat (1988 demo)
Flower Power

Poster Children Live at The Gallery in Normal, IL 1988


"Byron's Song" by Poster Children


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dc Talk - dc Talk (1989)

"Spinnin' Round" by dc Talk


Relient K's label Gotee Records is founded by Christian rapper (one of the first) TobyMac, or Kevin (Toby) Michael McKeehan.  McKeehan's first nickname, however, was DC Talk named for his origins in Washington D.C.  He attended Liberty University where he met gospel singer Michael Tait.  The two began collaborating in 1987 performing Toby's songs at Liberty.  Their performances went over well enough that they were able to sell over 3,000 copies of their demo Christian Rhymes to a Rhythm.  The demo also made it to Christian label ForeFront Records who signed them in 1988.  Fellow student Kevin Max joined as the third member (on backing vocals) of what was at first "dc Talk and the One Way Crew" but then shortened to just dc Talk.  The three dropped out, the "dc" was reappropriated to mean "direct Christian", and the crew released their debut album dc Talk a year later.  The album is filled to the brim with Christian hip hop anthems that combine McKeehan's message-driven rapping and Tait's soulful choruses while maintaining the popular aesthetic of the hip hop scene at the time.  dc Talk broke ground as one of the first major hip hop groups in the contemporary Christian music scene and would quickly become, by far, the most successful.

Here is the discography surrounding dc Talk's debut album:

dc Talk
Heavenbound  (1989 single)

"Heavenbound" by dc Talk


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Eastern Youth - East End Land (1989)

Number Girl was one of the bigger names to come out of the Fukuoka rock scene. As their star rose higher and shined brighter, they benefited by touring with higher profile bands. Two of the bands that toured with Number Girl were long established and very popular indie bands Bloodthirsty Butchers and Eastern Youth.

Known now as an indie band, Eastern Youth started as an Oi!/Skinhead band in the late eighties.  (Note:  Oi! is a workingman's sub-genre of punk music.  It's music that's as simple and direct as you can get and without the art school pedigree.)  The band formed under childhood friends Hisashi Yoshino (vocals, guitar), Atsuya Tamori (drums), and Toru Mitsuhashi (bass).  They released their debut album East End Land in 1989.

Here is the discography surrounding Eastern Youth's debut album:

Eastern Youth

"East End Land" by Eastern Youth


"This Is My Life" by Eastern Youth


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De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising (1989)

"Eye Know" by De La Soul


Since 2000, the National Recording Preservation Board annually selects a myriad of different recordings from popular songs to historic speeches for preservation in the National Recording Registry. Last year, Mort Sahl's At Sunset and De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising were two of 25 recordings chosen and deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States."

With their debut in 1989, De La Soul heralded an alternative movement that had been growing and solidifying in the hip hop underground for several years. Forming in 1987 when the trio were still in high school, the group consisted of MCs Posdnuos (Kelvin Mercer) and Trugoy (David Jude Jolicoeur) and DJ Maseo (Vincent Mason). Then again, those stage names are only one of several the group could choose when referencing themselves. With the studio guidance of producer Prince Paul, De La Soul's album worked against the standing stereotypes of hip hop. Their sound borrowed samples from non-traditional palettes (country and jazz) and extended their use from not only hooks and drumbreaks to "split-second fills and in-jokes". In attitude and appearance, the trio maintained their own style, promoting individuality, that stood in strong contrast to the burgeoning popularity of the gangsta rap trends of doo rags and bling.

While a gangsta rapper's themes included street violence, profanity, and walking on the wrong side of the law (aka the realities of inner city life), alternative hip hop held a sunnier disposition on city life, promoted individuality, and made relevant social statements. De La Soul's debut in particular promoted the D.A.I.S.Y. Age ("Da Inner Sound, Y'all"), a peace and love mentality that earned the trio an unwanted 'hippie' label. All of these elements put together constructed an album linked together by multiple concepts (a game show transmitted from Mars), featured an innovative sound that strengthened the direction of alternative hip hop, and highlighted by poignant lyrics with definite things to say, underwritten by positive themes, veiled by quick-witted humor. The unlikely popularity of 3 Feet High and Rising and its singles symbolized the expected rise of the alternative hip hop scene out of the underground. A rise that would not come to fruition (at least not then).

Here is the discography surrounding De La Soul's debut album:

Plug Tunin' (1988 single)
Jenifa (Taught Me) / Potholes in My Lawn (1988 single)
This Day and Age (1988 EP)
Eye Know (1989 single)
3 Feet High and Rising
Me Myself and I (1989 single)
Say No Go (1989 single)
Buddy / Ghetto Thang (1989 single)
4 New Remixes (1989 single)
Buddy / The Magic Number (1990 single)





If you have any ideas for where the tour should go next, please give a shout. I'm open to whatever as long as the artists are historically related in some way and go in an artist's chronological order.

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