The Proov - Speaker Room
The Proov is a Dutch rap group that started in 1996, considered one of the premier groups in the first wave of hip hop from The Netherlands.
Now we are releasing their first demo EP 'Speaker Room' from 1997 in the digital world for the first time. Sold back then in a run of 100 cassettes, it got them a record deal which resulted in an EP and a full-length album (both titled "Traditions", after the song featured on this EP, but not containing the song itself) and success in the form of two years touring, lots of press/media coverage and creating the track to the video for the Nike campaign relating to UEFA Euro 2000.
In the meantime the 4-track master disappeared and was lost for 18+ years, but was found when original member Leroy Rey was moving his studio. The songs are newly mixed & mastered by Leroy himself, but with the demo charm kept intact, to still approach that original vintage feel the cassette had.
Firmly rooted in Native Tongues aesthetics, this EP shows the band in already prime form, creatively connecting the old school with the new, taking cues from acts like Organized Konfusion ("Loose Cannon") and Common ("Mind Is Wealth") in the process, while never lose sight of their own unique outlook on the rap game ca. 1997.
"Speaker Room" is a little treasure, recommended to fans of that true school mid-to-late 90's hip hop sound.
Buy digital: HERE
Preview 2 tracks here:
- 'Keep Your Shit To Yaself'
- 'What I'm Not'