Camp Lo: Uptown Saturday Night (2LP) [TRAFFIC]

Why you'll love it

This remastered 25th anniversary edition spreads the album across two LPs. Uptown Saturday Night reached No. 27 on the Billboard 200 and No. 5 on the R&B albums chart, and "Luchini" became a hit.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Remastered
• 25th anniversary edition
• Pressed in the USA

About the album

Camp Lo named their debut after a 1974 Sidney Poitier comedy, and the Bronx duo of Geechi Suede and Sonny Cheeba rapped like they'd stepped straight out of it, all slick 1970s slang, fly cars and nightlife. The cover nods to Ernie Barnes's painting The Sugar Shack, best known from the sitcom Good Times and Marvin Gaye's I Want You.

Ski, who produced nearly all of it, built the beats from warm soul and jazz loops, with live bass from Joe Quinde, piano from Pete Levin and vibraphone from Bill Ware. "Luchini Aka This Is It" still sounds like Friday night, De La Soul's Trugoy the Dove produced "B-Side To Hollywood," and "Coolie High," "Krystal Karrington" and "Sparkle" keep the late-night glow going. Joe Mendelson adds multiple instruments and Tracey Amos sings, so the whole thing moves with the swing of a live band.

AllMusic called it a refreshing fusion of hip-hop, soul and jazz that sidesteps the usual jazz-rap clichés, and its reputation has kept growing. We'd recommend something with a wide lapel for listening, though the record is far too polite to insist.

Also at Kops: more Camp Lo on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On Profile / Traffic Entertainment Group (cat# TEG 78503-1), a reissue of the 1997 album.