Ill Tal – Trapped in the 90’s

The new old instrumental album/beat tape by Ill Tal is finally here via DJBooth.net! I first got the idea for the album while listening to Nas‘s recent track “Loco-motive“. At the end of the track, Nas proclaims it’s for hip-hop fans trapped in the 90’s. Don’t get me wrong – the song is hot but it’s not really reflective of the true 90’s/Golden Era sound.

I decided to make an instrumental album of 20 beats that really do sound like they were recorded between 1992-1995. The basslines are filtered, the sample rates are lo-fi, the drums are from dusty breaks, and the tracks are chock-full of rap quotables. I drew inspiration from the greats of the era – Pete Rock, Buckwild, Large Professor, Q-Tip, DJ Muggs, Da Beatminerz, The Beatnuts, and many more.