La the Darkman

At the Ghostface concert at Emory a month or so ago, a guy went through the crowd passing out his mixtape, “The Notorious LAD”. I thought that was funny. Little did I know it was La the Darkman, the apparent 12th member of Wu-Tang (Wikipedia makes it sound like he gave himself that title. Whatever). Produced by DJ Drama and Gangsta Grillz, the mixtape was pretty solid, but predictably very un-Wu-like. I investigated further and got his only studio-produced album, Heist of the Century, which came out in 1998, and La didn’t disappoint. With tracks produced by guys like 4th Disciple, Carlos “Six July” Broady, RZA and Havoc, Heist of the Century exhibits the prototypical sinister sound of the New York City rap scene in the 90s. Here are some tracks. Enjoy.

They Keep Talking (off the Gangsta Grillz Mixtape)

Dumping the Ruger (Mixtape)

Gun Rule (off of Heist of the Century)

Az the World Turnz (Heist of the Century, featuring Ghostface Killah)

La’s apparently got a new album coming out this year, so keep an eye out.