Audiopile Review: Instrumental hip-hop specialist J. Rawls hits the archives for his newest, culling some unreleased material recorded back when he was just getting started. Anticon nerds might recognize the name, Rawls collaborating with a pre-cLOUDDEAD Doesone back in the late ‘90s, eventually going on to become a prolific yet wildly under-recognized producers. And while that early association with Anticon is an integral part of his story, Rawls didn’t go down the same path of eccentricity. Those years were followed by a pile of solo albums and production credits that rank in the hundreds, including a couple prime spots on the beloved Black Star album. Recently he hit a new mark with his 2022 instrumental effort, the appropriately titled #jazzhop, a decades in the making culmination of both his sampling prowess and expertly orchestrated production techniques (now OOP and going for good money. Reissue this please!). So now is as good a time as any to open the vaults for a sampling of some of his earliest productions. Distinctly lo-fi long before it became a catchall tag, Rawls’ early days are rather simple—source some obscure samples, add kicking drums and let the loop run its course. Nuthin’ fancy, just hook-y beats for the connoisseur. But dig in a little further and it’s hard not to sense a bit of crossover with fellow Midwest producer J Dilla, who was surely an early source of inspiration, his trademark sound you can hear in the laggy, snapping drums across this set. Rawls would also go on years later to contribute to a Slum Village mixtape and eventually dedicate a track to Dilla. Sure, it’s Dilla’s world and we all live in it, but Rawls has got his own thing going on. Nineteen-Ninety-Nine providing a glimpse into the formative years of one of the most underrated producers out there.

For the first time on vinyl, J. Rawls’ 1999 beat series offers scenes 1-3 and 6 never-before-heard tracks. All these beats are from the archives of Rawls in his early years (1996-1999) as a young producer in Cincinnati, Ohio. These beats are the essence of Rawls’ sound and embody his entire style. Rawls explains, “I did this album because I’ve had so many requests for my music from that underground hip-hop era. This record took me back to a time when making music was just for fun.”