We’re a few days late on posting this, but what better time to share this with the DopeHouse than on the day Jeru’s debut album was released? That’s right. Twenty years ago to the day, Jeru’s magnum opus, The Sun Rises in the East was introduced to the world, and to critical acclaim.
On a personal level, this was one of the first hardcore Hip-Hop albums I heard that sort of enlightened me to the social ills that dwell in the concrete jungles of the impoverished. It was also one of the first albums I learned the lyrics to, front to back, and can still recite til this day. Jeru’s poetry, coupled with Premo’s minimalist production made it easy to digest and understand, without being dumbed down. To be honest, I still rock this album every now and then on cassette, just to grasp for that taste of nostalgia. But I digress.
The homie Dharmic X, Peter Oasis and Evan (of UpNorthTrips fame) have teamed up to bring us a new podcast dubbed You Must Learn, where they will explore and “break down classic music moments, through the voices of the artists themselves.” And without further ado, here is the first episode, where they sit down with Jeru.
What you’re about to hear is Jeru the Damaja taking us track by track through his DJ Premier-produced debut album, delving into an array of subjects and stories such as:
– Waiting and watching for Nas to create Illmatic.
– Spending formative years with the members of the Wu-Tang Clan.
– The nature of Brooklyn pride.
– His inspiration drawn from his family, friends, and predecessors.
– And the story of how he got his pet hamster.This is “You Must Learn.”
