Owner and founder of the Houston-based label On The Good Foot Music, Russel Gonzales, has unearthed some dusty Hip Hop gems and taken it upon himself to polish them up for re-release. The label’s first offering was in November 2016 and featured a re-issue of an old Scarface track, simply titled “Scarface,” back when the O.G. rapper was still going by DJ Akshen.
The latest comes in the form of Private Identity’s 1989 tracks “Look At Me Now,” which finds Def Jam Blaster and Mr. 3-2 behind the mixing board and on the mic, respectively. Gonzalez is providing songs that were previously unavailable for the general public. In fact, both songs had been sitting on a 4-track demo tape for nearly 28 years.
“Houston is rich with music from soul to Hip Hop,” Gonzalez explains to HipHopDX. “I wanted to start a label and press up limited vinyl of Houston music from the late ’80s to early ’90s the masses may not have been able to hear otherwise.”
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At the time of the release, both Blaster and 3-2 were affiliated with Short Stop Records, the label responsible for the “Scarface” release. Consequently, both Blaster and 3-2 are pictured on the cover of the “Scarface” 12″. Eventually, 3-2 went on to sign a deal with Houston’s Rap-A-Lot Records and became a part of the Convicts with Big Mike in 1991 and Blac Monks in 1994 before going solo with Rap-A-Lot in 1996.
The Private Identity release holds even more weight due to Mr. 3-2’s recent shooting death at a Southwest Houston gas station in November 2016, an event that rippled throughout the rap community. More rare finds are sure to surface in the near future, but in the meantime, check out the singles above and cop the vinyl re-issue here.
