To the East, Blackwards is the debut studio album by American hip hop group X Clan, released on April 24, 1990, by 4th & B'way Records and Island Records. It was produced entirely by the group and recorded at I.N.S. Recording Studios in New York City
Before Wu-Tang Clan there was the XClan...no, I'm not kidding. This group from Brooklyn was part of the Blackwatch movement, who had a stable of artists releasing albums in the early 90's buffeted by real radical political connections. Hypeman Professor X the Overseer (real name - Lumumba Carson) was the son of noted activist Sonny Carson, and the group's initial offering was a cryptic, mischievous take on Public Enemy's work from the same era. While the music is not as dense, the 'Clan's oddball sensibility comes through from the jump of the opener "Funkin' Lesson". Brother J's metronomic yet agile raps both grate and mesh great with X's high-pitched diatribes over sissies n keys. Definitely not a record that everyone is going to like but in the very least it's about politics AND it's fun, which is such a rare thing.
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