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E-A-Ski "One Step Ahead of Yall"

E-A-Ski "Straight Business"

It's easy to dismiss much of the No Limit catalog as a "guilty pleasure" -- the cotton candy to Rap-A-Lot's steak dinner -- and is often pointed to by the so-called "rap purist" (along with Ca$h Money) as being responsible for the downfall of "real hip hop" in the 90s-00s. However, that argument paints a picture of the label with a brush that's far too wide.

The truth is, among the "uhh's" and shouts of "No Limit Soldier, I thought I told ya!" are some truly great rap records soundtracked by an in-house production team, Beats By the Pound, who developed a sonic landscape that would help sell millions of records. Now, maybe not every platinum release from the label stands the test of time, but undoubtedly Master P & co. were tapping into a sound that resonated with a hell of a lot of fans.

Unfortunately, many of these platinum releases are now out-of-print, and most of the early, pre-Priority releases never saw wide distribution. So with that in mind, this site will attempt to catalog the best of what the No Limit label has to offer -- the forgotten gems from Lil Ric, the full TRU roster, and Tre-8, to slept-on records from Fiend, Magic and Young Bleed -- and all the other good shit in between.

To start, here are two tracks from E-A-Ski's 1992 release 1 Step Ahead of Yall. The producer from Oakland was an original member of TRU, and dropped this record on "The Tank" (as well as a couple of 12"s along with CMT) before a falling out with P had them go their separate ways. The tracks showcase a heavily g-funk-influenced, West Coast sound that bore little resemblence to what the label would come to represent. (As you may remember, the label was located in Richmond, CA, where P's mother lived, until 1995.)

If anyone has additional information/corrections on early No Limit/In-A-Minute releases, please leave it in the comments. Thanks for coming through.

(Big thanks to Percy Mack for the audio.)