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I love Discogs. It’s my go-to place for checking production credits, album release dates, and other minutia. Discogs is also a remarkable visual archive. Their scans of album and single covers are often quite good even if the material is rare, like this 1988 cassette by MC Ant.
Another great visual resource is the artist image section on their discography page. In the upper left-hand corner, you can click on the photo of a given artist and see the photos users have uploaded of them. These often include rare candid photos. Here’s one of Memphis MC/producer Grimm (formerly known as Lil Grimm and Playa Grimm), a current solo artist and former Children of the Corn member I interviewed in 2017 and 2020/2021. It’s from his time in high school in the mid-'90s.
In addition to rare candid photos, many artist pages have press kit photos. These were relatively common during a certain of rap, especially during the 1990s.
Discogs has hundreds of these photos spanning many regions and styles of rap. Interestingly, some major acts of the day don’t have a press kit picture uploaded while other independent acts or artists on smaller labels have a pristine one.
In an era of media where we’re inundated 24/7 with video clips, there’s something striking about the simplicity of a press kit photo. The beautiful black and white visuals paired with the label logo capture a moment frozen in time from a different era of recorded music.
They force you to stop and really look at the artist - their pose, facial expression, fashion choice, etc. These pictures help preserve a crucial time for the development of rap music and hip-hop culture.
I made a Twitter thread of these photos back in 2022 and the response was great. A few days ago I decided to post some of them as individual tweets and the response has been even better. This Digable Planets photo in particular seems to be resonating with people.
I think the collective enthusiasm is a reflection of people’s strong attachment to the music of these various artists and groups. The images evoke strong emotions that bring people back to pivotal moments in their lives. And if you’re unfamiliar with a pictured artist, press kit photos can also spark an initial curiosity and desire to check out their work.
Whether you explore these photos in this article, my thread, or on Discogs, I encourage you to take a minutes and enjoy these amazing relics from decades past. If any of them are especially striking or meaningful to you I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Great idea to share these Gino, and props as always for your dedication to featuring these hidden gems.
Always appreciate these! More and more now that I’ve been finding dwindling sources of music journalism I like. Keep it up