General Steele of Smif-N-Wessun/Boot Camp Clik and Burlington, Vermont-based producer Es-K present the music video for “Persistence”, the first single from their brand new collaboration album Building Bridges, featuring guest verses from Vvs Verbal and Louie Skaggs, and the video was beautifully shot by Sisco.
Produced mostly by Es-K, Building Bridges features guest appearances from Buckshot of Black Moon, Smoothe Da Hustler, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Rockness Monsta of Heltah Skeltah, and a posthumous cameo from his late great partner, Sean Price.
As one half of Smif-N-Wessun, General Steele crashed the hip-hop scene in the 1990s with their debut album Dah Shinin’ (named a Top 100 Album Of All Time by The Source and a Top 50 Debut Album Of All Time by Complex). Their last release, 2011’s Monumental, was produced by Pete Rock, and Steele has also collaborated with Tupac Shakur, Mary J Blige, 50 Cent, Raekwon and Bounty Killer.
Es-K may be best known for his 2014 album Serenity, as well as his Spontaneous Grooves beat tape series, where every beat on each tape was made in one sitting each. A low-key display of introspective verses, classic cuts and jazz-inflected beats, Building Bridges stays true to its name by bridging the gap between established artists and rising ones alike such as Vvs Verbal, Shadow The Great of Loaf Muzik, Napoleon Da Legend, Mar’rz Atomz, Stage One, Louie Skaggs, Boone Bixby, Supreme The Eloheem (from the Representativz) and Coke as well as production from Hellfire Beats and Central Parks.
DMC champion DJ Grazzhoppa contributes cuts alongside Hashfinger and Hellfire. The cover art comes courtesy of Joe Buck, the artist behind the De La Soul Is Dead cover art. Building Bridges appears via Bucktown USA, the multi-media company General Steele created in 2004 alongside partner Cynical Smith, with digital distribution through Duck Down, including a limited-edition pressing of 500 records which will be available 12/2.
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