Not bad for a 14 year old! Shawn Lov shows his potential as a determined producer/MC back in the year of 1991 with the self-defining EP "Witness The Strength". This youthful voice on the mic is a charming moment of Hip Hop's Golden Era to look back upon as Shawn demonstrates just how much a youngster can be intellectual and serious about the craft of Hip Hop. No dumbed-down gimmicks or trends here because their were virtually none at this point.

As the EP begins in '91, Shawn sounds a bit inexperienced as compared to the 5th to final tracks where the project begins to pick up steam as the young MC seems to come into his own identity with refined beats and rhymes recorded in 1992. Enjoy this cool flashback to the early work of an unsigned MC who shows his progression from first to last track.

About the EP:

"Witness the Strength" is a collection of songs mostly recorded in 1991, when Shawn was only 14 years old. Two years before Shawn started releasing albums in his official catalogue, he was busy honing his skills by recording projects and demos at Hot Spots studio (owned by Ed Livernoche- Shawn's father.) Hot spots was one of Trenton NJ's only options for recording Hip-Hop in the late eighties and early nineties. The production was mostly by Shawn, who made the beats on the studio's Akai MPC60ii, with several beat contributions from Fatha Ramzee. These songs came after Shawn had already experienced six years plus of perils shopping demos in the then infant Hip-Hop market. The strong songwriting in "Witness the Strength" is indicative of what is to come later in Shawn's recording career, and exhibits Shawn's sense of rejection from not only the rap industry, but both his black and white peers. The themes in these early recording will blossom over another 20 plus years and become the foundation for the Shawn Lov catalogue.

released 31 December 1991
Shawn Lov, Ed Livernoche, Fatha Ramzee, Sole Survivors