“P.S.K. What Does It Mean?” by Schoolly D

The “do it yourself” (DIY) ethic has typically been attached to punk and independent rock music, as their production and countercultural ethics refused to walk in line with accepted societal norms. Today these barriers are no longer, as the white-collar world embraces tattoos and death metal lunch boxes. Hip Hop and Rap music, specifically Gangster Rap, have also become normalized, with big budget videos and thug life imagery as eagerly consumed as boy band Kool-Aid. But there was a time that it, too, was looked down upon for its raw social commentary.

In 1985 an independently self-produced record, initially sold out of the trunks of cars, would change the face of Rap and Hip-Hop music forever. Jesse Weaver Jr. (aka Schoolly D) and his friend Lance Allen (aka DJ Code Money) joined forces to produce Schoolly D. This raw ground-breaking album took the listener on an adventure through the often mean streets of Philadelphia. It broke the mold, helping to create the “Gangster” Rap" genre while putting Schoolly D and the 52nd and Parkside neighborhood of Philadelphia on the map.
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At the time this song blew me away, not for the gangster imagery but because nothing sounded like it. The booming reverb on the Roland TR-909 kick drum was trancelike and lightyears from anything I’d heard before. I wasn’t alone, the song would be sampled by Chapterhouse, The Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, The Prodigy, and even Siouxsie and the Banshees would use it on their “Kiss Them for Me” Single.  ​