Hold It Down (Das EFX album)

Hold It Down
Studio album by
Das EFX
ReleasedSeptember 26, 1995 (1995-09-26)
Studio
Genre
Length1:13:39
LabelEastWest
Producer
Das EFX chronology
Straight Up Sewaside
(1993) 		Hold It Down
(1995) 		Generation EFX
(1998)
Singles from Hold It Down
  1. "Real Hip-Hop"
    Released: September 12, 1995
  2. "Microphone Master"
    Released: January 30, 1996
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Muzik[2]
Rap Pages7/10[3]
RapReviews7/10[4]
The Austin Chronicle2/5[5]
The Source[6]
Trouser Press(Negative)[7]

Hold It Down is the third studio album by American Brooklyn-based hip hop duo Das EFX. It was released on September 26, 1995 via East West Records. Recording sessions took place at Ian London Studios in East Islip, at Northshore Soundworks, D&D Studios, The Music Palace and Chung King Studios in New York, and at The Sewa. Production was handled by Easy Mo Bee, Solid Scheme, DJ Premier, DJ Scratch, DJ Clark Kent, Kevin Geeda, Peter Lewis, Showbiz, Soul G., Pete Rock and Das EFX themselves, with PMD serving as an executive producer. It features guest appearances from KRS-One and PMD.

The album peaked at number 22 on the Billboard 200 and number 4 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums in the United States. Its singles "Real Hip-Hop" and "Microphone Master" made it to the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 61 and No. 86, respectively. The song "Represent the Real" first appeared under the title "Represent the Real Hip Hop" as the B-side to KRS-One's "MC's Act Like They Don't Know" single, which was released during the summer of 1995, taken off of his eponymous album KRS-One.[8]

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Hold It Down - Das EFX | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  2. ^ Ashon, Will (November 1995). "Das EFX: Hold It Down" (PDF). Muzik. No. 6. p. 90. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  3. ^ Red (October 1995). "Flippin Da Traxx: Das EFX – Hold It Down". Rap Pages. Vol. 4, no. 9. Los Angeles. p. 32.
  4. ^ Juon, Steve 'Flash' (December 5, 2017). "Das EFX :: Hold It Down :: East/West Records". www.rapreviews.com. Archived from the original on April 21, 2024. Retrieved April 20, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ Gabriel, Rashied (November 3, 1995). "Music Reviews". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  6. ^ Hinds, Selwyn Seyfu (November 1995). "Record Report". The Source. No. 74. New York. pp. 91, 94. Archived from the original on January 5, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2015 – via archive.today.
  7. ^ Robbins, Ira. "Das Efx". Trouser Press. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
  8. ^ Ducker, Jesse (September 25, 2020). "Revisiting Das EFX's 'Hold It Down' (1995) | Retrospective Tribute". Albumism. Retrieved April 20, 2024.