The 1950s

This track was recorded onto magnetic tape at Sugar Ray's Vintage Recording Studio in Essex, one of the only fully functional 1950s recording studios in the world, using a combination of modern and 1950s tech. As far as we know this is a world first, we can't find any other examples of Hip Hop being recorded in this way anywhere on the planet!

Rawz and Easy record their lyrics through a 1955 RCA Microphone which was often the first choice for 50s icons such as Elvis Presley, the first time this microphone has ever been used to record rap. High end 21st-century monitor speakers pump sub-bass into a 1938 Altec mic, and synthesised Japanese Koto is picked up by an RCA 77 DX produced in 1954. Guitar that was recorded at In-Spire Sounds studio in Oxford plays from a modern Apple laptop through 1958 Astoria B amp, all to the rhythm of live drums, recorded through RCA 77 A that came off the production line in 1948.

The more finely tuned technology of magnetic tape in the 1950s allowed sound recording machines to capture subtleties of sound not heard in previous recordings. Magnetic tape was developed into a usable form for sound recording by the military during the Second World War for radio propaganda and intelligence purposes. By 1950, the whole range of sound audible to the human ear could be recorded and reproduced by magnetic tape. The 1940s saw the development of the single track tape recorder, and was succeeded in the 1950s by tape recorders with two tracks offering stereo recording.

When the sound recording ban was lifted in 1944, the new technology allowed the subtle intimacies of the new forms of music to come through in recording. The new technology also allowed record labels to market these new artists. The expense of magnetic tape, while offering improved reproduction of sound, also had the useful effect of enhancing the control of record labels and managers over performers, musicians, and engineers. Record labels profited from the rebellious, adventurous reputation of artists. Cover art on the albums of the 1950s marketed the product towards an audience that rejected both the music and norms of popular opinion, appealing to the new socially conscious listener.