Introducing a track from Special Ed’s debut album “Youngest in Charge” (1989), Eminem explained why Special Ed is one of his favourite MCs of all time.
Here is another MC that I feel like need to be mentioned with the greats. This is one of those rappers that were so unorthodox at what he did when he first came out but he was so methodical and calculated but he also had this weird quirkiness to it where each rhyme scheme would just fall wherever it hit the beat. And it just ended up sounding great.
Special Ed’s first album, “Youngest in Charge”, with the help of producer Hitman Howie Tee and DJ Akshun, debuted into the R&B Top 10 and went gold. But after his second album, “Legal”, and his third album, “Revelations”, he largely disappeared from the scene, with the exception of the 1994 hit “Crooklyn Dodgers” for the soundtrack of Spike Lee’s film, “Crooklyn”.
Special Ed went into a legal battle with his label, Profile Records, for what he claimed was forging numbers and withholding money from him. After that, he was blacklisted and they were shelving his projects. However, he was still able to produce, making songs for B.I.G. and 2Pac.
Listen to Special Ed – “Taxing” from Eminem’s playlist “Music To Be Quarantined By”:
And here is Em introducing Special Ed to listeners:
