Longtime heads will remember when Crooked I signed with Death Row Records in the early 2000′s. At the time, Death Row was perhaps the most hated label in the industry, as they were constantly trying to cock-block their former artists by releasing albums like Death Row Presents The Chronic 2000 or Snoop Dogg’s Dead Man Walkin’. Because of this, nobody was supporting anything Death Row did, and Crook never got a fair shake.

Even with Suge out of the picture, The Row is up to it’s old tricks again, by now *finally* releasing the vaulted Crooked I material from when he was signed to the label, now that Crooked I has a solid buzz surrounding him (not to mention a potential future at Shady Records with Slaughterhouse). The “new” (read: “old”) album is called Hood Star (we see you, Chingy!). The album is set for a June 15th release, and features the most backpack cover art ever seen on a Death Row release.

Still, we’ll be listening. Now where’s that K-Solo album produced by Eric B.?

Inspectah Deck Talks About “Got My Mind Up” on Toca Tuesdays from Toca Tuesdays on Vimeo.

This is classic hip-hop history right here. An old story, but nice to hear it from Deck himself. In other news, the caller is obsessed with Deck.