Released back in 2010 (making this post nostalgic in a meta kind of way) After School Special is a hip hop mixtape where each track is based off of a popular TV theme song from the 90’s. Sounds like a recipe for a cheap and gimmicky album, but instead the young rapper A-1, along with producers WooStaar and Sac Masta, deliver fun and flawless lyrics over incredible instrumentals that feel tailor made for all the 80’s babies out there.

For example.

All and all it’s a very fun album. The instrumentals range from The Price is Right to Reading Rainbow to Nickelodeon’s Doug. And although the occasional nod to the source material is heard in the lyrics, A-1’s goal isn’t to give you a rap rundown of your favorite shows. He delivers original and inspired rhymes over these instrumentals, attacking a range of topics from his quest to capture all his dreams on the track “Charizard”, to recounting an entertaining narrative and flexing his story telling skills on the track “Golden Girls.”

With a runtime of around a half an hour, After School Special is one 30 minute long nostalgia-gasm for anyone who enjoys hip-hop and grew up in the 90’s.

Listen to the whole album free at A-1’s YouTube page here. Or download it for $7 here.

Cheers,
JD