Escape (Whodini album)
| Escape | ||||
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| Studio album by Whodini | ||||
| Released | October 17, 1984 | |||
| Studio | Battery Studios, London | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 38:31 | |||
| Label | Jive | |||
| Producer | Larry Smith | |||
| Whodini chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Escape | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Robert Christgau | B+ |
Escape is the second studio album by the hip-hop group Whodini. The album was recorded at Battery Studios in London, where the group worked with producer Larry Smith after their management could not find them a producer. Whodini member Jalil Hutchins convinced Smith, his friend, to produce the album when Smith needed money after a friend's hospitalisation. Although the group originally intended to record more rock-oriented material for the album, its music has a predominantly synthesizer-based backing, with a rhythm and blues influence.
The album was a critical success upon release, and was praised by NME and Robert Christgau. It was also commercially successful, being the first hip-hop album to chart within the U.S. top 40, and was also one of the first to be certified platinum by the RIAA.
After working on their debut self-titled album, Whodini embarked on a three-month European tour. Two-and-a-half weeks into this tour, they were joined by Kangol Kid and UTFO. The group had also planned to tour in Israel and Australia following their European tour, but refused to do so, as they had been away from home for three weeks and found the tour "rigorous". Singer-songwriter Jalil Hutchins later said, "Somebody should've stepped in and made us [continue the tour]." Whodini member John Fletcher (Ecstasy) said that the group thought European audiences would be unfamiliar with their music, but they "found that lots of kids, lots of club owners, had made a real effort to get hold of our music. When we discovered that, we realized that the music we were working with really was universal, that we didn't have to think of a particular market. People everywhere like to dance, sweat and party, and they like the same kind of sounds."
The group worked well with German producer Conny Plank on Whodini, and were trying to find a similar producer. According to Hutchins, "Conny had an understanding of what hip hop was, and if we had an understanding of how to explain it to these musicians who were far ahead of us, we would've produced some special records. On the next album, we decided that we needed to get somebody from [the US] that understood where we were coming from." Although Jive Records initially hired Russell Simmons and Larry Smith to produce Escape, commitments in New York kept Simmons from recording sessions. Hutchins had met Smith at Disco Fever in New York City; although they were friends and often discussed music, he said that they did not originally consider working together. Jive Records could not find a producer, and Hutchins asked Smith to come to Europe and produce the album. The producer initially refused for financial reasons, but called Hutchins the following day saying that he needed money to pay a hospital bill for a friend who had his finger tips ripped off. Smith and Hutchins then quickly met to develop music to show to the label, recording the bass for "Five Minutes of Funk".
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