Give 'Em Enough Dope Volume One
Give 'Em Enough Dope Volume One is a compilation album of music by various artists released in 1994 by British electronic label Wall of Sound as their first release. The idea for the album came when Wall of Sound's founder, Mark Jones, wanted to release a compilation of hard-to-find music by unsigned artists, with whom he had worked with via his distribution and pressing deals, so that the music could be heard by a wider audience. He picked his favourite such tracks which there was already an audience for and this became the compilation.
Give 'Em Enough Dope Volume One
The album has been described as trip hop and acid jazz and contains music that straddles different genres such as jazz, funk and soul, serving as a document of several electronic genres emerging at the time which incorporated sampling and live instrumentation. Upon release, the album was one of only several "alternative" electronic compilations and became a critical success, with critics finding its disparate styles to flow well together. Two successful sequels were released in the ensuing years and the album has been credited as an influential predecessor to big beat music.
Background[edit]
During the early-to-mid 1990s, while Mark Jones was working for Soul Trader, a London-based record distributor owned by his friend Marc Lessner, he and Lessner started the Wall of Sound record label by arranging "pressing and distribution" (P&D) deals for unsigned electronic musicians that Jones and Lessner enjoyed the work of.[2] "This is how we found Kruder & Dorfmeister, Howie B, Pussy Foot and Basement Jaxx," noted Jones, "artists that have went on to have quite a bit of success."[2] The idea for Give 'Em Enough Dope Volume One came when Jones suggested to Lessner that they compile a compilation album of "all the music that we work with and material that we know people want and can't get."[2]
As the label had yet to release any music yet, Give 'Em Enough Dope Volume One became Wall of Sound’s first release.[2] Jones recalled of the album’s conception, “I didn’t have a big masterplan; it was just a natural progression of the work I was doing and where I was working.[2] Writer Siân Pattenden later reflected on the scenario: "[Jones] would hear tracks by trendy artists working in bedroom studios, which were released by Soul Trader. Jones thought the tunes needed to be heard by a wider audience, so he got his favourite tracks and released them as a compilation album."[3] The album was inspired by Headz (1994), a compilation album released by trip hop label Mo' Wax that features abstract hip hop music.[4]