Lootpack - Soundpieces - Da Antidote

Vinylwav Personal Record Collection

Lootpack and a Baby Swing

Um, I don’t know… maybe it had to have been around the same time I first met Jennifer when this album came out. I know I had some high school friends who were listening to it, so it had to have been right on the cusp of me getting out of high school—which would have been ‘97 or ‘98—when I first heard of LoopPack.

And LootPack, especially early on, was really important around me. There have been some really cool situations I’ve been in where there’s been a Madlib story or a Wildchild story—not so much a DJ Romes story—but pretty important stuff when I think about my early life and my connection to LootPack as a young man.

But I’d say the most important story is the one about my wife and my son, Rylee.

The way that story goes is this:

I had this record, Da Antidote, and I was loving LootPack, listening to them on repeat quite a bit at that time. When Jennifer was pregnant, she actually gravitated toward LootPack too. There were a couple of hip-hop artists she liked that I listened to—Slum Village and LootPack were kind of at the top of the list.

And we listened to LootPack a lot. She’d have Rylee in her stomach, and I’d be putting the music up to her belly. I guess I just really wanted whatever Madlib was doing—and whatever LootPack’s vibe was—to get to Rylee straight out the gate.

So it was on quite a bit.

And after Rylee was born, as we were taking care of him as a baby, I noticed that if I put him in a swing and put on LootPack, he would just mellow the hell out. And it was like, Yes! Something worked! You know what I mean?

And I don’t know if it was music in general or if it was specifically LootPack—but LootPack definitely did the trick.

It’s just something that has stayed with me through all these years—that he loved LootPack like I love LootPack, and his mom loved LootPack. And lo and behold, now you can catch him on Koala making beats.

And it’s funny because it’s not like I sit down with him and work on beats together, give him pointers, or feed him samples. He’s up on his bed crafting stuff, and then he’ll bring it to me like, “Yo, check it out.” And I’m genuinely impressed with what I hear.

And trust me, I’m not one of those “yes men” type of people, especially when it comes to Rylee or Keegan, my boys. I’m very much the type to say, “What the hell is that?” You know what I mean?

People who really know me and are around me a lot say all the time, “Joe’s a fucking asshole,” or a dickhead. I don’t mean to be a dickhead, I don’t mean to be an asshole—but I guess I come off that way.

Anyway… LootPack. This album. Quasimoto. Madlib in general. Wildchild. They’ve all been super instrumental to my upbringing. The Alkaholiks, the whole Likwit Crew, California. For the heads who love hip-hop, especially from that time period and a little earlier, these guys—to this day—are huge.

If you look at what Madlib has done and who he’s worked with, it’s crazy how important that man is. I super appreciate what he’s given us, and what he gave me that I could share with my wife and my son.

So yeah… on this 26th anniversary of Soundpieces Da Antidote being released, I just thought I should share a little bit.

Man… cool stuff.

This is actually an original copy I bought back in probably 1999. I’ve had this one forever. It’s been with me.

So…

Shout out LootPack. Appreciate you.

If you would like to hear any albums I share on this blog, check out my YouTube Playlist: Vinylwav Personal Record Collection