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GaryTheJerk

[Guide] JT the Bigga Figga & The Get Low Playaz: Beginnings through Priority Records years. (San Francisco)

Quality Post

This guide is going to cover JT the Bigga Figga and the core members of the Get Low Playaz (San Quinn, D-Moe tha Youngsta & Seff tha Gaffla) out of San Francisco from their early years through the end of their deal with Priority Records deal (1996.)

Most members of the crew made music beyond 1996, but they disbanded for a while and a lot of Get Low Recordz albums were subpar for quite some time. Get Low Recordz became known for CDR albums, recycled beats & songs, wholesaling re-released albums, bad business accusations, wild internet rumors, etc., nothing worthy of a guide (though San Quinn is deserving of a guide of his own.)

JT the Bigga Figga - Don't Stop 'Til We Major

JT the Bigga Figga's debut album Don't Stop Til We Major was released in 1992 on a label that JT started himself, Get Low Recordz. It got play around San Francisco and some surrounding areas but wasn't a huge album. The sound is pretty dated compared to the albums that followed, but his talent was evident.

San Quinn - Don't Cross Me

San Quinn's debut, Don't Cross Me, was released the following year in 1993. The material on this album was recorded when Quinn was very young (14-15 years old.) It's very, very good for a 14-15 year old, but not necessarily something that would make your rotation. A lot of it doesn't really sound like the Quinn we all know now, but you can hear him beginning to establish his style. It's not an album I listen to much (or ever, really, now that I think about it,) but it's worth checking out if you're a fan just to get a sense of his development over the years and how good he was at such a young age.

Herm Lewis, a community activist from Hunter's Point, put together a compilation in 1993 called Tryin' to Survive in the Ghetto (frequently referred to as "the Herm compilation.") The compilation got a lot of play outside of San Francisco, exposing a lot of people in surrounding cities to the artists involved and created a huge demand for Bay Area rap. JT featured San Quinn and D-Moe from his crew Get Low Playaz on his contribution to the album.

JT the Bigga Figga - Playaz N The Game

JT's 1993 sophomore album, Playaz N The Game, was released just one year after his debut, but with as much as his production improved you'd think it was released several years later. With this album JT established himself as one of the top producers in the Bay Area. Included on the album was Back to tha Shit from the Herm compilation. This album brought a tremendous amount of attention to the Bay Area and JT became the focus of a bidding war between labels (he'd remain independent for a while longer.)

D-Moe tha Youngsta - Do You Feel Me?

In 1994 JT also produced D-Moe tha Youngsta's debut album, Do You Feel Me? JT's production continued to improve and was a step up from Playaz N the Game. This is probably my favorite album on Get Low Recordz, I had really high expectations for D-Moe after this album... (Spoiler: He never lived up to those expectations.)

With JT getting the attention of major labels, Master P struck while the iron was hot, releasing the West Coast Bad Boyz compilation featuring the best of the best from the Bay Area & Northern California. JT produced the song that led off the album and used the opportunity to introduce some of the lesser-known Get Low Playaz.

  • Get Low Playaz (JT the Bigga Figga, Seff tha Gaffla, Brotha Moe, The Dangla, San Quinn & Rack Skerz) - What We Known Fo'

San Quinn - Live N Direct

In 1995 San Quinn's sophomore album, Live N Direct was released. The album was a huge step forward from his previous album, Quinn found his voice, his style and matured a lot- though he was still young he sounded mature beyond his years in terms of his lyrics. JT's production also continued to improve.

Get Low Playaz - Straight Out the Labb

In 1995 we'd get the first Get Low Playaz album, Straight Out the Labb, which seemed to elevate the label to another level. Get Low Recordz was as big in the Bay Area as Sick Wid It, but Get Low was doing it independently while Sick Wid It had the support of a major label (Jive) since 1994. Kids who never really listened to rap were getting into it because of this album- it was getting play everywhere by everybody.

The main players all appeared on this album multiple times, but the majority of the tracks were from lesser-known members of the crew. Just about every song on the album is dope and Get Low Recordz seemed to be poised to take over the rap game with the roster they'd built.

Seff tha Gaffla - Livin' Kinda Lavish

Seff tha Gaffla's debut album Livin' Kinda Lavish was also released in 1995. He was borderline fringe member/significant player in the crew. He was on a few of the songs by the core group (JT, D-Moe & San Quinn,) but not all of them.

This is an album that most people agree is good, but is somewhat lackluster for whatever reason- I can't really put my finger on it. Even as I'm going through the songs now, I'll play one, think to myself, "damn, Seff was pretty dope..." and then find myself losing interest and skipping it after about 45 seconds. I don't know anybody that thinks it's bad, but nobody really considers it a classic or even revisits it very often... Regardless, it's worth checking out if you haven't heard it. He's still mainly known for his song Locked Up from the Get Low Playaz album, which led off this album.

Get Low Playaz - What We Known Fo'

A second Get Low Playaz album came out in 1995, What We Known Fo'. There were a couple new songs, but this was more of an introduction to artists on the label and a compilation of remixes & songs from previous releases than a new GLP album (the original album cover was pictures of all the current GLP albums.) In other words, there were a lot of recycled songs, but it was worth copping for the new songs if you were a fan.

The Herm compilation and West Coast Bad Boyz compilation kicked off the compilation trend in the Bay Area. This would be a good thing for about two years and a very bad thing every year after that. The Get Low Playaz contributed to a couple of the better compilations in 1995:

JT the Bigga Figga - Dwellin' in tha Labb

JT's third album, Dwellin' in tha Labb was his major label debut released on Get Low Recordz/Priority Records in 1995. There were two singles, Dwellin' in tha Labb & The Mack Hand (the former charted, the latter did not.) The intro, Critical, had the same beat as Back to tha Shit from the Herm compilation & Playaz N the Game with new lyrics by JT. Lost in a Massacarade was previously featured on Legal Dope.

San Quinn - The Hustle Continues

San Quinn's third album, The Hustle Continues was released in 1996 on Get Low Recordz/Priority Records. Shock the Party would get play locally, but neither the single nor album really got much play elsewhere. The Get Low Recordz/Priority Deal came to an end and JT's next release, Operation Takeover later in 1996, would be an independent release.

Albums by the other Get Low Playaz (Through 1996):

Selected Later Works:

Posted Sep 4, 2015, 7:36 PM UTC · edited

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