by Jack Paine
One fourth of The Re-Up Gang, some may not realize that Philadelphia emcee Sandman is hardly a new face to Hip Hop. Hailing from The Germantown/Logan section of the city, the man behind his Cannons Inc. company recorded a shelved album for Interscope Records at the top of the decade. With production by Timbaland, Trackmasters and longtime mentor Clark Kent, the album was never released.
After the popular mixtape-release, Philadelphia Ego, Sandman is just now unveiling his solo abilities in Gianormous, an album exclusively available through his website [click here]. The album includes the street single "Anchor" [click to listen]. "I look at Gianormous as my first solo release on this level. This is the farthest I've been, as far as Hip Hop is concerned." The artist continued about his patiently fought-out rise to stardom. "The timing couldn't be better. We just released the [Re-Up Gang] [click to read] album. It was hot on the press. I felt like it was a good time to follow up that with my solo project, because I had to keep it movin' as well." Sandman added that he's presently recording, and shopping for distribution for his Cannons Inc. imprint.
The aforementioned Koch Records Re-Up Gang album received less-than-favorable reviews in some outlets. Sandman also spoke on that, stressing his own confusion in the release. "People were hitting me up and [posting] on the Re-Up Gang website that [they] were disappointed in the album, saying it was regurgitated music and the tracks was crazy. It kind of caught me off guard as well, 'cause I didn't know [the album] was goin' down like that. I didn't know that all the beats was all gonna be replaced. Nobody told me. I heard it online. This is my first national release. I want to enjoy it, but every time I'm in the street or I'm on the block, I'm reading [bad reviews]. I just want to apologize to the fans." The album was promised to be a studio adaptation of the Re-Up Gang's acclaimed We Got It 4 Cheap Volume 3 mixtape [click to listen], with original production, the component that most reviews criticized. He added that the group had intended for "'20k Money Making Brothers On The Corner' was supposed to be the single, and we was promoting that. Then "Fast Lane" came out. I'm not mad at the song 'Fast Lane,' I just don't think it's the climate of the Re-Up realm."
Outside of the quartet, Sandman describes his style. "In the group, you've got to agree as a collective. When I'm solo, I do as I please. As a solo artist, I can go into more range. I can try to different things." The emcee noted his wisdom and versatility as well, something he says is prevalent on Gianormous.
Whether solo or with his Re-Up brethren, Sandman is noted for his distinct, baritone ad-libs, most notably "Cannons!" "When I met [Clark Kent], I was doing that on the Interscope album in 2000 and 2001. It's like [an equivalent] to "charge!" when I do it. 'Cannon!' is my team, my label. I see a couple people took to that. I see [Young] Jeezy liked that a lot," he added with a laugh. "At this point, man, what I do is so special, I can't even look at it like he jacked me or whatever the case may be," Sandman added, noting he passed out mass quantities of his CD during 2003's NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta.
[source]
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