Pure Righteousness

Recorded for Lakim Shabazz’s 1988 debut album Pure Righteousness, with The 45 King producing the project in full and presenting it under the “The 45 King presents” banner. Lakim Shabazz met The 45 King through Biz Markie, and the pair moved into collaboration immediately. The title track anchored a debut that introduced Shabazz’s Five Percent-inflected, politically conscious style to the late-1980s hip-hop audience. The album was well received in retrospect and is treated as a strong example of the era’s Black consciousness rap. Pure Righteousness remains one of Lakim Shabazz’s signature recordings and a touchstone for listeners tracing late-1980s conscious hip-hop. It endures as part of the Flavor Unit and 45 King catalog that later artists and collectors continue to revisit.