Originally released in 1987 on B BOY Records... I can't tell you much about the history of the record label, but after reading about it's history on Wikipedia Criminal Minded on Wikipedia the usual scenario of the label not paying royalties forced BDP to settle out of court and move to a deal with Warner Bros that didn't work out, then onto Jive Records. On a side note, something that I was unaware of is that CED GEE of ULTRAMAGNETIC MC's fame co-produced a lot of the album.
I can tell you as a 15 year old kid living in the suburbs of England that when albums like BDP's "Criminal Minded", Big Daddy Kane's "The Wrath Of Kane" and Public Enemy's "Yo!, Bum Rush The Show" hit the record stores, radio, and clubs in The UK, it was like a whole new world opened up for me. Music that was revolutionary, poetic, contemporary, and clever. It felt more than just something to listen to... it was a movement. And either you were part of the movement or you were just a part time sucker.
With songs like "The Bridge Is Over", "Poetry", "The South Bronx", "Super Hoe" and the title track "Criminal Minded" the whole CRIMINAL MINDED lp is like a great piece of art where every song is a color making up the canvas of life in The Bronx, Toronto, and Manhattan, with KRS-One painting the vivid reality of street rhymes and the daily operation of what would become a psalm in the book of hip hop history.
The Bridge Is Over - Boogie Down Productions
