House Shoes

Let It Go – the debut LP from Detroit native House Shoes.

It feels wrong, though, to call this a ‘debut’ record because it doesn’t sound like a first-try. Official debut, or not, House Shoes is not new. He released the now treasure-hunted Jay Dee Unreleased EP (1996), and Phat Kat’s classic Dedication to the Suckers (1999) on his own imprint. He’s produced for the late Big Proof (D12), J Dilla, Elzhi, and Danny Brown. He’s DJ’ed for Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, Mayer Hawthorne, Slum Village, and too many more to list.

Technically, however, this is his debut LP. One that hip-hop ‘know-somethings’ have been asking for (for years). One he’s probably been holding on to for a while. One he’s finally letting go.

Let It Go is a full-length album boasting features by the ‘heavyweights’ and the ‘hungry’ alike; balanced between artists accustomed to hip-hop limelight, and those still chasing it.

The project bats with a heavy-handed Motown roster. Detroit-bred collaborators include Big Tone, Moe Dirdee, Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, and Danny Brown, among others. Los Angeles (Oh No, MED, The Alchemist, Co$$), Norfolk (Nottz), St. Louis (Black Spade), New York (Roc Marciano), and Chicago (Chali 2na, of Jurassic 5) pinch-hit throughout the project.

Songs like ‘Dirt feat. Oh No, Alchemist, and Roc Marciano and ‘Everything (Modern Family) feat. Fatt Father’ are tough to picture on the same project if listened to separately. In the context of Let It Go, however, they feel blood related and well placed.

Shoes delivers an album that sound like an album (and not a mixtape) – no small feat in the topography of today’s music. He blends the songs, instrumentals, and interludes into a sequence that sounds like they all belong to something bigger than their time stamp and signature. Individually, the songs are strong; soaked in that neck-snapping, gritty-drummed, trouble-water-soul-sampled thing that makes hip hop magnetic. To dissect the album into its parts would miss the point, though.

The triumph of Let It Go is the full hour of music, not any fraction of the 60-some-minute run time.  

SIDE A
1. Let It Go (the Beginning) feat. Shafiq Husayn
2. Empire / Get Down
3. Goodfellas To Bad Boys feat. Moe Dirdee / Dank Interlude
4. Dirt feat. Oh No, The Alchemist, and Roc Marciano / Jeedo Interlude
5. Time feat. Big Tone / Hex Interlude

SIDE B
6. Crazy feat. Black Milk and Guilty Simpson / BahBahBahBah
7. Last Breath feat. Nottz, Oh No, and MED / Mayer & Shoes
8. Keep On feat. Co$$ aka Cashus King / Helluva
9. Sweet feat. Danny Brown / Quelle Interlude

SIDE C
10. So Different feat. Chali 2na / Moody Interlude
11. Everything (Modern Family) feat. Fatt Father / Without You
12. Sunrise feat. Black Spade / Love
13. Trouble feat. Moe Dirdee and MarvWon / Royce Interlude
14. Nails feat. Quelle Chris and Guilty Simpson / Broken

SIDE D
15. Castles (tHE SKY IS OURS) feat. Jimetta Rose / My Brother
16. Cry Now / Gone
17. Roller Coaster feat. SelfSays and Fat Albert Einstein
18. Empire Reprise feat. Sam Beaubien of Will Sessions (Bonus Track)

Instrumental version of House Shoes' debut LP, "Let It Go."  House Shoes considers this instrumental version of the LP as his proper debut since he sequenced the instrumental version first, and then put MCs on the tracks to ensure the album had the proper movement musically.  These beats were created between 1999 and 2011.

SIDE A
1. Let It Go (The Beginning) - Instrumental
2. Empire / Get Down - Instrumental
3. GoodFellas To Bad Boys / Excursions - Instrumental
4. Dirt / Bad Ass - Instrumental
5. Time / Nowhere To Run - Instrumental

SIDE B
6. Crazy / BahBahBah - Instrumental
7. Last Breath / Pimp Shit - Instrumental
8. Keep On / 'Til Infinity - Instrumental
9. Sweet / Noodles - Instrumental

SIDE C
10. So Different / Moody - Instrumental
11. Everything (Modern Family) / Without You - Instrumental
12. Sunrise / Love - Instrumental
13. Trouble / Slaves - Instrumental
14. Nails / Broken - Instrumental

SIDE D
15. Castles / My Brother - Instrumental
16. Cry Now / Gone - Instrumental
17. Roller Coaster feat. Fat Albert Einstein - Instrumental
18. Empire Reprise feat. Sam Beaubien of Will Sessions - Instrumental

Mixed by Scott “Tenacity” Martin at The LAByrinth, Hollywood, CA
Mastered by Mags
Vinyl Mastering by David Cheppa
Photos by Eric Coleman

House Shoes’ lead-off release The Time EP is a precursor to his forthcoming full-length debut album Let It Go. It features original production by Shoes with features by Detroit Emcees Big Tone and Danny Brown, as well as Los Angeles songbird Jimetta Rose.

“Better later than never,” some might say, about these releases from House Shoes. He has been an integral piece of the landscape of Detroit hip-hop for the better part of 20 years. He’s produced, DJed, and dot-connected for a generation of Detroit artists who have taken the sounds of their city on world tour. From his work alongside J Dilla and Big Proof, to Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, Phat Kat, and Danny Brown – he has helped to shepherd Detroit’s hip-hop into prominence. His solo endeavors are long overdue, and much awaited.

You can’t rush creation, though – and no matter how late fans might feel it is, House Shoes, The Time EP, and the following Let It Go LP, are arriving like they had an appointment.

“The past no longer exists, and the future is yet to happen / the present time is only as long as the moment that I’m in it; I’m feelin’ every millisecond passin’.” From the needle-drop, the filthy-neck-snapping drums under chopped synths on ‘Time’ featuring Big Tone sets the stage for a showcase of Tone’s humble bravado. He raps about the need to have ‘right now’ in order, and how he keeps his watches in sync.

‘Sweet’ featuring Danny Brown, the second offering of the EP, lays an understated and confident hi-hat over layers of bass guitar riffs and strings stabs that might actually inflict bodily harm. Danny spits with his patented lack-toothed style and a considerably rougher hand than the preceding Emcee. As is usually the case with Brown, it works as designed, with witty chest-puffed punch lines like “you study what I author / your arms too short – my reach like Tarver…” and plus he’s “got butta like George Washington Carver.” Bravo.

The third plate in his Chef’s tasting menu, ‘Castles (tHE SKY IS OURS)’ featuring Jimetta Rose, sounds like it is playing through different speakers than the first two courses – the song feels like it’s coming from the clouds. Created in tribute to the late Jovan ‘J1’ Coleman (Drummer for Dam-Funk / Mazter Blazter, producer, and a friend to Shoes and Rose) – Jimetta sings for all of the people who carried us in the past; the people who we carry on for now. The song closes with an audio clip from an interview with J1 before his passing.

The 12” release also includes two exclusive instrumentals titled ‘Suspended’ and ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’ that are not available on the full-length Let It Go release later this year.

Track List

Side A

1. Time feat. Big Tone - Clean
2. Time - Instrumental
3. Castles (tHE SKY IS OURS) feat. Jimetta Rose - Clean
4. Suspended

Side B

1. Sweet feat. Danny Brown - Dirty
2. Sweet feat. Danny Brown - Clean
3. Sweet - Instrumental
4. No More Mr. Nice Guy

Let It Go – the debut LP from Detroit native House Shoes.

It feels wrong, though, to call this a ‘debut’ record because it doesn’t sound like a first-try. Official debut, or not, House Shoes is not new. He released the now treasure-hunted Jay Dee Unreleased EP (1996), and Phat Kat’s classic Dedication to the Suckers (1999) on his own imprint. He’s produced for the late Big Proof (D12), J Dilla, Elzhi, and Danny Brown. He’s DJ’ed for Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, Mayer Hawthorne, Slum Village, and too many more to list.

Technically, however, this is his debut LP. One that hip-hop ‘know-somethings’ have been asking for (for years). One he’s probably been holding on to for a while. One he’s finally letting go.

Let It Go is a full-length album boasting features by the ‘heavyweights’ and the ‘hungry’ alike; balanced between artists accustomed to hip-hop limelight, and those still chasing it.

The project bats with a heavy-handed Motown roster. Detroit-bred collaborators include Big Tone, Moe Dirdee, Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, and Danny Brown, among others. Los Angeles (Oh No, MED, The Alchemist, Co$$), Norfolk (Nottz), St. Louis (Black Spade), New York (Roc Marciano), and Chicago (Chali 2na, of Jurassic 5) pinch-hit throughout the project.

Songs like ‘Dirt feat. Oh No, Alchemist, and Roc Marciano and ‘Everything (Modern Family) feat. Fatt Father’ are tough to picture on the same project if listened to separately. In the context of Let It Go, however, they feel blood related and well placed.

Shoes delivers an album that sound like an album (and not a mixtape) – no small feat in the topography of today’s music. He blends the songs, instrumentals, and interludes into a sequence that sounds like they all belong to something bigger than their time stamp and signature. Individually, the songs are strong; soaked in that neck-snapping, gritty-drummed, trouble-water-soul-sampled thing that makes hip hop magnetic. To dissect the album into its parts would miss the point, though.

The triumph of Let It Go is the full hour of music, not any fraction of the 60-some-minute run time.  

1. Let It Go (the Beginning) feat. Shafiq Husayn
2. Empire / Get Down
3. Goodfellas To Bad Boys feat. Moe Dirdee / Dank Interlude
4. Dirt feat. Oh No, The Alchemist, and Roc Marciano / Jeedo Interlude
5. Time feat. Big Tone / Hex Interlude
6. Crazy feat. Black Milk and Guilty Simpson / BahBahBahBah
7. Last Breath feat. Nottz, Oh No, and MED / Mayer & Shoes
8. Keep On feat. Co$$ aka Cashus King / Helluva
9. Sweet feat. Danny Brown / Quelle Interlude
10. So Different feat. Chali 2na / Moody Interlude
11. Everything (Modern Family) feat. Fatt Father / Without You
12. Sunrise feat. Black Spade / Love
13. Trouble feat. Moe Dirdee and MarvWon / Royce Interlude
14. Nails feat. Quelle Chris and Guilty Simpson / Broken
15. Castles (tHE SKY IS OURS) feat. Jimetta Rose / My Brother
16. Cry Now / Gone
17. Roller Coaster feat. SelfSays and Fat Albert Einstein
18. Empire Reprise feat. Sam Beaubien of Will Sessions (Bonus Track)

Disc Two

Instrumentals

“Empire/The Locusts” 7 inch single features personal favorites from House Shoes’ recent debut album release Let It Go as well as The Makingscompilation.

While Let It Go may have been House Shoes’ official debut album, it would be wrong to call him a new artist. House Shoes is known for releasing the now treasure-hunted Jay Dee Unreleased EP (1996) and Phat Kat’s classic Dedication to the Suckers (1999) on his own imprint.  His production work is comprehensive including artists like, Big Proof (D12), J Dilla, Elzhi, and Danny Brown. He’s DJ’ed for Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, Mayer Hawthorne, Slum Village, and more on worldwide tours.

“Empire”, the second track from House Shoes’ debut album Let It Go, is the fullest representation of House Shoes from his production to his background. The single showcases something consisting solely of his production, while weaving together a story about the musical movements to come out of Detroit and his continuing efforts to expand the empire of Detroit Hip-Hop.

“The Locusts” from The Makings showcases one of House Shoes’ favorite beats that he’s created. Using the original 2 track beat tape version first made back 1998-99, the single features the beat in its original, raw form – burned straight to cd from Shoes’ MPC2000 right after making the beat.

Originally made available exclusively to subscribers of Wax Poetics Japan, this extremely limited vinyl will be available for purchase for the first time.

Track List

Side A
Empire

Side B
The Locusts (Original Beat Tape Version)

Produced by House Shoes

ÒBIG SHOES is all about fitting the shoes that came before you and filling the shoes that will come after you. Taking the best from those who led and teaching those who will follow in your footsteps how to lead.Ó - House Shoes BIG SHOES deals in legacy. The legacies we inherit, carry on or betray, and the legacies we leave behind for others. House Shoes and Big Tone know about legacy. The Motor City titans came up in a time when Detroit Hip-Hop experienced a super-bloom of creativity and innovation. In their own ways, they took on a mantle for the city and itÕs music scene. They bled for it. They lost friends and pillars of their city. Then, they grew up and created families of their own. Still, theyÕve pressed on and continued. Tone and Shoes have been friends and collaborators for a lifetime. BIG SHOES is a chronicle of their experiences, together and alone, carrying out the heavy and heralded legacy of being a Detroit musician. This reconciliation of the pain their journeys have faced includes a recognition of the growth brought about as a result. BIG SHOES is also a family reunion, with a litany of guests, witnesses and friends. This isnÕt a Hollywood tale of triumph, itÕs a bittersweet story of blessings and baggage. Our protagonists donÕt end the album in loud and garish opulence, they complete a cipher. Where they began dealing with the weight of the lineage they carry on, we leave the story with our two auteurs in control and at peace with the patrimony theyÕve built--and continue to build. BIG SHOES is fully produced by House Shoes with Big Tone handling the mic, with family appearances from Denmark Vessey, Blu, Quelle Chris, Jimetta Rose, 87 and MoSel.

Extremely limited pressing in hand stamped jackets. Big Shoes Instrumentals exclusive to vinyl and CD, no digital release.
BIG SHOES is all about fitting the shoes that came before you and filling the shoes that will come after you. Taking the best from those who led and teaching those who will follow in your footsteps how to lead.Ó - House Shoes
Pressed in an extremely limited quantity, these hand stamped instrumental 2XLP's of Big Tone + House Shoes' recent collaborative effort BIG SHOES are now available while supplies last.
The last of the Shoes beats.

"BIG SHOES is all about fitting the shoes that came before you and filling the shoes that will come after you. Taking the best from those who led and teaching those who will follow in your footsteps how to lead." - House Shoes BIG SHOES deals in legacy. The legacies we inherit, carry on or betray, and the legacies we leave behind for others. House Shoes and Big Tone know about legacy. The Motor City titans came up in a time when Detroit Hip-Hop experienced a super-bloom of creativity and innovation. In their own ways, they took on a mantle for the city and itÕs music scene. They bled for it. They lost friends and pillars of their city. Then, they grew up and created families of their own. Still, theyÕve pressed on and continued. Tone and Shoes have been friends and collaborators for a lifetime. BIG SHOES is a chronicle of their experiences, together and alone, carrying out the heavy and heralded legacy of being a Detroit musician. This reconciliation of the pain their journeys have faced includes a recognition of the growth brought about as a result. BIG SHOES is also a family reunion, with a litany of guests, witnesses and friends. This isnÕt a Hollywood tale of triumph, itÕs a bittersweet story of blessings and baggage. Our protagonists donÕt end the album in loud and garish opulence, they complete a cipher. Where they began dealing with the weight of the lineage they carry on, we leave the story with our two auteurs in control and at peace with the patrimony theyÕve built--and continue to build. BIG SHOES is fully produced by House Shoes with Big Tone handling the mic, with family appearances from Denmark Vessey, Blu, Quelle Chris, Jimetta Rose, 87 and MoSel.

ÒBIG SHOES is all about fitting the shoes that came before you and filling the shoes that will come after you. Taking the best from those who led and teaching those who will follow in your footsteps how to lead.Ó - House Shoes BIG SHOES deals in legacy. The legacies we inherit, carry on or betray, and the legacies we leave behind for others. House Shoes and Big Tone know about legacy. The Motor City titans came up in a time when Detroit Hip-Hop experienced a super-bloom of creativity and innovation. In their own ways, they took on a mantle for the city and itÕs music scene. They bled for it. They lost friends and pillars of their city. Then, they grew up and created families of their own. Still, theyÕve pressed on and continued. Tone and Shoes have been friends and collaborators for a lifetime. BIG SHOES is a chronicle of their experiences, together and alone, carrying out the heavy and heralded legacy of being a Detroit musician. This reconciliation of the pain their journeys have faced includes a recognition of the growth brought about as a result. BIG SHOES is also a family reunion, with a litany of guests, witnesses and friends. This isnÕt a Hollywood tale of triumph, itÕs a bittersweet story of blessings and baggage. Our protagonists donÕt end the album in loud and garish opulence, they complete a cipher. Where they began dealing with the weight of the lineage they carry on, we leave the story with our two auteurs in control and at peace with the patrimony theyÕve built--and continue to build. BIG SHOES is fully produced by House Shoes with Big Tone handling the mic, with family appearances from Denmark Vessey, Blu, Quelle Chris, Jimetta Rose, 87 and MoSel.

Limited to 150 Units

House Shoes live at the Buddha Lounge 11/13/04. Specially manufactured for Cassette Store Day 2021

Two of the first solo productions to be released by House Shoes now find themselves on an exclusive 45 release on Street Corner Music in 2019. "The Makings", was originally released by Do-Over records on a 10-inch backed with Flying Lotus on 2010. Limited to 1000 copies it sold out in less than 24 hours. Punchy drums address the chopped up Curtis Mayfield sample. "Newports ", Shoes tribute to his favorite cigarette at the time which he actually stopped smoking soon after, supports The Makings on the B-Side, once again with heavy drums layered over beautiful chops and a chorus lifted from D'Angelo's Devil's Pie.

Originally released on House Shoes' debut LP Let It Go (2012),ÊCastles (The Sky Is Ours) now sees an exclusive 45 release onÊStreet Corner Music. A collaboration with Los Angeles songbird Jimetta Rose, Castles was created in tribute to Shoes and Jimetta's fallen comrade Jovan "J-1" Coleman who passed away in 2011.