By now we’ve all heard the story… In the midst of various label issues with Priority Records, Ras Kass gets pinched for this third D.U.I. Granted an extension, he goes back to work, however, just two weeks before he’s scheduled to begin his sentence, Priority recants on their previous agreement, informing him that they will not be releasing Goldyn Chyld at all. The album masters then “disappeared,” and Ras Kass did his time, came home and moved on with his life. Though a few of the songs included on Goldyn Chyld have been out for a decade — as they’d originally been recorded for Ras’ third album, Van Gogh, which was bootlegged before it could ever be officially released — nobody, with the possible exception of a few lucky fans and other confidants, has since heard or seen the completed album… that is, until 2012.

New Philaflava board member madstadik (presumably that’s ‘mad static’ and not, well, you know) was kind enough to bless the T.R.O.Y. forum with what by all accounts appears to be a legitimate rip of the actual album masters, “which means correct sequencing, skits and not pieced together from parts of Van Gogh and leaked Goldyn Chyld tracks,” as he said. This time we’re not the first to receive the long lost album, but regardless, we’re more than happy to pass it along and extend our gratitude to madstadik.

As for the music itself, if you’ve been following Ras’ career since the beginning, it’s probably not far from what you’re expecting. You’ve already heard the album’s title track, so you know that’s a certified banger with Ras Kass delivering his trademark lyricism over some classic Premo production… but of course, you also know that Ras’ catalog post-Rassassination has been less than stellar. While I’m personally a fan of Van Gogh, I usually find myself in the minority there and honestly haven’t been able to defend too much of his work since then. That being said, after a few listens, I’m willing to rank this album on the same level as Van Gogh, maybe even a little higher actually. Of the 17 songs on here, a few fall flat but several are straight-up incredible. Of those I hadn’t heard before, “Revelationz 22:22 (Intro)” and “Happiness” are my favorites. Aside from them, what makes me prefer this album over Van Gogh is what I consider far superior sequencing and overall sound quality. Tracklist and download link are below. (more…)