| A Future Without a Past... | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Leaders of the New School |
| Cover: | Afuturewithoutapast.jpg |
| Released: | July 2, 1991 |
| Recorded: | 1990–1991 |
| Genre: | Alternative hip hop |
| Length: | 66:06 |
| Label: | Elektra |
| Next Title: | T.I.M.E. (The Inner Mind's Eye) |
| Next Year: | 1993 |
A Future Without a Past... is the debut studio album from American hip hop group Leaders of the New School.[1] [2] It was released in 1991 on Elektra Records.[3]
A Future Without a Past... is a loose concept album about high school, divided into three parts.
The Baltimore Sun noted that "the group modulates the density of each track, [so] there's always a sense of flow to the sound, of tension and release, buildup and climax."[4]
Stanton Swihart of AllMusic praised the work, calling the group's debut "one of the most infectious rap albums ever created." Trouser Press called the album "highly amiable," writing that the group's "subtle Afrocentric politics came coated in tasty upbeat rhymes."[5] Complex wrote that the album revives "the barbershop quartet-style group dynamics of early hip-hop crews like the Treacherous 3 and the Cold Crush Brothers."[6] Fact called it "a jolly throwback affair ... enlivened by Busta's freewheeling presence and some smart production work."[7]
| Chart (1991) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 128 | |
| U.S. Heatseekers | 1 | |
| U.S. R&B Albums | 53 |