Lyricist Lounge, Volume One

Lyricist Lounge, Volume One is the second hip hop compilation album by American record label Rawkus Records. The double-disc was released on May 5, 1998, as the first installment of the Lyricist Lounge album series, based on New York's Lyricist Lounge showcases.

Recording sessions took place at Temple of Soul, Firehouse Studios, at Animation Sound, at Ozone Studios, at Soundtrack Studios, at Poke's Crib, at Animal Tracks Studios, at D's House, at Platinum Island Studios, at Unique Studios, at Mark Dann Recording Studios, at Rawkus Studios and at Circus Studios in New York City, at The Chop Shop in New Jersey, at the Red October Chemical Storage Facility in Los Angeles with additional recording at Westlake Audio.

Production was handled by Shawn J Period, 88-Keys, Kenny Diaz, Will Tell, Charlemagne, Curt Cowdy, Cut Chemist, Derrick Trotman, DJ Nu-Mark, DJ Scratch, El-P, Ge-Ology, G.M., Hi-Tek, Keith Horne, Megahertz, Native Sun, Nottz, Saul Williams, Stix Bones and V.I.C., with Danny Castro, Ant Marshall and Perry Landsberg serving as executive producers.

It features contributions from Bahamadia, Black Thought, Common, Company Flow, De La Soul, Jurassic 5, Kool Keith, KRS-One, Mos Def, Natural Elements, O.C., Pharoahe Monch, Punchline, Q-Tip, Rah Digga, Ras Kass, Saul Williams, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Talib Kweli, Tash, The Last Emperor, Thirstin Howl III, Wordsworth and Zack de la Rocha among others.

The album peaked at number 167 on the Billboard 200 and 52 on the Top R&B Albums chart in the United States. It was preceded by two singles: "Body Rock" and "C.I.A. (Criminals In Action)". "Body Rock" peaked at #15 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart, #65 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, #29 on the Hot Rap Songs chart, and #11 on the Dance Singles Sales chart. "C.I.A. (Criminals In Action)" peaked at #33 on the Hot Rap Songs chart.

Track listing

 * Notes
 * Track 11 features additional vocals by Kimberly Diamonds
 * Track 12 features additional vocals by Shawn J Period
 * Track 17 features additional vocals by Ka
 * Track 24 features scratches by DJ Spinbad and DJ Daze
 * Track 25 features additional vocals by Nicole Willis


 * Sample credits
 * Track 3 contains a sample of "One Day" written by Jeru the Damaja and DJ Premier
 * Track 24 contains excerpts from "La Murga Pana Mena" written by Perez and Willie Colón as performed by Cal Tjader
 * Track 25 contains an interpolation of "Our Ages Our Hearts"