Here to Save You All

Here to Save You All is the debut studio album by American rapper Chino XL. It was released on April 9, 1996, through American Recordings. The recording sessions took place at Platinum Island Studios and Firehouse Studio in New York, at Canyon Post Digital and Kitchen Sync Studios in Los Angeles, and at Secret Six Studios. It was produced by B-Wiz, Bird, DJ Homicide, Eric Romero, KutMasta Kurt, and Dan Charnas, who also served as executive producer. It features guest appearances from Gravitation, Kool Keith and Ras Kass.

Here to Save You All
Studio album by Chino XL
Released	April 9, 1996 (1996-04-09)
Recorded	1995–January 1996
Studio	Platinum Island Studios (New York, NY) Canyon Post Digital (Los Angeles, CA) Firehouse Studio (New York, NY) Kitchen Sync Studios (Hollywood, CA) Secret Six Studios
Genre	Hip hop
Length	1:08:40
Label	American
Producer	Dan Charnas (also exec.) Bird B Wiz DJ Homicide Eric Romero KutMasta Kurt
Chino XL chronology
Here to Save You All (1996) I Told You So (2001)
Singles from Here to Save You All
"No Complex / Waiting to Exhale" Released: March 23, 1996 "Kreep" Released: July 22, 1996 "Thousands / Freestyle Rhymes" Released: October 15, 1996 "Deliver" Released: November 12, 1996 "Rise / Jesus" Released: February 14, 1997

The album debuted at No. 56 on the Top R&B Albums and No. 39 on the Heatseekers Albums in the United States.

Background

The lyrical content revolved around dark, hardcore themes (mostly metaphorical braggadoccio), dismissing the commercialized hip hop that was starting to gain momentum at this time. It contains the infamous but well-known song "Riiiot!" which had a line that possibly alluded to the rumor of West Coast rapper 2Pac being raped in prison. 2Pac later called him out on "Hit 'Em Up", and Chino responded with a freestyle diss. Chino himself stated that the line was not meant as a diss, and he and 2Pac were on good terms at the time of his death.^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Muzik	[3]
RapReviews	9.5/10[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
The Source	[6]

The Los Angeles Times wrote that "Chino XL returns to some of the bold, freewheeling, brutally honest elements that have been missing in the money-hungry, over-commercialized genre, and he does it without fear of what it will do to his standing among his rap peers or in the commercial marketplace."^[7]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Here to Save You All" (featuring Rosalin Harris)	Derek Barbosa R. Stevens	B-Wiz	0:59
2.	"Deliver"	Barbosa Kurt Matlin	KutMasta Kurt	3:29
3.	"No Complex" (featuring Jut Boogie)	Barbosa Stevens	B-Wiz	4:40
4.	"Partner to Swing"	Barbosa Stevens	B-Wiz	4:15
5.	"It's All Bad"	Barbosa Stevens	B-Wiz	5:00
6.	"Freestyle Rhymes"	Barbosa Lamont Holbdy	Bird	4:13
7.	"Riiiot!" (featuring Ras Kass)	Barbosa John Austin Holbdy	Bird	4:44
8.	"Waiting to Exhale" (featuring Gravitation)	Barbosa Stevens A. Thatcher D. Youngblood T. Walker	B-Wiz	3:26
9.	"What Am I?"	Barbosa Stevens	B-Wiz	4:59
10.	"Feelin' Evil Again" (featuring Jamie Stewart)	Barbosa Stevens	B-Wiz	3:32
11.	"Thousands"	Barbosa Craig Bullock	DJ Homicide	4:11
12.	"Kreep"	Barbosa Erik Romero	Erik Romero	5:18
13.	"Many Different Ways"	Barbosa Stevens	B-Wiz	5:07
14.	"The Shabba-Doo Conspiracy" (featuring Kool Keith)	Barbosa Keith Thornton Stevens	B-Wiz	4:39
15.	"Ghetto Vampire"	Barbosa Stevens	B-Wiz	4:47
16.	"Rise"	Barbosa Dan Charnas	Dan Charnas	5:21
17.	"My Hero"			1:33
Total length:				1:08:40

Notes

• Tracks 17 to 59 are 4 to 5 seconds of silence and track 16 is 28 seconds of silence.

Sample credits

• Track 4 contains a sample from "Five/Four" by Gene Harris and a sample from "To the Break of Dawn" by LL Cool J.
• Track 5 contains a sample of "After the Dance (Instrumental Version)" by Marvin Gaye.
• Track 11 contains elements from "Success" by Fat Joe.
• Track 12 embodies portions of the composition "Creep" by Radiohead, contains samples of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by Iron Butterfly and samples of "Levitate" by the Brecker Brothers.
• Track 13 contains a sample of "Phony As You Wanna Be" by GZA, a sample from "Time's Up" by O.C. and a sample from "Worker Man" by Patra.
• Track 15 contains a sample of "The Sick Rose" by David Axelrod.
• Track 16 contains a sample from "Been Such a Long Time Gone" by Hugh Masekela and a sample from "Make Me Say It Again Girl" by the Isley Brothers.

Personnel

• Derek "Chino XL" Barbosa – vocals
• Rosalin "Drama Child" Harris – vocals (track 1)
• Jamie Stewart – additional vocals (track 2)
• Jut Boogie – additional vocals (track 3)
• Dionna Brooks-Jackson – additional vocals (track 6), vocals (track 10)
• John "Ras Kass" Austin – vocals (track 7)
• Ab-Style – vocals (track 8)
• Duganz – vocals (track 8)
• Raggedy Man – vocals (track 8)
• Christine Palma – additional vocals (track 9)
• "Kool Keith" Thornton – vocals (track 14)
• Sheena Lester – additional vocals (track 15)
• Jay Vietnam – scratches (tracks: 4, 10)
• Craig "DJ Homicide" Bullock – scratches (track 9), producer (track 11)
• DJ Mark Luv – scratches (track 13)
• R. "B-Wiz" Stevens – producer (tracks: 1, 3–5, 8–10, 13–15)
• "KutMasta Kurt" Matlin – producer (track 2)
• Lamont "Bird" Holbdy – producer (tracks: 6, 7)
• Erik Romero – producer (track 12)
• Dan Charnas – producer (track 16), recording (tracks: 9, 14, 15), executive producer
• Chip Mullaney – recording (track 2)
• Carlos Bess – recording (tracks: 3–5, 8, 12, 13), mixing (tracks: 8, 12)
• Sean Freehill – recording (tracks: 6, 7, 10, 13, 15, 16), mixing (tracks: 3–7, 9, 10, 13–16)
• Rod "King Tech" Sepand – mixing (track 3)
• Tom Coyne – mastering
• Stephen Stickler – photography

Charts

Chart (1996)	Peak position
US Top R&B Albums (Billboard)[8]	56
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[9]	39