Bas’ ‘Too High To Riot’ Gets 10th Anniversary Pressing
The sophomore album from the rapper is now available on Sunset Glass vinyl.
One of the seminal releases in the Dreamville catalogue, Bas’s Too High To Riot is celebrating its tenth anniversary in style. Originally released on March 4, 2016, Too High To Riot is now getting a strictly limited edition reissue on Sunset Glass vinyl.
Too High To Riot became Bas’ second release on Dreamville Records, which was founded by J. Cole, after 2014’s Last Winter. The album sees Bas team with labelmates Cole and Cozz on the tracks “Night Job” and “Dopamine,” respectively, as well as rap duo The Hics for the track “Matches.” Ella Mai also contributes backing vocals to the track “Clouds Never Get Old.”
“It’s really about just those sobering moments,” Bas described of the record’s subject matter and lyrics in an interview with Complex in 2016. “I think we live in almost a fantasy world. You’re traveling the world, getting all this love from your fans, getting all this support from people, making money. You’re living this fantasy lifestyle, and then you can get snapped out of it in a phone call.” Bas also described the growth he experienced personally between the release of Last Winter, saying the years taught him that success “some side effects [and] sacrifices you’re going to have to make.”
“I think the diehard fans gravitated to it because they could see the progression and hear me finding myself,” the rapper told The Fader in the months after the album’s release. “At the same time, there were people who never heard me before, had no idea I had other projects, who were like, ‘What is this? This shit is dope. I fuck with it.’” Too High To Riot ended up doubling the first week sales of the artist’s first album and charting twice as high on the Billboard 200. “On this album, I challenged myself to be more honest and truthful,” he continued. “I just didn’t give a fuck, and wrote about exactly what was on my mind.” Clearly, the strategy continues to resonate with fans.
