The Grand Opening is the second full-length solo studio album by American rapper Planet Asia. It was released on January 27, 2004, via Avatar Records. Recording sessions took place at Def Con IV Studios, The Static Lounge and Wolfpack Studios in Los Angeles and at Quality Control Studios in San Francisco. Production was handled by the Architect, Darren "Limitless" Henson, Evidence, Ivan Barias, Jake One, J. Thrill, J. Wells, KutMasta Kurt, Oh No, Supa Dave West, Tracks and Vitamin D. It features guest appearances from Big Wig, Cecilie Davis, Crunch, Ghostface Killah, Goapele, Martin Luther McCoy, Shake Da Mayor, and his Cali Agents cohort Rasco. The album debuted at number 46 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart in the United States.
Background The release of 2000's How The West Was One landed Planet Asia a deal with Interscope Records. He released a single "Pure Coke" in 2001 under the label. However, while signed to Interscope, he was not promoted much and stayed with the label until 2003 without releasing an album. The result was the rapper moving to Avatar Records and recording new material, including the single "Summertime in the City", which was released on August 12, 2003. The songs "It's All Big" and "Real Niggaz" were issued as the third and the fourth singles, respectively, from The Grand Opening.
Track listing
Personnel Steve Pageot – flute & additional keyboards (track 5) Levy "Bloe" St. Mary – keyboards (track 15) Todd "Mum's The Word" Mumford – recording (tracks: 2, 7, 12, 13) Michael "Evidence" Perretta – recording (track 2) Jon "J. Wells" Henderson – recording & mixing (track 3) Walter "Walt Liquor" Taylor – recording (tracks: 4, 6, 11, 15), mixing (tracks: 7, 11, 12, 15), engineering assistant (tracks: 7, 12), executive producer "KutMasta Kurt" Matlin – recording & mixing (track 8) Gary "The Architect" Herd – recording & mixing (tracks: 9, 14) Justin "Dubb" Taylor – mixing (tracks: 2, 13), engineering assistant (track 7) Richard "Segal" Huredia – mixing (tracks: 3, 4, 7, 12, 15) Victor Mancusi – mixing (track 5) Joe Warlick – mixing (track 6) Jeff King – mastering Russell Redeaux – executive producer, A&R Jason "Planet Asia" Green – executive producer Keith Corcoran – graphic design DJ Raphiki – A&R
Charts Chart (2004) PeakpositionUS Independent Albums (Billboard) 46
References
External links