"The story goes like this: Loud Records signs Big Pun, a talented, but relatively unknown MC. Two years before releasing Punisher's first LP Capital Punishment, Buddha and his Street Teams across the country went to work. They stuck with grassroots strategies (stenciling, sniping, sample tapes, etc.) and didn't quit promoting until after the record dropped. The result: Right out the box, Big Pun debuts at number five. Capital Punishment remained in the top fifteen for nine weeks and has sold approximately 2,000,000 albums to date (April, 1999 - Vibe) - all with no initial video and little radio airplay." Buddha was part of SRC's (Street Records Corporation) NYC Street Team, which set the bar for Guerrilla marketing at the time, and was created by Loud Records' Steve Rifkind. The mention of sample tapes above refers to Big Pun's promotional cassette sampler, Pre-Trial Motion, which was released in 1998 ahead of Capital Punishment and partially mixed the tracks "Twinz" with Fat Joe, "Toe 2 Toe" with Cuban Link, "Off The Books" with The Beatnuts, Wishful Thinking with B-Real, Fat Joe & Kool G Rap; "Dreamshatter," "Firewater" with Fat Joe, Raekwon & Armageddon, "You Ain't a Killer" and "Still Not A Player." Big Pun also had the classic promotional "Big Punisher" condoms, which was great marketing as well. Capital Punishment was released on this day in 1998 with production from The Beatnuts, Rockwilder, Knobody, Domingo, L.E.S., Minnesota, RZA, Showbiz and more. We lost Pun too early and this undeniable classic is a reminder to celebrate his life and legacy as one of the greatest lyricists and one of the funniest, most charismatic artists to ever bless the mic. Listen to the Pre-Trial Motion sampler and hit the tags for more... Remember Pun!
An original Big Punisher promotional condom if you've never seen one...
