Streetlights

Streetlights is a 12-inch single by the Detroit rapper D’Phuzion, released in 2001 on Straight Jacket Records. It is the earliest release listed on Discogs under her name alone.

The story

The single followed “Bang Bang Boogie,” the Champtown record that introduced D’Phuzion. Straight Jacket, the label run by Champtown, put out Streetlights as a follow-up that put her in the lead role. A later YouTube upload by a third party packages “Street Lights” with “Bang Bang Boogie” as a Straight Jacket Records presentation.

Sound and production

The record is a 33⅓ RPM 12-inch in a DJ-friendly layout. The A-side (“This Side”) carries “F**k It,” its instrumental and the “Streetlights” a cappella. The B-side (“That Side”) carries “Streetlights” and its instrumental. Discogs does not document producer or writer credits.

Legacy

Streetlights is a scarce vinyl item. Discogs shows many more users wanting it than owning it, a common pattern for small Detroit independent pressings from the early 2000s. It marks the point at which D’Phuzion stepped out as a solo artist alongside her work with the Almighty Dreadnaughts.