Fan-Tas-Stic Vol. 1 started as a 1996 demo tape from three Detroit friends—producer Jay Dee and rappers T3 and Baatin—who'd been making music together since high school. The tape had such a unique feel that it got bootlegged and circulated in underground hip-hop circles for prices as high as $50. Though some of the material was later revamped on the group’s “official” debut in 2000, the original recordings finally saw the light of day in 2005. Now, the songs sound like transmissions from an underground bunker. There's something essential in the resolutely contaminated production values of these early recordings. The vocals are muddied at times, but that only adds to the overall atmosphere. Through the lo-fi production values, a sound emerges that's at once hard-hitting and totally haunting. Jay Dee’s beats are skeletal yet velvety. Even when the songs consist of little more than a steely drum pattern and some ghostly jazz chords—as on “The Look of Love”—Fan-Tas-Stic Vol. 1 feels like a portal to the hypnotic pace of an American city in night’s deepest and most disquieting moment.