Nearly 20 years after its release in October 2003, “Macho Man” Randy Savage’s cult rap album, Be A Man, is getting the special Record Store Day treatment.
On April 22, 2023, a limited pressing of 1,000 copies of Be A Man will be reissued in select independent record stores. According to the Record Store Day website, “This amazing rap album has been completely remastered for vinyl and includes a 2-sided full color printed insert with photos and album history and comes in a black poly-lined sleeve with hype-sticker on purple vinyl.”
When Be A Man was released in October 2003, Slam Wrestling’s Jason Clevett reviewed the album, stating, “the fact remains that as a novelty CD, this is a fun disc and … [listening] to Savage rap lines about getting the crowd pumped up and critics and haters is amusing and fun.”
Clevett also interviewed the Macho Man himself, who was optimistic about his first album, and his future in entertainment, beyond professional wrestling, “I hope the best is yet to come and I can continue to entertain fans in a different way.”
Be A Man is just one of many new records to be released on Record Store Day, and for those unfamiliar with the annual event, the primary goal is to celebrate brick-and-mortar independent record stores, so Record Store Day releases aren’t available online or for pre-sale, and not all record stores have every Record Store Day release, so the only way to find out if your local, independent record store will have a copy of Be A Manis to ask, because surely enough, once these albums make their way to the secondary market, they won’t be cheap.
The Record Store Day promo for Be A Man doesn’t obscure the fact that Savage’s 2003 CD is now a collector’s item, “which has sold over the years for staggering amounts on eBay,” but if you’re interested in purchasing Be A Man now for a more realistic price, Savage’s album was remastered in 2022 for a CD rerelease by Christian rock and metal label Girder Records, which comes packaged in a six-panel wallet, and includes a limited edition Randy Savage trading card.
For close to 20 years, aside from listening to the album on YouTube, the only way to get your hands on a legitimate copy of Be A Man was to drop about $200 on eBay, but now, thankfully, fans and collectors have a variety of options, and price points, when it comes to celebrating the brief, but legendary, rap career of Macho Man Randy Savage.
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