Hed PE signed with Jive Records , releasing their self @-@ titled debut album in 1997 . In his review of the album , Allmusic 's Steve Huey wrote " There are some slow and / or unfocused moments [ ... ] but overall , its aggression will probably play well with late- ' 90s metal and punk fans . " Due to the label 's contractual terms and the disappointing sales of the album , the band found themselves unable to repay the cash advances given to them by Jive . Gomes is quoted as saying " We had these romantic visions of the music industry , and we thought it would be cool to be a punk band on a rap label . So we fulfilled that dream , but it was also probably the worst thing that could have happened . [ ... ] We 've had offers from Sony and others that we can 't take because we owe Jive so much money . "