Back From The Dread

First off, after the unexpected shit demise of Photobucket I've finally reset the page to look basically (I think) like how it used to after switching everything over to a new photo host... that being said... music on...

Dude what the fuck is my hard-on for Kool Keith? Everything that fucker touches is gold. Even his new shit which you could argue against is light years past what any old school rapper is trying to do these days. Regardless, my way-cooler-than-me brother was wicked into Ultramagnetic back in the day... while Critical Beatdown is still a good listen, the quartet's best moment is their 1992 The Four Horsemen LP. By this point Keith was easily becoming the apex predator of the group - shit he raps more prolifically on this bitch then he does on some his solo albums. Clinging to all the dark groove samples of the early-90's hip-hop scene it's some of my favorite shit from the soon to be solo KK. Groovy shit with Keith dropping his trademark insane lyrics.... gotta fucking love it. Doo-doo rhyme hooks forever.

See That Man On The Street

Pretentious Long-Winded Sophomore Album Title>>

Wow, way back when I was proclaiming good ol' Whale as the "next big thing that never happened" my pretentious ass never even realized those crazy Swedes actually released a second album just three years later. With the delicious Cia Berg again at the helm (talk about the pioneer of the "hottie nerd" revolution, no?), Whale's second slab of wax delivers in just that way late 90's alternative rock did. Of course comparisons can be made with nearly every female-helmed band at the time (Breeders, Garbage, Veruca Salt, etc) but Whale owns a weirdly Euro Pop sensibility that most bands this side of the pond lacked (or at least lacked at the time). The band eschews a rocking "Hobo Babe" anthem on this record for a lot more depth and darkness; a bunch of slow, heavy-lyric ballads mixed in with lots of manic trip-hop. Not quite the party album as their debut (unless you are still holding raves in your basement) but a lot more satisfying a listen. The epic "Go Where You're Feeling Free" cannot help but bring shades of "Happy Colored Marbles" or some similar bigger-than-its-britches mini-epic. Solid stuff that still sounds as good 20 years later. Enjoy.

Deliver The Juice

Another Dimension Of Rhythm

Take one part Big L and one part House Of Pain and you pretty much end up with A.D.O.R. With rap skills straight outta Mount Vernon, NY, A.D.O.R.'s career began with producer extraordinaire Pete Rock (just then coming into his own) producing his first single, "Let It All Hang Out" which enjoyed some significant 1992 radio and video play. Floating through the scene and eventually signed by the majors, A.D.O.R.'s career stalled significantly when he was dropped by Atlantic on the cusp of his debut LP release for "creative differences" (generic industry-speak for artists not falling into line with label demands). The Concrete never saw the light of day save for limited promo/review copies and the world would have to wait another year until A.D.O.R. released a quasi-revamped version on his own label (entitled Shock Therapy). As far as the music, it all sounds terribly familiar and will constantly remind you of any number of early-90's rappers (especially anyone on Tommy Boy) but man, it is nice to hear some old-school hip-hop I haven't played to death (to gotta be honest, I had never heard of A.D.O.R. and only recently stumbled upon him thanks to SiriusXM's Backspin). The rip I have is culled from vinyl (possibly one of the promo out there?) so there are some skips and cracks but it's the most complete version out there I could find. Enjoy.

A Declaration Of A Revolution

Bald Headed Beats

I've had this one sitting on my hard drive for a while and simply haven't had time to upload it... unfortunately it's not quite as complete as some of the other "sample compilations" I've done in the past and I was hoping time would help fill some of the gaps in the break beat list. Oh well. Willie Dee's epic debut, 1989's Controversy is a work of absolute DIY raunchy genius and oozes a strange aura of cut-and-paste charm to help overcome the sheer amateurishness of it all (and the fact I'm writing about it over 25 years after its release proves it). Peering once more into DJ Ready Red's late-90's record collection there are a few new nuggets for those who downloaded the Geto Boys and Mr. Scarface Is Back comps - including a rather rare track from forgotten British funk obscurity Olympic Runners. I couldn't find or figure samples from a few of Controversy's tracks (primarily "Kinky") but did the best I could. Notable omissions include the strange-but-cool organ overdub on "Put The F'in Gun Away" and the back beat ("wooo!" included) from "Trip Across From Mexico". I know these are somewhere hidden in some 8-minute Meters or James Brown jam but simply cannot find them!

Still, here is the CD track-by-track breakdown:

1. Do It Like It G.O.

        • "Apache" by Incredible Bongo Band

        • "Superfly" by Curtis Mayfield

2. Fuck The KKK

        • "Smiling Faces Sometimes" by The Undisputed Truth

        • "Impeach The President" by The Honey Drippers

        • "Bring The Noise" by Public Enemy

        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown

3. Kick That Shit

        • "The Boss" by James Brown

        • "If You've Got It, You'll Get It" by The Headhunters

4. Willie Dee

        • "Willie Dee" by Martha Reeves & The Sweet Things

        • "The Champ" by The Mohawks

        • "'The Twilight Zone' Opening Theme" by Marius Constant

5. Put The F'in Gun Away

        • "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss

6. Trip Across From Mexico

        • "Movin'" by Brass Construction

7. 5th Ward

        • "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins
        • "Kool Is Back" by Funk, Inc.

        • "N.T." by Kool And The Gang

        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown

8. Bald Headed Hoes

        • "Kool Is Back" by Funk, Inc.

        • "'Dragnet' Opening Theme" by Walter Schumann

9. Welfare Bitches

        • "Don't Let Up" by Olympic Runners

10. Kinky

11. I Need Some Pussy

        • "Yes We Can Can" by The Pointer Sisters

12. Fuck Me Now

        • "Different Strokes" by Syl Johnson

        • "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins

        • "The Big Beat" by Billy Squier

Additionally, I was really hoping to find the full sample of whatever comedian (?) does the kinda gross "greasy split" monologue at the bookends of "I Need Some Pussy". Some old grumpy Redd Foxx-esque motherfucker sitting at some dank nightclub to scattered drunk applause. Amazing that there is still some shit out there today that the Internet can't figure out for you!!! Any advice or submissions will be promptly added to the catalog - until then thanks and enjoy.

5th Ward Funk

Music To Tag To

Here's a soundtrack snippet by a gang I've mentioned before, the somewhat infamous DayByDay comedy duo of Will Carsola and Dave Stewart. Culled from their 2006 comedy sketch flick Teenagers From Uranus, today's/this months's upload features three-ish hip-hop tracks from the DVD soundtrack. Played over several "intermissions" (a.k.a. run time filler) of graffiti artists running around in what I assume is Baltimore, the tracks are probably local RVA artists and probably demos or unreleased. Couldn't get a whole lot from the credits so best guessing one or all of the artists are local legend Oxen Johnson (with or without his group Luggage), Ali Thieves and maybe some remixes by Kjell. Good old-school gangsta rap for us old fucks out there. As for Carsola and Stewart, I only recently discovered these guys made their way out of the River City towards sunny CA to create the Mr. Pickles show for Adult Swim. Who knew and good for them escaping the tri-cities. Check out some more of their funny sketch comedy shit here.

Sloppy Seconds

Never Dirty

Stuck in a shit ton of traffic while driving home from work these 8 minutes of gold randomly popped onto my iPod and kept my road rage at bay for the home stretch of I95. Mixed by old friend DJ Stew back in the late 90's, there's nothing here that would amaze any potential Q's out there, just a solid seamless medley of D.M.C. old-school hits. "My Adidas," "Sucker M.C.'s" and "Peter Piper" as well as some snippets from other classics. Relegated to weddings and cheesy bar mitzvahs, Stew left the disk jockey racket a long time ago. Enjoy.

Mostly Clean

Time For Sex

As I've rambled about before from this ol' soapbox, my favorite albums of Kool Keith's fucking epic discography are those conceived with Kutmasta Kurt. A long decade after the duo dropped Keith's ultimate Sex Style (here) comes an hour of outtakes and demos; shit that didn't make the final cut or was simply never made it out of demo status. To be honest, why? The shit rules. It is fucking awesome to hear Keith rapping his trademark dirty "do-do" freestyle over Kurt's absolutely minimal groove-heavy beats once again - by no means are these apologetic bottom-of-the-barrel scraps. Shit, the fact they came up with a token "skit" cements the fact that Sex Style should have been a double LP. Regardless, it is now with this album as a companion, discovering another cache of top-dollar Keith at his peak is simply money.

Oh. My. God. Girl.

The Old Style

I consider myself a pretty big early-era Beastie Boys fan so I was surprised as shit to stumble upon this bootleg claiming to feature demo tracks from the trio's watershed 1986 LP Licensed To Ill. Jaded from decades of shitty boots I didn't expect much but once "Rhymin' & Stealin'" hit the speakers it was like welcoming an old friend back home. Sure the mixes are rough and the CD quality is marginal but man it is fun hearing semi-alternate versions of the record's time-tested classics. Featuring two so-so deleted songs "I'm Down" (a Beatles cover, 'natch) and "Scenario" - the real treat are the demos. While most of the songs are basically the same they are clearly mixed differently and, how can I say, heavier (especially "No Sleep Till Brooklyn"). "Rhymin' & Stealin" now ends with a since-censored "I smoke my crack and I'm rhymin' & stealin'..." "Fight For Your Right" has a whole additional verse (!) tacked on at the end, "Hold It Now, Hit It" wraps up differently. While it would be great if this was an actual leaked demo of what Licensed was originally intended to be, I've since read that Blue Moon Records (or whoever really cut this together) compiled some demos of tracks that were altered after the fact, added some deleted songs and filled in the gaps with slightly modified album cuts to approximate an "almost was" record. Regardless of the history it's still a cool listen. And I hear there's a Paul's Boutique demo bootleg floating around out there as well. Stay tuned.

Time To Get Ill

South Central Samples

Well, with the upcoming Straight Outta Compton hitting theaters in a fortnight or two I thought I'd wrap up my sample compilations with the record that started it all. Pulling the material for this one was a real beast; the first thing I learned is that Dr. Dre had a lot of records in his archives and secondly, he produced in a significantly different way then DJ Ready Red of the Geto Boys did. While Ready Red tended to use pretty big chunks of his sample songs, Dre (and I guess Yella to an extent) used only the tiniest snippets from records. Of course there are a few exceptions ("Parental Discretion Iz Advised", "Express Yourself" and "I Ain't Tha 1") but for the most part only a quick drum loop, sound effect or guitar lick was lifted from source songs. And Dre also wasn't against modifying some of the material, case in point the classic drum beat to "Straight Outta Compton" is a significantly slowed down bridge riff from the Winstons' "Amen, Brother." With that being said I don't know if I would have been able to figure a lot of these out (or track them down) without a plethora of assistance from various sample libraries on internet.

Still, it was a little iffy adding some of the songs to the compilation. Including Beastie Boys' "The New Style" simply because Adrock's solitary one-second "Puttin' it on wax!" lyric is used in "8-Ball" was a bit of a game-time decision. Unlike the Geto Boys who culled most of their spoken word from Scarface, Dre used a ton of different records for quick vocal clips. Hell, I probably could have included the entire Eazy-Duz-It and N.W.A. And The Posse LPs as source material as well. Interestingly, a choice few of the sample tunes I included I am not actually sure when they are used in the respective song but I figure someone out there does. There are also a couple that I question their legitimacy - Fishbone's "Lyin' Ass Bitch' for one. Yeah, there's a loud "Biiiitch" yelled in both "A Bitch Iz A Bitch" and at the close of Fishbone's track but is it the same one....?

Once again, here's the song-by-song breakdown, and yes I added "A Bitch Iz A Bitch" simply because it is such a classic fucking song:

1. Straight Outta Compton
        • "Amen, Brother" by The Winstons
        • "You'll Like It Too" by Funkadelic
        • "Engine Number 9" by Wilson Pickett
        • "West Coast Poplock" by Ronnie Hudson And The Street People
        • "Burn Rubber On Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)" by The Gap Band
        • "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James
2. Fuck Tha Police
        • "It's My Thing" by Marva Whitney
        • "The Boogie Back" by Roy Ayers Ubiquity
        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
        • "Funky President (People It's Bad)" by James Brown
        • "Feel Good" by Fancy
        • "Engine Number 9" by Wilson Pickett
3. Gangsta Gangsta
        • "Weak At The Knees" by Steve Arrington’s Hall Of Fame
        • "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William DeVaughn
        • "N.T." by Kool And The Gang
        • "Funky Worm" by Ohio Players
        • "Troglodyte (Cave Man)" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch
        • "Impeach The President" by The Honey Drippers
4. If It Ain't Ruff
        • "A Star In The Ghetto" by Average White Band & Ben E. King
        • "Don't Believe The Hype" by Public Enemy
        • "Ain't We Funkin' Now" by The Brothers Johnson
5. Parental Discretion Iz Advised
        • "I Turned You On" by The Isley Brothers
6. 8-Ball (Remix)
        • "Let's Get It On" by Marvin Gaye
        • "Paul Revere" by Beastie Boys
        • "Fight For Your Right" by Beastie Boys
        • "Girls" by Beastie Boys
        • "Be Thankful For What You Got" by William DeVaughn
        • "Yes, We Can Can" by The Pointer Sisters
        • "It's My Beat" by Sweet Tee And Jazzy Joyce
        • "My Melody" by Eric B. & Rakim
        • "West Coast Poplock" by Ronnie Hudson And The Street People
        • "Too Much Posse" by Public Enemy
7. Something Like That
        • "Take The Money And Run" by Steve Miller Band
        • "I Think I'd Do It" by Z.Z. Hill
        • "Down On The Avenue" by Fat Larry's Band
8. Express Yourself
        • "Express Yourself" by Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
9. Compton's N The House (Remix)
        • "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James
        • "Funky Beat" by Whodini
        • "It's My Turn" by Dezo Daz (featuring D.J. Slip)
        • "Cinderfella Dana Dane" by Dana Dane
10. I Ain't Tha 1
        • "The Message (Inspiration)" by Brass Construction
11. Dopeman (Remix)
        • "Funky Worm" by Ohio Players
        • "Dance To The Drummer's Beat" by Herman Kelly & Life
        • "My Posse" by C.I.A.
        • "Freestyle Live (Edit Version)" by Roxanne (Fly) Shanté (featuring Biz Markie)
        • "I'm Bad" by L.L. Cool J
12. Quiet On Tha Set
        • "Rock Creek Park" by The Blackbyrds
        • "I Get Lifted" by KC And The Sunshine Band
        • "The Unsafe Bridge" by Laura Olsher
        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
        • "Take The Money And Run" by Steve Miller Band
13. Something 2 Dance 2
        • "You're The One For Me" by "D" Train
        • "Dance To The Music" by Sly & the Family Stone
        • "'Mighty Mouse' Theme" by The Sandpipers
        • "Change the Beat (French Rap)" by Beside
        • "ORCH5" by David Vorhaus
14. A Bitch Iz A Bitch (bonus)
        • "Papa Was Too" by Joe Tex
        • "Lyin' Ass Bitch" by Fishbone

Phew, what a list. Almost 4 hours of stuff. Y'know when I started writing this blog I was sure it was my swansong compilation but I gotta tell ya, after typing this all out I'm now sort of itching to do Eazy-Duz-It. But until then, sit back, crack a 40 or two of Old E and enjoy.

Part I                                        Part II                                        Part III

Who The Fuck Is Fred?

Nothing like a one-trick pony, right? No sooner did I finish my Geto Boys sample post then I got some info on the background material for Akshen/Scarface's incredible 1991 solo debut Mr. Scarface Is Back. Nursing a sore throat and with a little time on my hands, I culled the sample tracks for this record and here ya go, another amazing 2+ hour collection of 70's funk and soul. Not as much James Brown this time (and there are a few hold overs from the Geto Boys comp as well, sorry) but finally hearing "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss and "Thinking" by the Meters is enough to deserve a listen. Half of these tracks are a who's who of legendary sample beats - wonderful to hear the full songs behind the scenes.

Here is the LP track breakdown:

A1. Mr. Scarface

        • "Gimme What You Got" by Le Pamplemousse

        • "Different Strokes" by Syl Johnson

        • "Sexy Coffee Pot" by Tony Alvon & The Belairs

A2. The Pimp

        • "Sportin' Life" by James Brown

        • "Impeach The President" by The Honey Drippers

A3. Born Killer

        • "Theme From 'Buck & The Preacher'" by The Nite-Liters

        • "Amen, Brother" by The Winstons

        • "The Assembly Line" by Commodores

        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown

A4. Murder By Reason Of Insanity

        • "Synthetic Substitution" by Melvin Bliss

        • "UFO" by ESG

        • "Untitled Instrumental" by James Brown

A5. Your Ass Got Took

        • "Sing A Simple Song" by Please

        • "Down On The Avenue" by Fat Larry's Band 

        • "The Traffic Cop (Dance)" by Bloodstone

        • "Four Cornered Room" by War

A6. Diary Of A Madman

        • "The Payback" by James Brown

        • "Atomic Dog" by George Clinton

B1. Body Snatchers

        • "Soul Power Pt. 1" by James Brown

B2. Money And The Power

        • "Love Serenade (Part II)" by Barry White

        • "UFO" by ESG

B3. P D Roll 'Em

        • "I've Been Watching You" by Southside Movement 

        • "Blind Alley" by The Emotions

B4. Good Girl Gone Bad

        • "Do Like I Do" by Smokey Robinson

        • "Good Old Music" by The Parliaments

B5. A Minute To Pray And A Second To Die

        • "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" by Marvin Gaye

        • "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye

        • "Kissing My Love" by Bill Withers

B6. I'm Dead

        • "Thinking" by The Meters

        • "Down On The Avenue" by Fat Larry's Band

        • "Mango Meat" by Mandrill

On a final note, I never really liked the cover I did for The Geto Boys sample comp so I updated that one and used what I had before for this one. Makes a lot more sense - and I sourced the photo from the original Mr. Scarface negative before they "browned" out DJ Ready Red. Enjoy.

Part I                                                                     Part II

It's On

Not sure where or when I got this bootleg CDr but it doesn't have anything from the Cocktails era (and beyond) so I'd guess around 1994. Most of the tracks are culled from Get In Where You Fit In and Shorty The Pimp but "Freaky Tales" makes an appearance from Born To Mack as well as a few from Life Is... and the epic Ice Cube duet "Ain't Nothin' But A Word To Me" from Short Dog's In The House. All in all the mix is just what you'd expect from a Too $hort greatest hits collection - slow plodding bass lines with some overtly dirty lyrics but the addition of "Hoochie" and "Gotta Get Some Lovin'" speed the bpm up nicely. My favorite song on the record is the "Glove Compartment" mix of Shorty The Pimp's "In The Trunk" - an already great tune is remixed with a huge beat and stand up bass. Too bad it's a radio cut but oh well, awesome shit.

BTW, I just checked out $hort's new video - it's pretty solid for a guy who's been doing the same thing for a quarter of a century.

Where They At?

Back the Geto Boys!

Holy fuck, just stumbled upon this while finishing up research for my last post. The Geto Boys are fucking back and need you to help fund their reunion album Habeas Corpus. While I wish Ready Red would be part of the gang I will take it. Check out their Kickstarter site - 15 days left as I write this...

Give To The Geto

F#@* 'Em

With the 25th anniversary of the Geto Boys' eponymous Def American debut looming, I decided to take a cue from a fellow blogger and add another entry into the "Songs Someone Taught Us" series. The year was 1990 and Def American released quite possibly the finest rap record in history. The Geto Boys. Sure, "Ghetto" Boy purists consider it more of a remix album then a legit new LP (although other than possibly "Size Ain't Shit" all of the Grip It! On That Other Level tracks were revamped and re-edited into vastly superior versions) - it still stands as the group's best work and a standard for pretty much any other hip-hop album to aspire. I was surprised to learn how much material was sampled to create The Geto Boys, while mostly funk tracks featuring James Brown as vocalist (or in some other major role) there are some real surprises once you deconstruct the songs. Billy Squier? "My Girl"? After listening to the album over and over while culling the below tracks I now can't hear a sample without thinking of its origin. So while this is not quite a collection of originals that a band covered (à la my previous Metallica and GG Allin posts) it's a window into what D.J. Ready Red's record collection must have looked like and got that Houston studio bumping way back in 1989.

Here's the song-by-song breakdown:

A1. Fuck 'Em
        • "Breakthrough” by Isaac Hayes
        • "Rocket In The Pocket (Live)" by Cerrone
        • "Kool Is Back" by Funk, Inc.
A2. Size Ain't Shit
        • "Blow Your Head" by Fred Wesley And The J.B.'s
        • "Mt. Airy Groove" by Pieces Of A Dream
A3. Mind Of A Lunatic
        • "Givin' Up Food For Funk" by The J.B.
        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
        • "Batman: Stacked Cards" by Joey Lapidos
A4. Gangster Of Love
        • "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band
        • "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" by Johnny Jenkins
A5. Trigga Happy Nigga
        • "Memphis Soul Stew" by King Curtis
        • "Love The Life You Live" by Kool And The Gang
A6. Life In The Fast Lane
        • "The Big Bang Theory" by Parliament
        • "Girl In The Hot Pants" by The Soul Brothers Inc.
        • "The Big Beat" by Billy Squier
A7. Assassins
        • "Apache" by Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band
B1. Do It Like A G.O.
        • "Superfly" by Curtis Mayfield
        • "Apache" by Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band
        • "Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey And The Detroit Guitar Band
        • "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" by James Brown
B2. Read These Nikes
        • "It Takes Two" by Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock
        • "You Can Have Watergate Just Gimme Some Bucks And I'll Be Straight" by Fred Wesley And The J.B.'s
        • "Funky Drummer" by James Brown
        • "Funky President (People It's Bad)" by James Brown
        • "My Girl" by The Temptations
        • "Batman: Stacked Cards" by Joey Lapidos
B3. Talkin' Loud Ain't Saying Nothin'
        • "Talkin' Loud & Sayin' Nothing" by James Brown
        • "Skin Tight" by Ohio Players
        • "Theme From The Planets" by Dexter Wansel
        • "South Bronx" by Boogie Down Productions
B4. Scarface
        • "Blues & Pants" by James Brown
        • "Ashley's Roachclip" by The Soul Searchers
        • "Gimmie What You Got" by Le Pamplemousse
        • "Different Strokes" by Syl Johnson
B5. Let a Ho Be A Ho
        • "Money" by Pink Floyd
        • "Impeach The President" by The Honey Drippers
B6. City Under Siege
        • "The Message From The Soul Sisters" by Myra Barnes
        • "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins
        • "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony)" by The Hillside Singers

For those with sharp eyes, yep there's a children's Batman 7" record on the list. Packaged with a comic book, it was a 70's vinyl version of the "Read-And-Listen" shit kids have loaded on their iPads today. It supplies all of the "he's a paranoic who's a menace to our society" samples  - which up to this day I assumed were from some obscure B-movie. Who in the Geto Boys owned that record? I debated including it since it runs a little long but was so surprised at the discovery I felt I had to. And upon listening to this catalog you'll find that it could have sufficed as sample material for a whole multitude of famous rap songs from back in the day (Public Enemy being one of the more consistent repeat clients). While some of the tunes are far from something I'd listen to on a daily basis, all have their moments, and most of the funk stuff is truly amazing. Interestingly, I just read a somewhat recent interview with Scarface in which he pledges a Geto Boys reunion LP if Rick Rubin would produce. Rick, are you reading?

7/11/15 update: Since my latest post was actually for Mr. Scarface Is Back I went ahead and updated the "album" cover for this one. Looks a ton better in my opinion. Enjoy.

Part I                                        Part II                                        Part III

Raw Dog Style

Completely overlooked West Coast supergroup debut featuring the indomitable Keith Korg (Kool Keith), Ice Oscillator (Ice-T who raps light years better on this record than anything else in his solo catalog), Marc Moog (Mark Live - a producer most known for his work with Ice-T), Silver Synth (Kool Keith protegé Black Silver) and Rex Roland JX-3P (Pimp Rex). While the latter three of the quintet may be mere plankton in the vast hip-hop ocean, Kool Keith kills (as usual) on this record and I simply cannot get over fucking Ice-T. Where the fuck was this guy on all of his records?!?! He raps with a smart fluency and keeps with the fast-ass rhythms like a pro. Man, it is so refreshing not to hear Ice simply brag about himself for 60 minutes! Of course the music sounds exactly like the evil synthesizer shit Kool Keith was dropping at the time (Spankmaster anyone? You'd be hard-pressed to convince me that this album was anything but Keith's idea...) but it flows great and the rappers give more than enough time to each other's skills. The one thing that I can't get over is my obsessive opinion that someone in the posse is the deep-voiced dude from Jurassic 5...

Shut Down Show

Who's The Next Maggot?

 

Was this album underrated? I know they got some MTV play (and controversy) with "Freedom Got An A.K." but I have yet to meet anyone over the last 23 years who actually owned, much less liked this record. And what a shame. Two of the trio (J-Dee and T-Bone) backed up Ice Cube on his AmeriKKKa's solo debut, bringing on Shorty to round out the threesome in 1992. While sounding a whole lot like what Ice Cube was releasing at the time (thanks both to Sir Jinx's stellar production and constant uncredited appearances by O'Shea himself), Guerillas easily stands on its own with both solid beats and some arguably harsher lyrics than what other L.A. rappers were spitting out on major label LPs (I tell ya, it's still feels somewhat weird to this day being a white guy enjoying this record but what can ya do). Regrettably, J-Dee was sent up the river on a murder charge and the group was forced to find a replacement in Maulkie (of Yomo & Maulkie fame) the next year. Their 1994 follow up is pretty solid but doesn't touch this amazing debut. Enjoy.

Buck You With My Shotgun

Still Wanted Dead Or Alive

A real hidden treasure from hip-hop's golden era, Kool G. Rap's sadly underrated Live And Let Die is significantly more akin to the West Coast style dominating the scene at the time than Rap's previous LPs. It comes as no surprise with Sir Jinx producing that Ice Cube managed to stumble into the studio for a few lyrics as do Geto Boys Scarface and Bushwick Bill. Labelmate Big Daddy Kane shows up as well. Some of the songs are a little akin to the fast-paced stuff Cube did on AmeriKKKA's but there are enough slow bass-heavy tunes (sounding much like Scarface's Rap-A-Lot debut) to keep it fresh. And his ode to cock-blocking is fucking hilarious. It's unfortunate that Warner Bros. balked at the record cover and eventually refused the LP's distribution (the bad taste of Body Count still in everyone's mouth) - Live And Let Die never had a chance at the recognition it deserved. Kool G. Rap has stayed on the scene since and has enjoyed a respectable (and respected) career but this is easily my favorite record of his - enjoy.

Kool Genius

Do It Like An Instrumental

Look, when it comes down to it, there's little I can write to further extol the greatness of the Geto Boys' Def American release. I came across these instrumentals of "Fuck 'Em" and "Do It Like A G.O." the other day and have been listening to them non-stop. Evidently the cuts existed as a 12" vinyl-only release back in 1990 but I'm pretty sure these were culled together from the original record samples by someone with a LOT more Audacity dexterity then me. A complaint? I just wish there was an instrumental version of the whole album. Enjoy. 

Like A Cardiac

Lyrics Of Fury

Man, talk about shooting your wad too early. While undeniably an old-school classic let's be honest, the first two tracks of Eric B. & Rakim's sophomore LP Follow The Leader are the only real reason to own this album. The title single and "Microphone Fiend" (with arguably the most copied groove in rap history) are two of the tightest hip-hop songs ever - the kind of shit you'd give to an alien if you had to explain to it what rap was. Now as far as Eric B. & Rakim go, I was already a pretty big fan of theirs (primarily from the epic seven-minute "madness mix" of "Paid In Full" off the Colors soundtrack) so when the gangster-esque "Follow The Leader" video debuted on Yo MTV Raps! (yeah white suburbia!) I was fucking hooked. With a voice like no other, Rakim was easily one of the smoothest and most recognizable rappers of his time and while I never thought Eric B. could stop traffic as a scratch artist that guy could cut some fucking samples together. The rest of the recordis listenable, if not terribly overwhelming. There are elements of "Lyrics Of Fury," "The R" and "Musical Massacre" that I kinda like every now and then but pretty much I wore out my cassette rewinding the first ten minutes of side A over and over again. Enjoy.

School Boy Crush

Vinnie Paz & Stoupe The Enemy Of Mankind

Alright fuckers - done with the lo-rent death metal - at least for a post or two. Straight outta Philly comes the first hip-hop record since 1994's Niggamortis that has raised a dry smile on my mug since the golden age of rap ended. Sounding a heckuva lot like the Gravediggaz (especially "Books Of Blood"), Jedi Mind Tricks keep it lo-fi without completely sounding like they are recording on a couple of 18-D battery ghetto blasters. Some of the "guest" rappers are a tad weak - who the fuck are the Lost Children Of Babylon? - but it all works overall. While the duo would eventually focus on more politically-charged shit, this first LP is a refreshing amalgam of science, history and tongue-twisting pop culture vocabulary. Amazingly the guys, while changing members over the decades, have stayed completely independent throughout - selling their records with a heard-earned swap-meet mentality, and their success speaks for itself. En-fucking-joy.

Last Straw

Kausing Much Damage

Suckin' down a 40 of Old E this Thursday evening has got me in an old-school frame of mind. Too bad most hip hop scholars' only clue to KMD's existence was frontman Zev Love X's cameo on 3rd Bass's subpar Cactus Album - a cameo that painfully confirms the lackluster rap skills of the two white boy frontmen. His tongue-twisting contribution to "Gas Face" saved that record from being completely forgettable. Since 99.9% of everyone reading this are newbies, a convenient intro to the group is their 2003 The Best Of KMD compilation LP. Culling tracks from Mr. Hood (1991) and Black Bastards (half-heartedly released in 1998), don't expect shades of 3rd Bass on this one. KMD sound like a lo-fi Brand Nubian (who actually turn up as guests on "Nitty Gritty") and are significantly more mean-spirited than the impression you may have gotten watching a young Zev Love spin around a lamp pole in the "Gas Face" video. Funny and cynical, it is amazing the band didn't make more of a dent in the scene before being dropped by Elektra due to their second album's controversial title. Sadly, DJ Subroc was killed on the L.I.E. before Bastards ever made it to record stores - Zev Love disappeared from the scene only to reinvent himself as MF Doom years later. I urge you to check out the full versions of KMD's albums - why don't they make rap like this anymore is anyone's guess...

This G gets the Gas Face man...