Last Week
I'm tired, slightly hung over, and feeling very uncreative, so this could be rather half assed. We will see how I feel once I start getting into this. With four hours of voting still to come for last weeks 3 Feet High & Rising Vs. Stakes Is High, it's still too close to call. Only three votes separate the two albums. I'm actually kind of surprised, I figured that 3 Feet High.... would run away with it, although Stakes is High is my favorite De La album. We'll see what happens when it's up in four more hours.
This Week
Part two of the De La Soul "tournament" comes into play this week pitting their sophomore release of De La Soul Is Dead against the groups third album, Buhloone Mindstate. As I mentioned last week, I didn't get into De La Soul until Stakes is High came out. I thought 3 Feet High and Rising was just plain weird, I liked a couple jams on De La Soul is Dead, but still saw no reason to check it out. Buhloone Mindstate just went over my head like it did a lot of people back in those days. After purchasing Stakes Is High, I started to go back to their catalog and De La Soul is Dead was the first album I went back and checked out. My tastes in hip hop was open enough by that time I could appreciate the beauty of De La Soul Is Dead. It would be later though until I could grasp the complexity found in Buhloone Mindstate, but now I can appreciate the greatness of the album. As I write this now, I'm not totally sure which way I'm going to vote.
De La Soul is Dead Vs. Buhloone Mindstate
De La Soul is Dead
Positives
- Much more accessible in nature than their lead off album, 3 Feet High & Rising. De La Soul tried to kill all that noise of hippies and the daisy age by basically reinventing themselves. ....Is Dead is a more mature effort, yet still plays and has fun.
- I thought the skits that tied this together through out the album was excellently executed. We get to hear the demise of Jeff as dicksnot and his boys beat the fuck out of him and jack him for the "new" De La Soul album. I never get tired of hearing them and still laugh out loud at certain sayings.
- The singles from the album were great. I had "Ring Ring Ring" as my answering machine message back in the day and "A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturday" is one of those tracks that you could play at any jam.
- It's just an overall cohesive effort, which is saying something for an album that is 27 cuts long. It has a vibe that flows through out the album. Tracks like "Biddie in the BK Loung" and "Millie Pulled a Pistol on Santa Claus" just make this album a great effort.
Negatives
- There isn't much to bag on in the album. I thought some of the focus of earlier in the album is lost, "Shwingalokate", "Fanatic of the B Word", and "Keep the Faith" (which sounds like a 3 Feet reject). So it could've been trimmed a little bit here and there.
- Not necessarily a negative for me, but if you were into their previous image, this would probably disappoint some.
Buhloone Mindstate
Postives
- One could argue that Buhloone Mindstate is the most creative album in De La's catalog. It was Prince Paul's last time working with the group and he demonstrated a more mature sound than the previous two creations. Lyrically, I think Pos & Dave were at their pinnacle. Probably my all-time favorite De La Soul song is "I Am I Be", in which Pos' first verse is a classic:
I am Posdnous I be the new generation of slaves here to make papes to buy a record exec rakes the pile of revenue I create But I guess I don't get a cut cuz my rent's a month late Product of a North Carolina cat who scratched the back of a pretty woman named Hattie Who departed life just a little too soon and didn't see me grab the Plug Tune fame As we go a little somethin' like this look ma, no protection Now I got a daughter named Ayana Monay And I can play the cowboy to rustle in the dough so the scenery is healthy where her eyes lay I am an early bird but the feathers are black so the apples that I catch are usually all worms But it's a must to decipher one's queen from a worm who plays groupie and spread around the bad germ I cherish the twilight I maximize, my soul is the right size I watch for the power to run out on the moon (And that'll be sometime soon) Faker than a fist of kids speakin that they're black When they're just niggas trying to be Greek Or some tongues who lied and said "We'll be natives to the end" Nowadays we don't even speak I guess we got our own life to live Or is it because we want our own kingdom to rule? Every now and then I step to the now for now I see back then I might have acted like a fool Now I won't apologize for it This is not a bunch of Bradys but a bunch of black man's pride Yet I can safely say I've never played a sister by touching where her private parts reside I've always walked the right side of the road If I wasn't making song I wouldn't be a thug selling drugs But a man with a plan and if I was a rug cleaner betcha Pos'd have the cleanest rugs I am
-Again, there are some great singles, most notably the excellent "Ego Trippin' 2", in which Pos and Dave do their thing and listeners soon realize that they are no punks on the microphone.
-Two years ago, I wouldn't even have to think about this decision, as I wasn't all that big on Buhloone Mindstate, but this album sounds like it could have been released last month. It's aged much better than De La Soul Is Dead.
Negatives
- It's not as digestible as some of the other albums. That was the main knock on the album when it first dropped and still to this day I pick up things every time I listen to it. They were never a group to really spoon feed you something, but this isn't an album you can just listen to the first time and figure it all out.
Final Verdict
When I started writing this very half assed post, I really didn't know which way I was going to go. I've long considered De La Soul Is Dead as my second favorite De La album after Stakes is High, but over the last two years, my love for Buhloone Mindstate has really grown on me and become one of my favorite albums ever. When my man Floodwatch posted his autopsy for Buhloone Mindstate (one of my favorite blog posts EVER), I realized how great the album really was. I would have never dreamed voting this way, but it's going to be Buhloone Mindstate
Winner: Buhloone Mindstate
6/30/2008
This Or That.....De La Soul is Dead Vs. Buhloone Mindstate
6/27/2008
New Artist Spotlight: Elemental Zazen
I tend to think that the political charged hip hop of the late 80's/early 90's is somewhat of a lost art. No longer are exposed to the strong political and socio-tinged rants of Public Enemy, Paris, X-Clan and others. Yes, we still have the likes of the Dead Prez and Immortal Technique, but in these trying times, the more the better in my book. Both society and the world is basically going to hell in hand basket and unless people wake up and see the potential problems await us in the not so distant future, it's going to be worse before it gets better. I've long been a big believer in thinking for oneself. Be active in your environment and your society. I can deal with a person's beliefs no matter what they may be if they have done their homework and explain to me WHY you feel the way you do.
This weeks artist for our New Artist Spotlight will undoubtedly get the "political rapper" tag, which I think he wears on his sleeve with pride. Elemental Zazen has been all over the world, from third world countries to the "radical" middle eastern countries. He's been through trials and tribulations that you and I could only dream about, in our nightmares. He's lost his cousin to a tragic accident, had a brain tumor and lived on the streets, all with in a few years of each other. He brings his second album, "The Glass Should Be Full", full of music that should make you think and open your eyes to issues around the world.
Elemental Zazen - "Machine" [mp3]
Elemental Zazen - "Handcuffs" [mp3]
WYDU: Thanks for your time Zazen, would you mind giving a proper introduction for the readers that might not be familiar with you or your work?
Elemental Zazen: My name is Jason, and on the mic I go by Elemental Zazen. For most of the past 8 years I have lived in Boston, but I am moving to Seattle this fall in order to pursue my PhD. Most people would classify my music as being political, but I see it as more of a platform for personal and social commentary.
W: From listening to your new album, "The Glass Should Be Full", and reading your press bio, you are bringing a political charged fervor to your music. What situations and events in your life have lead you down a path that is kind of a forgotten genre in hip hop?
EZ: Growing up in the third world obviously had a profound impact on my political and socio-economic ideas. Many of the aspects of the third world that bothered me, such as economic inequity, gender inequality, etc. are also alive and well here in the US, only they aren't as readily apparent. My view points are merely a reflection of both my experiences as an internationally raised white American, and the personal tragedies I've accumulated along the way. As far as political hip hop goes, I agree with you that in some ways it is a forgotten sub-genre. The roots planted by Chuck D and others are is still alive on the small stages and dusty shelves, but hopefully n
ot for too much longer. There is too much talent invested in it for it to stay beneath the surface forever.
W: How do you look at hip hop and it's current state in missing as a tool toward social revolution? There isn't really any X-Clan's, Public Enemy's or Paris' that are in the forefront of the music these days, how do you explain that and how do you use your music for change?
EZ: The record that really got me thinking about music was "Apocalypse '91" by Public Enemy. I remember being a 5th grader in Al Taif, Saudi Arabia, signing along with "By The Time I Get to Arizona", "Lost At Birth", and "Can't Truss It." Chuck D was always on some shit. The more I learned about history and political science through both school and my own readings, the more I understood how valuable a medium like music could be in terms of spreading a set of ideals. Through that understanding I gained an immeasurable amount of respect for all artists in all genres and all practices (literature, visual art, music, etc) that use their work to champion the cause of the common man. At the same time, the more a society becomes stratified between haves and have-nots, the more that view points that oppose the status quo will be marginalized, especially in the mainstream media. For example, anyone that supports any sort of systematic change is considered a "radical"- a word which carries undoubtedly negative connotations. This makes artists that seek national exposure less likely to speak out against those in the power positions, because if they do, both they and their opinions will be laughed off the mainstream stage. Even those that do attempt to make "protest" songs and release them on major labels are doing safe protest songs. For example, it is trendy to target G.W.Bush, so you see a bunch of major label artists from all musical genres doing tracks bashing Bush. I want to talk about the most important issues: the systematic problems that insure that whether Bush or Obama or Clinton or Reagan is in power, this country will still neglect the common man.
Sorry for the tangent. I'm passionate about this…can you tell?
W: All good man. What would you change in the American political and social system if you could?
EZ: We could be here for days…. Actually, there are two main changes I would like to see. One is for the system to change from a two party, winner take all platform to a representative democracy, such as what you see somewhere like England. Secondly I would like to completely alter the way white collar and drug related crimes are punished. White collar crimes should be, in extreme cases, treated as just as seriously as something like manslaughter, because there are instances where the aftereffects of them impact hundreds of people. For example, when a CEO knowingly uses inside information to make his/herself millions while simultaneously putting workers out of jobs, they should be punished far more severely than someone that stole a George Foreman grill from Wal-mart. Punishments levied for drug possession and distribution are similarly ridiculous in that they very rarely fit the severity of the crime.
W: You've gone through some "trials & tribulations" to put it lightly the past few years, how did those misfortunes shape not only your music, but you are as a person living in these trying times?
EZ: When you are faced with extreme adversity, all you can do is be strong. My life has been so crazy…one moment I am on top of the world and the next I am diagnosed with a brain tumor. Amidst everything, though, I've remain focused on my main goal: to have a positive impact on the world through my music and academic work.
W: Let's talk about your album, "This Glass Should Be Full," some, what can listeners expect when they are checking out the album for the first time?
EZ: I think this album is more rewarding to those that give it multiple listens, because it is so dense. I have my lyrics posted on gnawledge.com, so that will hopefully make it easier for people. I wanted to make an album that was both initially likable and got better with each listen, and I think I have done that. The producers I worked with blessed me with some incredible beats, and I think the album is very strong lyrically. It's easy to pigeonhole any artist with meaningful lyrics as being a "backpacker" or "underground", but I think quality hip hop stands by itself and can't be placed into one category. That being said, I usually describe my music as "socio-political commentary over dirty break beats."
W: You have some heavy hitters as far as underground producers go, with Maker, Kno and Joe Beats, how was it working with them and do you think it's important to have those kind of names backing the album?
EZ: I am honored to work not only with those 3 producers, but with everyone that appeared on the album. Honestly, I don't really care about the name of the producer, as long as the beats fit what I am looking for. I could have worked with other producers, some of which are more well-known than those 3, but the beats didn't fit the album. That being said, there is a good reason why most musicians in the indie rap scene get popular- mostly because they make better music than their competitors. I seek out the best producers in the scene, and am lucky enough to get a chance to work with some of them. My next record will have some other well-known names on there, but that's for another time.
W: What do you hope to accomplish in the future, both in music and in your personal life?
EZ: My main goals are to 1: Put out another record in fall of '09, and 2: to finish my PhD as soon as possible so I can get to work on making the world a better place, only this time with more effectiveness.
W: Any last words?
EZ: Shout out to Gnawledge Records for putting out my album. A big thank you to Gnotes and Canyon for all of their hard work. Also, check for my label mate Afro DZ AK's record "Elevation" which hits stores this fall.
Lyrics http://www.gnawledge.com/zazenglasslyrics.html
6/26/2008
Daily News.......
Tanya Morgan - "Hip-Hop Is Dead 2" 06.25.2008 "They keep sayin' hip-hop is dead but I just can't believe it, I just can't see it." LONG LOST ALBUM FROM BOSTON HIP-HOP PION EER AND PERCEPTIONIST DJ/PRODUCER, FAKTS ONE, FINALLY SEES LIGHT O F DAY Long Range, featuring Little Brother, Mr.Lif, Army of the Pharaohs, Boot Camp Clik, Planet Asia , Souls of Mischief and m ore hits stores July 22nd on Greenstreets Entertainment FANATIC PRESENTS: ALLTRUISMS
The days are heating up, unless you live in SoCal then the days have done already been heated up since May at least. In the summer time, people spend less time indoors reading blogs and I spend less time inside doing blogs. What I'm saying is you might not see the same volume from WYDU as you have in the past. Remarkably, I do have some sort of a life...barely. Have some good times planned this weekend, my man Dino's b-day next week along with the American Independence Day then a trip planned in July, August, and September. By that time, shit will start cooling off and I'll be back on the daily grind. Until then, just enjoy less of me for the next few months. On to the news.
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Ras Kass to drop ANOTHER mixtape?
I like Ras Kass more than the average old school head, but damn dude, can we get an album finally? (trav)
RAS KASS PREPS "INSTITUTIONALIZED VOL. II" FOR AUGUST 5th RELEASE ON
BABYGRANDE RECORDS
One of the most critically acclaimed West Coast emcees of all time,
Ras Kass is renowned for his complex lyricism, sharp battle rhymes and
witty punchlines.
1996's debut "Soul On Ice" established Ras as one of the front-runners
of the post West Coast gangsta rap movement pioneered by seminal acts
such as N.W.A. and nationally popularized by modern day icons Dr. Dre,
Snoop Dogg & more.
Marrying a hardcore street sensibility with his signature witty
wordplay, Ras built a loyal underground core with subsequent albums
including 1998's "Rasassination," featuring guest appearances by Dr.
Dre, Xzibit, Twista & RZA (of Wu-Tang) as well as multiple mixtape
releases.
Currently serving time, Ras Kass' ambition in the face of adversity is
on full display with the August 5th bow of "Institutionalized Vol. II."
Sure to satisfy Ras' loyal constituency and beyond, "Institutionalized
Vol. 2" is a testament to both Ras' resilience and the raw skill that
underlies his longevity within the ever-changing hip-hop landscape.
For more information and to sample some tracks, please visit:
www.crackspace.com/raskass
www.babygrande.com
Ras Kass
"Institutionalized Vol. 2"
In stores August 5th!
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The Song:
Instead of arguing or preaching, Tanya Morgan disproves the "Hip-Hop Is Dead" argument with a simple song that demonstrates the existence of good, living hip-hop in 2008. "Hip-Hop Is Dead 2" features fun rhymes and a beat that samples the smile itself... yet many think the art form is dead? That's pretty incongruous, if you ask Tanya Morgan: "They keep sayin' hip-hop is dead but I just can't believe it, I just can't see it." In other words, so long as heartfelt, playful hip-hop tracks by Tanya Morgan pop up, hip-hop cannot be dead.
The Background:
In 2003, Brooklyn resident Von Pea teamed up with Cincinnati's Donwill and Ilyas to form Tanya Morgan. Three years later, the group's Moonlighting LP took the rap world by storm, receiving a 3.5 mic rating from The Source and high praise in XXL's Chairman's Choice column. Donwill describes the group's uniqueness and appeal: "Instead of jam-packing our releases with different producers and guest emcees for attention, we carefully choose who we work with because we make it a priority to cultivate our own sound and identity. We look to groups like Eric B and Rakim, who honed their own sound and rarely collaborated with other artists." After a brief hiatus from center stage, the crew is back in 2008 seeking the hip-hop triple crown: the release of a mixtape, EP, and LP, all in the same year. Tonya Morgan has performed with Ghostface Killah and has had videos featured on multiple MTV channels. The Bridge EP is available now on via Bay Area label Interdependent Media.
Streams:
"Hip-Hop Is Dead 2"
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/TanyaMorgan/Hip_HopIsDeadII.mp3
"Be You" featuring Czelena
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/TanyaMorgan/Tanya_Morgan-Be_You_feat_Czelena.mp3
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ScholarMan Mixtape
Download ScholarMan's "The Pull Forward EP Vol. 1" today if you enjoy dope b eats and rhymes!!
The Pull Forward Series pays tribute to artists and tracks made famous during the golden era of hip-hop!
Download volume one today!
www.thepullforwardseries.com
Peace!
New ScholarMan album coming January 2009!!! His latest album "Soul Purpose" now available at online retail outlets!
More info at: www.scholarman.com
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DJ Fakts One was a key figure in the Boston Hip-Hop scene for many years. He got his start djing parties and breaking local acts on WERS radio in the late '90's, through t he popular "89.9 at Night" show. He dropped one of his first mix tapes (yes, on cassette) on the famed Brick Records titled "Heavy Hitters" and instantly started making noise throughout the state. Lending production to many releases by Mr. Lif and Akrobatik, it was inevitable that these three long-time friends would form a trio that was 100% pure hip-hop called The Perceptionists.
Their album "Black Dialogue" was released in 2005 on Definitive Jux to critical claim. With great sales, and a tour that was ready to kick off, this powerhouse of a rap group was about to start taking things over! At the same time Fakts was waiting on his solo record debut to be released, but the label continued to stall, delay and eventually folded into the industry abyss. Then, in a sudden turn of events, Fakts up and left his partners “Lif and Ak” stranded with no DJ at the start of their tour and vanished off the hip-hop map altogether.
Although Fakts One’s departure left fans and friends both frustrated and confused, no one could deny his musical talents. Most just assumed that his highly anticipated debut opus “ Long Range ” would just become another victim of industry politics. It would be yet another rumored release that nobody would ever hear or could prove actually existed…unt il now. Finally, five years after its completion, “ Long Range ” will be released EXACTLY how he had intended before quitting the business. The album has some of the best MC's around (Little Brother, Planet Asia, Boot Camp Clik as well as his brothers in The Perceptionists; Mr. Lif and Akrobatik) and as one would expect, the beats are that classic boombap sound, drenched with his own blood, sweat and tears.
It's a shame it took so long for this to happen but as they say good things come to those who wait. Hopefully when Fakts hears all his years of hard work finally coming to light, he can sit back (wherever he is), smile and realize it was well worth the journey.
Tracklisting and credits for Fakts One’s Long Range :
1.) Ridin' Dirty
2.) Grown Folks f/ Little Brother
3.) Life Music f/ Rocklyn & Maya Azucena
4.) OK f/ Kingsize & Outerspace
5.) Born For This f/Chan
6.) Don't Stop f/Boot Camp Clik
7.) The Showstarter f/ The Perceptionists (Mr. Lif & Akrobatik)
8.) Audiovisual f/ J Live
9) U From The Q f/ Universal
10.) Set The Mood f/ Grayskul
11.) Moments Matter f/ Tajai (of Souls Of Mischief)
12.) Selfish f/ Akrobatik & Iyadonna
13.) Longevity f/ Rasco, Planet Asia & Shakes Da Mayor
14.) The Showstarter (Walkman Remix) f/ The Perceptionists (Mr. Lif & Akrobatik)
"Grown Folks" and it features Little Brother. Fakts produced the track and Phonte and Big Pooh also added some additional arrangement as well.
DL link to Fakts One "Grown Folks" f/Little Brother:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/142732316dfc1b0a/
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Clusterbombs
(Gravel Records)
“...it’s the construction of the songs that keep Alltruisms solidly grounded in hip-hop instead of wandering off into the land of open mic night at the coffeehouse. K-Kruz gives Alltruisms the sword and shield musically to be a ‘Knight in Shining Armor’ with the kind of track Vinnie Paz or Esoteric would be proud to rip...The real question about Alltruisms’ first major album is not WHETHER he’ll be a star in the underground, but how long it will take before people catch on to his steelo. Somewhere between the overdone hype and the understandable skepticism of the new and unproven MC is the chance for one of the Clusterbombs that Alltruisms drops to make a big impact on hip-hop.” – Rap Reviews (8/10) (LINK)
“One day, I was walking with Kong Keo through a UXO (unexploded ordinance) field in Phonsavan, Laos, when the metaphor came to me: Cluster bombs are like rappers – we drop, we get spins, some blow on contact, while others... So I titled my debut solo album Clusterbombs, and filled it with stories of Southeast Asian bomb craters and bar girls, political anthems, and funny bone-tickling rants about jobs, cars an d sex lives. This record speaks not only of rap’s place in my life, but of the globally limitless reach of the culture I’m a part of.” – Ari Shapiro, Alltruisms
Clusterbombs is the debut solo LP from Gravel Records recording artist and Giraffe Nuts member Alltruisms. The album distills 16 fully-realized tracks into a 45-minute journey, guided by a man of our times, who is most of all a traveler. He is like the rest of us. Politically aware, but faced with more immediate job problems, car problems, girl problems, and mostly getting by with a dark sense of humor. He is a bit different from the rest of us. Writing songs in a Laotian bomb crater, building houses after the tsunami in Thailand, four-day hikes in New Zealand, staying with a Fijian village minister’s family. Prone to travel solo for months at a time, return and leave again, he brings this dichotomy and unsettled motion to his songs. Clusterbombs is an innovative hip-hop release that is sure to please fans of artists such as Sage Francis, Immortal Technique, Talib Kweli, A Tribe Called Quest, and Atmosphere. Clusterbombs drops July 1st via Gravel Records.
Clusterbombs features production by underground legend J-Zone (Dangermouse, Devin The Dude), and Chicago staples Maker (Glue), Kaz1 (Ill Bill, Sean Price), and K-Kruz (Modill), along with appearances by my Giraffe Nuts crew-mates Verbal Kent (Molemen Records) and Rusty Chains. Kaz 1’s “Nine-Digit Number” and Maker’s “Rockets Red Glare” are the anthems, calls for change in a time when we convince ourselves that, “Rome’s burning but don’t worry, forget it / Nero’s fiddle solos is the number 1 record.” Watch the brutally honest and remarkably high quality music video to “Nine Digit Number” HERE. “Blindfolded” is Alltruisms’ second single and has been included in XLR8R Magazine's next sampler CD. Listen to “Blindfolded” (MP3), and sample a more light-hearted side to Alltruisms on “The Birds & The Bees (MP3).”
On “Dry-spell,” Alltruisms is looking for love in his own, brutally honest way. On he and Giraffe Nuts declare war on anyone who didn’t buy “Eat Them.” “Jalopy” and “Hire Me” satirize two cornerstones of our culture, cars and jobs. And on “Nutcamp,”“Dear Hip Hop,” he and Verbal Kent examine their histories and experiences with their art. And there it might have ended, but Alltruisms thought his title track metaphor was important enough to warrant a remix. The story of a deserted dusty field becomes a meditation on pop cultur e as the defining weapon of our age, in the hands of a “freedom fighter for a new recorded world order / four corners of the globe spread the message to your borders.” The production by J-Zone, DJ PRZM, Maker, Kaz1, Earmint, Overflo and 5th Element, provides ample aviation fuel to guide the bomber to his targets throughout. Clusterbombs is a shiny object in this quiet, dusty field we call hip-hop, waiting to get picked up and hear
MP3s: “NINE-DIGIT #“ | “BLINDFOLDED“| “THE BIRDS & THE BEES“
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Black Element
You'll be seeing more of this cat in the very near future. He is an up and coming MC, about to drop his free album "A Major Minority" and is getting some love from some of the DJ's I respect, like DJ Hyphen out of Seattle. None the less, here is a track he sent me t hat was produced by another WYDU fav, 6th Sense.
Be Sure to check his amajorminority.com blog to get the full story behind this track or just to check his other stuff if you feel this.
Black ELement - The Itis (Produced by 6th Sense)
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Peace Family
Technicali Sound and Gutter Water Music would like to invite you
to pick up a copy of the new project by Ariano and Castor Pollux, entitled "In The Name Of The Father" for FREE
To begin the Download
CLICK HERE
FOR SERATO DJ's
Get The New Single "Searching" feat. Oddity
B/W "Misunderstood" feat. The Lost Art
CLICK HERE
(includes clean, dirty, and instrumentals)
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Babe of the Day......
Okay, she's not exactly a "rare" find, but she's hot. Stacey Dash has been around for awhile and is the sister(?) of Dame Dash. Not only does she have a killer body, but those eyes give me that warm fuzzy feeling in my special place.
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Video Of The Day
Johnson&Jonson - Bout It Bout It
6/25/2008
Random Youtube Videos
If you've been around the site, you all know that when Trav starts referring to himself in the third person and starts posting youtube videos, that is is either burned out a bit, busy as fuck, or just has other shit he'd rather be doing. Or in this case, all of the above. Yes, they are Youtube videos, which isn't as good as the actual thing you can download. Soon enough though, I'm going to have a SHIT LOAD of videos, which I'll not doubt share with the rest of you hip hop nerds. I'm just not sure when I'll get them, I guess whenever I get off my ass and buy a hard drive and hit my boy Brian up. Until then, you have to live with me doing the searching and watch what I post. So enjoy!
De La Soul Feat Redman - Oooh
In celebration of De La week, or De La three weeks, I go with this video I found while looking at videos for "Me, Myself, & I". I never knew they had a video for this track, which is one of my favorite De La songs. I'm not sure what to think of this video. One part of me thinks its great, the other part thinks its kind of corny and I can't believe I'm watching Pos rap as the Scarecrow. None the less, they get a free pass no matter what.
Busta Rhymes feat Ol' Dirty Bastard - Woo Ha (Remix)!
Was their ever a better pairing of artists? I bought this single just for this track back in the day. With the video and the slowed down track, you feel like you are on shrooms or some mind altering drug.
K9 Posse - This Beat is Military
Yes, I was a K9 Posse fan back in the day. The video version was different than the album version, and I think I like the video version better. A little comedy included, but what can you expect from Eddie Murphy's brother?
K9 Posse - Ain't Nothin' To It
Can't pass up their first single now can we?
Breeze - LA Posse
Wow, their are some faces in this joint. Bobcat, DJ Pooh, and a few others from the classic LA days. I loved this joint back in day. This was when videos were good.
No Face - Fake Hair Wearin' feat 2 Live Crew
We can't do videos without the influence for this blogs name. No Face, what a great group and combined with 2 Live Crew? Ahh, yeah, I played this after putting up with many a beeeyaaaatch.
Cash Money & Marvelous - Find an Ugly Woman
Ignore the DJ Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince comparisons, this was a dope jam on the light hearted tip. I had a bitch tracking down this album back in the day, but I did finally. This was when hip hop could be fun and you didn't have to worry about it.
Everlast - I Got The Knack
Early Everlast, before the House of Pain days. He cleans up good, huh? I have to admit, I owned the Forever Lasting LP back in the day and this jam got a lot of play.
Joe Sinister - Under The Sun
My favorite artist that we've only heard on two songs. That track was freakin' amazing. I always wonder, "what if?" Oh well. Enjoy this video.
Shadz of Lingo - Mad Flavaz
Another one of my personal favorites from back in the day. E Double makes an apperence, along with Dallas Austin. I miss the hip hop video.
Casual - That's How It Is
I forgot how much I LOVED this joint. The production is just fuckin' nuts and Casual simply kills it.
Mannish - Expect That
Another one of my favorite west coast groups back in the day. Shit was good.
Saafir - Light Sleeper
I slept on this joint when it first came out. No more, Saafir was the epitome of being different and creative. He had his own style and flavor
The Nonce - Mixtapes
How can you not like this joint? I have no clue. The west coast had more than just g-funk back then.
Pharcyde - Otha Fish
I'm probably the only person in the WORLD that likes "Otha Fish" more than "Passin' Me By"....don't get me wrong, they are both classics, but I have my own personal reasons for liking "Otha Fish", it got me through a nasty break up. Great song, I still sing a long word for word when I hear it, hell I'm doing it right now as I type it.
6/24/2008
Daily News.......
Once again it's on. What is on tap for tonight? Besides cold draft beer? New track from The Game, as in the artist. I've never been the biggest The Game fan, but hey, he is relevant, correct? If not, oh well. Another midiMarc podcast (last one was dope), a beat tape from future New Artist Spotlight (just let that out of the bag) artist, DJ Blueprint, so you can get a sneak preview and more.....so ch-ch-check it out.....
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http://midimarc.mypodcast.com/2008/06/June_24_2008-120272.html
Thank you to all who listened to, enjoyed and download the first installment. I'm back again with the new new. Perfect for that long day at the office...excellent background tunes for the crib
1.Intro
2.Pete Rock feat Inspectah Deck - Tru Master
3.Pete Rock feat RZA and GZA - Head Rush
4.Rhymefest - Can't Make It
5.Fugees - FugeeLa
6.Marvin Gaye - Far Cry
7.Smiff and Wesson - Gunn Rap
8.Sean P - Onion Head
9.Juvienille - Follow Me Now
10.Clipse - Ride Around Shining
11.Roscoe P Coldchain - I'ma Kill This Nigga
12.Little Brother - Lovin It
13.Stylistics - One Night Affair
14.Snoop Dog - Doggy Dogg World
15.The Game - Compton
16.Latoya Williams - Fallen Star
http://midimarc.mypodcast.com/2008/06/June_24_2008-120272.html
--
www.myspace.com/beatsbymidimarc
midimarc.blogspot.com
midimarc.mypodcast.com
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Harlem's Renaissance:
Jelani is ready to make it a hot summer! Embrace the experience as the musician son of the legendary Dapper Dan carries the torch on the path of greatness. The apple never falls far from the tree.
Wait, You Can Rap?!?!
The Album.
Prod. 6th Sense, Frequency, & Ryan Durkin
click here for free download
PRESS RELEASE:
A product of Harlem, USA and a current Music Industry Major at Northeastern University, Jelani, also the son of Dapper Dan, brings to you his debut album for free as a digital release entitled "Wait, You Can Rap?!?!". The project has been featured on popular Hip Hop Blogs such as illRoots.com, The Smoking Section, 2dopeboyz,and Herfection.com amongst many others. The lead single, "The Proposal", was granted a spot on the prestigious "Cornerstone Mixtape" at the behest of DJ Premier of the legendary duo, Gang Starr. That same song was also a Top 10 finalist in the CMJ/CSTV Collegiate Nationals Music Championship.
Known for his lyrical dexterity, Jelani's distinctive yet remarkable abilities have translated very well on stage allowing him the opportunities to perform with Boot Camp Clik and also Kidz In The Hall. Jelani represents a new breed of MCs that defy the outdated categories within the genre. He, along with his partners at Notherground Music, will surely be making an impact on the Music Industry with their unique sound.
Jelani & Dapper Dan Interview
Jelani @ The Smoking Section
Jelani Interview @ illRoots
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dj blueprint - beat tape 01
30 minutes of blueprint beats, some old, some new
enjoy and let me know what you think
http://www.mediafire.com/?eysekm1nbjt
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New The Game Track - 2 Dope Boyz
If you like Game, then you'll like this song. If you don't like The Game, nothing here will change your mind. If you are like me, and don't really care, you can give this a listen because it isn't all that bad.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/141578906a15e9de/
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Babe Of The Day..... Rita G.
I've been on her feminine jock strap since Kanye's "Flashing Lights" video. I like the curvy girls, and darker the hair, the better, so she fits my "type".
http://www.myspace.com/ritamania
Enjoy the view!
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Video of the Day
Royce Da 5'9 - Boom
WYDU Interview With The Starving Artist: Weapon X
Every now and then, an artist kind of pops up out of nowhere. We've all been told the evils of downloading, and while I do agree with some of it, there is also a positive side to it as well. I'll admit, I'm a frequent visitor to HipHopBootleggers (peace to Krooked and Deap) to peep some of the underground/obscure joints and most of the time if Krooked recommends something, there is a good chance I'm going to feel, it's how I became hooked onto my boy Storm Davis last year. This year, he suggested Weapon X and low and behold, I downloaded his album "Portrait of a Starving Artist", and was impressed enough with the album, it stayed in regular rotation and was mentioned in my Top 20 Albums of the First Quarter. Think of it as Jedi Mind Tricks meets the Demigodz. Or something like that. Through out the year, I've been bumping the album picking up on different songs and the such. One day I get an email from X himself and after we passed some emails back and forth, I thought he had an interesting story and some good music, so we set up an interview. Weapon X is a very personable dude and very articulate. The interview went rather smoothly and we even talked off the record for a good twenty minutes or so afterwards which made me a fan of this cat even more.
Weapon X
Don't Dream Of Women
Weapon X
Road To Redemption 
the New Basic Weaponry EP Free!
WYDU: Let's start this off proper like, why don't you let everyone know who you are and some of your background?
Weapon X: I go by the name of Weapon X. I reside out here in the San Fernando Valley, 818 of Southern California. What I'm all about? I'm just a starving artist man, just like the album title says. I'm a 9 to 5 daily worker/MC that's just trying do to do music and survive at the same time.
W: You have an interesting background, being of Iranian decent and born in Brooklyn. Care to touch on your heritage and the east coast background?
WX: No doubt, I'm Iranian-American, both of my parents came out here from Iran. I ended up somehow being brought into this world in Brooklyn, New York. A lot of hip hop culture goes down out there or course. I grew up in a family that was unlike most stereotypical Persian families that are made out to have a lot of cash. My Dad did odd jobs out in Brooklyn and all that and my mom was a hair stylist. They did whatever they could to make ends meet. I grew up listening to a lot of music. One of the things my parents used to do was stick headphones on my head at the age of two. That was one of the first inspirations of music, it was one of the first things that would get me excited. They'd stick the headphones on my head and I used to bob up and down, up and down, but at the same time I'd be entrenched to the music and be zoned out to it. That was one of the very first influences that I can remember growing up with musically. I listened to regular 80's music as well as a lot of Stevie Wonder while growing up.
When I was seven and a half or eight, I moved out from Brooklyn to L.A.. My parents figured I'd have better education and opportunities out west, rather being in a closed in area like the apartments and a lot of New York is. When I came out to L.A., I can say I wasn't exactly welcomed with open arms. That's changed over the years, but kids are cruel. Coming in with a different ethnicity, a funny accent and at the time, the first Iraq war was going down and they were running around calling me Iraqi. I grew up with a lot of discrimination issues. That led to a lot of fights and anger at a young age. Somewhere a long the way though, I got into singing. I used to sing in the elementary music choir, I learned a lot about music through that. I used to have a good voice before it cracked. Once it cracked, I needed another outlet. At the time, it wasn't cool to be an R&B singer. I started doing poetry, at first it was to calm my anger, cause I have some anger issues. Eventually I started getting into hip hop, I wasn't necessarily introduced to being a lyricist in the sense, but Wu was probably the first thing I heard. Being out on the west coast, we didn't get a lot of the traditional lyrical MC's. I'd listen to a lot of gangster rap, you know, Doggystyle, The Chronic, Regulate...G-Funk Era, that kind of thing. The first two songs I really got into was "Regulate" and Tupac's "Pain" off the Above The Rim Soundtrack. I figured already did poetry, I might as well translate the rhythm I learned in singing into the poetry and rhyme. From there it evolved into what I do today.
W: How was your cultural/family background effect your life growing up in the States?
WX: My Dad when he first came over was very strict in nature, and even to this day some. There was a lot of stuff he used to "regulate" on me when he had to. He'd put a whoopin' on my ass when I needed it. He was a very strong cultural family man. He worked very hard and instilled a lot of values on us. He taught us about our culture and our heritage, as well as my mother. My mother believed we should be well educated. She taught me how to read at an early age, I was reading before I hit pre-school. I was surrounded by middle eastern music. It had some influence on me, especially during different holidays, but at the same time not forcing it down our throats. At the time, my sister and I, who is younger than me, knew exactly what our identities were and where we came from.
W: How did your parents handle your "profession", your excursion into hip hop and being an MC.
WX: That's actually a really good question. When I first started rapping, actually not even there, but when I first started to perform. When I first started, I didn't think my shit was any good. I used to write in my notebook at school, because I'd get bored and I'd zone out in class. I wasn't the ideal student. I was smart, but not motivated. I'd write rhymes in my notebook, but I wouldn't let anybody look at it. I remember one day, one of my friends wanted to know what I was writing and snatched it away from me, he looked at it and said, "Whoa, this stuff's pretty good, you should try your hand at this". I figured I would, but at the same time I didn't really want my parents to find out. I didn't know how they'd approach it. They support me in whatever I do, but in my culture, they have a very strict ideal system. You know, with a rap artist, that isn't always a high priority. They ain't no doctor or lawyer or something. They are not the people with six figure salaries that they can brag about to the family. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to tell them.
They accidentally found out one day, when my friend left one of my old, old CDs in his car, some old EP shit from back in the day. He had let his mom borrow the car and my CD was in it. So my friend's mom came was talking to my mom and said to my mom, "Your son raps nice", and they were like, "My son raps?" Everything kind of blew up from there. They took it pretty well. My dad used to clown me at first, he didn't know if I'd take it serious or not. Also, the old middle eastern mentality is that rap is crap blah blah blah, making fun of rap and stuff. But now, they are totally supportive. My whole family supports it and now my extended family knows, they are all embracing it. I never thought they'd be this much behind it, I mean I knew they'd support it, but now they are actually pushing me to do this.
W: That makes it a lot easier, doesn't it?
WX: Oh yeah, when I was hiding it and broke, I was running around to different places to record. I had to make excuses to go out and the such. This makes it a lot easier, now I can do it at the house. I got a set up at the house, I got a little studio at the house, I don't have to worry about keeping it under wraps.
W: Do you have an exact moment where you said, "Hey, I want to do hip hop?"
WX: I don't know if there was an exact moment, I think it just kind of progressed. When I first started doing hip hop, in that evolution from doing poetry to rap, it helped me vent my anger I was feeling at an younger age. Eventually when I started being told I was good at it and I was pushed to do it, I wasn't really confident at first. It just grew and I realized I was becoming legit and people were giving respect. I figured that I always loved music, I was good at it, not because I think I'm good, but people are telling me that they think I'm good, and not just my family and inner circle of friends, but people outside my inner circle, I figured I owed it to myself to give it a shot. By no means was it one of those thing I just walked into. The more my confidence grew, the more of the realization that I wasn't just some guy that can rap as a little hobby. I am an MC, that's who I am and who I'm destined to be. Once that all sunk in, there was no stopping me. At that point that's who I wanted to be. After that I focused on mastering the craft.
W: Coming from the west coast you don’t have the “traditional” west coast sound as an artist. What kind of role does the west coast sound play in your music?
WX: There are west coast influences in my music, it's just not prominent. It doesn't slap you in the face. If you hear what I'm rapping about, you can tell which coast I'm from. As far as my rhyme style and beat selection, I'm more influenced by the east. I'm east coast born and west coast raised. The east is what molded me and gave me my thought processes. I listen to all kinds of styles.
Musically, I can switch it up. I listened to east, west, south, midwest and even worldly music. Beatwise, I'll admit, as far as what you hear on my album "Portrait of a Starving Artist" and even some of the Basic Weaponry EP is more east coast influenced. I'm more comfortable over those beats and a lot the people that made those beats, come from that background. The eas
t coast beats have more room for lyricism, where as the west coast "bounce", which I can rock to any day of the week, is more "sittin' in your whip" type of music, it's stereo system type feeling. It's Cali music, slow and drawn out, and that's not a knock, that's the stuff I grew up on before I started getting into the real east coast type shit. I just feel more comfortable over east coast beats.
W: Speaking of the west coast is there still a “traditional” west coast sound?
WX: I'm going to be honest, very people are doing the traditional west coast sound. The west coast right now, to me in the terms of sound, don't seem to be solidified. It seems like ever since the old Dogg Pound, Dre, Death Row hey days, it really hasn't been solidified and the sound has been lost. There are still artists out here with that sound and still doing their thing, one would be Crooked I. I give that dude the utmost respect, he's really kept that traditional sound. He keeps that traditional gangsta rap flava with great mcing. He himself even says he created a new genre, gangsta MCin'. Others like Ras Kas also keep that sound going, but overall, even people like Snoop who back in the day created the sound, he's not doing that west coast sound anymore. He's rhyming over Pharrell and that such. Then you got the cats up in the Bay doing the hyphy sound, which doesn't have the traditional sound, not to knock any of it. The west coast is struggling to find it's sound. With a few cats like Crooked, hopefully the west will find it and be back.
W: Your debut album in titled “Portrait of a Starving Artist”, which I’m sure is an indication of the struggles coming up in the game, just how difficult is it? What have you had to go through to get to where you are at now in the game?
WX: A lot of the struggle is explained in the album, that's why I called the album "Portrait of a Starving Artist". To elaborate for the people that haven't heard the album yet and to give deeper insight to those that have, I consider myself a starving artist. I'm not getting paid for my craft, I work a 9-5, sometimes not even that, I've been laid off numerous times. I don't live a life style that is lavish. I'm lucky to have some supporters, family to keep me off the street. At the same time I've gone through my share of stuff. Everything is incorporated into that title. I've had my share of trouble with the law, I won't say what, I'll keep that low. I've been through financial issues where I haven't had more than a few bucks to my name. I've had issues with alcohol, depression, but all in all, these are things a lot of people go through, not everyone, but a lot of people can relate to these issues.
Then I've had different issues than the average person. Coming over here when Iraq and Iran weren't looked upon in a favorable light, then of course it got even worse after 9/11. Fortunately for me, I'm very light complexion and I can pass for a white person. But if a cop pulls me over and looks at my I.D., he knows exactly where I'm from. I was at O'Hare airport, I got patted down. I went to Toronto, they were checking me for SARS. I've been through racial discrimination, all that stuff. I've been harassed by cops, along with the regular day issues.
Even as far as being respected in this game. When I started doing this, it wasn't everyday that someone from the Middle Easterner pops up out of nowhere saying "I can rhyme!" I'm still earning my stripes. I'm still struggling, financially to making a living, these are the struggles of the starving artists portrayed on the album.
W: Let's discuss the album, "Portrait of a Starving Artist". Talk about recording the album…who are some of the producers and guest artists you worked with on portrait? How much time has the album been in the works?
WX: Writing the album actually took place at a progression rate. The album came out in January of 2008, after I came up with the concept and figured out what I wanted to do on the album, I started conceptionaly writing the album around September/October of 2006. I didn't me
an for it to take that long, but I had other things on the side, such as regular life issues that always slow things down. It was recorded exactly how a starving artist would record it, straight out the house! No professional studio. I was learning as I went along, which is why it comes off as real and gritty, which is exactly how I meant it to be. I started writing songs for it and I was going through a period of extreme depression. I had lost my job in that moment in time and money was tight. Beats were not easy to come by, which was another reason the writing was extended out that long. I think it was meant to happen that way. As I progressively wrote, as I was going through this, it was incorporated and added an element of realism to the rhyme. It painted a picture of exactly what I was going through.
So from about September of 2006 to late 2007, I wrote the album and recorded the early joints . In September of 2007 to about November, I started recording and mixing all the joints. From there, I just decided I was going to drop the and just go with it. I was originally aiming for release in September of 2007, but something happened, but the packaging was held up, then the licensing was delayed, I didn't want no one to jack the music. By the time all this was done it was January.
Then I suffered another setback, which I still regret. When I had everything ready, I was going to release the album on the 22nd, a Tuesday. Some other unforeseen things happened. Then unfortunately my friend and producer Clockwork, who did the majority of the beats on this record, passed away due to some screwed up circumstances. It's always been in the back of my mind, I always wished he would have heard the finished product, the retail finished product. If I only didn't have that delay and dropped it earlier. I was looking forward to sharing this with him. He would have loved to seen this appear out there and appear on the blogs, there was a magazine article I wish he could have seen. Those were some of the difficult times in trying to release this album. God bless his soul, I hope he can hear how many people are enjoying his work, cause it's his work as much as it is mine, where ever he is at.
W: So Clorkwork did most of the beats on the album then?
WX: Yes, Clockwork was responsible for the majority of the beats on the album
W: There is some nice stuff on there. Who you are some of the guest artists you have on the album? You seem to have a network of others you run with. I've seen the Basic Weaponary EP and seen you guest appear on other people's projects such....
WX: All the people that show up on the album, those are all my boys. I'm most grateful for them. Let's see, let's start from their appearances on the album. There is Mayo, Mayo actually did two of the beats on the album that Clockwork didn't do. He also lent a verse to a track. He is a young talented kid, both with his beatmaking and his lyrics. We weren't sure the track he did, "Run", was going to make the album, but it was just so dope and fit the theme of the album so well, we had to include it. He resides up, if I'm not mistaking, up in Washington state.
AnP, is from money making Manhattan, back from my home on the east coast. He has two albums out right now When is The Metabolic Chronicles Vol.1 and 2. AnP is actually a very big influence of mine. He was one of the biggest forces behind getting Portrait of a Starving Artist off the ground. He told me "You got some talent, put out an album" and once I started to working on the album, he lent his talents toward it.
Then on the track "You Can't Hide", which features Louis Mackey, Grevious Bodily Harm and Askani Son. Those dudes are all talented. Askani is from, I forget the exact city, but from around Baltimore. Louis Mackey is from Illinois. Grevious Bodily Harm is out from the UK. I forget exactly how we came together, but I guess we just respected each others work, I can say that for everybody. We recently were going to do a group project. Louis Mackey is currently dealing with some school issues, but that should work itself out. Together we don't really have a name, we just call ourselves the "Clique". We've been pretty much appearing on each others projects. Grievous just dropped an EP which I'm featured on, Askani is working on a project that I'll be featured on. Both will both be on the second project. That is like my tight nit rhyming family right there. They were people I wanted on the album, it wasn't I just reached out to whoever, they are part of the family.
W: I'm sure every track is important to you, but do have one track that means more to you or stands out more than the others?
WX: I don't know if I can pick a particular personal favorite. I can pick tracks that I had the most fun making. I loved making "Mentally Unstable" with AnP. That was just a monster of a track and we just let loose of our inhibitions and just spoke our mind. Obviously I loved "You Can't Hide", I love posse tracks anyway. Every once in a while, I can hop on those and test my skills. Actually come to think of it, my favorite track on the album is "Road to Redemption", the last track, not counting the bonus track. After all the bull of the whole concept of me speaking my mind and troubles, it's that little ray of light at the end of the tunnel. It's me opening up, expressing my gratitude at the same time letting know people that through all of this, those that stuck by me I really appreciate it. It's not taken for granted. The whole track is serving gratitude to all that I've been given despite what I've been through.
W: You also have the new Basic Weaponary EP, which out for free download with Basic....
WX: Yeah, Basic is my homie from here, in the 818. We are actually apart of another group, with Baisc, myself and Apoetnomadali. The group is called Basic Poetry X. It's also a hip hop group, but it's more focused on the Iranian-American demographic. We do stuff on that side as well. We are in the process of recording that album. That's how I got to know Basic. We have a strong friendship. The EP basically came about when our friend and partner was going through a really tough time, it was kind of difficult for him to make music. He is also down in Orange County, more than an hour away, while Basic and I both live in the San Fernando Valley in the 818. We figured to keep the name going and out there, we'd combine our talents and get together for an EP. Not just for the promotion, although it's a good way to do it, but to combine our fan bases and give the people back something. I'm not going to get rich off of my album. I'm trying to make back whatever I can, at least break even or a little extra would be cool. We really just wanted to have fun with it. Basic also happens to be Iranian-American, in case I didn't mention it. We had fun with a lot of the tracks. It's a dope project. We just wanted to make it fun, which wasn't always the case on our individual albums. So far, it's been accepted very well.
W: How does the internet affect an artist such as yourself, the "Starving Artist"? You hear a lot of debate, does it help the small artist, does it hurt the small artist, what's your thoughts?
WX: It depends on where you are in your career. Obviously, the options on the internet are ever changing. It happens on a day to day basis. For an underground hip hop artist, yes it does take a bit of money out of our pockets, alright, it takes a lot of money out of our pockets, we're not talking just a little bit. Unless you are a Canibus, or Chino XL or a well known underground artist, and even them such as the case of Kool G Rap, who has kind of been lost in the shadows, the internet helps with letting people hear music they won't on the mainstream platform, or on the radio. It gives us the exposure we wouldn't normally have.
It has made making music more accessible. Everyone with a microphone in their home can make an album these days. Everyone can be a producer or an MC now. Yes, it's hurting us with over saturation and exposing us to a bunch of crap. I don't want to be disrespectful to anyone, but you know, rapping is probably not for them. It hinders in that way. But for the established artist or the ones that sincerly have talent, it helps us by expanding the our fan base and getting our music to people who might not have otherwise heard it. They don't play a lot of music from someone like me, or Ras Kass, or even Crooked I. The internet helps keep it going, otherwise there would be no medium for people to hear some of the music. It's keeping a lot of the original culture alive, from the music aspects. Without the internet, radio would probably just wash it all away. The original essence of culture would be lost. But yes, we are taking a hit though there is no doubt about it.
W: How much has it helped you personally, because I know your album leaked on the internet as well.....
WX: Oh yeah, I certainly do. I may not be making a whole lot of money, let's face it. Considering this my first album, I didn't stand to make a whole lot of money anyway. I'm not a signed artist, I'm not even signed to an indie label. Any money I make off of grinding it, I appreciate it. At first I was like "Ahhh, the album leaked!", now I look at it and people are enjoying the music and I got a bigger fan base. Since this is an issue in the industry anyway, people are going to download your album, the real money is to be made doing shows. The more people that hear my album and like it, the more people that are likely to come to the shows and watch me rock the stage. That part is not really hurting me at all. If the album wasn't available on line and I was just hustling out of my backpack, which is no shame in that, I do that all the time, but if it was just based on word of mouth, it'd be a lot harder, no doubt about it.
W: What do you have going on the future?
WX: Obviously there is going to be a second LP. I've had enough positive feedback and people wanting the music, I feel confident going through with a second album. I mean, I'd probably would have done it anyway, but just kept it to myself, but the music is obviously being appreciated. I'm working on the details as I go along.
As far as other projects, I'll be working on the Basic Poetry X album. That's in the very near future. We are going to get started on that very soon. It'll be aimed at the middle eastern demographic, but it'll still have a very strong hip hop influence. Then there is something have in the works, in it's beginning stages. As it stands right now, Grievious Bodily Harm and I will be doing a collaborative album, going on the name of Eastern Condors. The concepts and are being worked out. In between that sometime, I'm going to release another EP for the people just for the hell of it. It'll be a solo EP, just working on it. Don't know what I'm going to call that one as of yet. Who knows what else, but you'll catch me on people's albums. I'm willing to be a '98 Canibus and show up on people's albums and just rip shit.
W: Alright, let's wrap this bad boy up, you got any last words?
WX:I'd just like to thank my family for being so supportive, My regular affiliates, AnP, Mayo, Askani, Mackey, and GBH along with my boys APNA and Basic. I also want to thank you all at Wake Your Daughter Up for giving me the opportunity to partake in this interview and speak
my mind.In addition want to thank everyone along the way thats supported me and my music this far, it's because of you I do this. Lastly for those who are just getting acquainted with me you can hit up my myspace at www.myspace.com/wxmc and feel free to download the Sleepless Sessions EP for free as well as cop the album Portrait of a Starving Artist. Myself as well as other, indy artists really put a lot of work in our craft and we don't have a whole lot of cash to do it with so every little bit of support helps. Support Real Hip Hop and lets keep the culture alive.
6/23/2008
Daily News.....
RapCredits.com is a brand new web site that Thomas and I went in on together. We came up with the idea about a month ago and have been working hard to prepare it for today’s official launch. The site is a wiki for hip hop album credits. Yeah, there are a ton of sites out there that you all probably go to to find your production and sample credits for your favorite hip hop album. Well, we’re hoping in the future you’ll be able to visit rapcredits.com for all of those needs. The idea is to have a site where every hip hop album is listed with production and sample credits in a familiar, easy to use format. Because it is a wiki, anyone can contribute. The site is still in its infant stages, but we have already put up most of the sample compilations that we have compiled over the months. So come check us out. If you’d like to contribute, just create an account and start wiki’ing! Revolutionary Rapper Immortal Technique Urges New York’s Hip-Hop Generation to Vote 06.23.2008 Voter Registration Booth to be Included as Part of Record Release In-Store Event at Midnight on Day of Release (Monday, June 23rd, 2008 New York, NY) Renowned rapper and activist Immortal Technique, in conjunction with Fat Beats Record Store, will be encouraging the hip-hop generation to register to vote at his record release party in New York for his third album, The 3rd World. The party will start at midnight on Monday, June 23rd at the New York location of Fat Beats Record Store. Immortal Technique and Fat Beats owner and founder Joseph Abajian decided to include a voter registration booth at his record release party with the shared goal of getting the hip-hop generation involved in the presidential election. Says Mr. Abajian, "The original intent of hip-hop was to lead a more informed, righteous life by getting kids out of gangs and educating them. Back in the day, we had Melle Mel and Public Enemy to hold the torch, but nowadays, Tech is one of the last standing emcees who talks about politics in his rhymes. We need to wake up the hip-hop generation, who has been blinded by bling, money, and women." Tech corroborated, "Even though democracy can be circumvented (and it traditionally has been) it is important for us to remember that voting is just one aspect of it, voting 25 times every century is only a part of democracy, what holds a society together are the institutions that it sets up. Those will outlast any regime and echo throughout history. Voting is important because all politics is local and what we do locally can be seen nationally, and then...globally." With the release of The 3rd World, Harlem-born Immortal Technique is breaking a five-year hiatus since his last LP. Featured artists include Chino XL, Ras Kass, Crooked I, and Poison Pen, as well as producer DJ Green Lantern. The 3rd World will be available nation-wide on Tuesday, June 23rd through Viper Records. The record release party will be held at midnight on Monday, June 23rd at Fat Beats Records, New York at 406 6th Avenue, 2nd Floor. For more information, please call 212.673.3883. Immortal Technique MySpace: Fat Beats:
Okay, so I didn't say I'd do this shit every night.....We catch up tonight one a few things, free music, news, I guess that's why I call "Daily News".....catching up on a few days worth of stuff, so have it boys and girls.
Trav
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Culture VI feat Royce 5'9 - Never Had A Clue
Never had a clue who this is, but hey, it has Royce. The song itself is actually kinda nice. (Trav)
New music from Culture VI f/Royce 5'9 "Never Had A Clue" taken from Culture VI's forthcoming sophomore LP, Ninety-Four, which will be released on 8-19-08.
DL link to Culture VI's "Never Had A Clue" f/Royce 5'9:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/14104268037891b6/
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Free Music
Dirty Water Jazz mix
http://www.zshare.net/audio/139633653aca3135/
DJ Nes
dirtywaters.blogspot.com
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FREE shows in four areas, hell you can't beat that to see Black Sheep and Nice & Smooth
Hip-Hop Lyricists Black Sheep and Nice & Smooth Headline
Scion’s “Live Metro” June Concert Tour
Performing Live With Orgone and J. Period
In Columbus, St. Louis, Chicago and Minneapolis
Scion’s “Live Metro” tour returns to the Midwest this month with dual hip-hop duos, Black Sheep and Nice & Smooth. Known for their unique rhythms and intelligent lyrics, both groups are set to deliver a truly unique concert experience. Each group will be backed by soulful funk band, Orgone, and mix tape master and DJ, J. Period, Scion’s June “Live Metro” series has a lineup that will keep audiences on their feet.
Fans and music lovers in Minneapolis, Columbus, St. Louis and Chicago are invited to check out the many sights and sounds of June’s “Live Metro” tour. Scion “Live Metro” concerts are free and open to the public, but attendees must be at least 21 years old and RSVP to gain entry at www.scion.com/livemetro.
“Live Metro” events signify Scion’s commitment to the urban music-minded community through live tours that travel to select markets nationwide. Each event brings artists together from different genres of music – hip-hop, funk, afrobeat and soul – to create a unique and complimentary experience for audiences, while supporting the innovative collaborations between music’s best emerging and established talents.
Upcoming Scion “Live Metro” dates and locations:
· 6/23, 9:30 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. - Columbus at Skully’s 1151 N. High St. Columbus, OH 43201
· 6/24, 9:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. - St. Louis at Old Rock House 1200 S. 7th St. Louis, MO 63104
· 6/25, 9:30 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. - Chicago at The Metro 3730 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60613
· 6/26, 9:30 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. - Minneapolis at the Varsity Theater 1308 4th Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414
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Donny Goines Interview
Part One
center>
Part Two
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Koncept, JLOGIC & Soul Khan - Make Way
Some more new music from up and comers. I'm feeling this track, Mr. Porter has been putting out some bangers as of late. (Trav)
New track produced by Aftermath producer Mr. Porter titled "Make Way" feat KONCEPT,
JLOG1C & Soul Khan. This track has not been released yet and is off of my mixtape called KONVERSES-Chuck Taylor Edition which is dropping early August at Fatbeats NY. The Brown Bag AllStars mixtape is also dropping early August.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/14105367833cbb89/
www.myspace.com/jlog1c
www.myspace.com/konceptut
www.myspace.com/soulkhan
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New Website that helps in credits, samples and more info
My man Kevin Nottingham takes his aim at a new website that could be a useful resource, be sure to check it out! (trav)
Hey everyone, I just wanted to pass along the launching of a new website called RapCredits.com.
This Is Hip Hop
http://kevinnottingham.com
Rap Credits
http://rapcredits.com
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Crew54 - Therapy
I featured the Crew54 cats last week, with a joint they did with Donny Goines. They are back with a new track, "Therapy". I'm kinda diggin' these cats. It's got that soul track that I've been kind of shying away from, but they prove that it's still dope if done right.
Crew54 - Therapy
http://www.zshare.net/audio/1410589146d838d4/
http://www.myspace.com/crew54
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http://www.myspace.com/immortaltechnique
http://www.FatBeats.com
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Misc News from The Real Ish.... This was kind of an interesting email blast I got (fellow bloggers will understand the meaning of an "email blast")....some good stuff in here including my man Praverb, who'll be seeing more of here in the very near future....Be sure to check his track out at the very least. (trav)
First off a chest-thumping banger from Virginia's Praverb the Wyse. Sampling Run DMC's 'King Of Rock'. The Admiral provides us with a banger of a beat, cuts supplied courtesy of Teddy Roxpin. With Praverb claiming he's a King, or rather a KI----I-I-I-I-I---N-N--I-I-N-N-N-N-NG-N--G!, what do y'all think?
"Call me John Obama or Barack McCain, either way, I claim both the black and white vote."
Praverb - The King (Produced by The Admiral, Cuts by Teddy Roxpin)
www.myspace.com/pvizzle
www.praverb.blogspot.com
You thought that was it? Nahh, we just getting started. Fresh outta Illinois, Master 3 presents us the with his first single off his debut album, 'Women & Music'. Not a typical single though, a 60 bar doze of lyrical assault. Who knew that still existed?
"ED-Nezz man, this track is the shit, me & you, we got a passion for this, & these other dudes? It's like they getting paid in chucks and dunks/What I mean to say by that is that they're rapping for kicks... & I'm kicking the raps, Bruce Lee-ing these lyrics, like an 18-Wheeler, flow outta control, you can't steer it, clearly, I'm the opposite of obsolete, you obstinate, stuck up like an obelisk."
Master 3 - What Is Your Name (Produced by ED-Nezz, Mastered by Santo Angelo)
www.myspace.com/therealmaster3
Last but not least, Teddy Roxpin again. Recently featured in The Source, Teddy hits us up with his latest mixtape. Remixing an array of memorable hip-hop joints he brings us 'Supermailman', the best remixtape of the year. Yes, you probably hear this in every press release but judge yourself
Teddy Roxpin - Supermailman
www.myspace.com/teddyroxpinbeats
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WU-TANG AFFILIATES HELL RAZAH AND SHABAZZ: THE HISTORY OF RED HOOK-PART 1 OF A MULTI-PART SERIES!!!
Sunz of Man members and deeply rooted affiliates of the legendary
Wu-Tang Clan, Hell Razah and Shabazz the Disciple are no strangers to
the game.
With the July 8th release of “T.H.U.G. Angelz: Welcome To Red Hook
Houses,” Razah and Shabazz expose their personal journeys, from their
upbringings in the Red Hook housing projects and its significance as a
breeding ground for “golden age” hip-hop, to the meetings with RZA, the
ensuing Sunz of Man days, up to and through modern day.
Acting as tour guides, part 1 in this candid, multi-part webisode series
literally walks us through the projects that Razah & Shabazz called
home, rekindling the pain, struggle, ambition and solidarity of this
defining period in hip-hop history.
Watch Part 1 now. Part 2 coming soon:
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2Fly Shirpas Free Music
2Fly Shirpas is made up of rapper UFP and beatsmith squiid
They are part of the Howardlife movement and have appeared on albums with -
-Olympic Gold Medalist Howard Davis Jnr
-Rabbi Darkside, from MTV's Made
-Frequency Activism
-Mr Mayday, a former member of the Demigodz crew
-Hired Gun of 3rd Party
...rapper Statistics from Frequency Activism also appears on this new release
The new album:
2Fly Shirpas - "When 2Fly Met Howardlife..."
http://www.zshare.net/download/13429247397df1a6/
1. Jimtroduction
2. Neil Freds
3. All Types Of Todds
4. Everything In This Life Is Howard (Feat. Stat)
5. Robotic Jim
6. InterJude
7. Room With A Hugh (Feat. Stat)
8. Lunch Time Todd
9. All Types Of Todds (ReMitch)
10. 2 Sides 2 Every Todd (Feat. Stat)
11. OutJoe
This Or That (Week One) .....The De La Soul Edition: 3 Feet High & Rising Vs. Stakes Is High
Last Week
Another blow out was registered last week as Straight Outta Compton put a pounding on their sophomore album Efil4Zaggin. With almost four hours left, it sits at 91-27. I honestly didn't know what to expect with that one, I guess I was quick to learn. As I mentioned, I didn't know which album I was going to pick when I started writing the write up, simply because the production on the second album was so amazing, but when it came down to it, you can't pass up the classic tracks found on Straight Outta Compton. Let's hope the next THREE weeks brings a little more of an even match up. "Three weeks?", you ask, yes, three weeks. I'll explain as we jump into the first "This Or That" tournament.
This Week
If I had to choose a GROUP to call my all-time favorite, it'd probably have to be De La Soul. De La Soul, in my opinion is one of the most consistent hip hop groups there ever has been in the history of hip hop. They have delivered on every album, at a clip of the last 19 years. Their first four albums are classics for me. That, to me is pretty amazing. All their albums have the whole package, with amazing production found through out their many albums with the greatness of Posdnous and Dave on the mic. I wasn't always a De La fan though. Much like when Tribe first dropped, I wasn't feeling 3 Feet High and Rising at all. It was just too "out there" for my tastes. I had a friend that would buy the tape, and besides "Jenifa Taught Me", I could do without the album. "Plugin' Tunin", "Potholes In My Lawn" and "Me Myself & I" were all played at nausea on "Yo! MTV Raps" during the day and besides the humorous video for "Me, Myself & I", I would either change the channel or hit fast forward if I had taped the episode. I blew them off. When they went on to release De La Soul Is Dead, I did kind of take to "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)", but again, for the most part, it was just too out there for my tastes. I wouldn't even listen to it as a whole album until I started going back through their music in 1996. I actually did like what I heard on Buhloone Mindstate, including what I thought was the incredibly dope 
"Ego Trippin' (Part Two)", but still wasn't inspired enough to go pick up the album. It would be spring of 1996 that my man Dino and I would go check out a De La show here in town and after that amazing show, I was hooked. I would pick up Stakes Is High soon after and my love affair with De La began.
Since De La has four albums that are held in high regard in the hip hop community, we are doing a three week event. I have a good feeling what it will boil down to, but as you can already tell, I do a lot of these just for the sociological effect, what people REALLY think about certain albums. I've already learned a lot and I'm sure I'll learn with this little set up. This week will be 3 Feet High & Rising against Stakes Is High. Sure they are apples and oranges, but this is more about people's favorite albums than trying to say which is "better". We could argue about that all day and never get anywhere. Next week will be De La Soul Is Dead squaring off against Buhloone Mindstate. The winner of both weeks goes at it for the favorite De La album. Quite simple of course, so here we go, another episode of "This or That"....(cues theme music)
3 Feet High & Rising Vs. Stakes Is High
3 Feet High & Rising
Positives
-The album elevated the art of sampling. Gone were the days of James Brown samples and "Funky Drummer" break beats. Enter samples from the Turtles and other things producers would have never thought about sampling. Prince Paul established himself as a top notch producer. Prince Paul was a freakin genius.
-Skits. Some could argue this is a good and bad thing. Sure, they utilized skits to the best of their ability and added to the overall enjoyment of the album. But it also ushered in every wack group making even wacker skits that ruined many a fast forward button on Sony Walkmans.
-Every single from the album is a certified "classic". From "Plug Tunin", to "Potholes In My Lawn" (which I still don't care for all that much), to "Me, Myself & I", to one of the greatest posse cuts of all-time in "Buddy", to the wishy washy "Say No Go", they all are heralded among some of the best tracks in hip hop history.
-The whole creative output that was put into the album is still amazing. The whole album is a hodge podge of great lyrics and amazing beats. The concept is just amazing and ground breaking. To me, it rivals Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique as one of the most creative efforts ever released.
-It made being a hippy in hip hop a cool thing. Sure, they would go back to hate this image later on, but Tommy Boy did a great job of marketing this. It's the D.A.I.S.Y Age, Y'all!
-Plug One, Two & Three had charisma, personality, and were just characters of themselves. You can definately see that in the "Me, Myself & I" video. I didn't even like the song back in the day, and I would still watch this video. The seemed like "real people", dudes that you went to school with.
Negatives
-If you didn't care for them at first, you surely wouldn't care for them after the 3 Feet High & Rising album ran it's course. I was so sick of the D.A.I.S.Y. age, I was happy when they named the next album De La Soul Is Dead.
-I personally don't care for a lot of the tracks on the album still to this day.
Stakes Is High
Positives
-Stakes is High as a whole album just flows together perfectly, much like most of their albums.
-While we tend to think hip hop was this great and almighty thing back in the mid 90's, let's not fool ourselves and think that everything was golden. It wasn't, there was a lot of bullshit. De La is calling out that bullshit throughout the whole album. Maybe they saw were the music was going, because this album would be PERFECT for today's scene.
-I thought Pos just tore shit up this album lyrically. He has long been one of my favorite MC's and verses like this show why:
I'm the most from the coast of the East, then flee
Droppin more knowledge than litter, on the New York peeve
It's me, wonder why, in the place to be
Certified, as superior, MC
While others explore to make it hardcore
I make it hard for, wack MC's to even step inside the door
Cause these kids is rhyming, sometiming
And when we get to racing on the mic, they line up to see
the lyrical killing, with stained egos on the ceiling
My rhymes escalates like black death rates
Over music plates, being played as the rule
Kids thinking stepping to the Soul, you're labelled fools
who claims to drop jewels but for now you do the catching
I don't worry on what crew you run, or what section of earth
you reside, you're not even a man
So I don't seem it mandatory taking your pride
But I will, cause my man said Soul for the life
You cried "Keepin it real", yet you should try keepin it right
That's understanding microphone mathematics
Which leaves the currency in temporary world status
And when one shows he posed threat to this one
This one will make that one into none
Simple equation, zero, you shouldn't play hero
If you can't stand Strong like the Island I'm from
-Not to be out shined by his partner, Dave dropped one of his best rhymes ever...
Fell in love with this fish who got caught in my mesh
But yo she burned my scene up like David Koresh
I guess a diamond ain't nothing but a rock with a name
I guess love ain't nuttin but emotion and game
It's a lesson well learned so praise is well due
I'm sendin off from Big I, to Kenny Calhoun
And add a reservation for the resident crew
And yo get your bowl cuz we cookin up stew
See them Cubans don't care what y'all niggaz do
Colombians ain't never ran with your crew
Why you acting all spicy and sheisty
The only Italians you knew was icees, niggaz price me
I'm keepin it clean, like a washing machine
And yo, get your locomotion run into full steam
I'm sending out a greeting to my man Daseem
I got a child so I gotsta get the green, right righ
-Together, both Pos and Dave dropped some memorable lines that still amaze me to this day, and this is coming from a person into beats.
Negatives
-The loss of Prince Paul. Even though I love Stakes Is High, I do miss Paul's zaniness.
-Some say the production isn't up to par with their previous albums. I'll admit, this album isn't about the production, it's about the message and the beats do their purpose. It wasn't supposed to be a flashy album in that way.
The Verdict
I was hitting up the record store the day Stakes Is High dropped and it did not disappoint. Like every De La album before it, they changed shit up from the previous release. This was the De La I was able to relate to and get down with. It would be the jump off point for me going back and discovering their music that I so shamefully slept on for the first seven years. Maybe that's why I still consider Stakes Is High as my favorite De La release. It was the first album from them that I really got into. I realize I'm probably going to be in the minority and this could turn ugly, but Stakes Is High is just a great all around record for me.
Winner: Stakes Is High
6/22/2008
Punchline On Smash - Mixed by DJ A.Vee
It's finally here and for free download!
A dope collection of joints and freestyles over dope beats.
Tracklist:
1. Intro
2. Attitude
3. Da greatest
4. Hustla
5. Dollar Circulate Feat Fokis
6. Aint No HAlf Steppin ‘08
7. Don’t Give a F#@!
8. Punch 187
9. Hip Hop Feat Torae & Stricklin
10. Boom Freestyle
11. Cream Freestyle
12. fake Rappers - Produced By sic beatz
The choice of beats convinces me from front to back. Soulful sh*t, some famous instrumentals like "Ain't no half steppin", "Boom", or "CREAM" and some unknown ish stuff. I already knew a slew of these tracks from his myspace page.
Punch is working on a free download EP with Fokis and he got a joint with him on this mixtape too called "Dollar Circulate", a super hot one!
The other too feature guests are Strick and Torae on a track called "Hip Hop". The instrumental is from the new Erykah Badu album as far as I know.
Everything is mixed nicely by the worlds famous DJ A.Vee
Really a must have!!
Free Download: Click Here
Punch's Blog
Punch Myspace
Peace, Clap
6/20/2008
Vinyl Singles
I actually had to upload these files for a friend but since Trav is busy doing various interviews and hunting bikini wearing chicks on barbecues I thought it would be a good idea to throw these up here too, enjoy the 8 files and your weekend, I'll sure do since we have National Day over here..
PS: For those that sleep, FireFox3 has been released, so do your self a favour and download to enjoy your favourite blog without any trouble..well hopefully..
Fire Fox 3 / Guiness World Record
Little Brother - The Way You Do it
01-A1_-_The_Way_You_Do_it_(Clean)
02-A2_-_The_Way_You_Do_it_(Dirty)
03-A3_-_The_Way_You_Do_it_(Instrumental)
04-A4_-_The_Way_You_Do_it_(A_Capella)
05-B1_-_The_Get_Up_(Clean)
06-B2_-_The_Get_Up_(Dirty)
07-B3_-_The_Get_Up_(Instrumental)
08-B4_-_On_the_Way_(Clean)
Big Shug - Tha Way It Iz
01-big_shug-tha_way_it_iz_(street)
02-big_shug-tha_way_it_iz_(clean)
03-big_shug-tha_way_it_iz_(instrumental)
04-big_shug-tha_way_it_iz_(clean_accapella)
05-big_shug-who_(got_my_back)_(street)
06-big_shug-who_(got_my_back)_(clean)
07-big_shug-who_(got_my_back)_(instrumental)
Boulevard Connection - Claimin Respect ft. Iriscience, Last Emperor, DJ Babu & Maylay Sparks
1.Copenhagen (Claimin' Respect) (Accapella)
2.Copenhagen (Claimin' Respect) (Instrumental)
3.Copenhagen (Claimin' Respect) (Radio Version)
Crooklyn Dodgers - Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers
01 - Crooklyn Dodgers - Return Of The Crooklyn Dodgers (Radio Edit) (Clean Version)
02 - Crooklyn Dodgers - Return Of The Crooklyn Dodgers (Final Mix With Intro) (Street Version)
03 - Crooklyn Dodgers - Return Of The Crooklyn Dodgers (Instrumental)
Mood - Hustle On The Side
01-mood-hustle_on_the_side
02-mood-transmoreify
03-mood-sacred
One Be Lo - Rocketship
01- One Be Lo - Rocketship (clean)
02- One Be Lo - Rocketship (instrumental)
03- One Be Lo - Rocketship (accapella)
04- One Be Lo - E.T. (dirty)
05- One Be Lo - E.T. (clean)
06- One Be Lo - E.T. (instrumental)
QBall & Curt Cazal - My Kinda Moves
1.Q_Ball_And_Curt_Cazal-My_Kinda_Moves
2.Q_Ball_And_Curt_Cazal-All_The_Flava
3.Q_Ball_And_Curt_Cazal-War_Out_Here
Jurassic5 - Linguistics
01-jurassic_5-linguistics_(dirty)
02-jurassic_5-linguistics_(instrumental)
03-jurassic_5-linguistics_(clean)
04-jurassic_5-linguistics_(acappella)
6/19/2008
WYDU Classics June 08: The Summer Time Jams
It's summertime and you know what that means. BBQ's, rollin' down the street in the convertibles, hot women wearing skimpy clothing and better yet, the three B's: Beers, Buds (friends or the green variety) and Babes. And anything that has to do with fun in the sun is made better with some good tunes. This month I'm bringing some of my favorite summer jams to the table. Songs you can cruise to, songs with that mellow summer vibe to play at your next BBQ (next weekend for me) and just music that gives you that summer time vibe. We don't have the most rarest of rare joints this year, just the "classics" as seen by yours truly. Enjoy and I'm always open to photos sent of bikini clad women dancing to some of these joints at your next BBQ, keep ole Trav in mind!!!!
WYDU Classics June 08: The Summer Jams
1. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime
2. Masta Ace Inc. - The I.N.C. Ride
3. King Tee - Dippin'
4. Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day (Remix)
5. Nine - Whatcha Want
6. Dr. Ease & The Easetown Posse - Flowin Smooth
7. World Renown - Come Take A Ride (Extra Ride)
8. Q-Tip - Let's Ride
9. Rodney O & Joe Cooley - Get Ready To Roll
10. De La Soul - A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturday (What Yo Life Can Truly Be feat Dres)
11. J Dilla feat Blu - Sun In My Face
12. Exile feat Miguel Jontel - Summertime in LA
13. 1st Down - A Day Wit The Homiez
14. Hi-C - Sittin' In The Park
15. Rappin' Ron & Ant Diddly Dog - Smoke Season
16. Juice With Soul - The System
17. Powerule - Smooth
18. DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - Summertime Extended Club Mix
Daily News.. Rae & Cappa show info, Free Music, Donny Goines and more
Today's might be kind of half assed. I have a bunch of interviews I'm working on, either transcribing or writing questions, so posts from me might be on the light side for the next few days, then all hell well break loose, so be on the look out for that. In today's news, Raekwon and Capadonna news of upcoming NY show, new Donny Goines material, midiMarc podcast and more....
Raekwon & Cappadonna show tomorrow night in NYC
On Thursday, June 19th, two legendary hip-hop MC's will rock the stage at the legendary B.B. King Blues Club. Raekwon & Cappadonna of the Wu-Tang Clan will be performing live many of their classics & new material. It's not every day you get to hear and see real hip-hop in its purest form. Also look for potential SUPRISE guests at the show. You know when there is a Wu member in the building, the rest are usually not far behind and at times it's just not Wu...
Opening Act: Queen Yonasda
Main Performers: Raekwon & Cappadonna
Special Guests: You'll have to be there to know.
Doors Open @ 6:00pm
Show Begins @ 8:00pm
Tickets are $25 (if bought in advance)
Tickets are $28 (day of show/at the door)
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midiMarc Podcast
Checkout the new podcast
http://midimarc.mypodcast.com/
1.Jay-Z and MIDIMarc - No Hooks Remix
2.Erykah Badu - No Love
3.Erykah Badu - My Life
4.Preach feat Butterfly Brown - I Can Fly
5.Frankie Beverly and Maze - I Need You Snippet
6.K Hill feat Kaze - Eulogy
7.Pharoah Monche - What It Is
8.Spectac - Gone In 60 Seconds
9.A Tribe Called Quest - I Like It Like That
10.OutKast - Slum Beautiful
11.OutKast - MyIntroToLetYouKnow Snippet
12.FatRat Da Czar feat MetMoney - Dollar To Be Made
13.Lupe Fiasco - Gold Watch
14.Tupac feat Jon B - Do For Love
15.DJ Drama and Little Brother - Cross That Line
16.Anon - All By Myself
17.Ntelligence - N-Bomb prod by Nicolay
18.Primo Starr - What It Do
--
www.myspace.com/beatsbymidimarc
midimarc.blogspot.com
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Crew 54 feat Donny Goines - Ghetto Is Our Home
featuring Donny Goines and produced by Dichter2 Productions, its a banger.
Ghetto Is Our Home ft. Donny Goines
http://www.zshare.net/audio/130690059860dd8a/
www.myspace.com/crew54
http://the54realityshow.blogspot.com/
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Donny Goines footage
This is some footage of my performance last night at the Faces in the Crowd Showcase. I've included two links of the footage.
www.myspace.com/donnygoines
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THE WEEK 13 BROADCAST WILL FEATURE MUSIC FROM NATIONAL RECORDING ARTISTS T-PAIN, CROOKED I, ICE CUBE, LIL WAYNE, RICK ROSS, LUPE FIASCO, CANIBUS & MORE.
THAT'S NOT IT...CATCH EXCLUSIVE TRACKS FROM SOME OF THE TOP UNSIGNED ARTISTS OUT RIGHT NOW!!! NEW JOINTS FROM ALMOST SEPTEMBER, AFTASHOCK, JOE DELUXE, KIVI, DA U BOYS, CASTA, BIG SKEEM, RATED R, KEVIN GATES, & 4 SHOW WILL DEBUT!!!
Black Knight Intro
DJ Dublee's Singles Symposium
1. (Exclusive) T-Pain-Silver & Gold
2. (Exclusive) Wordsmith-Special Request
3. (Exclusive) Crooked I ft. Akon - Dream Big
4. (Exclusive) Lil Wayne Ft. Jay-Z - Mr. Carter
5. (Exclusive) Rick Ross ft. Pharrell - Get Down
6. (Exclusive) Ice Cube - Do Your Thang
7. (Exclusive) Lupe Fiasco f. Stack Bundles - I Keep It Gutter Like
8. (Exclusive) Canibus - Captain Cold Crush
Black Knight Intermission
DJ Dublee's Unsigned Mix Show
Unsigned Exclusive: Almost September Feat. KRS One & Sleepy Brown-Love
Unsigned:Black Knight-Life Goes On
Unsigned: Aftashock-My Life
Unsigned: Joe Deluxe-Fly High
Unsigned: Wordsmith-Dreamin of Superstardom
Unsigned: Kivi- Special Wonder
Unsigned: Da U Boys Everything Right
Unsigned: Casta-Just Another Day
Unsigned: Big Skeem feat S One & Phene - Get Paid (Remix)
Unsigned: Rated R-Getting Money
Unsigned: Rated R NYC
Unsigned: Kevin Gates Ft. Lil Boosie-Get in the Way Remix
Unsigned: 4 Show-Funky
Unsigned: Kontact-Fantasy Maker
Unsigned: Wordsmith Ft.The Nu Revolution Camp-The Funkbox Remix
Black Knight Outro
Upcoming Artists Send your best tracks to:
Wordsmith at: wordsmith@wordsmithmusic.com
DJ Dublee at: djdublee@gmail.com
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WWW.WORDSMITHMUSIC.COM
MYSPACE.COM/CLASSICWORDSMITHMUSIC
REVOLT RADIO
Amalgam Digital Download: http://www.amalgamdigital.com/podcast.aspx
Podomatic LIVE Feed: http://wordsmith.podomatic.com/
Wordsmith "Vintage Material" Album Coming in 2009!
Wordsmith "Appetizer at the Pioneer Pub" EP Coming in 2009!
The Nu Revolution Camp "Flag of Our Fathers" Mixtape Coming in 2009!
Chubb Rock & Wordsmith "Bridging the Gap" Album Coming in 2008!
HipHopdx.com Presents Wordsmith "The Revolution Begins with a Takeover" Vol. 2 Mixtape Coming August 12th, 2008!
HipHopdx.com Presents Wordsmith "The Mid-Year Review" Mixtape OUT NOW!
HipHopdx.com Presents Wordsmith "The Revolution Begins with a Takeover" Vol. 1 OUT NOW!
730 Presents Wordsmith "Statements & Stipulations" Mixtape OUT NOW!
Featured on MTV's Mixtape Mondays:
http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape_monday/020606/?headlines=true
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Click on the album cover below to view the official trailer to "Whose World Is This?" the movie.
"Whose World Is This?" The movie is an in-depth look into the concept of the album, featuring interviews and rare footage with various artists on the project as they speak their minds on the question of "Whose World Is This?" As well as explain why this project is so important to them, and how their particular song fits into the overall theme of the album.
The documentary also follows K-Salaam on his travels from U.S. to Kingston, Jamaica and features a rare interview with the seldom seen Beatnick. The "Whose World Is This?" documentary will be included as a DVD that comes with every copy of the Album/CD. The Album/CD and DVD will be in stores everywhere and online on July 29th.
Some of the artists featured on the DVD include: Trey Songz, Buju Banton, Dead Prez, Papoose, Sizzla, Capleton, Bobbito Garcia, Anthony B, Saigon, Suheir Hammad, Luciano, and much much more...
For more info on K-Salaam and Beatnick, check out:
myspace.com/ksalaammusic
&
youtube.com/ksalaamandbeatnick
K-SALAAM & BEATNICK
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Award-Winning Spoken Word Artist and Emcee Ise Lyfe to Become the Next Breakout Artist from the Bay Area
Sophomore Album Prince Cometh Confronts Provocative Issues
(Brooklyn, NY June 18th, 2008) Ise Lyfe (pronounced “Ice Life”), one of the nation's premier spoken word artists and emcees, is swiftly gaining recognition in the music industry with the release of his upcoming sophomore album, Prince Cometh. The album features 21 tracks full of ground-breaking rhymes that re-envision hip-hop as a movement that challenges us, engages us, and forces us to look at our communities and ourselves. Prince Cometh will be released with seven different album covers, each featuring a historical black and white photo from the Civil Rights era.
After nearly two years since the release of his debut album, SpreadtheWORD, Ise Lyfe returns with a powerful album that offers socially aware lyrics and a personal glimpse into the usually guarded and private Ise. On "Bad Word Bounce," Ise Lyfe sets the tone of the record with, "I'm gonna go ahead and go there / Nobody else will." Some of the provocative issues Ise delves into include teen prostitution, America's neglect of the poor, the state of hip-hop, and race issues that have come front and center during the recent presidential elections.This is not music for the margins, but instead a call to arms that it is time for the new hip-hop generation to step up. Says Ise, "The title [Prince Cometh] reflects what I’ve been seeing as I travel and witness the current state of the world. People everywhere are coming into themselves and choosing to demand what they feel is right and good for them. That’s the theme of this project."
Ise Lyfe joined forces with Bay Area producer Nick James to co-executive produce Prince Cometh. The tracks range from songs with commercial appeal such as "Thighbone" featuring West Coast heavyweight Zion-I to the banging anthem "The Blow Out," which swells with an all-female chorus chanting "I’m not stupid, I’m not dumb / I’m not your b*tch or n*gga / Yes I’m fine super sexy / I wanna live right but you won’t let me / Yes we high but lets go higher / higher higher higher." The song "Whitey's in Iraq" is a timely remake of Gil Scott Heron's 1970's "Whitey on the Moon." Other tracks "Yes, No, Maybe," "Him," "Greatest Problem Ever," and "Time Comes," offer a rare glimpse into the personal struggles of Ise's private life.
Ise, truly a renaissance man, has made a name for himself as an artist, activist and educator. Realizing that he had become numb to the violence surrounding him in his native Oakland, Ise began to find validation and encouragement in his rhyme books, journals and teen poetry slams. Ise first gained national recognition in 2000 competing in the annual Youth Speaks Poetry Slam Finals. In 2001 he would go on to represent the San Francisco Bay Area at the Youth Speaks National Poetry Slam. Ise soon was in high demand and he began performing all over the country and abroad. Ise has been featured on Russell Simmons' Def Poetry Jam on HBO. He has also shared the stage with Dave Chappelle, Lauryn Hill, Talib Kweli, dead prez, E-40, Harry Belafonte, KRS-One, Martin Luther, Saul Williams, Ben Harper, Erykah Badu, Zion I, and The Coup to name a few. Ise co-founded the P.O.W.E.R. movement, a multi-faceted Oakland-based organization that addresses the educational, social, and political needs of young people, penned Who's Krazy? a one man theatre piece, founded Lyfe Productives and has been an active educator in Oakland schools through YouthSpeaks. Prince Cometh will be released on 7even89ine Music on August 19th in stores and July 15th digitally.
Streams:
Thighbone featuring Zion-I
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/IseLyfe/Thighbone_feat_Zion-I.mp3
6/18/2008
Top 10 Spins
It's time again for one of my bi monthly hip hop charts return. I'm really trying to keep with all the music dropping lately. I can't say hip hop is as good as it used to be, but there is a lot of "good" music out there, more than I can my tabs on. While there is a lot of "good" music out there, I've been stuck in some of my favorite albums of late. Sometimes I get stuck on certain albums, just because I don't feel like trying to digest something new. Ahhh the life of a hip hop head.....
Tracks
10. (TIE) Abdominal - Pedal Pusher & Father Jah - 5 Fingers
Abdominal comes to me from my T.Dot connections. I remember this album from last year, but I'm not sure if I ever listened to it or not. I suppose I should pull it out and see if the rest of the album is good as this track. The subject matter is not your traditional hip hop fare, but it sounds good. The beat is done by Ugly Duckling's Einstein, who I've always been a fan of.
Father Jah is one of those multi dimensional cats from the south. His music contains a little bit of everything, from the dirty south style, to straight up battle rap, to an almost NC sound. While I'm not as crazy about him as my man A-One, I do think the cat has extreme talent, although he might not always be my thing. This song, "5 Fingers" is my type of thing. Jah does his thing lyrically, as he flows along with a hard edged track that has a great electric guitar sample.
Father Jah
Abdominal
9. Rashid Hadee & Analogic - Explode
I've grown pretty tired of the whole "soul" sample movement, just because everyone and their dog is doing it. There are still some good "soul" productions out there, and this happens to be one of them. Rashid Hadee is one of those cats I keep waiting for to "blow up" on the underground scene, but just hasn't gotten over that hump as of yet. Analogic is a producer that keeps gettting his name out there and sounds good everytime I've heard one of his beats. This track is just a great combination of both artists strengths.
Rashid Hadee
Analogic
8. Yameen feat Maylay Sparks - The Atmosphere
My man Stinke aka Yameen has dropped an album that I would totally expect not too like, yet I've given it more than just a few spins this past week. I guess my older age has expanded my musical tastes a little more. With Maylay Sparks on the mic, it was the song that grabbed my attention before even listening to it. Maylay was down with Ill Advised back in the day, a group that I'm always on the look out for more music. This is something different, and that's something I've been bitching about a lot lately, nothing is "different". This is "different".
Yameen
7. Soul Occs feat Punchline - Dedicated to the B's
WYDU's on SoulClap graces the countdown with his rhyming partner, Tony Tigerstyle and special guest, Punchline on "Dedicated to the B's". I ain't going to lie, I begged Clap for an mp3 of this track when I first heard it a couple months ago. Clap is at his best here and Tony does his thing as well. Very smooth track, that should be in the top 100 at the end of the year. If this didn't make the album, then I can't wait to see what did.
Soul Occs
6. Freddie Joachim feat Aloe Blacc - 24 Hours
My man Names from Brews Rhymes With Crews put me on to this cat, and it's a good thing. I have to admit, this particular song sounds more like an Aloe Blacc track from his last album than anything else. That is alright by me, since I've always dug Aloe Blacc solo or as part of Emanon. Good track for those are into the light, mellow sounds of "adult contemporary" hip hop.
Freddie Joachim
5. Basic Weaponary - Lockem In
Basic Weaponary is my man Weapon X and his partner Basic. I'm a sucka for songs with angelic strings, and that's exactly what this song has. They are crazy. The track actually reminds me a lot of something you'd hear from Jedi Mind Tricks, with that gruff tone and flow. They both hold their own on the mic, thankfully, but the beat is the highlight for me, and that's not taking anything away from Weapon X and Basic.
Weapon X
4. Has-Lo & Small Professor - Molotov
Cocktails
Has & Small Pro might as well become official spokesmen for this blog, or they should just hire me for their promotion team. I'm sure you'll see more from both of these Philly cats in the very near future on WYDU. I'm not thru trying to convince my readers that both of these cats deserve the their valuable iPod space. Small Pro turns what was probably my least favorite from the original conception of "Fuck Has Day" and turns it into my favorite track found on the "Remixed But Still Fucked" version. Stay tuned, more to come from these two.
Has-Lo
Small Professor
3. eMC - Leak it Out
I'm still playing this album almost four months after it was released in retail, and five months after the "leak". I guess this album is just that good, or this year is that boring, or maybe a little of both, but my plays resurged after they released "Leak It Out" as a single. It was already one of my favorite tracks from The Show, but with a video, it made it come back some. Now if I could just figure out who the EXTREMELY hot chick is on their myspace default photo, I could die a happy man.
eMC
2. ST - Miss Beautiful
Myspace is good for something after all. Last week a group from Alabama of all places requested me as a friend. I don't really turn anyone down, because really, why is that big of a deal? But I check their music just to see what it's like. When I went to ST's (pronounced Esss Teee), Miss Beautiful was the track playing and it immediately grabbed my attention. So much so, I went and bought the track off of their snocap store....and I don't do that if it isn't the Smile Rays or K-Def. I'm not going to say this is on some "next shit", cause it's not. It's just good music and I'm a-ok with that.
ST
1. Hip Hop - Mr. Green & Pacewon
I was a HUGE Outsidaz fan back in the day, with Young Zee and Pacewon being my two favorite members. I've enjoyed Pace's solo material, although besides a couple 12 inches, not a lot of it made much noise. I'm hoping that changes with the release of his colabo album with Mr. Green. Yes, we've probably had our fair share of "hip hop" is great and reminiscing type of songs, but if it's good, it's good and this is....well, it's great.
http://www.myspace.com/paceandgreen
6/17/2008
Daily News.....Blu, Biggie Movie, Supastition EP, and more....
What's good, boys & girls....In the WYDU news today, we have videos from every backpackin' blogs favorite rapper, Blu, a new name and FREE EP from Supastition aka Kam Moye, shots from the upcoming Notorious BIG movie and more!
Blu Live!
If you were around WYDU about this time last year, you know I was bumping up Blu & Exile's "Below The Heavens" LP something fierce. Here are some clips from his show he did in Hollywood last week
Blu - "GlorysUs"
Blu & Exile - "Greater Love"
Blu & Exile - "Simply Amazin"
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Supastition aka Kam Moye Free EP
DUB MD PROMOTIONS & REFORM SCHOOL MUSIC PRESENTS
KAM MOYE aka SUPASTITION
"SELF-CENTERED EP"
*******************
"FREE DOWNLOAD"
This soulful EP serves as an appetizer for the upcoming Kam Moye full length album, Splitting Image, which will feature production from the likes of Illmind, Khrysis, DJ Babu, and D.R. as well as guest appearances from One Be Lo and many others. Kam Moye (under the alias Supastition) has been featured on songs alongside KRS One, Little Brother, Royce Da 5'9", and Elzhi in addition to receiving praise in XXL's Chairman's Choice and The Source's Independent's Day. He is also currently working on a collaboration album with longtime producer Illmind (G-Unit, Little Brother, LL Cool J). Music video for Black Enough? coming soon!
01. Where & Why (Produced by D.R.)
02. Welcome to My Life (Produced by Croup)
03. Change of Heart (Produced by M-Phazes)
04. Reach One (feat. Kaze) (Produced by Eric G)
05. Around the World (feat. DJ Wreckineyez) (Produced by Veterano)
06. Black Enough? (Produced by Eric G)
07. Give It Up (Produced by D.R.)
08. Self-Centered (Produced by D.R.)
http://www.zshare.net/download/13744690503e2523/
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/SUPASTITION
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/KAMMOYE
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/DUBMD84
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Biggie Movie
Check out the latest behind-the-scenes video from The NOTORIOUS B.I.G.
movie!
This latest episode visits the many NYC and Brooklyn locations of the
upcoming biopic and includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with
Ms. Wallace, Lil Cease, Director George Tillman and more.
For this episode and more visit Producer Wayne Barrrow's NotoriousBlog.net
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Tanya Morgan Added to The Hieroglyphic's "Freshly Dipped Tour" Lineup / "Be You"
06.17.2008
Critically acclaimed hip-hop trio to travel cross country for 45 date tour
Brooklyn, NY (June 17, 2008) Tanya Morgan joins the ranks of legendary hip-hop collective The Hieroglyphics this summer as part of their Freshly Dipped Tour. Tanya Morgan members Donwill, Ilyas, and Von Pea, who put out the critically acclaimed Moonlighting in 2006 and who are promoting their EP The Bridge, are preparing to hit the road again to perform not only some of their past hits but also new tracks for the first time.
The Freshly Dipped Tour is a 45 date, three month-long expo of cutting edge music and fashion from the Hiero crew. Featuring fresh music from up and comers and classics from Hiero's stable of artists, the tour will provide a welcoming environment for Tanya Morgan to once again bring their live show to the masses. The tour will also feature members of The Hieroglyphics, Souls of Mischief, Casual, Pep Love, and Domino, along with extended members Prince Ali, Musab, Knobody, and Blue Scholars.
Tanya Morgan's debut full-length album, Moonlighting, built an underground buzz after receiving kudos from both critics and their peers. Moonlighting made ?uestlove's list of Top 10 albums of 2006, received praise in XXL's Chairman's Choice and got a 3.5 mic rating from The Source. Tanya Morgan will be touring in support of The Bridge EP, as well as finishing their second full-length album, Brooklynati, which will be released in the fall.
Dates (first 29 dates are listed here, last 15 will be announced shortly):
Fri-Jul-11 Pomona, CA Glasshous
Sat-Jul-12 Los Angeles, CA El Rey
Sun-Jul-13 San Diego, CA Belly Up
Tue-Jul-15 Tempe, AZ Clubhouse
Wed-Jul-16 Flagstaff, AZ Orpheum
Thu-Jul-17 Albuquerque, NM Sunshine
Fri-Jul-18 Dallas, TX Granada
Sat-Jul-19 Austin, TX Emo's
Sun-Jul-20 New Orleans, LA Parrish
Tue-Jul-22 Orlando, FL Social-Late Show
Wed-Jul-23 Atlanta, GA Masq
Thu-Jul-24 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle
Fri-Jul-25 Charleston, SC The Music Farm
Sat-Jul-26 Wilmington, NC Soapbox
Sun-Jul-27 Virginia Beach, VA Steppin Out
Tue-Jul-29 Baltimore, MD Bedrock
Wed-Jul-30 West Chester, PA The Note
Thu-Jul-31 New York City, NY Highline
Sun-Aug-03 Burlington, VT Higher Ground
Tue-Aug-05 Ottawa, ON Babylon
Wed-Aug-06 Toronto, ON Mod Club
Thu-Aug-07 London, ON The Salt Lounge
Fri-Aug-08 Ann Arbor, MI Blind Pig
Sat-Aug-09 Columbus, OH Skullys
Sun-Aug-10 Chicago, IL Abbey Pub
Tue-Aug-12 Madison, WI High Noon
Wed-Aug-13 Minneapolis First Ave-Early Show
Thu-Aug-14 Omaha Waiting Room
Fri-Aug-15 Boulder Fox
Sat-Aug-16 Salt Lake City Urban Lounge
Tanya Morgan - "Be You" featuring Czelena
The Song:
A bona fide summer jam, Tanya Morgan's "Be You" glazes a feel good, 70s- TV-theme-esque beat with a thick layer of sweet and tangy lyricism. With lengthy, rapid-fire rhymes like "Now you can be a disser / but I see the bigger picture / and you aren't in the frame / like my dark skinned sisters," Tanya Morgan satisfies the local revolutionary and even the pretentious poet.
The Backgournd:
In 2003, Brooklyn resident Von Pea teamed up with Cincinnati's Donwill and Ilyas to form Tanya Morgan. Three years later, the group's Moonlighting LP took the rap world by storm, receiving a 3.5 mic rating from The Source and high praise in XXL's Chairman's Choice column. Donwill describes the group's uniqueness and appeal: "Instead of jam-packing our releases with different producers and guest emcees for attention, we carefully choose who we work with because we make it a priority to cultivate our own sound and identity. We look to groups like Eric B and Rakim, who honed their own sound and rarely collaborated with other artists." After a brief hiatus from center stage, the crew is back in 2008 seeking the hip-hop triple crown: the release of a mixtape, EP, and LP, all in the same year. Tonya Morgan has performed with Ghostface Killah and has had videos featured on multiple MTV channels. The Bridge EP is available now on via Bay Area label Interdependent Media.
Streams:
"Be You" featuring Czelena
http://www.audibletreats.com/download/TanyaMorgan/Tanya_Morgan-Be_You_feat_Czelena.mp3
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TINIE TEMPAH TO SUPPORT JAY Z!!!
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/TINIELEGEND
TINIE TEMPAH HAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT HE’LL BE SHARING THE STAGE WITH THE LEGENDRY JAY Z WHEN HE HITS THESE SHORES FOR THE O2 WIRELESS FESTIVAL ON 3RD JULY 2008.
TINIE WHO HAS JUST RECENTLY DROPPED HIS AUDIO SCRAPBOOK ‘HOOD ECONOMICS’ IS PREPARING TO HIT THE ROAD AGAIN WITH A NUMBER OF DATES TO SUPPORT HIS NEW SINGLE ‘TEARS’ [RELEASED AUG 18TH] WHICH INCLUDES THIS GROUND BREAKING SHOW IN LONDON’S HYDE PARK.
OTHER NOTABLE HIGHLIGHTS ALSO INCLUDE THREE DATES ALONGSIDE NY HIPSTERS THE COOL KIDS IN MANCHESTER, BIRMINGHAM & LONDON!!
25TH JUNE – ROYAL CHASE HOTEL – LONDON
26TH JUNE – SUPER SWEET SIXTEEN – LONDON
28TH JUNE – MANCHESTER ACADEMY W/ THE COOL KIDS
29TH JUNE – BIRMINGHAM BAR ACADEMY W/ THE COOL KIDS
2ND JULY – SCALA W/ THE COOL KIDS
3RD JULY – O2 WIRELESS W/JAY Z
18TH JULY – THE TALK – NORWICH
30TH JULY THE TALK – NORWICH
12TH AUGUST – BARRACUDA – BIRMINGHAM
13TH AUGUST – CLUB DEMAND – COVENTRY
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Used CD Shopping Trip Part Two (June 7th & 8th): The Daughter On the Road in Salt Lake City
We jump back into part two of my used CD shopping trip that took place June 7th & 8th in the glorious and wondrous city of Salt Lake City (that's only slight bullshit). After my trip to the F.Y.E. on Redwood Rd, I struck out at the next few places. As I mentioned last week, I hadn't been around Salt Lake much after moving, only a few times over the past nine years. When I lived there in the late 90's, I had my places that I would hit up, but a lot can change in nine years, as I'd soon find out. The F.Y.E. and Graywhale stores that I hit up first were on the west side of the city. The next few stores that I remembered and that were on my list were on the east side of the city, mainly around Highland and 21st South and 9th East area. On my way over I started looking on my list and realized that I remembered Orion Records, it was a cool little shop in the Highlands shops, a little strip store type place that had quirky little stores in them. After getting lost, I eventually found where I was looking for. One problem though, the strip of stores it was located was no longer standing. It was no longer there. In the same area, just a couple blocks over was The Record Collector. It was a nice day, so I went for a stroll. The Record Collector is nothing but vinyl, which is great, but they also had a very limited hip hip selection. It's basically this little narrow room with rows of vinyl in the middle of them. I'm not much on the vinyl tip, especially if it's not to do with hip hop, so after browsing a bit, I figured I'd the professional crate diggers have at it and jumped back in the car to find one of my favorite stores in Denver, Second Spin.
When I first moved to Denver, I lived pretty much right downtown. Of course, I looked in the phone book for CD/Record stores the first week I was living there, but for the first couple months I was there, I basically ended up going to three stores on the norm, a Sam Goody's in the Temple Square mall (I can't STAND Sam Goody's these days and you couldn't drag me into one of them, over priced fuckers), a Blockbuster store that also had a music section, which would be the store that I bought Redman's Muddy Waters. The third place was right across the street from the Blockbuster, which was Second Spin. The Second Spin in Denver and I had a wonderful relationship while I lived there and the Second Spin in Salt Lake wasn't quite on the same level as the one in Denver, but it still treated me right back in the day. I roll up to the parking lot in the strip mall it was in and the building was still standing.....BUT, the store was empty. No more Second Spin. Going really well. I noticed that right across the street was the Blockbuster, but it also had an F.Y.E. right next to it. "Might as well", I thought to myself and proceed to go across the street.
FYE 21st South & 7th East
With the luck I had in the Redwood store, I figured I might as well check this one out. Right off the bat, it's noticeably smaller than the "super" store that I had been to earlier. The hip hop section is ALOT smaller than what I had seen at the other store. But it was cleaner, more organized, and the racks didn't kill your back while you went through the disks. But the selection was MUCH smaller in terms of used CDs. As I started thumbing through the stock, I had a couple important phone calls, so I kept having to go out and come back in (it was loud in the store) so my concentration and place lost numerous times. I only walked out with these two releases, and one of them was obviously a stretch.
First Star - My Grip is Like a Cobra (Ichiban/Wrap, 1991)
1. Explode
2. All I Want To Do
3. Ladies Night Out
4. Diss Is For The Suckas (Radio Version)
5. The Duce
6. My Grip Is Like A Cobra
7. Stop Jockin'
8. It's On You
9. Diss Is For The Suckas
10. Why You Want To Talk About Me
11. Calling Shouts
This album contains a track entitled "Diss Is For The Suckas", I guess that was aimed at anyone that bought this damn album. I didn't know anything about First Star, but two things made me buy it. One, it was on Ichiban/Wrap, and they usually had at least some entertaining releases. Second, I can't ever recall seeing this. It looked like something I'd run across on Bust The Facts, yet hadn't. Listening to this later, I didn't realize it was a solo female act. The cover makes it look like a group. I probably wouldn't have bought it if I would have known that (I've never been a big fan of early female MC's except MC Lyte and Monie Love, sue me). This album is kind of a cross between house, R&B, and some attempt at hardcore for good measure. For $4.99, since I've never seen it, I guess it's alright, but I doubt I'll be playing this again anytime in the near future.
Nine - Whutcha Want (Maxi Single) (Profile, 1995)
1. Whutcha Want? (Album Version)
2. Whutcha Want? (Instrumental)
3. Red Rum
4. Me, Myself And My Microphone (Demo Mix)
5. Whutcha Want? (Street Remix)
6. Whutcha Want? (Radio Remix)
You know when you haven't found anything for awhile when you are digging through a row of CD's or vinyl? You start flipping through them rather fast then you skip over something that catches your eye and for a brief second, you think you've found something and it's not what you think it is? That's what happened with this maxi single. I've been looking long and hard for either of the Nine releases and for a brief second thought this was one of those. At least until my brain registered what it really was. None the less, this single is one of my favorites, and while I already have this on mp3, it's always better to have the physical copy. For $3.99, what the hell, right?
CD Exchange
After hitting up the FYE and not finding anything all that good, I decided to head up on the hill to find the University Graywhale. This was the store that I used to go over to in between classes, if for nothing else to kill some time. It's located right across the street from University of Utah. I found it fine, but parking was a bitch around the store, which was strictly street parking. After going around the block three or four times, and almost getting hit by a truck, I said "Fuck it" and drove back down the hill and decided to check out the three stores located on State Street. I drove past Uprok Records, but again, parking was a problem, I was running short on time and patience, so I drove by it. After talking to one of the readers who is from SLC, I guess I should have stopped as he had good reviews of the place. Oh well, maybe next time. I drove on to The CD Exchange, which was up the street a little ways. I drove by it on the first past, that's how insignificant this place looks from the outside. I pull up right in front of the store on the street. If you have never been to Salt Lake City, State Street is the street every major city has. The one that has five pawn shops on every block, if you need some crack, you can probably find it on this street. A cheap hooker? You can also find one on State Street.
Walking into the store I wanted to immediately turn around and walk right back out. It just didn't look like a place that I would find any rare hip hop CD's. There were empty boxes, empty CD jewel cases, and DVDs stacked everywhere. There was a narrow bath around the CDs in the middle of the room (more like a tunnel) as well as some up against the wall. A guy was behind the counter and he looked up to say "hello", then went back to examining DVDs. I walked around in this cluttered store, not seeing any hip hop. I was on my way out the door when I looked over at one of the racks up against the wall. Jackpot. He didn't have the CDs in cases, but simply had the front booklet in a plastic cover. Now remember, this is a shady area, so I understand why he did this, and the good thing, there were LOTS of this plastic covers. Once again, it was on!
Little side note, while I was immersed in my CD digging, a dude came in with a friend, and his girl friend. The guy had a bunch of DVDs he was trying to sell to the owner. The two went back and forth before the guy behind the counter threatened to kick him out. You can tell this dude had to deal with this kind of thing often. The guy selling the DVDs smell liked cheap liquor and stale cigarettes. He would finally agree to the twenty bucks the dude was offering for the DVDs. The chick was off to my right side, just kind of staring at me. It was obvious she was on something, I would guess meth. She was your typical white trash tweaker. She was twitching and very nervous. Immediately I started to get out of my CD zone and started paying attention to my surroundings, something that I think you have to do in areas like this. I started trying to locate the third dude, who looked like he was Mexican and I saw him standing off to my left. He was eyeballing me as well. I'm starting feeling a little uneasy, when dude starts to approach me. I'm not really sure what to do, so I just kind of straighten up and face him. "Hey pal, hey pal, do you need a VCR?" I kind of just looked at him, "You need a VCR man? I got some good ones!" "Nah man, I don't need a VCR", as I kind of stare at him. "Twenty bucks man, this is a good one", about that time the guy behind the counter tells him to go outside because he is disrupting his customers. It was just kind of an odd exchange with everyone involved....not sure why I told that story, it sounded cooler when I went over it in my head after it happened....hahaha.
KMC Kru - You Be The Judge (Curb Records, 1992)
1. Alphabet Rhyme
2. Nothin' But a Party
3. You Be the Judge
4. It'll Make You Dance
5. Back In the Day
6. Momma Had a Gangsta
7. No Money
8. Just Can't Live Without You
9. Life Is Up and Down
10. Will You Be There for Me
11. Talk Dirty To Me
12. The Butcher Goes To Basstown
13. The Devil Came Up To Michigan
When I walked out with this, I originally thought this was their 1990 release, but come to find out, I was confused. I actually haven't heard this one as of yet. I dug their sophomore release from 1990 (the one I thought this was) called "Gettin' Smooth With It", if for nothing else than the "Devil Came Up To Michigan" track. It was a remake of the Charlie Daniels "The Devil Went Down To Georgia", fiddle classic (don't ask me how I know about it, I just do). It had been a long while since I hadn't seen this CD, at least the mid 90's, so I grabbed it since it was only $2.99. I was talking to the guy when I was paying for my stash and he said he had this CD for a "a long ass time".
Daddy-O - You Can Be A Daddy, But Never Daddy-O (Island Records, 1993)
1. Intro Joint 2. Swung It, Blunted, Brung It 3. Brooklyn Bounce 4. Dat Vs DJ 5. Kid Capri 6. Come for Mine 7. Flowin in File 8. How to Beat a Bootleg/God Don't Like Ugly 9. Ihatefonies (The Truck Drivers Song) 10. You Can Be a Daddy, But Never Daddy-O - Daddy O, YZ 11. Fanfare 12. Buc Buc Buk 13. East Coast Funk 14. Bass Knotts (Sunbathing on the Roof) 15. Nobody Move 16. Funky Worm Outro Joint - Daddy O, Funky Worm
I've always viewed this CD as a disappointment. It's not really that good, but I've been on the look out for it for awhile now. It was fairly cheap, costing $3.99
Powerule - Volume 1 (Interscope, 1991)
1 Interview 2 Back 3 Ruff Neck Freestyle 4 5 Minutes 2 Showtime 5 Pass The Vibes 6 Interview 7 Premises 8 Rub Of The Wax Rap [Featuring] - Leaders Of The New School 9 When The Rhythm Calls 10 Que Pasa? (What's Going On) 11 Young Stars From Nowhere Featuring - Johnny Jay
Rap [Featuring] - Kurious Jorge* , Rebel (7) 12 Interview 13 That's The Way It Is 14 Smooth 15 Gots Ta Get This Co-producer - Large Professor
Rap [Featuring] - Large Professor 16 Interview 17 Urbs Inda Suburbs 18 Whassup?
This Powerule joint was one of my crowing jewels of the trip. I've been looking for this album since it dropped back in 1991. Never could find the damn thing. I remember even asking the local record store to order it for me and they could never get it for me. Finally I tracked it down. It's finds like this that get me excited looking for new CDs. The album is a good one and probably underrated. "Smooth" was the jam played on "Yo! MTV Raps" back in the day and the joint that got me searching for past seventeen years. It wasn't cheap, costing me $9.99. The guy that owned the place did his homework, the only bad part about the place. There were some solo Ren CDs going for $20 bucks, a Mellow Man Ace debut album for $20, a Kid Sensation solo debut going for $20 and a few others around the price of new CDs, which I just didn't want to pay for on this trip. I budgeted out $150 bucks, and I knew by the time I left the store, I was going to be right around that limit.
YZ - The Ghetto's Been Good To Me (Livin' Large
Records, 1993) 1. Second to Nobody 2. Return Remix 3. Barber Shop 4. Drink at the Bar 5. (So Far) The Ghetto's Been Good to Me 6. It's Got to Stop 7. Newborn 8. Life Under Pressure 9. Acid Rain 10. Dead Love [Live] 11. Return of the Holy One - Terminata, YZ
Yes, this was THE crowning jewel of this trip. I've long wanted YZ's "The Ghetto's Been Good To Me" as well, with not much luck. Amazon has two sellers selling copies for no cheaper than $46 bucks. I bought mine for $7.99, so yeah, I got a deal. I've loved this album since first hearing it back in 1993 at the local Record Exchange in my hometown, but by the time I went back to by the CD, they had sold it and I never saw it again. The mp3's have kept me satisfied for the past few years. This was the last CD I found, you know, "Y's" are toward the end and when I found, I knew it was worth more than he was asking, but I would have bought it if it was only selling for a penny on amazon. When I was up waiting for him to pull the actual disk from behind the counter, he even mentioned that I was getting a deal on this album, he just wasn't sure how much. He then mentioned he'd rather see a collector such as myself get than "one of those greedy record buyers". I went home and saw the prices it was going for and said "daaayum". This made the whole trip.
Other Purchases
Jesse Jaymes - Thirty Footer In Your Face (Delicious Vinyl, 1991) $3.99
Delicious Vinyls answer to Vanilla Ice. It sucks pretty bad, but I never have really seen it around much. I was trying to get the most for my $50 I had to spend here and chalk it up to nostalgia being a bitch once again.
Illegal - The Untold Truth (Rowdy Records, 1993) $6.99
I've always liked this album, which I had before it got jacked out of my SUV one time. I used to see this all the time in Denver at the Cheap-O Discs that I used to hit up all the time, but haven't been able to find it since then and was bound and determined not to let it pass me up this time.
Das EFX - Hold It Down (East/West, 1995) $5.99
This is probably my favorite Das album, although I'd agree the debut album is a better album. There was just a lot more flavor and variety and this album. I had this at one time as well, until the infamous "loan out" to a friend resulted in me never seeing it again.
This was a good example of not judging a book by its cover. This store was easily the best one I went to in Salt Lake and one of the best ones I've ever been in to. I left plenty of rare things there, either because he wanted more than I wanted to spend or the simple fact I already owned it. The owner was a cool dude once we started talking while he was getting my CDs out for me. We talked about the business and my collecting. He even ended up giving me a sampler of Mark Ronson stuff, which I haven't listened to yet, but it was a nice gesture. I'd highly recommend this store to anyone going through Salt Lake, just leave the good stuff for me...haha.
June 8th, Back at FYE on Redwood Rd.
I had spent a lot of time in the CD Exchange the day before and was supposed to meet up with a friend at 5:30, I didn't get out of there until 5:30, then had to run to the other side of town. My day of shopping was done, but I was hoping to hit up a store or two before I left early Sunday afternoon. That didn't quite happen as I had a little too much fun Saturday night and slept in until 11 in the morning. I got my shit together and packed up my car and got ready to meet a friend for lunch at noon. I called her at noon to no answer, so while I was waiting, I figured I'd go back to FYE on Redwood. There were a couple things that I passed over that I wanted to grab, mainly an Asamov CD that you don't see around since they stopped printing them (sorry Therapy) and then my man CH Commish from the world famous Slushy Gutter Crew and my former Denver brethren had asked me while I lived in Denver to keep an eye out for Organized Konfusion's "Stress: The Extinction Agenda". I had for awhile, but never saw it much. Then I remember after seeing it, that CH wanted a copy of it. So I went back and grabbed those two copies, and figured I might as well find one more so I can get a freebie.
Poison Clan - Rufftown Behavior (Luke Records,
1993) $6.9901 Intro (2:11) 02 Afraid Of The Flavor (4:15) 03 Come A Surprise (0:19) 04 Put Shit Pass No Ho (4:09) 05 Some More Shit (3:28) 06 Work For Free (0:23) 07 Peepin (4:09) 08 Pause For The Cause (0:58) 09 Game Recognize Game (4:30) 10 City Boy (3:21) 11 Burne One (0:08) 12 Check Out The Ave. Pt. I (3:15) 13 Let's Get Serious (2:20) 14 Check Out The Ave. Pt. II (3:00) 15 Setting Up (0:30) 16 Sugarhill Style (4:23) 17 True Player Speaks (0:50) 18 Word From A Player (5:02) 19 Ho Stories Pt. II (3:03) 20 Madball Back (0:23) 21 Listen (5:19) 22 M.C. Sundance (1:35) 23 Ruff Town Behavior (4:03) 24 Comin Strap (1:14) 25 Goin' All Out (4:16)
After their second album, "Poisonous Mentality", I stopped paying attention or caring what Poison Clan released. The magic that was on the first album was gone when Debonaire left. The second album didn't posses the humor the debut album did, but it was still a decent effort. I've listened to this album since then and it's alright, but it was basically a fill in.
Other Purchases
Asamov - And Now.... (6Hole Records, 2005) $7.99
This one got shutdown after the whole Asamov/Issac Asamov ordeal that resulted them chaging their name to the AB's. I found out about the crew right about the time the album was pulled from the shelves, so I never did pick it up. It's a good album that I've always wanted a copy of, I was glad to find it.
Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda (Hollywood Basic, 1994) $5.99
I've always considered Stress my favorite OK release (potential This or That?) and I've had it for awhile. As I mentioned, CH Commish has asked me to look for this for him and I finally ran across it.
Born Jamericans - Kids From Foreign (Delicious Vinyl, 1994) Free (4th CD)
Eh, it was free...haha
6/16/2008
Daily News.....
I've been wrestling on how to deal with a lot of the "news" I get from various sources, which in all reality is the same everyone else gets that runs a blog. I can't sit on the email and the blog and put up "the newest Joe Schmoe single" as soon as it graces my inbox, nor do I want to. My solution to this? Sometime in the evening each day, I'll toss up anything I have received throughout that day that I find somewhat relevant to what WYDU stands for. That way, the pub and media people are happy, anyone that graces the site and runs into something useful and/or entertaining are happy, and I'm happy that I'm still keeping the blog the way I want to for the most part. Pugs Atomz presents to you "ALL Right" Produced by Grant Parks. http://www.zshare.net/audio/137103072b8831fb/
Royce Da 5'9
"I'M ME FREESTYLE" OFF THE BAR EXAM VOL. 2 "NEW EXCLUSIVE"
Brand new exclusive freestyle from Royce Da 5'9" over the Lil Wayne beat for "I'm Me" off his highly anticipated new mixtape "The Bar Exam 2" coming soon!
Lookout for Royce's up coming official mixtape "The Bar Exam Vol. 2" coming soon, along with his new studio album "Street Hop" executive produced by Hip Hop legend DJ Premier!
WWW.ROYCEDA59.COM
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/ROYCEFIVENINE
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/DUBMD84
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Amalgam Entertainment Re-Releases "Classics" & Tame One Podcast
Amalgam continues their frenzy of activity the last past few months as they re-release the a couple Naughty By Nature albums along with Cam'Ron. They also give out a free "Best of Tame One" Podcast.(Trav)
-AMALGAM ENTERTAINMENT DROPS CAM’RON “HARLEM’s GREATEST” and CLASSIC REISSUES FROM NAUGHTY BY NATURE THIS JULY
Independent Hip Hop Distributor Amalgam Entertainment promises to make it hot this July by striking again with an onslaught of specialty titles and classic Hip Hop Reissues.
This time around teaming up with Sony BMG to bring Dipset general Cam’Ron back into the light with “Harlem’s Greatest” due out July 8th.
The following week of July 15th Amalgam will be releasing two classic re-issues courtesy of Rhino/WEA: Naughty by Nature “19NaughtyIII” and Naughty By Nature “Poverty’s Paradise”!
Hip Hop Hooray!
Tracklist for Cam’Ron “Harlem’s Greatest”:
01. 357
02. Horse & Carriage Ft. Mase
03. What Means The World To You
04. That’s Me
05. Glory Ft. Noreaga
06. Let Me Know
07. Do It Again Ft. Destiny’s Child & Jim Jones
08. Losin’ Weight Ft. Prodigy
09. Whatever
10. Fuck You
11. My Hood
12. A Pimp’s A Pimp Ft. Jermaine Dupri
13. Confessions
Tracklisting for Naughty By Nature “19NaughtyIII”:
01. 19NaughtyIII
02. Hip Hop Hooray
03. Ready For Dem
04. Take It to Ya Face
05. Daddy Was A Street Corner
06. The Hood Comes First
07. The Only Ones
08. It’s On
09. Cruddy Clique
10. Knock Em Out Da Box
11. Hot Potato
12. Sleepin’ On Jersey
13. Written on Your Kitten
14. Sleep Walkin II/Shout Outs
Tracklisting for Naughty By Nature “Poverty’s Paradise”:
01. Intro Skit
02. Poverty's Paradise
03. Clap Yo Hands
04. City of Ci-Lo
05. Hang Out and Hustle ft Road Dawgs & Cruddy Click
06. It's Workin' ft. Rottin Razkals
07. Holdin' Fort
08. Chain Remains
09. Feel Me Flow
10. Craziest
11. Radio Skit
12. Sunshine
13. Webber Skit ft. Chris Webber
14. Respect Due
15. World Go Round
16. Klickow-Klickow ft Rottin Razkals, Cruddy Click and Road Dawgs
17. Double I Skit
18. Slang Bang
19. Shout Out ft Gordon Chambers
20. Outro
21. Connections
For more information on these releases or Amalgam Entertainment please visit:
www.myspace.com/AmalgamEntertainment
www.AmalgamDigital.com
Make sure to check out the brand new BEST OF TAME ONE podcast available for free exclusively at www.AmalgamDigital.com
Download it here: http://www.amalgamdigital.com/artist-details.aspx?id=1478
Tame One’s new album Da Ol’ Jersey Bastard in stores and on the streets July 29, 2008.
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Some International Flava
Not much came with this one, it's most European hip hop. (Trav)
Check the latest free download mixtape on www.rappers-guide.com With features from famous german artists like sido, kool savas, b-tight, prinz pi and so on.
Tracklist "This is the Remix Vol. 1":
01. Cutcannibalz - Intro
02. Prinze Low ft. Inferno 79 - Blockpartyshit - Remix by Mikosbeatz und DJ s.R.
03. Adi - Bis meine Faust bricht - Remix by Mikosbeatz und 12bitphil
04. Sido - Bergab - Remix by Peet und Foxx
05. Ercandize ft. Kool Savas & Mo - Wer ich bin - Remix by DSP und Mobeat
06. Joe Rilla - Junge aus der Platte - Remix by Mantra und Dewinko
07. Tony D und B-Tight - Pump mich - Remix by CR Easy und Kimnotize
08. Beep - What I do - Remix by Stiffman und Efate
09. Maeckes und Plan B - Zur Zeit - Remix by 12bitphil und 3st Rmx
10. Prinz Pi - Extravaganz - Remix by Geraet und 12bitphil
11. Bastian Fleig - Ja oder nein - Remix by Hiobs und Rimebeats
12. Franky Kubrick - Was sie hören wollen - Remix by LuckyLoop und AJPro
13. Sinuhe - Du bist Deutschland - Remix by Motekbeatz und DJ s.R
14. Caput - Caputalismus Anthem - Remix by Cellsen
15. Tony D - Betonkanacke - Remix by King K und BirdyBeats
16. Favorite - So wie Fav bis du doch nicht - Remix by Krizz Dallas und Rimebeats und wieder Krizz Dallas
17. König Quasi - Hurensohnliste - Remix by Motekbeatz und JokerStyleZ
http://www.rappers-guide.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1270&Itemid=188
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Domination Recordings Artist: Saint
Now available is the free download of Saint's new single "Do You Remember?" featuring Verses. This is the second single from Saint's upcoming album "About Time" due in stores late June on Pro Se | Domination Recordings.
More about the release: A few years after his debut solo album "Grown Folk Music" and a couple of releases with his group The Good People, Saint returned to the drawing board and emerged with "About Time" on Pro Se / Domination Recordings. He is joined on the mic by El da Sensei, Cadence (Raw Produce), Dumi Right (Zimbabwe Legit) NYOIL, Mr. Man (Da Bush Babees) Eternia, Emskee (The Good People), Muneshine, Anti-, Mr. Complex, Honey Larochelle, Verses and Dr. Becket. With a mix of Hip Hop, R&B and Soul, Saint brings audiences a taste of New York hip hop from its pinnacle point, providing a unique vibe, but with a sense of familiarity. For listeners who have been awaiting the return of hip hop with substance, it's "About Time."
- For more info, please check out: http://www.myspace.com/saintbe
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Pugs Atomz new single "All Right"
Pugs might end up getting my "Rip Van Winkle" award for 2008 for albums I slept on the previous year only to discover them the next and really like them. Pugs' Conversations with a Chamelion is an album that has consistantly gotten more and more play as the year has gone on. (Trav)
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New Hell Razah Music
Hell Razah has been rather consistent lately with a dope solo album last year along with a great album released with Blue Sky Black Death later in the year. His is forming with Shabazz The Disciple as Thug Angels. Not sure about the name, but if his current "hitting" streak continues, this could be dope as well. (Trav)
Hell Razah is a respected lyricist and Sunz of Man (Prodigal Sunn, Hell Razah, Killah Priest, Shabazz The Disciple, 60 Second Assassin) member who has been involved in countless projects in the field of underground hip-hop. Currently, Hell Razah has teamed up with Shabazz The Disciple to form T.H.U.G Angelz and will release the duo CD under the Babygrande label and it will be titled 'Welcome to Red Hook Houses'. In the meantime, while that album drops soon, Hell Razah has released two CD's with NEW & UNRELEASED material. The cd's are titled 'Hell Hop Vol. 1' & 'Hell Hop Vol. 2'. Below the cd cover's, I have attached 3 NEW & UNRELEASED songs.
Shabazz the Disciple is one of the originating members of the Sunz of Man (Prodigal Sunn, Hell Razah, Killah Priest, Shabazz The Disciple, 60 Second Assassin), and was a featured Wu-Tang affiliate during the Wu's greatest years in the mid nineties. His lyrical style has influenced countless emcees including the late Big Pun. Currently, Shabazz has teamed up with Hell Razah to form T.H.U.G Angelz and will release the duo CD under the Babygrande label and it will be titled 'Welcome to Red Hook Houses'. In the meantime, while that album drops soon, Shabazz has released two CD's with NEW & UNRELEASED material. The cd's are titled 'The Becoming of the Disciple' & 'The Vault (Hidden Safiyahz)'. Below the cd cover's I have attached 3 NEW & UNRELEASED songs.
6/15/2008
This Or That.....Straight Outta Compton Vs. Efil4Zaggin
Last Week
Well, with three hours left, unless the Fear of a Black Planet fan club finds this blog and drastically changes the outcome, It Takes a Nation of Millions.....will have won in a landslide. I can't say I'm surprised about it winning, but I'm kind of surprised by the large margin of victory. I guess I did "underestimate" something as one of the comments left mentioned, and that is the greatness or It Takes a Nation..., or maybe I simply forgot. None the less, the nation has spoken, and it was unanimous. Let's hope this week is a little more exciting.
Final Verdict 93-24 "It Takes a Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back"
This Week
I started reading "Have Gun, Will Travel" by Ronin Ro this week past week. It details the rise and fall of Death Row Records. I'm way late on reading this book, and while it's not the best written book I've ever read, the story itself is a fascinating one. The second chapter deals with Dr. Dre and N.W.A., which is kind of the reason this week's "This or That" is pitting NWA's first album, Straight Outta Compton and their second album, Efil4Zaggin (not counting the 100 Miles & Running EP) against each other. I've been trying to think how I first heard of NWA, but I can't quite put my finger on it. I want to say I heard of NWA before the "Yo! MTV Raps" days, quite possibly off of the liner notes for Ice-T's Rhymes Pay LP. I had NWA & The Posse before both either the Eazy solo album, or obviously the first legit NWA solo album. Regardless of how I heard about them, they were quite influential on my early listening habits. Coming out of my lily white suburbs, the things NWA was talking about, even on that NWA & The Posse album were shocking, but intriguing to say the least. We'd (meaning me and my friends) would snatch up Eazy E's Eazy-Duz-It when it dropped the winter of '88. Although I was pretty hard into the east coast music at that time, NWA would join Ice-T and Too Short as west coast artists that got a lot of play in my Walkman. I'm sure I was drawn to them for the same reason a lot of kids in my place were, also for the same reasons I was drawn to last week's group, Public Enemy. It was rebellious, daring, shocking, and sounded amazing.
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton Vs. Efil4zaggin
Straight Outta Compton
NWA burst on the scene in the spring of '89 after releasing a compilation album with their homies (NWA & The Posse) and Eazy's solo album the fall of '88. But it would be Straight Outta Compton that would shake the hip hop world down to it's very last compound. The album would propel the west coast gang life into the American mainstream. One could argue, they were the west coast versions of Run DMC in that they kicked the door wide open for the west coast and "reality rap". Yes, Ice-T had already done Rhyme Pays, and did quite well with it, but it was NWA that made middle America stand up and take notice of what was happening in the neighborhoods of South Central Los Angeles. With the their topics of drive-bys, police brutality, and the gang life, NWA soon become a favorite of many suburbanites, which drove Straight Outta Compton's sales over the two million mark, unheard of at the time.
Straight Outta Compton leads off with one of the greatest trios of songs found on any hip hop album ever made. We are warned that we are "....about to witness the strength of street knowledge", then the drums kick in. By this time, we were already familiar with Dre and his production skills, if not from his World Class Wreckin' Cru days, surely from the Eazy E solo album. Dre's production on Straight Outta Compton the album was bare bones in the approach and the title track was no different. The drums hit hard as the kick from a twelve gauge shotgun and the rest is just drenched in west coast funk. The F.B.I.'s favorite song, "F--k Tha Police", leads off all-time follows come batting in the two spot. Dre ruled the drums back then as another ruff drum track kicks in. Coupled with a couple different guitar loops, it's the perfect backdrop for Ren, Cube and Eazy to kick one of the most prophetic jams ever. They were one of the first to tell the world of the injustices found in LA by it's police department. "Gangsta Gangsta", the third song found on side A, found Dre lacing some more bangin' drums. Dre's production showed that the west coast could do more than the electro beats found early on in the west, as the production found on Straight Outta Compton is straight up, in ya face, bangin' music. Dre would change his style many times during his long and illustrious career, but this is where it all started.
Even today, the west isn't known for it's lyrics. It's known for it's funk drenched music and it's shocking images that are conveyed through the lyrics, but a lot of times the quality of their lyrics are lost in all the other traits. But with NWA, you had one of the best lyricists on either coast in Ice Cube. Cube painted portraits, directed movies and capture images with his lyrics. On the track "Dopeman", a personal favorite of mine, Cube paints the life of a big wheelin' drug dealin' neighborhood drug dealer. It's shocking when hearing it for the first time when you come from a little white town:
It was once said by a man who couldn't quit
”Dopeman, please, can I have another hit?
The dopeman said: “Cluck, I don't give a shit
If your girl kneels down, and sucks my dick!
It all happened and the guy tried to choke her
Nigga living in cash, ain’t nothing but a smoker
That's the way it goes, that's the name of the game
Young brother getting over by slangin’ caine
Gold around his neck 14 k, has it
Bitches sucking on his dick, 24-7
Plus he's makin’ money keepin’ the base heads waiting
Rollin 6-4 with the fresh-ass daytons
Livin’ in Compton, California, CA
His Uzi up your ass if he don't get paid
Nigga begging for credit, he's knockin’ out teeth
Clockin’ much dollars on the 1st and 15th kay shizze is a real fuckin g
Big lot of money, nothing less than a twenty
Yo, you want a five-oh, the dopeman got plenty
To be a dopeman, boy, you must qualify
Don't get high, off your own supply
From a kid to a G, it's all about money
10-piece, 4-10, base pipe comes free
If people out there ain't hip to the fact
If you see somebody gettin’ money 4 crack,
He's the....Dopeman
Ren played Robin to Cube's batman and in some cases does just as good of a job on the track as his reputed lyrical superior. I've long thought that Ren was severely overlooked in the kind of way that Steve Young was when he was Joe Montana's back up on the dynasty teams of the Niners. In fact, when Ren & Dre come together on "Compton's In The House" as sort of a west coast Run DMC as they go back and forth answering each others rhymes and just kicking lyrics together. While Dre isn't known for being a great MC, for suitable reasons, he handles his own through out the album and on the track. Ren with his deep voice though lives up to his name of "Villain In Black":
MC Ren is the mothafuckin coroner
Im gettin rid of mothafuckaz as if they was a foreigner
Show no crip(?) to pretend when Im seen
I punch you can block it but Im a still get in
This aint a tko in the first
But its some shit from a nigga in black its much worse
Then a beatin from Tyson cuz Ren is not nice and
Your ass is better off just rollin a dice and
Findin you a number for luck
Cuz you all need it when you see I dont give a fuck
My identity, and the shit is gettin shown
Without a video Im still gettin on
Im at a show then my picture is takin
One click of the flash and punk niggaz are breakin
To the door, tryin to join my fan club
Lipstickin over one of my dubs
And its the minimal scratch for the moment
Until I fuck up the so called opponet
Thats standing in the zone of the twilight
Sayin how in de fuck did he get mixed up in my fight
It wasnt a mistake, it was a set-up
So until Im finished poppin my lyrics you should shut up
And dont attempt to speak
Because its bad enough you rollin up shit quick
With a nigga like ren about the hit
Now lemme hear you mothafuckaz talk some more shit
Im a bust your ass in your mouth,
Yo, unless youre sayin comptons in de house
Straight Outta Compton is a certified classic in the hip hop circles and rightfully so. It was the first of it's kind to hit the mainstream America, even though none of the first singles were given radio play and MTV banned the "Straight Outta Compton" video. This album has many memories for myself and could be the pinpoint of where the gangster rap kicked off and would take over for a few years in the early 90's. A classic album that will always bein the top 20 albums of all-times.
Efil4Zaggin
A group that had sold 2 million albums of their debut album loses their chief lyricists, who is not only the front man, but the man who writes lyrics for two of the other members and still becomes the first hip hop group to ever debut an album on the top spot of the Billboard album charts really has something going for them. Efil4Zaggin did just that, it debuted on the top spot for album sales, a first for a hip hop group. The album is a lot different that it's predecessor both musically and lyrically. While they did lose Cube and his song writing abilities, they still had the DOC who would take on full responsibility along with Ren for Eazy and Dre's lyrics. Musically, Dre produced a banger, something that I think musically is slept on more than it should be.
The production found on Efil4Zaggin is like night and day compared to the production found on Straight Outta Compton. Dre improved in leaps and bounds on the production tip on the album. The album's dark and menacing beats are freakin' genius and should be compared to those found on The Chronic in my opinion. It's easily one of my favorite produced albums of all-time. After one of the greatest intros in hip hop history in which Above The Law kicks off the album basically daring anyone to come at "The world's most dangerous group", "Real Niggaz Don't Die", comes in all it's hardness, with bells, electric guitars and boomin' kick drums. I've always been a sucka for anything using a electric guitar and Dre just hooks this up perfectly in that aspect. The bells also add that dark edge to the track. The kick is just a deep boom in a car with a properly hooked up system, the track is a sonic masterpiece and just sets the tone of what to expect from Dre. "Alwayz Into Somethin'" is another Dre classic, you can hear early G-Funk influences found in the track in the form of the rollin' siren over a funk guitar loop. "Appetite for Destruction" brings in pulsating synth sound that reminds one of a horror flick as Dre, Ren, and Eazy bring the heat on clearly one of the album's best tracks. My personal favorite is a track that is kind of lost in the back of the album (I don't particularly care for the track sequencing on the album). "Approach To Danger" has some nasty ass bass that can only truly be appreciated in a car with a monster system. The bass drops on this track alone could wake up a deaf person. Dre also uses more precursor G-funk sounds on this as well. He would also alter the vocal sounds as it sounds like Dre and gang are rapping in a tunnel. As I've mentioned previously, this album is tops on my favorite produced hip hop albums, there is just so many creative musical backdrops on this album, it's hard not to call it a masterpiece.
With Cube being gone, Dre had to step up his lyrical game more. Once again, Dre is NOT an MC, he is a producer first and foremost. On the 100 Miles & Runnin' EP, heads were treated to a different Dre, as he changed up his tone and his delivery from Straight Outta Compton. Check his performance on "Real N----z", which was originally on 100 Miles and Runnin for proof. On Efil4Zaggin, it wasn't as much of a change, but it was still noticeable. Eazy of course wasn't an MC at all, but he was always able to do a well enough it didn't distract from the overall product (reportedly this was through Dre's studio presence and editing). His verse on "Appetite for Destruction" was always one of my favorites from him:
Check it out y'all, in de house y'all
So I can show and flow and let the people know
So won't you ease on down to the yellow brick road to Compton
But first let me tell you somethin' -
I possess the 10 commandments of the Hip Hop Thugster,
Known as a thief and murderer :
First one - Alibi a nigga with an attitude
Gotta get respected, break your mothafuckin' neck
Second one - Allwayz gotta fuck outta wedlock
I like it when the pussy goes snap crackle and pop
Number three - I'm a gangsta fanatic
smoke any foolz tryin' to cause some static
Number four - Here's what's in store
A crazy-ass nigga that remains hard core
Fifth one - My killings just begun
I pulled out my gun, now they keep me on the run
Step six - Hmmm, it's kinda tricky - Can't forget that I'm mothafuckin' chickenshit
To the ones who tries to play the E - By the time you reach Seven you'll be 6 feet deep
Number eight - Make no mistake,
Move real sneaky and you're bound to catch yo' pray
Ninth one - I gotta be raw, fuck any brain-washing man made law
Last but not least, I must be real - Number ten - is my appetite to ki...
Ren was solid as Ren always was. He didn't grab his time to shine as well as he should have, but he didn't falter either. His booming voice is still one of my favorites in hip hop. There wasn't one thing he really excelled in, he wasn't great at telling stories, he wasn't the most braggadocios MC to be found, he wasn't going to take anyone out with his lyrical prowess. Lyrically, the crew got it done. The second half of the album was filled with tracks like "Automobile", which admittedly got a lot of play from us 18 year old high school seniors. Anyone that likes the album can't say that they haven't song along to that song. It might have taken away from some of the album in the end though.
The Verdict
When I started writing this, I didn't really know which way I was going to go. For the longest time, I would have wholeheartedly said Straight Outta Compton, but the past four or five years, I keep listening to Efil4Zaggin and keep thinking what a piece of production it truly is. Dre really came into his own on this album.
Each album isn't without it's faults. Straight Outta Compton has those tracks that you always forget are included on the album. I mean, really, how many people ever play the last two tracks ("Quiet On Tha Set" and "Somethin 2 Dance 2") on the album? I will if I'm not thinking about it, but too often I've take the album out after "Dopeman". And playing devil's advocate here because I really hate when someone says an album from the 80's sounds "dated", but if you weren't listening to hip hop when this album dropped, you could say this does sound dated. The middle part of Efil4Zaggin gets drug down with overly sexists songs, violent tales against women, and becomes somewhat one dimensional. Don't get me wrong, at my young age, I loved tracks like "Automobile" (I'm guilty of still liking it in particular settings), "She Swallowed It", and "I'd Rather Fuck You", all which were favorites of my friends and I to go cruisin' with downtown on a Friday night. But in my older and (somewhat) wiser age, I think these songs take away from the overall quality of the album. Two or at the most three of these tracks would have been fine, but not six (including skits) tracks found in a row. Also, the absence of Ice Cube DID take away from the groups overall talent. Sorry, Dre filling in for Ice Cube is like Toni Kukoc stepping in for Michael Jordan back in the day. It just wasn't the same.
When it all comes down to it, we once again have two classic albums from one of the most important groups in hip hop history. NWA can be credited(blamed) for many of the subgenres and topics found in hip hop even today. They can be credited for bringing reality rap to the mainstream masses. They forced the east to take the west seriously. Both albums accomplished what they were intended to do, but in the end I have to give the narrow margin to Straight Outta Compton despite the superiorly produced Efil4Zaggin.
Winner: Straight Outta Compton
New Artist Spotlight: Yameen
Yameen
The name Yameen maybe somewhat new to the readers of WYDU. It was somewhat new to me when he submitted his material, but once I started looking into his background, it was obvious this cat has been around and is the "godfather" of hip hop internet sites. Back when he was known as "Stinke", Yameen was in charge of the world famous Hieroglyphics web site. Before I even really knew what the internet was, I was aware of Hiero's web page. A lot of artists sites and forums used that site as a blueprint when they come into exsistence. Stinke, errr, excuse me, Yameen is doing his own thing now. At first, I wasn't sure what to think of his new album "Never Knows Best", as it's kind of a hodgepodge of hip hop, electronica and other genres thrown in for good measure. I was all but ready to write it off after the first listen, but somehow some of the tracks got stuck in my head and now it's made it to the big iPod for a permanent residence for awhile. It's something different, and if you have an open mind and crave a little something different and creativity, this is it.
Yameen Contest
Yameen wants to give away free copies of his album "Never Knows Best" to three lucky visitors. All you have to do is simply answer the question I'm about to ask (it can be found by reading the interview), submit your answer along with your name and contact email if it isn't the one you are replying with by Friday June 20th at NOON MST (one hour ahead of west coast and two hours behind from the east coast) International visitors are more than welcome to submit answers as well.
Question: What is the name of the album Yameen released with Tajai in 2005?
Send all answers to travglave@yahoo.com
http://www.yameenmusic.com/
Amazon.com
Yameen's Myspace
Yameen's Blog
The Atmosphere feat Maylay Sparks from Never Knows Best
The Interview
WYDU: For those out there in the blog land that might not know who you are, can you give us a brief introduction?
Yameen: Sure. My name's Yameen aka "Stinke". I'm a producer born and raised in Philadelphia, presently living in San Francisco. I'm also a huge fan of the site. Thanks for having me.
W: Man, I already gotta questions your taste, liking this site...hahaha. You got an interesting start in the "game", coming up on the infamous Heiro boards from back in the day and working with them, how did you hook up with that and do you think it's benefited you as an artist?
Yameen: In 1995 while I was still in high school, I started a little website called Tha Threshold. It had a graffiti section, a video game section, a links page (which were really big back then) and a little section about my favorite crew at the time, Hieroglyphics. I originally made the Hiero page to see what was going on with all those guys because it was like the "Hiero Hotline" just dried up and no one knew where any of those guys were, or what they were doing.
So, you know, I had this cool little website. And it was getting a few hits. But the video game section was kinda popping...So I decided to shut down the Hiero section of the site and focus on the games part. Ironically, the day I decide to do this, I get a beep on my pager (1995, y'all) and it's from the "510" area code...I'm like, "Who is this?". So I call the number back and it's some guy claiming to be Tajai from Souls of Mischief. He wants to make my website, "Official", he says! "Sure, sure buddy....", I had assured him. "Well, why don't you send me some stuff to prove you're actually Tajai and then we'll take it from there." No joke, this is how it went down. So a week or two goes by and oh shit! A huge package arrives with all kinds of Hiero press photos, Souls of Mischief "No Man's Land" promotional water flasks, stickers, all this stuff. I mean, I'm still in high school. So I take all this stuff back to school and I'm flossin this shit like, "YEA MOTHERFUCKERS!" Haha...
So yea, through Tajai's connection we made the website official in 1995. A year or so later we acquired the "Hieroglyphics.com" domain name which cost $180 a year back then. In 1995, you could pretty much count all of the hiphop websites on both of your hands. We all knew each other too. Aside from Mystik Journeymen, Hiero was the first hiphop group to have a huge online presence. And we dominated between 1995-2001. We funded the entire recording of "3rd Eye Vision" through the website and our burgeoning ecommerce initiative. We won tons of awards and established a lot of the web practices adopted by many other sites in the intervening years.
But yea, as far as benefiting me as an artist, definitely. My first music EP commercially-released was with Tajai of Souls of Mischief in 99'. And it was released on Tajai's label through Hieroglyphics Imperium. So right there, that was a great jump-off. I also got to tap into the Hiero fanbase since I had Hiero members on my records. And likewise, that worked in different scenarios: When I did Aesop Rock's website in 1999, we were able to hit up the Hiero fanbase and turn them onto him, for example. It all worked cause I think all the Hiero Heads were on more or less the same shit. It wasn't like I was posting up links to Doritos like, "OMG, check this shit out, blood!"
Also, if I can just mention this...The time I tried to interview Kwest Tha Madd Lad from a payphone in Queens was one of the more bugged out memories I have from this era. I really wanted this interview to go down, but it just rang and rang. I still want to do that interview, Kwest. Hit me up yo.
W: There is always some weird shit going on with interviewing Kwest, I think that he makes that a prerequisite. The Heiro website was basically one of the first of its kind on the web and you are somewhat credited for that, as you mentioned, being the webmaster and all. How was it working on something those days that was still fairly new? How did you create the "blueprint" for indie hip hop on the web?
Yameen: My official title was "Webmaster and New Media Coordinator". I was spearheading ideas that would take the entire crew and indeed our fanbase and online community further. "Yo, there's this new technology called Real Audio that lets you stream audio we need to get that;" or "Let's document the entire production of '3rd Eye Vision' from start to finish and post it online each week;" or "Let's release albums like Del's shelved 3rd studio record online-only." I was also designing the site, and we got bit quite often.
But I think it was about being original and pushing new ideas and rallying the online community and charging ahead. The entire Hiero website, the record label that spawned from the web initiative, everything that Hiero became in the mid-to-late-90's up until today can be singlehandedly attributed to the worldwide Hieroglyphics fanbase. They were the ones buying the web-only cassettes, the t-shirts, spreading the word, coming to the shows. Essentially, making sure Hiero survived. Our "blueprint" was exciting the online community and keeping them engaged.
W: Never Knows Best is your first album as being known as Yameen, how long in the making was this project?
Yameen: Word, "Never Knows Best" is my first album under the name Yameen. It took about two years to finish.
W: Describe the album, how did you come up with the concepts and what influenced you?
Yameen: The album is me on production with a bunch of great guest artists including Shock G, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Maylay Sparks and Lady Alma from Philly, Azeem is on there, Casual from Hieroglyphics and DJ Icewater.
When I first conceptualized the album, I was going to do a full instrumental album with a running musical narrative, much like I've done in the past with some of the concept records Tajai and I worked on. But then I was like, "You know what? People like lyrics. People like remembering songs, and humming and singing them to themselves." And so I dropped the full-on instrumental idea. Then I started to think about the instant-on internet generation and how attention time is precious, and how you really need to grab people and entertain them quickly because there is so much access to instant media now. And so I experimented with making what little instrumental songs are on there short. And they kindof bump right into each other, as can be heard especially in the beginning of the album. I try to just get right to it and make a record that is fully enjoyable from start-to-finish.
W: The sound on this album is rather unique, how would you describe your music on this album?
Yameen: Man that's a great question.
W: Why thank you....
Yameen: I'm really not sure. Of course I call it hiphop and soul, but I have dance influences as well. It's different. I'd suggest anyone interested should peep the sound clips on my site or on iTunes and make your own decisions. If anything, I think it's exciting.
W: Playing devil's advocate here, what would you say to someone that would say that "this isn't hip hop"?
Yameen: Well, I mean, I grew up listening to all the dope artists covered on this website, know what I mean? I love Kane, I love X-Clan, I know who the fuck 3X Dope and BWP is and shit, hahaha...If you're reading this, most likely we have the same exact influences. Some of my stuff might push the BPMs a bit faster than your normal boom-bap, but shoot: in my opinion I'm still making hiphop. Soul music.
It's tough cause as much as I would love for everyone to be into it, I know my music's not for everyone. But I have a lot of different sounds on the album. I have battle MCs and r&b crooners. Got some blow-your-speakers-apart rap shit and I have some housy-r&b shit. I can't help it!!
W: How do you see the state of hip hop in general changing in the future. With the experimentation of sounds, such as whats your album, it's something that some the hardcore extremists might have a problem with. For those calling for more creativity in the genre, they might praise the expansion of the sound such as found on your album? How do you walk the fine line between being to experimental and keeping those hip hop roots close by?
Yameen: I don't think I've ever worried about losing my hiphop roots. This is my life, it's intertwined, it can never leave. But I do think about accessibility in my music, and how people will receive it. Especially as I have gotten older. At the end of the day, when I've made a song, I only need to consider: Do you like it? Is Yameen happy with what he has produced?
I am always interested in hearing how people respond to the album and the music: What songs did they enjoy, what did they absolutely hate. I am already starting to get some great feedback. Truth is, I never know until it's out there.
But as far as the future of music and the future of hiphop in particular, I am more-so interested in the changing media landscape. Before "Never Knows Best", the last album I released was "Nuntype" with Tajai in 2005. In those three intervening years, there has been a tremendous change in the way music is sold and distributed. Look at how many of our online vinyl stores have fallen since then: HipHopSite, Sandbox...Everyone downloads music now. There was even a bit of resistance from the label when I wanted to press CDs this year. It's changed so fast and so dramatically. The distributors too have been heavily affected. Everyone has.
I mean, I've been pricing my CDs at $9.99 for years. I think all artist should do that. It doesn't make sense cause most cats is gonna download your stuff anyway. Either to get a taste or from iTunes, etc. But my point is soon I see CDs becoming just a promotional tool cats give away. Gotta give it up to Prince, Radiohead, Trent Reznor...These are artists trying new things. It's good to see.
W: You have an interesting line up of guest artists that you worked with on this album, how did you choose who you wanted to work with?
Yameen: For each song I had each artist in mind. I was lucky to work with so many professionals, too, in the Leon / Jean Reno sense of the word. Everyone was laser-sighted, precise. I had never worked with any of the artists on the album before so that was a lot of fun.
Also have to give shouts to Matt Kelley, my engineer, and Ken Lee who mastered the album. These guys are two hiphop legends. They've worked on so many classic records, it's ridiculous. One of the reasons why I recommend the CD version are because of these two guys, it just bumps. Oh and peace to Doug who laced the album artwork. That shit came out really sick as well.
W: Was there anyone you wanted to get on the album but couldn't? Any artists you want to work with in the future?
Yameen: Yea, I'm lose-mapping the next album in my head and pretty much know everyone I want to work with. I get a bit superstitious, tho, so I can't name drop anyone until it's recorded.
W: Understandable, don't want to jinx anything. What does the future hold for Yameen? World tours, cars, women? haha
Yameen: Yea, all that shit man! Hahaha...Lifestyles of the rich and infamous, word up. But definitely more music, more media convergence ideas: music mixed with visuals and interaction. Synesthesia. We are, to quote a song title from my record, Sifters In The Land Of Fun, after all. More so now than ever before.
W: Any last words for our fine readers in the blogosphere?
Yameen: Yo, go cop "Never Knows Best" on Ropeadope Records, in stores everywhere. Amazon.com, iTunes, yameenmusic.com. Download the free album sampler at my website mixed by DJ Statik. Big ups to Travis and the entire Wake Your Daughter Up crew. I love the site, keep doing what you're doing. And to all of YOU! Thanks for supporting. Peace!
W: Thanks man, this was most enjoyable and best of luck with the album!
New Artist Spotlight: Nico The Beast
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. I'm a bit behind on these weekly "New Artist Spotlights" posts and for that apologize. I'm always accepting submissions for this piece, but please realize I'm backed up until the end of July for the time being. I'll probably start doubling up on some of the pieces, like this week. This week, both of our artists come the land of cheese steak sandwiches and Michael Irvin haters (my kind of place), but that's pretty much where the similarities stop. Let's hop right into it, I have a lawn chair, a book, a beer all next to the pool (a plastic wading pool, this shit doesn't pay that much, fools) with my name on it.
Nico The Beast shouldn't be a stranger to anyone that runs the circuit of blogs out there. Nico (aka Knowledge) is one half of Clean Guns with Zilla Rocca, who makes appearances all over the blogs such as mine, Jeff Weiss, Floodwatch, his own blog (which is GREAT and about time) and many others. Nico's sound is fairly reminiscent of the Clean Guns sound, but somewhat expanded upon. With Clean Guns and Nico, they have a sound all of their own, which is refreshing in today's hip hop world. Lots of hard knockin' beats, guitars laced through out the beats and straight in your face lyrics. They can all be found on Nico's solo release "No Beast So Fierce". Beat Garden Enterprises ain't nuthin' to fuck wit......
Nico The Beast
Nico's Myspace
Nico The Beast
Croskey Street from No Beast So Fierce
Nico The Beast
Feedin' Time feat 2ew Gunn Ciz, Blessa, Reef The Lost Cauze from No Beast So Fierce
WYDU: First off, the old generic introduction, but we'll get that out of the
way. Introduce yourself to the fine people and your career of choice....
Nico: The name's Nico The Beast a.k.a. Knowledge Don. And I'm a problem. I'm gonna grow up and be a bigger problem.
W: Some problems are good. You are a Philly cat, which is very historic town, in more ways than one. Discuss if Philly's rich hip hop past influences you in anyway when you are making a song, on the mic, or on the stage...
Nico: I wouldn't say that Philly's hip-hop past has influenced me, it was rather an environmental influence. Most of the cats I listened to growing up were from N.Y. or other cities, so I didn't really pull anything from Philly rappers pursay. But I will say that Philly, the city, is most definitely a part of my swagger and bravado when I step on stage or step to a mic. Ya know, the cocky, "Yo cuz, gimme the mic and let me handle that!!" attitude. (Laughs)
W: You and Zilla form Clean Guns, an equally dope duo. How is it working as a solo artist on a solo project compared working within the dynamics of a duo?
Nico: I've always said that I am a solo artist first, part of a group second. That's still the case here, it is just that me and zilla work well together. It's easy work when you are good at your craft. So whether I am solo or working with someone it shouldn't sway being dope. Although,
I will say that, when I do work as Clean Guns it is easier because I know that Zilla will come up with dope concepts and hooks, etc. It takes a little bit of the pressure off when you work with someone equally as dope as you are.
W: From some of the stuff I've read on you, you seem to be proud of the fact that you are a father and a family man. How do you change from the "Beast" on the mic and in the recording studio to just plain ole Dad at home?Nico: Well, I love my kids, I love my wife, I love hip-hop. I'm a family oriented dude, so I consider Beat Garden, Yadibox.com, Beast Ent., my family. I'm the same way around them as I am on the mic. Real. No punches held, no frills, no bullshit. I'm an angry dude for a lot of valid reasons, so a microphone is my beating post. The only time I turn that off is when I hold my children.
W: Zilla was tellin' me that your wife made a wicked Baked Ziti and homemade Meatballs, ever think about doing a hip hop cookbook? And what's the secret to the Meatballs?
Nico: Ummmm, I love food, as most people can tell. And my wife's cooking is stupendous. Yea, I said stupendous.(Laughs) But as far as a hip hop cookbook. Negative. As for her secret, I can't tell you that or I would have to kill you.(Laughs)
W: I can live without the recipe then. The album is called "No Beast So Fierce", can you discuss what went into the album? What can a listener that has never listened to you or a Clean Guns release expect?
Nico: What went into the album? Alot of time, sweat, sleepless nights, drunken apartment binges with Big O falling asleep under a tree. Literally. My heart, my soul, my life, my visions of the world. I mean if you listened to it, you would probably come out of it with a deep understanding of what type of person I am. Most likely you would be able to say, "I fuck wit that dude!" or "He's a piece of shit." or "Dude sounds like a good person." I find myself feeling like if I can't put a bit of me in everything I do, than I am wasting your's and my own time. Feel me?
W: In the album bio, you describe the release as "The album is a blend of street and substance, emotion and hardcore lyricism, grit and honesty. Fans of Brother Ali's "Shadows on the Sun" and The Game's "Documentary". That is quite the contrast, explain what you mean by that...
Nico: It is what it is. Brother Ali is every bit a real man, with lyrics that explain that. Shadows on the Sun is a portrayal of Brother Ali. No Beast So Fierce is a portrayal of me. As for the Documentary, it "sounds" like the Documentary, in that, it has production that is deeply rooted with the artist. No beat on my album has you thinking, "Why did he choose this? It doesn't fit him." Same with The Game. He had an ear for his beats knowing he would be able to get HIS point across however he deemed fittin.
W: You keep the production pretty much in house and have a great chemistry, is that something you plan on keeping on doing for the foreseeable future, or is there any chance you might have some outside production?
Nico: I have developed great relationships with some amazing producers. Some I have worked with, i.e. Zilla, Alex Wood, Noochman, P-Shaw. And some I haven't worked with yet. Key word being "yet". Cats like Distant Starr, Doc Strange, Brizzo, Slim Dsm, Monzster, S Ence, Pecue, Fel Sweetenburg to name a few. I'm really looking forward to building with these cats. Too many dope artists in this city to sleep on em. You'll see.
W: Discuss just how freakin' cool it is working with your lifelong friend in Zilla, that's something a lot of us wish we could do....Do you ever get sick of him? haha
Nico: I don't consider him my friend, as far as I'm concerned I have three brothers and one sister. One brother ain't biological, feel me? I mean I knew him since I was 3, we know how to build together. From Lego's to companies. I mean don't get me wrong we get on each other's nerves from time to time, but, that shit don't sway 22 years. I'm glad we started this thing, and I'm glad it's with him and Big O. These dudes looked out for me, and continue to look out for me, so I owe them for making me the problem I am today. Real rap.
W: What does the future hold for Nico The Beast and Beat Garden?
Nico: Enjoy the ride!! We ain't gonna stop, we ain't ever gonna stop. Period. You ain't heard of us yet. Soon enough you will. You do shows? We on ya ass!! You do videos? We on ya ass!! You make beats? We on ya ass!! You breathe on Saturday, June 21st and it's raining out? We on ya ASS!!!!!! There ain't nothing we won't do to make this dream of ours a reality. Dig?
W: With a shovel and then some! Thanks for your time and the best of luck....
Nico: No doubt!! I appreciate the support and the look out.
Feedin' Time Live
It's Your Choice
6/14/2008
Dedicated to The B's feat. Punch
Whattup people.
Today I'm coming with a special gift!
We (The Soul Occs) finsihed recording our album yesterday! I know everybody is saying that about his alb um, but it really is something special. You might have heard some of my stuff, but that was nothing compared to, what will be on the album. I just can't say more right now.
A song that won't be on the album in that way, is "Dedicated to the B's" featuring the one and only Punchline.
We give it away as a free download, this will be the only way you can get it!
I know everybody got some people in his life, that are always complaining or that always got a bad attitude and act like a B! This is a song for all of you. If you're mad at someone, just listen to it, sing along, rap along or just listen to it because it's good music!
I hope y'all enjoy it!
http://www.zshare.net/audio/136253302d2a8bfd/
Peace!
6/13/2008
K-Def Presents Beats From The 90's
K-Def
"For Da Family" from "Beats From The 90's"
K-Def
"Jam On It" from "Beats From The 90's"
Dropping Digitally June 24th
The nineties. If you were there for them, you want to go back and experience it all over again. The sounds, the lyrics, the beats, the music, it all was just a special time in hip hop. A lot of us old dinosaurs can't get out of the past, so when something titled Beat's From The 90'scomes across our desk, it gets our attention. K-Def, the author of one of my all-time favorite instrumental/concept albums, "Willie Bobo The Fool", is back with his newest release "Beat's From The 90's". Most of the thirty and over hip hop heads should remember K-Def, who was monumental in releasing a slew of classic records in the early/mid 90's. He was behind Lord of the Undergrounds "Funky Child" and "Chief Rocka" along with "Grand Groove" from Tragedy's "Saga of a Hoodlum" along with the whole Real Live album. K-Def has long been greatly underrated in the grand scheme of things as far as his production goes. There was the World Renown album that has never seen a proper release, a bootleg version of Nas' "Street Dreams" produced by K-Def that is amazing, and other tidbits found here and there that lead us to believe that he had some music in the vaults that we had yet to have heard. That was until now. K-Def has pulled some tasty treats out of the vaults and released them in the form of "Beats From The 90's".
The project is strictly of the instrumental variety. You won't find any rhymes being dropped or skits or any of that nonsense, it's just straight up beats with the sound that you grew up loving in the 90's. The premise of this project is that these tracks were produced back in the 90's on K-Def's MPC 3000 & his S-3000 machines. They were lost, only to be rediscovered in a bag of dusty dats. You immediately realize that you are in for a treat when you the albums first track,"Been There", kicks in. The nostalgia that oozes out of the tracks bassline and strings are on the level that could bring a tear to any hard core b-boy. The track is pieced together with several familiar, yet sonically altered sounds. Before moving on to "Ain't No Crime", if you don't have top notch headphones, car stereo or computer speakers, push stop and go get some, because to fully appreciate the track, you need to "feel" this beat. When it kicks into the intro, you swear it's going to be a DITC knock off, but then the bottom kicks in. We are talking thick, gooey kick drums. The shit is the kind of knock that Redman used to talk about, it would bump in the trunk something furious. That's just what this album is too, that good old fashion boom bap. Another personal favorite of mine is "Gettin' Hot", which K-Def uses some familiar samples, but you have to remember this was recorded back in the 90's, so he kind of beat cats to the punch on some of these, with a beautiful guitar sample, it's rolling bassline, a true head nodder. "For Da Family" sounds like it could have belonged on "The Turnaround...", and I'm not talking reject material either. The thick and chunky "Jam On It" is another with rolling bass that supplies that boom-bap feel. Listening to this album makes one wonder what could've been with some of the right artists over the tracks. Going through the album, you'll hear beats that make you wish so-n-so got over on the track. "Inner City Blues" immediately made me think of Redman and how dope he would sound over the track. What could have been?
I can't really find a knock on any of K-Def's beats or Beats From The 90's. Obviously some are better than others, but that's not a bad thing at all. I'm not usually the biggest fan of instrumental albums, although I do like finding a good one and putting it on while I'm writing or playing the Playstation, but this album is not your average instrumental album. Beats From The 90's just brings back that feeling of why I loved hip hop in the first place. The loud drums, the thick deep bass, the sharp snares, it's all found on this album, and it's all done with precision and it'll having you wishing it was '94 again.
6/12/2008
Odds & Ends
I'm sitting here listening to an album I'm doing a review on which will be up tomorrow and thought I'd drop a few tidbits while I was listening (I can't sit still, I always have to be doing something).
New Link for When They Reminisce
I was talking to E tonight and he mentioned that he still wasn't getting the same amount of traffic as he was before he switched links. I guess this is to be expected, but obviously there are some people out there that haven't found him again, so here is the NEW link....bookmark, RSS Feed, whatever it is you cats do......
http://whentheyreminisce.com/
NEW RAEKWON SINGLE
This has probably leaked all over the internet by now, but just in case anyone hasn't seen it....
From Killer Beez Promotions:
HERE IS AN EXCLUSIVE, GIVEN BY RAEKWON HIMSELF. IT'S A NEW JOINT FROM
RAEKWON FEATURING MIKA.
IT'S MORE OF A HIP-HOP/R&B FEEL TO IT AND ITS TO PREHYPE RAEKWON'S NEW
ALBUM, WHICH IS COMING VERY VERY SOON. PLEASE GET THIS OUT THERE!
THANKS!
RAEKWON (WITH CAPPADONNA) ALSO HAS A SHOW ON THURSDAY JUNE 19TH 8PM AT
BB KINGS IN NYC.
ZSHARE (INCASE U CANT DOWNLOAD THE ATTACHED MP3):
http://www.zshare.net/audio/1341352275200a0f/
New Grouch Video: "Artsy"
I'm probably not the biggest Living Legends fan in the world, but I don't mind Grouch. While I haven't listened to the new album all that much, this new video kind of grabbed me. I liked the message, because lord knows I've seen my share of people he describes in the video. I'm all about showing your "creative" side and trying to be an "individual", but just because you are, doesn't mean that you are the only one doing what you are doing or that you are any better than anyone else....nawhutimean? Oh and the song is growing on me something serious as well.
Here is a lil sumthin' sumthin' from his camp:
"Artsy," the first single from indie hip
hop legend, The Grouch’s acclaimed new release “Show
You The World,” features a revolutionary music video
appearing now on Youtube, Itunes, Myspace and most
recently, MTV. With a slamming track produced by The
Grouch, and featuring the MC/producer’s trademark
lyrical excellence, “Artsy” raises the bar with its
searing satirical commentary, block-rockin’ beats, and
advanced imagery.
The Artsy video was recently nominated for best
hip-hop video by the Music Video Producers
Association, and is the only independently produced
video in its nomination category. It was also chosen
by Spin Magazine as a “must see” video and was
featured on the front page of YouTube.
Mimicking the ultra trendy imagery of many of today’s
more “artsy’ advertising campaigns, the video follows
The Grouch as he weaves a tale of hipster hypocrisy,
capitol control and revolutionary resistance. Using
elements of graffiti, animation, live action and the
latest graphics technology, the video presents a rich
tapestry of imagery, cleverly communicating The
Grouch’s potent narrative.
The video is produced by Buildestroy (Animation) and
Secret History (Directing). In keeping with the DIY
ethic that has characterized the Grouch’s independent
career, the video was produced with no budget, no deal
and no half stepping. In true guerilla fashion, all of
the video was shot in one long day in the vaunted “one
shot one kill style, ” dictated by both budget and
style. Much of the videos stunning effects were
created in various Los Angeles bedroom studios on both
Mac and PC. Cory Shaw of Buildestroy said, “We
decided after hearing the song that we had a chance to
make a hilarious video that summed up some of our
feelings about ‘Artsyness’ in our realm of TV
commercials and urban art. We couldn’t resist making
fun of some of our famous friends, but our idea of
recreating some of the most Artsy TV spots with our
skeleton crew and no money was even funnier. But the
end result was worth all of the lost sleep and monitor
burn.”
WHAT IS ARTSY?
The ARTSY movement can best be explained as an
experiment in ARTOLOGY. For those who have been
surrounded by the ARTSY video, its familiarity and
cultural resonance is comforting and owning an ARTSY
video provides a souvenir or keepsake, a memento.
People have often demanded the ARTSY video merely
because they have seen it everywhere and possessing an
ARTSY video provides a sense of belonging. The ARTSY
video seems mostly to be embraced by those who are (or
at least want to seem to be) ARTSY…
REVOLT RADIO
"Revolt Radio" is a unique mix of Underground, Commercial, & Mash-Up Hip-Hop. Each broadcast looks to rebel against what your currently hearing on the airwaves right now. Hosted by Black Knight, Revolt Radio airs every Wednesday from 8:00-9:00 PM with exclusive music from Nu Revolution Camp Founder/Artist, Wordsmith; Camp MC's Kontact, Black Knight, All-Biz, and numerous signed/unsigned artists making noise in the game.
Shadeed from Theindieplanet.com will be joining Black Knight to finish their discussion on the "Digital Era of Music Marketing." If you missed Part 1, head over to amalgamdigital.com or wordsmith.podomatic.com and listen to the Week 11 broadcast.
THE WEEK 12 BROADCAST WILL FEATURE MUSIC FROM NATIONAL RECORDING ARTISTS BUSTA RHYMES, GORILLA ZOE, USHER, MACY GRAY, ROYCE DA 5'9, JR WRITER, CROOKED I & MORE.
THAT'S NOT IT...CATCH EXCLUSIVE TRACKS FROM SOME OF THE TOP UNSIGNED ARTISTS OUT RIGHT NOW. NEW JOINTS FROM HERO, CYMARSHALL LAW, WHITE CITI, BRAVO YOUNG, RATED R, GEOLANI, XPLICIT, MUSIK G, & THEORY HAZIT WILL DEBUT!!!
Black Knight Intro
DJ Dublee's Singles Symposium
(Exclusive) Busta Rhymes-Dont Touch Me Remix Feat. Lil
Wayne, Nas, Game, Big Daddy Kane
(Exclusive) Gorilla Zoe Ft Sean Kingston
(Exclusive) Usher ft. Jay-Z - Best Thing
(Exclusive) Wordsmith-Special Request
(Exclusive) Macy Gray Feat. The Game-Only in the Dark
(Exclusive) Royce Da 5 9-Done Talkin
(Exclusive) JR Writer-Do Dat
(Exclusive) Crooked I-100K Battle
Black Knight Intermission
The Digital Era of Music Marketing w/ Shadeed of
Indieplanet.com Part 2
DJ Dublee's Unsigned Mix Show
Unsigned: Black Knight-Life Goes On
Unsigned:Hero-Mogadishu
Unsigned: Kontact-Fantasy Maker
Unsigned: Wordsmith-Dreamin of Superstardom
Unsigned: Theory Hazit-Grizzly
Unsigned: Cymarshall Law-The Raw
Unsigned: Bravo Young-Good Game
Unsigned: Geolani ft Stack Bundles & Dramills-Neva Stop
Winning
Unsigned: Wordsmith-Wordplay Extraordinaire Remix
Unsigned: Rated R Relate To Me
Unsigned: Xplicit-Get Mo
Unsigned: White Citi-Through My Eyez
Unsigned: Wordsmith-Quest for My Existence
Unsigned: Musik G ft. UGA - Im Up
Unsigned: Cymarshal Law-Lost in the Music
Black Knight Outro
Upcoming Artists Send your best tracks to:
Wordsmith at: wordsmith@wordsmithmusic.com
DJ Dublee at: djdublee@gmail.com
Contact Wordsmith (Station Manager) at:
wordsmith@wordsmithmusic.com
--
WWW.WORDSMITHMUSIC.COM
MYSPACE.COM/CLASSICWORDSMITHMUSIC
REVOLT RADIO
Amalgam Digital Download: http://www.amalgamdigital.com/podcast.aspx
Podomatic LIVE Feed: http://wordsmith.podomatic.com/
Wordsmith "Vintage Material" Album Coming in 2009!
Wordsmith "Appetizer at the Pioneer Pub" EP Coming in 2009!
The Nu Revolution Camp "Flag of Our Fathers" Mixtape Coming in 2009!
Chubb Rock
& Wordsmith "Bridging the Gap" Album Coming in 2008! <--- (Trav Says: YIKES!!!) Ace Hustle
From the NC that gets some love from the underground heads. In anticipation of his next mixtape "Can't Knock the Hustle". We are re-releasing the one that started it all. "Play Ya Cards Right", Ace Hustle's debut mixtape features production from Black Jeruz, Khrysis, and many others. Representing for N.C. "Play Ya Cards Right" shows the full range and scope of Ace's artistic abilities as he tackles some of the industry's hottest production and truly makes them his own. Be sure to check the myspace for more exclusive music from Ace and look out for "Can't Knock the Hustle" coming very soon!
http://www.mediafire.com/?xjzygizyziy
FREESTYLE LEGEND C-RAYZ WALZ TEAMS UP WITH FRESH FACED KOSHA DILLZ TO RELEASE THE FIRST JEWISH/AFRICAN AMERICAN COLLABORATION RECORD OF ITS KIND:
Modular Moods recording artists break the mold with a record that explores the art of freestyle versus written rhymes
New York, NY, May 20, 2008 - Indie hip-hop icon C-Rayz Walz teams up with fresh-faced, yeshiva-trained wordsmith Kosha Dillz for twelve tracks that mix freestyle and written rhymes, classic and new-school beats, and the frantic, fast-paced energy of a three, manic 24-hour recording session to produce, yes, "Freestyle Vs. Written," the first collaboration of its type. CMJ writes, ".. it's both a statement of cultural solidarity and creative open-mindedness."
It's an album that breaks borders and pushes boundaries. Songs like "I Love Jews" and "Ariel Sharon" are packed with classic hip rock samples and party moving sounds. Boasting collaborations with Murs, Matisyahu and MF Doom between them, and gracing the covers of magazines such as Entertainment Weekly and Source Magazine and spots on MTV, the two artists are ready to take the world by storm.
As one of the original members of the infamous rap crew Stronghold, C-Rayz Walz has been a fixture in the New York hip-hop scene for years. He hosts tons of hip-hop shows and events, and has more charisma and energy than most rappers can dream of. But that doesn't mean he's not serious: he's battled and beaten the top battle emcees in the world (including freestyle legend Supernatural), dropped singles that consistently make noise on the Billboard charts, has had a video in rotation on BET and was hand picked by Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan to open for him on his last tour. Walz has recorded songs with everyone from El-P, M-1 of Dead Prez, Jean Grae, Aesop Rock, and Insane Clown Posse. But it is 'Freestyle vs. Written' that sets him apart as a one of a kind emcee, flaunting his freestyle technique to the fullest.
Kosha Dillz is an upcoming Israeli American hip hop artist that has put the Zionist swagger back in being Jewish. A flashy pinky ring style and gold-star dress code using crowd moving beats and profound lyrics in Hebrew, English and Spanish to shift a person's homeostasis, this unorthodox boom bap-ist's knowledge of emceeing brings the pride back that you might have once lost. URB Magazine wrote that Kosha "presents a rarely seen culture clash in music. He voices his political opinions on foreign affairs and oppression with fresh rhymes. This makes him a universal voice.." Appearing live with everyone from Pigeon John and the Pharcyde to Jurassic 5 and Killah Priest, he has crossover appeal to the hardest of the street at underground rap shows, to the softest of hands at an easy listening rock show. Hard work has earned him a rite of passage like no other, being the only emcee to land himself on BET's 106th and Park while recording and performing with Grammy Nominee Matisyahu.
Based in Brooklyn, NY, Modular Moods (and its sister company Shemspeed) is the perfect home for artists such as C-Rayz Walz and Kosha Dillz. The label is globally conscious, working with some of the most talked-about Jewish and Muslim acts in the world. Other acts on its roster include Y-Love, Diwon, Smadar, Balagan and Yuri Lane. The company's (and, indeed, C-Rayz' and Kosha's) M.O. is promoting racial tolerance through music.
This soon-to-be-classic record was produced entirely by, 19-year-old Kentron Da Mastadon, who challenges the hip hop mold, armed with an MP of psychedelic rock riffs and jazz chops weaving the perfect backdrop for this Jerusalem Zionist-meets-Black Bronx ghetto aesthetic.
Release dates: Digital - August 26th / Retail - September 15th
* 10% of all proceeds will be donated to Netivot Israel Louna Terror Victim Fund and to the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, an organization dedicated to strengthening relations between ethnic communities, headed by Russell Simmons and Rabbi Marc Schneier.
For more information, please contact
Used CD Shopping Trip Part One (June 7th): The Daughter On the Road in Salt Lake City
I don't hide what I think of Salt Lake City. I despise the place, plain and simple. It's dirty, there is a strong religious influence, and it's one that I don't necessarily agree with or fit in with very well. A large portion of the city is unfriendly and down right rude. Try driving around "Suck Lake", you will quickly see what I mean. I spent four rather miserable years in the city while I went to the University of Utah in the late 90's. Some of the worse years of my life were spent in that god forsaken place. BUT, to be fair, there are also some good things about Salt Lake. The scenery is obviously beautiful. One of my best friends is from the city, we have a blast whenever we get together anymore. We had some hellacious times while I was living there as well, the summer of '97 was probably the funnest summer I've ever had. This past weekend was no different as we closed down my favorite "private club", Port O' Call. My daughter still lives there as well, which was the reason for my visit this past weekend.
And this might be hard to believe, but Salt Lake's hip hop scene is rather decent. Even in the late 90's, they had their own weekly hip hop radio show, the Toss Salad hip hop show that was on two or three hours every Saturday night. It was here that I first heard Frankenstein, Krs' "Hip Vs. Rap" single, Royal Flush's "Iced Down Medallions" and a weird ass remix for Redman's "It's Like That" single that I haven't heard since then. They had a record store that was devoted strictly to hip hop. The "Hip Hop Shop" had vinyl, mixtapes, CD's, tapes, DJ equipment, all the things a hardcore b-boy needs. They get most of the hip hop shows that come around the region. I saw Tha Liks, Digital Underground, Biz Markie, Busta Rhymes, Cypress Hill, De La Soul and the Roots all in Salt Lake City. Salt Lake is also home to quite a few used CD stores and record stores. After having some communication problems with my daughter's mother, I spent most of last Saturday driving around the city, hitting up CD spots as I got to deluge in one of my favorite activities in life, used CD shopping.
After rolling out of the rack a wee bit hungover Saturday morning, I headed in the quest for wrapping paper for my daughter's birthday presents and some used CDs. I haven't lived in Salt Lake since '99, and since then, I haven't really had the time or the money to do much diggin' when I am in town. While some of my old haunts are still around, a lot have closed since then. Add in the fact I haven't driven in certain areas of the town for awhile, I had four post-it notes of stores and addresses on them in the car with me just so I would have some kind of clue. My buddy has a new house way out on the western side of the town, almost out by the Kennecott mine. I hopped in my little rice burner car and headed to Redwood road to the store I used to hit up the most while I lived there.
Graywhale CD Exchange
Graywhale CD Exchange is a local chain in Salt Lake and probably the most popular of the CD
stores in the surrounding area. I used to live within walking distance of the store on Redwood Rd and 47th and this would be my first store of the day. I bought a lot of CDs while I lived there at that store. They always had a handful of things I would want each time I went there and the prices were decent, but nothing really under five bucks. What would I find there this time? It had been almost three years since I had been in the store and they had totally remodeled it. It looked like some goth like place, with grey metal like decor surrounding the place. But I wasn't there to check out the interior designing. I was there for CD's. As I previously mentioned, this particular store usually had a few things I would want. I can't remember ever walking away emptied handed very often, even when I was checking it out on a weekly basis. There never was extremely rare releases there, at least I can't ever remember finding any "holy grails" at this particular 'whale. This trip would be a lot like the old times. Plenty of things I wouldn't mind having, but nothing extremely rare.
Shinehead - Unity (Elektra, 1988) $5.99
| 1 | Unity (4:15) | |
| 2 | Chain Gang Rap (4:10) | |
| 3 | The Truth (4:13) | |
| 4 | Hello Y'All (4:30) | |
| 5 | Do It With Ease (4:03) | |
| 6 | Gimme No Crack (5:05) | |
| 7 | Raggamuffin (3:54) | |
| 8 | Know How Fe Chat (4:46) | |
| 9 | Who The Cap Fits (4:00) | |
| 10 | Golden Touch (4:09) |
This somewhat forgotten 1988 album was something I couldn't stand back in the day. It sounded nothing like Ra, Kane, LL, or any of the hardcore rhymers I was listening to back in those days. Shinehead is what they would call a "Raggamuffin" (also a name of one of his songs) artist, similar to today's dancehall artists, although he probably does more hip hop than a lot of those artists. He mixed a lot of reggae and hip hop together and I just wasn't feeling it in my young age. His video for "Chain Gang" was on Yo! MTV Raps often in those days. Even since then as I my hip hop and musical tastes grew, I still never really checked for Shinehead. I would see this release around often back in the days used, but as time went on, I saw it less and less. So when it had been awhile since I seen it, I figured I'd pick it up for nostalgia purposes. I can't ever recall hearing the whole album. It's not bad at all, if you enjoy the Caribbean influence in your hip hop, you would probably get down with this. Something I didn't know about the album is that the late Jam Master Jay (RIP) and Davy D produced the first three tracks on this album, including the lead and most well known single, "Chain Gang". As far as the $5.99, it was probably a dollar or two more than I would have liked to pay for it, but I figured that since it was one of the cheaper used CDs in the store and it's not like I could come back and get it in a week or so that I should just grab it while I can.
Too Much Trouble - Bringing Hell On Earth (Rap-A-Lot, 1992) $7.99
| 1 | Intro | |
| 2 | Only The Strong | |
| Rap [Featuring] - Geto Boys | ||
| 3 | Invasion Of The Purse Snatchers | |
| 4 | Take The P_ _ _ _ | |
| 5 | Hoe | |
| 6 | Ghetto M.C. | |
| 7 | Mother F_ _ _ _ _' Thugs | |
| Rap [Featuring] - Big Mello | ||
| 8 | Fugitives On The Run | |
| 9 | Life Of The Gangsters | |
| 10 | Wanted Dead Or Alive | |
| 11 | Jealous Niggas Hy Cappen | |
| 12 | Bad Attitudes | |
| 13 | Definite Cashflow | |
I had my "gangster" rap phase fairly early in my life, listening to a lot of it in the early 90's. For some reason though, I shied away from this Too Much Trouble release. Even at an early age, anything that was trying to pawn itself off as "The Baby Geto Boys" just wasn't very original in my book. So I avoided it. Since then, I've gone back and listened to it and while it's not a lost classic by any means, it is rather entertaining, if for nothing else than the H-Town funk production found on it. I hadn't seen this in awhile and went through a phase earlier this year where I was listening to a lot of the Rap-A-Lot releases (you will see why here in the next week or two) and this was one of my favorite ones, so the same rule of "if I see something I like, buy it, because I won't get a second chance". Funny thing was later, my buddy got in my car and started going through my bags of CDs I picked up earlier in the day and he ran across this. He likes the old hip hop, but he just started busting up laughing at the cover. When you do think about it, the whole concept, the group and the cover is rather humorous. I could have picked this up on Amazon for about the same prize or cheaper, but what's the fun in that?
Vell Bakardy - Genuine Liqua Hits (Wild West Recordings/American, 1995) $8.99
| 1 | Intro (1:11) | |
| 2 | Drink Wit' Me (4:12) | |
| 3 | Playa Shit (4:40) | |
| 4 | Drunk Bitches (4:28) | |
| Featuring - AMG | ||
| 5 | Fantasy (It's Reality) (4:43) | |
| 6 | Up In The Hood (4:21) | |
| 7 | Deep Shit (4:32) | |
| 8 | Forever (4:02) | |
| 9 | F.A.T.H.A. (3:55) | |
| 10 | Liqua Ndustry (4:24) | |
| Featuring - AMG | ||
| 11 | Daddy's Lil Angel (4:19) | |
| 12 | Typical Day (5:16) | |
| 13 | Little Kids (Who's The Man With The Master Plan?) (3:38) | |
| 14 | Life's So Hard (4:02) | |
| 15 | Came Up (3:52) | |
I was totally unfamiliar with Vell Bakardy's "Genuine Liqua Hits" until the Cocaine Blunts forum days, which was two-three years ago. Since then, it's been one of those internet discoveries that I've rather enjoyed. Bakardy was out of Kansas City, not your usual place for hip hop flavor, but even in the mid 90's, hip hop was world wide, bitches. The west coast influence is hard to ignore as it sounds like it could have came straight out SoCal in those days. 304 member AMG is even found on a couple tracks, which is what originally drew me to the album. At $8.99, this was rather spendy, but I haven't ever seen it anywhere before, so I figured what the fuck, I liked the album and I wasn't probably going to see it again, at least not in my hometown.
Other Purchases:
Fu-Schnickens - Nervous Breakdown $4.99
Fu-Schnickens - F.U. Don't Take It Personal $4.99
I wasn't a big Fu-Schnick fan back in the day. I had some hip hop tunnel vision in those days, anything definitely than the type of thing I was digging, I didn't check for really. The Fu-Schnicks were definitely on some "otha shit". I started coming around when I heard their "Sneakin' Up On Ya" on the CB4 soundtrack. I then went back and realized that "La Schmoove", "True Fuschnick", and "Ring The Alarm" were all great tracks from their debut album. I still never actually picked up one of their albums. I have even passed over their albums numerous times in the past when I saw them used. Not this time, I figured at $4.99, this was the cheapest I was going to see them both at.
Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded $6.99
I originally bought the B-Boy Records 1993 re-release of Criminal Minded, the one with the "Bride Is Over" in the track listing. I had it for quite awhile, but would eventually end up losing it when some tweaked crack head stole a bunch of my shit while I was living in Salt Lake, another reason I hate that place, and if I ever see that sorry tweaker, I'm beating some ass...... Anyway, this is the 2001 Landspeed re-release, which also contains the instrumentals. I couldn't possibly live with myself as a "well-respected" hip hop blogger and NOT have a retail copy of this in my collection. At $6.99, this is worth that and more.
