Trav's Personal Favorites: The Sequal . Part One: Louis Logic

I figured it's about time for another one of my series of my own personal favorite albums/artists, artists who I feel don't get nearly enough recognition either presently or in the past. I posted up a handful artists this past summer in my first series of my personal fav's, they included Shadz Of Lingo, Son Of Bazerk, No Face, J-Zone & Groove B Chill, all which are artists/albums that I personally love and I don't nearly hear much about. I think by now, if you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you can tell my tastes reside more or less in the east, although I have an open enough mind to listen to everything. I like production that is loud and obnoxious, ala Bomb Squad. I like fun stuff that isn't too serious, ala J-Zone or the Beatnuts.
Louis Logic

One such MC that fits into that last category is Louis Logic. Logic has been around since the late 90's indie boom, when he first appeared on his own 12 inch with indie/underground staple, L-Fudge (now known as El-Fudge) called "Planet Rock"/"Logistics 101"/"Punchline" that dropped in '98. Logic has been known since then as the "Drunken Dragon", with many of his earlier efforts dedicated to the art of drinking and womanizing and doing it all in a humorous style that made his music just fun to listen to.

According to his myspace page, Logic, a mixed black/Puerto Rican and "who knows what else", grew up in Brooklyn, NY and became down the Hip Hop culture at an early age. He also was in the skate boarding culture, even earning a sponsorship for his skating abilities. He would later go on to college to Penn St. where he would hook up with Mountain Brother's DJ, Chops, who helped Lou with some of his earlier work. Penn St. would also be where he would hook up with J.J. Brown, who Lou has worked with out through out his career and also released an album last year with "Misery Loves Comedy".

Logic met L-Fudge at a college radio station. Fudge, who was on Rawkus at the time was impressed enough with Lou's efforts that they would go on to record "Planet Rock" and take Lou under his wing, trying to hook him up with a 12 inch deal and get his name out there. While at an open mic event in Philly, Logic would meet Vinnie Paz of the Jedi Mind Tricks which would result in Vinnie putting out Lou's first couple 12 inch LP's out on his "Superegular" label. The second single contained the underground indie favorite, "Factotum", the ode to drinking and give Louis even more shine.

By 2000, Louis Logic was starting to do a lot of collabs with some of the underground power houses, such as J-Zone, MF Doom, Jedi Mind Tricks, Apathy, & Celph Titled. He was actually apart of the Demigodz for a few years before splitting with the collective in order to pursue his own style of music (although you don't see much of why he really left). It is also in 2000 when he dropped "Music To Drink By", a homemade collection of loosies and exclusives on his own that made the rounds on the Internet retail hip hop stores. Most of his early stuff can be found on this release. Popping this bad boy in and you'll feel like a 40oz of Mickey's real quick.

Louis has been compared to Eminem on the mic, with his dark humor, witty punchlines, and even in his flow at times. After dropping his early collection in 2000, Lou joined up with Demigodz. As part of that collective, he appeared on numerous Demigodz projects and individual releases. Logic appears at home just as much with a group as he is solo. He has released projects as the Brews Brothers, that consisted of Charlie Bawles of the Skitzofreniks and Mister Jason of the Porn Theater Ushers (best group name EVER). They would release a 12 inch "Ready For War" b/w "Happy Hour" and as far as I know, that's all they ever did, unfortunately. He also formed the Odd Couple with Jay Love, they would go on to release "Alcohol/Ism" that dropped in '04, which I thought I would love, but is honestly the only time I've ever really been disappointed by a Louis Logic project, which isn't really the artists fault. If I was 20 when it was released, it would have probably been a classic for me..

Backing things up a bit, in 2002, Lou dropped another independent collection of his works in "Debacle In A Bottle", which contained stuff he had done since "Music To Drink By". This would serve to further Louis Logic's name out there. In 2003 he finally got his big break and signed a deal to release a full length album with Solid Records. The result would be the critically acclaimed "Sin-A-Matic". Louis Logic came with his same trademark drunken humor, but also showed a more personal side as well as some social commentary in his own dark humor. On the track "The Ugly Truth", an initial first listen shocks the shit out the listener. There is a ugly tirade of stereotypes against gays, Jews, Asians and others, but at the end the listener receives a little chuckle when it turns out to be Dubya Bush as the narrator. Lou also dips into other uncharted areas that he hadn't previously touched upon, relationships. "Idiot Gear", if I remember right, was the first single and deals with the opposite sex and the ugliness that bringing up past relationships can have on the male ego. He also takes a jab at the Internet message boards, which is humorous, if only in it's honesty.

Logic's next step after the Odd Couple release would be a couple different versions of "Blame It On The Hooch", another independent release of Lou's works. He would then make major strides in getting his work out by signing with the independent legend, Fat Beats. He would then drop "Misery Loves Comedy" last year with longtime cohort, J.J. Brown. Lou would show even more maturity as he dives deeper into the human psyche and the dark inner workings of it. Of course the trademark humor and catchy punchlines are there as well. "The Perfect Circle" in a tale of a stalking incident gone wrong. "All Girls Cheat" is another "women suck" joint, which is great if you've been fucked over recently by a scandalous woman.

Lou does some writing for Elemental Magazine and is a very entertaining writer and also gives great interviews as well. His somewhat cocky, but extremely humorous and sarcastic talks are always good for a laugh. I'm somewhat shocked that he hasn't recieved more airplay than he has, since he is a bit of Eminem, a dash of Slug from Atmosphere and somewhat of an enigima like a Jimi Hendrix. Regardless, crack open a brew and have a good time with these now out of print gems from Louie Logic.

Louis Logic - Music To Drink By (2000)
http://sharebee.com/d0836cf5

1. Loud Mouth
2. General Principle (featuring J-Treds)
3. Who the Fuck Are You?
4. Trinity (with Jedi Mind Tricks & L-Fudge)
5. Logistics 101
6. Factotum
7. Punchline
8. Secret Agent
9. Service the Target (featuring Grand Agent)
10. Planet Rock (featuring L-Fudge)
11. Punchline Remix
12. CM Famalam Radio (with Bobbito Garcia)
    

Louis Logic - Debacle In A Bottle (2002)
http://sharebee.com/d1027949

1. Sintro Outtake
2. Logic & Reason w/ R-Son
3. Por Que w/ Jay Love
4. Lecture
5. Happy Hour w/ Charlie Bawles
6. Guilty As Charged 2001
7. Pimp Shit w/ Jay Love
8. Paper Mache w/ Maylay Sparks, Celph Titled & Apathy
9. Ready For War w/ Charlie Bawles
10. Visceral Literal
11. Guilty As Charged 2000
12. Mischief Nite w/ Luceleif & Snuff
13. Postal 2000
14. Trail Of Tears