Rare/Obscure Single of the Week: Blvd. Mosse " U Can't Escape The Hypness"

Every now and then, I need to find something to pique my interest in hip hop. Not knocking the newer material out lately, but I'm having a tough time listening to a lot of it. I'm sure it's just one of my phases I'm going through, but I've been more into the older stuff again lately. Especially some of the more obscure stuff. Ever since I started hitting up the blogs a few years back, there has been a plethora of music and artists that I have been unfamiliar with. Every now and then, one of them catches my ear and I try to track down more of their material.

Also, in somewhat of a natural progression (or regression, depending on how you look at it), I've been purchasing vinyl again. The last time I bought records, I was in high school and I mainly bought them then because I didn't have a CD player. Once I had a CD player, I never bought another record. Part of the perks of running this blog is getting promo material every now and then. Earlier this year, I got some vinyl releases, so I played them and realized that I missed how vinyl sounded. Needless to say, the past couple months, I've been on a vinyl kick.

The combination of those factors has put me onto listening to more rare and obscure vinyl rips lately. Of course my collection isn't over fifty yet, so I don't have a lot of rare stuff, but as always, you have blogs specializing in the 12 inch releases, so I've been doing my homework on those. I'm not trying to replace those blogs (with a collection that wouldn't even fill a crate, I don't think they have much to worry about), but I figured once a week or so, I will discuss a favorite 12 inch of the moment that I've been into. Let me know if this is something y'all are feeling or not. Not that it matters, cause if I like it, I'll keep doing it, but feedback is always appreciated.

Blvd. Mosse - U Can't Escape The Hypeness (Scorpio Records, 1990)

A1		U Can't Escape The Hypeness (Vocal) (5:05)
		Featuring - Rahzii Hi-Power
A2		U Can't Escape The Hypeness (Instrumental) (5:43)
B1		Check Out The Footwork (Vocal) (4:03)
B2		Check Out The Footwork (Instrumental) (4:03)
B3		Check Out The Footwork (Dub) (2:55)

http://www.discogs.com/release/402453

Blvd. Mosse was my first choice examine a little closer to and break out one of their singles. They are one of those groups that I've discovered in the past year or two that really stick out in my mind. They were a crew out of New Jersey, who were discovered by Trenton legend, Tony D. The Wallbanger would produce both 12 inch singles they released, "All Praises Due to the Outstanding" b/w "Move To Something Funky" (the more rare and expensive of the two) and this week's single "U Can't Escape The Hypeness" b/w "Check Out The Footwork".

Both singles dropped in 1990. "U Can't Escape the Hypeness" seems to be the most popular of their two releases, probably due to the catchy Paul McCartney "Let 'Em In" sample. It's this sample that is the track's back bone. Undoubtedly, even if you never listen to rock music, you've heard the flutes, simple piano keys and the snappy snare drums of the song. Tony then intertwined a lone sax wail in certain parts. The MC, who's name I'm do not know, reminds me slightly of a less gruff Akinyele, but less annoying. He's not amazing with the lyrics, but a lot of MCs got by in the early 90's without being master word spinners. The hook incorporates some raggamuffin/dancing chanting. It's a catchy track, mostly due to the sample used, but it definitely grows on you over time as well.

The b-side can be directly linked to the horrible hip house fad that was going on during the time. I don't think it was as bad as some of those jams, but you can tell that's where it was heading. It depends on your views toward that kind of thing on whether you'll like this track or not. Personally, I kind of like it, but I'm always partial to some of the corny stuff from back then.

This single, as I previously mentioned is the cheaper of the two they released. You can find it on Discogs marketplace for under $10 bucks (which I want to grab if I just didn't spend $120 on vinyl the last two weeks). Their other single is worth tracking down as well. I don't have it (neither in my collection or on mp3), so if someone wants to share, by all means, be my guest. I read a Tony D interview not too long ago and he mentioned having some unreleased material by the group, maybe someday that will see the light of day.