Ace Lover - The Chose One Mixtape by DJ Switch (WYDU Exclusive)

Those of you that have been listening to hip hop for awhile will undoubtedly remember the name Ace Lover. The cat had some great singles at the beginning of the decade with "Weed Spots", "Area Codes" and other great 12 inchers. Dude was ready to blow up on the scene with his quirky sense of humor, street smarts and flawless battle rhymes. Yet it was not to bed, as Ace Lover got caught up on the streets and the industry rule #4080. We caught up with Ace Lover last summer for an interview where he let us know he wasn't done, not in the least.

Well, holding true to his word, Ace Lover is back with a mixtape of sorts to announce he revival and prep us for his album due out in the very near future.

Ace Lover - The Chosen One (Mixed by DJ Switch)
http://www.zshare.net/download/646138535281ac48/

01 Intro (Freestyle)
02 Always On Time prod by Azwun
03 Juiced Up feat C Rayz Walz
04 Lets Get This Clear prod by Lewis Parker
05 Explode Like Nitro prod by I Truth
06 I Do It (Freestyle)
07 When The Drama(Right) feat G Note prod by Eddie Ill
08 I Gets It In (Freestyle)
09 We Bringing Back New York prod by Black Panther
10 You Driving Me Crazy feat Raul Steele prod by Shan Boogie
11 Interlude
12 King Of The Underground prod by El Sun
13 Till The Day That I Die (interlude)
14 I Miss You (bonus track) prod by AceLover

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Ghetto Fabulous!! Ace Lover Interview

At the turn of the century, a young battle rhymer stepped on the New York scene and dropped a classic track in "Area Codes". Ace Lover would take New York's underground by storm at a time it had an excellent and growing independent demographic. Known for his quick witted freestyles off the top of his head, (rumor has it he did "Area Codes" of the top of his head) Ace Lover would drop several classic 12 inch singles such as "Weed Spots" with it's b-side, "Classic Characters" and in 2004 would drop the highly slept on album, Broke Minds Think Alike, with Oktober as part of the group 2For5. It would seem that Ace was poised to make his move on the music industry and drop an album for all the New York hardcore fans and bring the true hip hop flavor to the masses. It would never happen, Ace Lover kind of dropped out of the scene. But no fear, he is back, and he is making music and making moves again.

I was excited to get a chance to talk to Ace Lover. I was a big fan of his underground singles. Both "Area Codes" and "Weed Spots" are songs that I consider among the best since 2000. I was also a big fan of the Broke Minds Think Alike album. I sat down with Ace and talked about his past, his reputation as a battle rhymer, winning at the Braggin' Rites battles often, the reason for his absence from the hip hop scene the past couple years and his new music......

Ace Lover - Weed Spots (2001)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/14897501d68a6e24/

Ace Lover - Livin' On The Edge (2008)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/148976677280c1bc/

Ace Lover - Put Yaself In My Place (2008)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/1489775615b575f0/

www.myspace.com/acelovertwb

WYDU: What’s good man, thanks for your time. Why don’t you do a quick introduction to the masses….

Ace Lover: What’s good, it’s the most ghetto fabulous, Ace Lover!! Still making it do what it do.

W: Good to hear man, nice to see you back on the scene. You’ve actually been around since the turn of the century. How did you get into the game? What were some of your early upbringing into hip hop and what were some of your influences?

AL: Just like anybody, I started as a fan of the music. Then my big homie back in the day wrote my 1st rime in 1992. I used to listen to Gang Starr, Slick Rick, Nas, Big L, Black Moon, Smif-N-Wessun, etc. I was always very artistic in every aspect and music was just another art form of expression for people that didn’t have much except creativity. Then I started battling and getting my credibility up in the streets and then at shows. I was in a battle, that’s when a man by the name of Phil Rust came up to me and asked me if I wanted to do a record and said he was going to pay me!!! So I was like, "Sure! Why Not?" Then shortly there after, I released my first record!!

W: You were around 16-17 years old when you got your first record deal, discuss how difficult it is, or isn't, getting into the game at a relatively young age.....

AL: Actually it wasn’t that bad. I had a lot of great experiences after I released a record. I was at an all time high and just going with the momentum. I had a lot of fun! Later on it became it a little bit difficult dealing with people in the hood when they know I was doing something positive with myself. Other than that most people embraced me and it was cool.

W: You were signed to Marcion Records, who did have some talented artists, but never seemed to really “make it”. How was your experience with the label, was it a positive or negative one?

AL: I would have to say positive!!! They paid me, put me on the map on an international level, helped develop my styles musically, and Phil Rust is a cool guy. I don’t really have nothing bad to say about the experience.

W: Your style as an MC is somewhat different in that you sidestep the hardcore posturing. You use a lot of humor in your rhymes and your also known as an MC’s MC with great freestyle ability and the traditional braggadocios lyrics. Was that a deliberate type of thing, or just something that came naturally?

AL: I like to get a reaction from the crowd when I’m rhyming, so I guess I always kept that in mind when I was doing what I do. I was also very young and immature at the time too, so that played a part in it too. As I got older I started doing more serious content about whats going on the world but I still try to tap into that side of me as much as possible. Some of my favorite artist back then were Big L and Lord Finnesse and other artists that were real witty, so that also played a part in it.

WYDU: You also won several of the Braggin’ Rites MC battles. A lot of great battle rappers have problems making albums and songs. You seem to be able to work both angles quite well. How do you prepare and execute both styles so well? What is the difference in mindset when freestyling and constructing a song?

AL: There is definitely a big difference. I learned that when I started recording my first record. I had a lot of great mentors that taught me a lot of secret techniques of making a record. A lot of trial & error, practice, and experience. Freestyling is basically just saying whats on your mind at the second. It doesn’t take to much skill to freestyle except being spontaneous, witty, and a being quick thinker. I like making records a lot more now cause its like a painting, you can be very creative and do unlimited amount of styles.

WYDU: You had several 12 inch singles that made some noise on the underground/indie hip hop scene, with Weed Spots/That’s The Way It Is/Classic Characters and Area Code (212) b/w Lucky 7 being my personal favorites, yet we never saw an album at that time. What were the reasons behind the lack of an album at that time?

AL: I'm not sure , but I know vinyl was the sh*t back then though. I was just going with the flow. I'm currently working on a full length album as we speak and it's coming out real hot .

W: You mentioned working with Phil Rust on those first couple singles, who probably isn’t very well known outside the indie NY hip hop scene. How was it working with him in those early years?

AL: It was pretty cool. He was very patient dealing with me when I was still developing as an artist. He is pretty easy to work with and open to new ideas as well as a very funny guy. He taught me a lot about how a record label works and a lot of technical stuff. It was cool.

W: Is there any truth to the rumor that you created a lot of those songs right on the spot, just freestyling?

AL: That’s true with "Area Code 1(212)" for the most part. "Lucky 7", I wrote the night before. "Weed Spots", I had the hook first then I wrote the verses right on the spot. With "Classic Characters", myself, Life Long, & Loer got together and did that right on the spot. I like to work spontaneously to this day and dropping the lyrics while they are still fresh. I think every song is a little different though. Sometimes I come up with the hook and concept first, then I write the lyrics right on the spot. Its always a little different though.

W: You appeared with quite a few underground/independent NYC MC’s in the early days. The track “Lucky 7” was an underground track of who was who in those days. How was the scene back then in NY?

AL: That’s when the scene was at its peek a lot of records were coming out and a lot of independent hip hop artist were doing their thing including me. There was a large fan base for it too back then. I think as the fans got older they grew out of it a little bit.

W: One thing of yours that I’ve seen floating around on the internet is the “Ya Gyrls Favorite LP”, did you have anything to do with that or is that some bootleg floating around?

AL: Yea I put that together when I went on tour and a few sites picked it up here and there. It is pretty exclusive and hard to find.

W: You had, what I consider, a great album with Oktober as 2 For 5 that dropped in 2004. Discuss working with Oktober and the “Broke Minds Think A Like” album? How did it all come about?

AL: I already knew Oktober. We used to kick it in the streets a lot together. We did a song together, "Whats Ya Name?", and it came out so good that Fat Beats wanted to pick it up. The buzz got so big that they wanted an album so we put that together. He's a good guy but our egos were always clashing and it was hard to really work together. But he's a cool guy and I want to get him on my new album, but to work with him on a group effort is very difficult. Its all love though.

W: A Japanese producer, Spier, who was a fairly unknown producer, produced the album? How did that get hooked up?

AL: That was Oktober's homie & he produced "Whats Ya Name?" I had met him one time in Manhattan before that and the chemistry was cool so it seemed like a good idea at the time. He’s a great producer and DJ. He's got a good ear! It was perfect for our sound and he was easy to work with.

W: You kind of dropped off the map after that album, where have you been and what have you been up to? What made you want to get back in the game?

AL: I started hustling again. The money was more lucrative than rapping so I was caught up with the street thang. Then I had got shot and couldn’t walk for a while, so that didn’t help. I was just healing and getting better. But I'm back to normal like nothing ever happened. I never stopped making music, I just wasn’t on the scene like that. I have just been living life and mastering my craft before I decided to get back into the game like that. You gotta do what you gotta do to survive. My music is my passion and my true love. I just can't leave it alone even if I tried. I was born with an artistic mind, its not like a light switch that I can turn on and off at any time. It was something I was born with, I cant help it. I love music, every aspect of it! All types of music not just hip hop. I can’t leave it alone.

W: Good to know you are all good physically now. How do you feel about how the Latin flavor is represented in Hip Hop these days?

AL: I don’t think it is really being represented like that in hip hop that much. I mean reggaeton is popping, buts that’s not really hip hop. There are a lot of latin hip hop artists that do their thing though.

W: You have your own label these days in the form Gutta Gutta Enterprises, what do you hope to accomplish with the label? Will it be something to strictly put your own music out there or are you hoping to get your Russell Simmons on and start an empire of new artists?

AL: I'm definitely going to release my music through my label. But you know hip hop is a young man's game and when I get to old for this thang, I would love to keep creating music and putting it out to the new generation. I want to be able to teach the young artists everything I know and make incredible music. I have a niche for executive producing. I'm real good at making good records. I would like to release all kinds of music not just hip hop but that’s my specialty. Yea I definitely want to get my Russell Simmons on!! I'm going to probably change the name to something more universal thou, you know. I want to make a living off what I love.

W: Very nice! You mentioned plans for a new album, when can we expect that and what can expect from the 2008 version of Ace Lover? Any changes in style or topics?

AL: I'm hoping to have it out by September of this year! I have matured a little bit so its going to be a bit more serious, but I still want to have songs that will make you laugh and smile. It's going to have a little street twist but I'm trying to make my music more universal where anybody can relate to it. From white, black, Hispanic, Asian, rich, poor, they can all get with it, ya understand. I would like to make hip hop a little bit more musical by incorporating real musicians, (bass players, guitars, drums, trumpets, pianos, singers,) and make it sound like real music. I'm still going to make traditional hip hop songs with that boom bap and samples, I love that too but I like experimenting as well. I think music should always be taking to the next level and do styles and techniques that’s never been done before, that’s what a real artist is. Being creative and blowing people away with incredible, innovative music. I want to make music that you could just listen to over and over a 100 times in a row. Addicting music! You just cant stop listening to it!

W: Sounds very interesting. What producers are you/do you want to work with on this new project?

AL: So far I got Black Panther, Robust, Oneman Productions, Fortune, IDE, xtraordinaire, Spier 1200(2For5) and Da Beatminerz. I want to get DJ Premier to give that official hip hop sound as well as Alchemist. I am going to executive produce a few tracks and get some incredible musicians together and put some real cool sounds together. As far as artists, one famous artist and one unknown artist. I always like to put someone new on. I might collaborate with Oktober on one song. I might have some special surprises too. I would like to do something again with Loer Velocity & Life Long, they have great voices. I might even do something with Phil Rust and bring it back to the foundation! You never know with me. I put a lot of hours into a song so its definitely going to be some incredible stuff to say the least.

W: I read somewhere that you wanted to sell more records than Eminem, is that still the goal? It's a good goal for sure....haha...

AL: I would like to sell more records than him yes but that’s not my motivation. I’m not in competition with him or any other artist for that matter. I like Eminem's music and I love great music in general. I would like to make a great living off what I love. My style is completely different from any artist though. I do music from the heart to make people feel emotions whether happy, sad, smooth, hard, cool, etc. It’s not all about that but I would love to have a very successful record just like any other artist. That was just something written by someone as a quick bio.

W: Yeah, I saw the tongue in cheek humor in it, but you gotta shoot for the stars for sure. How do you feel about the current state of hip hop? How much has it changed since 2000-2002? How much has it not changed?

AL: I like the new artist that have been doing there thing. It has evolved and the sound is a little different but I like the change. It needed it. I like artist like Slim Thug, Lil Keke, J Dawg, 50 Cent, Big Kuntry, Infamous Mobb, DJ Premier, Alchemist, Kanye West, etc . Hip hop culture is still thriving it just changed a little bit just like any other music in history. There are still artist out there that try to preserve hip hop. But I like being "out with the old and in with the new". I respect all the artist that have paved the way for young artist like me to do my thing and I'm very grateful for what they have done. But I’m not mad at the current state of hip hop. The only thing that I don’t really like is that a lot of rappers try to duplicate a style that has already been done. A real artist tries to create something new and fresh like nobody out there. Anybody that says that hip hop is dead are just artists that haven’t had any success with their new music and people that are stuck in the past and can't let go. There are only a few albums from the past that I could listen to from back in the days. Those are Illmatic, Lifestyles of The Poor & Dangerous, Step Into The Arena, as well as some songs here and there. But there s only but so many times you can listen to a song . So to answer your question it has changed a lot and it hasn’t at the same time. The culture is still thriving, keeping a lot of people sane and something to keep people smiling, dancing, happy, and hopes alive. Ya dig.

W: Even though I’ve lived out west my entire life, I’ve always been more partial to east coast hip hop, but it seems that NY has been slipping a bit the past few years. What is your take on hip hop in New York currently?

AL: There are a few good artist that are still doing there thing. But yea there’s a lot of B.S. out here though. But there are still great artist that come out of New York every few years or so. I think every hip hop artist should have street credibility but I think they're too caught up with being the most gangsta, that they don’t put enough emphasis on the creative side of it. I love that hard shit but if they only put a lil' bit more creativeness to it, I think that would fix it. There is a lot of talent out here, but there’s also a lot of B.S., so it makes it a lot harder to find! But don’t sleep.

W: Any last words?

AL: I would like to thank all my fans that have supported my music this whole time and let them know that I appreciate it very much. The new album coming out real soon. My new website, www.ACELOVERWORLD.com will be up very soon. On my site you can buy all my music that I have ever released. It will probably be up by the time anyone reads this. You can check out www.myspace.com/acelovertwb in the mean time. You can also download the Rare & Unreleased album on www.ITUNES.com, which contains exclusive material that was never released back in the day. Its older material and the new stuff is a lot better but if your interested, its there. It has a few good songs.

W: Thanks for taking the time to kick it with us and best of luck in the future…

AL: No Problem. Take care . 1

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Philaflava's 100 Greatest Obscure Tracks :The Bonus Tracks aka Trav's Picks

We've spent the last couple weeks going over what a committee thought were the best "obscure" tracks. What did we learn? Get nine people together to discuss hip hop music and make a "best of" list of any kind and it's nearly impossible. Oh, and that the term "obscure" is rather relative.

As we put the cherry on top and put an end to this little series, I figured I would post up my personal FAVORITES (read: joints I like) hard-to-find, not your run of the mill, not found on an album, or any other term I can use for "obscure" without actually using it. I wouldn't say this is all of them, but they are the ones that were off the top of my head AND actually on my computer. I've long had personal favorite songs that were not necessarily readily available to every Tom, Dick and Harry with a blog. Not saying that these are super hard to find either. I haven't tried, but I'm sure if you did some looking, you could probably track down most of these (most of these have appeared in one form or another on this blog) nor am I any better for having these. I'm still the same chump working a crappy job, dreaming of being the next Paul Rosenberg, Russell Simmons or Kevin Powell. Enough with the introductions....my ass is tired so heeeeere we go.....

Link To All Of Part One

Ace Lover - Area Codes 1(212) feat C-Rayz Walz (Marcion Records, from the "Area Codes" b/w "Lucky 7" 12 inch, 2000

I mentioned last week that you would see Ace Lover pop up on this list before it was all said and done. Ace Lover had two singles out during the turn of the century that I loved, "Weed Spots" and this single, "Area Codes 1(212)". Produced by DJ Rust, the beat was sparse, with a simple drum track that had a piano loop on top of it. It was basic but effective. The true gem of this song is listening to Ace Lover kick his rhymes. I'm someone who listens to be beats first and foremost, so it takes an extremely talented or catchy MC for me to be about the lyrics and Ace Lover is both. I remember hearing this track on UGHH back when you could listen to tracks before purchasing (maybe they still do that) then went and found it on Audio Galaxy or maybe it was Napster. Regardless, this track got a ton of play and is still one of the reasons I'm waiting for a full length album from Ace Lover.

R.A. The Rugged Man feat Akinyele - What The...... (White Label, from the 12 inch of "What The..." b/w "Stanley Kubrick", 1998 or 1999?)

"What The...." is as crazy as you might think when looking at this pairing for the first time. Armed with what sounds like a kids choir singing the hook, which consists of saying "Whaaaaat the fuuuuuck, whaaaat the fuck is going on". The beat is minimalistic in nature, but it's perfect to hear RA and Ak just rip shit to shreds. I've had a hard time finding any info on this track at all. No year, no producer, not much of anything is listed about it nor do I hear many people talking about this classic track. What the fuck?

Amad Jamal - The Renaissance (ABB, from the "The Renaissance" 12 inch, 2001)

One of my most puzzling mysteries came to a close last week, when one of Amad Jamal's band members emailed me, alerting me that AJ was still making music and planning on dropping an album in the next month or so. Great news, since I've often wondered what happened to Amad Jamal after dropping two DOPE 12 inch singles back in 2001. Every song he has put out has my stamp of approval on it, but "The Renaissance" was my favorite out of the handful of tracks he did. Produced by Joey Chavez, the track uses a sample that again I should know, but don't. Regardless, it's beatufully produced and full of the LA underground goodness that I loved during this time. Amad Jamal is also one hell of an MC. He drops many memorable lines on this track. Good to hear him coming back (and the songs I've heard have all been dope, like he hasn't missed a beat).

Common - Can-I-Bust feat Y-Not (Relativity, from the "Soul By The Pound (Thump Mix)" b/w "Can-I-Bust" & "Heidi Ho" 12 inch, 1993

Hailing from one of my favorite 12 inch singles ever, or in my case, favorite cassette singles, I was having troubles trying to decide whether to include the b-side or the a-side. I figured most heads should have heard the "Thump" mix of "Soul By The Pound", so that left the equally dope flip side, "Can-I-Bust". I wasn't crazy about Common as an MC on that first album, but this track, which dropped quite awhile after "Can I Borrow A Dollar", gave a glimpse at what Common would later become as far as a talented MC. Even his guest, Y-Not, was entertaining as well. The beat uses an upright bass sample for the schizophrenic bassline along with some horn samples littered around the track. Truly one of my favorite b-sides.

Craig Mack - Wooden Horse (from the "What's The Worse That Could Happen" OST, 2001)

You learn something everyday. I just learned that Craig Mack's "Wooden Horse" was on a movie soundtrack. Never knew. So this might not be so hard to find as I once thought it might be. Oh well. Regardless, I was a Craig Mack fan, well I enjoyed his first album at least, but then he kind of disappeared. He would pop up again, after his sophomore album fizzled, in 2001 with this Frank Sinatra sampled track that his a certified head nodder. I'm actually surprised this didn't have sample issues, since Frank isn't exactly the easiest artist to clear samples for. Regardless, if you haven't heard this track in the past, it's worth a listen.

Das EFX - Hard Like A Criminal (East/West, from the "Straight Out The Sewer" b/w "Hard Like A Criminal", 1992)

When I learned that there were equally wacked out kids out on the internet collection hip hop like I was, "Hard Like A Criminal" was one of the first tracks I started looking for. The track has long been a favorite of mine, after I bought the cassette single for "Straight Out The Sewer" way back when. The track was also mentioned in an interview with Das in The Source as the only track that wasn't included on their first album. The reason being was it didn't seem to fit, which they are right. The sound, the story telling, all would have stood out like a green thumb on an album that featured mostly freestyled lyrics. No question that I had to include this track.

Donte (of Mood) - Heat (4 Da Streetz) (Wish Masta Entertainment, from the "Heat (4 Da Streetz) 12 inch, 2003)

One of the newer songs included on this list, "Heat" is one of those songs that never got the attention it deserved. It's actually kind of surprising though, since the beat was produced by Hi-Tek, who at the time was still carrying a strong reputation as a beat maker. The beat is the shining aspects of the track as Hi-Tek hooks up some booming drums that reminds me of the drums used on "Move Somethin'" from the Reflection Eternal album. It's also very dark, with an ill vocal sample that fits the mood well. Donte, who was Hi-Tek's crew group member in Mood, is a strong lyricist as well, which makes me wish he'd drop his own album one of these days.

Frankenstein - Rain Is Gone (Knowledge of Self, from the "Rain Is Gone" b/w "All Hands" 12 inch, 1996)

Another artist that I've pumped up quite often on this blog. To me, Frankenstein is my all-time favorite "Obscure" artist and I don't have a problem using that label on his either. The T.Dot producer/MC is one of the more underrated cats in the game in my humble opinion. Frankie Ano aka Frank Fallico aka Frankenstein first dropped his first single in 94' and by 95' he had his "Knowledge Of Self" label that he dropped numerous 12" singles along with his only "Official" LP, the UV album, which was more of an EP with some of his tracks and instrumentals. He also had a white label album "Live From New York Remix Album" the same year back in 97'. Some of his remixes for artists (unofficial remixes) are so dope that cats should have been checkin' for his production skills back then instead of messing with some of the crap that was out there.

I'm not sure what it is about Frank's sound that is so appealing to me, but he definitely has a "sound" to his beats that are very compelling to me. I first heard him on a Salt Lake City hip hop radio show when they played "The Rain Is Gone" back in 98'. Immediately I was fiendin' for this track. Luckily enough I had the tape deck recording that night and that tape became a prized possession. The only problem though, was that I didn't know who he was and at that point in time, if I didn't know who an artist was, it was sure that no one else that I knew would know who he was and this was before the internet really took off (it's crazy, but true, we didn't have the internet to look up all this shit back in those days...and I walked up hill in the snow both ways to school). The internet did pay off in the form of these blogs about a year ago, I ran into someone that posted up some tracks and "The Rain Was Gone" was one of them.

Frescho & DJ Miz - We Don't Play (Tommy Boy, from the "We Don't Play" "Ain't U Frescho" b/w "Now Ya Know", 1990)

What do you get when the 1989 New Music Seminar DJ Champion hooks up with the 1989 New Music Seminar MC Champion? Well you get a pretty dope 12" and a song that got some play on "Yo! MTV Raps" back in the day. DJ Miz continued the legacy of the Philly DJ's during the late 80's and has some great cuts on this track. Frescho was a Brooklyn MC, that seems to pop up from time to time, but never really took off. He had a track called "Planet Brooklyn" that was produced by Primo. It's said he is on the Christian Hip Hop tip now.

The group never released an album, which is unfortunate, because it would have been interesting to see what they could have done. This track was the A-side to said 12", the b-side was "Ain't U Frescho?" & "Now Ya Know". This track is pretty dope in terms of lyrics and scratches. Frescho has a pretty quick rapid fire type flow and a commanding voice. Miz cuts up shit nicely through out the whole song. The beat itself seems kind of dated. I played it for a friend of mine and he curled his nose up and said it sounded wack, guess you had to be there to appreciate it. I've been told that that is was all they released, which is unfortunate.

Masta Ace - N.F.L. (Not For Long) (Replay Records, from the 12 inch "N.F.L. (Not For Long)" b/w "Warfare", 1999)

I would probably dare to say "NFL" is my favorite non-album Masta Ace track. It features J-Love on the beats, and to this day, I've never understood why he hasn't produced any tracks for any of Ace's albums. Ace displays some good old fashioned story telling with this track. It deals with the fact that if you are on top, it won't be for long. The track would drop when Ace was in between his "Sittin' On Chrome" LP and the "Disposable Arts" LP, when he was dropping a lot of 12 inch singles. A lot of those are said to be from the lost Big Beat LP (no don't ask me, because I don't have it) that got shelved in '97 or so, but I'm pretty sure "NFL" was made after that fact. Production wise, the beat is remarkable. The strings are melodic and you get sucked into the story, although short and sweet. I've often played this beat over and over in my head. The beat just fits it all together nicely.

Ras Kass - Oral Sex (Priority Records, on the "Oral Sex" 12 inch promo, 1999)

Just why a Ras Kass track that was produced by the Beatminerz wasn't properly released is a perfect example why Priority dropped the ball more than once when it came to Ras. Probably on top of the list for my favorite and most talent left side artists, this track is nothing but fire. Da Beatminerz dropped some serious shit on this track, with their trademark deep ass bassline and dusty productions. Ras is on some other shit lyrically on the track. Dropping one liner after one liner. It was songs like this that made him one of the best and also marks why it was such a waste that he never blew up.

Sticky Fingaz - Jackin' For Beats '99 (White Label, on the "Jackin' For Beats '99" 12 inch promo, 1999)

Before my addiction to the Black Album/AG remixes, I had an addiction to the “Jackin’ For Beats” tracks that were coming out at a weekly clip at one time. I loved the original from Cube, I’m not sure what it was, but it just got me amped. In ’99, Sticky Fingaz released his version of “Jackin’ For Beats” complete with a 50 cent dis and some GREAT lines. You can’t help wanting to get up and punch someone while listening to this version. This is right when Sticky went solo and it was a great way to throw his hat in the ring. He jacked bigged name stars such as Jay, Nas, and Busta, and in some cases, sounded better on the beats than the original artist. That was the reason Cubes original version became so wildly popular in the first place. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I quickly became cured of the “Jackin’ For Beats” obsession when I realized that most of these songs sucked.

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Hidden Goodies

Didn't have much time to do Part Nine of the Philaflava post, was working on a future post (read: interview) and doing some other stuff. There for, I'll do a quick write up of some things I've found around the net the past six months or so.

2nd II None - The Shit (The Lost Death Row Album?)

1. 01 Into (0:35)
2. 02 Getcha Clown On (4:23)
3. 03 The Dogg N' Me (4:19)
4. 04 The Message (0:23)
5. 05 I Can Tell (The Nasty Song) (4:11)
6. 06 Nuthin' Has Changed (4:04)
7. 07 Let's Get Higher (5:29)
8. 08 Kant Wait To Do This (3:49)
9. 09 Tha Shit (5:58)
10. 10 Get Ya Hot (4:29)
11. 11 Funny How Things Change (4:08)
12. 12 B Alright (4:01)
13. 13 If U Ain't Fuck'n (How U Gonna Ge (4:44)
14. 14 Didn't Mean To Turn You On (4:41)
15. 15 Funny How Things Change (Remix) (4:12)
16. 16 Theo Commerial (2:13)

UNRELEASED MATERIAL**

PRODUCED BY - DJ QUIK FOR WAY TO QUIK PRODUCTIONS
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - SUGE KNIGHT
INTERSCOPE/DEATH ROW/HALLOW POINT RECORDS 1994.

I can't remember where I got this from, I'm thinking on the Bust The Facts boars, but I could be wrong. Regardless, I thought it might be more rare than it actually is. When I started looking for info on this I realized it's been on quite a few sites. I guess I'm slippin' in my old age. Not sure if they are releasing this in a proper format. I only saw one site (a forum) selling it for $30 bucks.

I was a big 304 fan back in the day (not as big as WYDU contributor Brian) and consider 2nd II None's debut album near classic. I've only listened to this only a couple times, and nothing really jumped out at me, but I'm going to tive it a few more listens before I write it off.

Ace Lover - Ya Gyrl's Favorite LP (Bootleg, 2002)

1. What I Be
2. Weed Spots feat Uncle Paulie
3. I'm Coming
4. CM Famalam Live
5. Area Code 1-212
6. Stop Stressin' Me feat Intalect
7. Lucky 7
8. Ace's Strange Thoughts
9. Part of Something Classic
10. Classic Characters feat Writers Guild
11. Whatz Ya Name feat Oktober
12. Verses Vs Beats
13. How To Treat A Lady feat Antonio B Blacklyn
14. Bell Tones feat Life Long
15. No One Lives For Ever (Snippet)
16. That's The Way It Is feat Flaco Navaja

I probably should save this joint, since I'm going to have a cut from this "mixtape" appear on my own "Obscure Joints" that is going to follow up the Philaflava series. I couldn't not share this though as I've been a big fan of Ace Lover since first hearing one of his singles on Underground Hip Hop.com back in the day. He is mad witty, with a wicked sense of humor and the true essence of what I picture a New York MC to be. He was a winner at the Braggin' Writes MC battles and put an album as 2 For 5 with Oktober that is HEAVILY slept on.

This is just a collection of some of his earlier material. Some originally his, some just stuff he appeared on. I had heard about this a long time ago, but only just recently bumped into it (and no, not on the internet), so I was happy to see it. I haven't heard anything from Ace Lover in awhile, but he has a myspace which makes it sound like he has something up his sleeve in the near future.

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Sunday Lite & The Week That Was

Oh glorious day! For once, the weather Denver, Colorado is so well known for, has decided to happen on a weekend day. Did you know that Denver has the second most sunny days after San Diego? No shit, true stuff right there. So for once, I have motivation to hammer this Sunday Lite post out as fast as I can, because I have to get out in this weather. I was couped up all day yesterday writing for other projects, so I'm itchin' to get the hell out of this apartment, although I should spend all day today writing as well, but fuck it. As The Biz says "It's spriiiiing agaaain". So after this, I'm going to bust out to the park and walk off some of this winter blubber I've acquired. Actually I never got rid of the extra winter luggage from the year before. It's a bitch getting older....and getting a desk job....and writing more. I have lots of excuses for the extra weight I've put on, but I've been trying to cut back on some of that spare tire causing garbage. Cutting back on the beer, no more soda pop, trying to cut back on the sweets (I have a sweet tooth from hell) and trying to get some more exercise. This is new to me, never had to watch my weight before, but I guess that's part of getting older.

It would be a great day for to catch a few innings of baseball, speaking of which, if anyone is down with fantasy baseball, there is a few openings in a free yahoo roto league I'm in. If anyone is interested, hit me up.

You all aren't here about to read about my fat ass, so on to the music......

Big Red - Created A Monster (Produced by Diamond D)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/diamond-d-and-big-red-created-a-monster-mp3.html

I really don't much about this 12 inch, other than it was released in '95 on Payday, who seemed to drop the ball more back then than Elektra. The B-Side was "How You Want It" and that too I think was produced by Diamond. If anyone has it, lace it up. As most Diamond beats, it has a deep, thick bass line. Big Red isn't a special MC by any stretch of the imagination, but he still holds his own and reminds you why you liked the mid-90's so much. I think dude showed up on Diamond's lackluster "Diamond Mine" mixtape from last year. Speaking of Diamond, make sure you pick up the rerelease of "Ultimate Force - I'm Not Playing" which was early Diamond, well worth picking up!

Walkmen - Fortress (You'll have to change the file info, it has Obie Trice as the artist. This song was on some early Obie Trice material I had on a disk)
http://www.zshare.net/audio/walkmen-fortress-mp3.html

All my Star Wars nerds STAND UP! Yeah, this shit is mad corny, but how many hip-hop joints sample the "Imperial March" from Star Wars? For those of you that haven't had the pleasure of hearing this joint before, it samples the "Imperial March" from all the Star Wars joints, which is kind of cool in its own nerdy sort of way. I think it's talking about Star Wars in the song, hell I never really listened to the lyrics, I'm too busy imagining Darth Vader bumrushing some dudes off the stage with his Light Saber. The 12 inch dropped in '98 on Atomik Recordings with "Countdown Theory" as the B-Side and there was also a CD maxi single that had instrumentals, remixes and the such for both songs. The maxi-single came in at around nine tracks if I remember right. Both tracks were produced by Celp Titled, so I'm assuming there was some kind of Demigodz tie with these cats. I remember when I first heard this song on "Underground Hip Hop" early in '99, I was kind of shocked. It was something I didn't want to like, but still did. Those were the early days of finding stuff on the internet for me and this and "Scapegoat" by Atmosphere were the two early joints I was fiending back then. Guess it's just the nerd in me.

Masta Ace Inc. - The Inc. Ride
http://www.zshare.net/audio/02-the-i-n-c-ride-mp3.html

You should all have this and if you don't, get off the fuckin' computer and go buy "Sittin' On Chrome" and all of Ace's other joints. It's no mystery that Ace is my favorite artist. The dude is just amazing to me. I do have to admit, "Sittin' On Chrome" is my least favorite of all of Ace's joints, which means I still like more than most other albums. But in the celebration of the up oncoming Spring season, which leads into Summer and this track just gives me those Summer vibes. With it's smooth as silk Isley Brothers sample, this song sounds best when played in any kind of a convertible with a system. If you have to, you can substitute and vehicle with the windows rolled down and the volume turned up.

Blahzay Blahzay - Ice Grillz
http://www.zshare.net/audio/blahzay-blahzay-ice-grillz-mp3.html
I've always like Blahzay and alway kind of wondered why they aren't more looked up upon as one of the better groups of the mid-90's. Regardless of their perception in the hip-hop circles, they dropped a nice album in'96. After that though, not much has came out of the camp. This track here is the last thing they did that I know of. It was a 12inch that got released in '00 on Fat Beats and it's some nice shit. The horn sample alone is worth the price of admission. Shit is dark and gloomy, but you have to keep listening to it, it's that good. I'm not sure what Blahzay is up to now a days.

Constant Deviants - Can't Stop
http://www.zshare.net/audio/constant-deviants-cant-stop-wont-stop-mp3.html

A couple of weeks ago I kind of clowned the whole Indie boom that happened toward the end of the 90's decade. It made many kid go out and buy a Jansport back pack, some big ass Kross headphones and bitch about the mainstream. While they had a point about the mainstream around that time (shiny suits anyone?), the whole genre would soon grind down to boring, monotonous, and straight up garbage type of hip hop and these little hipster nerds would become just as condescending as their mainstream thug counterparts. BUT, some of the early Indie stuff was pretty tight. This is one such little gem that I know next to nothing about, but I LOVE this track. I can't even remember what caused me to download this track from the almighty Audiogalaxy (anyone remember that shit?) back in the day. I'm glad I did, but I've never been able to find much out about them. This track was released in '98 on some small label. The beat is some fly jazz shit with dope piano keys and a nice string rift, horns, shit it's got everything. I couldn't even tell you the name of the MC, but he does a nice job talking about the old days. The hook is nice as well, it's basic but sticks in your mind and it actually has one of those DJ fellas and he is making squiggy squiggy sounds....weird...don't hear those anymore. Anyone have any material by these cats, hit me up.

Ace Lover - Weedspots http://www.zshare.net/audio/ace-lover-weed-spots-feat-uncle-paulie-mp3.html

At the turn of the century (god that make it sound old) I was pretty down on Hip Hop. I mean, sure there were a few things here and there, but all in all, if 86-96 were the "Golden Years" then 98-03 were the "Dirt Ass Brown Years", because there wasn't much out there. I did a lot of downloading of single tracks on both Audio Galaxy & Napster. I hadn't yet fell into the lure of full albums, mainly because I was still sporting the Dial-Up internet connection, guess not much changes....but, every now and then, I'd run into some artist that I really liked. The bad thing, most of these artists only had 12 inch releases under their belt. Ace Lover comes straight out of NY, so maybe someone like Crooklyn can speak on him better than I can, but dude is a noted freestyler and even has an album out as 2 for 5 with Oktober. This joint has a cool little beat to it as Ace Lover describes the spots to pick up his favorite buddah sess. I'd like to see more from this cat. I heard he has a mixtape of sorts, if anyone has that, hook me up!

Trav's Top Spins For The Week:
I downloaded a lot of stuff this week and I'm still trying to play catch up. Top that off with the eight or so CD's I bought this week, didn't seem like I had enough time to check out everything I'd like. But I did have some quality time to play some stuff.

1. Yaggfu Front - Action Packed Adventure
Every once in awhile you just have to pull this album out and give it some play. For me that time was this week where it caught major play for me this week. I admittedly slept on it when it dropped. I did pick up when it was released, but after a few spins and all the crazy stuff dropping in '94, I put it to the side where it didn't get much play and I ended up losing the CD in one of my many moves or one of the parties I had back in my younger days. Well I found it used a couple years ago and I had to wipe the eye boogers out from sleeping on this cause it's quality hip hop. They are making some more noise, so be sure to check them out

2. Boodah & The Bandit - Drugs On The Mind EP
The bad thing about the amount of material found on blogs is when do you have time to listen to all of it? I know it's a problem for me. I can't even remember where I got this but it was sometime ago and I'm just now getting around to listening it. I remember seeing the cover at the CD stores back in the day, but for some reason I thought it was on some Brotherhood Creed shit. Well I sat down and decided to give a listen and damn this is some good shit. After the first listen, I listened to it again. Goes to show you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover.

3. J-Zone Discography
Still pumping my man J-Zone's stuff. The man is just different and that' something that you don't find much. I know, a lot of people think just because something is "different" that it equals good (Aesop Rock anyone?) but Zone is different in a good way. I hope he doesn't keep his threat of not rapping anymore, that would be a pity.

4. Frankenstien - Bootleg
If you read this blog at all, you know I'm a Frankie Ano fan. The dude just had his own flavor behind the boards and while he wasn't the best lyricist in the world, he still put out great songs. The bootleg joint that I posted up here before contains the majority of his work and it great to put on if you are in the mood for some mellow laid back joints.

5. (TIE) Hell Razah - Renaissance Child Little Brother & Mick Boogie Presents "And Justus For All" Pacifics & Illmind - The Case

Some new stuff I've been spinning as well. I'm a fan of Wu, but when it comes to their weed carriers, I usually balk at them. Last years Bronze Nazareth was pretty nice, nice enough to get me to want to check this out. While not good enough to hang with some of the Wu starters, it's a nice 6th man off the bench type of release. Some nice beats and entertaining to keep it in the rotation for a week or two. Little Brother has been one of those groups that people either love or hate them. Myself, I've always been kind of partial to them. They put on a great live show and most of their stuff is pretty nice. "Minstrel Show" was somewhat of a disappointment to me. It just got boring to me after a couple weeks. True I played the shit out of the first couple weeks, but still, a classic album shouldn't lose it's luster after two weeks. Well after another medicore attempt with the "Seperate But Equal" mixtape, LB comes with "And Justus For All". There are some great joints on here and some not so great joints, but the good stuff is holding off the bad stuff for now. I'm not familiar with The Pacifics really, but I've heard of Illmind. I wasn't really impressed with Illminds rendition of Jay's "Black Album" mixes, but some of the stuff I heard after that was rather nice. I was pleasantly surprised by this album/EP. It's not very long, but some joints on here. It'll be getting more play in the upcoming days.

WHY??????
Time for more mind boggling (at least to me) bits of information that flies out my head from time to time......

Why do we have to be subjected to "Producer Beef" now between Timbaland & Scott Storch? What has hip hop come to?

Why does Scotty look like one of those hoser hipster kids I used to shove in a locker in high school? Does he really think he is a white Kayne West? Sorry but white people just can't pull off that look without questions of your sexuality coming up.

Why must we be subjected to a re release of Boot Camp Clik's "For The People"?

Why the hell did the Patriots get Adrline Thomas? Fuck, that's all they need.

Why the hell can everyone else find cheap copies of Nine's debut "Nine Livez" and I can't? DAMMIT!

Why can't anyone make a good baseball game for PS2?

Why is it taking me for fucking ever to catalog my music collection? There has to be an easier way

Why do I want to like that Redman mixtape, but can't?

Why does this even make more hesitant of the new album.

Why does this new online Poker in the United States suck ass? I can only find a couple sites on the internet now to play live money poker.....

Why does the US government think that they have to keep me from playing poker online? Don't they have something better to do, like feed the poor or make universal health care available?

Why did the whole Dipset movement take over O-Dubs Soulsides site a couple weeks ago? I wouldn't even think they knew that exsisted. Maybe I shouldn't even mention them, that's the last thing I want on this site.

Why do people insist on saying Masta Ace jacked Eminem's style. I swear I'm going to go upside someones head for saying that shit one of these days. KNOW YOUR HISTORY!!! Em has already acknowledged Ace's influence on him.

Why can't Nas find that "Dead Little Indian" release since he can find some of those people he did for those remixes?

Why don't I believe Dr. Dre when he says "Detox" will be out this year?

Alright, I'm going to soak up some rays.....or maybe I'll just take a nap.......

Peace, Trav

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