M11X & Illroots.com present DJ Low Key - De La Extras #2
MP3 Link (tracked) -> http://www.djlowkey.com/M11X_and_Illroots_present_DJ_Low_Key-De_La_Extras_2.zip
Podcast Style MP3 Link (untracked) -> http://www.djlowkey.com/m11x_and_illroots_present_dj_low_key-de_la_extras_2.mp3
About the mixtape:
Denver's DJ Low Key joins acclaimed artist M11X and popular hip hop site Illroots.com for De La Extras #2, his second tribute to rap legends De La Soul. With 2009 commemorating the 20th anniversary of De La Soul's landmark debut album, DJ Low Key put together an unconventional mix of De La rarities, remixes, bootlegs & b-sides to accompany MX11 aka Mikal Hameed's De La Soul audio sculpture (featured on the mixtape's cover) on the De La Soul - 3 Feet High & Rising Art Tour. With the tour being postponed, Low Key decided to release the tape in conjunction with Illroots.com and send it on M11X's upcoming solo national tour. Download the mixtape for free at DJLowKey.com and Illroots.com and be on the lookout for M11X's upcoming shows, featuring the tape and chair on the cover, coming to a city near you, starting with San Francisco on January 8th.
Background:
DJ Low Key's made a name for himself releasing mixtapes with some of the best new talent in hip hop (TiRon, Median, Che Grand, Jermiside & more), touring as the DJ for acclaimed rap group Tanya Morgan and throwing award-winning events in Colorado and beyond. M11X is an accomplished designer and creative director who's work has been showcased in movies, music videos (such as Nas "Hip Hop Is Dead"), album covers (numerous projects for Verve) & galleries worldwide. Find out more about DJ Low Key, M11X & Illroots at djlowkey.com, twitter.com/djlowkey, mikalhameed.com, mjhgalleries.blogspot.com & illroots.com.
Tracklist:
1. DJ Low Key "De La Extras #2 Intro"
2. Teenage Fanclub & De La Soul "Fallin (Remix)"
3. De La Soul "La La La"
4. Joel Turner feat Dave "You"
5. Big Pooh feat. Posdnuos "People (Remix)"
6. Eslam Jawaad feat. De La Soul "Rewind DJ"
7. Malcolm McLaren feat. De La Soul "Hey DJ"
8. De La Soul feat. Sean Paul "Shoomp"
9. De La Soul & Camp Lo "So Good"
10. De La Soul feat. Jazzy Jeff "Hold Tight" aka "Cobb Creek (Demo)"
11. De La Soul "Breakadawn (De La Soul Remix)"
12. Oh No feat. Posdnuos "Smile A Lil Bit"
13. J-Live feat. Posdnuos & Oddisee "The Upgrade"
14. DJ Jazzy Jeff feat. Posdnuos "Let Me Hear U Clap"
15. J Period feat. De La Soul "Excursions"
16. Adam F feat. De La Soul & DV Alias Khrist "Time 4 Da True"
17. Ty feat. De La Soul "The Idea"
18. Nat & Onda feat. De La Soul "It's A New Thing"
19. Matt & Kim feat. De La Soul "Daylight (Troublemaker Remix)"
20. Jungle Brothers feat. De La Soul, Monie Love, A Tribe Called Quest & Queen Latifah "Doin Our Own Dang (Richie Fermie Mix)"
21. Queen Latifah feat. De La Soul "Mama Gave Birth To The Soul Children"
22. Mint Royale feat. Posdnuos "Show Me"
23. George Clinton feat. De La Soul "Do Fries Go With That Shake"
24. Last Emperor feat. Masta Ace & Trugoy "Clear Day"
25. Rob-O feat. De La Soul & Pete Rock "Stay Away"
26. Truth Enola feat. De La Soul "Voicestress"
27. Bush Babees feat. De La Soul & Mos Def "The Love Song (Remix)"
1/04/2010
M11X & Illroots.com present DJ Low Key - De La Extras #2
9/29/2009
Five Must Hear Tracks....
(not my photo)What's happening in the world of hip hop? No really, what is happening in the world of hip hop? I guess I've gotten to where all I really care about anymore is the music and not much of anything else. I'm not following all the "going ons" as much as I used to and I really don't even care as much anymore I guess. Which leads me to my own personal experiences that have gone down lately. A couple weeks ago, I was able to check out De La Soul live. Although it was my second time seeing them in concert, the first time was early in '96, before they dropped the landmark album, Stakes Is High. Five albums later, it was almost like a new group. The first time I saw them, I wasn't the biggest De La fan. I didn't like 3 Feet High and Rising (I know, that's almost sacrilegious) and while there some songs I liked off of De La Soul Is Dead and Buhloone Mindstate, I never bought either one. It was something about that night, seeing them live, that turned me into the huge De La fan that I am today. Obviously I thought they put on a GREAT show some thirteen plus years ago, but what I saw a couple weeks ago was nothing short of incredible.
Thirteen years ago is a long time, more like a lifetime for all the shit I've gone through since then, but as far as live performers, they seemed to be light years ahead of what they were back then. They were per in sync, nailing down the songs as they went but they were still having fun. You could tell they genuinely enjoyed being with each other, they were laughing, joking and having a good time on stage. It was good to see and it also showed in their interaction with the crowd. They played most of the great hits, everything from stuff found on Grind Date to material from 3ft High (nothing from the somewhat disappointing Nike album). The price of admission would be in the form of "Rock Co. Kane Flow" performance. It was an incredible adrenaline starter as Pos would kick his verse, with strobe lights flashing and the already natural energy packed song just beat furiously. Then they would all freeze. No movement, nothing, but the lights would come on. Everyone was screaming and yelling, then it would happen all over again. This happened three times, and by that third time through, I could have ran through a brick wall and not felt a thing. This video doesn't do it justice, I was truly worked up in such a frenzy by the third time around...
Always great to see a good show. In my old age, going to shows don't always appeal to me. I guess I don't like the crowds, or don't want to be out past my bed time on a work night or some shit, none the less, if you get a chance to see De La, jump on it.
Five Must Hear Tracks...
1. OK Cobra - I Quit (I Give Up)
Some of the more open minded hip hop listeners will probably recognize the name OK Cobra. If you were into underground indie hip hop mags in the late 90's, you will remember "In Search of Divine Styler," a quirky hip hop magazine that was from north of the border. You might remember Ryan Somers aka Fritz the Cat who was responsible for it's conception. It's Fritz The Cat and Recordface that make up the duo of OK Cobra. They dropped a self titled LP back in '06 that was along the vein of some of the other more creative and genre bending hip hop being made out there. This particular track, "I Quit (I Give Up)", I've had the pleasure of hearing it from very on in it's exsistence for a project that may or may not see the light of day sometime this year. It hasn't changed much from it's original form, but I'm glad I can actually share this song now. It's from the group's new album, Delirium Tremens. Not too often will you here Edie Brickel sampled on a hip hop song, but it works well for a somber track that in some ways helps the healing process of a fucked up day. You will be seeing more of this duo in the very near future on WYDU.
http://www.myspace.com/okcobra
2. Eleven - Oh My God
When one thinks of Boise, Idaho, they probably think of potatoes and funky blue football fields. I doubt anyone thinks "hip hop". A small percentage of hip hop heads might have heard of the group Mad Ro, who were about the only ones to make much noise outside of the local area and that could arguably be contributed to the fact that one of the members was former Alkaholik member J-Ro's cousin was part of the group. During my trip to the De La show, a local opening act grabbed my attention. Going by the name of Eleven, I was digging his stage presence and the music I was hearing. After the show I made it a point to look up his myspace page and found a free album "Star Of The Story". It's a very solid effort and worth checking out. One of the songs I heard in his set was "Oh My God," a very energetic, old school sounding track. It also showcases Eleven's strong lyrical performance, as the dude just rides the bouncy beat kick for kick.
http://www.myspace.com/akaeleven
3. Buckshot & KRS-One - Murder 1
Coming from what could be the potential "surprise" album of the year, Buckshot and KRS both show that they still have it with their Survival Skills album. I wasn't expecting a lot from this and while it's not something I'll be playing on a daily basis and will probably forget about in a couple months, it's a good listen for the moment. The one track that really stuck out for me was the Bounty Killer assisted, "Murder 1". I guess one thing I look for in albums such as this is music that sounds like it would have if it was made when each artist was at their prime. For me, "Murder 1" is the song that most resembles that. Hard and gritty and all those other cliches throwin' in, I had this on mad repeat the first time through it.
4. ST/MIC feat Arsun FIST - We Kings
I've seen the name floating around the net a few times, but fo
r some reason I couldn't tell you what he had done besides doing some work on my man Eric of WTR's mixtape late last year. ST/MIC hit me up with a review copy of his very good "Honest Music" LP that should be dropping fairly soon. While there were several tracks that caught my attention (such as "Too Much") it was "We Kings" that stuck. It's mellow melody over slow but banging drums set it up for both MCs to do their thing.5. Brother Ali - Crown Jewel
I've never been the biggest Brother Ali fan, mainly because of his voice. It was just irritating to me. He's starting to change that though. The EP he released early this year got my attention, then his newest project, "Us," has really got me bumping it. Of course some of that has to do with the flawless production from Ant, and "Crown Jewel" is a perfect example of that as Ant hooks up a great horn loop. Not to be outdone, Ali hooks up a perfect chorus for the ill horn lick and spits even tighter raps than he has in the past.
6/15/2009
Native Tongue Singles: Tribe & De La
I'll admit this is a attempt to quickly post something up for the Monday morning start of the week. Most of y'all should know the story behind the Native Tongues, so I'll just skip right on by the history of one of the greatest collectives of musicians in hip hop history.
Instead, we'll jump into a couple singles from two of the groups that were major players in the collective, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest. If you haven't caught on yet, you'll notice that I try to post up singles that are either hard to find or have a remix or two on them. The later is precisely why I'm posting up the singles for Tribe's "Can I Kick It?" and De La's "Millie Pulled a Pistol On Santa" b/w "Keepin' The Faith." Both singles are packed with remixes and "Can I Kick It?" has a b-side only "If The Papes Come". Back during the golden age, remixes could be found more often than not on singles, and not these ones that have the same beat but all the hottest MCs on them neither. They were genuine remixes.
A Tribe Called Quest dropped "Can I Kick It?" as the fourth single from People's Instinctive Travels... It was really the single that got me on the Tribe bandwagon. I thought "Bonita Applebum" and "Left My Wallet In El Segundo" were alright, slightly weird compared to my Big Daddy Kane, Eric B & Rakim, LL Cool J music that I was into at that time. But when I heard the video version for "Can I Kick It?", I was hooked. That video version is on this single, known as the "Spirit Mix", appearing on the A-side. It's really a great track with it's uptempo beat compared to the LP version, which is good in it's on right, just a different feeling.
After the edited version of "Can I Kick It?", another remix shows up as the "Phase 5" remix, named so after the producer who did the remixing, Phase 5. I don't know a lot about Phase 5, other than the fact he was an European producer (Germany?) and he did work with the Fu-Schnicks among others. He provides a much more livelier beat for "Can I Kick It?", giving it almost a life of it's own. Stuffed with horn stabs and guitar licks, it gives the song a different dimension and look, one that takes some getting used to, but the more I hear this version, the more I like it, just not as much as the "Spirit Mix" or even the LP version.
The B-side only track comes in the form of "If The Papes Come", which features Baby Bam of the Jungle Brothers on the non "remix" version. The track isn't obscure by any stretch of the imagination, since it has shown up on countless compilations, movie soundtracks and other various online Tribe projects. A fairly simple song, it utilizes the "Pot Belly" sample that can be found on numerous hip hop songs, most notably for me would be "Driveby Miss Daisy" by Compton's Most Wanted as well as "Just A Friendly Game of Baseball" by Main Source. It's basically just Tip running wild over the jazzy beat. It is a track like this though, let's people peer into the lyrical prowness of Q-Tip. Tip may not be included in the best MCs debate, but dude had flavor on the mic.The "Remix" (and I do use this term loosely) is basically a slight change in the "Pot Belly" sample and the shedding of the Baby Bam verse.
A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It? VLS (Jive/RCA, 1990)
A1 Can I Kick It? (Spirit Mix) (4:11)
A2 Can I Kick It? (Edit) (3:23)
A3 Can I Kick It? (Phase 5 Mix) (4:33)
A4 Spirits (2:02)
B1 If The Papes Come (5:46)
B2 If The Papes Come (Remix) (4:14)
B3 Can I Kick It? (LP Version) (4:11)
The second single is the De La Soul treat, "Millie Pulled a Pistol On Santa" b/w "Keepin' The Faith". The remix for "Millie..." is kind of a let down, as they incorporate a rather feeble attempt at putting some singing on the hook. The original is kind of simple, but that's the beauty of it. It's an alright remix, but give me the single any time.
This single is more about the "Keepin' The Faith" track, which on the De La Soul Is Dead album, was one of my "skip" tracks. So when the "Straight Pass" remix kicks in after a retooled "Millie Pulled a Pistol..." remix, it's a welcomed change. It still keeps some of the original's elements, but adds more dimension to a track I considered drab before. The next remix, the "UK 12 Mix" is drifts even further from the original. This remix is fueled by a rather nice bass line that runs through out the track. It's very funky and lively. A nice touch to beef up the track.
The b-side features the instrumentals and the shorten "7" UK Mix" for "Keepin' The Faith".
De La Soul - Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa b/w Keepin' The Faith (Tommy Boy, 1991)
A1 Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa (Full Mix) (4:04)
A2 Keepin' The Faith (Straight Pass) (4:33)
A3 Keepin' The Faith (12'' UK Mix) (7:19)
A4 Keepin' The Faith (No Bass Mix) (4:34)
B1 Keepin' The Faith (LP Version) (4:45)
B2 Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa (Full Mix Instrumental) (4:02)
B3 Keepin' The Faith (Straight Pass Instrumental) (4:31)
B4 Keepin' The Faith (7" UK Version) (3:48)
4/17/2009
5x5 Day Five: WYDU Goes To Church
Now, I'm not going to argue with anyone on their views of organized religion and the such. We'll just say that I'm not into organized religion, in fact I have some strong opinions against it. I'm not saying I'm an atheist. I'm spiritual, but that's as far as I go. I also believe people are free to choose what they want to believe. There is no right or wrong answer in the end as far as I'm concerned.
With that warning statement out of the way, we goin' to church, WYDU style. You won't find any religious themed tracks, just some good music with church and the G.O.D. in the titles. It's the way we are ending these (almost) 25 lists. Head to the church and pray....
1. De La Soul - Church
2. Outkast - Church
3. Boss Hog Barbarians - Rev Get Right
4. A Tribe Called Quest - Oh My God
5. Ill Biskits - God Bless Your Life
4/16/2009
5x5 Day Four: The Best Sophomore "Slumps"
The dreaded Sophomore slump. Is it real, or something that is made up? I'm sure enough artists will tell you it's real, but when you start looking at the bigger picture, I'd almost be willing to go out on the limb and an artist's/group's second album is a finer piece of music. Once I started going through some of the classics out there, it's quickly noted that a lot of them are the second album of their career. They seem to have the right combination of hunger and knowledge to drop the classic. Not saying that first year wonders such as Nas, Snoop, and even arguably N.W.A. exist, but the list of solid second albums are rather impressive.
1. Public Enemy - It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back
Of course, my personal favorite album of all-time is Slaughtahouse by Masta Ace, which could or could not be considered his second album (is INC a group?), so to keep it simple, I stuck with the universal greatest album of all-time, PE's It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back. What is arguably one of, if not the, greatest hip hop album of time, It Takes A Nation.... was an album that everyone came with their best. Chuck and Flava perfected their shtick and the Bomb Squad set off to make an album that broke all the laws of music, and succeeded.
2. A Tribe Called Quest - Low End Theory
You either love or hate Tribe's debut album, but their second album is a certified classic. The music was more dense and in some cases, darker. They also incorporated more of a jazz sound to it, in places (don't call it a jazz rap album, I hate that), but it's sound was defined by more bottom on the beats. The bass on this album is really only something you notice on a nice system. Lyrically, I think Q-Tip being better and the night and day difference from the first album to Low End Theory in Phife is what really put's it over the top.
3. De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead
How do you comeback from an image that you are not all that happy with on your first album? You "kill" that image and reinvent yourself. That's exactly what De La Soul did. You thought they were fun loving hippies that were rapping over Turtles breaks about flowers? Think again. On De La Soul is Dead, they brought a more mature and even somewhat darker effort. The production once again was top notch in the form of Prince Paul, and it might even be considered his greatest achievement.
4. Ice Cube - Death Certificate
Do you count this as his sophomore release? He did after all have a release with NWA. For the sake of argument, I'm going to call Death Certificate his sophomore release, since it is just that as a solo artist. We've already had the debate between his first two albums as far as which was better, but Death Certificate is an album which packs so much emotion into the sixty plus minutes that it has you. There is anger, humor, fear, and they are all rolled into one in the form of Death Certificate.
5. Mobb Deep - The Infamous
No, really, it's their sophomore release. I know it's easy to forget about Juvenile Hell, and Havoc and Prodigy are almost like different artists by the time they got around to dropping The Infamous, but their second album was head and shoulders above their debut album. I think Havoc coming into his own really gave a defining sound of darkness for The Infamous that really sets this album apart from the rest.
Honorable Mentions
Redman - Dare Iz The Darkside
Common - Reminisce
Run DMC - Kings of Rock
4/13/2009
5x5 Day One: Someone Has a Case of the Mondays
It's Monday morning, which means a lot of you are dreading another work week. I know I am. Hip hop artists apparently also dread the office job and work weeks. Here are my top five favorite "work sucks" related hip hop songs.
Somebody has a case of the Mondays....
1.Amad Jamal - Goin' Postal (From the upcoming album Barely Hanging on: The Chronicles of a Nigga Like Rodney King)
Sure it's a new track, but it captures the pure despair of working in an office and maybe with even more of a flair than I can relate to as it brings in office politics and race relations into the whole thing as well. Big ups to my man Kurt Fagan, who is part of Amad's band, The Solution and in the video.
2. Louis Logic - Postal (Remix) (From 2003's Sin-A-Matic)
May be the original "Work Sucks" track. Lou was always good at turning stories and making interesting songs out of his tales. This is the version that appeared first on his "Listen To My Demo" collection, then made another appearance on his excellent Sin-A-Matic album.
3. Tribal Jam - 925 (From the KGB 12 inch release from 1994)
I stumbled across this joint last year after reading Ed Catto's review on another website. It quickly became one of my favorites, with it's jazzy flavor on the beats. I'm a lover of beats, but they also come correct with the lyrics as well as they detail the hell that us office drones have to experience working the "9 To 5". Also nice little scratched in choruses from well known lines add more recognition to the track.
4. De La Soul - Bitties In The BK Lounge (From "De La Soul Is Dead")
I've never had the unfortunate experience of working in a fast food joint, but I've worked my share of food service type jobs (read: waiting tables) so I can relate in some strange way. Working with the public is faaaaar worse than any office job that I've ever had. De La captures the essence of being on both ends of the stick when it comes to the fast food joints. And damn, there are some hotties in some of those places.....
5. Atmosphere - Cashier In a Convenience Store (From Sad Clown Bad Dub 7)
Another job I've never had to do, thankfully. As I said, working with the public is a shameless and thankless job and I hope I never have to do it, cause lets face, we suck. Sean aka Slug covers it quite well, so well that I NEVER want to do it.
Honorable Mentions
Biz Markie & Canibus - Shove This Jay-Oh-Bee
Cunninlynguists - Falling Down (simply for the second and third verses from Kno)
Atmosphere - 66th Street
And if your woman is free loading off your ass, play her this
Little Bastards - Bitch, Get A Job
3/12/2009
It's Alllll The Waaaaaaay LIVE!!!
It's Friday, and what does that mean? It's about to LIVE!!! Well, in this case, WYDU is going "live" as we are posting up some live shows and the such. I know the whole "live" thing on tape is kinda a hit and miss thing for some listeners, I know it is for me as well. Let's face it, you don't go to a live show for the "awesome" sound quality. Most of the time, you are lucky to make out what is being said. You go for the "experience" of it all. You go for the festivities, the atmosphere and for the good time. That being said though, it's fun listening to some of the old shows floating around out there in interent land.
Today we got three shows from classic artists......
De La Soul - Live In Kentish Town, London, UK
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=V70GAF2O
Sorry, I don't have a year on this, but it's sometime in the past four years, since it's got some music from Grind Date. Mostly though, this contains a lot of their early hits, which isn't a bad thing. I saw De La way back in '96 in Boise, Idaho of all places. It was before "Stakes Is High", which sheepishly, was the first album I really went crazy over De La about. I consider them my favorite Hip Hop group of all-time, but it took me a while to fully understand just how great they were.
This show is a good representation of what you get from a De La show if you've never been to one...at least from what I remember. I need to check them out again. I missed them both in Salt Lake City (got sick as a dog the day of the show) and in Denver when my girlfriend and I got busy...ummm......getting busy. Yeah, oh well. Anyway, this is one of the easier live shows to listen to, so even if you are not usually a live music fan, this is worth checking out.
A Tribe Called Quest - Final Show Bootleg
http://rapidshare.com/files/208734253/A_Tribe_Called_Quest-Final_Show-_Bootleg___1999_.rar
Of course this was before this past summer's "Rock The Bell" shows that they performed this past summer. A Tribe Called Quest could quite easily be considered one of the top 5 hip hop groups ever, so this little piece of history, if it is indeed the last show. I saw Tribe in '98, the month they announced in The Source that they were breaking up. In fact, the first time I heard that they were breaking up was straight from their mouths, as they announced it at the show. The show itself was a Beastie Boys show in a stadium setting. It wasn't the cozy small venue that I'm used to. It's was still cool though.
Funny story though, the night before, I was bartending at a Chili's restaurant across the street from the venue they were performing in (The E Center for those of you familiar with Salt Lake City). Around 7ish, this short black dude comes in with another dread locked cat and sits down at one of the tables in the bar. I know the cat looks mad familiar, and as I go over to help them, I'm trying to place where I had seen him. When he ordered a Dr. Pepper, it hit me like a ton of bricks. It was Phife, and although I didn't recognize him until he told me who he was, he had Jarobi with him. Both were mad cool. A little later, Q-Tip came in. Tip was kinda obnoxious, but I didn't care all that much. He ordered a Foster's and asked me what there was to do in Salt Lake that night. I told them of a hip hop night at a club that I have since forgotten the name of. That was that. It was still kinda cool.
This show is ehhhhh as far as listenablity. It's truly a bootleg, but fans of Tribe that haven't heard it, you should probably check it out.
Run DMC - Live at Hammersmith London
http://rapidshare.com/files/208619899/run_dmc_-_live_at_hammersmith_london.rar
Run DMC will always be one of the greatest groups in my book as well be remembered as the group that introduced me to hip hop. I still kick myself in the ass for never seeing a show of theirs. I had one chance while I was living in Salt Lake City, but for some reason, and I don't remember why, I missed it. I wish I could go back and make a different choice. What do you do though?
This show is taken from the Raising Hell days, in which Run DMC was KILLIN it at the time. I'm also pretty sure, this is from the same show that appears on the start of Public Enemy's "It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back".
7/07/2008
This Or That.....3 Feet High & Rising Vs. De La Soul Is Dead
Last Week
Down by ten votes with a little less than four hours to go, I don't see Buhloone Mindstate coming from behind. Not that I'm overly upset about it, as I kept going back and forth between the two albums anyway, after voting for Buhloone Mindstate. Of course my man Therapy from the AB's/The Smile Rays had to message me, telling me I was crazy going against the greatness that is De La Soul Is Dead. Needless to say, I'm okay with losing this one. This all leads to the final showdown between 3 Feet High & Rising and De La Soul is Dead.
This Week
I have to admit, this is the showdown I was expecting when I started this little experiment two weeks ago. De La's debut against the sophomore release. The Daisy Age against the album that deadened it. Happy, go-lucky against it's opposite. I'm not saying De La Soul Is Dead is a dark and gloomy album, but they went out of their way to steer away from what we thought of them on 3 Feet High & Rising. You didn't want to call them "hippies", they'd light you up in the "Donut Shop", they weren't to be fucked with. It's the new against the old....Let's get it on!
3 Feet High & Rising Vs. De La Soul Is Dead
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.
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.
Final Verdict
Sorry for recycling the previous posts, but what more can I write about without beating a dead horse in the ground? I have a feeling, from what I'm reading from people's comments, that both of these albums have their die hard fans. 3 Feet High... is De La's initial jump into the music scene. It was fresh, nothing like anything else out at the time. But it did get to be too much. It scared some of us off, as said in the comments. A lot of people felt the same way as I did. Those people are the ones that support De La Soul Is Dead. They killed the Daisy Age and dropped a classic album. Like my man Therapy said, "De La Soul is Dead is hip hop version of Sgt Pepper", which is nothing short of the truth. It could very easily be in the running for one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. Yes, I know I voted for Buhloone over it, but I'm not afraid to say that as far as quality, De La Soul Is Dead triumphs it. It also triumphs 3 Feet High & Rising and I expect most of you all to agree with me.
Be on the look out for a WYDU Classics Presents De La Soul tracks....some of the rare goodies coming later this week.
Winner: De La Soul is Dead
6/30/2008
This Or That.....De La Soul is Dead Vs. Buhloone Mindstate
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
6/25/2008
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.
6/23/2008
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
5/21/2007
Used CD Shopping Trip 5-18-07
Friday, the end of the week, the day you spend the whole week looking forward to. If the Friday happens to fall on payday, ahhh fuck yeah, it’s on. This week was the first week of summer break (I should take summer classes, but fuck that) and the first week of my new work schedule, 5a.m. until noon. It works out good for my storm chasing and while it may suck getting up that early, it’s kind of nice getting off at noon. This past Friday, I got paid a nice FAT check (at least for me it was) and was off by noon. After a stopping at a sports bar for a burger and a beer with a co-worker, I decided I was in the mood to do some used CD shopping.
In my quest to doing this in the most efficient manner, I’ve gotten down a route to fit in the most stores I can without going way out of my way. The route is basically a big loop that starts from my apartment, heading north on Broadway up to 13th where I hit up Wax Trax on 13th and
On this trip, I had more extra money than usual, but as always I had things I need money for as well. I had set aside some cash for my daughters 9th B-day that is coming up early next month. I also need to replace the phone jacks in my apartment as well and I want to finally hook up hi-speed internet as well. I had the target of $50 bucks I wanted to spend. The problem with this though, I’m kind of like a estrogen filled rich chick on a shoe shopping spree when I get going and today would be no different. It was one of the better days I’ve had digging through the used bins. I would walk with 12 CD’s, five of those I was very happy to find and drop a little over $75.00. Here is the trip in words.
Independent Records on 
I started my loop and wanted to hit up Wax Trax first. Well, some of the streets leading to it were fucked up and there was a long line of cars backed up, so I quickly said “fuck it” and just drove to Colfax. From there, I drove right past Jerry’s Record Exchange not really finding a parking space. I figured I’d just go up to Independent Records. I had seen the store earlier this winter when I was meeting up for a friends birthday at a bar off of Colfax and had wanted to hit up, but this was the first time both thought about it and had the time. I thought I had never been there before, but once I got in there and looked around, I realized I had been there before. Back in ’97, my roomate and I flew to
As I was walking up to the store I saw an old poster for The Roots in the windows store. This was a good sign. Since it was off of Colfax, it was likely to be more “urban” in nature. For those of you unfamiliar with
I was straight outta work, and funny enough, Friday’s are “Hawaiian Shirt” day at my office (no shit). I was sporting mine as I headed to the hip hop section. The first downfall of the store is they lump all “black music in the same section. All R&B, Hip Hop, Soul, Jazz, Funk, it’s all lumped together, which makes it difficult to dig through. It made for a hell of a section though, taking up probably 60% of the store. I started at the “A’s” and started making my way down the rows. Right off the bat I noticed shit is kind of expensive and the used CD’s are mixed in with all the new ones, making this an even more difficult endeavor. All CD’s were at least $4.99, most being between the $7.99-$9.99 and a few CD’s on the top rack that were between $1.99-$4.99. As a rule, I’ll rarely spend over $7.99 for a used CD, if I’m going to spend more, I might as well by it new if I can.
After spending close to 45 minutes going through everything (and probably not as good as I should have), I took my five CD’s I found and headed up to the counter. Now, before I say what I’m about to say, I have always wanted to work in a record store and if I ever win the lottery, I’m going to open one, but there are always some of the most “eccentric” people working in these stores. At the counter at this store was a chick. She might not have been that bad looking if she didn’t have tats all over (and not pretty ones, I mean the jail yard specials) and more metal on her face than MF Doom has on his. She was wearing a “Twizted” throw back jersey and a hat turned to the side as well and I’m wondering to myself “Wow, is she for real”? She starts ringing me up, and remember, I’m looking whiter than white with my dress shoes, slacks and Hawaiian shirt, the only thing I had on remotely “hip” was the baseball cap that I always keep in my car and my bald head. She starts talk all ebonics on me “Old School stuff huh? That’s funk fresh”! Wow, this is…. interesting. She hold’s up one of the CD’s I’m buying and says “This shit is fly”! Yikes. I try not to laugh, wondering if she realizes she is a caricature of every stereotype I had for record store clerks. I chuckled as I walked out the store into the bright and warm late spring day and toss the panhandler outside a buck.
Here is the bounty from Independent Records:
| 1. Six Bad Brothers |
| 2. Rated R |
| 3. Don't Mess |
| 4. New Funky Nation |
| 5. Once upon a Drive By |
| 6. T.R.I.B.E. |
| 7. Walk the Line |
| 8. R.A.I.D. |
| 9. Psyko Funk |
| 10. Riot Pump |
| 11. Pickin' up Metal |
Before Suge Knight was on the scene, these were the dudes in Hip-Hop you didn’t want to fuck with. Six, big, strong Samoans, they rolled deep and you didn’t want to get on their wrong side. I have a crazy story about trying to stop, unsuccessfully, a group of Samoans from rioting in a bar I was a door man for once, but I’ll leave that for another day. I seem to recall them getting after some rap crew back in the day, but I can’t remember who or the specifics.
This is actually a pretty good record. They incorporated live instruments before it was cool to do so (maybe Digital Underground & Stet were the only groups doing it at the time). They had production from Joe “The Butcher” Nicolo, who is highly underrated from that time period. He is also the executive producer for the album. “The Butcher” had hands in many albums as an engineer and also in production. I think he did a chunk of 7A3’s album, along with Steady B, Schoolly D and many of the Philly MC’s from the time. The Dust Brothers of Paul’s Boutique fame are also on board, producing three tracks including two of the best songs on the album, Rated R and Don’t Mess. West Coast legend, Tony G also does a couple tracks, including the single “Psyko Funk”.
The album sounds like an old 70’s funk album for the most part, and being a big fan of funk, it’s one of the reasons I’ve always liked it. I first heard of Boo-Yaa from “Yo!” when they played the Pysko Funk video quite often. Me being the curious mind I was in those days, I went out and bought the tape. I can’t say it got a lot of play from me, but it did spend a lot of time in my glove box in my black Jetta in those days. I never went and bought it on CD. I hadn’t heard for ages until a couple years ago, someone posted it up on Cocaine Blunts and I realized that this was a pretty good album that I kind of overlooked in it’s time. I had no problem shelling out $4.99 for it. You might be able to find it some baragin bins in certain places, but I hadn’t seen this for awhile, so I wasn’t going to pass it up.
Chubb Rock – The One (Select Records, 1991) $7.99
If Polarity were to do that top 25 list, this album would have been in his top three more than likely (where is that fucker, I haven’t seen him forever, Polarity that is….Where you at
I’ve been meaning to buy this forever. I only had it on tape and Polarity sent me a vinyl ripped version on disc, but the vinyl version is missing a couple songs. Every time I find it, it’s always more money than I really want to spend, but I finally said “Fuck it” and grabbed it this time. For $7.99, it’s on my high-end limit, but this is near classic in my book (if it would shed a couple songs, it would be classic) so I shouldn’t bitch too much about dropping the cash on this.
College Boyz – Radio Fusion Radio (Virgin, 1992) $2.99
| 1. Victim of the Ghetto |
| 2. Iinterlude: Radio Fusion Radio |
| 3. Hollywood Paradox |
| 4. Politics of a Gangster |
| 5. Underground Blues |
| 6. Interlude: The Homeless |
| 7. Rigmarole |
| 8. Interlude: After These Messages |
| 9. Interlude: Peter Pump |
| 10. Interlude: I Gotcha |
| 11. Humpin' |
| 12. Interlude: Phone Sex |
| 13. College Boyz in the House |
| 14. Interlude: Concerned Parent |
| 15. Real Man |
| 16. Interlude: Highroller Parade |
| 17. How Ta Act |
| 18. Interlude: Tips of the Day |
| 19. Funky Quartet of the Day |
| 20. Interlude: Who the F... Is This? |
| 21. Politics of a Gangster Dub |
I can’t say I was ever a huge fan of this group. I can’t ever recall owning the CD or tape back in the day. I did like “Victim Of The Ghetto” when “Yo!” played in their regular rotation back in day. Their other single, “Hollywood Paradox” was the first example of the use of “Between The Sheets” from the Isley Brothers, which Masta Ace would use better on the INC Ride a few years later. I seem to remember an interview with them explaining why the groups name was College Boyz, but I can’t recall the details to it. The production is your typical west coast staple during the time, nothing special and I don’t recognize any of the producers in the liner notes.
| 01 | One To Grow On (3:33) | |
| 02 | Kraftworks (3:40) | |
| 03 | Morals (3:27) | |
| 04 | Blue Cheese (3:31) | |
| 05 | Swing It To The Area (3:14) | |
| 06 | Never Never Land (4:12) | |
| 07 | You Got My Back (4:05) | |
| 08 | Jive Talk (3:34) | |
| 09 | Feelings (3:58) | |
| 10 | Any Way The Wind Blows (3:22) | |
| 11 | Pass It On (4:20) | |
| 12 | Woman Be Out (3:36) | |
| 13 | Hey Here We Go (3:20) | |
| 14 | It's Gonna Last (4:00) |
I was pretty stoked to find this CD. For the past six months, there has been a CD single from their second album at one of the stores I go to all the time and every time I think it’s this album until I realize it’s the same ole thing. When I ran across this on Friday, I almost passed it over thinking it was the single until I did a double take and realized it was the actual album. This is the kind thing that makes me LOVE digging through all the crap to find. This is why I’ll never stop going to old beat down records stores and digging for an hour. This is why I don’t do all my shopping on Amazon.com. Finding that gem in the pile of pebbles makes it all good.
In all honesty, I HATED UMC’s back in the day. I wanted nothing to do with this album. I wanted nothing to do with “Blue Cheese” or “One To Grow On”, the two singles, which “Yo!” seem to play at nausea (for me at least) back in the day. Of course I wasn’t a fan of either the first De La album or Tribe effort either. To me, they seemed soft. I was into the “hard” stuff, PE, Rakim, Kane, and LL, all the “in your face” type of hip hop. I didn’t want to hear this soft corny shit.
Fast forward to 2004, Polarity and I traded some MP3 disks through snail mail and after I said I didn’t want or need to hear the UMC’s, he went ahead and sent it to me anyway. “Dammit, what am I going to do with this shit?”, I thought to myself. Well the disk he put it on had some good albums on the disk (I always wondered if he did that purpose) so one time while listening to the MP3 disk, I figured I’d listen to it. Low and behold, I liked it. I listened to it again, and again, and again, you get the picture. Chalk it up to being older and wiser. I threw down $6.99 for it and I would have paid more for it. I don’t remember what it was going for on Amazon.com, but I think there was a reason I didn’t buy it on there sooner. I never really thought I’d see it out on a trip.
Subterraneous Records Presents WaterWorld Too (Subterraneous Records) $3.99
- "Emerge-In-Sea Intro"
- "Substance" feat. Magestik Legend, Malaki, One Be Lo; prod. One Be Lo"Subterraneous" feat. Magestik Legend, One Be Lo; prod. Ironiclee
- "The Saga Continues" feat. Kodac, Decompoze, Illite; prod. One Be Lo
- "Splash" feat. One Be Lo, Decompoze, Kodac, Buff; prod. One Be Lo
- "Rivers Run Wild" feat. One Man Army, Kodac, Illite, Magestik Legend; prod. Decompoze
- "Monsters" feat. Magestik Legend, One Be Lo, Malaki; prod. One Be Lo
- "Mag(nificent) 7" feat. Magestik Legend, Illite, Kodac, Nova Cain, Malaki, One Be Lo, Vital; prod. One Be Lo
- "Waterlude" feat. Illite, Malaki; prod. One Be Lo
- "Player Haters" feat. Magestik Legend, Kodac, One Be Lo, Illite, Octaine; prod. Chic Masters
- "Word Em Up" feat. Boy One Da, Magestik Legend, Illite, Kodac; prod. Phrikshun
- "Life In The Fast Lane" feat. One Be Lo, Illite, Magestik Legend; prod. One Be Lo
- "Pistons" feat. Illite, Kodac, The Anonymous, KLM; prod. Chic Masters
- "Jokes On You" prod. Chic Masters
- "Mental Planes" feat. One Be Lo, Magestik Legend, Malaki; prod. One Be Lo
- "Double Essay's (S.S.A)" feat. One Be Lo; prod. Phrikshun
- "Millipede" feat. One Man Army, Decompoze, Magestik Legend; prod. One Be Lo
- "Beat Break" feat. DJ Virus
- "Waterworld Wide" feat. Nick Speed, Magestik Legend, Illite, Kodac, One Be Lo, Malaki, Octaine; prod. One Be Lo
This is the “newest” album I bought in terms of release dates. I couldn’t find a year on the CD, but I found it on Soulseek back in ’04 and it came out after “Masters Of The Universe” which dropped in ’00 (I think, I’m doing this post off the head, so I can’t verify it exactly). The album, which is a collection of Subterraneous Records artists, is also void of Senim Silla, who was the second half of Binary Star. He left the group, I want to say, in ’02. So I’m guessing this dropped sometime between ’02 and ’04.
For those of you unfamiliar with Subterraneous Records, it’s the home of One Man Army aka One Be Lo who, with Senim Silla, formed Binary Star. They released “Water World” in the late ‘90’s then basically re-released it as “Masters Of The Universe” with a few extra songs. “Masters…” is one of my favorite albums of this decade, it’s a great album that has a certain sound that also encompassed on this compilation as well as well as it should since the “Trackzoids” and Decompoze produce most of this album, and they were also responsible for “Masters..” as well.
As I said, I’d never seen a real copy of this, so when I saw sitting there for $3.99, I had no problem grabbing it. All fans of One Be Lo and Binary Star should pick this up. It does have some second rate MC’s on it, but for the most part, it will satisfy your hunger for that Subterraneous sound.
Twist & Shout on
I won’t get much into the specifics of the store because I’ve posted
them before for this place. It’s basically one of the larger independent record stores in
Audio Two – I Don’t Care: The Album (First Priority Music/Atlantic, 1990) $7.99
1. On The Road AgainInterlude One
2. Get Your Mother Off The Crack
3. Undercover Hooker
4. Worse Than A Gremlin
5. Whatcha' Lookin' At
Interlude Two
6. I Get The Papers
7. Milk Does The Body Good (Remix)
8. Start It Up Y'all
9. When Milk's On The Mic
Interlude Three
10. Build Up Back Up
11. The Nasty
12. 6Teen
13. Step
14. Many Styles
You would think as big of an Audio Two and FPM fan that I am, I would already have this album. Nope, I had it on tape, but never could track done the fucking CD….until now. This is my crowning moment of the day. Again, that feeling of elated joy hit when I ran across it. I could have done cartwheels across the store and I’ve never been able to do cartwheels before. I love this album, always have. I’ve always had the tape close by until I tracked it down on MP3.
I can’t say anything that I haven’t already said on the other two or three times I’ve posted up this album, I just love these guys. I was thumbing through the liner notes and ran into something interesting in there that got me thinking:
“Every once in a while there comes an album with lyrics and music that can create controversy and discussion coast to coast. Audio Two’s new album “I Don’t Care” is such an album. Audio Two a.k.a. Milk and Gizmo are responsible for some of Hip-Hop’s finest productions, remixes and lyrics and with “I Don’t Care” they continue the tradition and take a brassy no-nonsense approach to the music they create. It is certainly a breath of fresh air in this age of R&B and commercialized Hip-Hop.
- Jamie Christian
The album did create some controversy in its time for Milks homophobic lyrics on a couple songs and at the time, I loved them, since I was a bit homophobe at the time myself. I can’t say it was a HUGE uproar, but it did get some mention in magazines and the such. Milk was also one of the first MC’s to dis MC Hammer as well with “Yo Hammer can’t rhyme and .357 is a bunch of hooooo’s” line. This was when Hammer was reigning hard. What really caught my attention is the last line. Doesn’t that sound familiar? Isn’t that basically what we are saying in our present? This was in 1990 remind you. I always thought out of the expanding “Golden Age” of hip hop that can arguably be classified from ’86-’96, that 1990 was by far the weakest year. There was an over running of commercialized garbage with Hammer, Gerardo, Young MC, Tone Loc, Vanilla Ice, Wreckx N Effex and other artists trying to capitalized on Hip-Hop’s rising popularity at the time. Are us “old-timers” just forgetting that some of the same things were happening then that is happening now? True, I’d much listen to almost any of those fore mentioned artists (okay, maybe not Gerardo) than most of the radio crap now a days, but a lot of that music got hated on for it’s commercialized origin. This is heading into a whoooooole other post, so I’ll step off the philosopher’s box for now. Needless to say, I would have paid new price for this album, so $7.99? No problem!
| 1. Wake Up People |
| 2. Trip 2 The Suburbs |
| 3. Get Em Now Bad Influence |
| 4. Crack Ya Back |
| 5. Flavor Wit The Neighbors |
| 6. Girls Like We Know |
| 7. Warning Flammable |
| 8. GTO And The Funky Horns |
| 9. Skull Funkin |
| 10. Talk That Talk |
| 11. Ki Ki Bobo |
| 12. Hot Summer Days |
| 13. Understand Me Vanessa |
| 14. To The Climax |
| 15. As The World Turns |
| 16. Dedicate |
| 17. Oh Olivia |
This is one of those albums I discovered on Cocaine Blunts message boards during its height in popularity. Before that, I knew nothing of Anttex and still don’t know much about him and since I’m doing this from off the top of my head, I’m not going to try to get to fancy with this. After I downloaded it off of Cocaine Blunts, I gave it some listens and really liked it. It’s not a great-lost treasure or anything, but it’s that hard, early 90’s hip-hop that I was into at the time. Don’t make the mistake and think this is some soft bubble gum music from its title, cause it’s not, its pretty hard. If I remember right, he is from the outskirts of NY,
This was recently issued the re-release treatment, oddly enough, so when I ran across this, I expected it to be the re-release version, but much to my surprise, it’s got a copyright from 1991 and I don’t see anything that would lead me to believe it’s the re-release version. Not that I’m one of those nerds that wants the original versions if the re-release version is the same thing. Some re-releases have different samples because of clearance problems, such as some of Mix-A-Lot’s early records and Geto Boys (Gangsta Of Love had the Steve Miller sample on the original). The original release of NWA’s “NWA & The Posse” had a Doctor Funkenstien track instead of Cube’s “A Bitch Is A Bitch” track (I still need that original NWA, so someone hook a brother up). What I’m trying to say, for $4.99, I think this was a good purchase and something I was happy to have.
Doctor Ice – The Mic Stalker (Jive/RCA, 1989) $8.99
| 1 | Bass Up - Bass Down (4:09) | |
| 2 | Everybody Git Funky (3:14) | |
| 3 | Nobody Move (3:21) | |
| 4 | Love Jones (5:05) | |
| 5 | Sue Me! (4:10) | |
| 6 | Brooklyn To L.A. (3:41) | |
| 7 | Fever (3:51) | |
| 8 | Feelin' Irie (5:12) | |
| 9 | The Mic Stalker (2:56) | |
| 10 | Word To The Wise (3:21) | |
| 11 | The Chillologist (4:39) | |
| 12 | Word Up Doc! (3:21) | |
| 13 | I Ain't Goin' (4:07) | |
| 14 | Just A Little Bit (Oh Doctor, Doctor) (3:02) | |
| 15 | True Confessions (5:44) |
I know, I know, what the fuck is Trav smoking now, paying $8.99 for this trash? This album might not have aged all that well, but this was one of my favorite albums my Soph/Junior year in High School in ’89. My Alpine deck in my little Jetta played this tape many times. Even my non-rap friends started liking this tape before it was all said and done, so it has a lot of sentimental value to me. I enjoy listening to this album still to this day and was really excited to run across it on CD.
Doctor Ice was from UTFO, who ironically, I wasn’t a big fan of in the day. I’m not sure what even got me to buy this, probably like usual, there was a video they played, but I can’t say which song it would have been, maybe “Everybody Git Funky”. The album has some great one-liners that I remember my buddies and I saying back then. The album itself is a hodge podge of all different styles. The album contains some reggae-influenced tracks (he had an alter ego named Dread Doc on the album) like “Feelin’ Irie”. There is some gangsta shit with lots of cussing such as the track “Sue Me!”, which as a 15-16 year old, I liked. There are some tracks with heavy bass that I liked for the two 12’s I had in the trunk and there are some HORRIBLE love songs as well. Do I feel bad about spending $8.99 for this? Hell no!
Dana Dane – Dana Dane 4 Ever (Profile, 1990) $5.99
| 1 | Dedication 2 (0:46) | |
| 2 | Dana Dane To It (3:52) | |
| 3 | A Little Bit Of Dane Tonight (5:12) | |
| 4 | Tales From The Dane Side (5:16) | |
| 5 | What Dirty Minds U Have (3:50) | |
| 6 | Makes Me Wanna Sing (4:39) | |
| 7 | Dana Dane 4-Ever (3:25) | |
| 8 | Lonely Man (5:05) | |
| 9 | Johhny The Dipper (4:15) | |
| 10 | Something Special (4:50) | |
| 11 | Bedie Boo (2:22) | |
| 12 | Just Here To Have Fun (4:18) |
I think this was about the point in the shopping spree that I didn’t care about the price or what it was, if it was something remotely interesting, I grabbed it. Maybe it was the fact I didn’t actually have any hard copies of any Dana Danes ablum (I had his last album, but it’s been missing for awhile now). How can you be an “Ol Skool” hip-hop head without any Dana Dane in your collection? I wish it was his first album, which is going for a steep price, but as I said, at this point, nothing mattered. Would I spend $5.99 on this again if I had to redo it? Hmmmm, probably not, I think I’ve past this up before, but at least I have a Dana Dane album in my collection…hahaha.
D.J. Magic Mike – This Is How It Should Be Done (Magic Records, 1993) $4.99
| 1. It's Star Time |
| 2. Last Person To F--k With |
| 3. Magic's Funky Jeep Beats |
| 4. Keep It Goin Now |
| 5. Fury Who? |
| 6. Magic & Bartell |
| 7. Feel The Beat |
| 8. Rhyme After Rhyme |
| 9. Past And Present Times Of A Black Man |
| 10. Magic's Cuttin Up! |
| 11. To The Fans II |
| 12. Do You Like The Bass II |
| 13. 20 Degrees Of Bass |
| 14. Get Wicked |
| 15. Bass Check I |
| 16. Magic's Machine #3 |
| 17. Prelude To The Years |
| 18. Through The Years |
| 19. This Is How It Should Be Done |
| 20. 2 For The Bass |
| 21. Royal Brothers In The House |
“Is that a Magic Mike CD I don’t have?!?!?!! I must have it!” that was the thought that was going through my head when I saw this. In my ultimate quest to have every worthwhile DJ Magic Mike CD there is, I grabbed this. Don’t ask me why I feel I have to have his catalog, I just do, no one understands it, not even myself. One of these days, I’m going to write up a post on the brillance that was Magic Mike, but not tonight. For $4.99, I’ll take this, even those its mostly instrumentals with wicked bass that I really don’t have a way to play to its full potential.
De La Soul – Ego Trippin’ (Part Two) (Tommy Boy, 1993) $3.99
| 1 | Ego Trippin' (Part Two) (Original Version) (3:52) | |
| 2 | Ego Trippin' (Part Two) (LA Jay Remix) (4:13) | |
| 3 | Ego Trippin' (Part Two) (Gumbo Funk Remix) (5:46) | |
| 4 | Lovely How I Let My Mind Float (4:02) | |
| 5 | Ego Trippin' (Part Three) (4:40) |
If I had to pick a favorite group in all of hip-hop, it would probably be De La Soul, so I try to pick up anything out of the ordinary they are on. I usually don't bother with CD singles, but this contained two remixes (the Gumbo mix is kind of cool) I had never heard before plus two of my favorite “b-sides” in “Lovely How I Let My Mind Float” and “Ego Trippin’ (Part Three)” so I had to grab it and $3.99 was a cheap price to pay. If you have never heard Part Three (it’s a totally different song), and like De La, you MUST download this NOW!
Eric B & Rakim – Let The Rhythm Hit ‘Em (MCA, 1990) $6.99
I know, I know, there most definitely has to be some kind of hip-hop law against not owning all of Eric B & Rakim’s albums. For some reason, I have the damnedest time holding on to their albums. I’ve had all of them at one time or another, but they always seem to disappear over the years. I have all on them on tape, but CD’s just don’t hang around much. The only other Eric B & Rakim CD I had was “Follow The Leader”, which means, damn, I don’t have “Paid In Full” on CD. I’m going to have to change that.
This one is probably my least favorite of their discography, meaning I like it a lot, just not as much as the others, with “Don’t Sweat The Technique” barely beating this out. $6.99 is probably the cheapest you are going to find their albums used, unless you find them in the pawnshops, so I had didn’t have any qualms about the price.
Needless to say after dropping nearly $50 bucks at Twist & Shout, I decide to skip the last two stores, even though I was driving right by them. I’d dropped enough cash for the day. Funny enough though, on the way home, I bought a coke and $5 bucks worth of scratch tickets and won $25 dollars, so it’s kind like I was close to my target allowance anyway.
That’s another shopping trip in the books. May all your CD’s be rare and prices be cheap…..
