Nubian Crackers Part 2

Another great autumn day, love this shit. Anyway, more Nubian Crackers to appease the masses. And an EP tossed in as well....enjoy!

Cracker Beats Vol 7
A1 Down Home Funk
A2 Toe Jam
A3 Beat From Hell
A4 Mulatu
A5 Sweet Thang
B1 The Funky Punani Break Part 3
B2 British Soul
B3 Get Out Of My Life, Hoe
B4 Mixed Up Funk
B5 Hip Hop Rhapsody

Cracker Beats Vol 8
A1 Playah Soul
A2 Step Up Front
A3 Pump Me Up
A4 At The Hip Hop
A5 Chicken Head
B1 Old School Girl Crush
B2 Methical Blow
B3 Just One Of Those Things
B4 N.C. Express
B5 Down-Low

Cracker Beats Vol 9

A1 October
A2 Mims
A3 Nubian Penguin
A4 Big Cracker Beat
A5 Super Session
B1 Supa Sperm
B2 Looking Out My Window
B3 Nubian Dazz
B4 Bill Cracker
B5 I'm Your Cracker

The Best of Cracker Beats Vol 1
No Track Listing


The Chocoloate Bam Boo EP

1. Test The Rocket Launcha Remix
2. Clap 2 Da Remix
3. What's That Riddim
4. Say Hoe
5. X Rated
6. Here Dissa Jamma

Read More...

Summary only...

Nubian Crackers Part One

After a failed attempt at finishing this week's "This Or That", I gave up for now. It should be up later tomorrow night.

So to hold you all off, we are going to jump back to what the Daughter was originally intended for, and that's the old school stuff. Nubain Crackers is a production duo out of New York that consisted of Prince Quick Mix and The Undercover Brother. That had some bangin' instrumental series in the form of Cracker Beats. These have appeared in places like Strictly Beats and Mass Corporation (what up Mass!) previously, but in case some of you cats were sleeping, take some No Doz and wake up!

Cracker Beats Vol. 1

A1		So I Can Get Some
A2		Foreplay
A3		Funky Pebbles
A4		Back Door Beat
A5		Gotta Groove
B1		Chronic Indo
B2		Nubian Sunday
B3		Walk With Me
B4		Shades Of Brown
B5		Gumba Gumba

Cracker Beats Vol 3

A1		S.O.B.
A2		Jungle Fever
A3		Crackzilla
A4		Catch My Nuts (In Your Mouth Mix)
A5		The Funky Punani Break
B1		Cracker Theme
B2		Pocket Pool
B3		Untitled Funk Beats
B4		Thest These Nuts (In Your Chin Mix)
B5		Nubian Scratch

Cracker Beats Vol 4

A1		Give Da Drum Some
A2		Flash One Time
A3		Mister Ed Groove
A4		Ain't No Crackers In Harlem
A5		The Funky Punani Break (Part Two)
B1		Raw Ham
B2		Sho Nuff Phat Shiet
B3		Chitlins & Crackers
B4		From The ......
B5		Drives

Cracker Beats Vol 5

A1		Get Up Nasty
A2		Bitches Brew
A3		Kid Dynamite
A4		Breaking Point
A5		Raw Hamburger
B1		Here Comes Da Fuzz
B2		Da Funky Man
B3		Billy Joe

Read More...

Summary only...

Philaflava.com's 100 Greatest Obscure Tracks: Part Seven

Link For All Tracks


Money Boss Players - What U Sayin
Nas - Street Dreams (K-Def Remix)
Naughty By Nature - It's On (Beatnuts Remix)
Nine - Me, Myself, and My Microphone
N-Tense – Raise The Levels of The Boom
Nubian Crackers – Do You Wanna Hear It? feat. The Artifacts
O.C. - Born To Live (DJ Eclipse Remix)
Omnisence - Touch Ya'll feat. Sadat X
ONYX - Purse Snatchaz Part 2 feat. Smoothe Da Hustler & Trigga Tha Gambler
Penthouse Players Clique - P.S. Phuk U 2 feat. DJ Quik & Eazy-E

Money Boss Players – What U Sayin’ (

Classic shit right here from one of the most overlooked groups in hip-hop history. I remember bumpin MBP shit off Doo Wop mixtapes all throughout the 90's, so I was waiting for an album for the longest time. After dropping various singles, their Cop N Go LP ended up getting shelved in '98 leaving MBP fans stuck. Then I heard about their 1994 release, Ghetto Chronicle Daily. I couldn't find much info on it at all til Spine Magazine reviewed it in their Rarities section in '03. I remember hearing this joint and being hooked instantly, so I emailed the writer of the review begging for the the full song in mp3 form, he ended up lacing me with some crazy ass file type that I converted to mp3 which I spreaded online and the rest is history. This is one of those songs that gives you that unexplainable feeling that can only be elicited by great music. Criminally slept-on producer, Minnesota laces a creative 1920’s-esque but still hard-hitting beat to compliment the “I’m a G, I’m getting bitches and I’m living lavish” type lyrics. Make no mistake; this subject matter isn’t anything new nowadays, but remember this was made in the early 90’s before B.I.G. and Puff started the Shiny Suit era and before Jay was “Feelin It”. Lord Tariq, Eddie Chebba, Big Ah, C-Dub, Tre Bags and the rest of the MBP crew were truly ahead of their time and didn’t give a fuck whether you liked it or not cause they were gonna do their own thing regardless. They used to run with the infamous Pistol Pete from Soundview Projects (Google it kids) so that should tell you that they were true street niggas foremost with music coming second. Any fans of raw, NY hip-hop need to check out the rest of the GCD EP ASAP cause that shit is the epitome of grimy. - Original Philaflava post

Nas - Street Dreams (K-Def Remix) (

Does anyone remember the backlash that It Was Written received in 1996? I remember my local radio station DJ trying to be cute with his little "It Was Written wasn't hittin'" line. Nas went from describing the turmoil and harsh realities of his environment on Illmatic to writing fantasy rap about crimes he never commit and mafioso wet dreams on his sophomore LP. What many people saw as a lack of authenticity, hipster revisionists now see as Nas' own Kool G. Rap experiment- the master wordsmith penning artistically genius fiction over contemporary production. "Street Dreams" is a prime example of the jiggy-thug aesthetic that Nas apparently (to the critics) was not good at and as a single it received a lot of flack. I, for one, liked it but Cormega took issue with the pink suit. If the Eurhythmic’s sample wasn't already commercial enough to make purists puke bile, the even-more fluffy alternative with R. Kelly was worse and sadly more popular on radio and TV. K-Def, who is a legendary producer in his own right and could have had a spot on Illmatic now that we look back on it, saved the day with his remix, that for whatever reason I can only find being sold by the eBay nerds trying to run the price up. Equipped with better drums, the same dramatic pause around 45 seconds in, and a slew of classic breaks used by DJs on hooks of the early to mid 90s- the song comes off more hip hop than the 80s-rock sounding original. - Original Philaflav post

Naughty By Nature - It's On (Tommy Boy, found on the "It's On" 12 inch, which included the Kay Gee Remix, the Pete Rock remix for "Hip Hop Hooray" and this remix, 1993)

Once again my personal tastes force me to remain relatively mum on this choice. I have a love/hate relationship with Naughty by Nature in the first place. I liked them, but they had such a "formula" for things that it seemed like every album was just a remake of their last album. The Beatnuts on the other hand, I loved, both their music and their production. So you'd think their remix of "It's On" (which I did like in it's original version) would be something special. Well, not quite, at least in my humble opinion. The beat sounds like it might have been one of the Beatnuts "blue light" specials, as it's not really one of the better beats. It's just kind of drab. I mean, it's funky, but just lacking something. Lyric wise, most of the older heads should be familiar with "It's On", for some of the younger pups out there, the single wasn't one of their smash hits, so unless you were familiar with more than just "OPP", "Ghetto Bastard" or "Hip Hop Hooray", this might have sneaked by. It does lack the blueprint the other hit singles had, but as I mentioned, I'm perfectly okay with that. Notice the Sir Mix A Lot dis by Vinnie in his first verse. If it was from anyone other than Vinnie, it might be worth talking about..... -Trav

Nine - Me, Myself and My Microphone (Profile, from the "Watcha Want" b/w "Redrum" & "Me, Myself & My Microphone" 12 inch, 1994)

If you read this blog much, you know I'm pretty big on Nine's music and his two albums he released. Between his gruff voice (which yes, is probably gimmicky, but I've always found it dope) and his grimy, hardcore beats, he has just been that quintessential mid 90's hip hop for me. This joint popped up on the 12 inch of Nine's b-boy Jeep anthem "Whatcha Want" as a b-side and was listed as a "demo mix". That I can believe and I would be willing to bet it was recorded during his "9 Double M" phase as he refers to himself by that name often in the song and also mentions Funkmaster Flex, who he recorded with on at least two singles in the years leading up his debut release. The joint is typical Nine, meaning if you like him, you'll be down with this effort, if you don't, this won't change anything. Produced by longtime contributor, Rob Lewis (who produced "Whatcha Want"), it incorporates a piano sample that is sparse in nature over hard drums and employs a DMC vocal sample. Nine is Nine as far as the lyrical content. He uses his gruff voice and spits his hardrock rhymes, which is why you listen to Nine to begin with. - Trav

N-Tense - Raise The Levels of Da Boom (Phat Wax Records, on the 12 inch "Raise The Levels Of Da Boom", 1993)

I don't know much N-Tense or this joint. N-Tense did do a track on the first D&D All-Star album and would appear later in the 90's under the name Blu Warta and did a few tracks under that name. That said, this track is a great obscure joint that will give any old school head a woody, like some b-boy Viagra type of shit. I'm not sure who produced it and I'm not sure if I did that would mean anything, but this in the vein of some of the classic music coming out in '93 and '94. Crazy horn sample along with some dusty boom bap drums, toss in some scratching and put some crazy lyrics with a hard flow and you have yourself a song that should have been a classic during this era. Unfortunately it didn't quite work out that way. - Trav

Nubian Crackers - Do You Wanna Hear It feat The Artifacts (Big Beat, on the "Do You Wanna Hear It" 12 inch, 1993)

As much as I hate to admit it, someone is going to have to school me on the Nubian Crackers. I've heard of them a million times, but I think I confused them with another group that I didn't care for and never paid much attention. I'm doing my homework, as I've downloaded most of their "Cracker Beats" volumes they put out. I'm assuming they were a production crew? I didn't hear anyone else other than the Artifacts on this track. The production is fucking insane on "Do You Wanna Hear It?" It samples the same bassline that is in Professor Griff's "Pawns In The Game", and just comes off as the rugged rough shit that was so popular in the mid 90's and made it probably the best run in hip hop history. - Trav

O.C. - Born 2 Live (DJ Eclipse Remix) (Not sure if this was released or not, 12 inch single was released on Wild Pitch, 1994)

Not up on this release much either. Not sure if it's the same DJ Eclipse that was in Non Phixion or what. Regardless, a dope beat comes fully equipped on this version, with strings and keys providing a soothing melody that combines with the a little sampling of horns during the hook that just sets the mood lovely. I think I like this version more than the original. - Trav

Omniscience - Touch Y'all feat Sadat X (East/West Records, on the "Touch Y'all" single, 1995)

Omniscience sounds like (voice wise) a mix of buckshot, canibus, and someone else I'm still trying to put my finger on. Lyrically he's pretty nice with his. He drops lot's of one liners ("I'm not Denny's, I serve many brothers") guess thats why he calls himself the "Funky One Liner". Production wise, the track was produced by The Rhythm Fanatic and it was released as 12 inch that had a few remixes on it as well. This was the best of that batch. There is some nice smooth shit and there is some funky ass shit. It's very well produced. - Trav

ONYX - Purse Snatchaz Part 2 feat. Smoothe Da Hustler & Trigga Tha Gambler (Def Jam, on the "Evil Streets" b/w "Purse Snatchers Pt2" 12 inch promo, 1995)

All We Got Iz Us is one of the darkest albums in all of hip hop. A rainy day in your cd player, shit is just that real. Depression and drug abuse, unpaid bills that stack up to heights that block the suns golden rays- what starts off as a fleeting bit of melancholy in your ears becomes very real to the rest of your senses when your listen to Onyx's sophomore album. We have friends that die violently every day, a police force that is killing us off into extinction, cold and damp living quarters cramped with us, lots of us. And you know what? It's all we got, so we stick together. Every storm breaks. The grays and blacks part ways and the streaks of light that make their way down to us in little slivers give us just enough hope to give the next day a chance. When it comes to Onyx and the depressive All We Got Iz Us era, that hope was "Purse Snatchaz Pt. Two." Angry at the world? Do you have bills need to be paid? It's time to go purse snatching! All of us, who stick together through this tempest of turmoil have found a way out, even for only the most brief of moments. When the chips are down, everyone waits for the day that their fortunes change, for the day that a well-deserved opportunity will arrive and to capitalize on it. A tiresome task in itself, anticipation can get the best of people and this track by Onyx has plenty of that in it's history. This song was a reality that began as a rumor. Lyrical content aside, "Purse Snatchaz Pt. 2" didn't quite fit in to the sonic vibe of the rest of the album. People wanted this song so badly that an incomplete and unmastered version was jacked from someone in the Onyx camp and released on a mixtape before Onyx’s own DJ had a copy. The production is jazzy, Trigger the Gambler loans his voice to the hook and the result is a vibe of upliftment and spirituality. If this made it's way onto the LP it would have made a fitting song to close out the album with. Sticky, Sonsee, Fredro Starr, Smoothe and Trigger- a disgruntled "us" who are fed up with their lot have an epiphany that reveals to them that the only way out of their misery is to blaze their own trail the Rob and Vic way. - Original Philaflava Post

Penthouse Players Clique - P.S. Phuck U 2 feat DJ Quik & Eazy E (Priority Records, on the "Paid The Cost" LP as well as a promo 12 inch "Trust No B-----" b/w "P.S. Phuck U 2", 1992)

"P.S. Phuck U 2" goes against my not including tracks from full albums, but....I think this album is horribly underrated in today's scene and it's probably my favorite track on the album, so I guess I would let this one slide. PPC were down with Quik's 304 Posse and had that Pimp music down to a "T". As a youngster when this dropped, I was pretty infatuated with the fact that two of the biggest Compton players were on this album. This might be one of the only times that DJ Quik and Eazy worked together. It makes for an interesting collaboration. The music is funky, with a common sample used. DJ Quik comes of the best, mainly because someone pissed in his Cheerios that morning and he came to the studio a little pissed. "Yo! MTV Raps", "The Source", Tim Dog, and basically all of the East Coast catch Quik's wrath on his verse, which honestly is when I've always considered one of the first shots fired in the whole East/West war. Eazy is more of adlib person, introducing each MC before they spit their verse. Regardless, this will always be one of the west coast classics in my book. - Trav

Read More...

Summary only...