The folks at the T.R.O.Y. Forum are an industrious and proactive bunch. Recently contributor TheWool related that he was always annoyed by how the only available version of Def Squad "Breaker 1, Breaker 2" was marred by instances of editing, in this case reversed curses. Rather than sulk, he got up and did something about it, and through the magic of re-editing the world now has an uncensored version.
I'm a real fan of the Def Sqaud from around 1996. E-Doubles' production was on that fuzzy funk tip. This track was one of my faves but I could never find it un-edited, and all the best lines were ruined by the cuts.
Redman"You wanna get jig-da-fied, what it all means? Fuck Versace, I tote glocks in the Karl jeans..."
Keith Murray "How many ways can I say i just don't give a fuck..."
The curses were reversed including the beats, so they had to be re-reversed to put them right. This has to be done pretty exact (beyond the ms) and can be a long painful process especially with percussion involved, otherwise there is an audible pop on the transition.
Over at the forum, contributor GoodLook was kind enough to drop some joints from Philadelphia's own Major Figgas, a crew that may be directly unfamiliar to many, but have indirectly exerted some influence on the music industry in the past decade through their frequent collaborations and partnerships with some of your favorite rappers:
Major Figgas was founded in the Erie Ave area of Philadelphia by Gillie Da Kid and Abliva, who were friends from the neighborhood.[1] They knew Bump J, Dutch and Rolx from all living in the same area, and eventually expanded after inducting Spade and Bianca. Chops, Rucie, L deniro and Dirty Rik all soon came aboard. After releasing several underground tapes, they released the full-length Figgas 4 Life independently which landed them a deal with RuffNation Records/Warner Bros. Records. At this time they had an ongoing back and forth fued with Jay-Z & his Roc-A-Fella rap group State Property. An expanded edition of the album was issued in 2000, which reached #115 on the Billboard 200 and #29 on the U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.[2] Their lone major radio hit was "Yeah That's Us", which hit #2 on the U.S. Rap Singles chart and #34 on the R&B Singles chart.[3]They received a ASCAP Song of the Year award for "Yeah that's us" in 2001. (source- Wikipedia)
Here are the songs - let us know if you're feeling this because GoodLook suggests that he has more rare tracks to share if anyone is interested.
The T.R.O.Y. Blog Presents 100 Tracks You Need To Hear Part IV
1997-1999. You swear it wasn’t that long ago, but you know it might as well have been eons ago. Depending on your outlook, this is either the tail end of a gilded age or the beginning of the apocalypse. During this time, the hip hop artists born circa 1970 who catapulted the genre forward as teenagers and young adults in the ’87-’94 heyday are beginning to mellow out or gloss it up. Sampling laws are enforced more than ever but the indie labels are resolute in refusing to go the glittery route. Radio is dominated by obvious samples and tales of upward mobility and debauchery, while the underground mixshows stay saturated with eccentric rhyming clinics and surreal poetics. The divide is not entirely clean, however. In this era you can find surreal poets waxing profound on diamonds and champagne, gritty crime narratives on major label releases, and a whole host of songs that defy categorization (and a few that even defy simple explanation). This series is for those of you who know that the late ‘90s is deeper than just Organized Konfusion, Ras Kass, Mase, Nas, and Company Flow (no disrespect intended of course). This is for those of you that know that great hip hop comes from all corners of the USA and around the world, that the b-sides of overlooked 12”s and the album cuts of long forgotten tapes contain true gems. Songs that speak to our hunger for dope beats and lyrics and manage to stand out from the crowd. We made a special effort to seek out songs that you probably haven’t heard or don’t really remember too clearly, while making sure that each selection hearkens backs to the last era in which musical diversity and quality could be taken for granted. You need to hear this. Enjoy our 100 picks, coming at you at the rate of twenty five per day just in time for the holidays.
R.A.W. - Linguistic Ventriloquist Straight out of Delaware, R.A.W. drops a relentless rhyme style over a crisp, jazzy beat. A rare but very worthwhile treat. Rakim - Waiting For The World To End The God MC describes life in the bleak world of Wyandanche, Strong Island over understated but fitting production.
Rasco - Heat Seeking Rezidue - Droppin Rezidue
Saafir - I'm Saafir (The Saucy Nomad) I image some west coast G-Funk producer left his studio door open by accident, then a drunken MC walked in and recorded some fucked up vocals over the beat as a joke. Yet it worked out even nicer than any gangsta rapper could have done it. Sach - Poetical Me One part of The Nonce group, Nouka Basetype, now known as Sach, has dropped a cassette only album, with really dope cuts on it. On this track you can check how poetical he can be.
Scaramanga - Holdin' New Cards
Seagram - Sleepin In My Nikes feat. Scarface This is such a creepy track as it starts with Scarface reminding us that Seagram Miller is no longer alive, so I automatically imagine Seagram in a coffin with his nikes on. I truly think this is the coldest track in hiphop history. Self Scientific - Degrees Oh man, this beat was truly next level and would probably be revered by other 'trippy' types of genres, if they only knew. Chase Infinite truly drops degrees here, well after it was the 'cool' thing to do.
Shamus - Tight Team New York's obscure artist has released his first and only album, EP style. A very dark and obscure release. Two tracks, including this one were produced by Buckwild. Slick Rick - King Piece In The Chess Game Unfairly overlooked and underrated gem from Ricky D's "Art Of Storytelling" album. The fact that this joint was originally released on white-label under the name "Panties Stay Wet" should be enough reason for you to listen.
Souls Of Mischief - Shooting Stars Opio catches wreck over a most unorthodox beat, getting great mileage out of his extended metaphor and devoting the last verse to clowning Chino XL
Spice 1 - Suckas Do What They Can Real Playas feat. Yukmouth, Too Short & Rouger Troutman
Storm The Unpredictable - MC's Be Killin Me Oxon Hill's greatest rapper of all-time? Boom-Bap lyrically lyrical shit that you just don't find today. Storm was that dude.
Street Smartz - Don't Trust Anyone Buckwild laced a smooth melodic beat backed up by F.T rugged flow. DJ KO scratches the line "Ain't No One We Can Trust" from Onyx's Evil Streets for the chorus.
T Love - I'm Coming A Kid Called Miles lays down a murky, funky banger for the West Coast femcee, off of her extremely underrated debut EP.
Tasc 4orce - Root Of All Evil Thrust - Emcee Tony Da Skitzo - Let's Drift
Ugly Duckling - Einstein's Takin' Off Einstein leaves his physics on the side and starts his theoretical work on SP 1200.
Voodu - Introduction Western Hemisfear rapper and producer brings to you the darkest introductio from his dark regions.
Wee Bee Foolish - The Kid
Witchdoctor, Khujo, & T-Mo Goodie - Smooth Shit A true gem from one of the Dungeon Family's most prolific yet ignored talents. The title alone tells you what to expect, so just kick back and vibe to the Witchdoctor's unique blend of spirituality, smoke, and sex. Wu-Syndicate - Where Was Heaven All That I Got Is You Pt.2", Mylanski talks about his young life growing up in the VA projects. Yah Supreme - Old & Wise Not enough can be said of this emcee who disappeared as quick as he emerged. In a class of his own, style similar to none, this song is a perfect intro to his music and a gem you should never forget.
Young Lay - Got 2 Survive feat. Mac Mall, Ray Luv & 2Pac
Underrated producer Khayree and his labelYoung Black Brotha Records deliever another Bay Area collabo that leaves you missing this very sound is missed today.
The T.R.O.Y. Blog Presents 100 Tracks You Need To Hear Part III
1997-1999. You swear it wasn’t that long ago, but you know it might as well have been eons ago. Depending on your outlook, this is either the tail end of a gilded age or the beginning of the apocalypse. During this time, the hip hop artists born circa 1970 who catapulted the genre forward as teenagers and young adults in the ’87-’94 heyday are beginning to mellow out or gloss it up. Sampling laws are enforced more than ever but the indie labels are resolute in refusing to go the glittery route. Radio is dominated by obvious samples and tales of upward mobility and debauchery, while the underground mixshows stay saturated with eccentric rhyming clinics and surreal poetics. The divide is not entirely clean, however. In this era you can find surreal poets waxing profound on diamonds and champagne, gritty crime narratives on major label releases, and a whole host of songs that defy categorization (and a few that even defy simple explanation). This series is for those of you who know that the late ‘90s is deeper than just Organized Konfusion, Ras Kass, Mase, Nas, and Company Flow (no disrespect intended of course). This is for those of you that know that great hip hop comes from all corners of the USA and around the world, that the b-sides of overlooked 12”s and the album cuts of long forgotten tapes contain true gems. Songs that speak to our hunger for dope beats and lyrics and manage to stand out from the crowd. We made a special effort to seek out songs that you probably haven’t heard or don’t really remember too clearly, while making sure that each selection hearkens backs to the last era in which musical diversity and quality could be taken for granted. You need to hear this. Enjoy our 100 picks, coming at you at the rate of twenty five per day just in time for the holidays.
Ill Advised - Mic-Adelphia Straight from the Quake City valuts boasting a Sadat X sample and Illadelph swag.
Jedi Son of Spock & Yeshua dapoED - Spitmode Classic late 90’s indie flava from Yesh’s ill-named protégé. The two display some amazing back-and-forth chemistry, trading verses like water over dapoED’s organic production. Killarmy - Allah Sees Everything
Kool DJ EQ - Three Emcees feat. Casual, DEL & Xzibit An unusual combo that works wonders.
Kool Keith - Plastic World "Payola scams switched DJ’s like a rubber band. Everybody clear with beats trying to be Premier..." K-Otix - Do You Wanna Be An Emcee? feat. DJ Jazzy Jeff Texas meets Philly and asks the most common rap question.
La The Darkman - Az The World Turnz feat. Raekwon
Last Emperor - Echo Leader Last Emp gets down for the dorks. Pop culture references abound amidst the crunching instrumental on this ’98 banger.
Living Legends - Hip Hop Lords of the Underground - Retaliate L'Roneous da Versifier - L'chemy
Mac Dre - Rapper Gone Bad Fools who think Ronald Dregan could only rap about ecstasy pills and going dumb are about to get wig-flipped. While Dre is no Rakim, he proves he can easily hold his own on the centerpiece from his 1999 album of the same name. Yadadi?
Mike Zoot - The Turn Pt. 2 feat. Royal Flush Moodswingaz - Musslin
Mountain Brothers - Thoroughbred Styles, Peril-L & CHOPS over funky basslines break down their throughness lifting a Posdnous line from "Stakes Is High." Mr. Live & Tony Bones - Splashin' Over Monica Goofy platter from one of rap’s most underrated duos. Funky enough…for a state dinner? Echo Leader thinks so.
Murs - All Day When Nick Carter was just having fun, sampling De La Soul and would drop lines like "on Monday nights I watch RAW (WWF) and Ally McBeal.
Neek The Exotic - Exotic Is Raw This is Neek's first solo record from 98'. Still down' with Large Pro, Extra P gives him one of his best head-nodding signature beat. Neek truly shows his rawness on the mic. No I.D. - Original Man feat. Dug Infinite Chicago producer teamed up with his Chicago fellow, Dug Infinite, to make this very slept on album. On this track their slogan is simple: They originate, you duplicate.
Non-Phixion - How To Kill A Cop The most prominent conspiracy theorists in rap flip Redman’s original concept to a T, trading blunts and chickenheads for Glocks and dust. Some may call it heresy, but I call it hilarity.
Outsidaz - Money Money Money Young Zee & New Jeruz' most maligned rap crew tear up this atmospheric ode to the green. Who says that acid and rap don't mix?
People Under The Stairs - The Turndown One of the funniest and doppest PUTS tracks. Have you ever experienced that kind of the turndown like they did?
Pep Love - Trinity Hiero's most underrated talent flows effortlessly and revives the lost of art of rap storytelling at the same time, with a biblical twist that doesn't come off to preachy. Planet Asia - Kalidascope Track off Fresno's native debut release. I will quote one of his lines: "Adjust your lenses, and analyze the scenes that I wreck." Pyro - Status Quotient Chicago native and then-Harvard graduate student delivers a thesis on race relations and the corporate co-optation of hip hop, in rhyme form. It turns out much better than you'd expect.
The T.R.O.Y. Blog Presents 100 Tracks You Need To Hear Part II
1997-1999. You swear it wasn’t that long ago, but you know it might as well have been eons ago. Depending on your outlook, this is either the tail end of a gilded age or the beginning of the apocalypse. During this time, the hip hop artists born circa 1970 who catapulted the genre forward as teenagers and young adults in the ’87-’94 heyday are beginning to mellow out or gloss it up. Sampling laws are enforced more than ever but the indie labels are resolute in refusing to go the glittery route. Radio is dominated by obvious samples and tales of upward mobility and debauchery, while the underground mixshows stay saturated with eccentric rhyming clinics and surreal poetics. The divide is not entirely clean, however. In this era you can find surreal poets waxing profound on diamonds and champagne, gritty crime narratives on major label releases, and a whole host of songs that defy categorization (and a few that even defy simple explanation). This series is for those of you who know that the late ‘90s is deeper than just Organized Konfusion, Ras Kass, Mase, Nas, and Company Flow (no disrespect intended of course). This is for those of you that know that great hip hop comes from all corners of the USA and around the world, that the b-sides of overlooked 12”s and the album cuts of long forgotten tapes contain true gems. Songs that speak to our hunger for dope beats and lyrics and manage to stand out from the crowd. We made a special effort to seek out songs that you probably haven’t heard or don’t really remember too clearly, while making sure that each selection hearkens backs to the last era in which musical diversity and quality could be taken for granted. You need to hear this. Enjoy our 100 picks, coming at you at the rate of twenty five per day just in time for the holidays.
D. Auguste - Sunset The Bostonian emcee celebrates dusk as the time to "relax and chill" and also to "step out and build" over music that sets the mood precisely.
Da Great Deity Dah - Ready To Kill
Da Ruckus & Eminem - We Shine Life’s a b up in the D.
Danja Mowf - Make It Hot feat. Lonnie B Supafriendz go line-4-line over this '97 IRC favorite that you could have found in either #Dalnet, #Undernet or where Danja and Friendz would dwell, #Efnet. Defari - Say It Twice Evidence on another sound mission with Defair Heru deliever the goods. Demastas - Feel No Guilt feat. Nine Virgin Island's hip-hop crew Demastas & Nine kicks rhymes on one of the illest piano sampled beat with a classic Audio Two sample produced by Rob Lewis who also produced many of Nine's classics songs. This was their second 12" but unfortunately nothing ever followed. Devin The Dude & K-Dee - One Day At A Time The Dude connects with MIA Ice Cube-affiliate K-Dee to kick a message everyone can relate to. Just remember to hit 'em with the dub when you see 'em out mobbin'.
Diamond D - Flowin If you aren't feeling this song you just weren't meant for this life.
Digital Underground - The Odd Couple (Humpty Hump and Biz Markie) This classic mashup of the two oddest MC's in the hiphop game will forever be the closest that hiphop will come to making Rap-Stand-Up-Comedy. Divine Styler - Before Mecca The god released this banger, ripping it reminiscent to his earlier days, and was able to pull it off with divine results. Sadly the album was way under the radar and none of the beats quite lived up to this one.
DJ Shadow - Organ Donor (Extended Overhaul) When "Endroducing" dropped in 1996, I always wished that "Organ Donor" was longer. Turns out there was an extended version on the "High Noon" single. Just took me a few years to find it. Dres - Hi & Lo It's strange to hear such a clever MC who always has a joke on deck get deep about the low's that he's hit as a musician. One of Dres' dopest tracks. Equilibrium - Windows '98 Ill Bill Gates rides for Equilibrium. Finsta Bundy - Don't Stress Tomorrow An anthem for us who have always struggled to keep food in fridge, it still holds weight today more than ever. But hey, don't stress tomorrow.
Fly Guy Kool Kim - Ya Gotta Know (Dolo Fly Guy Version) Solo track from UMC member, produced by Haas G. Equally as good was the b side "Skilz R Amazing." Foul Play - Break It Down (Maylay Sparks) Before Rahsheed aka Maylay Sparks got down with Ill Advised he was making noise with his original crew, Foul Play.
Frankenstein - Rain Is Gone Frank is one of Canada’s most underrated producer/MCs and this song, his ode to the backstabbers, will show you why. Lace up your boots and zip up your goose, it's about to get chilly.
Govna Mattic - Family Day feat. Redman, Tame One, Young Zee, Pace Won, Runt Dog & Roz Noble
Grouch - Once Upon A Rhyme He's far from Rakim on the mic and he's hardly Pete Rock behind the boards. Yet somehow Grouch makes it all work, really well. Guerilla Maab - Keep Watching Me Z-Ro shows why heads who know still check for him in this slightly head-spinning double-time SUC exhibition.
Haiku De'Tat - Non Compos Mentis Eschewing the abrasiveness that often characterized Freestyle Fellowship songs, Aceyalone, Ab Rude, and Mikah-9 drop mellifluous rhymes over smooth live instrumentation and the result is something transcendent yet palatable.
Handsome Boy Modeling School - The Truth feat. J-Live & Roisin Murphy Herbaliser - 8 Pt. Agenda feat. Latryx I-Power - Under Da Sun
Ice-T - NY NY This track starts off with a drop by Onyx representin' NY. You already know that Ice-T represents LA all the way to NY. Marc Live gave Ice-T the perfect beat for this type of song.
The T.R.O.Y. Blog Presents 100 Tracks You Need To Hear ('97-'99) Part I
1997-1999. You swear it wasn’t that long ago, but you know it might as well have been eons ago. Depending on your outlook, this is either the tail end of a gilded age or the beginning of the apocalypse. During this time, the hip hop artists born circa 1970 who catapulted the genre forward as teenagers and young adults in the ’87-’94 heyday are beginning to mellow out or gloss it up. Sampling laws are enforced more than ever but the indie labels are resolute in refusing to go the glittery route. Radio is dominated by obvious samples and tales of upward mobility and debauchery, while the underground mixshows stay saturated with eccentric rhyming clinics and surreal poetics. The divide is not entirely clean, however. In this era you can find surreal poets waxing profound on diamonds and champagne, gritty crime narratives on major label releases, and a whole host of songs that defy categorization (and a few that even defy simple explanation). This series is for those of you who know that the late ‘90s is deeper than just Organized Konfusion, Ras Kass, Mase, Nas, and Company Flow (no disrespect intended of course). This is for those of you that know that great hip hop comes from all corners of the USA and around the world, that the b-sides of overlooked 12”s and the album cuts of long forgotten tapes contain true gems. Songs that speak to our hunger for dope beats and lyrics and manage to stand out from the crowd. We made a special effort to seek out songs that you probably haven’t heard or don’t really remember too clearly, while making sure that each selection hearkens backs to the last era in which musical diversity and quality could be taken for granted. You need to hear this. Enjoy our 100 picks, coming at you at the rate of twenty five per day just in time for the holidays.
100x - Philly Niggas International feat. Black Thought, Malik B & Rasheed Wallace Courtesy of L.E. Square's private stash, 100x teams up with Roots Crew members and Simon Gratz stand-out and NBA's public enemy #1, Rasheed Wallace.
3X Krazy - Keep It On The Real Bay Area heads will no doubt recognize this classic track from the trio’s “Stackin’ Chips” album. Ethereal Oaktown madness.
Above the Law - Deep Az The Root Although they are better known for living like hustlers, this acoustic guitar-laced track renders homage to the sadder events that have made them stronger. The chorus ask "Everyday is an episode, can you handle the load?"
Aceyalone & Abstract Rude - Me & My Main
Adagio - The Break Consisting of Big Cousin "The Obvious Wonder" and Reign Supreme, Adagio repped hard between Uptown and Philly. Their signature ill smoothed out approach to beats is evident here and Reign Supreme's mic demolition is in full swing. They were down with the Juggaknots, nuff said.
Agallah - Crookie Monster What do you get when you cross a beloved Muppet and one of the Alchemist’s illest beats? That’s that Crookie, duns. All City - Afta Hourz Better check how they do it or you can get robbed blind quick before you can blink. All Natural - Writer's Block Capital D draws the listener into his fictional world and tells a story we can all relate to. Arsonists - Fat Laces The Bushwick crew eschew their usually obstreperous deliveries for a much smoother approach on the mic, and it works wonders.
B-1 - Life We Lead Bee Why - Come Up
Big Kwam - The Reunion I swear I can hear a faint trace of Minnie Riperton howling in the background of this. Kind of a Natural Elements influenced duo, they both tear it down back and forth. Ring The Alarm! Binary Star - Evolution Of Man Pontiac, Michigan duo, brought to us an excellent underground record with some pure gems on it, similar like this one here.
BQE - Last Messiah Brainsick Enterprize - Time To Shine
Brick City Kids - What What Recorded under the BCK alias in order to avoid contract violation, El Da Sensei and Tame One flip rugged braggadocio over some Ghetto Pros heat. Classic ‘Facts, undeniably Jerz.
Burnt Batch - Temptation The Stockton, CA crew narrates cautionary tales of lust, crime, and deception over a shimmering Crusaders sample.
Camp Lo - Black Nostaljack (Remix) feat. Kid Capri and Run Capone-N-Noreaga - Closer (Sam Sneed Version) C-Bo - Money By The Ton Math lessons from the gas chamber.
Chubb Rock - The Mind CNN - Bloody Money Part IV (Remix) feat. Nas
It's not mentioned anywhere, but there is a (recycled?) verse from Big L in here. And I believe this was only released on some bootleg vinyl.
Connecticut Cartel - All Out (97) Cru - Nothin' But feat. Black Rob
No, not the pasty, sickly looking broad who is associated with Brother Lynch Hung.
This is a group that was signed to Priority Records in 1994. Two of their tracks appeared on Priority samplers around that time with promises of a forthcoming LP titled Touch The Sun that never saw the light of day (no pun intended).
You can preview these tracks via YouTube. You will notice that these songs are both really dope, with hard production and nimble rhyming reminiscent of something DJ Mark the 45 King might've been involved with - but there really is little to no information about the group or its music anywhere.
If you have any information on the group or the shelved LP, hit us up!
Over at the forums, contributor Mr. J Selectah is an enthusiastic and generous fan of great 90s indie hip hop, always uploading rare treats for us to forage. Although he's quite knowledgeable he is also humble enough to to ask his fellow T.R.O.Y. denizens to help him out when he's stumped. It's this kind of symbiotic relationship that makes out forum a great place to visit for rap fiends. Recently, he posted a thread full of advanced level questions, many of which remain unanswered.
One of the questions that stood out to me was whether or not The Basement Khemist (or "Basement Khemists" depending on who you ask) ever released tracks aside from the ones that appeared on a five track bootleg in late 90s. Selectah was kind enough to provide us with divshare uploads of these songs, and Roy Johnson upped a glitch-free version of "Petrified":
Shup Diddy is one of our forum's most eccentric and humorous contributors, but he's also a super hip hop crate digging nerd and DJ in his own right. He shared a live, unedited mix with us called "I Believe In The 90s" which he filmed and put on Twidvid for our listening and viewing pleasure:
I call it "I Believe in the 90's"
pt. 1
pt. 2(had to edit cause of some issues)
pt. 3
i had to put it on twitvid cause gay youtube blocked the audio on every single video cause of that stupid sony/wmg deal.
Holy shit. This was spotted over at DJ Stepone's blog which linked to it from Old School Hip Hop Tapes. Back on the forum, our good homie DJ Mike Nice purports to be the internet originator of this tape. I don't know who had what first, but regardless this is an amazing find:
Wyandanch High School Jam (1985) Featuring: Biz Markie, Kid Wizard Rakim, MC Chilly Dawg, Grandwizard BMC & DJ Fantasy, Inc.
(2 of 2): The main event featuring Biz Markie with DJ Grandwizard BMC (from the group Groove B. Chill) joined by MC Chilly Dawg(aka Daryl "Chill" Mitchell, also from Groove B. Chill). Later on, a VERY SPECIAL impromptu guest appearance from none other than the Kid Wizard Rakim Allah!!! He drops a couple of verses during track #10 in the folder.
I'm a child of rap's middle school and middle ground. Compared to some of the other contributors to this blog, I'm practically a teeny-bopper. I've owned about three crates of vinyl in my life (all purchased between '97 and '01) and 95% of my hip-hop listening consists of Native Tongue, Wu-Tang, Boot Camp Clik, Hit Squad, and DITC. This is bad because I always feel like an imposter claiming critical expertise when there is so much freakin' "underground" vinyl only stuff from the 90s that half the world (particularly Scandinavia) seems to be up on. But this is good because I frequently stumble upon things I didn't know existed.
Today, thanks to the good ol' T.R.O.Y. Forum, I discovered the following two songs which I feel entirely comfortable playing on repeat loop all goddamned night long if I so please:
Grand Puba "Hip Hop" (from Echo's Underground Airplay: Volume IV"
Okay, I KNOW that I had this tape but I only vaguely remember hearing the song. I must've liked it, right? Ah, thirty may be the new twenty but you can't revive brain cells, eh? In any event, this is classic Grand Puba comical punchline and smooth flow here, striking the perfect sonic and thematic balance between Guess n' Lo crisp flyness and goretex tough. Blast this in a jeep and if you don't have a jeep, just sip on E&J until you're too faded to remember what year it is.
Tung Twista ft. Dres "React With A Mic" (from Resurrection, 1994 - nope not that Resurrection from 1994 by a Chicago artist, but a different one)
OMG TWISTA BEFORE HE DROPPED THE TUNG RHYMING WITH BIG WORDS BLAH BLAH YADDA YADDA. Save it, Chi-town fanatics, this song is only worth a listen because Dres is on it in top form, ripping high speed flows that make young Twista sound like a souped up apprentice in comparison. Note to rappers: once you have flow, you need some fucking lyrics. This jam is super disgusting raw. Get with the program.
There's gems aplenty at the forum, so stop sleeping.
We speak of rap's yesteryear to marvel over the beats, perhaps even the slang, the gear, the personalities, all style variants. We presume the history of the rap genre to be mostly a mysterious series of stylistic collisions. Styles come and go and randomly dissipate into the ether, like that. We forget that the grandmasters have armies, that style is not simply unfettered intuitive poetic rumbling but also theory, conjecture, high concept, in short, propaganda. The idea is usually barebones "THISISME," or "THIS IS IT! THIS IS IT!" or some such similar epiphanic nonsense made important by a puffed chest, an ice grille, an emphatic, insistent tone.
Rap insists on moving forward, on burning every opponent or elder statesman, causing much damage to any system it encounters. We stole this lexicon from graffiti, of course, and out of this militant terminology the most desparate, egoistic, and noble endeavors were launched. Neo-Quasi-Egyptian Cosmic Race Baiting, Jheri-Curled Pseudo-Outlaw Agitprop, Sewerbound Cartoonish Babble - whatever the movement du jour, all victories were in the abstract. The imagined gladiatorial confrontations were simply vehicles for broadcasting ideas, scattering seeds, proclaiming "I a somebody" and carving that message in the clouds or shooting it to the moon.
It gradually became very important thing in the collective imagination to be a Johnny Appleseed of some such rap coalition or style or trend. The roughly hewn primary documents - the lyrics, the smashed together samples, the static, the sirens became less noteworthy than the assertions of the propagandists. Rap, as a cultural phenomenon, inexplicably shifted its focus from the poet who stares down shards of glass and sees transcendent hope to the self-styled journalist propping himself for stumbling upon said poet during his formative idealistic years. Find lightening in a bottle, then dig a hole to pass it on to China, making sure the brand of the smuggler is uttered in the same breath as the brand of the originator. Hustle.
Which is all well and good, because after the blackout of '77 birthed a million DJs, each advance in listening technology was sure to produce self-proclaimed tastemakers, the too-powerful and often small-minded "heads" that Chuck D. warned us about in his autobiography. Anyone with a blog (or an iPod, for that matter) is descendent of this phenomenon. That everyone is now a critic with the potential to amplify their critiques no matter how kneejerk is not an inherently bad thing. This genre was always a hugely critical, discursive one, and its culture of critique became only more cutthroat and intense with every technological advent.
It was probably inevitable that the armchair rap critic snatched power and voice back from the published 'zines, who had failed for the most part to sustain a generative and nuanced discussion of the art. Day in and day out the blogosphere does that the printed giants cannot - inject insight, dissent, sobriety, contemplation, nuanced critique into the discussion. Do some bloggers simply rehash the same bullshit that can be found in the increasingly emaciated print 'zines? Sure. Is our ability as bloggers/fans/heads/critics/broadcasters/propagandaists/player participators to help the cream rise to the top magnified? Y equals self, indeed. The proof is in the pudding - when the print 'zine cannot even offer a remotely credible assessment of the blogosphere, the game has not only changed in nature, but in venue, reach, and every other way. T.R.O.Y. isn't on XXL's rap blog radar but judging by how slim slim slimmy the rag is looking these days, we'd rather be out in St. Elsewhere, right?
Just last month T.R.O.Y. celebrated is first year anniversary. It might not seem very long ago, but I assure you everyday for the last 13 months we've been putting in work in hopes you come back to us. From our interviews, to our thought-provoking analysis, comprehensive lists, to our endless amounts of compilations covering samples, b-sides, remixes or complete discographies--we're out for the gusto!
We've managed to bring you guest blogging from the likes of Kurious Jorge, JVC Force, B-Real, Chip Fu, Tame One, and L.G. among others. Our main aim has always been to celebrate the music with our readers. To discover, relive or retrieve music we all appreciate. While hip-hop might be a dying art, or your favorite magazine publications cease to exist or shows like The Box, Pump It Up and Yo! MTV Rap are long gone, T.R.O.Y. will be here.
We realize the hip-hop we all know and love might not exist in the real world anymore, but it will always exists here. Every single day until the T.R.O.Y. casket drops we're going to make sure you have a place to reminisce. Whether we're challenging Dante Ross or campaigning for Easy Mo Bee, T.R.O.Y. will be here. Whether we're compiling our lists, conducting interviews with Prodigy, Guru or Henry Chalfant, T.R.O.Y. will be here. T.R.O.Y. will be here because Paul C. still matters. Because Big L will not be forgotten. Because we should know where the music originates from. Because it's important we don't forget our roots in this rap game. It's rewarding to get props from Prince Paul, Stretch Armstrong, Dres or when Vibe Magazine recognized us as the#20 best rap blog, but what's more rewarding is that you all take away something when you visit us. Hey, at least Quincy got it right!
Inward or outward, build or destroy. "It's nation time!" versus "Da Inner Sound, Ya'll!" If you're lucky enough to have a record deal and you desire immortality you claim a movement through liner notes. For those of you just tuning in ,this is like a precursor to a Facebook group. Or think back to how the average nobody does the same through a yearbook caption or presses a sharpie onto the cheap vinyl of a schoolbus seat.
Chuck D. imagines an improbably continuum of dynasties blending into each other through a seasonal series of bloodless coups marching from new school to the nextest. Everyone is a self-annointed crown ruler, the heir to the throne of a nation not visible on any of his maps. There are no in-betweens here. No soda jerks, no drywall installers, no city job underlings, no secretaries or cashiers. Only kings, queens, gods, earths, lords, grandmasters overseeing principalities carved delicately out of the tawdry, bustling blocks of NYC and all outlaying counties.
Our legacy is stolen and obscured sixty six trillion times over, so we figure we have a right to locate our origins. Recolonization. Africa speaks to us coherently through James Brown's grunts but having exhausted that arsenal we are now ready to whisk ourselves away to the futurist technojungle of Afrika-Akebulan-Asia. This realm haunts us like a Freudian motif, we see it everywhere and point at it like madmen hallucinating. It's in the [obviously European styled] button down shirts with the psychcadelic prints, it's in the low hum emanating from the Jeep Wrangler safari, it's in the way she winds to the reggae cut, processed hair flailing to and fro.
Insanity, for certain, but insanity as a response to greater insanity is nothing new. Frantz Fanon once wrote at length about the absurd commercial relationship between the enslaver and the colonized, but we gloss over that part of the book. It's time to bedeck ourselves in finery - red, black, and green to the extent that Roy Ayers would blush at our get ups. Thrown in the blues and purples and yellows we've been racking from the sportswear plantations and for a brief technicolor dreamcoat moment we think we are not co-opted, that our culture is in fact our freedom.
We are a garish horde, driven by consumption, making Benetton ads look positively homogenous. Some of us start cultural awareness clubs at school and like NYOIL have to defend such choices later. But it was the coerced norm within our comfortably fragile bubble of celebrated otherness, and when that norm popped, it popped for good. Soulquarian lounginess, spoken word patchouli wafting, "Yes We Can!"-ism - none of that shit ever came close to matching the gaudy stylistic intensity and spacey optimism of '89/'90. How it slipped through out fingers is anyone's guess - it's not like the shit really went Hollywood, it just floated on or dissipated.
Like some nearly narctoic dream, in which we were the soul controllers. Where every drum machine, sampled composition, and metered verse was stitched together by pure Nubian sprites, and not a devil in sight. We can peek into this moment from time to time but it never feels the same, it seems so quaint, so contradictory and capricious. Never mind that the youth return to the brutal color combinations and impossible hopefulness every once in a crescent moon. We see and hear the obvious parallels but resist them like bad medicine, as if saying "fuck the youth" is as profound as our former inclination to say "fuck everything except the youth."
In our ears, they get it but they don't get it - there's something about Q-Tip's lazy but focused repetition "fallin skies babe, open eyes babe, can't you see what lays inside babe" that must be transcendent and unique, right? And if it's a little whimsical or silly for today's youth, so what? You got Brother J's matter-of-fact call to nationalism on "Raise The Flag" where he delivers a decidedly youthful and daringly happy style, never to use it again. A moment of youthful expression never quite rekindled by the Grand Verbalizer himself, so how could some kid today ever pick up the torch, and build the tribe, keep the colors alive, etc?
We jam this shit in 2009 like it's going out of style, the iPod guaranteeing musical anonymity, insularity. We could all be brave like Shawn Taylor and flock to mass transit rocking the same Zubaz that Q-Tip and company rocked in the ridiculous "I Left My Wallet In El Segundo" video and try to get these youngins to groove to the boom-bip. Or don a jumbo ankh and a walking stick and preach to the wayward souls of Washington Heights like X-Clan. But it all seems so fragile, so pointless. Do we have the presence of mind to locate a single YZ among the meretricious masses of today? Or was that bubble even weaker than we thought?
I am adamant in my claim that Dres stood ably amongst the very best to do it circa '91. On the microphone he was just as smooth as Grand Puba, as witty as BDK, as distinctive as any of his Native Tongue Brethren and undeniably a virtuoso with the flow. He never appeared on a posse cut where he didn't steal the show and I dare any rap nerd to make a claim to the contrary. He murdered "Roll Wit Tha Flava," killed shit on "Let The Horns Blow," and beasted some cut from Fu-Schnickens' first album that nobody remembers, just to name a few. His rapping was trancendent even when backed by a tepid funk band like Brand New Heavies or shoehorned onto an insipid Vanessa Williams single. Mista Lawnge's deep crates production fit the raps so perfectly that the expectations for the duo's second album were probably unreasonably high.
Non-Fiction was either ignored by those who thought of Black Sheep as one hit wonders or panned by those who wanted them to recreate A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing. Both responses are extreme. "The Choice Is Yours" is catchy, but only because Black Sheep convinced you - it's as unlikely a hit as any and yet has somehow avoided wearing out its welcome. Their debut album was a strange flower in the late 80s/early 90s meadow of tolerated absurdity. It would have been laughed out of existence had they attempted to release it in 1994, by which time screwfaces and camo had supplanted goofy grins and day-glo. They had to bend with the wind to some extent, especially after such a long break between albums.
Admittedly, their attempts to ingratiate themselves into the whole D.I.T.C. uptown aesthetic felt a bit forced, and Mista Lawnge's increased mic time was a horrific error of judgement. Some of the songs on Non-Fiction are admittedly wack, almost to the point of being embarrassing. "North South East West" is the kind of pandering drivel that had to have been inspired by the pressure of trying to recoup some rent money from a shady contract. But amidst a little detritus there are genuine jewels. Dusty, hardcore, jazzy, dare I say sophisticated songs.
"Autobiographical" has literally no equal. Almost all life writing in rap winds up melodramatic, self-indulgent, solipsistic or just corny, but this song is just ... on another level altogether. "Bubblin' Brown Sugar" is pure debonair Harlem Nights flamboyance. "Freak Freak Ya'll" has the kind of stream of consciousness that good rappers gave up on years ago, for reasons I'll never fathom. "Me & My Brother" and "Peace To The Niggas" extol brotherhood and unity over bassy beats without sacrificing cool. Throw in some great remixes to the anemic singles "Without A Doubt" and "North South East West" and you have yourself one hell of a seven track EP. Sit back, enjoy, and pulverize your prior misconceptions.
1. Autobiographical 2. B.B.S. 3. Freak Freak Ya'll 4. Me & My Brother 5. Peace To The Niggas 6. Without A Doubt (Lawnge's Mix) 7. North South East West (Buckwild Remix)
