In case you didn't know, the Gravediggaz were a supergroup formed in 1994 by Prince Paul (The Undertaker), Frukwan (The Gatekeeper), Too Poetic (The Grym Reaper) [R.I.P.] and RZA (The Rzarector). This compilation will be a three-part series. Volumes 1 & 2 were originally assembled back in 1999 for a few friends and other traders (traitors?). They managed to find their way on to eBay and were trimmed down to create otherbootlegs that were possibly pressed up or at least widely circulated. The years on those boots are absolutely bogus as some of the material wasn't even available at that time. Volume 3 is made up of unreleased tracks and remixes/mash-ups that I found between 2000 and 2010. It will also include a couple other treats, so stay tuned.
DOWNLOAD THE REVISED VOLUME 1 (I went back and removed all questionable characters from the files names: ampersands (&) commas (,) question marks (?) apostrophes ('). Hopefully this will resolve ANY more problems.)
This morning Philaflava O.G. Clark Bent asked name A Tribe Called Quest track better than this? My response was there aren't many tracks better than this PERIOD. There are songs that have sheer lyrical brilliance, some have adventurous storytelling and some have an infectious beat behind it (think Mass Appeal), but there aren't many tracks that are as complete and as significant as "Know The Ledge."
So I ask this question to all of our T.R.O.Y. readers, what track is better than this? Me personally, it comes down to this and My Minds Playing Tricks On Me as my favorite hip-hop song of all-time.
I wasn't able to make it to the Mos Def & MF Doom show last weekend, so I had my boy Marvin write a review. This is just a heads up warning to anybody else that is planning on attending one of their shows.
--dirt_dog
"I have had bad experiences with concerts at the Congress Theater before. I once paid 30 bucks to see the Wu-Tang Clan – back when I was in high school & when $30 represented a lot more than it does to me today. When I counted only 7 actual members (there had to be like 30 folks on stage), and I noticed that Method Man was rapping Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s parts, I was, um, disappointed to say the least. So when I saw that Mos Def and MF Doom were coming to the Congress, I was apprehensive. After the concert got rescheduled, I was even more apprehensive. But a bunch of my friends were going, and I didn’t want to be the odd man out. So I paid $30 once again, hoping that the Congress would redeem itself.
I would have been more entertained if I stayed home and watched the NBA’s sorry dunk contest.
First of all, doors opened at 7pm. I know better than to show up right when the doors open because normally acts don’t hit the stage until 2 to 3 hrs afterwards. But, due to having to wait on a late friend, I didn’t arrive until after 11pm, fully expecting to walk in on the performance. Nope. I arrived to see an empty stage with a lone DJ playing old songs. My friends had been there for hours and had only seen 2 opening acts. An hour after I arrived, the crowd started to get a little antsy; I can’t say I blame them. People started booing and throwin’ things on stage. Finally, after the stage got saturated in empty drink cups and water bottles, Mos Def appears. This calmed folks down for a while, though occasionally a water bottle would fly up on stage. You can tell the crowd really wanted to get into Mos; we didn’t pay $30 to see a shady MF Doom. Sadly, Mos DEFinitely disappointed. He performed about 25 minutes worth of his new album (Ecstatic) mixed with a few cuts from Black on Both Sides. Then “MF Doom” emerged to join the stage with him. At this point I am thinking to myself “great – now we can have a real hip-hop show,” thinking that they would take this time to perform together. Nope. Mos left the stage, and what was left were 2 hype men, one of whom we were supposed to believe was MF Doom. It was a lip-synching imposter.
Now, you would think the crowd would have gone crazy tearing the place apart at this point. But instead, just a general disappointment settled in. I think many people were, like me, a little sad also. We expected more from Mos; we paid $30 hoping to see a performance that would rival those of his former counterpart, Talib Kweli, who is known for giving riveting performances. What we got was a very unprofessional, un-motivated performance from an aging artist who may be more interested in acting than rapping right now (Note to Mos Def: Do not give shout outs to Brooklyn while in other cities. Especially in Chicago. You’re lucky you didn’t get hit with a bottle to the face for that). We knew there was a chance that “DOOM” wouldn’t show as he's notorious for that. But we had hoped that Mos Def would make up for any disappointment DOOM might bring. Nope…"
If that was not much for you, than try to digest this load of dope summer tracks from all over The States, alloted in 3 volumes, made by member of philaflava forum and owner of his own blog, Drayzee, http://drayzee.blogspot.com/. Drayzee was just kind enough to allow us to use his own work and to represent it via T.R.O.Y. Blog. Thank you Drayzee for this massive work.
"Drayzee Says: It's 'Em Summer Days" is a compilation based on g-funk/gangsta/jazz/funk music. Too bad it's not summer yet, however this project will certainly give you that summer vibe. I hope this will bump in your speakers 6 summers from now. The first volume contains more "party-like" songs, the second volume will contain more gangsta/cruisin' stuff, jazz & funk, and the third one will be for you to just chill on. I also used some St. Ides commercial once per 8-9 songs, just to give you the feeling that there still is a dope radio on earth bumpin' this.
1. Eazy-E - Radio
2. Brownside Feat. Eazy-E - Drama On The Eastside 3. DJ Quik - Can't Fuck Wit A Nigga 4. O.F.T.B. - Crack 'Em 5. Loon-E-Toon And DJ Mike Tee - Inglewoodz Finast (Smooth Mix) 6. Westside Connection - Hoo-Bangin' 7. Ice Cube - Ghetto Bird 8. N.W.A. - Alwayz Into Somethin' 9. Watts Gangstas - Watts Riders 10. Funkdoobiest - Wopbabalubop (ft. B-Real) 11. Dr. Dre - Bitches Ain't Shit 12. Compton's Most Wanted - N 2 Deep (Ft Mr. Scarface) 13. Above the Law - V.S.O.P. 14. RBL Posse - Livin That Life 15. Juvenile Committee - Juvenile Thang 16. Young Gangstas - Driven By Revenge 17. Mac Mall - Sic Wit Tis 18. Above the Law - Never Missin' a Beat 19. 2Pac - The Streetz R Deathrow 20. Da Lench Mob - Guerillas Ain't Gangstas 21. RBL Posse - Don't Give Me No Bammer 22. Battlecat - Out Here 23. DJ Yella - Dat's How I'm Livin' (Feat.B.G. Knocc Out) 24. Eazy-E - Tha Muthaphukkin Real ft. MC Ren 25. MC Eiht - You Can't See Me f. Tha Chill 26. Tha Dogg Pound - It'z A Good Ass Day 27. Dr. Dre - Let Me Ride 28. Lil 1/2 Dead - Back In The Day 29. Cypress Hill - Throw Your Hands In The Air (Feat. Erick Sermon, MC Eiht, Redman) 30. King Tee - Dippin' (Remix) 31. Vontel - Loungin 32. G-Lo - Smooth 33. Crimies - Love For The City Of Hub 34. A - 1 Swift-Bring The Praiz 35. Foesum - Listen To The Sound 36. Above The Law - Kalifornia (feat Kokane) 37. DJ Quik & Kurupt - Do You Know 38. 2 - Def-We Party 39. Realite - Gangsta Gangsta 40. L.A.Z. - Bigga Than Nine 41. Dazzie Dee - Unda Da Table (feat. Dolemite) 42. Geto Boyz - Geto Fantasy 43. Above The Law - Livin' Like Hustlers (G-Mixx) 44. Compton's Most Wanted - Hood Took Me Under 45. Tha Dogg Pound - New York, New York 46. DJ Pooh - Who Cares (ft. Kam) 47. Above The Law - Black Superman 48. Eazy-E - Boyz N Tha Hood (G-Mix) 49. Maniac - Deep Enough 50. 2nd II None - I Can Tell 51. Legit - No Pannies 52. Oppazet - Oppazet 53. Juice - Eastside 54. T.I.P. - Get Down 55. Sean T - Get Gone 56. Roscoe - Smooth Sailin' 57. Swoop G - Simpin' Into Pimpin' 58. Mr. Criminal - Sounds Of Summertime (Remix) 59. Compton's Most Wanted - Music To Driveby 60. MC Eiht - All For Tha Money 61. Big Tone - The Skrilla 62. S.S.P. - Weekend 63. Magic Mike - Love 4 My Homies 64. Mr. X - Any Ole Sunday 65. Mad CJ Mac - Come Take A Ride 66. Ice Cube - It Was A Good Day 67. Playya-1000 with The D'kster - The Layback 68. Fo' Clips - Hold On 69. Watts Gangstas - Fuct In The Game 70. Mac Mall - Ghetto Theme 71. FLEXX - OG Ridaz ft Young Dre 72. Dream Warriors - The Era Of "Stay Real" 73. Big 50 - Deez Street 74. Changing Faces - Keep It Right There (DeVante Swing Remix Instrumental) 75. G-Ism-Strips 76. Mac Mall - Crestside 77. M.C. Eiht & L.A. Nash - Professional Stone Crooks 78. Silky Slim - Tha Playa's Realm 79. Lil Fly - Rag Top 80. Krucked M Age - Da Show I Want You Party Over 81. Young Ed - Find A Way 82. N.E.S. - We Can Roll 83. Psycho Gangster - Psycho Gangster - About My Money 84. Fat 4 Ever - Excercising My P Thang 85. B.O.M. - Times At There Hardest 86. Ray Luv - Last Nite 87. O.T.R. Clique - Streets Deeper Than The Grave 88. Cal - Luv-Life Of A Playa 89. Christopher Williams - Dance 90. Wicked Minds - California 91. Azim - 4-D Funk 92. Cellski - Last Song ft Young Ed 93. Maniac Lok - Summer Jam 94. Mr. Peebodie - Sahloo 95. One Gud Cide - Remember Me
Another day, another great mix from forum member Tha Town (That E. Oak LOC!). As evidenced by his great G-Funk Cali mix, Tha Town is a veritable encyclopedia of rare, obscure, and otherwise criminally unknown gangsta rap. Dude's collection is large, and he's been blessing us with some serious knowledge since he joined the Phila forum. Don't believe me? Check his threads on Louisiana and Jackson, Mississippi. Highly recommended.
Anyway, if you've read these twoposts, you already know that my own tastes are pretty bugged and I'm always on the lookout for some seriously Southern-fried, gangstafied, low-budget rap music. So, I approached Tha Town about doing a mix for the blog, and he came back with a collection of marvelous tracks focusing on Houston, Texas.
Here's what the Loc himself has to say:
"If you ask me, 90's Houston is best hip-hop anywhere, or anytime. This is some of the best of the best from that region. I had a really difficult time putting this together because I had about 100 tracks I wanted to put on here. A must have. Smooth, gangsta, and strong vocal hooks. Enjoy."
Indeed. Pop the trunk and turn the street volume up to 10.
Sometimes we never really know how good something is until it’s gone. Often times, especially in this hip-hop game, the greats go unnoticed, and when we’ve finally learned to appreciate their work, poof, they’re done. That’s just the way it is, the way it’s always been in this ever-evolving game. The Ultramagnetic MC’s are one such group. A lot of you probably know of them now, but they never really received the props they deserved until years later, when hip-hop starting going downhill. Well, now we’re bringing them back to you.
Straight out of the Boogie Down South Bronx, Ultramag was a four-man group (five if you include Tim Dog) at the forefront of the new school movement in rap. With their obscure lyrics and groundbreaking beats, these cats were some of the most creative artists to ever step foot in the game. They formed in 1984 with a few unsuccessful singles, until they broke out in 1986 with their quintessential jam, “Ego Trippin’.” The song, with its Melvin Bliss break beat, futuristic sound-scape and polysyllabic rhyme styles, was the first for many to experience the freshness of Ultra. They even had the nerve to get at Run D.M.C. on wax: “Say what, Peter Piper? / To hell with childish rhymes!” and “They use the simple back and forth, the same old rhythm, / that a baby can pick up and join right with them / But their rhymes and pathetic, they think they’re copacetic / Using nursery terms, at least not poetic.” Damn. Neither Run nor D.M.C. later responded to “Ego Trippin’.” That’s heart.
Two years later, Ultramag debuted with the classic LP Critical Beatdown, they’re most well known and acclaimed work to date. At the time of its release the album was pretty unsuccessful commercially, but now it’s just about their only album to receive the props it deserved, from fans and critics alike. Most songs involve Keith and Ced Gee trading verses, acting as foils to one another over a collection of funky samples and ass-shaking break beats. Everything about the album was ahead of its time, from its vocals to production. Even today, the album still stands as one of the greatest in hip-hop.
Kool Keith was the most popular and well-known of the bunch, and his high-pitched voice and bizarre lyrical imagery are still the group’s most recognizable trademarks. When you think of influential lyricists, cats like Rakim and G. Rap come to mind, but to me Keith was just as important in his own, weird way. His wacky and abstract lyrics coupled with his off-beat delivery changed the way people rhymed—he could literally spit about anything and make it work on wax. Over the years his lyrics became even crazier and more obscure, leading many fans to believe he was genuinely insane. The video for “Poppa Large (Remix)” even has him rapping in a straight jacket with a birdcage over his head. All of this led to a popular myth that Keith once spent time in a mental institution at Bellevue hospital; whether or not this is true, I can’t confirm. But crazy or not, he’s always been up there with the best of the best. If you want to know where alternative and underground rap found their roots, look no further than Kool Keith.
As good as he was, though, Keith had a shit load of help. His running mate, Ced Gee, goes down in the rap history books as one of the most underrated and overlooked artists to ever step foot in the game—both as a producer and an MC. While Keith was garnering most of the attention, Ced was the glue guy in the back making it all work. And man did he put in some serious work. A lot of people seem to forget that Ced produced most of the tracks on the classic BDP album Criminal Minded, even though he went unaccredited. KRS-One even stated that he almost became a member of Ultramagnetic back in the day. Most songs from Tim Dog’s classic LP Penicillin on Wax also owed their production to Ced Gee, including the infamous “Fuck Compton.” On Critical Beatdown, Ced traded techniques with the late great Paul C. (R.I.P.), and produced one of the freshest collection of beats ever assembled. His sampling methods with the SP-12 spearheaded the Golden Age style of beatmaking.
Ultramag’s debut albumwas so good that it overshadowed the rest of their later work, but it really shouldn’t have. Their next two albums were classics in their own right. Funk Your Head Up, the group’s sophomore release, may have been the most overlooked album of the 19-naughties. It was here when Ced Gee’s beats became progressively darker and more complex, while Keith’s lyrical style began to take full form. But at a time when West Coast gangsta rap was pulling away listeners to the opposite coast, the album was commercially unsuccessful, and many fans and critics couldn’t get their heads around the change in sound.
They reached their most creative and expressive peak with their last worthy album, The Four Horsemen. Ced Gee’s beats, with help from The Godfather Don, were at their darkest and most haunting stage. The production on this album was one of the finest ever, a vivid collage of beautiful jazz samples, soulful boom-bap drums and deep bass. And of course, the production was paired with some of the most bizarre and diverse lyrical content 90’s rap has ever seen. Keith and Ced rhyme about everything from their signature sci-fi themes, to comic book heroes and villains on “See the Man on the Street.” One song in particular, “Saga of Dandy, The Devil & Day,” pays an honourable tribute to baseball’s Negro Leagues. Even the bizarre sexuality Keith displays in his later solo work is evidently rooted here, on a few of the cuts.
Something has to be said about the chemistry shared between the Ultramagnetic MCs in their heyday. Ced Gee was more than just a producer, and he consistently held his own on the mic alongside Kool Keith. When you think of the greatest MC duos, it’s hard to picture Tip without Phife, Run without DMC, Rae without Ghost. It’s equally as difficult to picture Keith without Ced, and vice versa. Even TR Love, the group’s second producer and third MC, blended well with the other two. If you heard him rap, his voice was like a middle ground between Ced’s deep bellow and Keith’s nasal pitch. Although TR contributed significantly fewer vocals, the songs on which he did (think “A Chorus Line”) were instant bangers. And of course, enough can’t be said about DJ Moe Love’s operation of the turntables, which was just as much a part of the Ultra sound as the beats or lyrics.
As good as the Ultramagnetic MCs were, however, and as important as they were to the development of new-aged hip-hop, they weren’t perfect. Some of their later releases seemed to lack the creativity they had built upon in previous years, and a lot of their sexually explicit songs—though some hilarious—weren’t as rewarding or fun to listen to. It gets tiresome hearing songs like “Smack My Bitch Up” after a while. Ultimately following The Four Horsemen, the group officially disbanded. In 2007, after more than a decade-long hiatus, they attempted a comeback with The Best Kept Secret. As far as I know, it’s the last Ultramagnetic group effort we will ever hear, and the signature sound that made them great before might already be gone. Here’s hoping it isn’t.
Kool Keith went on to have a prominent and successful solo career, often taking on the pseudonyms of Dr. Octagon and Dr. Dooom. He became even more experimental, weird, and imaginative on his solo cuts, and the loyal fan base he has developed shows that cats are still willing to hear something fresh. Ced Gee has also stayed grinding, and most recently he worked as a producer for Bill Cosby Presents the Cosnarati: State of Emergency. Not too shabby himself.
All in all, the Ultramagnetic MCs will be missed, and, sadly overlooked by much of the hip-hop community. What still appeals to me most about them is how smart they were; here was a group of artists capable of imagining anything in the studio. Through their first three albums, their lyrics covered or referenced such diverse themes as science, chemistry, martial arts and Bruce Lee, literature, comic book heroes, the baseball Negro Leagues, street fighting, mental insanity, and outer space. All while keeping it real, hardcore, and danceable. They were Outkast before Outkast, Wu-Tang before Wu-Tang, the Fu-Schnicks before the Fu-Schnicks, and everything we enjoyed in Golden Age to the 90’s before either really kicked off.
And now they’re finished, like much of the hip-hop we’ve come to love over the years. At least now we can sit back, enjoy the old tracks and reminisce.
Funk Your Head Up: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=MGDQN6FX
The Four Horsemen: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=WGDYHWD3
The Basement Tapes: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8OUR6E7U
The Basement Tapes are a collection of unreleased songs over their initial half-decade span. A good complimentary piece to any fan’s inventory, it’s nice to hear some of the old cuts on here that should have made the LPs back in the day. Others, however, suffer from a lack of sound quality, often because the records were damaged in studio. Ced Gee even points out that the engineer to “Ya Not that Large” got high and erased half of the track—a real pity once you listen to what’s left of the song. It would have been a sure fan favourite.
The B-Sides: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=CH74C1HT
The B-Sides are a compilation of remixes and alternate takes to several of the group’s biggest hits. They are a good listen, but many of the tracks don’t feature that much of a noticeable difference. My favourite has to be “Ego Trippin’ 2000,” an updated layer of instrumental to essentially the same lyrics and beat as the original.
It’s been a pleasure making my debut with T.R.O.Y. Blog. Stay tuned for more.
If that was not much for you, than try to digest this load of dope summer tracks from all over The States, alloted in 3 volumes, made by member of philaflava forum and owner of his own blog, Drayzee, http://drayzee.blogspot.com/. Drayzee was just kind enough to allow us to use his own work and to represent it via T.R.O.Y. Blog. Thank you Drayzee for this massive work.
"Drayzee Says: It's 'Em Summer Days" is a compilation based on g-funk/gangsta/jazz/funk music. Too bad it's not summer yet, however this project will certainly give you that summer vibe. I hope this will bump in your speakers 6 summers from now. The first volume contains more "party-like" songs, the second volume will contain more gangsta/cruisin' stuff,jazz & funk, and the third one will be for you to just chill on. I also used some St. Ides commercial once per 8-9 songs, just to give you the feeling that there still is a dope radio on earth bumpin' this.
1. The Dove Shack - Summertime In The LBC 2. Mr. Criminal - Sounds Of Summertime 3. 2nd II None - Up N Da Club 4. DGSB - In The Summer Breeze 5. L.O.L. - Summer Breeze 6. Big Mello - Fancy Thangz 7. 2nd II None - If You Want It 8. Black Ty aka Tyrese & Kurupt - Westside 9. 2nd II None - Nuthin' Has Changed 10. Foesum - Likka Store 11. Madd Hatta - Trunk-O-Funk 12. Goldy - In the Land of Funk 13. Cold World Hustlers - Everyday Thang feat. One Tyme 14. Conscious Daughters - We Roll Deep 15. Ganksta C - 3 Wheel Motion 16. Double A - Gangstrumental 17. Nate Dogg - Nobody Does It Better (feat. Warren G) 18. 2Pac feat. Dre & Roger - California Love [Wadz Remix] 19. 213 - Another Summer 20. Warren G - Get U Down (Remix) ft. Ice Cube, B-Real, Snoop Dogg 21. Dream Warriors - California Dreamin' 22. Da Brat - Let's All Get High (Feat. Krayzie Bone) 23. Twinz - Journey Wit Me 24. Second Nature - Take me back 25. Top Prize - Ballin Big Affair 26. Stalin - G-Funk 27. Playa B & The Midwest Click - Indiana Love 28. O.F.T.B. - Ladies Night 29. Zapp - More Bounce To The Ounce 30. Zapp - Beautiful Lady 31. Lakeside - Something About That Woman 32. The Whispers - And The Beat Goes On 33. Oliver Cheatham - Get Down On Saturday Night (Special Extended Version) 34. Kool & The Gang - Summer Madness 35. Incredible Bongo Band - Pipeline 36. Quincy Jones - Summer In The City 37. The Isley Brothers - Footsteps In The Dark 38. Isaac Hayes - Walk On By 39. Roy Ayers - Everybody Loves The Sunshine 40. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Waiting in Vain 41. The Floaters - Float On 42. Zapp - Be Alright 43. Joe Sample - In All My Wildest Dreams 44. Erick Sermon - Music (feat Marvin Gaye) 45. Bobby Hutcherson - Ummh 46. Mojoe - Gumbo Groove 47. Lucas - Sitting In A Breeze With Jazz 48. Kingdom - Ghetto Star 49. 2 Of The Crew - Emotions 50. Alien Planet - In The Heat Of The Night 51. Nate Dogg - Bag O' Weed 52. Trundeed - You Know 53. 213 - Game Don't Wait [Wadz Remix] 54. Ahmad - Back in the Day (remix) 55. Gyrl - Gyrl - Play Another Slow Jam (Single Version) 56. Ice-T - How Does It Feel 57. CC Waterbound - CC Waterbound 58. Ase Man - Space Age 59. Blue House Boyz - This Is How We Chill 60. 5th Ward Juvenilez - G-Groove 61. Rodg - Always 62. A Lighter Shade Of Brown - Dip Into My Ride 63. Twinz - Good Times 64. DGSB - Let Me Groove You 65. Suga Free - The Rebirth ft. Mausberg & Kam 66. 2nd II None - Let's Get Higher 67. Mr.X - So High 68. Vontel (Ft. Roger Troutman) - 4 My Homiez 69. Rhythm And Green - Carry On 70. Duke - Young Rida 71. Lo-Key - Don't Trip On Me 72. Royal C - Rollin On The East Side 73. Lite Foot - Summer Nights 74. Battlecat - Waterdrop 75. Jay Dee - Think Twice 76. N.E.S. - 4YoRide 77. Scrooge - I Made It 78. Ii Triflin - Get Money 79. Big 50 - Funk Flow 80. A Lighter Shade Of Brown - Playin' In The Shade 81. Playya 1000 - Sunday Afternoon (4-Ever) 82. South 1 East - Dago Luv 83. Se7en - Rise 84. Mac & Ak - Can I Strike Through 85. Mista Grimm - Dippin' 86. Caprice - What Do You Want 87. Foesum - Who Got Your Back 88. Paperboy - Propaganda 89. Jewel T - Driftin 90. San Quinn - Having A Ball 91. Precise - What Tha Funk 92. Wessyde Goon Squad - Higher (Remix) 93. Darkside - Let Me Introduce Myself 94. Tha Reela - Whats The Lick 95. DJ Quik - Summer Breeze 96. 2Pac - Can You Get Away 97. 2Pac - Me Against The World
In case you didn't know, the Gravediggaz were a supergroup formed in 1994 by Prince Paul (The Undertaker), Frukwan (The Gatekeeper), Too Poetic (The Grym Reaper) [R.I.P.] and RZA (The Rzarector). This compilation will be a three-part series. Volumes 1 & 2 were originally assembled back in 1999 for a few friends and other traders (traitors?). They managed to find their way on to eBay and were trimmed down to create other bootlegs that were possibly pressed up or at least widely circulated. The years on those boots are absolutely bogus as some of the material wasn't even available at that time. Volume 3 is made up of unreleased tracks and remixes/mash-ups that I found between 2000 and 2010. It will also include a couple other treats, so stay tuned.
