Santa Ain't Comin' for Christmas

It's that time of year again...  Yes, the citrus harvest!  This is the peak harvest time for citrus fruits like clementines and tangerines in many subtropical regions around the world, and boy am I excited!  Aren't you?  Oh, and also it's Christmas.  So let's see what Santa's hung in our stocking this year.  ((rummage, rummage))  Ah, this is a weird one.  "Santa Ain't Comin'" by James Stephens III.

This is a 1992ish CD single on Black Orchid Records, a small California label, probably best known for making the OJ Simpson-related novelty record "Don't Squeeze the Juice."  James Stephens III is actually a stand-up comic who bills himself as "the man of 1000 voices."  He's a distinctly Christian comic who incorporates a lot of musical impressions in his act, so it makes sense that he would release a musical comedy single like this.  Except... is this actually intended as comedy?

You can gather from the bright red "DRUGS KILL COMMUNITIES" logo on the front cover that this has a serious message.  The general idea that Santa isn't coming to drug-addled, poverty stricken communities feels like it might have more in common with straight-faced Christmas rap records, like MCM's "X-Maz N-the-Hood."  And there's a message from Stephens on the back cover supporting this, "Drugs have weakened the Nations' Foundation. We must do whatever we can to eradicate the problem.  Through comedy and music I have chosen to be a positive influence in the world."  Well, alright, let's dig in.

The song starts out with some "Jingle Bells" set to a Hip-Hop beat.  And James comes in hard about Santa Claus not coming to town.  "Rudolph jammin' on the mobile phone; he called Santa Claus, but he's not at home!  ...Jingle, jingle, jingle for some change in the street.  Homeless people wantin' food to eat.  Santa Claus ain't comin'!"  So yeah, I guess it's mostly serious, but then they'll arbitrarily stop to sing a bar of "Frost the Snowman" mid-song.  Frankly, it's a weird one.  He doesn't make use of his 1,000 voices until the end of the song, when he suddenly shouts out, "Stevie Wonder!" and breaks out an impression.

There are actually several versions on this single.  But apart from the Instrumental Groove, they're all just minor variations on each other.  On one version, the bass doesn't kick in right away.  On another he sings along with the "Jingle Bells" keyboard opening riff.  And the track itself, apart from the Christmas carol cheese... actually isn't so bad.  Sometimes, with weird novelty and off-brand rap records like these, you're lucky to find someone who knows how to program a drum loop.  But this one's actually reasonably well produced.

Who handled the music?  well, the liner notes alternatively credit "Cory D. Williams," "Cory Dee" and "Cory Dee Williams."  Does Corey Dee Williams sound familiar?  You're probably thinking of cult actor Billy Dee Williams.  And yes, Corey is Billy Dee's son!  He played Klaatu in Return Of the Jedi - they even made an action figure out of him[pictured, right].

How can I be confident this is the same Cory, even when he spells his name differently in different places?  Because Stephens self-produced a music video for this song [seriously, click that link], and Billy Dee is in it, reading scripture.  Cuba Gooding Jr's there, too, delivering a big speech rejecting a drug dealer before the song starts.  It's an elaborate production that doubles the length of the song itself, basically playing as a spin on Dickens' Christmas Carol.

If that's not enough, there's a B-side, also by Stephens and producer Williams.  It's even less of a novelty tune, though.  It's a pretty straight-forward R&B holiday ode to Jesus called "Away In a Manger."  The liner notes also credit Stephens with a rap, but it's really a more traditional spoken word interlude about Jesus's birth.  There's really nothing silly or comic about this one at all.

Back For the Disflex.6

I said in my last post that I was compelled to write another one about Disflex 6 and, uh, welcome to it.  The first things to know about the Disflex 6 is that they're an underground San Francisco crew and there isn't six of 'em.  The name comes from a pun.  It's pronounced like "dyslexics" and they flex their skills... get it?  Don't worry; their music isn't as corny and irritating as that.  They're actually quite dope, especially if you appreciate west coast backpacker stuff.

So there's officially two members: Lazerus Jackson and Jason the Argonaut, but it's a little more complicated than that.  Like, discogs lists three members, also including Elon.Is, who's more of (exclusively?) a producer, who's worked on a bunch of their stuff.  You might recall me writing about his albums with Z-Man many moons ago.  Well, all three - Laz, Jason and Elon, that is, not Z - were part of a larger collective called The Sunset Leagues, and they all constantly worked together.  And by the logic of including sometimes producer Elon, their DJ Capsize could arguably be considered a member of D6, too.  Even the particular single we're going to look at today features different iterations of the group.

Yeah, I lamented not collecting their catalog over the years, but I do have something else by them: this nice little "double A side" 7" from 2003.  The first song, "Trunk," is credited to Disflex 6 on this, but technically it's from Jason the Argonaut's solo album, Keyboard To Life.  It's one of two songs on there that feature Lazerus Jackson, though, so you get the logic of calling it a Disflex track.  Then the second song is credited to PBS, because that group is the duo of Lazerus and Mercury, another Sunset Leaguer.  It wound up being included on their 2004 album, War of Art.

"Trunk" starts out by rubbing in a pitched down clip of Freestyle Fellowship's "Physical Form" ("terrorize the localized clockwise politics to unfix six") before kicking off proper.  Both MCs sound great on this, but as with "Electrolights," it's Lazerus's nasal voice and quick rhymes that really steals the show: "bumpin' up rickety blocks on empty locks with a recordable CD skippin' off low shocks."  It's got a herky jerky bassline that sounds like a chopped cello loop with and an Egyptian ney or something playing over it.  I dig it.

The PBS track's even better though.  It's called "Blackhawk Down," and what sets it apart is that its lyrics are really compelling, not just the vocal style and delivery.  The title's not just a tough sounding Ridley Scott reference, the song is literally about the battle of Mogadishu.  Mercury (who also produced this one) vividly sets the stage, "it's all bad, rangers on the ground dying, rounds flying; another puppet dictator stepped outta line and now it's time to take him out.  Call the special ops in.  Faulty facts stormin' through some medical offices.  No General Aidid, just shots of sniper fire, hostile personnel sparkin' live wire, creeping like a spider."  Then Lazerus makes it personal:

"I'm unskilled, untrained and fifteen,
But I'll put your dead body in a Time Magazine.
This is a war, not a police action,
Yet you're the ones thievin'.  What's the reason for the blastin'?
You took a thousand of mine,
I'm sending nineteen back in boxes.
These horsemen hunt foxes.
United Nations?  Nah, fuck 'em,
That's an old puppet construct.  My conduct will duck 'em.
You're not the first, you're not the last neither;
And best believe some of your special force men catch a neck breather."

I was not expecting things to get that real the first time I played this record.  The one down side is, as you may've noticed if you looked closely at my label scan above, this single gives us the Censored versions.  Makes sense if they were giving it out for radio play or something, but that's still always a bummer.  Still, there's only like one curse on each track, so it doesn't really spoil anything.

On the plus side, both the albums were CD-only, so this single is the only way to get these songs on vinyl.  And it has both Instrumental versions, which are exclusive.  This was a limited edition of 500 copies, but you can still find it cheap to this day.

Who Else Remembers The Persuasion of Art?

"thePERSUASIONofART is a fact of life in an underground artist's lifestyle. They are forever on this quest to persuade these mind mangled public consumers of their art which in today's day and age is manipulated by advertising saturation..."

That's the opening to the liner notes of The Persuasion of Art, a 90s left coast compilation that's never been long out of my mind.  And revisiting it the other has made me realize this is a true, underground classic, on par with Beneath the Surface, Project Blowed and Evil Cow Burger, even if it never received that level of recognition.  I assume the title is a play on the phrase the art of persuasion; it's been the title of a few songs, and a book of that title had just come out the previous year.  The Persuasion's a cassette-only release that came out in 1999 on a label called Toiletworldwide - their only release.  Toiletworldwide was a small t-shirt and hat company based out of Redondo Beach in LA.  I'm not sure who ran it, but presumably somebody associated with the LA scene in order to assemble this impressive roster of artists.

Every song on here is an exclusive except the opening track, "Where the Sidewalk Ends Pt. 1" by Jizzm High Definition, which was also included on his Archives album (where it's subtitled "An Ensenada Story"), which came out the same year.  Honestly, I can't remember anymore which came out first.  But it has a catchy piano loop supported by a phat live bassline (credited to "Alex and Justin"), which, when coupled with Jizzm's deep voice, is instantly addictive.

And indeed, that addictive quality is a strong factor in a number of songs on this album, particularly the second song "ElectroLights" by Disflex 6.  They've got a real ear-worm of a sample, perfectly matched with a funky, staccato flow and scratchy voices that I would just put on repeat over and over again.  And their DJ Capsize really knows how to blend his scratches into the music.  These guys sound incredible and I seriously regret not copping more of their projects back in the days.  I'm gonna have to write a whole 'nother post about 'em very soon.

Who else is on here?  Well, speaking of Project Blowed, Abstract Rude has a track on here called "Our Guide," with a moody, very-live sounding instrumental produced by Fat Jack.  Not to go too far off on a tangent, but it features adlibs by somebody named Lil' Aaron, which discogs links to a house DJ who's been playing since 1993, but the Aaron on here is Rude's little cousin and clearly a very small child.

And speaking of Beneath the Surface and Evil Cow Burger, also on here are the Shape Shifters.  It's essentially a massive seven and a half minute posse cut.  But there are no guests; it's just all the members: the original four, plus later members like LifeRexall and Bleek.  It's as crazy as its title "Appocapalooza" suggests (ending with Circus ranting about alien abduction), with one of those tracks where the instrumental adjusts for each MC.  But it's all underscored by a persistent, live stand-up bass (credited to Regraf-lu-Art) that made for another song I would rock on repeat.

Oh, and also from Beneath the Surface and Project Blowed is the Global Phlowtations crew.  I guess they've been a pretty big collective at times, but this song basically just has main members Adlib and Zagu Brown along with somebody named Phlave.  Their song might be something they had sitting on the shelf for a bit, since they mention '97 at the top.  But it's a tightly produced track (also by Zagu) with some distinctive percussion, and they rock it.

The group that probably sold me the most on buying this compilation is Animal Pharm.  At that time, I was super in love with their Pharmaceuticals and Brink EPs, and was just dying for them to release more content.  Unfortunately, they only released one more single before breaking up.  So it was a big deal that they had a new track on here, even though it's not one of my favorites.  Panda and Statik sound good, but the lyrics aren't particularly interesting, the instrumental's kinda meh and the scratching is so subtle you barely notice it.  I mean, actually listening to it now, it's funkier than I typically remember it as being, but nothing special - just a decent mid-album track.

You want still more noteworthy names?  The Living Legends crew is represented here by 3 Melancholy Gypsies (Eligh, Murs and Scarub).  And you might remember me writing about Gurp City MC TopR.  Well, his original crew The Earthlings have a song on this.  Like basically everybody you used to see on Atak in their heyday: US Pros, The Daysmen Empire, The Cuf and Da Golden Ray, who was a part of the indie Highground super-group The Record Players with people like Young Joseph, Neila, Maleko and Deeskee.  To top it all off, there's a pair of DJ cuts, where it's just sick turntablism over tight beats.  Traditionally, it's been the hallmark of a great Hip-Hop album to have one of these on there; this one has two.

The Persuasion of Art is a yellow (yellow) tape that came in a full color fold-out J-card.  A CD had also been announced, and it was supposed to have additional songs by 2Mex and The Grouch, but unfortunately that never came out.  I wonder if those songs ever wound up on other projects or just exist somewhere in the Toiletworldwide vaults.  Oh well.  You can't really pour through this incredible litany of bangers and ask for any more than what we got.

Halloween In the Krazee House

(We take a look at some early figures in the horrorcore scene on this, the spookiest of days. Have yourselves a Krazee Halloween, gang! Youtube version is here.)

Slick Rick Is Victorious!

(Yes, MC Ricky D has a real, proper, actual new studio album out!  Also a little bit about Young Zee at the top.  Youtube version is here.)

The Mission Is To Find the A.R.A.B.S.!

Today I want to talk about a group I wish I knew more about, the A.R.A.B.S.  If you don't remember, this is the group Special Ed was coming out with after his Profile years.  He had a 12" with them in 1997 called "On Some Next Shit" on Sure Shot Recordings.  That was their only single, so you might think of and dismiss them as a real short-lived project; but Ed was still repping the name in '99 on his last single (to date) "We Come Back."  And when I say I wish I knew more about them, I mean just basic stuff, like who were they and what did A.R.A.B.S. even stand for.  But we do know a little, at least, so let's break it down.

Well, actually, since "On Some Next Shit" is essentially a B-side, let me quickly run through the A-side.  It's a pretty dope Special Ed solo track called "Think Twice," which is kind of a follow-up to his 1989 "Think About It," (the hook, "sucker MCs, please think twice" is a direct vocal sample from it).  It's produced by the original hitman, Howie Tee; and anyone disappointed by Still Magnificent (though I think that was better than many gave it credit for) could hear he had definitely never lost it.  "Think Twice" stands up perfectly alongside all his past career highlights.  It's a hard, not fucking around beat and Ed's pen game is as crazy as it ever was, mixing a no shorts taking hardcore stance with his playful wordplay and delivery.  DJ Akshun is still down; he's credited with the mix I'm not sure if it's him or Howie, but somebody's doing some nice scratches for the hook.

So, okay, flipping it over to the A.R.A.B.S.' side now.  It's a real grimy, subterranean kind of track, with Special Ed rhyming first, before passing it off to his crew.  It's a very street-themed number, but Ed's ingenious wit still comes through, "you believe you can fly?  I give you the window and the endo, and leave you to die.  Please nigga, just stop whining; try rhyming, or go sling krills.  Or take mad pills and don't eat, and go sleep.  First tell me about the money you keep on stash.  We go through trash to have cash."  Nobody gives any hints about their acronym, but they pronounce their name like "Ay-rabs" in the song, and refer to themselves as "Arabian thugs."

Now, just looking this up on discogs will tell us that the A.R.A.B.S. consists of Shills and Forty Love.  So what's the big mystery, you ask?  Well, you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to observe that there are six dudes in the photo on the label, six credited song writers and four rap verses in the song.  So I feel like those two aren't the complete line-up.  But let's start with who we do know.

Shills (T. Lloyd in the credits) came out with a solo single the same year called "Reality" on Dolla Cab Ent (another imprint on this "On Some Next Shit" 12").  That label is named after the Dolla Cal Labs, the production studio Special Ed set up in Brooklyn in the late 90s.  He's credited with adlibs on Ed's Revelations album; and we'll come back to those in a minute.  And later did a song called "Crooklyn" with Ed on a CD called Muskabeatz, which was sort of a weird compilation by some skateboarder guy who assembled a bunch of dope rappers over unimpressive production.  But most notably, Shills is better known today as Shillz da Realz.  You might've seen that name on a bunch of Thirstin Howl III and Rack Lo albums, because Shillz is an original member of the Lo-Lifes.  At one point, he was set to drop with an album called Bullpen Therapy that ultimately never came out.  But he's had a big online presence in the ensuing years.

Already these A.R.A.B.S. guys are sounding more interesting, right?  So okay, let's move onto Forty Love (D. Robinson in the credits).  This guy seems closer to Ed, appearing on more of his projects.  When you listen to "On Some Next Shit," he's the guy who puts on the grimy voice sounding like SuperNat from "Mind Tricks."  Forty actually goes back to the posse cut "5 Men and a Mic" on 1990's Legal.  You can here him with his natural voice back then.  He's still the gruffest dude on the track, the one who starts his verse with, "how many times must I pull the trigger?"  And he raps with his A.R.A.B.S. voice on Ed's next two albums Revelations ("Everyday Iza Gunshot") in 1995 and Still Magnificent ("Dying Young," also with Kurupt's brother Roscoe) in 2004.

So those two and Ed are the main guys we can be confident about.  When Tony Touch featured the A.R.A.B.S. on his Power Cypher, it was those three rapping.  Looking at the photo and the names in the credits, E. Archer is of course Ed, and that's him standing fourth from the left.  I honestly don't know who else is in the photo, but one other name I'm sure of in the writing credits is I. Hardy.  That's a guy named Big I, who produced "Million Dollar Juxes," the B-side to Shills' "Reality" single, and is also credited with some adlibs on Revelations.

Yeah, these Revelations adlibs are looking like a great line-up for likely A.R.A.B.S. suspects, so who else is there?  How about a guy named Big Moe?  40 actually gives him a name check in "On Some Next Shit," ("Big Moe hold me down, back up with the biscuit") so he's at least a close associate.  He also produced on a song on Special Ed's '99 single (un-coincidentally the one where Ed name-drops the A.R.A.B.S.), called "We Come Again."  There, it's spelled as Big Mo, and discogs tells us he's a part of Boogie Down Productions, but that's just a mix-up.  "We Come Again" says it's produced by Big Mo and Boogie Down Productions on the record label, because - it's obvious when you listen to it - the instrumental is lifted from the classic BDP 12" "South Bronx," with some keyboards or whatever played over it.  So they're just crediting BDP for that.  There's no way Big Moe and Big Mo are two different guys.  However, returning to the "On Some Next Shit" writing credits, nobody's name starts with M., so he may just be more of a Killah Priest in an A.R.A.B.S. to Wu-Tang analogy.

So what names are left?  Four are down, so we've just got two left over: K. Brunson and L. Caines.  The producer of this song is somebody named Law, another Revelations ad-libber.  So highly possible.  But here's where we start to run out of steam.  Going back to Revelations credits, we've got three more possibles in the adlibs.  The first name is pretty unlikely though, because we know who he is: Fi-Lo.  He's another member of the Lo-Lifes and even put out an album in 2009 called Keep Out Of the Reach of Children.  So it's possible he did some time as an official member of the A.R.A.B.S. - Shillz did - but I think we would've heard about it.  The only other two suspicious Revelations names are Guess and Ron da Don.  No idea who those guys are, although none of the remaining writing credits start with R, so I'd rule that last guy out.

At the end of the day, I'd say we've got: Special Ed obviously, Shills & 40 certainly, Big I & Law are certainly at least affiliates who worked on their record if not official members, and Big Moe is down.  That leaves maybe one mystery member, I've probably at least touched on above.  I tried looking up old Special Ed interviews, but no luck.  If anybody knows, leave a comment telling us what their name stood for.  And I'm absolutely wondering if there's an unreleased album.  If they had their own studio and Ed was repping them for at least two years, they must've at least recorded a bunch more tracks.  Maybe one of our excellent record label compadres that specialize in recovering unreleased 90's Hip-Hop could reach out to Ed or Akshun and press something up.  I'm sure it would be dope.

Oh, and also we've got to get our hands on the original version of "The Mission!"  💥

The Strange World of Gentle Jones

Wonders Beyond Belief is Gentle Jones'... eleventh album, I believe, if you don't count things like a greatest hits compilation and a live CD.  But he's always been on the outer edges of my radar... from seeing his releases pop up on underground forums to his journalism.  He interviewed Cage 1's Pooch in prison; and honestly, if you asked me to name rappers from Delaware, Cage 1 and Gentle Jones would be my complete list.  Oh, and Disco Beave.  But sticking to Jones, he had a great track on one of those Independents' Day compilations I used to play on repeat called "The Cleaners," which was a sort of Angry Young Man take on the plight and rebellious spirit of the working class.  It had a catchy loop and managed to walk that very tricky line of being funny without being irritating.

So this is his latest album, and it is all over the place, to say the least.  What I'd say is going on here is that, in order to showcase his creative talents and versatility, he's doing songs in all kinds of styles and even genres.  And objectively, I reckon there's nothing wrong with that, but it's definitely not for me.  In fact, as a strictly Hip-Hop guy, I kinda hate it when groups defect... like Whistle going full R&B, The Force MCs becoming the Force MDs, Everlast becoming Whitey Ford, Kid Rock going from rap to... well, actually, I'm fine with rock music keeping Kid Rock; they can have him.

A closer analogy might be Big Daddy Kane going Las Supper.  Jones has clearly "graduated" to working with a lot of live musicians.  That, plus branching out in different genres probably works for him doing shows in Delaware.  And like Las Supper, where Kane still had a song where he killed it on the mic, Gentle Jones still has some dope rap stuff on here.  You've just gotta skip around.  So let's dig into it.

Discogs tags this album as "Hip Hop, Jazz, Pop, Folk, World, & Country."  And at just ten songs, that can start to feel like one song per genre, but it does hue closer to Hip-Hop than that.  Like the opening track, "The Day I Became a Robot," definitely has an old school jazz sound, but sort of the way Digital Underground might toy with dusty jazz samples and sing-songy vocals.  It's certainly got some slick scratching over a funky loop.  But it's also got silly lyrics and sung vocals I wouldn't revisit if I wasn't playing the whole album through... like a "Sex Packets" as opposed to an "Underwater Rimes."

The second song, on the other hand, I'll revisit.  Like, now we're talking.  It's got an even catchier loop and tight scratching for a hook, and Jones is actually rapping.  He's flipping a freaky, maybe Freestyle Fellowship inspired flow, which works with the simpler, more repetitive track.  It's called "Riding On a Cloud," and he's definitely flexing his elevated state: "in the city, the humidity's hideous and the shittiest idiots quickly rip you off penniless.  My committee hits from Wilmington to the Caribbean; and my affiliates get so lit it's ridiculous.  Flying higher than a hippy in a hot air balloon; might leave a footprint on the moon.  Riding on a cloud and we're never coming down."

Let's speed run through the rest of the Not For Me tracks.  The best of them is "Comes Love," which is an old timey lounge song.  It's got a lot of good, live instrumentation, it's a classically written song and is generally quite good at what it's trying to be.  I'm just not interested in that kind of song, so it's an interesting experiment, but nothing I'd recommend to a fellow Hip-Hop head.  Then you've got "Once In a Lifetime Thing," which is a straight-up country and western song, which is a big no thanks from me.  And still, sure, I can appreciate that even though I don't like country and western, there are good country songs and bad country songs.  But Jones' country singing doesn't stand up to Dolly Parton or whatever other country singer I'd have to concede is a good singer even if I don't care for what they're doing.  Finally, "Drink Up and Go Home" is right down the middle... better than "Once," but not as impressive as "Comes Love."

That leaves a couple more cool rap songs: "Catfish Vulture," "Ballad of a Fifty Year Old Skateboarder," which has a super funky instrumental and "Songs To Drive My Enemies Insane," the latter of which really lives up to its title, in a good way.  And I looked this album up online, and the digital version is pretty short.  Just those eight songs.  But the LP has two bonus tracks that you can only get on the physical copy, rounding it up to a fell ten.  And thankfully they're both Hip-Hop.  "God Is Inside You" has a cool, spacey track and a chill vibe, but the repetitive, simplistic (and preachy) lyrics are just annoying.  "I ask all the plants, can you tell me, where is God?  And in the cities, I ask the people, where is God?  I ask the doctors, where is God?  I ask the teachers, where is God?  Deep into the Forrest, I ask the dirt, where is God?  I ask the worms, where is God?"  And so on.  Like, okay, I get it already.  Can't you just say, "I ask everyone and everything, where is God?" and move on already?  No, we have to go through the whole tiresome procession.  Finally, we have "Night Light," which will grab your attention because it features Vast Aire.  It's pretty good, but Jones' best solo Hip-Hop tracks are better.

So, all in all, an extremely mixed bag.  A lot of talent is on hand, but it's definitely a record you'll want to skip through rather than relax and let play.  Even if you don't have my particular Hip-Hop-specific tastes, the wide variety of musical genres, tones and mood is going to have most people alternating between hot and cold (putting all the rap on one side of the LP, Transformation-sryle, might've been nice).  But some really good songs is more than most albums can claim, these days.  Jones fans who enjoy the edge-case stuff like "Robot" should be very pleased with the album, and almost everyone should find some stuff to enjoy on here.  The LP comes in a fun, full-color picture cover, it plays good and loud and it's inexpensive.  So pick it up if you're in the mood for something non-traditional and you're prepared to keep your hand on the tonearm.

Whirlwind D In Toyland

It's been about a year, so I'd say it's about time for a new Whirlwind D record.  And sure enough, we've got a brand new 7" single from AE Productions called "On the Floor."

One would naturally assume this is the long-awaited Hip-Hop remake of Johnny Gill's smash hit single "The Floor," but no, it's actually an homage to his childhood toys that he used to leave on the floor, from Steve Austin to Skeletor and his horde.  Honestly, that nostalgia bait-y listing thing has never done much for me.  "Hey, remember these things" feels a little thin for a proper song.  But D actually gets ahead of my criticism in his final verse: "you may say, 'hey, it's all trivial;' and I kind of agree.  But reminiscing on the past is a way to be free of all the death and destruction and the permanent noise.  So kick back with me and don't be one of the toys."  So fair cop!  It's probably on me for being too much of a grump to get into the spirit of things (honestly, Hot Karl may've poisoned the well for me).

At any rate, I really like the high-pace track (I had to double-check I wasn't supposed to be playing this at 33 when I fired it up the first time) with Djar One's hyper-kinetic cutting for a hook.  And the way they keep constantly, rapidly hitting that horn blare ...It's a very PE-style move until it breaks out into a funky little solo at the end.  D isn't an MC I typically think of as a Fast Rapper©, but he keeps up with it effortlessly.

And everything pulls together for me on the B-side, "Watcha Waitin' For," another Djar One produced track, this time on the funkier side, but with plenty more killer cuts.  It's still not a song about death and destruction and the permanent noise, but it's no trifle.  It's a duet with London OG Blade (I wrote about a record by his son a few years ago).  There's a consistent message of self empowerment and seizing the day, but I particularly like the wild flourish Blade puts on the material in the last verse, "either you can be a fish in a bowl or a shark in the ocean, wide open, nobody controls you.  Swim like the world's yours.  You make the rules; you can break the laws.  Man made escapades adventure seeker.  Lurkin' in the undergrowth, underhanded creatures.  Hierarchy threat to the ecosystem food-chain."  It's like when Rakim started off rapping about how he writes a rhyme but his metaphor expanded and expanded to the point where "the Earth gets further and further away [and] planets are small as balls of clay."  Alright, man, go off!

So "B-side wins again," as the saying goes, but I really do like the instrumental and energy of "On the Floor" as well.  Together, they make another strong limited edition single fans won't want to let get away.  It comes in a cool picture cover (that has taught me I'll never be able to build a microphone  haha) and sounds good when you crank it up.

With Hitman Howie Tee, the DJ Innovator

I've been spinning this record over and over recently, and it finally dawned on me that I should write about it.  "DJ Innovator" is the second single by Chubb Rock with Hitman Howie Tee off their self-titled album on Select Records in 1988.  To me it's the stand-out track on that slightly shaky first album, when Chubb was still putting on that fake, gruff voice, as opposed to his natural, smoother style he eased into ever since.  But this song, with that killer sample, has never stopped making me bob my head from the back of my mind all these 35+ years later.

Both men are credited with the writing and production here, though only cousin Howie (yeah, not sure how many of you knew they were cousins?) does the scratching.  The first big draw is obviously that one soul sample, including that beautiful "aahhhaaaHHHHHH" vocal line that gets looped with it.  That's practically the whole instrumental right there, layered with some extra drums and some simple but damn catchy cuts.  The title and hook actually comes from Chubb's first single, "Rock 'N Roll Dude," where Howie Tee does a short rap at the end, saying, "well, I'm a DJ innovator when it comes to scratch, and anything I wanna scratch I'll scratch.  There's no matchin' my style!  I get wild, so just shut your face.  And students, don't ever try to bass with HOWIE TEE!"  So now on this record, they're just stuttering that opening line, "well I'm a D, well I'm a D, well I'm a DJ innovator," turning it into a super funky earworm of a hook.

Lyrically, it starts out as a relatively straight-forward ode to the DJ: "my DJ is very scary.  He has a multitude of cuts, and he's also very alert and modeled to things that are new."  There's a nice mini-scratch breakdown midway through the song, with Chubb pointing out, "he goes berserk... and wild," but they're a little soft in the mix, so you have to pay attention.  And it's easy to get distracted once Chubb's sense of humor breaks out and he starts spinning terrific braggadocio tales:

"Many major record labels made offers to steal us;
And even Soul Train, huh!  Don Cornelius
Said to come on over with my pen and pad
All the way to California - he'll pay for the cab.
And the gesture is quite understood:
He knows talent when he sees it 'cause he's on my wood
For being an artist and a good producer.
They want me to do a duet with Luther.
But it's okay 'cause I like the brother,
That Kentucky Fried Chicken eatin' mother!
To compete with me, he has to eat more salads.
I'll do the rap, and he'll do the ballad."

For you younger readers, that would be Luther Vandross he's clowning on.  It's such a crazy, wonderful song that still shines to this day.  And another fun aspect of "DJ Innovator" can be found on the back of the album cover.   I never discovered this until many years later, because I grew up with the cassette, which has the same illustrated front cover.  But only the LP has cartoons with quotes from every song on the flip.  That's Howie on Janet Jackson's left arm saying, "I had to show my talent sooner or later."

There's also a B-side, "I Feel Good," which was on the album, too.  And as you can see, it got a comic panel as well.  This instrumental's more stripped down, without the same kind of absorbing sample as the A-side, though Tee's cuts are a little sharper.  Chubb's voice conflicts a little more with this track as his lyrics go from silly to sappy: "now me and Howie are getting paid properly, driving automobiles and owning property.  Like Bonanza, acres and acres; and we're getting front row seats to watch The Lakers.  Johnson has magic.  James is very worthy.  Kareem is 41, so addio!  Arrivederci.  I'm not dissing, that's what I'm not about.  I'm so happy that my album is out ...And maybe this great feeling was sent from above, 'cause I'm happy and peppy and bursting with love."  But I like how he twists it into something tough with the last line, "Don't understand?  Make sure it's understood that you're livin' only because I feel good."

So it's not one of Chubb Rock's best known records, but to me this single's a real classic.  Every version of the 12" (retail, promo, imports) has the same track-listing: the vocal version and Instrumental for both songs.  I've seen an "extended 12" long version" listing online, but it's just the vocal version followed by the Instrumental, just like on all the vinyl.

Anyway, all of that just to say: RIP DJ Howie Tee

Radioactive Dreams

Two years later and Drasar Monumental is back with another brand new EP, entitled Chernobyl Sessions.  This project has a solid, timeless sound.  You've got classic Hip-Hop production with a modern bent.  Some of it sounds like raw, 90s NY, and lyrically, "2012" is full of fun old school references.  But then the music will suddenly flip to something modern and experimental, and then you'll catch that old drum riff from "The Bridge."  So on the one hand, you never know what to expect next moment to moment, but on the other hand there's a reliable consistency to Drasar, as a producer and an MC.  A startling sample will come completely out of left field, but yet he manages to make it all feel of a piece.

"DMW" starts out turning a tough "On the Run" vocal sample (appropriately, not the only time Kool G Rap's voice turns up on this record... the way he literally spits his bars makes his voice a perfect fit for this EP's invective attitude.) into a hard life lesson over a heavy beat. "You claim to stand on business but don't have a business to stand on.  Act like life is a sprint, but it's a marathon; so you crashed out, took the fast route, only concerned with cash flow in large amounts. Treat life like a game, you get gamed on. Don't know how to move, you get moved on. Don't know how to bang, you're gettin' banged on. Emptied the clip; your clique got rained on. It's the same song everywhere you look; everybody's a crook 'till you get booked. Now you're shook. Visualize your coffin; now you're a dead man walkin'."  But Drasar fans know by now, he doesn't like to stand in one place for long, and two minutes into the song, he's flipping it up with some crazy flute samples, and a new, high energy kicks in and the next verse is just about setting it on other MCs.  Then all the samples are slowed and spaced out for an almost psychedelic meltdown.

Drasar does his own scratches as well, and "Vitriol" opens with some slick scribbles over a killer bassline, going off on modern producers. "Sample kits, digital diggin', popped up at your session, wanted to kill 'im! ...Comedy, a real fuckin' joke, made me want to cuff my hands around your throat.  But it's not all rap shit; mid-way through "Post Covid Takes" a serious turn that lives up to its title.  "It's all fun and games 'till you get stuffed in a casket.  Post Covid, it's like a bad acid trip.  Hallucinations, broken visions; I watched a whole generation get thrown in prisons. Broken homes lead to broken dreams; hopeless tryin' not to end up homeless. Desensitized normalized manslaughter, timeline snuff films traumatize our sons and daughters. Pain ...Slave wages, poverty's contagious like the black plague. We don't practice group economics so it's impossible for us to stack bread."  That last line's a slant rhyme, but it's so sick.  And, you know, true.  Drasar hits as hard as ever, in every sense.  If you guys haven't checked him out yet, seriously, look his stuff up.

As you can see up top, this comes in a full picture cover from Drasar's own label, Vendetta Vinyl, where this can be ordered directly.  All the vocal tracks are on side 1, and all the instrumentals, which haven't been released digitally, are on side 2.  A CD version is also available from the Hawaiian label DITCD, which also includes the instrumentals. 

Intrepid Street Stylez

Here's one I slept on for a long time.  The first I ever heard of Intrepid Stylez is when Chopped Herring putting out their Junior Criminalz EP.  I only noted it because I've always check out every Herring release when they drop.  But a random group of Canadian teens I'd never heard of?  It was an easy pass when you've gotta save money for all the unreleased Natural Elements and JVC Force they were restoring on wax.  But then, when I started working with Dust & Dope, they hit me off with a bunch of CDs they'd released in the past, including this Intrepid Stylez EP, which is basically the CD version of the Herring vinyl that they put out concurrently.  But when I listened to it, I realized, damn, I shouldn't've ignored these guys.

Intrepid Stylez is a four-man crew from Toronto.  The CD booklet helpfully breaks down how rapper Mast started out in a B-Boy crew in the UK called the Intrepid Street Rockers.  When he moved to Canada, he teamed up with his cousin Chill da Bandit, Special and their producer DJ Kama to become Intrepid Stylez.  They first came out on wax in 1996 with one song ("Junior Criminalz") as the B-side of a bootleg Tone Hooker white label.  Then they released their first (and only) proper 12" single in '98 on their own label, ISR (which I assume stands for Intrepid Stylez Records) Productions.  They followed that up with a self-released full-length 1999 album on CD called Underground Connex, which featured all three songs from their official single, but not "Junior Criminalz."  That's their whole catalog.  Both IRS releases are pretty rare, and if you weren't plugged into their local scene in the late 90s, you probably missed out on these guys like I did.  So just the thing for Chopped Herring and Dust & Dope to resurrect.

So this EP is seven tracks deep - it's the same track-listing on the CD and vinyl except the sequence is changed slightly.  "Junior Criminalz" is on here, as is an earlier, demo version of the lead track from their 12", "Da Outcome."  There's also an earlier demo version of a song called "Kasualties" from Underground Connex and four previously unreleased songs from 1997.  "Junior Criminalz," then, is the only track that's been released before.

And okay, you might be thinking what I thought seven years ago, "some young Canadian cats I never heard of?  I'm good."  But at least find some sample online and give them a listen, because these guys are nice, on a real Mobb Deep kind of vibe, with a slick flow over catchy, original production.  The opener is "Massacre Pt. 1."  You might've wondered what the deal was with "Massacre Pt. 2" on Underground Connex; well, now you finally get to hear the original.  They're completely different songs, instrumentally and lyrically, though they definitely share a vibe.  Each MC has a distinct voice and style - they work well together, but you'll immediately work out who's rapping when, especially since they're constantly name-checking themselves.  And as far as the dueling "Massacre"s, I think I actually prefer this recovered original.

While we're in comparison mode, let me talk about the two demo versions.  "Da Outcome" is pretty similar.  Like, it features that same, big chunky piano sample that prompted them to make it their big single in the first place.  You know that sound that made the indie 90s beautiful.  This one sits in the middle of Shadez of Brooklyn's "Change" and Milkbone's "Keep It Real."  And did I mention a Mobb Deep vibe?  It's never more overt than here, with their "there's a war going' on outside no man is safe from" hook.  I thought it was vocal sample at first, until they took it in their own direction, "Intrepid Stylez droppin' bombs, feel the outcome."  I'm telling ya, give these guys a chance!

So yeah, both this and "Kasualties" are basically the same tracks, I guess mixed a little different (the Underground Connex version of "Kasualties" I heard online sounds more echoey), but the key distinction is that they're lyrical remixes.  Completely new verses on both songs.  And the new songs are completely in keeping with their released material.  "For Instance" is a typical weed smokers' song, and the one I like the least, but it still has a smooth vibe that fits in well with the rest of the EP.  "How de Hell" features a tight NY beat with a taught string loop and a ragga hook by a guy called Sample King, and "Streetz No Joke" lets DJ Kama flex his turntable skills on the hook, while the track takes an otherwise grittier turn.  It'll have you saying "naaah, these kids can't be from Canada" more than any Maestro record.

Chopped Herring's EP 12" EP came in a sticker cover on limited yellow (yellow) and blue vinyl (120 copies) and black (230 copies).  Dust & Dope's release is a properly pressed CD limited to 300 copies in a jewel case with 2-page booklet including the aforementioned notes.  And if you missed out on Underground Connex, don't worry!  It's getting it's vinyl debut wax this month from SCMD Music (I'm not really familiar with them, but Hip Hop Enterprise is carrying it) in a full gatefold sleeve picture cover on both gold and black wax.