Hot Chillin'

One of the major players in the current limited vinyl release game is Hot Chillin', Marley Marl's new, indie hip-hop label (a play, of course, on the classic Warner Bros subsidiary label, Cold Chillin' Records). They put out their first record in 2007 and their second in 2008, but it turns they have copies of both still available direct from their website, hotchillin.com.

HC000 is their debut 12": Kool G Rap's "Men At Work." "Men At Work," of course, is one of the many killer songs of G Rap's debut album, Road To the Riches, which - 'till now - had never been released as a single. This wrong has been corrected, and it's now available on 12" with an instrumental and acapella. But best of all, the vocal version on this 12" is a vintage but never-before-released extended version. Dope! This was limited to 500 copies or, by some accounts, 1000.

They came back the next year with HC001, Big Daddy Kane's "Set It Off" 12". Like HC000, this is again an unreleased extended version, b/w unreleased instrumental and acapella versions. Now, it's true there was a UK 12" of "Set It Off" back in '88 with an extended mix. But this is an extra-extended version, different and longer than that mix. What's more, this also features a short unreleased live version, and even better, an unreleased WBLS promo song called "Raw Attitude" by Kane featuring Antoinette. This was indisputably limited to 500 copies, as each copy is hand-numbered on the label. Mine is #232. :)

If that's not special and limited enough for ya, Hot Chillin' has produced 25 DJ sets of the "Set It Off" 12". What's a DJ set? Well, first of all, it's doubles of the HC001. But more importantly, it comes in a custom, graffiti-style cover hand-painted by Lordroc. All 25 covers were hung up the wall, and painted as one giant mural... the full picture will only come together if all 25 covers are reunited.

Most recently, Hot Chillin' released the limited Juice Crew EP in conjunction with DWG. I've already blogged all about that one, though, so check it out here.

So definitely drop by their site... it's a little wonky, but there's some great material to be found there. One caveat: Hot Chillin' is shipping their records in bubble envelopes with no other support (i.e. cardboard stiffeners) inside. So far, I haven't heard of anyone receiving broken wax, but there's a lot of creased covers going around. Now, that's no big deal if you're getting the regular 12"'s, which just come in plain, white jackets and sleeves (if it really bugs you, buy a $1 techno record off EBay and replace the jacket), but if you bought one of the one-of-a-kind, only-25-copies-in-existence DJ sets, you're kinda screwed. And considering the fact that they're charging $15 shipping per copy, and they're only spending $6, including the envelope, that's a bit of a racket.

Now, HC002 has finally been announced. Apparently there was a delay at the pressing plant, or it'd already be out; but it's now due for June and it's going to be Cool V's unreleased "Tribute To Scratching part 2!" They also have some other cool stuff planned for further down the road, including an instrumental series, with instrumental LPs of Goin' Off, In Control Vol. 1 & Long Live the Kane and an In Control Radio Show DVD.