The First Rule Of Ho Fights...

Last Christmas, I vlogged about Disco Rick's mysterious crew Silence. They're not mysterious because they particularly acted tor marketed themselves that way, they didn't wear hooded cloaks like The Dopplegangaz (well, as far as  I know) or anything. There's just next to no information about them because their career was so short lived. I've never seen any interviews with 'em, they never released an album or anything with a picture that shows the group. And also, like I said in last year's vlog about a Silence 12", Disco Rick seemed to be doing almost the whole thing by himself. Just who is Silence? What did they do: beats? Rhymes? Or is this another Jamie Jupiter situation?

Well, I half examined that issue by looking at one of their 12"s, but they made two. So to get the full story - or at least as much of the story as one can glean from listening to their records - it's time I looked at their second. This is "Let Them Ho's Fight" on, of course, Vision Records. And unlike "Santa Clause Commin'," this one has a year on it: 1994.

And that's not the only way this label is more helpful. It also has detailed credits naming the MCs. Yes, this time the MCing isn't all Disco Rick (though he is one of 'em). While the 12" is again billed as Silence featuring Disco Rick, in the specific song credits they specify that it's by Disco Rick (not really, but I'll come back to that), Crew Chief, 40 Dogg and Sexy C. 40 Dogg also did the production. Heck, they even tell us who the background chants are by: Ken 2 Win, John Ragin and Randy.

Of course, there's no telling which, if any of these guys, are considered official members of Silence. Sexy C is a female MC down with Disco Rick since back in his days with Joey Boy Records and The Dogs. I have her album, it's a good time and probably the subject of a future post. :)  But is she a member of Silence, or just a guest? I'm going to guess, and this is purely going on intuition here, that Silence is just the two guys. But who knows?

Anyway, there's 3 versions of "Let Them Ho's Fight" on this 12": The Smitty Mix, the Radio Mix and the Knock Out Mix. The Radio Mix is pretty self-explanatory, so basically The Smitty Mix is the main vocal mix, and the Knock Out Mix is a purely instrumental remix. It's a pure, super high bpm party track, cliched samples, sped up chorus and all, like the kind of thing Luke would put out.

So let's go back to the Smitty Mix. It's a pretty hardcore track, except for its surprisingly catchy, upbeat bassline. Otherwise it's tough drums, tortured Public Enemy horn squeals and all (as in, not PE style but directly lifted from a PE record). It's a surprisingly good song, in fact, whether you typically like Miami stuff or not. I mean, lyrically it's nothing amazing, but they flow really capably over a really fast track, and they manage to throw in several memorable sound-bites, including a fun homage to "La Di Da Di" and a dark usage of Tag Team's famous chorus. In fact, I really like Sexy's verse here. It's pretty much just all hardcore freestyling. The hook has a concept: "let them girls fight" (Worldstar really needs to make this their anthem), but like Silence's last record, none of the verses really have follow the concept of the song title or hook. I guess that's just Silence's schtick.

What's interesting here is that while, again, this 12" is billed as Silence featuring Disco Rick, he neither rhymes on the song or produces it. It's a three verse song, with one of the guys first (I've know idea which is which between Crew Chief and 40 Dogg), Sexy, then the other guy. And we know from the detailed credits that Disco's not even one of the chants on the hook. So, while the last Silence featuring Disco Rick record seemed to be a Disco Rick record without Silence, this one seems to be a Silence record without Disco Rick!

Anyway, the bottom lime is that this a damn good, albeit trashy, song. It just makes me all the more disappointed that Down 4 Life never surfaced, because both of their singles suggest it would've been a good album.  We need a DWG-style label that specializes in rescuing lost Miami; there's so much I'd be excited to see unvaulted and released today. But at least, in the meantime, there's this 12", which I recommend for anybody doesn't feel too classy to own a record called "Let Them Ho's Fight."