Outsidaz, Come Rain Or Shine

This is the debut of the Outsidaz right here. I mean, granted, Young Zee had come out a few years earlier, and through his singles and (unreleased but leaked) album, we'd been introduced to his Ouz crew already. And they cameo'd on The Fugees' second album... But this is their first collective single as The Outsidaz, the penultimate in New Jersey hip-hop. "Rain Or Shine" on Proceed Entertainment/ Out House Productions, 1998.

The track is simple, but a killer, produced by Kobie Brown. Proceed Entertainment was his label, and I think he was also acting as a sort of co-manager for The Outz at that time. He's the same Kobie who speaks up once or twice in my 1998 Outsidaz interview. and had been down with the Outz at least since Young Zee's earliest Perspective singles, which he also worked produced and collaborated on. He seemed to drift more towards the R&B side of the industry after this, but "Rain Or Shine" shows he was certainly adept at producing hip-hop. It's basically all about one ill, pounding piano loop and a crisp, slow and hard drum track. It's immediately compelling, you could just listen and focus on that loop the whole five minutes. But it's also simple enough to play the background for the Outsidaz sick and varied flows.

The line-up for this record is spelled out on the label, albeit in the wrong order. In order of appearance, it goes: Pace Won, Axe, Yah Yah and Young Zee. There's also a short, fifth verse which is uncredited... I think that's Azizz, but I'm not certain. The hook is a catchy example of The Outz' interplay, with each MC taking turns saying different lines each time, sometimes in unison. Each MC really gets a chance to play to their strengths, with Pace Won dropping some playfully slick wordplay, "The lethalest, I'm evil as Kneival is; I drop the bomb and leave your city people-less." Axe kicks a lot of quick, short syllable rhymes, "Swift to smack a lady actin' shady, that's the way the Axe amaze thee. Blastin' crazy, get the cash, then Axe be Swayze." Zee kicks his entirely unique brand of drug slanging raps, "I used to make a grand a day out in Santa Fe. Cops came, I ran away; moved to Tampa Bay. Now they say my tape promotes drugs when I bust, like I be out sellin' dust in front of Kids 'R Us." But it's Yah Lover, Zee's younger brother who sometimes manages to be more Zee than Zee, who possibly manages to steal the show with some of the sickest, craziest rhymes:

"We sever the ligaments of army confederates
For leverage. I smoke a blunt and dump two sedatives.
Still flowin' looser than the bitches I seduce;
After a noose, crews get disposed like a douche
From the grittiest, shittiest, climax climidiest[?],
Whose affiliates be on some old Willy shit!
Keep an open eye, you think of scopin' Yah?
Ya better apply for life with Mutual of Omaha.
All you biters'll die from malnutrition,
Or Yah Yah'll stomp out your endocrine system!"

The b-side isn't by The Outz at all, but by R&B singer Tonya Von featuring A.L. (short for All Lyrics). I don't think being paired up with the Outsidaz wound up doing her any favors, because the song got completely overshadowed by all the buzz "Rain Or Shine" was getting. And the Proceed family must've felt the same way, because they later re-released "Tonite" as its own single, but it still didn't catch on. Tonya Von, though, was also an artist who Kobie was working with back in mid 90's, who was also signed to Perspective Records, and who also got dropped before dropping her album (she had a single called "Bounce"). Anyway, it's not a bad track... the beat (co-produced by Kobie and somebody named Ibo) is a smooth head-nodder, Tonya's a talented vocalist, and A.L.'s guest raps are decent, if unexceptional... he was one of those Lyricist Lounge-type 90's MCs who was heavy on the punchlines ("lyrics so deep I wrote 'em in submarines"). But he's got a nice, swift flow and multi-syllable that definitely keep things interesting.

"Tonite" comes in two versions (not counting the Instrumental), the Main Mix and the Queens Mix. The instrumental and everything is exactly the same in both cases, but the difference is that the Queens Mix has an extra verse from A.L. right at the beginning. So for hip-hop heads like us, the preferred version is obvious.

So, pictured above is the classic vinyl, but I have something else I think you'll enjoy for today's show and tell: pictured right is the promo-only cassette singles Proceed was giving out to labels and rap journalists like myself. It does away with the instrumentals, clean edits and stuff from the vinyl, and just features the main, vocal mix of each song. They've got some slightly different credits (and different spellings: "Pacewon appears courtesy of Roka Block"), and they've also got stickers on the back covering up a 212 number with a 973 phone number.

Unfortunately, Proceed closed its doors after this (and the other 12" pressing of "Tonite"). Kobie and The Outsidaz were a good pairing, and I would've liked to see them continue to do more work together. But, hey. Maybe it's not too late. The Outsidaz have been doing more and more collaberations lately, and Kobie doesn't seem to have been doing much in the public eye, lately. Surely he has the time to link up and provide those guys with some beats again. Everybody would win.

Axe's Steelo

Sat-R-Day is a Dutch R&B trio that specializes in club tunes. "(I'm Diggin' Yo) Steelo" is the second single off of their 2001 ZYX debut album, The Weekend Is Yours, and their biggest hit. Their lead singer later left the group and they replaced him with another guy for their second album, which wasn't as well received. But I don't care about any of that any more than you do. If you're not DJing for a nightclub eight nine years ago, there's one reason to note this single: it features a surprising guest appearance by The Outsidaz' Axe.

So, you get six on the CD single or five on the vinyl (take THAT, traditional DJs!), and as you can see from the pic, the cover promises us a 2-step mix. In fact, two of the mixes are 2-step mixes. For those who don't know, Wikipedia tells us that, "2-step, is a typically British style of modern electronic dance music... In 1999 and 2000, 2-step reached the peak of the genre's commercial success." That's pretty much why you can scoop this up super cheap today if you're so inclined.

Ok, so let's get this out of the way real quick. You've got the two 2-step mixes, "Mike's Ministry Mix" and "CC Lounge Mix," neither of which feature Axe (and one of which barely features Sat-R-Day). By the way, according to the liner notes, all six tracks are produced by Rutti. I don't know who the Mike of "Mike's Ministry Mix" would be, then... maybe Rutti's first name is Mike?). There's also the "For AM Mix," which plays it more traditionally R&B and the "Bubbeling[sic.] Mix," which features some silly reggae verses. No one is credited for doing that either, so I suppose it's one of the guys from Sat-R-Day. Those mixes don't feature Axe either.

So that leaves us with the tracks we actually do care about, the ones featuring Axe: the Radio and Extended mixes. The Extended mix is that sixth track that was left off the vinyl, by the way. It's basically the same as the Radio Mix but features some additional riffing (50 seconds worth) by Sat-R-Day at the end.

So how is the actual song? It's not bad. For a dollar bin pick-up, I was satisfied with it. Sat-R-Day are some genuinely decent singers with a Jodeci-like sound (some of their online fans praise them for sounding American), but the song is faster and more upbeat than anything those boys'd do. The subject matter is pretty obvious from the title - they're digging some girl's style - but they already have a girlfriend so we've gotta "keep it on the low-low." The production won't impress any Paul C. stans, but it's certainly competent enough and keeps you following along.

And the good news is that Axe's verse is tight. The beat is much more poppy than traditional Outsidaz material, of course; but it's fast and upbeat, so it actually works surprisingly well with Axe's flow. Despite its name, the Radio Mix actually leaves Axe's curse words and drug references intact, so if you got the vinyl you're not missing out on anything important.

I mean, I don't want to overhype his contribution here; it's not "oh my god, how incredible"... there's no really ill, stand-out lines, and I'm not suggesting most heads should go seek this out like the next hidden jewel. But he sounds good here. So if you're serious a fan, go ahead and spend that penny for a used copy on Amazon. And if you're with your girl and you have to listen to some clubby R&B-type joints, definitely go for the one with the Outsida on it.