Hidden Bustdown Remix

So, I recently picked up Bustdown's single "Pissin' Razor Blades" from his 1991 Effect album, Nasty Bitch (Chapter 1). I'd never picked it up previously, 'cause I already had the album and I don't generally sweat picking up every 12" single that has nothing new to offer besides a Radio Edit and maybe some kind of Dub mix. But it was cheap; plus, as you know, a boy can't really become a man until he's completed his Bustdown collection. So I finally broke down and bought it along with some other stuff. Well, three cheers for wasteful spending, because this 12" turned out to be a Bustdown essential!

There's four tracks on this promo-only 12" (I'm pretty sure there is no non-promo version). "Was It Worth It" is the B-side - a pretty cool album track. It's surprisingly mellow for Bustdown as he kicks a serious message. But he sounds sincere, doesn't come off as too corny and the instrumental's pretty interesting, so, while it's not a highlight, it gets a pass.

But then there are three versions of "Pissin' Razor Blades:" the Nasty Version, which is the one from the album, and the Club Mix are on side 1, and on the flip you have... also the Club Mix. Well, that's redundant. But if you look a little closer, you'll see the label lists two different running times for the two Club Mixes. These are actually different versions. Presumably one is mislabeled, because the Club Mix on the A side is a full-blown remix.

Now, it's a little difficult to say who produced what, here. the label credits everything, collectively, to the trio of Mike Fresh, DJ Toomp and Rodney Terry. Well, Toomp is dope and Mike Fresh is one of the greats... Rodney Terry I don't really know, but still, that group of producers is all promising. However, there are shenanigans afoot.

This 12" credits the production for all four tracks to those three. But having spoken to Ice Mike - Bustdown's original producer - personally, I know that's not entirely accurate. "Was It Worth It" was one of his productions, along with several other tracks Bustdown recorded before he signed with Luke/Effect and hooked up with those producers. But then, as Ice Mike explains, "on the record, my name didn't come out. I mean, it's on the 12" that Luke first pressed up ["Putcha Ballys On"], but the CD has another guy's name, Mike Fresh."

But he didn't name "Pissin' Razor Blades" as one of his... and even if he did that beat, by the time they got around to making a remix for this Effect single, he was probably fully in the camp of the Fresh/ Toomp/ Terry team, so they probably did that one. But regardless, Ice Mike, Mike Fresh, Toomp... they're all ideal producers for Bustdown, so either way we're in good hands.

The album version that we all know and love is a gritty tale (as all of Bustdown's tales are) of the dangers of STDs. It takes a liberal dose of Parliament's "Mothership" (the same killer loop Sweet Tee used in "On the Smooth Tip"), and sweetens it with the dash of the famous whistling from Eric B & Rakim's "My Melody." All that supporting Bustdown's cocky, no bullshit flow - probably inspired by Willie D - makes for a great little record that makes you wonder why so many people slept on Bustdown causing us to never get a Nasty Bitch (Chapter 2).*

The new version, smooths things out a bit, with an emphasis on a super funky, rolling bassline. But it's kinda quick and upbeat, giving a more humorous tone to Bustdown's angry condemnations of the girl who burned him. The "Melody" whistle is still here on the hook, along with that crazy riff from The Fearless Four's "Rockin' It." It's a little less dynamic than the original, and so it feels less "signature." But it's real cool. It won't replace the original, but it's a great companion to it. And considering we're so starved for Bustdown records, we can't afford to pass these things up.

So, that's the Club Mix on side A, what I consider to be the mislabeled remix. The actual Club Mix, on side B, is a slightly tighter edit of the album version, but with a few interesting changes. It has a new skit for an introduction, with a guy sounding like an advertisement asking, "has this ever happened to you?" that sort of reminds me of the silly sketches NWA used to do. And, more compellingly, during the breakdown in the middle of the song where Bustdown argues with his girl over the phone, they add a really smooth horn sample that breathes some fresh life into the whole proceedings, possibly making it the preferred definitive version.

So, if you're the Bustdown fan who thought he had everything, make sure this one's in your collection, too.


*The answer, of course, is that he was associated with Luke, and thus the bass music stigma that was prevailing outside of Florida.

Putcha Ballys On... Part 2?

(Youtube version is here.)

My original post on "Putcha Ballys On" is here.

Poison Clan Appreciation Week, Day 7: Bustdown

I'm not sure how much Bustdown was ever really considered an actual member of Poison Clan, but apart from being labelmates and collaborating on Luke's Kid 'N Play diss with JT Money (see this previous post for more on that), he also appeared on "Somethin' 4 You Raggedy Ho's" from Poisonous Mentality. He also worked with Poison producers Mike McCray and DJ Toomp on his album. So he's at least a relevant affiliate.

Bustdown had a series of singles - "Pop That Thang," "Pissin' Razor Blades" and today's 12": "Putcha Ballys On," - and even managed to get an album (Nasty Bitch, Chapter 1) out before Luke closed his doors. Juvenile talked about him in this 2006 interview (I recommend reading the whole thing; though none of the rest pertains to Bust), "Bust Down, the dude that invented pussy poppin’, he came out with a record that was real big called 'Putch' Ballys On,' and he had 'Nasty Bitch,' and that record got him a deal with Luke Skywalker, and Luke Skywalker kinda shelved him and took the whole pussy poppin thing away from him."

So this 12", along with all his other singles and album, came out in 1991 on Effect Records. There's nothing on this 12" but the one mix of the one track, but it's all he needs. Produced by Ice Mike, the first thing you'll notice is the blaring horns. It's got a nice funky guitar lick and a funky breakbeat, and Bustdown just kicks some fresh freestyle rhymes - it's just all about how cool his rhymes sound on the track and really isn't what you'd associate with a 90's Florida track at all ...I guess because he was originally from New Orleans and held that style down. Bustdown's really an MC who should've gotten a lot larger than he did.

But unfortunately, his '91 output and 1992 guest spots were the end of his run on Effect Records and effectively his entire career. He did put out a comeback 12" in 1997, though. It's a pretty interesting story (his label turned out to be a front for a drug runners), which I've already blogged about here. So check it out if you're interested. ...Oh and by the way, just because this was day 7, don't think this is the end of Poison Clan Appreciation Week. I've got more good stuff to come. :)

Poison Clan Appreciation Week, Day 4: The Good Luke Songs

There's a reason most Luke albums are the stuff of dollar bins and rarely even find their way online. They're bloated and about 50% skit. And Luke doesn't even pretend to be a rapper and adopt a rudimentary flow - ever - he just talks on half his songs and does hooks only on the rest. I mean, he's had some short-term successful singles with his shout and call songs, with good reason: he had some great in-house producers (even his biggest detractors can't really front on the instrumental to "Breakdown"). But I could still sleep peacefully at night if all of those songs were wiped from existence tomorrow.

But, there's one reason to own them all: The Poison Clan!

All of his albums before Luke Records self destructed (post label destruction his albums changed and aren't really relevant to the discussion) were worth picking up because, naturally, Luke used his albums to promote his artists (and help deflect the fact that he was putting out rap album after rap album without being able to rap). Each of his albums have some great songs; all featuring The Poison Clan. The rest of the albums you could throw away. So, let's look at all of those now:

From I Got Shit On My Mind:
1) "Fakin' Like Gangstas" - This is essentially a JT solo joint, although Luke adlibs ("I still don't know the fuck nigga that I was shootin' at!") on the hook. It's a solid cut, with JT using a simple flow over a nice beat, speaking out against everyone he thinks is faking being a gangsta. It's the song that made Snoop and Dre turn around and diss Luke on "Dre Day," and would be a solid entry any Poison Clan album.

2) "Pussy Ass Kid and Hoe Ass Play (Payback Is a Mutha Fucker)" - This is great. A raw, hardcore beat with JT and the underrated Bustdown just trading verses dissing the hell out of Kid & Play. The beat switches around and there's some nice scratching on the hook; but Bustdown really steals the show. JT is as dope as ever, too. Luke riffs a bit at the end, but he doesn't really add anything.

3) "Head, Head and More Head" - At first this sounds like just another of Luke's shout and call songs, with him shouting out various dirty phrases to an audience that enthusiastically shouts back over a hype track with an ill guitar lick. But then JT Money and Jiggie Gee get on the track, spitting sexual diss verses at each other. It's a fun battle-of-the-sexes joint, though Luke's parts feel a little protracted.

From In the Nude:
1) "Bad Land Boogie" - I forgot about this when it was new, so it was a really nice surprise when I went back to my old Luke tapes in the 2000's (even more surprising, Luke included this on his greatest hits CD years later). This is a Home Team joint (just in case anybody's joining us late, both Home Team members were down with Poison Clan; Deb Rock was a founding member), and in classic HT tradition takes a well-loved old school beat and adds some deep bass and samples, and the duo take turns kicking ill, bugged verses. This is really the only proper Home Team song besides what's on their album, so fans should definitely snag this - you won't be disappointed!

2) "Cowards In Compton" - I just did a video blog about this yesterday, so refer to that. Suffice to say: it's dope, and the only noteworthy Luke track that he released as a single.

3) "Head, Head and More Head part 2" - This is pretty self-explanatory; Luke clearly wanted to recapture the success of the first one by barely varying from the first one at all. JT and Jiggie are back over the same beat and Luke is doing the same thing over the hook. The only change is that JT and Jiggie have some new verses... but, really, what more do you want? These are definitely the least of the songs I'm highlighting, but they're still fun.

4) "Freestyle Joint" - Now this is what it's all about. JT, Deboinaire, Clayvoisie and Fresh Kid Ice of the 2 Live Crew make a posse cut over a really nice track. Everything about this song is just right, the beat is fresh, the samples are cool and everybody sounds good with their verse... like when Deb gets on the track, his voice sounds perfect. Even Fresh Kid Ice's hardcore boasts ("fuck with Chinaman and ya die!") work when they shouldn't. I don't think you can even be a hip-hop fan and not enjoy a song like this. The two concepts just can't occupy a human brain at the same time.

From Freak for Life 6996:
1) "That's How I Feel" - This is a cool, Mike McCray produced solo joint for JT, with a fresh MC Lyte sample cut up for the hook. Luke adlibs a bit on the breakdown but again, his input is irrelevant; it's just about JT, the beat and the DJ. Good shit.

2) "Represent" - This is sort of like "Freestyle Joint" part 2. The beat is different but still tight... it's rawer (there's even a Big Daddy Kane sample saying "get raw" on the hook) with whining horns, and the MCs on this posse cut get a little more lyrical. There's even a human beatbox on the track! This one features JT, Verb (of The New 2 Live Crew who tried to bring an east coast lyrical vibe to the group), Fresh Kid Ice and Drugz.

3) "Movin' Along" - We end with a nice track but an unkept promise - a Poison Clan reunion track! It's just credited as being PC, but it's JT and Deb as a pair again. It's a slow, smooth cool-out rhythm and features Luke's in-house reggae artist Likkle Wikked (who sounds dope) on the hook, along with a soulful, vintage vocal sample. It's all about hearing each of them ride the groove, with a collection of old school funky guitar samples, including one which is clearly a deliberate call back to the Poison Clan's first album. It's painful to imagine all the nice material we'd've had if Luke Records didn't have financial problems... damn.

So, anyway, that's it. After that, Luke lost all his good acts and his subsequent guest stars were all lame or outside his camp (a la his stuff with Doug E Fresh and Biggie). It's probably hard to justify picking up crap albums for an average of three good songs; but considering how cheap you can get them now, it's like buying three sweet singles of just the tight songs (and, like I said, at least the rest has some good production). So to me it's worth it: classic Poison Clan material.

Once Again Back Is the Incredible...!

I'm back from the festival (good times), with another indie comeback 12"... this one from rapper Bust Down (often spelled as Bustdown, or sometimes even Bust-Down). It's "Anotha Fonkey Rhyme" b/w "There It Is" on Sheska Records (a small New Orleans label... I think their only other release was the DJ Let Me Play EP by T-Mann), and it came out in 1997.

Bust Down's comeback story is almost identical to Clayvoisie's, which I recently wrote about. Both artists were hardcore, up and coming MC's signed with Luke, on his sub-label, Effect Records. Both put in appearances on records by Luke and Poison Clan, and both may be best known for putting out a diss record on one of Luke's albums, co-rapping with JT Money (Bust's was "Pussy Ass Kid and Hoe Ass Play (Payback Is a Mother Fucker)" off I Got S--t On My Mind). The only difference is, since Bust Down came up first (by about a year), he got several singles and his entire album released on Effect before it shut down (as opposed to Clay's single 12").

So like Clay, Bustdown came back with an indie 12". Both songs here are produced by an Abdul "D.J.W." Abdullah, who does a pretty nice job. Production-wise, this sounds a little more like the NY indie 12"s that were big at the time (which is not a bad thing at all), and Bustdown's flow is the same as ever.

"Another Fonkey Rhyme" has a brief intro (and outro) between Bust and his DJ, and then it's just Bust ripping one freestyle rhyme for the entire length of the song over a fairly mellow track. It uses the same bassline as Grand Daddy IU's "Nobody Move;" but the beat is flipped differently enough to feel pretty unique. The instrumental for "There It Is" is slightly faster, with a little go-go even - a bit more in tune with his first LP. And D.J.W. provides some nice if unexceptional cuts to the rhythm of both tracks.



Update 8/2/08: This was also released on cassette and CD, with the same catalog number and a picture cover (see above). Interestingly, those made "There It Is" the A-side and "Anotha Fonkey Rhyme" the B-side. Even more interestingly, the cassette notes promise it's taken from the Bust Down's upcoming album Back On the Map ...though that was never released.

More interestingly still is the story of the record label, Sheska Records. It was owned and run by Richard Pena, a notorious New Orleans drug kingpin whose suppliers and main distributors, like Bust Down, came from Miami. In a VH1 news article, Scott Ando of the DEA explained, "The drug-trafficking organization that Pena led was responsible for bringing thousands of kilos of cocaine into this area over the last several years... He not only employed people that were involved in drug trafficking in the middle-man kind of level, but he had police officers on his payroll, policeman who kidnapped people so they could be killed." Pena is also the guy that No Limit rappers Kane and Abel got involved with and indicted on drug-trafficking for. Pena's operation was shut down, with over 20 people being convicted (including three police officers), in 1997 - the same year this 12" came out. So I guess it's no surprise that Bust Down's Back On the Map got sadly lost in the mess.
Anyway, this is a must-have for any Bust Down fan, and a nice, underrated 12" for the collection of anyone into the indie 90's vinyl scene... even if you wouldn't normally check for Poison Clan-type artists, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.