A LOUD Misfire

Putting together The Dwellas' second album must've been a very difficult, contentious process. They'd pretty much secured a second album with the sleeper hit "Main Aim" on the Soul In the Hole soundtrack; but then it was a long time for the LP to actually surface. A seriously long time. Soul In the Hole (and the popular white label 12") was 1997. The first single off it came in 1998. The next single was 1999... and still no album. It wasn't until 2000 that the album, The Last Shall Be First, actually dropped.

During that time, there must have been a lot of creative back and forths between the artists, producers and the label. In fact, we know for certain that some changes were made, because this promo version I reviewed of it features an altered track-listing with different songs on it. And I bet there's plenty more songs that were recorded between the two albums still sitting in LOUD Record's vaults.

But what was perhaps most surprising is that even the song selected to be the single didn't actually make the final cut. When have you ever heard of that happening before? But that's what happened. While the B-side, "Stand Up," which was originally the lead single in 1998 (that's right, they released it twice, in '98 and '99), appeared as anticipated, the main track is absent. And that makes this 12" single - which would ordinarily have been just a standard two-tracker of album cuts in a long line of similar 12"s from LOUD Records - a compelling exclusive for Cella Dwellas fans.

I mean, granted, the song didn't make a huge splash. But it wasn't pushed either, so expectations couldn't have been too high, commercially. Considering it's a hardcore, lyric-flexing track with no pop-concept crossover appeal, I suspect this was meant more to make an impression through mix-tape DJs. They'd pick this up and put it on, so heads would get excited about the Dwellas again. You know, considering how long their album had already taken at that point.

So why wasn't it bigger? UG and Phantasm both come nice ("niggas don't get along with us/ niggas scared to get on a song with us/ 'cause niggas' lyrics ain't strong enough"), and while it's not going to be anybody's lifelong favorite song, the beat by Nick Wiz still bangs. I daresay it's better than a number of songs that did make the album, including "Da Ruckus," which was a last minute addition after the promo version. But part of the problem may've been the odd conceit of the title. The hook goes, "it ain't a game no more, son, get the money and run. No more ridin' the Benz, we rockin' to win. Plottin' to end all the gossip, straight hot shit, we rock shit, yo son, launch a rocket." It just sort of feels like a string of buzz words and phrases. Like, what do they even mean by "launch a rocket?" Release a good record, I guess, or a dope verse? A half-hearted spin on "drop a bomb on 'em," probably, but... eh. It's pretty limp. They even kind of swallow that last line. I remember when I first heard it thinking, why'd they call it "Launch a Rocket/" But then, ah yeah, they do say it there at the end.

And I mean, personally, I still would have preferred to see more "scripts & scrolls" type material on the album, since that's the style they invented and perfected, but I'm sure the label was shutting all of that down. So the album was going to be at least partially disappointing to many of us fans no matter what. But removing this was definitely a mistake, just like taking off "BQE" for an inferior Large Professor collaboration, which they wound up making the title track.

Let's face it, I'm a big Cella Dwellas fan, but I'll be the first to concede that LOUD was never going to score a big hit with this album no matter what they did. But it could've done a little better, at least, if they stopped tinkering and throwing bad decisions at it. I mean, just letting it come out in 1998 would've helped sales, I'm sure. In this very song Phantasm says, "took time off to raise my son;" but just sounds like an excuse to me.

But what the heck. We still have this song anyway. The 12" comes in a cool sticker cover and includes both instrumentals. You still have to cop the previous "Stand Up" single to get its Acapella; but for any Dwellas - or more generally Nick Wiz - fans, this is a nice little 12" keeper, that you can scoop up very nice and cheap, because no one ever expected this to have anything unique on it.

The First The Last Shall Be First

The Cella Dwellas first dropped a single on LOUD Records in 1994. After a long wait while the label held their album in limbo, it finally dropped in 1996. Then LOUD kinda stuck them back in limbo. That probably would've been the end of, except in 1997, they had a song featured on the Soul In Hole soundtrack called "Main Aim," which was a big hit, commercially and critically. So begrudgingly, LOUD (now in conjunction with Stimulated Records) started putting out their records again - and probably pressured them to drop the "Cella" from their name, too, as they were now only known as The Dwellas starting with the 1998 single "Stand Up." Then it was another long, two year wait from the first single to their sophmore album, 2000's The Last Shall Be First.

So, it's not surprising through all that time and label politics, that the album would've went through some behind-the-scenes changes. And I guess it's not even all that surprising that promo copies exist of an earlier, alternate version of the album with a different track-listing. And here it is.

This promo version differs from the final, commercial release by a total of seven songs (the sequencing has also changed, which you can check out in the photo above). Firstly, it's missing four songs that were eventually included on the final version. Those songs are:

1. "Game Of Death" produced by Ayatollah
2. "Da Ruckus" - produced by Mel and Majesty
3. "Frontline" - produced by Nick Wiz, and featuring Cocoa Brovaz

4. "The Last Shall Be First" produced by - and featuring a guest verse from - Large Professor

Yes, that's right: the title cut of the album was a last minute addition that almost wasn't on the album. But more interesting about this pre-release version isn't the songs that are absent, but the songs that are only present on this rare, unreleased version:

1. "Main Aim" produced by Nick Wiz

I get why they left "Main Aim" off.  By the time this album rolled around, it was already four years old. And it had been released both on the soundtrack album and as a 12" single. Everybody who wanted it had it. There was really no point in including it by that point, except I assume the label figured it was their "money track." But I'm happy to see it go to make room for one of the newer tracks.

2. "Launch a Rocket" produced by Nick Wiz

These missing tracks get increasingly more interesting... what's striking about this one is that LOUD released this as a single in 1999. So they thought it was good enough to be a single, but not good enough to make the album? Very odd choice, and I remember being quite surprised when I picked up the album and found this song absent. So it makes a little more sense to see it here. But the really interesting extra track, the one that justifies this whole blog post, is this last one:

3. "BQE" produced by - and featuring verses by - Large Professor and an unnamed fourth MC

Now, this is tight - a super cool beat by the Professor! It's a great combo of rough and smooth. It's got hard, banging drums and some ill scratches. But they're paired with a light wind instrument loop and various atmospheric samples, from birds chirping to the "ki ki ki, ma ma ma" refrain from the Friday the 13th films. Extra P, some MC who isn't credited on the label but who comes nice, and the Dwellas give some of their best, high energy vocal performances on the album:

"Go check Extra P

Hook up the recipe

On the MP;

Let me MC,

It's destiny.
On top, we next to be.
See us on MTV,
But don't think I won't empty three,

Speedin' in my MPV.

And you niggas don't wanna be
Temptin' me
To waste rounds,
And make you lay face down
And taste ground."

Why on Earth would they leave this one off? They felt there was only room enough for one Large Professor song on the album? Maybe it was a contractual thing? In any case, it was a poor choice, because "The Last Shall Be First" was a decent, worthwhile song... but "BQE" blows it away. "BQE" is - along with the fantastic "Ill Collabo" - one of the best songs on any version of the album. It's some of Large Professor's best post-Main Source work; it's simply crazy that this was never legitimately released.

The whole thing's pretty interesting to me, but "BQE" makes this more than just rap trivia. Unfortunately, unless you luck out and stumble upon it in a used bin somewhere, this isn't the kind of thing you can just pick up. Fortunately though, I think this song was eventually stuck on a bootleg compilation of unreleased Large Pro beats sometime in the 2000s. So look out for that, and at least I was able to give you this glimpse behind the Dwellas/ LOUD Records curtain.

Still Bringing the Real - Gauge Interview

I just had the pleasure of talking with Gauge, who was good enough to take the time out, talk to me, and set me straight on a lot of questions I had about his long and varied career, from his rare indie rap 12"s in the early 90's to his upcoming (Christian rap) album he's working on now.

Ok, let's start with something I've only ever read about online… Is it true you used to be in a group with Lord Have Mercy called B.A.S.S.?

Yes. The name of B.A.S.S. means Brothers About Sight and Sound, and it came about because Lord Have Mercy and I both shared a DJ, named D-Mix. And he was just DJing for both of us and asked could we do things together? It wasn't really a full-fledged group, so much as a spin-off where you have two artists with their own identity that come together to do one thing.

And this was before the Maestro stuff?

Yeah, this was even before that. This was like when I first started rappin' period. Both of us lived in the same neighborhood: he's from Flatbush and so am I. And we knew each other from school. And when D-Mix and his brother Carl were doing beats for him, they were doing beats for me, we were just doing a lot of shows amongst each other. So it was just like, yo, why don't we try to do some things together? So how it worked out, is we did a single, where I had a song, he had a song and then we did one together. So it wasn't really like a group group.

And that came out on 12"?

Yeah, but that was years and years ago; and I'll tell you: if you're able to find that then you're really good.

Well, I've been looking! What was the label for that record?

Well, actually we were on a label called Chase Records at that time. We had this guy that we knew through D-Mix named Jason. He was a young entrepreneur trying to do his thing; and that was way before any of us decided to try our own labels. So, when I think back, I got respect for him, because since then he was really trying to do something with his own label.

Yeah, that was kinda before the 90's boom of independent 12"'s.

Right. When independents started to kick in later in the 90's, everybody was doing it. But back then when he was doing it, pretty much nobody was. So back then, when they told me to meet the head of the label and he was a young guy just like us, and he was black, I was just like "whoa! You sure that's who you are?" It really blew my mind like - this is crazy!

So, how did you go from there to being signed with Maestro? That was the time when he came to New York, right?

Yeah, he moved to New York. What happened was I lived on a street called Brooklyn Avenue, and he wound up moving around the corner from me. And there was a few times walking down the street that I would see him and be like, hey, what's up? And I didn't know who he was. It was just like, how you doing? But then I used to do a lot of shows at CBGB's - I know you know CBGB's - and when I was performing one night, he came out and saw me. And after I came off the stage, he came over and talked to me and was like, yo, I was really impressed with your show and my name is Maestro. And I said, yeah, I remember you as the guy from around the way. And he said, why don't you come over to my apartment one day and let's hang out and I'll let you hear some of my stuff. I'm a pretty known artist up in Canada and this and that.

So, of course, you know, I'm just like ok whatever. Ok, you're a known artist in Canada, and you're livin' in Brooklyn, and I never heard of you a day in my life! And I've been in this business for a minute. But of course, I wasn't into the different, international artists. I did wind up going to his house and he showed me his Juno awards and a lot of videos and I'm like, wait a minute - this guy is official! And what really brought it in for me was when he's like, why don't you come so some shows with me, and I'll let you do one song of your own and you'll be my hype man.

So we worked on a couple of his songs and we got on a Greyhound - 'cause he had a tour to do; and we drove up to Canada. And that's when I really saw who he is! Believe me! At that point, that guy was like the LL of Canada. People knew exactly who he was, and I saw all the people who knew him and all the TV shows that spoke about him. And we got off the Greyhound and into VIP status once we got into Canada. We started getting on planes, and that's when the limos came out…And at that time he said to me, you know, I really consider you a good artist; so why don't we put out this record together? And that's when he funded for me to do "Cranium."

And, actually, he had you on his remix, too, right? Before that, "Pray To da East?"

Actually, right. You're pretty on point with that. We did "Pray To da East" first, which was on LMR Records. And they were located in New York, which was the crazy thing; he's so big in Canada! But he came to New York to do his album, which of course was Naaah, Dis Kid Can't Be From Canada?!! And he got a lot of flack in Canada 'cause people took the name wrong. They looked at it like he was trying to diss Canada, but he was just trying to say Canada's not on the map at that time! And that's what people here really said, 'cause they never heard about artists from Canada.

And that's really what set up me going on tour with him. 'Cause I was already on that song, and I knew a lot of the album. And at that time I was pretty popular on the underground, with Stretch, Bobbito and a lot of those guys. Plus, I lived in the same neighborhood as The Dwellas. And the crazy thing is The Dwellas met through me. UG used to dance for me, and Phan was my hype man. And that's how they met. UG could really dance back then; but I didn't realize he could rhyme as good as he could dance. One day, I was on the phone with him, and I heard him spitting a rhyme as he was walking off. I was like, "who's rhyme is that?" And he's like, no that's mine! And I realized how hot he was, and I always knew Phan was ill. So they hooked up, got the deal with LOUD, and it's history from there.

And is that how Lord met, too? Because I know he was briefly down with the Dwellas, too.

Right. That's how that came about. 'Cause Lord was cool with me and Phan was cool with me; and we were all from the same circle. And what happened is I kinda strayed off, and then they all started working together. Then Busta stepped in and took Lord! We all knew Busta from high school, because he went to school with us. He's originally from Flatbush.

Oh? I didn't know that.

Yeah, he does represent LI; but he went to Walt Whitman high school with all us in Flatbush. So did Special Ed; he was really tight with Busta. And me and Special Ed used to battle all the time on the block. We all got history. Same thing with Chip Fu and all the people from Flatbush. We all know each other here; and there's a lot of talent from Flatbush. We just weren't pushed the proper way and things didn't go exactly where I would've expected them to. But of course, you know, Busta did his thing.

So, Lord got down with Flipmode, the Dwellas did their album, and I did "Cranium," which sold over 9000 records. Now, you know, on the underground, on vinyl, that's a lot! It really shocked me when I started to tour out of the country, going to Germany, Switzerland and England and DJs were going into their crates and grabbing my record!

And after we did "Cranium," Fat Beats stepped in and actually gave me an advance to do distribute the next record. Ever hear of an underground record getting an advance? They said, we'll give you money up front if you bring this record here. 'Cause we were doing the remix with the Dwellas, so they wanted that bad. And we used the same beat for the remix. But what I didn't realize, when your biggest selling place is Japan, who don't really understand too much English, all they really are vibing to is the beat. So, I didn't think of that, but when I gave them the same beat, I really almost gave them the same record!

But the remix still did well, and The Dwellas had their following and we just kinda pushed from there. Actually, I was talking to Phantasm last night, and he was talking about new stuff that he's working on. So he's still doing his thing.

Nice; I haven't heard too much from him lately. Oh, well, I guess he was on the Blaq Poet was the last thing I heard.

Yeah, he's working on a mix CD and then gonna do an album afterward. He's just getting his beats together and getting ready to come out. We've become really good friend and we talk all the time. UG I don't see as much, but we still got love for one another.

Let me ask you this… on that first Maestro appearance, you're actually credited as being "Gauge, of the Rough Neck Bastards." Who were the others, and what was that about?

Right, that was another thing. The Rough Neck Bastards was a group, and in that group was me, Phantasm and my boy Greg, who lived on my block… I think BodyRock was his rap name. So we did, like, four songs together, and we were on Bobbito pushin' it. And Phan told me, I got a decision to make. I could roll with the Rough Neck Bastards or go with UG. I told him, go with what you think is the best. Now, at that point they didn't have their deal yet, but things were in the making. And they also had that edge where they were doing that mystic stuff, so they had something that was different.

So, UG came with us to Bobbito, which shows you how we were fam. This was before they were Dwellas. And we were just ripping it back and forth for like an hour. And what happened was, Phan told me he had to go with UG, and I would be foolish to tell him to turn down LOUD. LOUD was definitely a leading supreme team label at that time. So there was no way for me to even be their friend and tell them to not take that.

There was never a Rough Neck Bastards record, though, was there?

No. But we were in the studio. We used to be managed by Joeski Love. And he was helping us to get in the studio, and we recorded like 3, 4 records. But we never had a record out. We did demos; not records.

Ok, that actually goes into another question I had for you. I don't know if you know, but there's a Gauge demo album floating around the 'net now…

Oh yeah?

It's like 5 or 6 songs, and a couple of them are from your Unsigned Hype review, so I guess it's from around that time. But there's another song in that write-up called "Down To Earth" that's missing.

The Unsigned Hype thing was crazy, too. I was sitting on Church Ave. with Phantasm in the car, and we were listening to some new music of mine. And we were sitting in the car, and this guy walks down the block and notices Phan. He says, "aren't you Phan from the Dwellas?" He's like yeah. "I happen to be the new editor of The Source." We look at him like what? You're kidding me! Young black guy, walking down Church Ave giving us this line? He said he was the new editor for The Source and he wanted to do an interview with The Dwellas, and they exchange numbers. Phan says, by the way, this is my boy Gauge, listen to some of his material. So he sat and listened to it with us, and I said, I would like to see if I could get on that Unsigned Hype column. He said, "you know what? You got it for next month." I was in The Source three times actually, and I was also in Rap Pages as well, one of the unsigned hypes in there as well.

But. I don't know about that demo. There's definitely a lot of things floating around, because the internet is a crazy tool. But, yeah, I did a lot of demos! It came to the point where some demos were getting played. Like Stretch was playing the "Cranium" record, which was a demo first. I would credit the success of that record a lot to him. He played that record for 13 straight weeks! He literally said to me, "I'm gonna blow this record." And it did do a lot better than I actually thought. And even 20 years later, people are still calling me about that record. The remix as well. I like the remix a lot better.

Do you still have all those demos and tracks like that?

No. You know what's so funny. I used to be managed by a guy named DL; they used to do a lot of mix-tapes back then…

Like Eddie Ill and DL?

Yeah. DL managed me for a while. And I'll be honest with you: he was one of the best managers I ever had, 'cause he was the guy who had me all over Europe without even a record deal. I was touring all over the place just off the "Cranium" record, with a lot of different artists. I was doing records on their tapes that was considered records, and I was doing songs on Groove Attack.

But, anyway, what happened was I got a call recently about this underground record that was gonna come out called The Best Of the Underground. And they wanted "Cranium." They wanted the original, not the record, but the DAT. So I had to call Self who did the beat. And he's like, "I think it's in my garage…" And it never manifested because he never found the DAT. I said they could take it off the record, but that wasn't good enough; they wanted the DAT. It goes to show you, that one man's junk is another man's treasure. You wouldn't believe the amount of people that would love to have that DAT!

Now, you did a record with a group called Etcetera. Tell me about that, because I have that record, but I still don't know a lot about them.

Yeah, I read that blog you put up about that. Etcetera is a group that consists of a rapper and a producer. And the producer's name is Self, and he's the guy that did the beat for "Cranium."

Oh, I didn't realize that!

And the rapper is a guy named Shawn, and we go way back. We used to go to the studio together in Crown Heights, and Kweli used to go to that same studio. Queen Pen as well. I met Etcetera at the studio and we became good friends from there. And he used to hype man with me, so we created a bond. So he told me "we're creating a record, and we would like you and UG to guest star." So I was like ok, that's no doubt!

And it's funny, when I read your blog, that's kinda how I felt about it, too. I was like, ok… I wonder how this record's gonna come out. But it came out pretty good! Me and UG were sittin' in the studio going, yo, we're going hard on this record! We actually performed it a few times, and I think there was a video out.

Ok, well, now it's obviously been a long time since your 90's material and your latest album…let's get into what went on during that time.

Well, I think you know by now my whole life changed for me; I'm actually born again. I'm a Christian now and my life was given over to Christ. What happened was, in '99, I went through a major break-up, and I was shocked. I was out there, touring with Maestro, out there wildin' out; let's put it that way. Living the life of an artist. And when the relationship broke up, it really broke me up. And in that time I really had to do some soul searching and find myself; and it was honestly the best thing that ever happened to me.

Now, when you come to God, most people figure that He's not gonna want me to rap anymore. But, actually that's not what it was. He's actually now changed my context… and if you know my history, I never was that shoot 'em up, killer artist.

Right; you were never like a Geto Boy.

Exactly. So anybody that does know me… that's the good thing about my transition. It wasn't like a Hammer transition - not to diss him - but to go from a dancer to a hardcore thug look is not gonna work. And it didn't work, which is why you notice that he's coming back to the old way. And that's the good thing for me, because when I did go from the underground to the gospel, it didn't really show too much of a change.

And I've listened to your new music, and it's not like you changed your style or your voice or anything. It still sounds like Gauge.

Right. And I still get that kinda love. Because people contact me from all over the world telling me, "yo, I bought your new album because of "Cranium" or "Off-Key." And at first it was kind of concerning to me, because I try to let people know… One thing, I'm not trying to rob you! (Laughs) So I was hitting people back like, "understand that I'm a different person!"

Before the internet was so huge, we didn't know who loved us. We didn't know the type of fanbase we had. Because if we had a guy in Australia that just bought your record on vinyl, you weren't able to know that because he wasn't able to tell you. But nowadays, with the internet, it's such a huge, weird thing to see the tons of love that I get. Because I never felt as an artist, because I never had that major deal… so I never felt that until these things came about and I hear people say, "man, I've been following your career since day 1!" It's real humbling.

So my whole life had changed over. I started my own label and I got my own clothing line and I got my own things going. Things have changed for entrepreneurs, too. Everybody has more opportunities now. I was telling Phan the other day, all he has to do is put out a record and make it available on itunes. You know, he had over 200,000 fans. So if he got over 200,000 downloads, he could be a wealthy guy! It's that simple now. You don't even have to put out vinyl anymore, though I know guys like you who love the vinyl.

You can't ever fully do away with the vinyl. Like Evil Dee? That's one guy I give credit to: he stayed with that. Anywhere I go and see him, he'd be like "I'm not giving it up!" He's still lugging the records, and I'm like, one day your back's gonna be killing you! You're better off to go with the little CDs! But he'd rather lug the records.

But it's just been a roller coaster. Maestro's still doing a lot, and me and him are still great friends. He's an actor now, doing a lot of movies now. And we still keep in contact and he's proud of me and what I'm doing with this new album and still supports me 100%, and that's it.

You know what's so crazy about it is, if I didn't just come out and say I'm a Christian now, people wouldn't know it. If you listen to my music, I still bring the real, straight street information, and that's how I'm even labeled amongst the Christians. Within Christianity, we're considered all one body, but different parts. And there's some rappers that are more bible orientated; and they're more designed for the church. So people who already know it go in there and just get fed what they already know. Now, when it comes down to the street, to just grab people off the street and teach them truth, they always look to me. Like, if there's an outdoor thing that's not in the church and we're dealing with a bunch of 15, 16 year-old Bloods and Crips that's walking around and don't want to hear anything, I'm the one they call. Like, Gauge, get in there; they understand you. When I do my record "May Day" live, they go nuts offa that, because it definitely shows the skills, still, of the street.

Now the producers that produce on my album as well… I've got the Producers Coalition, which is Shamello, who did "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See" for Busta, I got Spiderman on my album. I've been blessed. I'm about to do my new album and I've been talking to a lot of different people. Rockwilder called me; he wants some cuts on the new album.

What really happened to me is that…. When you're a new artist, a mainstream artist? You are one person amongst ten million. When you come to Christianity now, and look at Christian rappers, you're one in ten thousand. Even on your ratings like on myspace, if I took off Christian rapper than I probably wouldn't even be seen. But since I am, and when you put in New York and Christian rap, I'm like number 4. And I'll be honest with you, since I have changed over, I haven't stopped working! My schedule has been bananas; I perform pretty much every week. And when I do shows now, we got CDs, and people BUY the CDs.

And when you look at it, the churches are getting bigger, and the crack houses are getting smaller. So it's growing, the artists are getting better… Back in the days, when you said "Christian rap," people assumed they were garbage!

Well, it was probably because a few came out early on that were pretty wack that painted a bad picture.

And just to be real honest, that is the truth. But as artists, we had to learn. And the artists are getting better. So, it's a huge market out there for us now. As far as spirituality, I'm in a much better place than I've ever been. And then, on top of that, as far as financially, I'm in a much better place than I've ever been! I got it better both ways; so that's why I try to keep it down to Earth and let people know this is the way to go. It's better off to stand out than to fit in.

And now you're also part of a group called Shamellion Rebellion?

Yeah. Ok, now that's another group. Shamello and Spider put that group together of rappers that they produced. I happen to be the Christian rapper of that group. We got NJN, we got Intelligence, we got SI… it's like a mixture of a whole bunch of different rappers that come together to make one group. So whenever we are performing, what happens is we do it separately as well, like I did with Lord Have Mercy in the beginning. We each did a song by ourselves. Then, the song off my album, "Rebelution," was the first record we did together.

So, tell us about this new album you're working on and how it connects with your last one.

Well, December Thirty-First Nineteen Ninety-Nine was the last album, which was pretty much a testimony that talks about when I first started when I first came to God in '99 onto the point where I'm at right now. So it pretty much summed up seven years of my life. Now, the new album is called January First Two Thousand, which is the next day! So that pretty much speaks from when there until now. So people ask me, when are you gonna come out with the new album, and my answer is "I'm living it right now." That's the difference between what I was doing then and now. When you're just making up stories, it's easy to write ten albums. But when you're telling the truth, you've got to live it! One thing I can say is that everything on that last album is true. Even that "Sunshine" record, that's about me and my fiancé that I'm with right now. And everything you hear down through the whole album is true.

With this new album, I just did my first record for it, and I'm real happy with it. I'm working with some new producers, and I'm getting beats from people all across the world. So I'm real blessed right now. So I just want to thank everyone out there who's keeping my career going, all my friends and everybody that supported me. God bless.

You can still cop his last album and get the latest updates on what Gauge is working on here at his myspace page. Don't be afraid to message him reminders that he needs to press up some vinyl! haha

Return To the Realm of the Mystics - UG Interview

The Cella Dwellas was one of the illest lyrical groups in the 90's that put out a few hot records, but never really got the chance to do everything they could do. Well, now UG (a.k.a. Lan Outlaw) is coming back to set that record straight, with his own label, Spaz Out Entertainment (here's a link to his myspace).

Well, let's begin with how the Cella Dwellas formed… wasn't there a third member at one time? I remember some press releases referencing…

Oh yeah. It actually wasn't a third member, just when you run with a group of people… it was a person that we had with us named Lord Have Mercy.

Lord Have Mercy from Flipmode?

Yes. My partner had actually got him signed with Busta's management. We also had got him a situation with Das EFX and them: The Hit Squad. That was like the third member of the group.

Yeah, because I think I remember the press release stating that you each represented, like, different elements, and he represented robotics.

Right. It was the mystics, the hypnotics and the robotics. It was three - 'cause we were called Realm 3 and it was three realms represented the Realm 3 camp.

And did you guys ever record anything like that? I mean, I know there wasn't a record as Realm 3, but did you ever record demos, or…?

Well, what happened is the first record we had recorded was "Duck, Duck, Goose." That was the first time that all three of us had recorded. And as we recorded the record and laid it down… throughout the process of recording the album, we offered the third member some money. We were like, "yo, let's do this. Let's get you on a record; let's get you some money." He was like, "nah, nah, I'll just do it for free;" we were like, "nah, let's get you some money."

You know, so we got him some money. And that's when my partner got Busta to manage him and put him down with Flipmode. We were like, "yo, you need your own situation. We're close with Bus; why don't you go over there?" Because prior to that I had got him signed to Hit Squad, and whatever happened, the situation between him and them got messed up.

Then, when he got signed to Flipmode, after he got done recording the verse for the album, I guess he had a talk with Busta. After that, he came back to me and Phantasm and said, "Busta said I should get some more money." And we were just saying to ourselves, "you wanted to do it for free at first!" We told him, "we got you some money, now towards the end of the album, you're down with Flipmode and Busta told you that you need some more money, you come over here." So we clipped that song from the album. That song was never released. But I have it.

Man, I'd love to hear that. It would be great if you could put that out somehow…

Well, what I'ma do… I've got a bunch of Dwella songs that never got released, so I'm trying to put that together right now.

And then, the situation after that, it kinda turned. Not for the worse, but he went his way and we went our way. Because Lord, he was headstrong. He wanted to be the leader and so forth, and as a group we were just like no leaders. We represented three realms, and that's just that. But you know how people get, you go through the politics, the industry, you smell a little success, you run with the people that are successful, and it kinda changes you if you don't have nobody to level you out.

Yeah, actually, listening to Lord Have Mercy, especially his early material, you can hear in his flow and his lyrical style how he could be a part of the same group as you guys.

Well, to tell you the truth, when I first met Phantasm, he wasn't an original Cella Dwellas member. There was a person that was before him even. And him and Lord wanted to manage me or produce for us. And the person I was with went to play football overseas, and I was doin' it by myself. And when I met Lord and Phantasm, their whole style was totally different. Phantasm was Special Ed-ish, and Lord was Special Ed-ish with 'im. So when I started talking about dragons and casting spells and stuff like that, it was something new to them, and they were like, "yo, let's ride this!" And that's how they got involved with the mystics, the hypnotics and the robotics. They got that through me. That's why everything was so similar, because we were always together, and they were like, "yo, let me hear that!" And I would rhyme the castle, large winds… stuff like that and they were like, "yo, that's kinda crazy." I was like, "since it's something new, let's all just ride it." And that's how that happened.

Yeah; speaking of that, I feel like you guys kinda got caught out there a little bit... that you guys were coming out with something really creative and then the whole "horrorcore" fad blew up around you guys. So it kinda got tarnished with this brush of being corny because of all these new horrorcore artists coming up all of a sudden…

Well, you know what it was also? LOUD back then was made up more of fans than people that wanted to work records. And they had the PRs and the street teams, and they were Wu-Tang stans. LOUD at that point was just like, "let's throw this out and see if this sticks." So we had to go out on the road and do shows on our own and support our own album, and sell 250,000 copies on our own. It was sort of a lean towards Wu. And Wu was crazy, they were doing their thing; but as a label I always thought when you put a project out, you're supposed to push everything equally. If Wu is taking off, then you don't have to push them anymore.

We were on the road with The Liks, The Mobb before "Shook Ones" blew… and then they blew. So they didn't need the push no more because the record was pushing itself. And the Liks got into their little altercations with the record labels, and the stations didn't want to have them up their because their name was Tha Alkaholiks. So they had their issues, but we just always thought that we didn't get that direct push.

Now we were doing shows; we were demolishing headliners! The underground fans were coming out and we were demolishing people. That's how we started to sell units on our own. You know? So the first album passed, the second album came, and they started to realize that they had something. I just thing we were ahead of our time with that.

And with the whole horrorcore situation, their style was similar to ours. I met Russell Simmons nephew. They came to our shows... I seen these dudes at our shows, like, "yo, y'all style is crazy!" And then next thing you know, "horrorcore" pops up! They decided to change the mystics stuff around to horror, and I don't know if Russell Simmons thought it was gonna be a good idea, but you know… You can tell when a person's not real with what they're speaking or they're spitting. So a lot of people wasn't believing that crap.

Same thing happened when RZA and the others had, what was the name of that group?

Gravediggaz?

There you go. And they tried to do the same thing! And they did it for a minute, but then they wound up breaking up. You know, it was crazy, but a lot of things stemmed from that style. But that's the one thing I didn't like, because, you know, I took time with the lyrics. We weren't just trying to rhyme over records, we were trying to paint pictures then.

And then Inspectah Deck got his deal with LOUD, and Phan brought up that we need to get a solo deal, because everybody's breaking off and getting a solo deal, let's try to see if we could do that. So we started to do that. And when the second album came, we started to get the features: Pharaoh Monch, Large Pro, and everything we wanted. The second album was crazy; but again, LOUD didn't do they job. You know, Steve just snorted too much coke or whatever it was.

(Laughs)

You know, it was just crazy! He was buying movie companies and spending money on all types of shit that he didn't need to spend money on. So that's how we got caught in that loophole, and that's how we got moved to Stimulated. We felt that was more of an underground label, more of a Koch force, and they'd focus on us. Our A&R at the time was like, "that would be a good move, because they over there bullshittin' at LOUD."

That was Dante Ross's label, right? Stimulated?

Yes! And Dante was cool. He was with it. But then LOUD wasn't giving him the backing, and we just kept getting caught in all this shit. And then, down the line, me and my partner started getting into a little bullshit. I don't want to point fingers, but at the same time… work ethics wasn't the same. Motherfucker was getting caught up with the broads and the bitches and he was missing shoots and all kinds of shit. And that just threw a real bad taste in my mouth. So we just kept working harder and harder on our solo shit until we just split up. I never had no beef; but I just saw at one point or another, his work ethics weren't the same no more.

Well, I have noticed that of the two, you're the one that always did guest spots and put out a series of solo 12"'s; Phantasm didn't really do too much…

Right. Because, like I said, instead of him putting work first, he would put the women first. All the time. And we would argue about that, because I would tell him: it's gonna come with the territory. There's gonna be millions of them, but let's make this money first. He was just so used to being a solo artist, he was his own man, he had all the attention… and it was just little, dumb arguments. Then I just decided the group thing wasn't for me because it's too much ego. When people can't put their egos aside, I couldn't do it. Phan is still my man, but I don't know. As far as doing records? It'd take something real, real big for me to do a record with him again.

Well, you guys did come together for one reunion 12". On Underground Academy?

Yeah, but that was done during the second album. When we were on tour in Paris, the guy from Underground Academy named Olivier had us do that record. But that was it. And I started to realize there's gotta be more to me than just rhyming on top of beats; there's gotta be something else. And you know, I got into the business side of it, and me and my manager put a company together called Spaz Out Entertainment.

And right now, the mix-tape: XXL is putting it out. I got a street album coming out. Me and Sean Price is also working on an album right now. Everything is in the works.

Everything is good. Everything happened for a reason. I kinda took time off to raise my son for a minute, and I learned the business aspect of the game and got my own company now. We got a clothing line coming out in the summer time… I've been working hard.

And are you still working a lot with Nick Wiz?

Well, you know, I didn't really do anything with Nick Wiz since the second album because the same situation kinda happened with him, too. He kinda burned a bridge with me, because his label wanted to give me a deal; and Nick Wiz had introduced me to the person that wanted to give me the deal. But he tried to tell them he was gonna do all the production on my album and he was gonna have control… It was all about control and I couldn't understand why, because every album we did, we made sure that Nick Wiz had nine, ten songs on there. So it became a conflict of interests, and that just never happened. That went down the tubes. So I started to realize, if that's the way it's gonna be in the industry, you know, it is what it is, people change or whatever.

But it was a learning process for me, honestly. You know, I never thought that me and Phan would break up. Never. But that's what you get for saying never... it always happens. Things happen for a reason, though; and I'm not bitter. I still love them dudes, but as far as us doing a bunch of things? That might not ever happen. We would have to sit down and really talk about things.

But so much is happening now. I got this totally underground, overseas album that's crazy. I've got a bunch of features, Steele, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Pharoahe Monch is hollerin'. Everything has been beautiful. We got producers, singers, dudes that shoot videos. And I never knew this side of the business, 'cause all I wanted to do was be a rapper.

Well, let me ask you this about the new stuff. Do you have anything coming out, or ever plan in future, on touching that mystical style again? Or is that something you kinda put behind you back then...

Nah. In fact, the underground album - I don't have a title for it yet - but that's all it is, basically. I never really changed that 'cause that's what got me in the game. That was MY style, so I never really changed that. All I did was adapt to what you hear now. But, like, you will never hear me doing a "Superman" song. I will always stay lyrical. Wherever I get on, if the hook is stupid? The lyrics are gonna be crazy! You've gotta adapt to the game. But as far as mystically? I'm better than I was back then! I wish you were recording right now, I'd spit something for you!

Well, actually, I am recording this...



Let me ask you this real quick, too, before we break off. Obviously Raekwon is pretty famous for having the purple tape, but you had it...

First! Yes sir. That just goes to show you, you know. I think we were just a little bit ahead of our time then, man. If they would've really embraced it, and if we would've hit the colleges really hard, it would've been crazy. We'd've been rock stars right now.

So, it's long been my theory... let me ask you if I'm right. Having the purple tape made perfect sense with the song "Land of the Lost"...

Exactly!

And with LOUD then doing it with Raekwon, I wondered if it was just because they had it set up already with you, like they used your left-over purple plastic.

That's exactly why we made the tape purple! That was the images that we had. It went with the big lock, and the purple sticker with the gold lock on it. Those were the images we had. We had the pages for the book, just the authors that had the money didn't want to produce the copies of it. We had the visuals... We had somebody that was gonna do a cartoon! It was crazy.

But everything happened for a reason. Because now, everyone that we came up in the game with, we're getting back together and everybody wants to form this alliance. Because we're tired of what's going on. These dudes are not even rapping no more. Nobody's taking their time and painting pictures no more; they're just babbling.

Well, now that you're running your own company, how do you feel about the comeback of vinyl? Would you consider putting out a 12" now, or....

I would come out on anything! And everything is coming back around full circle anyway. The beats is coming back to regular boom-bap. Even listen to Busta's new stuff. Premo's coming back. Everything's coming around, so I wouldn't mind putting out anything on vinyl at all. In fact, let me tell you how funny some things are. I just got a letter from Universal, they bought Sony or something happened over there. And I got a call where LOUD didn't sign off on the papers on The Last Shall Be First, so we're gonna re-release that album. Everything comes full circle. It is what it is, I guess; that's hip-hop or that's the world.

Shout out to a.d. - bklyn mint - spazout ent.-and creative juices.

No Sleeping In Nick Wiz's Cellar

Nick Wiz has long been an underrated, east coast producer, but true to their name, No Sleep Records isn't sleeping on this man's talents. They've just a 42-song (not including two "Intro" skits), double CD set of rare and unreleased songs from the 90's, entitled Cellar Sounds volume one 1992-1998.

The nice thing here is the vast majority of these tracks fall under the "unreleased" rather than the "rare" category. The previously released joints are some Pudgee white label tracks, one of the Rakim remixes from his recent, limited The Cellar EP (also on No Sleep), three or four tracks from the very rare Lyricist Lounge/ Echo Underground Airplay tapes and (kind of an odd, not-so-rare choice) Main One's "Main Event" single. I'd say ten or under are previously released, which gives you about 35 completely unreleased gems on this compilation.

So, what's on this compilation? Unreleased joints by Nick Wiz's regulars like The Cella Dwellas (two tracks left off of their second album, plus an unreleased remix of "Good Dwellas") Shabaam Sahdeeq/Shadows In the Dark, Milkbone (yeah, I was a little surprised by that, too - apparently Wiz worked on his Milkcrate album), Ran Reed, Chino XL, and a whole bunch of production and remixes he did for other artists. There's a joint from Pudgee's unreleased King of New York album (not counting the white label stuff that's on here, too) and a remix of "On the Regular." There's a short but hot Chubb Rock track, an unused remix of Red Hot Lover Tone's "4 My Peeps" posse cut, another Rakim remix, a Channel Live track, a song that was left off of Darc Mind's LOUD/Anticon album and a surpriingly fresh Lady Luck track. There's also a bunch of demos and stuff he cut with several underground New Jersey artists (LSD, Mister Fit, Ill Mentatlity, Nautilus, Emskee and Tross). It's hard to pick a favorite when there's so many tracks to absorb here; but a pre-Flipmode joint by Lord Have Mercy is a clear stand-out for me.

The price is right ($13 for the double CD set), and it has some great liner notes. Nick Wiz writes a brief explanation/history for all 42 tracks! Example: "Shabaam Sahdeeq feat. Baybe - 'Sexy' - 1994 - While we were working on Shabaam's demo, Guru from Gang Starr brought Baybe down to the studio to work on her project. She jumped on the hook for this song, and actually she also sang the hook for The Cella Dwellas' single 'Perfect Match'." This is a must-have for those who've come to appreciate Nick Wiz's production and the artists he's worked with. You can order it direct from his or No Sleep's myspaces. Oh, and one of the nicest things about this release? The Volume One in the title implies a second volume in the future. :-D

The Land Of the Lost vs. The Land Of the Found and Over-Explored

Now, I'm not one of those horrorcore fanatics. For the most part, it was a brief, misguided fad that's perpetuated today only by obscure and terrible underground rappers from small towns. For most people, it came and went with The Gravediggaz, and while Big L claimed to've started it with his "Devil's Son" 12" in '93, groups like Esham, Insane Poetry and the ICP had been doing it for a fair few years earlier (the Geto Boys dipped their toes in it as well). I don't mourn the loss of The Flatlinerz' crappy LP, and while I'm mildly curious what happened to Half Pit & Half Dead, I'm pretty well fine with the entire subgenre being dead and buried.

But god damn, I miss the Cella Dwellas! And not the f'ing Dwellas, I miss 'em with the Cella.

When these guys first came out, they were just two super-talented, underground MCs who got signed purely off the basis of their ill, creative lyrics and deliveries. Listen to Phantasm get ill on the old Underground Airplay tapes, kicking wild, inventive rhymes on "Cypha Session III" with MCs like Kool Kim and Lord Have Mercy (another lost music career tragedy... but that's a subject for another post) - that's what NY underground hip-hop was all about when it was at its best.

But LOUD Records sat on these guys for a long time (I remember being quite frustrated as a fan at how long it took for a proper release after first hearing their joint), and by the time they came out, the fad was just about deceased, and everybody was embarrassed by the painfully corny stabs less talented artists took at horrorcore. They were changing their style before their first album was even released (which makes one wonder what great, original Cella Dwella recordings there are locked away in a vault somewhere that we'll never hear), getting into gangsta rap with "The Good Dwellas" parts 1 and 2 and even a radio-friendly love rap, called "Perfect Match." Still, these guys were talented, had a good producer (the up and coming Nick Wiz, with some help from Lord Digga and Megahurtz), and songs like "Advance To Boardwalk" let them show off a bit of their creativity, so Realms 'N Reality, when it was finally released, wasn't so bad. But there's really only three tracks on there that represent the great and original contribution the Cella Dwellas had to bring to the rap game: the great "Mystic Freestyle," "Realm 3," which was ok but the beat was kinda boring, and "Land of the Lost," their debut single which was only thrown on the CD version as a "bonus track" (that's right, it's not even on the LP) because it was already so far removed from their new musical "direction."

A quick divergence, if you will: Their second album, The Last Shall Be First, was even further removed... as a symbolic gesture of this, they even dropped the Cella from their name; now only calling themselves The Dwellas. After getting a bit of notice for their fairly generic, punchline-heavy contribution to the Soul In the Hole soundtrack, "Main Aim," they adopted that style as their own... the entire LP is one basic freestyle rap filled with bland punchlines (this was the mid 90's, let's remember) after another. Only one song, "Ill Collabo," which was released as a single on the strength of guest appearance by Organized Konfusion (hence the title), features the Cella Dwellas in their element, kicking the kind of inventive rhymes they excelled at. Even today, they still have the flows and killer voices to get me excited when I hear about another one of their new, indie 12"s (like "Who Killed the Hip Hop" and UG's solo stuff) but ultimately, their fierce desperation to fit in with their under-talented peers makes each record they put out more boring than the last.

The same thing happened to Cage, AesopROCK and The Atoms Family when they signed to Def Jux... Or just about every old school hip-hop group that gets you excited when they announce their comeback: "oh boy, finally a new record from Whodini (when they became mini-Jermaine Dupris)/ Run DMC (Down With the King was Run DMC disappearing into a sea of guest producers and rappers... sure, the single was good, but only because Pete Rock & CL Smooth were just taking over the scene at the time. they even gave up their signature hats and Adidas in favor of the hoodies and Timbs every nobody was wearing at the time)/ Melle Mel (Die Hard anyone?)/ etc etc etc!" ...only to find they've left us with another lame-ass attempt to sound like the crappiest, most uninspiring MCs of the present day. Attention every MC making a comeback, please have the courage to do what made everybody fall in love with you in the first place, back when you were creative, original and bringing something new to the scene. We have enough no-hit-wonder clones.

Ok, sorry about that... now back on topic: That single was great, though. A mellow, head-nodding jazz sample-laced beat produced by Digga (an underrated producer in addition to being the pretty nice MC everybody knows him as), and The Cella Dwellas taking turns kicking increasingly weird and complex verses steeped in fantasy and even wit... it's the kind of song that really takes you someplace and you can't help but enjoy listening to (unless you're really bent on condemning "corniness"... in which case, as always, it's your capricious loss). Check out this verse; but remember: without hearing UG's fantastic voice and crazy flow, believe me, you'll only be getting a fraction of the appeal:

"Dark clouds form
When I raise my staff in the air;
Lightning strikes my structure
And I disappear.
I leap through portals;
I'm immortal - call me Blacula.
I'm spectacular;
UG the spellcaster!
I move objects by the use of telekinesis;
When I dianoetic rhymes,
MCs regret it.
My... ill... skills... be.. mystical,
A relic from whence wizards fought over orbs of magical crystals.
In my basement,
Humans are used for experiments like rats:
I inject raps
And their brain splats!
I jump from body to body like Quantum Leap;
When I speak,
I rip cheeks, and ya mouth bleeds.
So enter the center of this mystical... inventor.
I change summer to... winter.
I can't control my... temper.
Gusts and winds rip off roofs, and I scream,
'The chemical in my bloodstream makes my blood green!'
Blood hits the screen in my video,
My mind's off course...
I'm from the Land Of the Lost!"

The heck with it. It may be excessive, but here's some more just because I like it:

"In the Land of the Lost,
My identity's feared my many.
I jump in bodies to hide from authorities,
'Cause I'm wanted
For haunting villages;
They turn to ashes!
My tongue lashes
The skin and then the blood splashes!
I incinerate states
When I radiate beams of heat
That originate from dreams in my sleep.
I make willows weep when I sweep
Through the area
Like an epidemic.
My blood type is Kemit.
My DNA (hey!) got mixed with deadly toxics.
My dagger rips
People from their toes to their hips.
The hideous... lurks in the blackness.
Store water in my toe like a cactus;
And my rap rips
Tracks, and conjures up spirits when I'm thinkin':
Relatives, old presidents, Abe Lincoln!"

This 12" is of particular note, too; because of the Radio Edit. Now, there's no curse words in this song, and the potentially offensive lines ("I stick needles in ya body like a chink doin' acupuncture," an irreverent reference to Jesus, and all the violent bits) are left in... so what's so different about this mix? What's the point of it? Well, it's a bit shorter, some lines have been removed from each of the verses. In fact, the vocals have actually been rerecorded, and new lyrics have been added(!). For example, the opening of the song goes from:

"In the Lost Land,
I break many limbs like twigs;
When I take swigs of the red rum,
I get crazy like Briggs.
Then I start the murderin' and mutilatin'
Skin and bones and
Building tomb...stones...!
Stay back!
Lyrics is unhealthy like plaque.
I bomb and weave on a track
Like a flock of bats."

...becomes:

"In the Lost Land,
I light lanterns to explore the corridors,
Then use portals to emerge
To the surface floors.
Stay back!
Lyrics is unhealthy like plaque..."

And an alteration in one of UG's above verses transforms:

"My DNA (hey!) got mixed with deadly toxics.
My dagger rips
People from their toes to their hips."

...into:

"My DNA got mixed with deadly toxics,
So my soul sits on old ships
Sunken by pirates."

There are other curious little changes, too, like theline, "I'm immortal - call me Blacula" has been changed to, "I'm immortal like Dracula." Considering how starved we are for the fun, "horrorcore" Cella Dwellas songs (I count six total: "Land Of the Lost," "Realm 3," "Mystic Freestyle," "Ill Collablo," "Cypha Session III - Has Words" and "4 Da Mind" from Masta Ace's Sittin' On Chrome album), any fan will want to have both versions for sure.

The b-side, "We Got It Hemmed," is their first "we can do it, too" statement (which would later become their entire career)... a respectable but unexceptional take at a straight, no frills rap song. The fact that they took the chorus out of a line from a recently released Nas song as he was just blowing up ("Halftime") perfectly illustrates their desire to jump on the popular bandwagon. It's got another mellow, jazzy beat (this one by Nick Wiz), a little bit of nice scratching at the end (more would have helped), and they ride the beat just as well here as on the previous song, but lyrics like:

"The illest -
Words fill this;
Time to let my rhyme blow like Willus
Jackson's afro.
Diff'rent Strokes for different folks.
And eh-eh-eh-eh,
That's all folks,
Like Porky Pig.
Peace to my nig."

...are at least as corny, and not nearly as inspired. If this is what "real heads" prefer, then "real heads" need to get the "real sticks" out of their "real asses."

By the way, the cassingle version of this release was actually purple. 8)

So, where are they now? Well, following up the handful of indie 12"s mentioned earlier, UG is continuing to do his thing solo, now under the name of Lan Outlaw (I think he held a contest... most forgettable name wins some tickets or something). He's already put out one mix-CD and is about to release his second on his new label, Spaz Out Entertainment. Hopefully there'll be a proper, non-mix release sometime eventually. Now, don't be fooled by the unofficial, fan-made Cella Dwellas myspace page... here's his actual myspace page, and here's his label's official site. The Dwellas still seem to be recording together sometimes, too. Nick Wiz has an exclusive new track from them on his myspace. But, no, it doesn't hail from The Land Of the Lost.

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