Ed O. G & da Bulldogs Week, Day 7 - Demos and Rarities

So, Ed O. G kept busy in the 2000's, releasing several indie albums (The Truth Hurts, Wishful Thinking, My Own Worst Enemy and the collaborative album Stereotypez with his crew Special Teamz) and singles. Finally in 2008, Direct Records released one of the best and most under-rated albums: a double LP by Ed O. G & da Bulldogs (we even hear them rap on this!) entitled Life Of a Kid In the Ghetto: Demos and Rarities. Despite the use of the term "rarities," this is all 100% previously unreleased material. It's a high quality, loud pressing in a nice picture cover and all the tracks have been "taken off the demo tapes, reels and master DATS from Joe Mansfield's original demo recording sessions." So, while the sound quality does vary a bit from track to track (especially the last couple songs on here), I think it's safe to assume that this is the best they'll ever sound.

Side A of Record 1 consists entirely of "original demo versions" of tracks that originally appeared on Ed's first album: "I Got To Have It," "I'm Different," "Feel Like a Nut," "She Said It Was Great" and an Interlude version of "Be a Father To Your Child" (basically an alternate instrumental). These are cool to have for serious fans, and there are some interesting differences ("I Got To Have It" uses the same basic samples, but places a lot more emphasis on some banging drums, and ends with some shout-outs where Ed O tells us he's down with "Stop the Violence"). They're a treat for serious fans, but not really different enough from the released versions to appeal to casual fans.

Sides B-D got those peoples' backs. Nothing but all "new" songs by Ed O. G over Joe Mansfield (Vinyl Reanimators) production. Fuckin' A. Most of these could easily have been featured on the album... in fact, I'd've preferred some of these songs. Like "Brand New Style," where he flexes freestyle rhymes over a track that's constantly switching between incredible beat changes? That's pretty much second only to "I Got To Have It." A few of the songs do feel a bit more like freestyle raps over familiar samples that were probably never really intended for commercial release, but they're still dope. There's even a track featuring Krs-One. Why on Earth they would've left a Krs-One feature off of their album if they had one back in '93 is beyond me. But we finally get to hear it now.

And as if that wasn't enough, Direct also released two 12" singles off of this album (which include instrumentals), and Acting that same year. Acting is the Dedicated EP I covered on Day 3, but with a crap load of remixes, skits, acapellas and bonus tracks. In fact, let's break down the totals:
6 songs taken off the EP (that's 100%)
3 remixes
2 acapellas
4 skits (which are basically 1 short bonus beat apiece)
3 bonus tracks, including 1 featuring Big Shug and Scientifik
The only down side? Acting is CD only (boo! hiss! You could've at least put the three new tracks and three remixes on a 12" single).

So, that's a lot of killer old (but new to us) material. But fans will be happy to know that Ed O.'s still doing it, too. His latest full-length, a collaboration with Master Ace entitled Arts & Entertainment, just dropped a couple weeks ago (10/23). Dude stays recording.

Ed O. G & da Bulldogs Week, Day 5 - Da Bulldogs

Ed O. G's compelling solo comeback did beg one question: what happened to da Bulldogs? And for that matter, who were da Bulldogs? Well, both answers are pretty interesting. According to his liner notes and album cover photos, Ed O. G & da Bulldogs were a 4-man team when they were signed to Mercury/Polygram/ Chemistry Records: Ed O. G (duh), T-Nyne, Gee Man and DJ Cruz. Though in the dedication notes of his first album, he gets a bit more inclusive, saying, "Special thanks to the Bulldogs, who are: T-Nyne, Smooth Ice Gee, DJ Cruz, Black, Bulletproof Brett, Slim Dog, Shawn Booker, Lorenzo, Bruzer, Mo, Tyrone, Money 1, Muff K. Diamond, Dream Nefra, etc." "Etc?" Isn't that enough? Well, I suppose this possibly draws a distinction between two "versions" of da Bulldogs: the smaller group being the guys he went on tour with, that got checks from the label and actually somehow contributed musically (though they don't seem to have done much), and the other being just an inclusive list of everyone down with his clique of friends. Or something. What's more, apparently, da Bulldogs are pretty much just a later iteration of Ed O.'s old Dorchester group, The FTI Crew (DJ Cruz was one, and I believe T-Nyne is the artist formerly known as Spoony T).

And as for question #2, what happened to them? Well, they started putting out their own records! They put out a couple 12"s on different labels in 1999, and finally settled on Needlepoint Entertainment (their own label, I believe... they certainly never put out anybody else), where they put out a full-length entitled Almost Famous. So let's look at one of their records and see what's going on there.

This is "Bounce" b/w "Livin It Up," which dropped on Needlepoint in 2001... neither song on this 12" is on their 2003 album. The credits on the label aren't terribly telling, just informing us that both songs are produced by a guy named Flipside. But a quick listen tells us that there's two MCs and one DJ at work here, so I'm guessing this is the basic line-up of T-Nyne, Gee Man and DJ Cruz. One of the MCs does refer to himself as Terry... I suppose that's what the T in T-Nyne is short for?

The production is simple - essentially just one endless loop per song - but dope, with a cool, slow drum track and some calm, head-nodding samples. They really feel like the sort of beats you'd expect Ed O. to rhyme over (minus any change-ups), so the territory's nice and familiar. Lyrically, "Bounce It" is pretty empty (as if you couldn't tell from the title) and can be summed up in the line, "my favorite thing's fat booties with the thong between." But they impress more on "Livin It Up," where they take turns rapping to a hypothetical girlfriend who's only interested in expensive things. Each song features a little bit of scratching which is nothing show-stopping, but adds to the atmosphere. So "Bounce It" is ok, you won't be mad at it; but B-side definitely wins, and deserves a home on anybody's mixtape.

The 12" comes in a plain sleeve, but it's bright red, so that's gotta count for something, right? "Bounce It" includes Radio, Street, Inst. and Accap. versions; and "Livin It Up" has the same, minus the accapella.

So, what it boils down to, I guess, is that if Ed O. G is Gangstarr, then Da Bulldogs are Group Home. You could do worse. And if nothing else, after all these years, it's nice to finally hear these guys rap for themselves.

Ed O. G & da Bulldogs Week, Day 1 - I Got To Have It

This is where it all began. Actually, it isn't. Ed O. G, or Edo Rock as he was known at the time, actually made his debut on wax back in 1986 with the song "Suzi Q" on the Boston Goes Def compilation. He was part of a group called the FTI (that's Fresh To Impress) Crew. Heck, I even owned the 1988 follow-up, Def Row, which also included two of their songs, back in the days. But let's face it, if you weren't living in Boston (and possibly not even then), the name Ed O. G didn't really mean anything to you until 1991.

That's when Ed O. G & da Bulldogs released their stunning debut single on PWL/ Polydor/ Mercury Records, "I Got To Have It." When that video turned up on the regular shows, it was a given: a new crew was on the scene and everybody was going to pay attention. How could you not, with that fantastic, ahead of its time, pure crate digger's beat (and that incredible sax breakdown!)? The track was co-produced by the well-known pair of Special K and Teddy Ted, The Awesome 2; so pretty much all credit was given to them at the time. But looking back on it with 2000's eyes, the other co-producer's name stands out, Joe Mansfield. Don't know who that is? Well, if I told you he was now better known as Rhythm Nigga Joe of The Vinyl Reanimators, making his major label debut (he did produce an indie 12" or two prior to this), I think you'd suddenly see where most of the credit for finding and blending these incredible samples probably belongs.

Of course, Ed O. was noticeable on the mic, too. He had a somewhat deep, smooth voice, easy enunciation and a fun, freestyle-type of flow that effortlessly dipped in and out of non-sequitors and serious topics. He goes from making anti-violence statements to battle rhyme disses in the same sentence and it sounds like one coherent thought. Still, he did contrive a few awkward rhymes and clumsy phrasings ("When you're in like food in your stomach they wanna stick with you").

Now, this version comes in the standard Hard Version (read: album version) and Clean Version. What's interesting is that, while the Clean Version does use a bleep and sax sound to censor the words "ass" and "rectum," he also re-raps some other lines. "I stay hard like an erection" becomes "Ay yo, brown is my complexion." And "jerkin' ya jimmy but you still can't come off," becomes "step back, relax, 'cause Ed O.G's about to come off." Why, if he's replacing the vocals to get rid of "erection," does he still leave the word "ass" in there, requiring a bleep? It's oddly inconsistent, but oh well. There's also some funky bonus beats and a proper instrumental version on here.

There's a hot B-side, too (produced by all the same guys); the title track to their debut album, Life Of a Kid In the Ghetto. The hook is a nicely scratched line from EPMD's "Big Payback" ("A young kid from the ghetto, kiddie from the city") that leaves in the devastating horn jabs of the original instrumental. And the rest of the instrumental is as expertly assembled: snapping drums, the rugged bassline most famously used in K-Solo's "Fugitive" (in a context that's so different here, it's almost unrecognizable) to a super smooth piano line and whistle. Other elements - a funk guitar loop that sounds like it's straight off an NWA record or a dusty horn sample - fade in and out of the track, too.

Lyrically, it's not quite as catchy, because it's a narrative of his youth in the ghetto rather than freestyles. But on the other hand, that helps him iron out some of the awkward bumps. There's still a few questionable lines ("in the ghetto, there wasn't no horses, no lake and no meadow"), but it's easier to let it all slip under the radar in the service of a consistent story. And, for every line that's slightly cringe-worthy (in either song), there's a fresh line where his delivery and the choice of words makes it sound really dope.

This is a serious contender for 1991's single of the year, and still holds up as one of the all-time greats to this day. As soon as I saw that video for the first time, I knew: this new jack was gonna be one to watch out for and explore whatever catalog he had. Fortunately, over the years, he's had a pretty extensive one. So join us again for Ed O. G Week, Day 2. 8)