The Lost Juice Crew All Star

So, we all know the main artists who were part of The Juice Crew: Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap, Biz Markie, Master Ace, etc. And there's one lesser known MC, Glamorous, who still gets her credit. She was on the "Juice Crew All Stars" record and did that "Oh! Veronica" answer with Craig G. In fact, I just heard Craig shout her out in a video he did about the Crew's history. But there's another female rapper in the Juice Crew, who seems to be even more slept on: Debbie D.

Debbie D was also on that Juice Crew All Stars record; she has the first verse on "Evolution" as Harriet Tubman. And actually, at the time, she was pretty much the most established artist out of any of those guys on that record. Shan, G Rap, Craig G... it wasn't quite everybody's first record, but all those guys were pretty new: young artists on their way up. Debbie D, on the other hand, goes way back. You remember the group Us Girls in the movie Beat Street with Sha Rock and Lisa Lee? Well, Debbie D was the third Us Girl - the tall one in the black dress who raps first. Debbie's roots go all the way back to days before Hip-Hop was on wax. There are clips of her performing with Wanda Dee on Youtube, but she was better known as one of The Jazzy 5 MCs. Not to be confused with the Jazzy 5 who recorded the classic "Jazzy Sensation" with Afrika Bambaataa, this crew featured Debbie alongside Jazzy Ace, Busy E, Darryl Dee (her brother), Sinister Rock and DJ Patti Duke.

And so what we have here is her debut solo record from 1986 on Reality Records, Doug E Fresh's old label. Look at the credits on the label, and what do we see? Produced by Marley Marl. Also, mixed by Marley Marl, co-produced and arranged by Tyrone Williams, a.k.a. The Juice Crew's own Fly Ty. Oh, and there's one more producer listed, somebody named J. Rivas. Who's that? None other than Mr. Magic himself! So yeah, I'd have to say this record is pretty thoroughly Juice Crew vetted.

So how is it? Well... here's why today's post is a text blog instead of a video. Interesting to learn about, but nothing you need to hear. The song is called "The Other Woman," and lyrically it's pretty interesting. She's rapping about her man and how she knows he's cheating on her. "I still am the one he comes home to. But never the less, he still sees her, too. He doesn't think I know, but I get it all, especially from the ones right down the hall."

But she's using this whisper rap delivery, and the instrumental is very low-key, with a very simple keyboard or xylophone loop laid over some basic programmed beats and recurring hand claps. It's so low energy, there's no life to it. You have to push yourself just to pay attention to it. It's similar in tone to Doug E Fresh's love song "The Plane (So High)," but that has a much more captivating sample, stronger hook, and more emotion in Doug's delivery. On "The Other Woman," Debbie's doing the style just fine, I guess; it's really the instrumental that's letting her down. It feels like an unfinished rough draft of a song.

There's a shorter Radio Edit and a Dub mix, too; but you're not going to want to bother with those. She has a B-side, but unfortunately, it's too similar to the A-side. It's called "Tom, Dick & Harry" and it's basically about the same thing: her man's trying to play her, giving her the old Tom, Dick & Harry routine - essentially still trying to play the field. An interesting premise once, but you really want to flip this record over and hear something else.

It's also another slow, boring beat, which again is the real drawback. On the intro, Debbie D seems to be saying, "Gary Love, please, just if you will, give me a beat that fits my skill." And there's two names in the song writing credits: Debbie's and Gary Peterson. I thought he might be an in-house Reality Records guy, but I looked at a bunch, and his name doesn't seem to pop up on any others. Maybe he was her DJ? And maybe Marley and co. didn't actually make this beat? I mean, it's not bad. It's just slow and boring. But it's not sloppily made or anything. It's too sonically removed from a lot of other stuff coming out on Reality, though.

At least Debbie D doesn't do the whisper thing on this one and uses her full voice. But on the other hand, she actually seems to be putting less energy into it. Or maybe it's just the beat pulling everything down. Ultimately, this whole record isn't embarrassing or anything; it's just kind of a misfire. It's too bad Debbie D didn't get another shot, because you can tell from her old school performances she could definitely deliver something a lot catchier.

Now discogs connects her with another Debbie D who recorded pop rap records on the Dutch label Rams Horn Records in the late 80s and early 90s, but those are two different people. The real Debbie D actually became a minister, and is now part of the "The Hip Hop Ministers Alliance" along with Kurtis Blow, Sparky D... oh, and fellow Juice Crew All Star Glamorous. Check out one of her sermons here! I kinda think it's too bad Marley didn't squeeze in one more track on In Control vol. 1 pairing up Debbie and Glamorous. It might've opened up a tough female side of the Crew with them signing to Cold Chillin' or something. But then again, I guess they only had room for one queen!

Juice Crew Greatness

This is one of those records I didn't find out about until years and years later, when it was quite old. Growing up, I was a huge Juice Crew junkie. I was a big fan of a lot of artists, but pressed to pick an all-time favorite, it would have to be The Juice Crew (and a favorite within the Juice Crew? Unpossible!). And, man, was I missing out back then. This record is one I'd dream about - literally! Sometime after "The Symphony II," when it seemed like the crew was winding down as a cohesive unit, I can still picture a dream I had of turning the TV to BET late at night to catch a music video for a huge, brand new posse cut from the whole line-up: MC Shan, Kool G Rap, Shanté...  Come to find out decades later, thanks to the internet, such a record actually existed!

The Juice Crew Allstars, collectively, put out a record back in 1987 on - of course - Cold Chillin' Warner Bros. And it's not just one Juice Crew super posse cut, it's two!

The A side is called "Evolution," and it's not just your typical braggadocio skill flexing. It's actually a serious song with a message, where each MC takes the role of a key figure in black American history. MC Shan is Martin Luther King, Kool G Rap is Malcolm X, Glamorous of The Glamour Girls is Maya Angelou and Debby Dee is Harriet Tubman. TJ Swan sings the hook, and it's produced, of course, by Marley Marl.

What? You don't remember any Debby Dee in the Juice Crew? Well, it doesn't help that they've spelled her name differently here; she usually put out records as Debbie D. No, I don't mean Dimples D. Debbie D was an MC who Marley was working with in the 80's. She probably didn't leave much of an impression because she went pretty poppy; but if nothing else, you should know her as one of the original Us Girls from Beat Street!  So yeah, she's an original Juice Crew member; now you know.

And, boy, does it sound like a classic Juice Crew track - it's got all the elements. Rough, echoed drums, a simple but funky bassline, just a hint of synths, Shan's distinctive voice and Swan's singing: it is pure, undistilled Juice Crew history. You might wince when you hear Glamorous mispronounce her alter ego's name (she pronounces the last syllable of Angelou like Lou Grant), and some of the early deliveries feel a bit stilted (especially compared to the later work of guys like G Rap), but it's still a treasure.

If you think that comes up lacking at all, though, the self-titled "Juice Crew All Stars" on the flipside fills in all the gaps. If the line-up to "Evolution" felt like it came up just a tad short, how about we keep Shan, G Rap and Glamorous, but also add Craig G, Tragedy and Roxanne Shanté? And this time we cut the shit and just have everybody go for theirs and flex skills. All over another traditional Marley beat with even bigger, "Kill That Noise" style drums and his trusty "Oh my goodness!" vocal sample.

This is nice and hardcore. G Rap opens up with some, "Kool G Rap terrorist, metaphor analyst, fans I enlist, foes I dismiss" shit, Shan brags about not only having a come prepared with a bullet proof vest, but "bullet proof sneakers," and Trag is in full teen-voiced Percy mode, but still coming vicious with a slick echo effect when he says, "my brain is the bomb, my mouth is the detonator!" Even the girls come tough. And how many other times do we get to hear Kool G Rap and Tragedy on the same track together? None! This is the only one in history; can you believe it?

These joints were never released on any albums, just this sweet, sweet 12". If you missed it like I did, it's pure Juice Crew wish fulfillment.  And if you were hip to it back in the day, it's still a great record to go back and revisit.