Dirty Jersey Week, Day 7: Tony D's Eminem

I've covered the most recent Shawn Lov projects before, but this is the perfect Week to go back and look at his most recognized record.  If you go through his catalog now, it's not his first release, but basically any of the earlier stuff is online-only material that most fans have been discovering in retrospect.  This was his vinyl debut, produced by Tony D in 1999 on his own Cha-Ching Records label.  And this is really when he started appearing on diggers' radars, in no small part because it had a real Eminem vibe just as the Eminem craze was blowing up.

I don't mean to say that Shawn was like an Eminem clone; this is no Dasit situation.  Even in his super early stuff, Shawn was very much his own artist.  And I know there was a bit of a kerfuffle for a while about every white MC getting compared to Eminem and accusing them all of sounding alike, a la Asher Roth's "As I Em."  But first of all, Asher did come out with Em's sound, and secondly, that complaint is kinda B.S.  Nobody ever said Vanilla Ice sounded like The Beastie Boys or the Insane Clown Posse sounded like 3rd Bass.  In fact, at the time, Eminem was getting a lot of his signature style from The Outsidaz.  But ever since I first heard this single, you're going to have a hard time convincing Tony D didn't put Shawn on thinking he was catching a little bit of the Eminem wave with this kid.

And to be clear, that's not a bad thing.  When people were saying The Wizard of Rap sounded like Rakim in '89, that wasn't their way of saying, "waiter, take this back to the kitchen."  It was more of a reason why "you gotta get this record!"  Eminem is still one of the most respected rappers around, but there was no better time to sound like Em than '97-2000.  That was his peak.  Think about it: Tony D producing an indie 12" for Eminem back then, wouldn't you want to hear that?  Well, you almost kinda sorta can.

So let's finally talk about this record for a minute.  The first song "That's What's Up," is just a fun, punchline heavy battle freestyle rhymes over a bouncy beat.  And yeah he sounds like Eminem sounding like The Outsidaz... his voice with the higher pitch, the way he races from line to line, changing voices to respond to himself.  But then the B-side, "Respect This," is less so.  He sounds more like himself here, more natural.  The beat is heavier, too, and the rhymes are less jokey.  He's free of the influence, and actually I think this song has aged much better for it.  In 2017, this is really the song I mostly revisit the vinyl for.

But there's one more song, called "Pathetic," and I think this is actually his most Em influenced sounding of all.  Instrumentally, it's not.  Tony D lays down a cool and jazzy but very familiar track.  But then Shawn comes actually sounding like he's doing a deliberate Emzy impression on this song.  The way he packs syllables into punchlines, pitches up on the hook and again changes voices is all so much like "Just Don't Give a Fuck."  It's almost like Tony made a smoothed out remix with Em's Acapella.

Now, let's head over to Shawn's bandcamp page, because he wrote out some cool descriptions for all his back catalog, and I'm curious what he says about this.  The songs here were only physically released on this 12", but he has a whole mp3-only album (or maybe there was a rare CD?) of these sessions he recorded with Tony D called The G.O.D. LP, and all three songs are on it.  One quote from there kind of confirms my theory, at least partially: "Recorded in 1998... The G.O.D. was the album that was intended to introduce Shawn Lov to the Hip-Hop world at a time when there were no other 'White' Emcees with comparable talents."  Pay particular attention to the "recorded in 1998" part, because he also writes, "I'm Pathetic,' a self-deprecating song created a year before Eminem came along, who enjoyed global success using the same humorous shtick."  I'm glad to see this because it shows I'm not the only one drawing the Eminem connection.  But more to the point, the 12" was released in '99, but these songs were recorded in 1998.  Okay.  And what year did The Slim Shady EP come out and make the underground scene go crazy?  1997.  So my timeline holds up.

But "Pathetic" has a unique premise which is not out of the Slim Shady playbook.  It's basically a diss record directed at... himself.  Non-stop vicious and comic lines putting himself on blast, "I feel frightened and alone even when my crew's around, 'cause they don't even give me pounds," "I ain't got no rhythm, no soul, no breath control.  What I need to do is grab a control and start playin' rock & roll, 'cause I ain't nothin' but a wack-dressed crash test dummy.  I only lost my virginity 'cause this big bitch took it from me!"  It's a genuinely clever, original concept.  The only song I can think of that came close to that idea is Esau the Anti-Emcee's "Boo."  And since I've just been breaking Shawn's balls about timelines, I have to give him full credit and say this handily pre-dates Esau's record by 2-3 years.

All told, this is a cool slice of wax that belongs in the crates of any underground late 90s heads.  Of course, it's a must for Tony D collectors.  And ironically, most of us were checking for this back in the days because of the Eminem sound; but now the song that holds up the most is the one where Shawn steps out of his shadow.  The 12" comes in a sticker cover and features instrumentals, dirty and clean versions of the first two tracks.  Unfortunately though, "I'm Pathetic" only has a clean version, and it does include a few curse words which get silenced.  But it's not too distracting.

Oh, and by the way, Day 7 was naturally going to be the last day of Dirty Jersey Week; but tomorrow I'll be adding one more last minute bonus day.  And yes, I'll actually post it tomorrow-tomorrow.  😛

The Next Eminem ...Circa 1999

Back in the 90's, Paradime's manager told me this guy was "the next Eminem." Now, over the years, you'd probably be hard pressed to find a white rapper with an even passing interest in his lyrics who hasn't been promoted at some point as the next Eminem. Except Dose One; he's always been a galaxy or two removed from what the rest of the hip-hop scene was doing. But Paradime's next Eminemness is a bit stronger than Chris Webby, Mac Miller, or this woman. Paradime was also coming out in the 90s, from Detroit, working with many of the same people and was sincerely being marketed by the same guys who put Eminem out there as an almost official Eminem #2.

Of course, it's unfair to lay any artist so much in another's shadow, and being forced to compete directly with the most explosive star of his day is pretty damn rough. But at the same time, most of us who picked up his record were probably doing so exactly because of the explicitly drawn Eminem connections, so at the end of the day, it probably still helped more than it hindered. So, let's take a look at Paradime's debut record - the 12" that really sailed with its "next Eminem" colors the highest.

The good news is that while he might've been the next Eminem through his circumstances, connections, etc; he's not a Dasit.  He doesn't rap like an Eminem clone, he doesn't have an indistinguishable voice and cadence like Asher Roth, and he's not a hacky joke machine like Hot Karl.  So go ahead and take your fingers out of your ears. He's not going for Eminem's fast talking acerbic style - although his punchlines are clearly aping Em. But Paradime has a much deeper, gruffer delivery. You'd never think maybe you were listening to an Eminem record at the start of one of his songs. He's closer to somebody like Vinnie Paz, really.

So this is the lead (and only) single for his debut album, Paragraphs, on his own label, Beats At Will. This single however, "Paragraphs (Remix)" is on Federation Records, the same label Bizarre was on before Interscope entered the picture. And we've actually got two remixes of "Paragraphs" here (plus an Instrumental and Acapella). The first is produced by Hush, of Da Ruckus, another Federation Records group that also recorded with Em; and it's the clear winner. It's a really well produced track that makes the song work. Honestly, lyrically, it's way too reliant on corny punchlines. But the beat makes it work, you'll be into the whole thing. Once you hear the next version, though, the Stank Breff Mix produced by Paradime himself, all the faults rise to the surface. And it's not that the production is bad - it's not as good as Hush's moody beat, but it's passable enough. It's just not one of those beats that can raise an average collection of verses to another level. I guess it's always nice to have an exclusive vinyl track (Hush's remix was included on the album); but honestly they should've probably just left it off.

Flip it over, and you've got another album cut called "Ain't Gonna Stop." And this... is some shitty club shit. The beat (also by Hush) sucks and the hook is worse. Dime's flow is alright over the beat - A for effort - but you're never going to listen to this crap a second time. Oh and lucky us, the Instrumental version is on here, too.

But the last track completely redeems... everything. It's a posse cut called "Clash Of the Titans," (also on the album), featuring a couple of his and Eminem's Dirty Dozen compatriots (Paradime went on to record multiple times with D12, though never Em himself), Bizarre and Bugz. It's produced by DJ AMF, regular producer for Federation Records label-mate S.U.N., who also kicks things off with a cool and calm opening verse. And Bizarre is at his best here in a small dose, taking battle raps to the extreme. It's Invincible who steals the show, though, with a flow that puts the rest to shame nad even makes some questionable lines sound incredibly dope. "Clash Of the Titans" is her fucking record. And it all rounds out with some hyper ad-libing by Bugz, who unfortunately doesn't actually spit any bars.

Unfortunately, that leaves Paradime out in the cold with the least memorable appearance. If a shorter edit of this song were released without his part, I'm not sure how many fans of this song would even notice. Roll that up with the rest of the 12" and you're left with a 12" that's absolutely worth having on the strength of "Clash of the Titans" and a good chunk of the production, but doesn't really leave you wanting to follow the rest of Paradime's career. It's kind of too bad, because he seemed like a decent artist; but he just never quite manages to grab you. And that particular failing is what truly and crucially separated him from Enimem.

Interestingly, though, Paradime pressed on over the years. And while he did continue to record with D12 (plus Royce da 5'9, Obie Trice, King Gordy and probably any other past associate of Em's that you can name) as I mentioned earlier, and most of his online fanbase seems to live in Eminem message board communities, he did persevere in forging his own non-Eminem related persona and putting out music on the underground level. Check him out still going strong in 2013. But according to his wikipedia, he's best known for "do[ing] the turntables and back up vocals for Kid Rock." Still, that's not a bad way to earn a living, even if he's not rolling in Super Bowl money. Things seem to have worked out about right for everybody.

InstaRapFlix #38: Da Hip Hop Witch

Yesterday, I set in on an Eminem documentary that turned out to not be all that bad... I was pleasantly surprised to find a film its makers seemed to actually care about. But my expectation for a crappy Eminem movie has left a hole... One that I'm confident will be filled today, by Da Hip Hop Witch (Netflix Rating: 1 star).

This movie is... incomprehensible. It's two things. One, a terrible, terrible Blair Witch Project knock-off/ parody. Secondly, it's one of those hip-hop pseudo-documentaries that's really just comprised off rappers caught off guard giving quick drops to a dude with a camcorder. Both, taken on their own, would make for pretty detestable films. But combined, they're cinematic gibberish. We get random footage where it's not even clear how it's supposed to connect or relate to the other footage we've seen.

The premise, such as it is, is that there's a Blair Woods-like witch that used to haunt Newark. It's come back now ten years later (later then what? who knows) and only kills rappers. Oh, and it now appears in every inner city across the world, a line only explained by a title to card, presumably to justify the cameos from rappers from other cities. So we get random footage of rappers like Ja Rule, Ras Kass Vitamin C, Professor X, Vanilla Ice, the Made Men and Eminem saying things like "oh yeah, I saw the witch. She was scary!" Rock from Heltah Skeltah leans out of his car window to tell us he's on the hunt for the witch, somehow, some way, which never connects to anything else in the film.

At the same time, there's a wacky pack of five schticky characters (the girl with the red hair is named Rave, etc) and a pug named Pug from Salem on the hunt for the witch, like the three teens in the Blair Witch Project. Meanwhile, there's scene after scene of a group of music producers (actors, this time) brainstorming a gimmick they can get rich off of. And then, there's a long, terrible segment about a fake hip-hop news show, which seems to have been filmed in the offices of Rap Pages(!), with some of the worst acting I've ever seen - and believe me, I'm used to ultra-low budget horror flicks from decades past. These office scenes were really the point where my brain started to scream "abort! Abort!" and climb out of my ears.

So yeah, just to reiterate, none of the rappers really interact with the plot or the central film. We just cut to them over and over for some completely unrelated commentary. They do make some attempt to connect them, which only makes things even dumber, by saying that the hip-hop reporter is being locked out of the rappers' offices (for fear that she might be the witch!), so only her cameraman is allowed inside. So that's why nobody from one set of footage ever interacts with the people in the other set - it's all part of the story!

So, somehow the gang from Salem hear that the music producers who need a gimmick are offering ten million dollars for the witch because it's regularly attacking their artist, so they go to New York. Oh, and this film also keeps cutting to some girl looking out her window. I can't figure out who she was supposed to be. There's a montage of the reporter reading different articles from an issue of Rap Pages (which the Salem gang are also shown reading) - nothing makes any sense! Footage repeats, and we see people say the same things at different points in the film like we're not supposed to notice!

The hip-hop show stops being a hip-hop show and even though they've been covering the witch, they now don't know anything about it until an assistant brings them the story. Again, the story we've been watching them cover all along. Anyway, they're not interested until the president of the company, Mr. Krump, sexually harasses some women and announces, "my kids keep talking about this hip-hop stuff! Do we have any stories on hip-hop?" So the assistant is made into a reporter and told to uncover the hoax of the witch, because they think it's all a lie perpetuated by some gangster named Mr. Big Z who "owns the streets" and is taking half of the music producers' deal. And there's also another assistant who gets hired, who's gunning for the first assistant's job, and the Salem kids are trying to blackmail the gangster. Some crack addict goes undercover as an Atlanta rapper to get with the producers, tells them she knows about the Salem kids, but he recognizes her as somebody, and some character named The Street Don dies. And no, I didn't just spoil the ending; it keeps going and I'll leave the rest unsaid. Honestly, I couldn't figure it out what was going on, and I was literally taking notes. Holy fuck, how does a story this empty get so convoluted?

There are some interesting rappers featured in this... artists we almost never get to see, including Diezzle Don and most of The Outsidaz (Pace, Azz Izz, Rah Digga, of course Em). We even get to the Out House studio and all; but it's basically worthless, because they don't get to say anything except these stupid, meaningless and inconsistent anecdotes about a fictitious Black Witch. It being such a frustrating, wasted opportunity is the insult on top of the injury.

This movie has absolutely zero redeeming values. It's never scary, intentionally funny, unwittingly funny or remotely interesting. The acting is awful, the dialogue is all improvised garbage. The rappers are all wasted cameos. The footage is all handheld, low quality camcorder level material that's terribly lit. I'm sure 95% of the people who've seen this film did not watch it all the way through from beginning to end uninterrupted. It's just torture.

And amazingly, this has been released on DVD three times by three different studios in the US alone. A-Pix, Artisan and Artisan/ Lion's Gate in 2000, 2003 and 2004 respectively. They're all available on Amazon for a penny, and they're all drastically over-priced. The A-Pix disc has a banner going across it claiming it's the Full Frame Version, but they're all full-frame. It was shot full-frame. Stay away from this movie, don't help it make any more money. Don't even watch it for free... on a dare. It's really that bad.

InstaRapFlix #37: Eminem AKA

I can't really use the phrase "binge watching" and then only do one InstaRapFlix post, can I? Well, okay, in honor of Eminem's latest boring comeback or whatever, I've stumbled upon an Eminem documentary called Eminem AKA. That feels like an incomplete title, but maybe it'll make sense when we watch it.  It's from 2004, has a Netflix rating of a whopping single star and clocks in at a very tight 70 minutes. My expectations are good and low, so let's dive in!

Well, right off the bat, we get an illustrated credits sequence that shows somebody put some care and effort into this flick, which is more than I can say about some past InstaBioDocs. It's narrated by Treach, and it quickly becomes apparent that this entire film is being presented like a comic book, with speakers framed in panels, with speech bubbles etc [that's an actual screenshot, right]. Before they make their connection between Eminem and comic books, it feels like a completely random, arbitrary choice of styles. But they do eventually come up with a thesis to tie it all together. He grew up loving comic books... we see (surprisingly good) drawings he made of Spider-Man and Robocop, photos of Halloween costumes he wore as a kid. The film has the president of the Los Angeles Psychiatric Association (why LA, when Em and his family are in Detroit? I guess that's just where the filmmakers were based) talk about how kids growing up with no stability gravitate towards power fantasies like super hero identities. And it's ultimately suggested his various rap persona (Slim Shady, Eminem as opposed to Marshal, etc) are just further iterations of this. It's actually pretty well thought-through.

We first meet Eminem's grandmother. Betty Kresin, who tells a disturbing anecdote about how gleeful she was at the deathbed of her grandmother, telling her she was going to Hell. It's the dark story of an abusive family that certainly lines up with the image Em has painted with his lyrics over the years. We meet Eminem's mother Debbie Nelson-Mathers, who tells us she was sexually assaulted by her stepfather at age 12, "but he didn't get the job complete." Jesus.

Treach's narration is fairly melodramatic (culminating in a ridiculous moment where he raps the judgement of a suit against Em), and the film's eagerness to throw out anecdotes of abuse and broken homes feels a bit trashy and exploitative, like the kind of junk bios you'd see on the E! channel. There's a lot of dishing on his ex, the famous Kim Anne Scott, who we see photos of but who isn't interviewed. In a way, it's like you're getting close to Em in an inappropriate way behind his back. I actually met Eminem back in the days, and this doc made me feel like I was gossiping and hearing stories that should've remained personal. The fact that Em isn't involved himself definitely adds to that; there's plenty of online comments suggesting his family is using this doc to cash in on his success (it even advertises that ridiculous "Dear Marshall" song she recorded with ID-X), and it's hard to make a case against them. But I can't front, it's actually well put together, engrossing, and certainly an infinitely higher quality documentary than I was expecting coming in.

Besides the above mentioned, this film also talks to Em's uncle, first manager, his former roommate, ex-bodyguard (Big Naz, who recorded an Em diss record that I wrote a bit about here), the manager of of a local record shop, two local radio DJs, customers and co-workers at an old lodge he used to work at, a reporter for The Detroit Free Press and two of his mom's friends. Their stories are intercut with quotes from Em's song about his past. And the thrust of the film eventually shifts from his family's dysfunction to his musical origins... his mother was in a band, the first rap song he ever heard was "Reckless" by Chris Taylor and Ice-T, we go from "Back Stabbers" to Scribble Jam.

It's not a great film; but if you're a hardcore fan or just interested in classic, early Em, it's legitimately worth a watch. And if you don't have Netflix, you can get it for a penny on Amazon. I was pleasantly surprised.

That's It, Hater

At some point when ughh was having big clearance sales (good times), I noticed an Eminem diss on vinyl for $2 by somebody I didn't know. I google'd the guy and it turned out he was one of those guys from The White Rapper Show. So I passed on it. Then, I noticed the price dropped down to $1, but I still wasn't interested. Then fifty cents. Finally, it hit twenty-five cents[!!], so I decided fine, I'm curious enough to throw it in the cart with some other stuff for a quarter. Now, I could take a cheap shot and say this record still wasn't the price I paid for it, but no. I'd say .25 was a fair price for the value.

So, here's what I did when it arrived. First, I skipped straight to the Eminem diss, which is actually track 3 on the 12". Then I went back, and played the other songs through. Then I put it away and forgot about it. But recently I came across it when putting some other records away and thought it might be amusing to revisit it and blog about it. You know, before I put it away for another couple years.

So the guy's name is Dasit, and apparently he was voted off The White Rapper Show in the first episode. Not a good sign. He's also "mentored" by Hammer (another bad sign), and he sounds exactly like Eminem. It's something he addresses (of course) in his first song, "Dasit:"

"'Cause people see my songs and say, 'you sound just like Slim;Your style, your voice, everything sound just like him.'
[At this point, the music turns into a quick reinterpretation of "The Real Slim Shady"]
Got you thinking we bought his first CD
Got as far as the first song and said, 'I'm the real Slim Shady.But all I hear is stereotypes"

...Now, I'd have more sympathy if he just happened to have a voice like Eminem's and yet everyone gave him a hard time about it. But as he even admits in his own bars, it's not just his voice... his flow, his delivery, his structures, the way he does his back-up ad-libs with silly voices, even the production is a complete rip-off of Eminem - he's worse than Asher Roth. He might claim to be "blessed with a curse of Eminem's vocal tone" (seriously, he wrote that in his CDBaby bio), but I don't buy it - this has to be an intentional impersonation.

He even signed to Big Willz Records, his manager's label. Never heard of 'em? Well, that's the personal label of Byron "Big-Naz" Williams, Eminem's former bodyguard who wrote a tell-all book about Em and recorded his own Eminem diss record with his crew, The Wadsquad, called "Shady Bizness." Yeah, that's his label and manager. So this shit's straight out of Eminem Hater City.

So okay, back to the record at hand. The first song, as I said, is called "Dasit." He explains his name ("it's like 'that's it,' but usin' slang") and freestyles on a bunch of random, autobiographical non-sequiturs, which are really just excuses to cram in a bunch of punchlines. It's produced, like the rest of this 12", by somebody named Frankie Biggz; and it all just sounds like low budget Slim Shady records. To be fair, though, there is an aspect of his raps that doesn't sound entirely like Eminem. The way he forces awkward jokes into his flow, and the maybe slightly higher pitch to his voice... he's not so much Eminem as - god help us - Eminem meets Hot Karl*. Check out these bars, for example:

"I told my mom,

I'm gonna marry a black woman when I'm ready.

She said, "if you do that,

Then I ain't coming to your wedding."

"I'll start my own clothes line,

Call it G-Y-A-I-T.

(What's that stand for?)

Get Yo' Ass In These jeans!"

God, he goes so far for these cheap laughs (if the first one is even meant to be funny... I'm not sure). He even changes voices for the roles of himself on the phone and his racist mother. Then he gets somebody else to jump on the record just to ask him what the name of his imaginary clothes line means. I'm sincerely embarrassed for him, listening to this.

I'd feel sorry for bagging on a clearly underdeveloped amateur here, but there's such an ugly side of crass marketing in the way he latches onto Eminem in a cynical attempt to cash in. And we didn't even get to "Hater (Eminem Diss)" yet. He lays it out oddly on the line, asking in his song, "am I really a fake rapper trying to be just like you, comin' from a fake city with a fake ass crew? Tell me it ain't so, Slim; tell me you didn't say this! Do I really join the list of Everlast and Limp Bizkit?" Apparently, though, Dasit has a specific grudge that spurred on this particular diss song:

"I just wanted to do a song on your soundtrack,

Was that so bad?

There's a reason I didn't tell you my manager

Was Big Naz.

Just wanted you to listen

And give my music a chance.

And you listened to it in your trailer,

Turned it up loud,

And the word is

That you don't like me now."

The hook even goes, "Eminem, why you don't like me? Why you so angry - you wanna fight me? Why, I ain't do nothin'. It's like you mad because another white guy is tryin' to steal your light or somethin'." He's literally whining.

I can imagine the reason Eminem never answered this record - I mean, besides the obvious - is because Dasit said what Eminem would've already said back anyway. "Yeah, you lied about your management and gave me a song for my soundtrack. I listened to and didn't like it, so I didn't use it." Is Dasit aware he's supposed to be making the other guy look bad in a diss track? The rest of the track consists of more general disses, and at least directed towards the right party, but it's all so juvenile. Like, check this out:

"Hold on, I gotta mention this.

Your fans won't believe this shit you did, Slim.

(What he do?)

Had sex with a girl in Arizona...

(Oh, that's not so bad.)

But he forgot he had a sex change!

(Oh my god, Eminem's a fag!)"

But that's still not everything. You get one more song on this song, called "C.O.P." At no point during the song does he tell us what C.O.P. is supposed to be an acronym for, but the hook of the song is "cops ain't shit!" So you get the idea. It's another Eminem sound-alike song, with him complaining about how he's unfairly persecuted by the police. Example? He was pulled over for his license plate light being out. Really. That's in the song. It may actually be the first song of this nature that makes you feel bad for the police, having to deal with whiny little punks like this all day. But even if you're going along with the sentiment and shouting, "hell yeah, cops ain't shit!" to the chorus, he undercuts the whole thing by repeatedly stopping to point out, "I just wanna say, I know a lot of good cops and detective put their lives on the line every day. It's just a few bad apples makin' ya all look bad." I mean, that's true and I guess that makes the message of the song a little better, but way to suck the energy out of your own song. It would be like if "Fight For Your Right To Party" had an extra verse saying, "except don't party so hard that you neglect your responsibilities. Work hard and get good grades to the best of your abilities. Don't drink too much, ingest illegal substances or neglect to shower. Treat girls with respect and get to bed by a reasonable hour!"

Anyway, this is a single-sided 12", and comes in a generic white sleeve. For twenty-five cents, it's kinda fun to have a silly footnote in hip-hop history like this on your crates. Apparently, this guy has a bunch of other CDs and even 12" records... I'm not sure how low the price would have to get for me to check out those.

Update 2/27/12: It turns out, five years after this record (so, 2007), Dasit released a "Hater 2" via mp3 only. Instead of going after Em some more (though, amusingly, he bites another of his styles), he goes on about The White Rapper Show... he has some generic disses towards Serch ("mad at me 'cause I can't get no whiter" - what does that even mean?), and some of his fellow contestants who nobody remembers anymore. I had a hard time finding it, because this song's drifted pretty far off into obscurity... which is probably right where it belongs.


*He made a much better podcast host, though.

Eminem's Tupac

This is kind of a random, oddball one. It's one of the many posthumous 2Pac releases, where one of his old acapellas is recycled into a new song... though in this case, at least they're up front about it and labeling it a remix. This is from the soundtrack to Tupac Resurrection, supposedly one of better-produced 2Pac documentaries, though I haven't gotten around to watching it yet. It's called "One Day At a Time (Em's Version)," and is copyrighted 2003.

When I first picked this up, I have to admit, I couldn't figure out what the non-Em's Version was. I didn't remember - and couldn't find - an old 'Pac song called "One Day At a Time," and I didn't recognize his verse from anything older. Sure, I could find a few "unreleased" mp3s and youtube videos online, but nothing official; and I didn't believe all the sites with bootleg compilations touting a special unreleased exclusive. ...Eventually I sorta figured it out.

I found it on Spice 1's 2004 album, The Ridah, called "U Gotta Take It (One Day At a Time)." It's only on the first pressing, though - later editions removed a couple songs, including this one. The version here was produced by Rhyme Syndicate veteran Hen-Gee, and it's... just okay. It features a guest verse by another Rhyme Syndicate affiliate, LP (L-Politix), which is alright. 2Pac's verse is decent, but frankly kinda trite. Spice 1 kinda plays into the same schtick, and the rest of the song is filled out by some average, G-funk R&B singing by Headstrong. It has a sincere vibe, which devoted fans will respond to, but to the rest of us, I think it mostly just comes off as cliché.

And now we have this version, which was both produced, and features a verse and hook by, Eminem (it's not the only time he's worked with a 2Pac verse either, as an MC or producer). It also has The Outlawz on here, taking the place of Spice's pals. So, instrumentally, it's not much better... I don't know if anyone really rates Em as much of a producer, but this one isn't bad, just kinda flat and lifeless. It feels like he took the beat from a 'Make Your Own West Coast Gangsta Rap' kit... not that Hen Gee's was much more impressive. Eminem's verse was pretty good, but only in the "Em now competes against pop records when it comes to songwriting, and we all have to accept we'll never get the Eminem from the 90's back" tier. The Outlawz sound good on here, but nobody spits anything particularly amazing.

So, what's weird - or what else is weird - is that this version actually came out first. This is from 2003, and Spice's album dropped in 2004. And yeah... Before you point it out to me, I should mention that if you google Pac's verse, it does come up in a couple of random online songs, specifically "Till We Meet Again" and "Not Afraid (Remix)" featuring Eminem and Biggie. But I'm pretty confident these are just examples of the bazillion mash-ups out there that fans and amateur DJs have made of 2Pac acapellas, now masquerading as legit songs.

So how did the remix beat the original out? Well, it didn't really. This song did see an earlier release, back in 1999, called New World Order. A label called Big Star Entertainment released a compilation just like a lot of indie west coast compilations at the time... it featured a bunch of obscure artists they were working with, and one or two big name guests to make it marketable. The idea was that you'd buy it because of the 2Pac and Spice 1 song (plus there was a Kokane appearance and another song with Spice), and then you'd hopefully become a fan of their roster. So "One Day At a Time" (as it's titled on this disc) was originally the opening track on there.

So, this is a song that's had a long and storied history. Since 2Pac passed in 1996, this was clearly sitting on a shelf for years before it went to Big Star... and I can see why. 'Pac has certainly had better collaborations with Spice 1 (like "Jealous Got Me Strapped" or "Gangsta Team"), and if it weren't for the mad rush to put out everything he laid his voice to after he died, this song's a perfect candidate to be cut from an album and forgotten about in favor of better material. As for which version you'll prefer now, I think it will depend entirely on which guests you're a bigger fan of, since none deliver particularly stand-out work; and the beats are pretty evenly matched. But you probably fall either in the category of needing both, or being fine without either one.

Master Ace Meets The Simpsons

Have you ever wanted to hear someone rap over The Simpsons' theme song? Me neither! But Masta Ace did it anyway. And he rapped over an 8-bit video game digitized version, which makes it even ... better?

Game Over was a conceptual compilation album that came out in 2000 on Landspeed and Yosumi Records (the label that put out Ace's Disposable Arts album as well). The gimmick was to have a bunch of known rappers rap over video game beats, which was probably ultra-keen neat-o for fan boys, but made the rest of the rap world squint and say, "these beats are pretty weak."

But Master Ace was a sport about it anyway and contributed two tracks, both of which are featured on this 12" single. The lead track is called "Spread It Out," and like I said, it's over The Simpsons' theme. Now if you're familiar with tune (and, really, who doesn't watch The Simpsons?), you know it's got a very quick, upbeat "bum-bum-bum-bum" rhythm. This compels Ace to do a very... almost Southern rap, broken up short syllable "rat-a-tat-tat" style of delivery, and while I guess this shows that he's got range, it's not the most appealing sound for long-term Ace fans. Lyrically, he's not saying much, and the whole thing feels like an attempt to crossover that didn't crossover. The novelty value is upped a bit towards the end when they start throwing in a mess of random Simpsons' vocal samples, "D'oh!" "Aye carumba!" etc. That comes in Clean, Dirty and Instrumental versions (in case you ever want to rap over The Simpsons' theme!).

Next up is a really randomly assorted posse cut called "Game Over" featuring J-Black (some random unknown guy who's only done Game Over appearances as far as I know), Jugga the Bully (that guy who tried to make a name for himself by dissing Clue, then disappeared when nobody cared), Steele (yeah, that Steele of Smif-N-Wessun), Godfather Don (just listed as Godfather here) and P Dap (some guy who did a lot of guest spots in the early 2000s). It's ok. I don't know what game soundtrack they're rhyming over... it doesn't sound great, but it's definitely more appropriate for a hip-hop track than The Simpsons. Unsurprisingly, Don and Steele have the best verses here, but even they aren't bringing their A game. This song only comes in a Clean version, which is distracting because they curse constantly.

Then, on the B-side, we get the highlight of this 12", "Hellbound (H&H Remix)" by Eminem, J-Black and Masta Ace. This is before Eminem turned into a grist mill of sappy pop rap, and every verse was a gem. And sure enough, Eminem is sick here, and hearing him paired with Masta Ace (who also kills it this time around) is a treat. This video game is also the most effective video game loop yet (enhanced with a clearly non-video game sourced beat and bassline - I guess that's the benefit of the Remix). J-Black contributes nothing of value, but he's at least tolerable enough not to ruin the proceedings. It comes in Clean, Dirty and Instrumental versions.

Game Over was successful enough that Game Over II came out the following year, this time on Yosumi and Interscope Records. They didn't release a single this time, but German labels ZYX and Fon-kay Records threw this little something together. The A-side is Ace's "Spread It Out" again, from the first Game Over. It only features the one (dirty) version and despite the fact that it's a 12", it plays at 45rpm. I'd really take this for a boot, but ZYX is a legit label that picks up a lot of US stuff for overseas, so I guess it's legit... maybe?

The B-side is Masta Ace's song for Game Over II, "Rap Y2K1" (as in the year, 2001, when this was made). The beat's kinda mediocre (another video game laid over drums and a bassline), and the hook is boring, but lyrically Ace has stepped his game up since "Spread It Out." He's written a fun concept song this time out. He lays out the concept simply enough, "I had a dream that I was inside of my PlayStation," but instead of just being a crazy story of hanging out with Sonic the Hedgehog or something, he twists it into a series of clever metaphors for the hip-hop music industry. Granted, metaphors for the hip-hop music industry are a dime a pound, but this one's consistently smart and amusing:

"I started off, underground, in a dark room
With a freestyle, a sawed-off pump and a harpoon
That transformed to a pen in case of a verse war.
I opened the first door that led to the first floor.
...
I got attacked right away when I walked in
By a four-foot manager with a contract and a pen.
I put up my force shield to block any attempt
At this shrimp drainin' my life 20 percent.
The floor opened up and I almost fell inside,
But I used my mic wire, and I swung to the other side.
And just when I thought I avoided the booby trap,
I got slapped by a female MC with a doobie wrap.
And this chick was tryin' to be he(a)rd like she raised cattle;
But I remembered somethin' I seen on the Blaze Battle:
'Whoever sold you them shoes, they fooled you.'
I killed her with a verse about her fucked up weave and her fake FUBU.
A record exec then appeared in a black limo
And started to attack with a bag full of wack demos.
And I will admit, it was hard as hell to kill,
'Till I stabbed him with an invoice and a studio bill."

So yeah. If you ask me, "Spread It Out" is a little puke-worthy, but labels must've thought the Simpsons beat was a golden ticket, since they included it on both 12"s. "Game Over" was also unexceptional (especially considering it was Clean only!), but the other two songs are definitely worth your time. Hell, "Hellbound" is awesome. And if you're a fan of the game they sampled, you'll probably get extra geeked out by it.

Dead Wrong Dubplate

Remember dubplates? They were all over the place in the 90's. Cheap, vinyl compilation EPs that were definitely bootlegs, but instead of duplicating an actual, rare release or putting out some unreleased music like most bootlegs, they were just compilations of previously available stuff. They would include rare, indie 12" tracks, harder to find old school tracks, or just whatever was big at the time. They were often just really random, putting The Fugees, Biz Markie and The B-Boys all on one EP or something. They were cheap, full of typos, had goofy titles and all the underground vinyl spots had a bunch of 'em.

So this is one of those.

There's no date (it's not like they could print a copyright... though they did have the nerve to write "all rights of the manufacturer and of the owner of the recorded work reserved" on the label's small print), but this would've come out in about 1999, the same time as the music they're jacking. It's called The Killah Kuts, and I kinda like this one, because it's more like a proper 12" than a random EP assortment of songs.

The A-side is a complete rip of Biggie Smalls' "Dead Wrong" 12" A-side. Club Mix (which they call the Main Mix), Radio Mix and even the Instrumental. The label's slightly incorrect, in that they switch the order of the Main and Radio Mixes around; but, hey, it's a dubplate. But the B-side ditches the original B-side (Club, Radio and Instrumentals of "Real Niggas") in favor of compiling the two, rare "Dead Wrong" remixes. Remix #1 is the one with Busta Rhymes and Eminem from the Unreleased Joints EP, and Remix #2 is the one with just Eminem from the Unreleased and Unleashed double LP, both of which were promo-only releases that are typically pretty hard to come by (Remix #2 later found its way onto the Born Again album, making it considerably less rare).

So if you've somehow forgotten, "Dead Wrong" is Biggie's where he raps about hitting underage girls, beating women, robbing them, stabbing a gay guy with an ice pick, etc. Essentially it's him kicking raps that are "dead wrong:"

"Biggie Smalls for mayor, the rap slayer,
The hooker layer. Motherfucker, say your prayers:
'Hail Mary, full of grace.' Smack the bitch in the face,
Take her Gucci bag and her North Face
Off her back, jab her if she act
Funny with the money. Oh you got me mistaken, honey.
I don't wanna rape ya, I just want the paper,
The Visa, capiche-a? I'm out like 'The Vapors.'
Who's the one you call Mr. Macho, the head honcho?
Swift fist like Camacho. I got so
Much style I should be down with the Stylistics.
'Make up to break up,' niggas need to wake up,
Smell the Indonesia. Beat you to a seizure
Then fuck your moms, hit the skins 'till amnesia.
She don't remember shit; Just the two hits:
Her hittin' the floor and me hittin' the clit."

...and it's the ideal track to bring Slim Shady in for an extra verse:

"There's several different levels to devil worshippin'.
Horse's heads, human sacrifices, cannibalism, candles and exorcism,
Animals: havin' sex with 'em: camels, mammals and rabbits;
But I don't get into that; I kicked the habit. I just
Beat you to death with weapons and eat through the flesh;
And I never eat you unless the fuckin' meat looks fresh.
I got a line in my pocket. I'm lyin'. I got a nine in my pocket,
And, baby, I'm just dyin' to cock 'im.
He's ready for war, I'm ready for war;
I got machetes and swords for any faggot that said he was raw.
My uzi's heavy as yours. Yeah, you met me before;
I just didn't have this large an arsenal of weapons before.
Marshall'll step in the door, I'll lay your head on the floor,
With your body spread on the bedspread: red on the wall,
Red on the ceiling, red on the floor. Get a new whore;
Met on the second, wed on the third,
Then she's dead on the fourth. I'm dead wrong."

And while Busta Rhymes does come with lyrics on par with the first two, he proves surprisingly willing to play along for his guest verse:

"Watch him die slow and his skin start to change color.
My goons made a flood, leavin' you layin', droppin' blood,
Then ended up finger-fuckin' your mother at a strip club!
We dead wrong for how we gutter like Howard and Stutterin'
Fascinatin' how all of this street shit be straight butter.
Fuck it. We thug rugged to the tenth power,
Like we was listenin' to 'Gimme the Loot' for the past ten hours!"

Now to make room for both Emzy's and Busta's verses on Remix 1, they removed Biggie's second verse from that version. And since Biggie > Busta, that's a real step down. Remix 2 with just Eminem & B.I.G. keeps both of Biggie's verses and just adds the third. So to me, that's the ideal/definitive version. But it's fun to spin Remix 1 once in a while, just as an alternative.

Anyway, the beat's essentially the classic Al Green drum break that's been used a bajillion times in hip-hop ("Lyte As a Rock," etc) paired with a slow, thumping horn/bass loop dominating the whole track. Because it was Bad Boy, though, three producers wound up sharing credit (Chucky Thompson, Mario Winans and, of course, Sean "Diddy" Combs). And the instrumental is the same for all of the remixes.

So the sound quality's pretty good, and it makes for a handy little, completist "Dead Wrong" 12". Too bad it's a bootleg, 'cause otherwise it's a better release than the official 12".

Legends of Hip Hop

"LEGENDS OF HIP HOP describes a project that includes more than 35 hiphop legends from the first hour veterans to the recent stars. It includes names like Bambaataa, Melle Mel, Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, Ice-T... just to mention a few. The album was based on an idea to connect rap and hiphop greats from both the old and new skool[sic.] scene into one big project. The highlight of the album is the track 'The Fifth Element' which is performmed[sic.] by 34 hiphop legends."

That's the introduction to an album that I can't believe has somehow managed to be pretty much never written about. Legends of Hip Hop came out in 2002 on Absolut Records. Yes, like the vodka. A full-length album that features all original (well, almost... more on that later) material by such great big names in hip-hop that somehow managed to fly completely under the radar? How? Why?

Well, the album was put together by Kurtis Blow, in association with his Legends of Hip Hip old school tours. Blow co-produced all the music on this album with two guys named Informer and DJ Buck. They utilize a lot of live instrumentation, too... the liner notes credit musicians for guitars, trumpets, sax, a couple of violins and a viola. So, how is it? What exactly do we have here?

Ok, let's start with the "highlight of the album" (according to the liner notes quoted above... I actually disagree), the mega-posse cut "The Fifth Element." 34 hip-hop legends. That's pretty impressive, right? And the actual list will probably impress you more: Melle Mel, Ice-T, Flava Flav, Cheeks, Special K, Bambaataa, Run, Smooth Approach, Sha-Rock, Doc Ice, Busy Bee, Whodini, Raheem, Reggie Reg, Grandmaster Caz, DLB, LA Sunshine, Grand Puba, Pete DJ Jones, Kurtis Blow, Hollywood, Eddie Cheeba, Big Daddy Kane, Dano, Ceelo (as in Goodie Mob, yeah), Waterbed Kev, Speech, Kidd Creole, Grand Wizard Theodore, Dota Rock, Rakim & DJ Kool Herc. That's not a bunch of nobodies peppered with a few names, that's an incredible assembly of an all-star line-up!

...But, wait. The song's only four minutes long. And it's got a recurring hook, which takes up almost 50% of the song. And, half those guys are DJs, how do they rap on this track?

Well, if you guessed that everybody is given about 6-8 words to perform, you'd be right! But you didn't guess that, did you? Because that would be so ridiculously wack, you ruled it out before the thought could even fully form in your mind, right? But it's what they did. Excited to hear a Rakim feature you never heard before? Wanna read the lyrics? Well, here ya go:

"Ya owe it to yourself; get your education."

...That was it. That was the entirety of his contribution. And his was longer than a lot of the others!

So, yeah. They call it the "highlight of the album." They even include two mixes on here, the original and "Beathoavenz RMX," which liberally samples some Beethoven. I call it a big, fat "who cares?"

But the rest of the album is much more interesting. Most (plus a few other dudes) of the artists featured on that silly posse cut turn up again on this album to perform all new songs. Most are collaborations you've never seen happen before and are pretty interesting. Raheem, Grandmaster Caz and Shinehead provide a song called "Be 4," Ice-T, Chilli Mac and Rakim perform "Game of Life," Reggie Reg, Skeeta Ranks, Jalil, Ecstasy and Doc Ice do "Shake Them Hips," etc. Here we actually get to hear these artists get a chance to do something!

Just for the record, the other artists who turn up on this album are: Thug Nation, Kurupt, Harry Balz (don't know who that is? He's the other half of One and One, who we last heard from on Next Plateau Records in 1997!), The Ying Yang Twins, Steph Lova, T.O.P., GQ, and Lovebug Starski.

So, how are these songs? Well, they're varied... there's some nice lyrical performances, a variety of concepts and a good mix of styles. The production team of Blow, Informer and Buck I'm sure doesn't have you at the edge of your seat, but they're at least attempting something creatively different that's still got a traditional hip-hop vibe. It's not a great album, but guys like Ice-T, Melle, Sha-Rock, Kane, and others do drop some head-nodding verses. Flava Flav provides an amusingly bugged hook to "Old School Ball," with a faux British accent. The live instrumentation helps keep things interesting and some songs have nice cuts, too. It's a mixed bag, certainly; but a lot of this is really better than you jaded vets would expect.

To add to that mixed bag feeling, though, we have to address why Eminem and Royce da 5'9's names are on the cover. Well, "Nuttin To Do" by Bad Meets Evil is on here. Yes, the song from their '98 12" in Game Recordings. Why? I dunno. More interestingly, though, is "Bad Meets Evil - New Shrooms Mix." Yeah, Blow and team actually do their own, exclusive remix of the song from the Slim Shady LP. It's, uh... yeah, it's pretty corny.

But except for those two tracks and one other - this album also features Justine Simmons' dance tune "Praise My DJ's" featuring Run that originally dropped in 2000 - this is all new, original material, reminiscent of the noteworthy Raiders Of the Lost Art compilation released in 1994.

Now, in addition to this album, there are three related releases you should probably know about:

1) A 12" release of "The Fifth Element," which includes the original version and the Beathoavenz Remix version that's featured on this disc, as well as four more remixes (specifically: Sleepwalker Remix, Efe & Leeroy Remix, Nasty Remix and the Double Remix). Interesting, but I never picked this up, because frankly changing the beat wouldn't fix what's wrong with this song.

2) Another, completely unrelated hip-hop compilation called Legends of Hip Hop, which is just a generic collection of songs by 2 Live Crew, Ice-T and The World Class Wreckin' Crew on a label called Blue Dolphin. They're entirely unrelated save for the coincidentally matching title, so you can go ahead and disregard it... just be careful if you're ordering online that you know which one you're getting.

3) A 2-disc version that was released in Europe. Disc 1 is essentially the same as the US version, except it's missing the Bad Meets Evil remix, and instead features the Sleepwalker Remix of "Fifth Element" (from the 12" above). The second disc is then just another generic compilation of pre-existing hip-hop songs, this time basically a greatest hits of rap, featuring stuff like "Express Yourself" by NWA and "Summertime" by DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince. Personally, I'd stick with the single-disc US version, since it has the exclusive Bad Meets Evil remix, and if you really want the "Fifth Element," remix you could get the 12".

So, yeah. It's not a great album, but it has some worthwhile material. And with all the talent involved, it deserves at least to be talked about.

(Werner Necro'd) All Day Outsidaz: The Interview part 3

...continued from part 2.

So what's up with you guys and The Dirty Dozen? Is Em still down with them?

Pace Won: Oh, the Dirty Dozen? Well, I don't really know about The Dirty D... The last time I talked to them, they said they were havin' a little trouble. But they're probably still together. It's probably cool. They're just slow recordin' 'cause Em went out west, and they live in Detroit, so it's a little hard recordin'; so they had cooled it for a minute. But I think, as of now, it's back in service.

Who do you think is gonna do solo projects after Em and the projects people know about now? Who've you got lined up next?

Pace Won: Uhmm... I'd say Slang Ton, Dee You gonna do his project, and Azzizz. And the No Brain Class. They're not solo, but that's a group in the Outz: Young Zee, Yah Lova, DJ Muhammed.

And now when's your first single coming out? What's your first single gonna be again?

Pace Won: "I Declare War", and the b-side "Step Up." It's coming in like a week, for the end of the month. A week, ten days... Do me, do me good. Do me right, know I mean? Don't make me come in here blazin' nothin'. I'll blaze this bitch, believe me. Don't play with me.

Well, before anybody sneaks outta here, is there anything anybody wants to say to people who maybe don't know y'all yet?

Slang Ton: Look for our subsidiary group, the Outslangaz.

Pace Won: Ahhh! (laughs) The Outslangaz, yes. I'd just like to say, I know it's been a long time. You've probably been hearin' about us for a while. I'd just like to say the politics is a bitch you know what I mean? But we're still comin', we still do our hip-hop every day, it's still true to us. We're not sellin' out. Let's keep it real. The politics still holdin' us back. Thank you.

Young Zee: Yeah, this is Young Zee. I wanna say, you know, we work out of our studio in Newark. It's called Outhouse Productions. You know, we got 22-tracks, whatever. Y'all can call, if you want to. Book a session. It's all g. It's Young Zee. I'm on Pace Won's project, The Pace Won Effect...

Pace Won:"Nobody" & "Keep On."

Young Zee: ...I'm on Krs-One's new album, so you can check that comin' out. I'm on Busta's new solo album, so you can check that out. Rah Digga, my wife, you know, I'm on her joint. It's all g.

And Digga was on that "Temple of Hip-Hop", right?

Young Zee: Yeah, most definitely. So, y'all can check for me. And all y'all ladies, who want a date or something, you know I'm saying? I can't do it. I got my girl. It's all g, though.

Pace Won: You know what I mean?

Young Zee: But Pace don't got no girl!

Pace Won: Don't say that, don't say that... I got a wonderful woman at home. (Laughs) Gave my girl a plug.

And how would y'all describe the Outsidaz to those who haven't heard y'all yet?

Young Zee: Playful. Jokey. Everybody joke too much. Everybody laugh. It's all a game to us. It's real, but, as a personality. We don't let nothin' stop us from having fun, you know what I'm sayin'? It's all g.

Pace Won: I'd just like to say that the clique is innovative, you know what I'm sayin'? Freestyle type rappers... Story-tellers, some of us.

Slang Ton: Battle rappers, punch lines...

Pace Won: Battle rappers... talkin' about versatile rappers, you know I'm sayin'?

Young Zee: We don't let nothin' hold us back! We don't really care, you know I'm saying?

Pace Won: Original hip-hop type shit. We just kept doin' it. A little tricky lyrics and hardcore beats.

Young Zee: I don't care if my album don't never drop, I'ma still be waxin' mc's asses.

Pace Won: Basically.

Young Zee: That's just how it goes.

Pace Won: That's just how we feel about it.

Dee You: Chris Tucker, mother fucker.

Young Zee: Chris Tucker, mother fucker!

(Everybody laughs.)

On the flip side, what kind of hip-hop... what's the worst thing you think is going on in hip-hop right now? What kinda styles...

Slang Ton: The worst thing right now is the remakin'. Because, to me, the audience in hip-hop, the fans... Whatever's popular is what they jump on to. It's not necessarily who's fresher no more. Like whatever's popular. If you hear a song a million times on Hot 97, you're gonna start liking that shit, and that's wrong. And it kinda makes the audience lean towards garbage.

Pace Won: And, also, the bad flip side to me is the politics. Behind the scenes, how much publishing these companies is trying to get you for. The little weak-ass advances they're trying to give people, you know I'm sayin'? This is our livin'! I expect to make at least minimum wage, God dammit. More than that! So alla that bad politics needs to stop. They need to stop that right there. I don't know who controls it, or whatever they're thinking up there, but they need to stop that. The contracts is too in-depth right now. I'll tell you, right now, I signed November 3rd 1997. I looked at my contract goin' "What the fuck is this?" A whole bunch of "forth"'s and "thou shalt"'s. I thought it was the bible out this motherfucker. They should be like, "You record. You make such and such. Ass blank. Sign it." Leave that shit out! It be too much motherfucking politics.

And you've got a video coming out for your new joint?

Pace Won: Yup. My white label joint. I be shootin' it next month. I don't got the date for it, yet, but October. "I Declare War" and "Step Up". I'll probably do a conjunction video, you know? Two videos in one. That's what we gonna talk about. Just get the little effect ready! Dee You's album called, The Brown Hornet.

Dee You: The World is Flat!

Pace Won: The World is Flat. My bad. He updates it like every other day. Now the world is flat and shit. Nah, The World is Flat, know what I mean? Slang Ton?

Slang Ton: Pork.

(Everybody laughs)

Pace Won: Young Zee, what you doin'? NBC album, what's the name?

Young Zee: What's the name of it? No Brain Class.

Pace Won: ...Self-titled debut album. Mine'll be The Pace Won Effect.

Young Zee: Young Zee album: Paranoia! Coming soon...

Pace Won: I-ight. Zee comin' with a solo, AND a group AND another group! He just can't stop. It won't stop...

Slang Ton: The Big Slang Theory.

Pace Won: All the Slangs got together... BOW!!

Slang Ton: Made the Slang universe.

Pace Won: The Big Slang Theory instead of the big bang theory.

Yo, if you could work with somebody now, who you haven't worked with before...

Pace Won: Yo, my man asked me this yesterday. And, totell the truth, Nas. I'm not kiddin'. I would work with Nas... Either Nas, or... if I could pick somebody else... maybe Meth. Nas or Meth. I met 'em both, they're real cool brothers. I ain't never stepped to 'em on that tip, but if I could, I would. ...I did, like, three songs with Meth - excuse me - with Red, before, you know I'm sayin'? With the Outsidaz.

Is that gonna be on one of y'all's albums?

Pace Won: Not on his album, but on our album... He's got, like, two joints on there. ...Ok, let's bust it. (knockin' beat on table) Ok, ok... I can't rap and do it at the same time, sorry fellas.

Dee You: I hate niggas that can do that!

Young Zee: (Knockin'.) One for the money/ two for the time/ I know Slang Ton/ I know Busta Rhymes. Come on. That's the easiest thing in the world.

Slang Ton: (Knockin'.) Yo/ I kill you/

(Everybody laughs)

Slang Ton: Drill you/ spill through... I don't know.

How do you feel about off-the-head rhyming? Do you think you really gotta freestyle off the head to be a good MC?

Young Zee: Well, yeah. It'll help.

Pace Won: It'll help. 'Cause, like, from my personal experience, sometimes I'll be on stage, and I might mess up. And that's when freestylin' kicks in like, "Hit that, split that, get back before I kick raps!"

Dee You: Some of the rhymes we come up with, just freestylin'. You don't even know it.

Pace Won: And, plus, when you just got a hot beat, and then your crew comes together, and you start cypherin' a little freestyle, the hook, everything..

Dee You: The concept of the song.

Young Zee: All the time you talkin', Zee's still readin' about this drug shit goin' on, ya know?

Pace Won: I-ight. ...That drug life's got his interest, you see? He started readin' it.

Young Zee: Shit's crazy, yo.

Slang Ton: He love that drug game.

Dee You: If you write rhymes, you should be able to freestyle, yo. It should come natural.

Slang Ton: If they can think of it...

Pace Won: They don't, but they probably can, though. Even though... they might not be good at it.

Dee You: If they can't freestyle, don't do it!

Pace Won: Everybody can freestyle. I know people that don't rap that be freestylin'.

DeeYou: If you're not a good freestyler, don't freestyle then. I'd rather just hear your writtens.

Pace Won: Niggas just come out like, "Yo! Yo/ Joe/ Schmoe... Yo!"

Dee You: Yo, we 'bout to bounce, boy. We ain't got all day with these internet people.

Pace Won: For real, I do gotta run to the label. 'Cause "I Declare War" might be comin' back today. Gotta go check, boy! I feel giddy like a little kid 'cause I've been waitin' for a long time to just put out a song, you know? I've been rapping since I was like 12. I started rapping after I heard, "La Di Da Di." I always liked rap before that, but "La Di Da Di" got me like, "Yo, I can bust this... That shit he talkin' about right there, I can sing slicker! Slicker than the Ricker," know what I mean? So, I started busting rhymes. Me and Dee You was in our basement. "Yo, yo, yo, yo, yo!" You know how that goes. Just tappin' and recordin'. I always waited to drop this single.... Just a single, an album, you know, just see how the public responds to it. Yeah, I'm excited. And for my Outsidaz clique, too, 'cause now it's like contracts are on the table for us, so I'm real excited to see what could turn out of this event, this experience I've been going through.

The Outsidaz have of course since broken up, but most of them are still doing music, sometimes even other. Hopefully maybe they can reform some day soon. Here're the links to their myspaces: Young Zee, Pace Won, Rah Digga, Az Izz, Eminem, Muhammad, Yah Yah, Bizarre and D.U.

Tags: Outsidaz, Pace Won, Young Zee, Eminem, Rah Digga, Slang Ton, Dee You, Azzizz, DJ Muhammad

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(Werner Necro'd) All Day Outsidaz: The Interview part 2

...continued from part 1.

So what's up with Musical Meltdown now? Is that never coming out?

Young Zee: It's, like, you know. Out with the old, in with the new.

Pace Won: BUT, we might put out the bootleg version.

Slang Ton: Word up.

'Cause I know a lot of people were waitin' for that album... It got reviewed and all that, then it never came out.

Young Zee: We do so much joints, it don't really matter. I did my album in like, what? Two months?

Pace Won: Word up.

Young Zee: Pace did his album in like, what? Two months?

Pace Won: Three months.

Young Zee: It's too easy. There's a million of us. There's like competition in between us. This what we do everyday.

Pace Won: This our 9 to 5; this is what we do. We rap. That's is our career. We take it seriously.

Young Zee: I don't wanna give no other magazine props, but you heard about the battle, like...?

Blaze. Yeah.

Young Zee: We do that everyday.

Pace Won: Schoolin' MC's.

Young Zee: See, you gotta understand, we got a studio in Newark. So that means that everybody in Newark, or around Irvington, East Orange, whatever... All the MC's from Red all the way down come through our studio. And they always tryin' to show they ass. See if they can be fresher than us or whatever. But... It don't never happen. But it always prepare us for when somebody else come. It be like friendly battles in Newark. If you ain't from Newark, it ain't really a friendly battle. But it's all g. ...We got Rah Digga, take all the females. All the Outz is like warriors, when we trying to go out for battle, we out for blood.

Dee You: Plus, the freshest white boy on the planet.

Pace Won: What?

Gino: have you heard of him?

Yeah, I heard the Slim Shady EP & Infinite...

Gino: You liked it?

Yeah, it was ill. Definitely.

Pace Won: The EP's HOT.

Gino: You heard the Bizarre EP?

Nah, I haven't heard that.

Gino: Bizarre's got an EP, too.

Dee You: Somebody stole my Bizarre EP!

Pace Won: Yo, we on it. A song called, "Get the Dick." Bizarre's our solo artist from Detroit.

What'd he put that out on? His own label, or?

Pace Won: Yeah, Web Entertainment. They tryin' to make it hot. The same people that put out the Slim Shady EP.

And are y'all gonna be on Eminem's album, too, on Aftermath? 'Cause that's a prety big deal right there.

Dee You: Yes, sir. Well, I recorded a couple joints for him. Whether Dr. Dre pick 'em or not is something different. But, yeah, we have songs with Emzy. We have mad songs. He's on our first real single. It's called, "Mama, I Said." He on there. Me, Slang, Eminem, and Zee.

And when's that comin' out? What's up with that?

Dee You: Well, that's comin' out after we get our deal. But our first single is "Brick City"/ "Murderah" or something along those lines.

So how did Rah Digga hook up with Flipmode?

Pace Won: Well, Zee, once again... He was on Perspective. He did a remix for one of his singles, "Get High" with Q-Tip. And Tip met Digga and liked her, ya know I'm sayin'. But you Tip was doin' some other stuff with some other rapper... What's his name? Consequence. So he was goin' through all that. So, Busta was getting' ready to do his album, and he was like, "Yo, let me get Diggy," and she went over and did it. She got with them.

Young Zee: So, what's the flava? ...What's up with The Source? When y'all comin' out with the compilation album?

What do you mean? The Source puts out collective hits like, Source album, Source Pioneers... You mean like new material?

Pace Won: That was supposed to have BEEN come out, The Unsigned Hype album, right?

Slang Ton: They used to write it, like, way back. When you win this, they gonna put you in the compilation... They were always talkin' about ten months, and that shit never came out.

Pace Won: Source be frontin'... Source be frontin'.

Dee You: Write us as Unsigned Hype.

Pace Won: Why not? Here go our demo, I mean, here go our bio. There's our demo. Un...signed... Hype...for the month... of... Oc...tober.

But, you're about to be signed.

Pace Won: Sign us before we get the deal, ok? Sign us before we get the deal. Unsigned Hype.

Young Zee: Who hyper than us right now?

Slang Ton: Tell 'em Fugees, "Cowboys." People were lovin' it.

Pace Won: Debuted number 7, BET's Rap City. Thank you.

And, yeah, you also had a single out with Lauryn Hill, right?

Young Zee: Yeah.

Kobie: That was on the album. That was never a single.

Who would y'all say are your favorite rappers?

Pace Won: LL! ...Biggie, Jay-Z, & Nas! (laughs)

Young Zee: Right now, who's tearin' it down? Big Pun. I like Big Pun.

Slang Ton: It depends on my mind state... 'Cause when I feel like tearin' somebody's skull off, I like some DMX.

Pace Won: It's gotta be like, some... maybe Busta, you know what I'm sayin'? KRS, Red, Nas, Biggie, and Meth...

Young Zee: I'm talkin' about who's lyrically killin' it right now.

Pace Won: The niggas I just named!

Slang Ton: I said DMX.

And have y'all got any shows comin' up?

Dee You: Yeah, we're gonna be at the Coliseum on the 15th, then we'll be at the Paramount on the 23rd...

Slang Ton: The Meadowlands!

Pace Won: We're at Union Square on the 18th...

(Everybody laughs)

Pace Won: Nah, right now, we've just been talkin'.

Kobie: Just negotiations. That's stressful.

So Zee, have you got any plans to do another solo project, or are you holdin' off on that right now?

Young Zee: I'm negotiatin' that now... Right now, they've got a contingent upon the Outsida project. So, you know, just tryin' to smooth out all the edges. Then we gonna sign that damn thing, get this money, do this album. You know what I'm sayin'? We're gonna go away to do the album.

DJ Muhammed: Who's your favorite rap performer?

Performer?

Muhammed: Yeah.

(Everybody laughs.)

Dee You: Fuck you think this is? MTV?

DJ Muhammed: Come on. Y'all keep laughin', he's not gonna answer the question.

I don't know... Just before you came, I was watching a video of The X-Men...

DJ Muhammed: The X-Men?

Yeah, the DJ's...

Young Zee: Ay-ight.

DJ Muhammed: The Outz is one of the top performers. A lot of rappers can make songs, but they can't perform. But the Outz got stage presence.

Y'all do a lot of live DJ'ing and shit? 'Cause lately...

Young Zee: That's our live DJ!

Slang Ton: We got like 4 DJ's... DJ Muhammed, 3rd Rail...

And what's this Kid Capri you're coming out on?

Pace Won: I did a song with John Forte, Nature, and Rock from So-So Def, it's called, "Columbians."

That's gonna be on The Soundtrack to the Streets album?

Pace Won: That's gonna be on the b-side to the single.

To be continued immediately...

Tags: Outsidaz, Pace Won, Young Zee, Eminem, Rah Digga, Slang Ton, Dee You, Azzizz, DJ Muhammad