The Bottom Of the Father MC Barrel

We've finally hit it, folks!  Today's post will probably have most vinyl heads, even those with deep Father MC collections, saying, "hmm, I don't have that."  And then, "hmm, I don't want that."  But, in all fairness, it's not because the people who made the music are necessarily terrible, so much as it's just not what we want here at Werner's: a proper Hip-Hop record.  Or even a Hip-Hop record at all.  Yes, today we'll be examining "Alright" by Jazzed Up, co-written by Father.

Don't worry, I'm not going to string out the suspense here.  "Alright" is a 1996 remix of Father MC's 1992 hit single, "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" featuring Jodeci.  It's a UK club dance thing, and none of Father's rapping is included, so he's got a writing credit but his voice isn't on here at all.  Prince Markie Dee and The Soul Convention's and other Mark are also credited as "originally produced by," but this uses virtually (entirely?) none of their instrumental either.  All it takes is Jodeci's hook.  They play different pieces of it at different times, laying it down over a very bouncy, late 90s house kinda track.  The vocals aren't quite "chipmunk soul," but they're pitched up enough that you might mistake them for female vocalists if you didn't recognize the source.

Jazzed Up is a one-off alias for a guy named Mark Truman, who's produced a whole ton of clubby dance records I'd never listen to under different alias and with different groups over the years.  I guess he's best known for being a part of Hybrid, who've put out a bunch of albums and been featured on the soundtracks for several movies and video games.

It comes in a picture cover from a small label called Final Phase Records, but it has connections going all the way up to Warner Bros, who probably had to pay a decent amount to clear Father's record, so this was presumably a decent payday for him, or at least Puffy and Uptown Records.  Father would've been off Uptown for several years by this point.

There are three mixes of the song, but they're all pretty similar stuff and use roughly the same amount of Jodeci, and none of Father.  One's credited to Hybrid and another is credited to The Solid Collective, which is another one of Truman's side groups.  They're both extended a bit.  The Hybrid version is a bit moodier with deeper bass notes while the Solid Collective mix has more of an electro flavor and has a tonal keyboard riff midway through that doesn't really jel with the rest of the music.

It's the kind of record I wouldn't ordinarily bother to write about if I weren't bent on ultimately covering every Father MC record ever.  So we may be scrapping the bottom, but it's it's an interesting bit of trivia for the Father MC fan who thinks he has everything.

Father MC Or Die

Another new year, another new Father MC write-up.  You think I've run out of material, no not yet.  In fact, this is arguably one of the most important songs in his discography, the fulcrum point of his public image and lyrical direction, from Mr. "Live Life Lovely, Love the Ladies, Live Life Correct" to the aggressively sexual "I put my milkshake on ya tummy."  The legend goes that Andre Harrell pushed Father MC in the romantic direction.  We've already seen he started out on a fresher tip with his First Fleet Crew; but he blew up making records like "I'll Do For You" and "Lisa Baby" with The Soul Convention.  But for his third album, he changed.  Now he was working with Buttnaked Tim Dawg and had a much tougher, more aggressive image.  Not that he went full NWA or anything.  But gone were the button down shirts and flat top with the blond peak; now it was leather jackets and Timbs.  But there's an even more precise point in between those albums where that switch happened: on the Who's the Man soundtrack.

Who's the Man's a pretty interesting soundtrack anyway.  The Ed Lover & Doctor Dre movie directed by Johnathan Demme's nephew, Ted Demme, and packed with rapper cameos naturally had to have some big songs on it, including BIG's debut single and Erick Sermon's debut solo venture.  Somebody else vying for attention with a bit of a career move was Father MC.  The song is called "Pimp Die," so yeah, the new direction is pretty hard to miss.  If it wasn't obvious enough, though, it opens with the album's only skit, where Dawg is a WBUTT FM radio DJ announcing, "that was Father MC featuring Jodeci, 'Treat Them Like They Want To Be Treated.'  Well, Radio Land, I wonder what he has in store for '93.  Maybe he'll take it to the streets."  So yeah, the intention's perfectly clear.

It's got a much grittier, 90's track with rumbling bass, wailing horns, big drums and a shout chorus: "what's the law? Pimp or die!  What's the law?!  Pimp or die!!"  It's not actually produced by Dawg, but by T West and Kool Chris.  They were working under his wing for Dawghouse Entertainment at the time.  They also did an unreleased track for The Lost Boyz' debut album, which Dawg also worked on.  So that helps explain why "lyrics and rap" co-writing credit goes to one Cocheeks.  That's Mr. Cheeks, a couple years before the Boyz broke out with their first single.

But there's a seemingly even bigger name in the writing credits here.  J.Z.  As in Jay-Z!?  1993, this would put him in his post-Jaz sidekick, pre-Reasonable Doubt solo artist period, the same year he did "Can I Get Open" with Original Flavor, when he was really going "next level" with the lyrics.  So does Jay take Father to the next level?

Well, disappointingly, not so much in the crazy way Jay was flipping it in '93.  You know, it's kind of run of the mill game talk, "I'm the man, that's how I get down.  I find recruits, knock the boots and then I got to skip town.  I get money on the regular; every day on the highway honeys are calling on my cellular.  I got a team From Brooklyn, Bronx and Queens; a bald head, leather jacket, and baggy jeans."  We're really just cementing the new image here.  Yes, he name-checks his Timberlands,  But later in the song, he gets more into old school pimp talk, which is pretty fun, "taste the caramel sweet chocolate.  One taste of my love makes your heart drip.  Mister Man, sisters never diss the program; before I kick 'em out, I kiss ya hand.  ...I get my nails done, baby, you won't be bitter.  Dip my hands in the bowl and watch my rocks glitter.  That's how pimply I am; pimpin' ain't hard, it's just a job, and ya really don't understand."

But a lot of it's just tepid, generic rhymes, too, like, "I'm gettin' money on the real, nothing's funny.  Every day seems sunny when I'm chilling with my main honey."  Half of this feels like typical Father MC album filler, and I'm thinking Jay-Z maybe just suggested a couple individual lines.  And Cheeks?  Well, there's a very animated hype-man backing up Father's lyrics.  His voice doesn't sound as scratchy as we all know Cheeks to be.  I'd actually guess it's Tim Dawg doing it himself.  But maybe in '93, Cheeks' voice sounded fresher and he's getting writing credit for improving his adlibs?  That's a long shot, but it's possible.  I mean, we're forced to do a lot of speculation here.  Maybe J.Z. isn't even Jay-Z after all.  Discogs connects them, but they don't have a perfect track record with this like that.  And it's not like the credits say "Jay-Z."

Also, it's interesting to note that on the Uptown Unplugged album, Father only got to perform the single solo song, "One Night Stand."  But if you watch the full live show, you see they cut out his second song, which he introduces as "a change for the better," suggesting his heart was no longer in the lovey-dovey stuff, if it ever was.  Because yes, it's "Pimp Or Die."  Tim Dawg gets on the stage with him to help with the hook, and it's a very different instrumental, with the band playing completely new horn riffs, and going heavy on the piano.

Anyway, "Pimp or Die" isn't perfect, but it does the job.  And it's better than most of the stuff that wound up on Sex Is Law, including the singles.

It's Father's Day!

Today is Father's Day, so let's talk about "Father's Day" by Father MC from his 1990 debut album, Father's Day, because it's Father's Day!  No, "Father's Day" wasn't one of the many singles he released off of that album, but it was the title cut, and it stands out because it's the only hardcore track on the album... and kind of the only hardcore track he'd release until many years later.  And though it's still not on par with his early First Fleet Crew material, I'd say it's one of the best songs in his career... like Top Ten-ish?  Top Twenty for sure.

So Mark Morales and Mark Rooney, b.k.a. Prince Markie Dee and the Soul Convention, produced most of the album (and yes, executive produced by Puff Daddy and Dr. Jeckyll), but this is one of the two tracks actually produced by the Hitman Howie Tee.  And while we're having fun reading the liner notes, it's definitely also worth noting that this is one of three songs where the lyrics are actually written by Little Shawn, here credited as Lil' Shawn.

Honestly, I don't know if Shawn did Father any favors; the lyrics aren't amazing or better than what Father had already proven himself able to pen in his indie days.  But Howie Tee definitely did.  He's cooked up one of the hottest tracks on the album.  And it's the song that really showcases Father's DJ, DJ G. Double E.  Did you even know he had a DJ?  Yeah, he's credited in the notes and name-dropped on this cut.

"Everybody think Father MC is on that R&B tip.  'Ey yo, Father, just cold get it," are the introductory lines to this song.  I have to admit, I can see where people got the impression that Father is on the R&B tip, since this album is packed with love songs in collaboration with R&B singers like Jodeci and Mary J Blige.  But Father is out to tell "everyone who think I went on that R&B tip, take that!"  I feel like maybe they should be saying "everyone who thought I was ONLY on that R&B tip, seeing as how I clearly am definitively on that R&B tip at this stage, and indeed most, of my career."  But hey, why get hung up on semantics?

Howie Tee starts out with a solid, but a little bit old school and not terribly groundbreaking breakbeat loop.  I'm not sure exactly what record they're looping, but I know The Jaz had rocked it the same year on his second album, and I feel like it's just one of those late 60s or early 70s funk records a million rappers have used.  So a stalwart classic, but a little stale.  Except then he starts blending in the theme song to Police Woman, sirens and all, which is a banger.  And remember, this is like a full decade before "All Time Einstein" kicked off that craze of rappers looping up the themes to shows like Knight Rider and Magnum PI.  Of course, Bambaataa had already sown the seeds with "Bambaataa's Theme," but still, this was rare and incredibly dope.

Father kicks off with an interesting, sometimes playful (especially given the hardcore nature of the instrumental) style that he seems to struggle with a little bit.  "Yes, yes, y'all, so forth and so on, I grab the microphone and give ya one to grow on.  Don't sleep on me, 'cause I keep, keep it on, see.  Don't call me uncle or daddy, it's Father MC.  When I make 'em up I'm makin' sure that you can hear me, 'cause I speak very clearly.  There's not another like me, so more than likely, you'll watch then but in the end you'll try to bite me.  But you'll get bit back 'cause it's an eye for an eye.  Oh yeah, and one more thing, I'm fly.  The M-I-C means a lot to me 'cause when I'm on, the rappers that shouldn't be there flee.  I'm new, I know that, and now ya know to stay back.  So save that, yo, I ain't even tryin' to hear that.  Go on the bench, back off with that play, allow me to let ya know that today is Father's Day." I feel like Little Shawn may've delivered it real smooth and it sounded great, but then Father had a hard time recapturing that magic, so it sounds a little clunky.  But it's still fairly fresh, and the closer you pay attention, the more you'll appreciate it.

Still, his later verses work a little better when he's kicking simpler but tougher rhymes like, "come find out what Father's made of!  I'm not bulletproof but grab a mic and I'll light this whole place up tonight.  Like a match hittin' another, I'll burn a brother like a condominium, 'cause I'll crush anyone schemin' to take what's mine and that's wild.  And anyone bitin' that same old style."  Father just feels more confident, and it fits the instrumental better with the more aggressive energy they're clearly trying to lay down.  This isn't the time to get all Original Flavor on us.  Father may not be blowing our minds, but he's holding it down.

And that's all you need to keep the record working until Police Woman and G Double E drop in again.  When was the last time you heard scratching on a Father MC record?  I could almost believe this was the only one, except strictly speaking, there's one or two other harder-edged track on this album with cuts, too (see also: "Ain't It Funky").  But it sounds great here, slicing up the line "give me that title, boy" from "Raw."  It goes a long way to selling this as a strong record not to be dismissed.

I always thought this was would've made a way better final single than "I've Been Watching You," but I guess Puff didn't think they could really sell the image of Father as a hard rock.  Maybe they were right.  But this is still a fun song, especially one to play today of all days.

Father MC UNPLUGGED!!!

1993 is the year Father MC dropped the MC from his name and switched up is image from a lover to a player with his third album, Sex Is Law.  That came out on June 15th.  But just before he could switch it up, like right before, Uptown Records needed him in his R&B lover mode one last time, for their big Uptown MTV Unplugged special.  The special aired on May 31st, and Father MC was featured performing one of his hits from his second album, "One Nite Stand."  Or, as it was titled when Uptown released the album version on June 1st, "One Night Stand."

I remember at the time Uptown making a big deal that this was the first time MTV made an Unplugged special for a label rather than a specific artist.  But I was mostly just disappointed that it was like 90% R&B and 10% rap.  In fact, I didn't buy the album version when it first came out because of that.  I only picked up a cheap used copy years later because I found out it had a bonus studio track tacked on at the end.  But we'll come back to that.

If you don't know, the gimmick of the Unplugged specials is that they were all live with no electric instruments, so we could hear their "pure" talents or whatever.  As you can imagine, that meant little difference for some folksy-type artists, but for Hip-Hoppers, that meant no turntables, which is just the very core of Hip-Hop music, but oh well.  Only a bunch of old rock fan executives would think we should be excited to not give DJ Eddie F the opportunity to get busy live on stage.

So the album is just the live performance as aired in the special straight-through, no funky edits or anything.  Jodeci's up first and they do several songs for the first twenty or so minutes.  Then they introduce, "another member of the family.  We had the pleasure of doing a song with him on his first album.  And second.  His name is... give it up for Father... MC!"

And like I said, Father just gets the one 3-4 minute song.  I've already written about "One Nite Stand" extensively here, so go ahead and refresh yourself.  And lyrically, he just does it pretty straight.  No verses from the 12" remix or anything.  He improvises a little "just throw your hands in the air" and stuff, but that's about it.  Instrumentally, it's mostly just a watered down version of the studio mix, with more echoey mics and live guitar re-interpolating the funky bassline and "Microphone Fiend" riff.  The horns sound nice (though no, they don't do the "Ruler's Back" bit) but the piano sounds clunky.  They break it down for the third verse, though, and the percussion sounds really dope and that's where this version finally clicks into something interesting.  But then it's over.

After that, Father MC introduces "the queen of soul, the ultimate Mecca queen, the Mecca of soul," Mary J Blige, who performs for another twenty-plus minutes.  And that's interesting, because why didn't they use the opportunity to have Mary kill it on the chorus of "One Nite Stand," when she supposedly sang on the album version?  I always said their was something sus about that supposed collaboration.  For the live version they have four generic background sisters, who to be fair, sound as good as the retail version.  But come on, Father's on the stage with Jodeci and Mary, both of whom he's famous for blowing up by starting them off on his records, and they didn't have them to anything together?  Pffft.

Anyway, the live show wraps up with Christopher Williams and Heavy D.  Father's the only dude to just get one song.  But there's one more track on the album... not a live song but a proper studio production of an all-original, exclusive posse cut called "Next Stop Uptown."  It's like the sequel to "Uptown Is Kickin' It," and features everybody from the Unplugged show, which means yes, it's still a majority R&B instead of Hip-Hop, but at least this time Jodeci and Mary don't get five times the stage time.

DJ Clark Kent produced it using a ton of funky breaks and samples like "Keep Risin' To the Top," the song BDP used for the remix of "You Must Learn" (also the "Buddy" remix) and that crazy horn loop from Showbiz & AG's "Party Groove."  Mary J does a mini cover of DeBarge's "Stay With Me," and Christoper Williams does "Keep Risin' To the Top."  Heavy D does a ragga version of "The Overweight Lover's In the House."  And Father MC actually rhymes first, over Show & AG's "Soul Clap" groove.  Lyrically, it's pretty generic, but the whole experience is hype.  Yes, all this stuff is all mashed together into one five minute song, and it works.  It's like those NY party megamix 12"s DJs used to release in the early 2000s, except with all new vocal performances, too.

So the whole Unplugged performance is alright but pretty skippable.  But for the Father MC fan who's gotta have everything, you've definitely got to have "Next Stop Uptown." And the good news is, today, this album can be found on vinyl, CD and cassette for peanuts.

Father MC's Presteege

The year's almost ending!  The economy's collapsing.  The human race is succumbing to a deadly pandemic.  I must... add... one more... Father MC post!

Yes, there's still more to cover.  This is another late 90's R&B collaboration, along the lines of his projects with Teez, Kym Rae and Bishop.  Once again, it's on NJ's own Echo International that actually seems more directly tied to his time in Florida when he was working on his unreleased Men With Millions album.  Specifically, this is "Waiting - Anticipating," the only record by a female singing group called Presteege, released in 1997.

Like, all of these slightly low energy R&B joints, it's a little on the bland side.  The singers are pretty good, but they won't shock you awake with unbelievable notes, and the instrumental's boring.  I suspect this is somewhat inspired by Heavy D's "Got Me Waiting," but it's certainly different enough that you couldn't call it a knock-off or anything.  And if you really pay attention, things get a bit interesting.

First of all, it doesn't really fall into your traditional chorus/ verse/ chorus/ verse format.  It starts out with Father's rap, which is a little longer and deeper than your standard MC guest spot on an R&B joint.  And lyrically, it kicks off intriguingly outside of Father's wheelhouse.  He's rapping about being some kind of drug kingpin and, well, I'll let Father tell it, "'Ey yo, my spot was hot; 5-0 rides up on my block. My soldiers dropped rocks as they load up their glocks."  This sounds like a Children Of the Corn joint, except he's still rhyming slow and calm over a twangy R&B groove with Presteege crooning "I need your love" in the background.

Anyway, his point is that he's older and wiser now, and he only lead his life of crime for love.  "I'm nasty and my attitude smells like Hell.  Oh, you're missin' the realness, society fell.  I guess I'll take you back, 'cause you're my baby blue true.  Deep down inside, everything I did was done for you."  So it comes around to eventually being the sort of love song you'd expect, but some of these bars might be the most street declarations Father's ever made.  And so anyway, that's like the first two minutes, and the rest of the song is handed over to one member of Presteege to sing all the lead vocals, with the other members singing back-up.  But again, there's no chorus or anything really.  She just sings her bars about how "my love is you'll ever need" until the end of the song.  Some weird keyboards kick in just as the lead vocalist reaches for her highest notes, which kind of obscures and undercuts her biggest moment, but oh well.  It's a pleasant enough song once you get past the part about society falling to a criminal underworld.

There's also a B-side called "Do You Recall?"  Interestingly - unless this is a label error, which really wouldn't surprise me - it's this B-side that doesn't feature Father that he has a writing credit on.  Yeah, this is just a solo Presteege song.  They're asking "do you recall the days of yesterday when you wanted me," which is kinda what they were singing about on their last song.  The group comes together a little better on this one, but they're still pretty low-key, and the instrumental is basically just one repeating loop for the whole five and a half minutes.  And this one does have a chorus, that they repeat a little too often.  In short, Presteege are trying, but this is super boring.  I'm not sure another appearance by Father could've helped much either.  Both songs are produced by somebody named Almighty, and they're pretty limp.  Put these ladies in a booth with somebody a little more enthusiastic and they might've gone somewhere.  Too bad they never got that chance, but hopefully the members were able to go on to record more in some other context.

There are no instrumentals or anything, just the one song on each side.  Pretty much for completists (read: me) only.

It's Still Father MC All Day, Ain't a Damn Thing Changed

Wow, looking back, I've only averaged one Father MC post a year since the Trump presidency.  Clearly, there's a direct correlation.  But now it's 2021, time to get back to what I was unquestionably put on this Earth to do: teach the world about Father MC songs.  And I've got a couple obscure ones for you today, I can promise you.  Tell me, gang, are you familiar with Mexican Swedish singer/ DJ Dede?

Dede's real name is Denise Lopez (not to be confused with the American Denise Lopez who was on the Cool As Ice soundtrack), and she's put out a couple albums more recently under that name.  But throughout the early 90s and 2000s, she was signed to Sony and put out four five albums under the name Dede.  The second of which was called I Do and it features not one, but two feature appearances by our man Father MC.

Now, I've got the Japanese CD here.  It's got a couple of bonus tracks not included on the original Swedish or other European pressings of her album.  But none of those feature Father MC or any other rappers, so for our purposes, it doesn't matter which version you get.  Because, I suppose I should point out, she has worked with others besides Father.  In 2018, she did a big music video with MC Lyte.  And if you clicked that link, you just learned that she's not just your standard pop singer who seems to be a big deal overseas but never made a splash here: she also raps.  She raps in 2018 and she raps in 1997.  She definitely sings, too; but rapping is a substantial part of her musical output.  You know, when I first got this of course I skipped right to the Father MC songs and waited to get to the rap portion.  So I was surprised to hear Dede actually rap first.

Apart from that, though, it's largely what you'd expect.  Syrupy but pop R&B songs with sporadic rap verses.  The production, mostly done by two guys named David Kreuger and Per Magnusson, actually isn't too bad, with some smooth samples and crisp drum elements.  It's also the kind of stuff you'd expect to hear Father MC on, catching him right around the time of his dalliances with Luke Records and his various Echo R&B projects.  This album being on Epic/ Sony Records was probably a big check for him.

The first song we find him on is "Make It Right."  Production-wise, this is unfortunately one of the more boring songs on the album.  It helps to have Father's voice come in and add some variety to the proceedings, but I would've much rather heard him on some of the other songs instead.  Clearly, the vibe they were going for here was sexy and smooth.  But it is a strictly Hip-Hop song, with only an anonymous male vocalist crooning very softly in the background near the end of the song.  It's mostly a back and forth between Dede and Father, kicking very whispery raps.

Now, as a die-hard Hip-Hop fan, I do prefer Dede rapping to singing just because that's more up my alley, but I'm not at all reluctant to admit that she's not a particularly good or interesting MC at all.  She's adept at sounding American, which is probably valuable to a certain market, but this is the worst kind of forgettably bland affectation over substance that 90s crossover rap had to offer.  "How you like me now?  I know what's on your mind: dirty thoughts, but I ain't the one to get done.  Fit, I pop five-six, long hair, straight, Chanel jeans on my derriere ... When you was hittin' jack, I'll be spendin' your loochie, pop, 'cause I'm on my payback.  you gets nuthin', frontin' like you hit somethin'."  This was the kind of thing Video LP would air because it was too soft for Rap City but still too rappy for Video Soul.  But it wouldn't even play long on Video LP, because the songs they played tended to be catchier.

It does come alive a little bit when Father MC gets on.  We already heard his voice on the hook and the back-up adlibs, but his verse comes with a bit more energy to it.  Still, he's too caught up in that laid back playa character of that period to impress.  But you can still see there's more creativity put into the words than just strictly dropping cliches. "Now Dede, you dissin' papi, that's a no-no.  I brought you up, I showed you love, bought you mink gloves.  My fur makes you purr, I gave you it all."  He also steers the subject matter further into the tastelessly explicit than I was expecting, "and I don't like the fact that you say I'm lyin' on mine, and if I did, I woulda pimped you with dick."  Anyway, the concept is that they keep accusing each other of lying, but ultimately they will "make it right" by making sweet love or whatever. I think they're hoping if they keep it silky and quiet enough you won't notice how corny it gets.

Anyway, the other song is livelier and more engaging, with a lot of jazzy little horn snippets.  It starts again with that male vocalist (if I could read Japanese characters, I could probably find his name in the booklet) and this time Dede is the the expected, conventional R&B crooning mode.  Well, she does have a short rap hook: "oh baby please, pa, you can call me Dedes, get up from your knees, no need to please.  I freeze as I look at your face, locked up for days; I'm stuck in your place."  But it's essentially a very 90's R&B song with brief rap interjections.  I think the concept is that Dede feels stuck in "the friend zone," but it's a little unclear.  I'm mostly just distracted by how she pluralizes her name to rhyme with "please," "knees" and "please" again.  It's so contrived it's wraps back around to charming.

Anyway, it all comes to a happy ending when Father tells Dede he's been secretly in love with her the whole time, too.  "Dede, let's politic.  Yo, I can't take it no more.  I got a thing for ya ... When ya needed advice, it hurted me to give.  Deep down inside I was your secret love fugitive.  I was ashamed, caught up in the game.  You was my best friend.  All I saw was me and you in the game.  But I got heart, got smart, took a chance to tell."  How sweet can you get?  They both love torturing grammar and rhyming the same words with themselves.  It's actually not so bad until he ramps up the corniness for his big finish: "I could be your lover friend, your homey lover, your hubby who is butter. I say word to my mother."  If you're not editing those closing lines into your wedding vows right now, what are you doing?

But cringey lines aside, "Best Friend" is a more than passable R&B tune of its time.  It sounds better than plenty of records that became legit hits back then.  And the whole album's okay if this is the kind of thing you go for.  Songs like "You're Fine" with the jazzier elements hold up the best, while other tracks like "Get To You" are definitely striving for more of a breakout pop audience.  "Come On Out" borrows from Naughty By Nature's "Hip Hop Hooray" in a cute but clumsy way.  I mean, I certainly don't recommend it to anyone reading this blog - I just scored a copy when I found it cheap because I was curious about the Father MC verses because that's the crusade I'm on.  But I can certainly see why Dede has her following.  I wonder if any Swedish fans sought out Father's records after hearing him on I Do.

It's Already February and I Haven't Written About Father MC Yet?!

Sure, I've already made a post for every single Father MC 12" single there is - all seventeen(!) of 'em.  But that doesn't mean there aren't more 12" singles out there that dedicated Father MC fans ("fathns?" We're still work-shopping it) need in our collections.  In fact, here's one from 1993, which would place it right in Father's final stage as an MCA/ Uptown artist, when he was in his "player" mode, though this particular record's on Ruffhouse/ Columbia and he's actually rhyming more from the perspective of his previous albums, as an earnest lover.  The song is called "Innocent Girl" by Four Sure, the lead single off of their sole album, We Can Swing It.

Yeah, the main motivator for me to buy their tape back in the day was Father MC's appearance, but there's a good chance I would've come around to it anyway, because in 1993, I was eating all that new jack swing R&B stuff up.  And Four Sure were pretty good.  It's funny, if you look 'em up on discogs (they're not even on wikipedia), they only list three members, but obviously they're a four-man group.  Look at their covers, look at their name, come on.  So the complete line-up is actually Joey Elias, Carlos "Budd" Ford, Livio "Anthony" Harris and Rudy Rude, and what's interesting about these guys is that they actually wrote and produced most of their own stuff.

So, real quick about the rest of their album.  Not bad.  They definitely excelled more at the upbeat new jack swing material than the sappier, pure R&B ballad stuff, which just played a little dull.  Like "Try and Find a Way," their only other single, just lacks the passion to get off the ground.  But their ragga intro track "Rough and Wicked" and their title track, which features the only other guest rapper, Def Jef, are pretty fresh.  These guys were at their best singing over hard breakbeats not smoothed out synths.

And "Innocent Girl?"  Well, it's kinda both.  Nice beats and Casio keyboards.  The riff on the chorus is both catchy and cheesy at the same time.  The breakdown's dope, but it was probably too middle-of-the-road to be their introduction to the world.  I mean, I was interested in it as another Father MC vehicle, but it makes the group feel pretty forgettable.  Budd takes the lead vocals, which are nice but unexciting, and the group comes together for the chorus, but they never get the chance to really belt it out or show off any particularly impressive vocal talents.

The song's just about compelling a girl who's "innocent" to take a chance on love.  The music video had a hot model in a bathing suit on a beach wearing glasses and reading a book.  For some reason, the hook said "she wants to rock my world," despite the whole point of the rest of the song seemingly being the exact opposite.  She won't rock Budd's world but he really wants her to.  I'm guessing I've already thought more about this than they ever did.  But then the beat breaks down and Father comes in over tougher part of the track with a contrarian view:

"Well, I'm the love daddy, Father MC,
Here to speak about this L-A-D-I-E.
You wanna know: do I kiss on the thigh?
I said yes I do, but you, hmm, I pass by.
You try to play innocent but I know ya flavor,
I know your whole style and your gimmick as a player.
You wanna seem to be Ms. Nice, but ya fallin',
Your day is here, so prepare to start crawlin'.
What you to do others ain't funny.
I know you ain't pleasin', to me you're teasin', my money.
My sista, can I get a witness?
Strictly for the business, playin' innocent is a sickness."

Now, okay, I know the line "your day is here, so prepare to start crawlin'" is a little too hostile to fall under "romantic."  But that aside, seeing Father come from the PoV as a victim of a woman who's dishonest with his feelings, rather than the uber-pimp fantasy of the ultimate player of women, definitely feels like a return to the more interesting 1991 Father MC.  Of course, the ideal would be a return to the 1988 Stupid Fresh Father MC, but 1991 Father is my second choice.  Not that I'm holding this up as some great verse, don't get me wrong.  It's full of flavor-of-the-month pop slang that sounded dated even when they were current, a cowardly attempt to reference oral sex without actually saying it, and that embarrassing spelling error could rival Warren G's infamous "What's next, what's N-X-E-T?"  But it's still the best part of the song, where it finally wakes up from aits saccharine slumber.

But fortunately, this isn't the whole story.  The 12" has remixes, including one that yes, is superior to the main one in the video and on the album.  Specifically, there are five mixes.  The A-side is your basic stuff: Album, Radio and Instrumental.  The B-side is where it gets interesting.  There's the "Somethin' 4 the People (Innocent Girl Club Mix)" and the "Hip-Hop Mellow Mix."  Well, it says "Mellow Mix" on the sleeve, and "Yellow Mix" on the label, but I assume "Mellow Mix" is correct.  Anyway, the "Mellow/ Yellow" mix is just a shorter edit of the Club Mix that removes Father MC's verse, so we can forget all about that one.

Somethin' For the People were an R&B/ New Jack Swing group that actually have had a much longer career than Four Sure did, and they produced a couple of songs on We Can Swing It (though Four Sure produced the original version of "Innocent Girl" themselves).  And this mix is much funkier, using the classic JB's bassline from "Soul Clap," "Fudge Pudge" and plenty of other bangers ...though for some reason, the example that always pops first into my mind is The Redhead Kingpin's "Dave and Kwamé."  It's more of a genuinely Hip-Hop track than the very 90's R&B original, with the R&B verses spaced further out over the longer, sparser track.  And yes, Father sounds better over it.  There's even a cool piano solo at the end.  I only wish Four Sure had changed up their vocals to go with the track - maybe even tried their hand at rapping - since their parts clash.  But if you just play the second half of the song, it sounds like a proper Father MC record; and in the end, isn't that what we really want?

Father MC and the Broadway Star

It's a brand new year and it's well past time for another deep dive into the extensive career of Father MC.  So here's one I don't remember reading about in The Source: 1991's "Everyotherday" by Or-N-More on EMI Records, featuring, of course, Father MC.  1991's an interesting year for Father, because it's really his break out year, when his earliest hit singles broke and he came out with his first album.  The only guest appearances he had out by this time was the work he did on that one Ray Parker Jr. album.  So you could really describe him as a rising star at this point.

So who the heck are Or-N-More?  Well, as you can see in the picture above, it's that blonde lady and her boyfriend(?) standing behind her.  She's Or and he's More.  Or more specifically, she's Orfeh Or and he's Mike More.  She sings and he does the music, basically. They originally had a music video that used to get play on MTV under the name Genevha, because it had the gimmick of using old public domain movie footage.  Then in 1991, they became Or-N-More and put out one self-titled album, and this one single.  Father's the only guest rapper they seemed to've worked with, and Or-N-More kinda disappeared in a flash.  But what's more interesting is that Orfeh went on to become a pretty substantial contender on Broadway, getting nominated for a Tony in 2007.  You can check out her website here.  Meanwhile, More doesn't seem to have done as much, most notably producing Freedom Williams' C+Cless solo album in 1993.  But he also has music and writing credits on Orfeh's solo album almost twenty years later, so I guess they've held onto their connection, which is nice.

So let's get to the song already.  Well, "Everyotherday"'s a pretty straight-forward pop song.  The hook tells you directly what it's about, "every other day, you steal my kisses, boy, and then you just throw them away."  And the verses are basically all about how she's leaving this guy because he won't commit.  It's a very high energy, R&B/ dance hybrid.  Like a Madonna song that leans even a little further into the club vibe.  Or has a pretty deep and powerful voice, but this song doesn't exactly push her to challenge herself.  There's a few "dayyy-ee-ayy-ee-ayyy"s, but not exactly hitting any notes to make you say wow.  And the music's okay, with an upbeat hip-hop tone, but it never marries itself to the chorus in a catchy enough way to really resonate.  It sounds well made enough when you're listening to it, but it's immediately forgettable.

The fact that the song is structured so the vocalist is singing to a generic "you" boyfriend is the perfect set-up, though, to drop in a rapper to speak as the other half, "I never filled your head up, so now you wanna gas, and talk about Father like trash."  It definitely adds a more interesting battle of the sexes dynamic with conflict, where listeners can choose and relate to one side or the other.  In fact, it would be a much more interesting song if Father and Or traded verses back and forth, accusation followed by counter-accusation, like an authentic arguing couple.  Think of some really successful R&B/ rap hybrids like Grand Puba and Mary J's "What's the 411" or even Kwame and T Bone's "Ownless Eue."  But unfortunately they relegate him to the traditional, single quick in and out on an R&B song guest rap.

Oh, and there was even a music video for it with a bunch of dancers and Father doing his best Pete Nice impression in a spinning barber's chair.  Interestingly, Father has an extra vocal part, where he introduces himself mid-song, "yeah baby, this is the man women hate to love, Father MC.  I never told you I love you."  That extra bit isn't on the album version or any of the 12" remixes.

Remixes?  Oh yeah, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't get into the stuff on the 12".  The 12" has a slightly extended Power Mix, a tighter Radio Edit, a Dub and all of that.  But the most important mix here is the Hip Hop Mix by Dallas Austin, a major R&B producer in the 90s.  I mean, he still is, but the 90s is when he was making huge hits for groups like TLC and Boyz II Men.  Like, if you don't know, just look him up; he's a major player.  So, anyway, this version toughens up the instrumental a bit, making a lot of use of The Fat Boys' famous "Brr, Stick 'Em" vocal sample and some fun little horns.  Most significantly, this version features an all new, completely different and actually much better verse from Father, too.  "Ya see, girl you told me that you'd be there to support my needs, but now I look in the window.  I thought I'd found love, 'cause I didn't dream of me and you forever.  I never thought of the ups and downs, the excuses you gave me."  It's more thoughtful and less cliche, reminiscent of his best lines in "Treat Them Like They Want To Be Treated."  Unfortunately, this new verse is instead of, not in addition to, his original one, so it doesn't really fatten out Father's role like you'd hope for.  But it still adds up to an overall superior version of the song.

There's also a Club Mix and a House Mix that add extra piano riffs, sounds and a proper house beat.  They go a bit too far in my opinion, though I have to say the Club Mix is funkier and more dance-able than the original album version.  Orfeh sounded like she was going for that house diva kinda tone in her vocals anyway.  And finally there's an Underground Mix, which at first sounds like it's going to be more of a stripped-down Hip-Hop version, with Father's verse coming right at the start; but then it just basically turns into a slightly altered Club Mix with a few extra vocal samples and stuff dropped in.

I mean, it's still what discogs describes as electronic electro synth-pop with RnB/swing and house elements added to the remixes, so I'm not actually recommending this record to any of you Hip-Hop enthusiasts.  And it's not a catchy enough pop record that I'd recommend it to kids or anything either.  But it's definitely an interesting little nook in Father MC's career that's at least worth knowing about.  Any day I can find a hidden Father MC verse tucked away on an obscure 12" single is a good day in Wernerville.  😎

You Love To Hear 'Bout Father, Again and Again

Okay.  Last year, I finally wrapped up writing about every single Father MC 12" single.  But that doesn't mean the fun has to stop.  There's still plenty more of his oeuvre to explore and discover.  In fact, I bet y'all never heard of this one before: Kym Rae featuring Father MC: "Just Be Good To Me" on Situation Records from 1996.

Now, Situation is located in Teaneck, New Jersey; and career-wise, 1996 would situate Father after that whole Moja/ Spoiled Brat mess, but before he moved to Florida and hooked up with Uncle Luke.  So that all makes sense, right before his single on Echo.

Kym Rae was an R&B singer, not a rapper; but the type who was very tied to working with Hip-Hop acts.  She was being produced and probably managed by Redhead Kingpin and had done songs with K-Def, Sadat X and McGruff.  She was meant to have a full-length album in 1997, including this song; but it never came out.  Later on, she came back and signed with Renegade Foxxx's Still Hustlin imprint, but he never put out any records by her, so she basically just wound up singing a bunch of his hooks.

So, anyway, "Just Be Good To Me" was Kym's first single, and yes, it's a syrupy cover of the S.O.S. Band's "Just Be Good To Me."  You know the one, "I don't care about your other girls..." or, if nothing else, you've surely heard a million and one songs sample the line, "people always talkin' 'bout... reputation."  Yeah, it's that song.  But where the original was catchy and funky, this is going for a slow, smooth but 90s tip.  By 90s tip, I mean that "Real Love" style of lacing a traditional Hip-Hop breakbeat under the whole thing.  In fact, it's the very same breakbeat: "Impeach the President," this time with an extra piece of MC Shan's "The Bridge" still married to it.

So, it's not exactly an exciting record.  A song that's been covered a hundred times already with a derivative production style.  But it still sounds good if you're in the mood for a very 90s R&B groove that doesn't aim particularly high.  Kym doesn't stretch herself much vocally either, by reaching impressive high notes or challenging ranges.  She just softly sings, relying on her admittedly nice voice.  It seems surprisingly low effort for someone trying to make a name for herself with her first single, but it's definitely not bad.

But what about Father?  That's who we're all here for, right?  Well, me anyway.  Well, he's got two verses.  A real quick opener, than he comes in with the more traditional R&B guest verse in the third act.  It's... not his best stuff.  he really sounds like he's trying to imitate the trends of the day on this, opening with the line, "I keeps it hot; on the real, I keeps it raw. Father freaks the flav; I kick game out the back door."  Like, Father MC in his prime would never have said "keeps" or "flav."  And even if you're not a fan, you have to admit, Father MC had established himself and found enough of his own voice by 1996 not to have to try and fit in with the youngsters.  On the plus side, though, he doesn't just throw in a quick verse that has nothing to do with the concept with the song at large.  She's singing to her man about how she doesn't care that he's a player, and he portrays that player.  Of course, he's spent entire albums rapping about being a player, so it's not exactly a stretch.

But it's actually smartly written how he comes back in his second verse to explain how he will treat her just like she's asking for: "I'm gonna bless your finger, get you laced in white; feed your appetite tonight as I serve ya right.  Have Versace Victoria's Secret; peep it, a spread of white roses on silk satin covers, what?  I go all out 'cause you be representin' me; I be representin' you.  Don't change, Boo.  I feel blessed."  It's nice how it all works together instead of pulling in opposite directions like these collaborations often do.

Now, this 12" has a couple versions on it.  And like the name of the Kym and Father Version implies, most of the others don't feature Father MC.  Situation's an indie label, but there was a music video for this, and Father ain't in it.  If the album had ever come out, presumably he wouldn't have been on there either.  This is just a remix single.  On this single, it's the Kym Vocal Mix.  Then there's an Intimate Mix, which contrary to its name actually has some bouncier, subtle but more cheerful instrumentation.  Interestingly, Kym's Bonus Beat also features Father and Kym's vocals - is this 12" mislabeled, possibly?  Anyway, the difference is the track on this one is more stripped down, putting the Hip-Hop beat more prominently and doing away with most of the extra R&B keyboards and music.  Then the Original Bump Demo Mix is just what it sounds like, a slightly less polished recording with all the same elements, but an extra "bump" kicking through the percussion and some very minor variations and a little acapella finish.  And finally, the Instrumental is an instrumental of the main track.

Frankly, none of the variations actually vary enough to make them worth bothering with.  There's basically the version with Father, and the one without for people who hate rap.  The rest is all excess; and as you can see, the 12" comes in a sticker cover.  The song is fine, but nothing to get excited about.  I mean, you're still better off just listening to the S.O.S. Band's original.  The world doesn't really need all of these knock-offs and cash-ins.  But as far as they go, this one's pretty listenable and inoffensive.  And if you're a fan of Father's, maybe even a little charming.

The Final Father! The Secret, Nasty One Nite Stand

Citizens of the world, we did it!  With this very post in September 2017, we have officially covered every single Father MC 12" single!  From his obscure indie debut to his major label peak to his early indie comebacks, to his test-pressing only Luke Records single to his obscure later comebacks and so many in between.  We did it all.  And now, today, we look at the last remaining hold-out: 1992's "One Nite Stand" on MCA Records.  And I've got three different pressings for ya.

"One Nite Stand" was the lead single off of Father's second album, Close To You, and featuring his reunion with Mary J. Blige.  His only other single off the album would feature his reunion with Jodeci, showing how he was already becoming overshadowed by his more famous back-up singers.  People were coming to Father MC records to hear what Mary J. and Jodeci were going to do more than Father himself.  But this time, Mary J. isn't really what's interesting here.

Produced by DJ Eddie F of Heavy D and the Boyz, the instrumental for "One Nite Stand" is a simple but addictive merging of "Microphone Fiend" with the bassline from "Funky Sensation."  Yeah, there's a little extra new jack noodling on top of that, but it's basically just those two loops synced up into something fresh.  And the hook, of course, is sung by Mary J Blige.  But unlike her previous records with Father, or Jodeci's records with Father, where they sing their hearts out and steal the spotlight, all Mary does here is sing the one line with two different inflections, and it's looped.  Honestly, it sounds like Eddie F made a chorus out of a studio outtake Mary intended for some other record.  And it's alright; she certainly doesn't reach any dramatic notes.  It's the kind of performance any random back-up singer could cough up, but it's catchy enough over the funky track.

And lyrically, this is before Father adopted the player pimp persona, so he raps some nice verses about how he's interested in more than just one thing ("I wanna get to know ya because I don't want to do you," "sex ain't my appetite; I just wanna treat ya right").  It's a novel concept that he spends the song disagreeing with his hook: "all you want from me is a one night stand," Mary implores, which Father always rejects with a simple, "Nah, baby."  That doesn't come around too often.  He even ends the song with a special, spoken word message to all the women of the world.  "One Nite Stand"'s not exactly a heady, intellectual rap ("I'm all about fun, honeybun, so come and check me out"), but it's a well produced, upbeat song with a positive message.

And now, looking at the different pressings, we've got the basic promo 12" with the black and white label and plain yellow sleeve on the left, and the retail release with the full color label and glossy picture cover in the center.  Musically, though, those two 12"s are the same, with the Radio Version and Eddie's Instrumental on side A and Eddie's Mix on side B.  Is Eddie's Mix some new, 12" exclusive remix?  No, it's just the album version.  The Radio Version (also the one used for the music video) is exactly the same as the album version/ Eddie's Mix except it fades right out after Father's message.  So it's about a minute shorter.  The fuller version has an extra horn solo, where they play the famous fake horn riff from Slick Rick's "The Ruler's Back."  Admittedly, it's pretty kitschy, but I like it.  Mary actually comes back, too, to sing another line ("'cause you don't care") a couple times, and this is actually where she sounds the most vivacious and breathes some extra life into the song.  So stick around for the full version of this song.

That's the basic promo version, which there's a billion copies of on vinyl and CD all over the world.  But on the right is a very different promo 12" with a different track-listing and a genuine, exclusive remix.  A vocal remix, even, with an all new rap; how about that?  Bet you didn't know about this one, Father MC fans!

The Tone Capone Mix, co-produced by Tony Dofat and Puff Daddy, features a moodier, much tougher beat with hard drums, sparse bass notes and sporadic jazz stabs.  It's a pretty good track, but it really doesn't jell with Mary J's hook.  It feels like this beat was made for a different song.  Except for Father's new verses; those sound tailored to this track, and the vibe of the song is totally flipped.  This could be considered more of a sequel song, e.g. "One Nite Stand Pt 2" than a remix.  A bitter, angry sequel.  "My Nubian sista, I wanna get wit cha" has become "my Nubian sista, I wanted to get wit ya," and instead of saying "nah, baby" to every accusation of only wanting a one night stand, he says "yeah, baby."  

But don't get me wrong, that's not all that's changed.  All the rap verses have been completely replaced with new ones.  Now he says, "baby, don't play me like you're all of that, sugar; you should slow down and realize where ya at."  We're not exactly talking Ice Cube here, but he's definitely coming harder, "so now, I know where you're comin' from, honeybun, ya tongue is callin' for the dark one. I got flavor, forget what other's gave ya.  My name is Father so, honey, don't bother."  And this time, yeah, he definitely does want to do you.  "I want panties on the floor, and your bras unstrapped, because Father MC is gonna taste your cat.  No nappin' allowed because it's time to work your body.  No need to drop your panties if the dug-out is knotty.  I'm in the mood to get a kiss - thank you.  Grab you, lay you on my knee and then spank you."

It's not amazing, but it's not bad; and it's fun how he reverses his stance from the original version.  It's like a dark secret version of the song.  And I guess they really liked the idea of changing his saying "nah, baby" to "yeah" in answer to Mary J. Blige, but I think they should've really should've gone the extra distance and gotten a new chorus that fits the beat, which is otherwise kinda hot.  That miss-match is what holds the song back from working entirely on its own terms and probably kept it off the major DJs' mix-tapes back in the day.

This promo also has the album version and the Instrumental, which in this case is Tone Capone's new instrumental... a reason for heads to track this down even if they don't like Father or any R&B/ new jack rap stuff.  And finally there's "Daddy's Radio Remix," which is just a shortened, radio edit of Tone Capone's Mix.

Father's closing message from the Close To You cassette J-card.

So, now that I've covered every single Father MC single, where do we go from here?  Well, I don't think we've totally seen the end of Fam Body on this blog.  He's still got more guest appearances in his oeuvre that I'm sure I won't be able to resist.  And hey, maybe I'll decide to go super deep, and examine every single album track that never got released as a single.  Although, you know, I might hold out for a book deal before going that far.  😂  Plus, hey, this is only the end of Father MC's 12"s to date.  He could still put out a new one!

Ringing In the New Year With... Who Else?

It's 2017, and what better way to celebrate than writing some more about Father MC?  Today's record is a little 1995 12" called "Sexual" on Spoiled Brat Recordings, the same label that released Kool Moe Dee's final LL Cool J diss and some of Kool Keith's earliest solo material. This is one of the singles from the strange case of Father's dueling simultaneous albums This Is For the Players and Sexual Playground, which you can read about here.  And, uh, be wary of the comments to that post, it's a bit of a minefield.

This is the promo version of the 12", where the label clearly hasn't been completed.  Not only does it leave off the specific track listing (this 12" features main, dub, instrumental and accapella versions), but the full song title, which is actually "Sexual Playground."  I'd stayed away from this 12" for a long time because I was associating it with the terrible club remix, simply titled "Playground" on the Sexual Playground album.  But this version, the original that was featured on This Is For the Players, is actually pretty good.

A large part of why it works is a large part of why a lot of Father MC records work: excellent sample selection.  This song uses almost the entire instrumental of Patrice Rushen's "Feels So Real (Won't Let Go)."  It's a huge lift, so detract some points for originality.  But what can you say?  When you loop a great 80s record, the rap version's gotta sound pretty great, too.  And, as Father is famous for, he's got another strong R&B chorus.  Now the album credits this to Danny Blanco, but there is clearly a female singer doing a duet with the guy on the chorus.  I won't say they out-sing Rushen, but they sound pretty good and it definitely comes together as a catchy, slightly campy redux.

I was also happy to see Father MC return to his slightly more romantic roots here.  This was his first album(s) after his time with Uptown; and at that point, he'd dropped the MC from his name and went from doing love and heartbreak songs to bragging about being a pimp and a player.  Here, you see the MC is back, and he's back to rapping about relationships over funky soul grooves with R&B singers on the hooks.  Short of him going all the way back to his 1st Fleet Crew sound, this is what I think all us Father MC fans wanted from him, and he delivered.

Not that it's a perfect song.  These singers are nice, but they're no Mary J. Blige and Jodeci.  And I called the song romantic, but that was a bit generous as the lyrics feature Father rapping, "now who wants the body, the body, the sexual irresistible player, women slayer" as the girl invites us to, "come on and play in my sexual playground." So it's not exactly Jane Austen, but you can't begrudge Father all his fun.  It's admittedly a bit corny ("if you wanna please me, you gotta squeeze me," "so if you want some TLC, creep wit me into ecstasy"), and it's one of those records where if you already own the 80s original, the modern day rap version can feel kinda pointless (you know, like Coolio's "Fantastic Voyage" or The Firm's "Firm Biz," where the best parts of the song are just what they lift from the original sources as opposed to their additions).  But it's all upbeat, cheerful and he never says anything too embarrassing.  It actually holds up fairly well, and I think I appreciate it more now than I did in 1995.  Good times.

Father MC's Been Watching Howie Tee's Girl

Not only am I not out of Father MC records to talk about, but I haven't even finished covering all the singles off his first and most famous album!  But that's about to change right now, as we look at the fourth and final Father's Day 12", "I've Been Watching You."  I'm actually kind of surprised this exists, actually, because most major labels weren't getting to four singles back in '91 when this came out, especially if you don't count promo and plain sleeve stuff.  But here's a big, glossy picture cover after Father had already racked up three hits.  And this one doesn't have the big, catchy feel of the other singles at all.  It's got a clunky, discordant piano loop instead of the smoothed out, new jack R&B music, and it's the only song off the album with another rapper on it, as opposed to a singer.  Well, actually, Lady Kazan was sometimes a singer; but she just raps here.

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of this type of record, and it was one of my least favorite tracks on the album, so add that to my list of reasons I was surprised to see it come out as a single.  It's one of those battle of the sexes back-and-forth duets Positive K and MC Lyte used to make, or Young Zee and Rah Digga like to do with each other. The basic concept is fine, but the main reason I never get into them is because neither MC ever really gets to flow.  It's always just one or two lines, then pass the mic, then pass it back, each one finishing each other's rhymes and punchlines.  On paper it's neat, in practice neither of them rap long enough for you to get into it and it's more of an intellectual exercise/chore than a song to groove to.  You know, like spoken word.

If Uptown was determined to make a fourth single, why not the title cut.  I always liked that one a lot better, and since it's more hardcore and not R&Bish at all, it still showed off Father's versatility, if that's what they were after.  And no offense, but it's not like Kazan's name was a draw; she never had any records of her own out (although I would've copped 'em if she did!).  You know, if he'd done the same record with Pepa, you'd say okay, they're bringing in her fan following.  She was actually Howie Tee's wife, but all most audiences knew about Kazan was that Chubb Rock rapped " Lady Kazan, my home girl, peace!" on "Treat 'Em Right."

The concept of the sing is simple enough; it's just like those Positive K records he's copying.  Father hits on Kazan, and she shoots him down.  The title comes from the premise that he's been watching her at a bar or club for a while before coming over to talk to her.  But really, it feels like an opportunity to play R&B trivia, because they just keep making references to modern R&B singers to each other the whole time.

Father: "Even though you make me sweat, like Keith Sweat said, I won't gas your head."
Kazan: "Tryin' to get in these boots, but you gotta spread your wings and fly like Troop."
Father: "That girl's old news, and now like Tony Toni Tone she's giving me the blues."
Kazan: "Play like Soul 2 Soul and keep on moving."

So if you're in the mood for some light-hearted 90's nostalgia, this song has definitely got you.  My favorite line is one that could only have come from that decade, "I know you're single, so why you frontin' on the mingle?"

I guess the reason they chose to release this is because they actually came up with a nice remix, which is here on this 12".  In fact, there's a couple mixes.  Well, first of all, you've got the album version, which was produced by Fresh Gordon.  Then you've got two mixes, the Daddy Remix and the Redhead Kingpin Remix.  The first is so named because Puff Daddy's involved with the mixing, but actually both of those remixes were produced by Redhead Kingpin, and they're actually basically just minor variations, using the same instrumental.  But it's really good, and a little more in keeping with Father's previous singles, with a smoother piano sample laid over a cracking breakbeat.  It's a nice track, and I imagine more collectors would be interested in it if it wasn't stuck behind a flowless battle of the sexes rap.  This is the version they include the Instrumental of, so that's good.

The only other mix is the Fresh Gordon Remix, which is a different set of samples and a cool variation, but very much in keeping with the feel of the album version.  Again, this production would be better appreciated with a different vocal track, and it's cool to see how far Gordon had come from his old 80s sound.  And yeah, the difference between the two Redhead mixes are really minor.  The Daddy Remix is a censored radio version (though all there is to censor is Kazan saying "ass" once), and the Redhead Kingpin Mix trims some of the talking at the end, where Father talks to Fresh Gordon, telling him, "that girl's got it going on," and Gordon says, "yeah, but she doesn't have it going on with you; that's Howie's girl."  The Redhead version drops the "Howie's girl" part.  It's a little frustrating, because it means that there's no way to hear the song with that (the best) instrumental without it being slightly edited.  The other two versions are unedited; but these two are tinkered with in a slightly annoying way.

So, at the end of the day, it's a good single with some cool, exclusive remixes.  But for Father MC fans only.  Nobody else is going to have time for this corny duet rap stuff; at least not while there's so many thousands upon thousands of better 12"s out there.

Father MC Is World Wide, Y'all

So, a couple years ago I found a Father MC test pressing I was pretty excited about, because it was a rare, unreleased Luke Records 12" that was virtually unknown. But Father had one other single on Luke, which wasn't quite test press only, but it is a promo-only 12". In fact, it says it's a test pressing on the label, but there's so many of these around, I suspect that maybe they just left that printed on the promo label? Anyway, regardless of all that, it's still pretty obscure that even most Father MC fans never even heard, so let's talk about it.

See, Father moved to Florida after his Uptown Records phase. So he and Luke sound like a pretty strange combination, but I guess it kinda made sense. Considering he recorded at least two 12"s worth of material for Luke, I assumed there were plans for an album and a proper it was a proper artist signing. But of course the bottom fell out of Luke Records in the 90s, so whatever might've happened didn't. The two songs on this single wound up being included on a quick cash-in 1997 compilation album called Luke's Peep Show Compilation Album Vol. 1 (there was no Vol. 2), which is more than you can say for the test press 12" songs, which never turned up anywhere else.

So how is it? It's not terrible, honestly. Father, who also produced this single, has a tradition of using tried and true samples that always work, and he does that again here. This time he's rocking over Freedom's "Get Up and Dance," the same loop used for Grandmaster Flash's "Freedom," De La Soul's "Buddy," The Crash Crew's "High Power Rap," Boogie Down Production's "You Must Learn" and so many others from Big Daddy Kane to The Wu-Tang Clan. So it's a very safe groove, and he doesn't change a thing. So, it's very listenable, but also very low risk/ low reward. How excited are you going to get by hearing someone rock that beat again? Not at all, but you're also not gonna be like, "turn that shit off."

And how does he rock it? Well, that's the bad news. He kinda phones it in. He doesn't have anything to say but generic "I'm such a playa"isms, and he doesn't really match the energy of the track. His delivery is alright, and he does put some effort into the delivery of his lines. But the hook is downright laconic; it'll cure your insomnia.

There's just the Radio Edit and Instrumental on here, but he doesn't curse much anyway. He says he's "fucking girls" and "copping mad shit" once or twice, which gets muted; but it doesn't change the listening experience very much. I suppose you could track down the Peep Show compilation to hear them uncensored. You're even more devoted to the Father MC oeuvre than me if you go that far, though.

There's a B-side, too. It's called "Give Me Love," and it doesn't use a classic sample. Or any sample, I don't think. It just sounds like standard sounds from a "producer tools kit" CD or something, with fine drums and a generic, plodding bassline. There are a few sounds on top of that, but it's really just boring. Father MC's flow sounds alright, and it's interesting that he's rapping against managers and A&Rs, but he can't save this beat. Also, the hook is sleepy and terrible again, where he just says, "this goes out to Canada because they give me love," which he repeats a hundred times, but swapping out the location. You know, how rappers will say the names of different cities so local DJs will hopefully be inclined to play it on the radio? Yeah, it's absolutely that; but he says it all so lazily, and mixed down low under the track that I don't imagine any DJ would try scratching that into their mix.

Again, it's a Radio Mix, but I didn't noticing him cursing or getting anything censored at all on this one, anyway, so there's no difference. It also lists an Instrumental, but it's really a TV track, with all his background ad libs and the hook on it. That's fine, because I wouldn't want this instrumental anyway. If you're Father's #1 fan, you might want to listen to the B-side once or twice to hear what he has to say, but otherwise I don't recommend anyone messing with "Give Me Love." The A-side's alright, though. I mean, it's pretty generic and average at best. But it's at least alright as album filler.

Overall, pretty disappointing. He also didn't adapt to Luke or Miami at all, which might be for the best. But him rapping over a 120bpm booty record might've at least been novel once. But yeah, this is one of my least favorite Father MC records. It got me curious, but it didn't follow through. I suspect there wouldn't have been an album even if Luke Records was plush. Give me more Home Team or Bust Down any day.

What Was Glasshouse Entertainment? Learn Along With Werner, part 8

Man, I would never have believed, that in 2015/16, I'd still be discovering Father MC records I'd never heard of before. But here we are. Granted, this is really more of a guest spot than a Father MC record proper. But still, I'm excited! This record is called, erm, "Glass On 'Em" by some guys named Suicide?

I've actually heard of these guys before, though I wasn't sure they were the same until I read the label credits and saw that the song was written by Splack 'Em and Shorty Pimp. Remember, Father moved to Florida in the late 90s, which is why he was on Luke Records for a minute. So it makes sense that these guys would have some corny Miami-style names. Suicide had an album in 1998 called Suicidal Days. It got on my radar because a couple of their tracks had production by Southern heavy-hitters Mike Fresh and DJ Spin, and Society even did their art design. They had a single called "Off the Chain." All of this was before "Glass On 'Em."

Suicide was originally a 3-man crew, and here's where things get a little confusing. So yeah, on their first album, it's three guys Earnest Jackson Jr. a.k.a. Mr. Shorty Pimp, Matthew Houston a.k.a. Splack 'Em and Rodrick Clayton a.k.a. Mr. Houston. That's right, there's a guy in the group whose rap name is Mr. Houston and a guy in the group whose real name is Mr. Houston, but they're different guys. You might be thinking, Werner, you've clearly just got it wrong, but here's how it's written on one of their own records:

Why isn't Matthew Houston Mr. Houston??

So, okay, it was three guys. But apparently things went South. On this song, "Glass On 'Em," which came out in '99, they make a couple references to their past, saying, "some of y'all people know us from the past. We was 'Off the Chain,' now we on Glass." That's referencing Glasshouse Entertainment, the label they apparently at least thought they were on. It's credited on the label here, but this is also clearly another Echo International/ Dancefloor Distribution 12" from NJ, which makes sense, as Father MC apparently has some major ties to them and has put out a couple records on them. They also say, "'the Chain' popped, and now we on the Glass, I was mad at my past, but now we're countin' cash." So I guess the whole deal with their original label went South, Mr. Houston split from the group, and now their Glasshouse was their new movement. But it only lasted for this one song, which wound up getting released by Echo, so I guess that bird didn't fly.

Suicide did do more in 2000. They had a single called "Big Doe," again just the two of them. They had a remix featuring Luke himself, and even advertised a second album, also to be titled Big Doe. But that didn't seem to materialize, and I think that was the end for them.

But how is THIS record? It's okay. The production isn't a Miami bass dance kinda track, it's more of an east coast half hardcore half club (think the kind of club music NY was making in 2000). It's produced by some guys called The Landmark Entertainment Committee, which doesn't sound too promising, but it's actually a decent, well-made track. And I've actually come across these Landmark cats before on one of those unreleased Verb tracks. Nothing exceptional or anything you'd want to run out and buy, but it's respectable. There's a little extra drum line which kicks in once in a while that I kinda like.

And lyrically, it's all over the place. Sometimes they're catching you up in their career like I was talking about before. Sometimes they're rapping about being in a strip club ("I got my lappy lappy; now I'm happy happy"), and mostly they're just rapping about having money ("now that I can buy a Jag, now that I can buy a crib"). What glass means in this song kinda shifts around... obviously at some point it's their label, but mostly I think it's just an alternative term for bling to them. But then the hook goes, "we finally got the glass on 'em, ah-ah-ah-ass on 'em, finally got the glass on 'em, do 'em how we want 'em!" Also at one point one of them says, "drunk as hell, you should've seen me off the glass." So you know, I guess them flipping the word around in different ways is part of the fun they're having, but they don't take it far enough to really get you into the spirit of the thing. You don't even realize that's what they're doing until you sit down like I did and say, okay, these lyrics are all over the place, what are they actually saying?

And what about Father MC? Yes, he's on here alright - courtesy of Pay Per View Records, which is the first and only time I've heard of them* - and not just doing glorified hype-man duties or anything. He kicks the third and final verse, and it's all about... kicking his guest verse, "spittin' on this bullshit like it was my own shit. Do I have to flip shit and get on some old rip shit? ...Spittin' sixteen on yo' shit, makin' yo' shit my shit. Two thou' millieni shit, real raw shit, lose ya deal shit." Hey, maybe that's why Suicide's Glasshouse thing fell through. Father's guest verse made 'em lose their deal. Ha. Nah, looking here and here, it looks like the label had its own troubles. Anyway, Father's verse is okay. He's somewhat energetic, always feeling like there's a killer punchline just around the corner that never comes. Instead it's a collection of lines that are just alright. Again, like the beat, none of these three MCs spit anything you'd want to run out and buy. Unless you're like me, a fan just excited to find another record by either Father or Suicide, and then you order it off the internet immediately as a birthday present for yourself.  XD

So, it's just the one song, which comes in at just under four minutes. You've got the Street Mix and an edited Radio Mix on side A, and then a Dub Mix and Instrumental on B. At the end of the day, it's just another on that long list of obscure odditities that Echo slipped out under the radar. Maybe nothing amazing, but endlessly compelling to sift through and discover.


*They also misspell the word "courtesy."

The Other "High Rollers"

Ice-T's "High Rollers" was a triumph of style and mood in late 80s hip-hop. It was a trailblazer from it's street hustler lyrics set over a bad-ass blaxploitation loop (I think it was Larry Cohen's Hell Up In Harlem) to his ultra cool, naturalistic delivery. It wasn't the first time T had used that style, but it was the first to get heavy rotation on MTV and really break out of the California scene. It was one of pioneering records in gangster rap being smooth rather than shouty hardcore, which I'm sure heavily influenced everybody from Scarface to Dr. Dre. This, however, is not that record. This is a 1995 single by Father MC.

So let's place this in the Father MC timeline. This is very early in his independent, nomadic, post-Uptown years. He had just started putting the "MC" at the end of his name. "Hey, How Ya Doin'?" was the first single of his comeback, and I believe this was #2. It's hard to say exactly, because "Sexual Playground" came out concurrently on another label; and while all three were definitely 1995 records, it's hard to nail down the exact order. But until the president of Moja Entertainment comes here to tell us different, we'll assume this is his second single.

Now it says right there on the label, "From the title album 'This Is for the Players'," which is a curious grammatical structure. But it's interesting because if you'll remember, that was the album that was essentially released twice, with almost all the same songs on two different labels. But like "Hey, How Ya Doin'," "High Rollers" is only on the This Is for the Players version, which suggests it was recorded a little later than most of the rest of the songs.

Say what you want about Father MC, even on the later indie stuff, he had a great ear for old school samples. And I really like what he's done here. Tons of rap songs before him have sampled The Gap Band's "Outstanding," from Rob Base to Rich Nice to Shaq. It's got a really iconic, instantly recognizable groove, and many who use it go pretty whole hog, even singing the same chorus. But Father (and/ or his producer here, Fabian Ashe) uses the opening drums and some other elements, but not the signature guitar or more "musical" parts, and flips it into a slow, moody song that feels nothing like the other "Outstanding"s.

Lyrically, he keeps things pretty simple. So he won't impress anyone, but at least he doesn't say anything corny or dated. It just kinda floats there in the safe median. Unfortunately, the hook doesn't fare so well. It's kinda lame, with him repeating, "only players play this record; only G's got this joint.  All the high rollers know what I mean; you can be down if you're on point." It actually looks better written than it sounds. I mean, it's not terrible, but as clever as the sample flip was, the total of this song is not one that was ever going to last through the years or even get a lot of spins when it was new. Not a bad effort, but it didn't deserve to be a single.

Which is maybe why the 12" has an exclusive remix, Soni's Chronic Mix. It's clearly so named because it's heavily influenced by Dre's Chronic-era production. It's produced by Soni D (a play on the orange drink, Sunny Delight? And surely not the same Soni D who made "Soni D Is Fresh" back in 1987?), and... just doesn't work. I could see them thinking they'd ride that wave, hence making this the single (even the Radio Edit on here is a radio cut of this remix, not the album version); but it just comes off feeling like a cheap knock-off rather than a proper song. When the bassline comes in over the hook, it doesn't even match. It feels like somebody's playing two songs at the same time. I could see turning "High Rollers" into a g-funk track working, at least to some degree, but this attempt is a failure.

This 12" closes out with the title track, "This Is for the Players," which for the record, was on both versions of the album: Sexual Playground and This Is for the Players. It's very similar in tone to "High Rollers," with him bragging about his game in a low energy, smooth style over a slow, bass-heavy instrumental. It's got a much more effective, sung hook, though. Honestly, if the lyrics were just a little entertaining, I think this could've had the strength to even appeal to listeners outside of his core audience. But as it is, it's just another acceptable Father MC song for Father MC fans; but you could hear why he wasn't going to put himself back on top with anything from this period. It's not even one the lifelong fans probably revisit that often, but it's really not that bad.