I did a video a couple years ago about MC Serch's first, pre-3rd Bass, single called "Melissa" from 1986. But he had a second one in '87 on Idlers Records. And on that one he teamed up with K Love of the famous old school group The Bad Boys! And this was another of his singles with his former DJ Tony D (not the producer/ rapper from Trenton with the same name).
Now the label makes it look like K Love is on the B-side, but actually she's the first song, "Hey Boy!" It's a fun little upbeat number which makes great use of the Mary Jane Girls' "All Night Long" bassline years before Big Daddy Kane got to it with "Smooth Operator" (though of course Waterbed Kev made the "All Night Long" rap version years earlier than both of 'em on Sugarhill Records). Serch sounds a bit like The Fresh Prince on here, with even a little touch of MC Ricky D, lightly bragging about how girls keep following him around calling out "hey, boy." He was clearly still finding himself as an MC here, but taken as just a fun, mid-80s record, it's good stuff.
K Love puts in a few short vocal appearances, mostly just name-dropping herself. But she mainly performs on this record as a human beat-box, and she sounds good. I believe this is her only other record, outside of her singles with the Bad Boys. Tony D also get a breakdown to show off his scratching, which adds another layer of interest to the proceedings. Serch mostly raps in the style of "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble," but at the end he flexes more battle-style rhymes, which is his strongest moment.
The B-side, is in a way better and in a way worse. It's his "Rock Box"-style single with heavy metal guitar riffs, and yes he takes a pre-"Sons of 3rd Bass" shot at The Beastie Boys, which shows that his issues with them weren't entirely imposed by Def Jam Records. He goes pretty hard on here, though, and the track is pretty dope if you like these "Rock de la Stet," "King of Rock"-style rap songs.
But he also decides to really pitch the "look at me, I'm rapping and I'm white - can you believe it?" angle on this song. It starts out with a crowd calling out, "go, white boy! Go, white boy!" over and over... something Vanilla Ice would later copy verbatim. They repeat that for every chorus, along with Serch admonishing us, "don't call me whitey!" Then Tony D starts cutting up the "Play That Funky Music, White Boy" just in case they were being too subtle for you. You couldn't exactly drive around your neighborhood with this blaring outta your jeep without being embarrassed, but like the A-side, if you just take it as a fun old school record, it's actually fairly well crafted.
Part of that might be thanks some notable names in the credits. DJ Red Alert (who also gets a shout out in the lyrics to "Beware Of the Death" is on the mix, and Jalil from Whodini is a co-producer. Ecstasy also gets arrangement credit, alongside Todd Terry. So a lot of talent went into making this record, which makes it all the more surprising it's still as obscure as it is. But this is probably what got him signed to Def Jam, so I guess it paid off.
There's just the two songs, with instrumentals on the flip; and it just comes in a generic sleeve. Apparently there's a slightly different mix of "Beware Of the Death" on an acetate, released under the name Search. I'd be curious to hear that but I don't really need it. I'm happy enough with this single, just another cool little 12" from Idlers.
Showing posts with label K Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label K Love. Show all posts
Monday, November 30, 2015
Friday, August 29, 2014
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Sluts, Muppets and MC Craig G

"She's a lovely lady, and she loves to fuck;
So I said, 'yo, Veronica;' she said, 'what's up?'
Said, 'girl, tell me something, if you're not a slut,
Then what's that thing, sticking up your butt?'"
And that's probably the only reason it didn't totally eclipse the "Roxanne" saga it was no doubt inspired by (it dropped in the middle of the whole "Roxanne wars" saga). Remember, 1985 was well before NWA and The 2 Live Crew*, and just after the controversy with Prince that lead to explicit lyrics warning stickers on albums. This is the original "talking nasty about a girl over a human beatbox" track that really changed the whole direction of hip-hop, from blatant rip-offs, like Just-Ice's "That Girl Is a Slut" to... a whole legacy of dirty raps. The fact that they spit it all over a crazy hip-hop version of Sesame Street's "Mahna Mahna" song just made the whole thing that much more bugged out and attracted more attention. Really, you had to feel sorry for any teenage girl named Veronica back in 1985.
So of course there had to be an answer record.
In 1986, Pop Art Records put out the female spin on the story of Veronica with "Oh! Veronica" by a duo called The Glamour Girls (their first and last record). And they actually got the same guy who produced the original, Tony D (not Tony D from NJ who produced The Poor Righteous Teachers, but the Tony D who Serch dissed on "Gasface"). But I guess they figured, if you're making the opposite of record featuring a group of guys rapping with a female beatbox, you didn't just need female MCs, but a male beatbox. So, even though Tony D regularly worked with K Love on his records, he brought in someone else for this one... he brought in MC Craig G.
Yes, that MC Craig G, the Juice Crew All Star. He's featured on this record, but only as a beatbox. The rapping is left entirely to the girls, who recount their own version of what happened when The Bad Boys met Veronica: "we were chillin' with Veronica, just hangin' out, When we met The Bad Boys - nothin' to brag about." But, interestingly, while they do use the opportunity to take a playful shot at the original "Veronica" rappers, they actually offer the same opinion of the fictitious Veronica that the Bad Boys had: she's just a huge slut. The verse ends, explaining what happened, "they thought they were slick; they all started illin'. Laid Veronica, now they're getting penicillin!"
I mean, usually when you have an answer record to a song like that, the idea is: sure, that's how so and so told you it was, but here's how it really happened! But this is an unusual case we're they're on message - they actually agree with the initial group's assessment. But then they wind up turning an easy excuse to tell "that girl's so slutty" quips into something a little more fun: hiking on the Boys for their inability to handle her:
"Bizzy walked in and he was coppin' a plea.
He said, 'I'm still a virgin; please don't hurt me!'
He went into a panic, and started to cry;
She said, 'it's okay, Bizzy, send in the next guy."
This version forgoes the Muppet music, and replaces it with a fresh whistle (sort of along the lines of the famous Good, Bad and the Ugly whistle) over a big, programmed beat (this was 1986, after all) and a lot of simple but loud scratching. And, no. No human beatboxing.
Craig G isn't on the Radio, Long or Instrumental versions of the song... the ones that most people are probably familiar with and that wind up on all the compilations. They save his contribution for a specific Beat Box mix which eschews the whole instrumental. It's all just Craig's mouth-made beats and Tony's cuts.
So, yeah, like I said, this was the one and only Glamour Girls record. At least together - the girls themselves both went on to other things. One of the MCs, Glamorous, went on to become an official Juice Crew member herself, featuring on the songs "Evolution" and "Juice Crew All Stars." She's still around, too, check out a track she dropped this year. And the other girl? She went on to release a string of hits by the name of none other than Sweet Tee; and more recently came back as Suga on The Show soundtrack. And if I have to tell you what Craig G went on to do, I think you're on the wrong blog. ...That's the (other) great thing about sluts - they wind up giving birth to so many interesting people! ;)
*Actually, technically, the 2 Live Crew was around back then... But it was before they hooked up with Luke & Brother Marquis and became controversial by rapping about sex.
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