A Nice Little Rarity from Oxygen and Edan

Jamille Records is back, and if you haven't seen it yet, check out their amazing documentary on old school Milwaukee Hip-Hop.  This time, though, they've broadened their coverage to reissue some rare music from Staten Long Island artists Sputnik Brown.  Although, actually, their last record - MC Just Divine "Get Right," back in 2015 - was from them, too.  It's a little confusing if you're not a devoted fan, so I'll quickly clarify: the lead MC of the group Sputnik Brown is Oxygen a.k.a. MC Just Divine a.k.a. Jon Shaft.  So nowadays, you see those names getting tossed around interchangeably because they're all the same guy, except for the fact that Sputnik Brown is the group, so it also includes members E the 5th, plus Tres Best and Musa from the House of Reps.  You've probably seen their projects being brought to you by labels like Diggers With Gratitude and Slice of Spice.  I've covered 'em a couple times in the past.

Now, this right here is their latest, but if you're familiar with Jamille, you know they primarily specialize in reissuing rare and lost music, and this is no exception.  The title track "U Havin' Fun Yet?" is the opener from Sputnik's 2007 12" single on High Water Music.  The 12" was a group project, but this particular song was an Oxygen solo cut.  Anyway, it's not suuuuper rare, so I'm a little surprised to see it repressed on 7" already; but it's a super funky head nodder, with a powerfully addictive bassline and upbeat flow, so I'll allow it.  It's a short song (just over two minutes), so even on the 7" they include the instrumental on the same side.

But this certainly doesn't render that original 12" obsolete, as it leaves off the group's two B-sides, "Unadulterated" and "The Brownout" (plus their instrumentals).  So if you're a real fan, you'll still have to track that one down and cop it.  And they're all good songs.  But of the three, I'd say "U Havin' Fun Yet?" is easily the best.  So if you're just looking for a nice little 7" with a hot song, this'll do ya.

The draw for more serious collectors, though, is surely the B-side: "Idealism" featuring Edan on the turntables.  "Idealism" is a song Oxygen released as Jon Shaft on 12" in 1992, but that only featured alternate mixes.  This particular version is the only one with Edan, and was never pressed on wax until now.  It's actually a live recording, performed in-store at Academy Records.  Up 'till now, it's only been available on super rare cassette tapes that Oxygen self-released of the entire night's performance.  Here, the song's been isolated and mastered as a single.  It is a live recording though, so sound quality isn't crystal studio quality.  For the most part, it's pleasingly clean, but you'll definitely hear the sibilance crackle when the volume peaks.  But it's the absolute best we're ever going to get until the invention of time machines.

And hey, if that still isn't enough for you, this record also includes a tight radio freestyle Oxygen kicked in 2006.  So it's a pretty packed little 7".

Like basically everything nowadays, this is a limited release, but not too limited.  There are 500 copies available on traditional black vinyl, and an additional 100 pressed on colored goldish brown wax.  It comes in a nice sticker cover, replicating the original 12" artwork.  And it's not one of those $100-type limited releases; this is priced to move and getting a surprisingly wide release for Jamille Records, i.e. Fat Beats has it.  So hopefully this record introduces the crew to some new fans.  For a tiny 45, it's got something for everybody: newcomers just discovering these guys for the first time, and die-hards who already have all the old stuff.  Good deal.  👍

Mr. Smith

Diggers With Gratitude has started to expand from a label specialized only in issuing unreleased hip-hop treasures of decades past to a more traditional label with a small family of artists. You're not just as likely to see another all new 12" by, say, Phill Most Chill, as you are another lost Tragedy track. And it's in the spirit of this newer mode that we're presented with their latest record: The Marc Smith LP by Emskee and The 5th.

Emskee, in case you've forgotten, is a deep-voiced Jersey MC who we first heard on Nick Wiz's Cellar Sounds compilations, who'd also been active in the late 2000s as a member of The Good People. DWG went to work and unearthed all his vaulted material from the early 90s - including a neat collection of radio promos - and now he seems to have found a spot on the DWG family tree. And The 5th? He's the DJ/ producer for Long Island's Sputnik Brown, another group that DWG's been rolling with.

So, this is a coming together usually separate acts under DWG's umbrella, though the focus seems to be on the MC half as Marc Smith is Emskee's real name. The 5th might just need a better agent. ;)  Because despite the title, this isn't a particularly personal album... he makes some reference to coming up in Jersey, but this is no collection of childhood memories, parental odes and tales of failed relationships. Thankfully. Instead, this is just Emskee calmly boasting and talking up his credibility.

It's really all about his voice professionally flowing over The 5th's traditional boom bap beats. Most are slow, deep and Earthy, with the stand outs being the few songs that get a little more high energy or feature especially choice vocal samples being scratched into the hooks... "Annunciate" makes some really fun use of The DOC over a simple but catchy sample.  "Fuck Shit Up" is a bouncy little posse cut. And "I'm Ready" is the liveliest, with some fresh Digable Planets cuts.

There are a couple guests on hand here, including The Good People's Saint, and two unknowns named Benn ILLA and Jesus Mason, who turn up on like three songs. No one really steals the show from Emskee, but they do provide a little variety to keep the album from feeling too monotonous.

If the album's weakness is that it plays things a little too safe, that does make a pretty nice comfort zone for the buyer. You didn't really need to read any reviews or hear any snippets to gather that this was going to be a solid LP, did you? You know you're not gonna be stuck with something poor from DWG. And as this is a new LP, it's not being sold at a "limited" price, but as a standard modern LP. Plus, it comes on a nice heavy wax in a very fresh picture cover. Good deal. 8)

DWG Massive

So, yesterday, I talked about the near historic bonus record that came only with a direct purchase of all three of DWG's latest records, released concurrently. So today it's time to talk about those three projects in their own right. They're thankfully available separately, too, so we cab pick and choose.  So let's see what's good.

Since I introduced the discussion off already with the one Jorun Bombay record, I guess I'll talk about the other Jorun Bombay record here: Remixes: Vol. 1.  Where Jorun dutifully applied himself to recreating the past as accurately as humanly possible, here he's gone back to classic hip-hop songs from the late 80s and early 90s, but allowed himself creative freedom. He's remixing eight of the greatest hip-hop hits, like "Ain't No Half Steppin'" and "The Symphony," but still in keeping with the production styles of their era.  In other words, his remix for "Mama Says Knock You Out" sounds like the kind of remix that would've been produced for it in 1990, not 2012. Some of the remixes give you practically entirely new instrumentals (though they'll still keep some elements, like the "Ain't No Half Steppin'" still retains the subtle "UFO" riffs in the background of this new groove), while others, like Run DMC's "Beats To the Rhyme," become a great excuse to just add to the fun and throw new scratches and sounds into the mix without taking so much away from the original. My favorite actually turned out to be his remake of The Beastie Boys' "No Sleep 'Till Brooklyn," where he gives it a new, more traditionally hip-hop vibe, but still keeping it predominantly driven by grinding rock guitars. But different rock guitars, more mellow, grungy ones.  Really, it's fresh, and only 200 copies were made, so decide fast.

And speaking of remixes... You may remember their big TDS Mob release a couple years back. At that time, they also announced a remix competition, where producers could request the acapellas of any of the Mob's songs, either from their original singles or the unreleased tracks DWG was introducing to the world in 2010. The eight winners were chosen and given a pretty sweet vinyl release (limited to 300 copies), including a dope picture cover and press sheet with notes from each producer, giving details on how/why they did their mix.  It took ;em a long time to get this out, but in the end it was probably worth it, because it gave everyone the chance to twerk and rework their songs to fully professional-level mixes. This isn't a bunch of random myspace teens playing with Fruity Loops for the first time. You've got some pretty established artists contributing, including, yes, Jorun Bombay, and even a five piece band. My favorite is probably DJ Format's mix of "Bounce," which keeps all of the original elements, including "Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll" as the main thrust of the instrumental, but continually mixes in classic break after classic break into the track.  DJ Arok's "Dope For the Folks" is really hot, too; it wouldn't have sounded at all out of place on the original 12", while Will C's rocks and takes his song in entirely new directions.  People might write this EP off as a little vanity project, but they'll regret it years later when heads are asking, "that's a hot track, but wasn't there another version...?"

Finally, we have a more traditional style DWG release, in that it's a compilation of older, unreleased tracks by a single group. It's That Brown Underground EP (though with ten tracks, it's more like an LP) by Sputnik Brown, and it's kinda like their Damu or Cadence 7"s, in that they're relatively newer songs (the songs here were recorded between 2005 and 2011), that've gotten attention online as mp3s (and, in one case, a limited edition cassette), but never had a proper vinyl release until now. SB has a cool sound going, kind of an interesting blend between NY backpacker rap and a more soulful, almost Goodie Mob kinda vibe or something. Guests include Wyld Bunch and the magnificent DJ Jazzy Jeff, who breathes fresh life into an earlier single of theirs.  This one's limited to 350 copies, 100 of which are pressed on appropriately brown vinyl, which you can see in my photo [above].

I'm not sure what's still available at this point. I'm pretty sure all three are still readily on hand as individual releases; but I don't know if it's still possible to get them as a set with the bonus record. DWG's already announced their next record, though (a 7" of DJ Format and The Good People), so they're clearly not gonna slow down and wait for anybody dragging their heels.