Rare Buck 65 From Edgefest

Here's a little Buck 65 rarity that had been eluding me for some time: the Edgefest Murder EP from 1995. Murder Records was the label he was signed to as Stinkin' Rich, where he put out the "Stolen Bass" 7" and his Game Tight album. SixToo's crew, Hip Club Groove was also signed to them; and he appeared on their album. And that's pretty much it with them... except for this exotic little 7".

This is sort of a sampler EP from Murder Records, given away at Edgefest 3, an annual outdoor concert celebration of Canadian rock music. There's four songs on here by Murder acts; Stinkin' Rich being the only hip-hop artist among them. If you're interested, here are the other tracks on the EP:

1. The Super Friendz' (not to be confused with The Supafriendz) "One Day the Warner," produced by Al Tuck,
2. Jale's "Frightened Of," produced by Andy McDaniel,
3. and Thrush Hermit's "West Island Rockers," produced by Local Rabbits.

I've worked it out, and from left to right on the picture cover, that's The Super Friendz, Stinkin' Rich, Thrush Hermit and Jale. Now that's all I'm going to say about the other bands because they're not hip-hop and I have zero interest. You'll have to find another blog to learn more about their contributions.

Stinkin' Rich's song is called "By Design," and it's exclusive to this EP (actually, all the groups' songs here seem to be exclusive). It's self produced, of course, and kinda short (just over ninety seconds). But that doesn't keep him from letting his creative beat build, kicking a dope verse, or getting busy on the turntables before the music fades. Actually, apart from the unusual and compelling vocal sample that's looped through much of the song, this instrumental has a real 90's (well... appropriately), grimy NY sound. This is the kind of track I could imagine groups like Godfather Don or The Freestyle Professors dropping in those days and getting mad underground love for it. But then he goes the extra mile by unleashing some show-off scratches at the end. And, of course, his verse is... just a little different. It's your typical, braggadocio freestyle, but with his own distinct emphasis on unexpected wordplay, kicking bars like, "I write dope rhymes in copious amounts, and get out when the winner when the trophy is announced," and asking, "so whatcha think, swinger? Can you make the ink linger, or ya fuck around and risk gettin' the stink finger?"

For some reason, the volume's decidedly lower on side B (the side Rich is on), but the sound quality is fine once you crank it up. As you can see, this comes in a picture cover and also includes a small insert promoting the Murder Records albums of all the artists on this EP, plus a couple other 7"s. According to the back cover, 1000 copies were pressed, so I'm surprised this seems to be as rare as it is. Possibly a lot of copies were treated casually and lost by recipients at Edgefest. Their loss.

Buck 65 Vinyl Week, Day 1 - Stolen Bass

It's time for another "week" of posts (I put that in quotes, because I don't really stick to a proper calendar week when I do these), this time looking at of some the most interesting Buck 65 vinyl pieces out there. And where better to begin than at the beginning?

"Stolen Bass" (the title of this 7", but interestingly, not the name of either song on the single) was his first vinyl release, on Murderecords in 1994. It came in a picture cover (as you can see in the image to the upper left) with an insert detailing the production credits, etc. and in two versions: black or red vinyl. The combined photo shoot (front and back cover and both sides of the insert) form some kind of visual narrative where Buck (or Stinkin' Rich as he was known at the time) goes to a hotel with a bunch of music executives (I'm guessing) and shoots them all - possibly an homage to his label? You'll notice my copy is signed, as it came from Buck 65 himself... he also threw in an autographed picture and some stickers. :) Here's his own description of the record:



"[T]his is my first vinyl-only musical release. It's from 1994 and it's called Stolen Bass. It was released by a label called Murderecords which was/is run by a band called Sloan. It's rare as hell. There never were many of these made in the first place and there never was a second pressing. I had recorded and sold a few little things before this sucker, but for all intents-and-purposes, this is my first proper record. The music on this record is rather silly. Let's just say I've come a long way. But it's scrappy. It's got oomph. Lo-fi oomph. It's dusty. It's 14 years old. I was around 20 when I recorded these songs (on a 4-track). I was living in a log cabin at the time and hadn't yet developed my fine taste in films. So having no girlfriend, I was watching lots of shlocky movies over and over again. This sort of life has a way of rotting one's brains. But all criticisms aside, this is an important piece of my 'story.' Now I've written close to 1,000,000 songs, but this is where it all began."

I usually find myself disagreeing with artists' takes on their own work, but in this case I think he's right on the money. Like most (but certainly not all) of his music, these two songs are all him: the vocals, production, writing and the scratching (they're credited in the notes to DJ Critical, another of his aliases). The A-side is "Who You Frontin' For," which uses simple but catchy battle rhymes over a very 90's-style track that still has the power to instantly draw you in:

"Stinkin' Rich is X-rated,

Complex, ill-fated;
But I still made it.
I concentrated
On phat rhymes;
It's not a past-time.
Now at last I'm
Gettin' two thumbs up.
If a challenge comes up,
It's goin' down.
Now this is how flowin' sounds,
'Cause I'm the only pro in town.
I'm lookin' for a chump for me to rob;
But I don't need a job;
I'm deadly like Marquis de Sade.
So don't bite or jock,
Don't even try to talk.
If I decide to rock,
You'll end up on the sidewalk
With a lot of chalk
Traced around your carcass.
You'll be slipping into darkness
When I reach way back
And smash
You in your teeth with more weight, then
You'll be picking up the pieces
Like The Average White Band.
I got a flight plan
For any sucker who be wantin' more;
You ain't got a chance in Hell...
So who you frontin' for?"

The b-side is "Chin Music." The beat is a little less effective, but when he starts cutting in the horn sample (plus a nice little "7th Chamber" vocal courtesy of Inspectah Deck), it's all redeemed. His delivery is a lot more playful, changing his style line-by-line, like a laid-back Fu-Schnicken. It's interesting, and the rhymes are fun; but I'm glad it's an experiment he concluded by the end of this song.

Only the most extreme purists would call this 7" his best work, but it's definitely a stellar example of the indie hip-hop movement of the mid-90's. Pick it up if you can find it.

Tags: Buck 65, Stinkin' Rich