Willie D On Juneteenth

You'd think there would be considerably more Hip-Hop songs about Juneteenth, or at least mentioning it.  But outside of stuff released in the last few years, say before 2017, it's surprisingly rare.  I've been racking my brains, and have come up with one: Willie D's "U Still a aggiN" from 1992 of his second solo album, I'm Goin' Out Lika Soldier.  Rap-A-Lot was pretty stingy with singles in those days, but this did make it out on 12", too, as the B-side to the album's sole single "Clean Up Man."  There it's spelled "You Still a Zaggin," but if you think about it, I'm sure the album spelling is correct.

Looking at the cover suggests this was meant as more of a split single for "Clean Up Man" and "Rodney K," as in Rodney King.  Both titles are on the cover and you've got a sexy lady's hand with a cigarette holder and a hand-written letter on the left, while there's a black man screaming as police cars descend on him on the right.  Apparently, there was a 7" single with the full "Clean Up Man" imagery released in full by itself.  But whether you consider it a "double A-side" or whatever, "You Still a Zaggin," which isn't even hinted at on the cover, is a B-side.

"Clean Up Man" is a fun, gender-flip of the classic 70s record "Clean Up Woman" by Betty Wright.  Jhiame (here spelled Jiame) sings roughly the same hook with reverse pronouns, and they both loop the same funky guitar riff.  It's the quasi-radio friendly joint about stealing girlfriends they made the video for and everything.

Then "Rodney K" was more the real lead single for the streets.  Besides going considerably harder musically, with a killer track, "Do It Like It G.O." energy and cuts by DJ Blaster, it was super controversial.  Because the hook repeats "fuck Rodney King," not "fuck the Rodney King incident" or "fuck the police who beat Rodney King," but actually Rodney King himself.  I remember having to explain that one to my mother back when I wanted to buy this single in the store as a kid.

Of course, the reason he's saying this is because the song didn't come out in 1991, when he was attacked by police; but in 1992, right after he spoke out against the protestors who had taken to the streets following the police officers' acquittals.  I mean, it's not fair to say he spoke out against them, but his famous "can't we all just get along" call for non-violence was understandably taken by many, including apparently Willie D, as asking black people to simmer down in the face of this terrible injustice.  Of course, he explains it better himself in his song, "I'm tired of you good little niggas saying 'increase the peace and let the violence cease,' when the black man built this country, but can't get his for the prejudiced honky.  Rodney King, god damn sell out, on TV crying for a cop?  The same motherfuckas who beat the hell out ya!  Now I wish they would've shot ya.  'Cause this shit is deeper than Vietnam; and ain't no room for the Uncle Tom.  Let the white man dress you up, and mess you up; I wouldn't be surprised if he sexed you up.  'Cause you look like a gay, letting them white folks tell you what to say."  I'm pretty sure I didn't even attempt to tackle the homophobic angle to my parents.

But I'm here to talk about the third song.  Sorry, it's easy to get distracted by a number like "Rodney K."  It's actually interesting, I was just writing about how the message of one of Chubb Rock's songs was essentially neutered in its clean edit by the removal its critical, repeated line "you're still a nigga."  Now here's Willie D making the same point with the same line five years earlier.  That point being, the systematic racism built into our country is still going to mistreat minorities with racism no matter what they say or do in terms of appeasement, playing along, etc.  Of course, Willie D puts it a little less gently, "Now even if you're light, and damn near white, you'll get smoked because you're in the same boat.  Surroundin' yourself with white folks in your video; like Paula Abdul, she's a silly ho. Although you might only be one percent black, troop, they still consider you a mook. But she says she ain't black. Now how the fuck she figure? Yo bitch, you still a nigga." 

There's a common theme here of laying blame on victims of racism, not just the perpetrators.  Willie D didn't title his debut album Controversy for nothin'.  But didn't I start out this post by saying this was a Juneteenth song?  Yep!  In fact, this is where I first learned about Juneteenth as a kid.  So say what you want about the negative aspects of his music, but Willie was demonstrably successful in communicating positive messages with his music - I'm living proof.

So, let's set the scene.  This is a slower song, especially coming after "Rodney K," with Willie in his smoother mode.  He's rhyming over a classic Sly Dunbar sample, and we've got that reggae element amplified by K-Rino delivering a tough ragga chorus (a style I was disappointed he didn't continue with on his own albums).  Willie lays it down, "mama's outside, barbecuing ribs and links. It's Juneteenth, but to me it don't mean stink. It's a date of emancipation, but everybody wonder why Willie ain't celebrating. But things ain't perfect. I'm looking beyond the surface. So instead of drinking beer and playing dominoes, I'm sitting in the room with my eyes closed."  Again, I can't think of another Hip-Hop song that ever named Juneteenth once [please, leave them in the comments if you guys can], let alone make it the topic.

Actually, I called K-Rino's part the chorus, which they sort of act as in that they come between each of Willie D's verses with a more sung vibe.  But he's actually dropping full complex verses himself, which differ each time, going off on those he considers to be "white man in the middle yet them black outside" and imploring, "black man, get the government's dick out your eyes."  So overall, the point is that he can't bring himself to celebrate Juneteenth when things are still so unfair; and unfortunately, that message reverberates as strongly now as it did twenty years ago.

I was surprised when Rap-A-Lot wound up releasing a video for this song, too (though not surprised that they didn't attempt one for "Rodney K").  It's a strong, black & white representation with the slightly scrubbed title "Still Black" and some re-recorded cleaner vocals.  There were even promo 12"s of "Still Black," which I've never heard, but apparently have a radio friendly version of "Rodney K" on 'em, too.  The main retail single of "Clean Up Man" b/w "Rodney K" and "You Still a Zaggin" features the explicit, album versions of all three songs though, plus their instrumentals.  They're retitled "Fuck Rodney King" and "You Still a Nigga" on the vinyl single, but I believe this cassette is the only one with the picture cover.

X-Clan Says "F.T.P."

Gee, I wonder what brought this song to mind tonight?  If you're not immediately hip to what "F.T.P." stands for, X-Clan removes any doubt with their shout and call hook, "F.T.P. means? (Fuck the police!)"  Now, Hip-Hop songs protesting the police go way back, and of course this isn't the first "Fuck the Police."  NWA's is the most famous, and it was also abbreviated to "FTP" on the 12" to code the title enough for stores to sell it.  Then Jay Dilla had a single called "Fuck the Police" many years later, and acts like Success-N-Effect had "Fuck 1 Time;" and again, there's a million great songs critical of corrupt police from "Coffee, Donuts and Death" to "A Dirty Cop Named Harry."  But the one I've gravitated to right now is X-Clan's.

It's from their second album, 1992's Xodus, but it was also released on a 12" single, as the B-side to "A.D.A.M.," which is the one they did the video for and everything.  And unfortunately there's no sweet remixes or alternate versions here, not even an instrumental.  You just get the album version and a Censored one where they flip the curses.  But at least it comes in a classic picture cover and gives the song a little more breathing room than the LP.

A lot of people I've talked to seem to hold this image of X-Clan as one-note and humorless, but the inventive way they marry the classic bassline from Special Ed's "I Got It Made" with En Vogue's "Hold On" is a creative, and despite the context, fun blend.  But of course, the context does turn it into a dead-serious call to arms.  Brother J's cadence and flow is very similar to his classic "Grand Verbaliser, What Time Is It?" on this one.  But now he's here to settle some very specific scores:

"We the people that are strong and able
Remember Yusef onto Gavin Cato,
Eleanor Bumpurs, Steven Biko, Huey P,
Murderers of Malcolm and death of brother King.
Government’s producing that white Kryptonite,
Making sun drinkers into zombies of the night.
So now I walk the street, more or less discreet,
‘Cause the one to take me under might sing the same beat.
But how many brothers must a brother see
Shot in the street by dishonorable defeat,
By a silver badged chump uniformed like a redcoat?
I might just catch a flashback and tighten up your collar.
Don’t scream a whiff, I won’t help you if you holler."

That last line will strike as especially pertinent to anyone who's seen the video of George Floyd's murder.  But of course the whole song's just as pertinent now as it was nearly 30 years ago, which is both its power and the problem.  For a while it seemed like we were making at least some progress, but the way this song feels like it was written explicitly for today says otherwise.

The Ultimate Stay-At-Home Album

(The long-awaited return of Buck 65!  ...More or less.  Youtube video is here.)

What's Chubb Rock Hiding From Us!?

Sometimes I still think about Chubb Rock's last album, specifically the long time between when it was initially promoted and finally released, and how it presumably changed along the way.  I wrote in a past post about an interview where he said the then upcoming album was going to feature a number of up tempo tracks, which we never seemed to get.  Initial albums titled the album Clear the Decks, but looking back at the interview now, I forgot that it was also at one stage going to be titled Don't Sleep.  ...The Mind was the final title, in case you've lost track.

He talks in that interview about how it had never taken him so long to finish the album, and puts the blame on Select Records being slow to give him a proper budget.  But the fact that it was advertised like it was basically finished, only to be pushed back and delayed repeatedly makes me think multiple versions of the album were probably completed and then re-worked.  There must've been some push-back on those up-tempo joints, and he probably wasted time trying to talk Erick Sermon into appearing on "Beef."  Another big clue is that this album features a song called "East Vs. West (Remix)" when there was never an original "East Vs. West" released.  It's always begged the question: what else was left on the shelf?

But we did eventually get to hear the original "East Vs. West," thanks to sweet little white label 12".  The remix is a pretty cool track with a dark, moody beat produced by Domingo.  Rock makes the concept of the song pretty clear: "I don't understand all this east/ west bullshit."  Like his opening single "Beef," and a couple other points throughout the album, he laments the current state (at the time) state of Hip-Hop.  That material hasn't aged as well as much of his other stuff, since it's not all quite so relevant (is the genre really divided by coast much anymore?), but there's no such thing as a bad Chubb Rock album.

Anyway, this white label features "DomingoClean," "DomingoDirty" and "DomingoInst." on one side.  And on the other side, there's just regular "Clean Mix," "Dirty Mix" and Inst. Mix."  And by the way, listening to the Clean version really cripples the song, because it cuts out the whole point he's making (which, unfortunately, is still poignant in 2020).  But anyway, the Domingo side is obviously what we heard on the album, right?  And it's cool, but it doesn't really fit the song.  It sounds like it was made for a gritty crime story from the Raidermen, not Chubb trying to unite the Harlem Uptowners with the "Country Grammar" kids.  So it's great to finally hear the original concept.

And this one is more mellow, using the same sample Premier did for his famous "Shit Is Real" remix.  Perhaps it was a little too famous, and that's why they nixed it?  Maybe every single person he played it for mentioned the Fat Joe track so he decided he had to take it back to the drawing board.  Because otherwise I don't know why you'd drop it.  It still sounds good, and fits the tone a little more.

A little more.  It still doesn't quite feel like the lyrics and the beat are on the same page.  It's almost too much of a summertime vibe rather than stressing over this unwanted conflict.  And remember on the album, where Chubb Rock goes, "whether it's _____ or _____.  Whether it's ______ or ______?"  It sounds incomplete, like the instrumental was supposed to drop signature east coast and west coast samples in there.  Like: "whether it's ["Impeach the President" break] or [Roger Troutman G-funk whistle]," right?  But it's just blank, like they decided that part didn't get with Domingo's beat, so they just left it strangely vacant.  It reminds me of when they bootlegged Big Daddy Kane and 2Pac's "Untouchable" before Snoop could record his hook for it.  Like we're glimpsing the song's exposed bone.

Well, it's left blank in this other mix, too.

So is this even the original version?  Or is it just another scrapped alternate version by some other uncredited remixer?  And who's the DJ cutting up "Scenario" on this?  He's on this other version, too, so I'm thinking it's probably not Domingo, though the album credits don't name anybody else.  And what other tracks are still sitting in Select's vaults?  I bet there's a bunch, and it kinda drives me crazy still not knowing 23 years later.  😬😬😬

The "Don't Believe the Hype" for Our Current Administrations

There's a lot to be said for an artist who keeps a consistent schedule... one who doesn't keep overloading fans with slightly varied reissues featuring one exclusive new song every month, but who also doesn't disappear for half a decade leaving you to wonder if it's all over and done with.  It's 2020 and Whirlwind D is back with a new vinyl single called "M.D.M," and even before placing it on our turntables for the first time, there's a consistent level of quality we can count on, in terms of everything... the production, the writing, the physical product.  We already know we're not going to be let down.

"M.D.M.," which we're told at the end of the first verse stands for Modern Day Media (don't feel dumb; it's not an abbreviation in common parlance) is a topical stance against news and social media outlets pushing false narratives.  Rather than calling out names, it makes both the more general and nuanced point that the risk isn't just the obvious danger of believing and acting on obviously fake news, but how the proliferation of disingenuous takes can subtly shift the Overton Window to mislead even the savvier among us.  Or perhaps worse, it'll still reach the strongest holdouts through the society we share:

"False media, welcome to reality, a gallery of flattery based on big salaries ... Liberal views are extinguished invisibly.  Newspaper editors, now trained predators, brainwash a nation with lies and sedatives.  Alternative truths through arguments reduce.  Experts arrested while the rest are seduced ... Soon public policy plops from the sky like astronomy."

This song has D venturing a little further than usual into Public Enemy territory, and that's definitely not a bad thing.  D's delivery is a little more aggressive, and Djar One's loud, fast-paced guitar loop and horn stabs definitely feels like a blend of the lusher musicality we're used to from B-Line family (although technically, this 7" is being released by AE Productions) and the sort of thing Terminator X used to cook up.  I mean, it's an obvious connection to make, since the hook literally features Specifik cutting up some classic "Don't Believe the Hype" vocal samples, so no points for me there.  But the connections definitely run deeper.

If I had a complaint, and I guess I do, it's that the busy instrumental competes with the vocals making it hard to follow the lyrics.  Like, if I were to attempt to transcribe the whole song, I'd have several "[??]"s, which would be less of an issue with a simpler or more cliched song where we can fill in the predictable blanks even when we miss a syllable here and there.  But when it's fast paced and complicated, any little hiccup can make you lose the thread.  And this is a compelling topic where you absolutely want to get every detail, so it can be a little frustrating.  On the other hand, I don't think I'd want them to lessen the impact of the instrumental, so maybe I'm just saying an acapella track or even a lyrics sheet would've been nice.  You know, you only need to be told once that Erick Sermon's saying "Samurai Suzuki" to hear it right in your head for the rest of your life, but until that day, it's like a little jolt of static constantly disrupting the message.

Anyway, the B-side, "Time Waits For No Man," is Djar One's take on a six year-old track, originally produced by Phil Wilks.  In fact, it was D's first 7" single (as opposed to his previous 12"s), which I wrote about here.  It's a fitting companion to "M.D.M." as its themes feel more timely than ever.  Sonically, Djar One swings in the opposite direction, giving this one a calmer, more mellow vibe than the original, with slower drums and a dominant funk guitar loop.  Specifik's cuts seem to be the same ones from the original version, where they may've felt a little more at home, but they still work just fine here.  Pushed to choose, I do prefer the original, but this one's different enough to stand on its own.  And again, paired specifically with "M.D.M," it does form a cohesive whole that's somehow more than the sum of its halves.

If you're only in the market for escapism during this lockdown, this may not be the record for you.  This is for audiences who want their art to stand up and look them in the eye.  And like I said, the physical record's an attractive product in its own right, with a stylish picture cover.  It's a small hole 45 and as you can see above, also comes with a sticker.  If you've been collecting Whirlwind D records all along, this definitely isn't the one you're going to want to miss out on.  And if you haven't been checking for him yet, you might want to give this one a cursory check just for its immediate cultural relevance.

The Slept On and Shelved Works Of Supreme C

(A proper look at Supreme C's body of work has been a long time coming... so here's my crack at it.  Youtube version is here.)

A Nightmare On Elm Street rap, part 8

(Wow, there's more!  Freddy Krueger is back on the mic, in this series' first answer record, and this time he's out for MC ADE's blood... again!  Youtube version is here.)

Chevy Chase On the Mic Gettin' Physical

It's April Fool's Day, gang, and once again, I'd like to present to not waste your time with a fake gag post but present you a very real, incredibly silly Hip-Hop record.  How about, oh, I don't know... Chevy Chase's stab at rapping from 1980?  Yes, that Chevy Chase, from Vacation, Fletch and Caddyshack.  1980, of course, is quite early in the days of rap records, and his song is called "Rappers' Plight," which, of course, is a riff on The Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight."  Now Sugarhill's record had been such a phenomenon that Chase was hardly in original territory to take a stab at "Rapper's Delight."  Female rappers Xanadu and Sweet Lady had already released a female version in 1979 on Joe Gibbs Music and there was a Canadian parody 7" released in 1980 called "Rapper's De Feet," where yes, they rap about feet.  There's also a curious cover version from Panama by a group called the Yimiyon Gang, but I'm not sure quite when that was released.

Anyway, it's not that surprising to see Chevy Chase take a stab at releasing an album.  This was after his time at SNL, and The Blues Brothers had already blown up.  Plus, he already had a history in the music industry before he became the Chase we know today.  He started out in a band called Chameleon Church, who released a major label album in 1968, and he was even the drummer for Steely Dan before they became famous.  So it was almost inevitable when he released his own self-titled album on Arista Records, which was even produced by one of the major musicians behind the Blues Brothers, Tom Scott.  And unlike some other SNL alumni who went on to release records, Chase was at least smart enough to stick to joke songs.

Such as it is.  I mean, "Let It Be" is just a straight cover of The Beatles' original, except his voice is pitched up, a la The Chipmunks.  And it doesn't get much funnier throughout.  A lot of the humor just comes from inserting drug references, and I think it's fair to assume this was all recorded under a variety of influences.  So his version of "I Shot the Sheriff" goes, "after toking all the PCP."  He has a parody record of "Short People," which was already a joke record, but he just inverts it.  So instead of "short people got no reason to live," he lists reasons why they're actually better off.  He does a version of "Wild Thing," where the whole joke is that he's crying as he sings the lyrics, and in the chorus he blows his nose.  I think one of the problems is that like when other comedians release albums, they want to prove that they’ve got genuine musical ability, too.  So the clever lyrics we're hoping for often take a back seat to indulging these guys' jam sessions.

But we're here for "Rappers' Plight."  And the good news is that you don't have to cop the whole Chevy Chase LP to get this on vinyl if the perverse sensation ever takes you.  The only single released for the album was "Short People" b/w "I Shot the Sheriff," and that was only on 7".  But there's a promo-only 12" called Three Cut Rebate From the New Fall Chevy, which as you can see comes in a sticker cover.  The first two songs are just "Short People" and "I Shot the Sheriff" again, but the third song is "Rappers' Plight."

And it's interesting.  Because he's got Scott and the whole band, it's got a well-played disco groove that definitely emulates the famous Chic bassline, but is otherwise distinctly original.  It starts off with Chase making fun of Wonder Mike's famous scatting, "a hip hip diggity dog and a bibbity bobbity boo, zippity do dah, coo coo ca choo."  Then we get into the first verse, where again, the joke is Drug References.  "The party don't stop if you wanna bop, I got uppers, downers, LSD.  Don't be low, have a blow, a little get-up-and-go, Joe.  Have yourself a little freeze."  And through the rest of the song, he does characters: a smokey drug dealer, and most memorably, a milquetoast square who's somehow wandered into the wrong party, "excuse me fellas, I hate to be a bother. I was wondering if any of you happened to have seen a little alligator purse; it belongs to my wife. She left it on the corner of the sofa over there."  This plays almost exactly like Bobby Jimmy's stock broker bit in his parody of Ice-T's "Colors" nearly a decade later.

Eventually the characters are talking over each other as the song devolves into chaos and it all wraps up in a weird sort of skit where Chase has walked out with everybody's stolen property.  I don't know if I'd say it's really actually funny, but it's amusing and easily the best thing about Chevy Chase.  I don't recommend the album, but if you're the kind of person who likes to mix a few quirky options into your crates, the 12" isn't terribly rare or hard to find, so it could make a fun, cheap score for the holiday.

Anybody Remember Illa-Dapted?

Illa-Dapted was a cutting edge Bay Area group from the 90s and early 2000s.  It consisted of MCs Elyoptics (who also released a couple solo projects), Tendai, Pic Riley a.k.a. Pic-Vicious, DJ BullShit and producer Froilan Ramos.  A bio on their long-dead website contains a particularly apt description, "While their urban contemporaries comment on the harsh realities  of inner-city life and provide escape through “ghetto fabulous” fantasies, Illa-dapted comments on the emotional vacancy and shallowness of mid-American life and capitalism." And what I've got for us today is a 2-song promo tape of theirs from around late '99, early 2000.

The first cut is "Unfortunately," as in: "unfortunately, the world's full of people like me - frightening!  We live with no apologies!"  And while most of their music was produced "in house" by Froilan, this particular one was produced by Anticon's Matth.  The instrumental is dominated by a metal guitar riff; but the loop is so short, it no longer resembles a rock song and plays more like a gritty bassline.  The drums are being smashed as hard as they can, and it's all off-set by a subtle, repeating ringtone-like sound.  And the lyrics are pretty slick.  "Who could get us in?  I'm with the right crowd right now; I could get us in and no shame, we're perfectly sane.  I could get us some ill shit to smoke for the ride down, and I could get us out the small frame we're stuck in.  Fuck it, I could get us through the flames without burning our brains.  I could get us all paid without workin' all day.  I could get us to get and stop gettin' words in the way; and I could get us livin' when it's all gray.  But I think we're paranoid..."  Finally BullShit gets on at the end for some swift flare scratches.

The B-side is called "Mainy," and it's definitely calmer with Ramos back behind the boards and a decidedly more west coast feel.  Even the accents sound more pronounced.  "It's lookin' lovely; it's lookin' ugly.  Got my mind on somethin' mainy, somethin' mainy on my mind."  It's a bit of a nostalgic trip just to hear the term "mainy" being used on a record again.  This one's got a smoothed out playalistic vibe to it, though lyrically, of course, they're up to something deeper.  "It's good to suffer every now and then, 'cause taken in moderation, pain is a medicine.  And since I know the pain, and Hip-Hop's my Novocaine, see rainbows every day as I walk in that acid rain.  I rap for fame with the mentality of a dick, I'm here to fuck the world since life is just a bitch.  I must admit my clinical depression's in my cynical expression with subliminal suggestions."  I think they were looking to take some mainstream heads by surprise with this one.

Illa-dapted were pretty prolific for a while there, but it's been a good fifteen years since we've heard anything from them.  I think they were pretty well respected in their scene but never really broke out to audiences outside their niche.  Anyway, this is a pretty rare tape, but if you feel you must have this, don't stress.  Both songs wound up being included on their 2002 album, Youthful Indiscretion, with a bunch of other great songs, including one produced by Vrse Murphy.  "Mainy," was even pressed as a vinyl single.  And both of those are much easier to come by, so if you missed out on these guys the first time around, it's not too late.

ATL To the 2nd Power

I'm in a nostalgic mood tonight, so I went digging through my tape collection to find something I haven't listened to in ages.  Preferably something that never gets written about online either, so I'd also have something good to blog about.  And I landed on 2nd Power's sole album, Da Soul Man from 1991 on WRAP/ Ichiban Records.  Their whole history's been pretty much slept on... perfect!  This'll be fun and educational.

Like I said, this album came out in 1991, but you know WRAP/ Ichiban.  They liked to scoop up indie artists that are already making noise and give them broader distribution.  They weren't great about marketing and pushing their artists into the big leagues, but they'd buy some half-page Source ads and get your tape stocked across the malls of America.

So yeah, then as you can guess, 2nd Power first came out with an indie single.  It was called "Don't Rush My Beat" on a little label in Georgia called So Low Records in 1989.  That's the one with the orange label.  So Low repressed it with a yellow label in 1990.  Either way, it's a fun, hype bass track with an MC named Boxx getting busy with his DJ Reggie Reg.  It had fast, but stripped down 808 beats, energetic MCing and some nice cuts.

I think (though I'm just guessing) they were called 2nd Power because there was two of them, but by the time they came out with their Soul Man album, you can see their roster expanded.  One of them is a second rapper named Hype-One... and I believe the other two are the dancers T-Rock and B-Rock.  We'll circle back to them later, because on this album, I don't think they do much besides contribute to some shouty background vocals.  In fact, I'd say the group is still mainly the original pair, since Boxx gets sole writing credit on every single song and is clearly doing the bulk of the rapping on this album.  But Hype-One does pop up to kick some verses and he manages to keep up on some high bpm tracks, so let's not sell him too short.

Their production's pretty tight, too.  I suppose credit is to be shared between 2nd Power themselves and a trio called Ain't It Bunky Productions, made up of Rock, G-Man and La Paco.  Their liner notes are a little unclear about exactly who did what, but Bunky and Power were working together before WRAP/ Ichiban and continued on with each other after, so I like to imagine it was a fairly loose, family affair.

Now, I don't know if it was the group's idea to try and prove their versatility, or (more likely IMHO) the label pushing them to expand in more commercial directions, but Da Soul Man weakens itself by trying to offer a little bit of everything.  They delve into street tales on "Livin' Like a Gangsta" and "People B Trippin," and sexy/ sappy love balladry on "Private Freak."  And every time they try that, they come up short.  Like the beat to "Livin' Like a Gangsta" is still okay, but these guys don't exactly stack up alongside the masters like CMW.  Songs like "Make It Fonkay" and the title cut have some fresh break-downs but the lyrics just feel like they were written to fill the space.

But fortunately, there's more material that sticks to their core strengths.  "Get Busy" has the two MCs exchanging verses on a hype track with Reggie Reg stealing the show with some slick turntablism, and "Funkay Drunk Ghetto Bass" relies a little too heavily on Luke-style shout & call responses for my tastes, but it lives up to its title.  They only came out with one more single through WRAP/ Ichiban, "People," which doesn't quite click, mixing P-Funk with smoother new jack swing vibes and unengaging rhymes.

And that was it for 2nd Power... technically.  But in 1993, an Atlanta group called Zone 4 dropped a single called "Drop That Pussy" on Pot Belly Records.  Who were Zone 4?  Why just Boxx, T-Rock and B-Rock with DJ Reggie Reg and co-production from Ain't It Bunky's Rock.  Plus a new guy called Money Mose.  It's presumably inspired by "Pop That Pussy," but this one's a little harder.  Then, in 1995, Boxx changed his handle to T-Mac (not to be confused with the T-Mac that's down with Indo G), and dropped another album with Ichiban called T-Mac and the P-Squad.  This time it's more blandly generic booty music; they that single "Jig-A-Loosie:" "come on, come one, come on, jig-a-loosie!  Come on, come one, come on, jig-a-loosie!  Come on, come one, come on, jig-a-loosie!  Git git git jig-a-loosie!"  And it's noteworthy that the squad seemed to consist primarily of a new partner named Krazy T and, you guessed it, DJ Reggie Reg.

So, yeah.  Even though there was just the one 2nd Power album, their legacy continued.  Reggie Reg also produced a couple other ATL artists, like Creep Dog and the G Boyz.  Anyway, Da Soul Man's pretty decent.  It's something you're probably going to want to skip around rather than play all the way through, but there's some really fun stuff on here.  I enjoyed my evening diving back in.

File Under NJ Deep Cuts: Scott Lark Meets PRT

Okay, I was feeling lazy today.  I wanted to go back and listen to a Poor Righteous Teachers song without actually getting up and fetching the record.  So I searched it up online, and it doesn't appear to be anywhere on the 'net.  I mean, there's a listing for it on discogs, the 12" is for sale on a few online shops, and of course it's listed on my PRT page.  But not only does the music not seem to be available anywhere, but there's virtually no information out there about it, including the fact that it's a rare Scott Lark guest spot.  Well, I guess this is the exact kind of situation I started the site for, so hey world, let me tell you about this record.

"Save Me" b/w "Dangerous" is PRT's last record together (Wise Intelligent is, of course, still very active solo), having come out in 2001 on Fully Blown.  Or maybe that should be "Dangerous" b/w "Save Me," since if you look closely at the label scanned above, the "Save Me" side is marked both Side A (on the left) and Side B (at the top).  That's not the only error on the label either (the also list the Street version as Clean and vice versa).  Anyway, "Save Me" / "Dangerous" is the Teachers' only record for them, but Fully Blown was a nice, albeit short lived little label, having put out collectible singles by artists like Chubb Rock, Paula Perry, Prince Po and was responsible for pretty much Scoob Lover's entire post-Big Daddy Kane career.  Throw in the fact that I like this substantially more than PRT's previous indie single on Exit 7A, and yeah, Fully Blown was good stuff.

One thing that might be helping this rise above their 7A stuff is that it's entirely written and produced by PRT, whereas their previous indie material was often credited to unknowns like Mr. Mims and Masada.  Admittedly, you might've spotted The Almighty Scratch Devastator Lyvio G.'s name on the label, but he's just listed as an Executive Producer, which I think just relates his connection to the label overall rather than any musical involvement in the song itself.  Besides the main "Produced and Written by Poor Righteous Teachers" credit, those proper names under the song title are the three members of PRT.  Of course, one would assume that Scott Lark wrote his own verse, so who knows.  I doubt anybody's getting screwed out of bajillions in royalties here no matter how it breaks down.

So yeah, "Save Me."  This definitely sounds like it's from 2001 alright, with this kind of smooth studio pop sound and Culture Freedom's verse especially sounding rather Bad Boy inspired.  And I know, that probably sounds like the last thing you want to hear about a PRT record.  On paper, it's a left-handed compliment, but as a one-off, they make it work for them surprisingly well.  They way each verse rides the rhythm is super catchy, and everybody's wordplay is clever without being saddled with dated punchlines.  Plus, the hook is this brilliant vocal sample loop of Olive Oyl from the Popeye cartoons crying out for help that adds a real, classic/ quirky 45 King element to the song. No, it's not as great as their classic Profile singles, but it's honestly pretty dope.

And Scott Lark has the freshest verse of all, which is saying something, because Wise Intelligent very rarely gets shown up by anybody on a record.  It's all silly lyric bending, with the focus on sounding good rather than saying anything particularly witty or insightful: "bananas, I kick ill stanzas in my pajamas."  That's just the playful nature of the song, and it's hard to be mad at hearing the Teachers cut loose and having a little fun for once.  There's also an uncredited female MC on here (I mean, both guests are uncredited, but I know Scott Lark when I hear him), who probably comes weakest of the bunch, but she still holds up her portion of the song well enough.  If anybody has any idea who that is, please comment; I'd love to know.

Anyway, flip this over and we get another nice one: "Dangerous," which lets them bring back their reggae side.  It's got a more natural sounding instrumental, a sung chorus, and Wise Intelligent deftly bouncing billions of syllables.  If "Save Me" was an amusing excursion, this feels more comfortably at home in the Teachers' wheelhouse.  Who else could reference Amadou Diallo while spitting game to a girl?  It all makes you wish they'd managed to get that Declaration of Independence album they'd been working on out there (were these two songs meant to have been on it, or were they recorded exclusively for Fully Blown? I have no idea), if only to prove they could still do it even without Profile's backing.  And maybe Scott would've received some more shine if his name was actually printed on the jacket credits of an album that made its way into peoples' homes.  Oh well.  That's indie record collecting for ya.  At least this neat little 12" is out there and inexpensive.