Ridin' the Underground Railroad with Big Nous

So, ok, silly rap has its place. But I think I've done enough Tricky Nikki and Fila Fresh love songs for a little while... it's time to just do a post about something dope. Something recent, something hardcore, non-commercial, and something almost all of you have probably slept on.

This is the new single from Big Nous. Well, I say "new," but I guess technically it first surfaced in 2006. But considering its utter lack of promotion or distribution, most people are still only just now finding out about it for the first time. Catacombz carried it for a little while - that's where I got mine - but they had problems getting copies themselves. It took me about 6-7 months to get my copy, with the owner of the company eventually mailing me his personal copy (thanks! I finally got it!). So, yeah. It's pretty underground.

So, yes, this is the same Big Nous from The Hobo Junction. Apparently he's moved to Mount Vernon, NY now (look up Heavy D for us!), but he still represents the Junction and his style hasn't changed... a bit. Honestly, this sounds like it could have been lifted directly from the original Hobo Junction EP from '95. Production, voice, flow... it's all here: classic Big Nous. It only took 11-13 years.

And while this is dubbed a "maxi-single" on the cover, I'd have to say this is at least an EP. The cover lists 7 tracks, but there's actually twelve. First, you've got the main track, "The Outcome," in four versions (street, radio, instrumental and accapella). It's kinda short, essentially two brief verses over a slow rolling, deep track with a couple sample layers. It's pretty serious in tone and subject matter, with Big Nous telling a moral warning of a narrative about the effects of street violence:

"Seein' niggas her man didn't get along with,
Sayin' to herself, 'this shit is far from over.'
It's devastating.
Working hard but hard to unwind;
A single parent with murder on her mind.
Watching her sibling up close but from a distance,
Too young to feel the stress
Of this crab-in-a-barrel ghetto existence;
Allowing him to do what he feel,
Even though shit is real...
In the killing fields.
When will this vicious cycle end?"

Next up, you've got two more tracks, "Warnin Shots" and "Devils." Again, if you heard any Big Nous tracks in Hobo Junction's heyday, you know how this sounds. If anything, he's perfected this style a bit more, sounding more natural in his voice and flow. The tracks here are all slow, with distorted horns, really deep bass notes, banging drums a lot of snare and strange samples (birds chirping, race car engines passing by) mixed into the track.

Most of the tracks are pretty short, though "Warnin Shots" lets the beat ride for so long, it's almost like you've got the instrumental version right after the full version on the same track... sort of like MC Lyte's "Paper Thin," but without the ad libs.

Track seven on the cover is said to be "Mount Vernon," but I don't think it is. Tracks seven and eight are two instrumental songs that feature extended vocal samples (scenes from a movie, I guess, but I don't know what it is... the accents sound African). Then track nine is actually a fast-paced track with Big Nous freestyling, just showing skills.

Finally, on track ten, I believe we've got "Mount Vernon." At least that's what he's rapping about on this song... it's cool. Maybe slightly more east coast sounding, but just barely. Although, really... I don't know if any of this sounds particularly west coast-ish. I think it's just that it's Big Nous's style, and since the west is where he and any artists he produced for were from, he just personally defined it as being a west coast sound.

Track eleven is another, back to his normal pace, freestyle song. This one feels written, essentially battle rhymes that twists into a metaphor of a gun runner for a bit in the middle, "Take more than 600/ men to get with me/ in the zone/ kill or be killed/ unarmed men/ prone to hard labor/ waitin' on a savior/ one man holding down a village/ with fully loaded weapons/ making sure everything honky dory/ under control/ up on you since birth/ goals: to wipe the war monger off the face of the Earth." Well, it's tempting to just go on and on typing out his lyrics, but yeah. You can see it's the partly advanced, partly hardcore, partly trippy, partly abstract kind of flow we'd definitely dub "next level" back in the 90's.

Finally, the last track is an outro, with Big Nous doing some shout-outs and talking over another of his beats. He tells us to check out his album, all new cuts, called The Illness, due out in June (I guess he means of '07). It hasn't come out yet, but hopefully it's still on its way. "It'll be in all the black-owned stores, the barber shops. I don't need to get signed," he says. Hopefully it's still coming. On his myspace (you knew that was coming, didn't you?) it says the album's coming in December, along with another album of instrumentals called Music to Study to Volume One: Winter Solstice ...though he apparently hasn't logged into it since Nov 6th. You can hear one track off The Illness album, one instrumental off Winter Solstice, and two off this single, including the title track and "Warnin Shots" (though here it's titled "Speak the Truth (Revisited)"). Finally, he has another myspace page here, but that seems to be just a rough precursor, redirecting you to his other one.

Anyway, find this single if you can - it's worth it for sure.

Tags: Big Nous, Big Nose, Hobo Junction, Bignous

References ≠ Impressive Songwriting

Ok, guys. Just a mini-post again (been a while since I've done one of these), just to point out that we - meaning the hip-hop audience, critics, fans, etc - need to seriously stop being impressed when a rapper references something "intellectual." Just name-dropping something like an 70's film, classic novel or outdated pop culture reference does not make a song any more profound, substantive, witty, clever, or anything else worthwhile.

Now, don't get me wrong. A reference in a song CAN be witty, smart etc... Like, umm... MC Paul Barman doing a sex rhyme and saying, "my pissed off jimbrowski turned three colors like Krystoff Kieslowski"* is funny. It's smart. It's a punny, five syllable rhyme you wish you could've thought of. Ras Kass's take on Francis Crest Welsing's The Isis Paper, despite reaching some questionably racist conclusions, was an impressively thoughtful, literate lesson of a song. Ok, see? I'm being positive and constructive. Instead of just jumping right into the complaint, I'm pointing out examples of how it can be done well.

Unfortunately, it's hardly ever done anywhere near that well... and for some reason fans and critics don't seem to distinguish. Look. Here's a line from the Beastie Boys' overhyped Ill Communication, "Well, it's The Taking of Pelham, One, Two, Three. If you want a doodoo rhyme, then come see me." What's The Taking of Pelham One, Two, Three? Don't get me wrong. I know it's a movie. I've seen the movie. And the content of the film has no remote connection to the content of their rhymes. It's just one of a million random titles they drop in to increase their "hip quotient." The only really good thing about the line is that there's three Beastie Boys, so one of them can say the "one," one of them can say the "two" and the last one can say the "three."

AesopROCK and MF Doom are darlings of those kinda critics... look at the song they did together, The hook goes, "Far as I know we've been blacklist for as long as the Earth rotate on a 23 degree axis." Like one of them just ran up to the other and said, "I just randomly opened an encyclopedia and read that the Earth rotates on a 23 degree axis! How can we work that fact into a rhyme and appear smart?" And the other one goes, "work... into? Just say it. I'm pretty sure we're not getting paid for logical cohesion here." And then they liked it so much they made it their hook.

But if you read reviews, even by supposedly intelligent and discerning critics, they just can't seem to stop heaping praise on the Beastie Boys and every other rapper when they do this (not dissing the Beasties, mind you... they've made some great records. But let's not pretend that they're this generation's Irving Berlin). Reviews can't wait to excitedly point out, "lyrical references include Judge Wapner, Sylvia Plath and Homer’s ‘The Illiad!'" Like, wow, he must be so smart to know who those people are! Everyone from Killarmy to Nas to billions of obscure rappers on CDBaby get these raves over and over. As if just googling a bunch of titles and phrases and dropping them randomly into your raps is some kind of intellectual accomplishment. How about saying something about the dead political activist, or enhancing a point you're making by pointing out parallels between your ideas and the great poem's, instead of just trying to prove that you've apparently heard of them once... at some point.

Here's a good shorthand tip: if the reference to a book (or whatever) in your song doesn't suggest that you've ever actually read the book, or have any idea what it's about, you're not impressing anyone.

...Well, except a lot of people. And if you are one of those people, I think it's time to put on your Analytical Hats and ask yourselves a question. Do these lyrics you're jumping up and down while blogging about actually contain anything more than you could've thrown together yourself in twenty seconds by playing pin-the-tail in your highschool library?

And, wait. I'm not done. There's a new fad blowing up in hip-hop right now that's essentially the same thing. Album covers and press photos patterned after obscure films. Gnarls Barkley made themselves look like the guys from Clockwork Orange? Oooh, isn't that clever. And Camobear Records! They made their new DVD look like... Clockwork Orange, too. Eminem did a semi-famous Clockwork Orange photo (why semi-famous? because people were impressed that he referenced Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of Clockwork Orange!), and of course Cage used Clockwork Orange artwork for an early mixtape with "Agent Orange" on it and probably some other stuff.

Right now, rappers are doing it all over the place. Tragedy makes his cover look like The Matrix. Copyright makes his cover look like The Jerk. DITC make their cover like Dead Presidents, J-Zone copies The Graduate and Guru takes the Back To the Future artwork. Little Brother makes their cover like an old EPMD cover. Sid Roams makes their cover look like the same EPMD cover. Yeah. It's been going on for a couple years and just keeps getting worse. Check out Sandboxautomatic.com on any given day (yeah, they're still up, apparently)... it's like a gallery of ever-changing ripped off images from recent pop culture. Next summer, when the Hollywood blockbusters roll out, let's see which rappers are the first to use their logos and images for their shitty mixtapes.

It's up to us to stop encouraging them. There's no reason to be impressed.

*Interestingly, a line The Pedestrian once quoted to me as an example of a reason why he disliked Barman... different strokes, I guess.

The Return of Tricky Nikki

Following up my recent post on the rare Tricky Nikki/ L'Trimm 12", is this... the follow-up (and final) single from Tricki Nikki. Looking at the title and the year (1990) should probably tell you what this record is - an answer to MC Hammer's "U Can't Touch This."

This is the promo version, by the way. The only difference between the promo version and the retail is that the promo label is black and white and the retail comes in the Time-X's standard orange on yellow.

The beat for this song uses the same "Superfreak" sample as the Hammer joint, of course, but it cuts the bassline a little bit differently, and doesn't use the male chorus vocal sample ("oh ohh-oh"). It adds some new elements, though, from a Rick James vocal sample ("Super freaky!") to, most notably, a great sax solo!

Tricky Nikki has essentially the same voice, flow and attitude as her previous single, though she sounds (slightly) less like Tigra or Bunny D. Nikki's got the right spirit for this upbeat answer record... she's not dissing Hammer, just playfully teasing him ("Stop! ....Tricky rhyme.") and constantly pointing out that it's summer break between verses. She even gets lyric specific with her variation, with Hammer's fast-rap take on his own name towards the end of the song goes from this:

"I'm known around the world,
From London to LA.
It's Hammer,
Go Hammer,
MC Hammer,
Yo Hammer,
...And the rest can go and play."

to this:

"I'm one fly girl,
And I mean what I say.
I'm tricky, yeah,
Tricky Nikki,
Nikki Tricky,
...Now let my record play."

If you pick up the CD single instead of the 12"...


(Despite what it says on the cover there, I really doubt this CD plays at 45 rpm.)
...you get a unique b-side song, "Jammed In the USA" by Girls With Attitudes. Time-X also released this as a separate single on vinyl. It's an answer to The 2 Live Crew's "Banned In the USA," and I believe it's the only song they've ever put out. Which is fine, because they're not all that great.

Unlike the 2 Live Crew, they don't use the signature Springsteen sample... they actually take their chorus from Cyndi Lauper ("Girls, we wanna have fuh-un; you know that girls just wanna have fun"). The beat's ok, hitting pretty hard and fairly layered with different elements, though you'll surely feel embarrassed for them when they play the national anthem on keyboard at the end. They have more than their share of contrived rhymes, and their style of rhyming in unison is kinda lame. Lyrically, it's essentially supporting the 2 Live Crew version, talking about their rights to be x-rated (which they claim to be, but they don't curse at all on this, their only song):

"Freedom of expression,
That's what we perceive.
Free to do what we do,
That's what we're lead to believe.
Then comes another,
Tells us we're wrong.
Tells us what we can and can't say
In our hip-hop song."

In closing, I have to say... the neatest thing about writing an informative hip-hop blog like this is that it still helps me learn stuff for myself. Check out the comments section for my A-B-C, 1-2-3 post for a really informative reply about the history of Tricky Nikki and how she met L'Trimm. I didn't know any of that. 8) Cheers, everybody, 'till next time.

Tags: Tricky Nikki, Girls With Attitudes

A Fila Fresh Valentine

It's Valentine's Day, and what better way to get into the spirit of the holiday than to dig out on of hip-hop's corniest token love songs ever? Usually token love songs were album fillers, but The Fila Fresh Crew decided to make "I Wanna Know What Love Is" a 12" exclusive. Maybe they felt it didn't really fit into the atmosphere they were making on the rest of Tuffest Man Alive.

The R&B hook (sung by one male and one female vocalist) is taken right from the chorus of Foreigner's classic 80's song, "I Want To Know What Love Is." If you're a pure hip-hop fan like myself, who's really not familiar with all the mainstream pop stuff, and you want to hear this song for reference, just hang out for a few minutes in your dentist's waiting room. That's where I heard it to know they were aping a famous song; then I just had to look up who it was by on wikipedia. ;) Anyway, yeah... so the title and chorus are lifted from Foreigner, but the basic instrumental, with it's single-note-ber-beat xylophone like keyboard and the MCs' semi-spoken word delivery (there's even a little spoken intro) is 100% ripping off LL Cool J's "I Need Love."

It's interesting to note that the second verse is by someone calling himself, "Tito, the youngest of the crew." I don't know who he is, I guess someone they brought in to take the place of The D.O.C. who apparently decided to sit out of this one ...which they should've taken as a bad sign. But, anyway, Dr. Rock and Fresh K each provide two romantic verses each, for a total of five. Let me share a little of the love:

"I've been through many women like books in a library.
To live without love, girl... is kinda scary.
I'm the doctor of the turntable, girl, you know it's true.
No matter how I try, I can't find a girl like you.
Love is like a game that's played by foolish men;
I play this game over and over but never win.
I'm looking for a love, girl, that's blue and true;
And if you're out there, girl, this song's for you."

And, girl, here's one more for you, girl:

"Girl, you're the new attraction... in my life;
Sometimes I fantasize... that you're my wife.
But then I pinch myself, 'cause I know I'm just dreamin'.
You're like a drug, girl, and I keep fiendin'.
See, to be truthful, I feel real bad;
'Cause I was too glad to know the love I had.
Feelin' heartburn, I was cryin' and ballin',
Knowin' your love was like London bridges fallin'."

Note that this is the "Hug Mix." Apart from the instrumental, there are no other mixes of this song released anywhere... I think the Fila Fresh Crew just decided that you needed a hug. :)

This is the b-side to a very un-Valentinesy song, The D.O.C. solo track (although, interestingly, the only writing credit on this one goes to Dr. Rock. Hmm...), "Fear Of the Rap." It's actually pretty hot... there are some cheesy (even for its time but especially today) "scary" keyboards that will turn away heads who insist on taking their rap music too seriously; but they're still pretty effective once the beat - which is kickin' - and The D.O.C. get rolling. It's a real showcase of the fierce lyricist who'd go on to record No One Can Do It Better - essentially him just rhyming like crazy, occassionally pausing to let the DJ scratch a little for the break. In fact it opens with Doc-T (as he was known at the time) doing the first half of his verse accapella over just a soulclap. Then there's a hornstab and the beat kicks in while he keeps flowing. At the end, the DJ cuts up Whistle's signature whistle sound, and there's some live guitar - the Crew definitely put in the time to try and get this song right.

This is the only 12" exclusive from the Fila Fresh Crew, except for a couple remixes off their post D.O.C. album, Taking Charge, as The Fela Fresh Crew. So relax, pour yourself a drink, put this 12" on your turntable, and have a happy Valentine's Day... unless you actually have a signficant other, who'd then probably insist that you "turn that silly crap off." But, hey, it beats being alone, right? <3

Tags: The Fila Fresh Crew, The D.O.C., Dr. Rock, The Fela Fresh Crew, Foreigner

(Werner Necro'd) Mista Tung Twista - Interview

I did this interview with Twista (along with the Speed Knot Mobstas) just as he was emerging into the mainstream in '98... He surprised a lot of people with his verse on Do Or Die's first single, and was finally getting a real push from a major label after years of struggling to prove himself as being more than a novelty rapper who had a flash in LOUD Records' pan. He was suddenly getting major media airplay and was also coming out with a new crew (though, if you paid attention, they were also featured on his indie album from '95)...

How did you hook up with the Speed Knot Mobstas?

Twista: The way we hooked up was like some battle stuff. Lif tried to come at a brother... they tried to pull me over in the car. You know, battle me. Basically, we was on some competitive stuff how we met. It turned out, we ended up making a crew back in the days, called the Speed Knots, and we just been together ever since. Just battles, trying to do little stuff, having meetings every week, stuff like that...coming with rhymes. Over the years, it just got to this point.

So, you kinda went away. You started to surface with Ressurection, but then you disappeared again. Now you've made another comeback with the Do Or Die guys. How'd you hook up with them? What's the story behind it?

Twista: Well, actually, Do Or Die, Crucial Conflict, and a few of the groups that are out from the west side of Chicago… we all knew each other before we were rappers. So, one day, on a normal day, I was just kickin' it with Do Or Die. I was in a store called The Flea Market up Madison and Chicago on the west side, we was talkin about doin' a few cuts. And one of the cuts we were talkin' about "Po' Pimp." And we didn't know it, but when we went to the studio and made it, it turned out to be very, very prosperous.

When you first came out, you had a really different style. Not just flow-wise, but lyric-wise, being all about some hip-hop and peace. And now you're on the Mobstability-tip. What do you say to suggestion that it kind of makes you sound like a "studio gangster?"

Twista: Really, what it is, is like, back then, you be kinda lost. Coming from a place like Chicago... not a lot of industry people around, not a lot of people to learn from. You kinda lost. And when you read the magazines and stuff, you be like, "Dag, this is how the rappers livin'. This is how they kickin' it." And you don't realize that sometimes you end up kickin' rhymes that's pertaining to stuff from that persons hood. You might be listening to LL or Run, but the way they rap, or how they kickin' it, would be an east coast thing. And, what it is, after a period of time, Chicago artists just found there selves and realized it ain't about soundin' like this person or this person. We gotta do our own thing. So, in doin' our own thing... Man, in Chicago, you got gang-bangers, you got drug dealers, you got players... Like I say wild shit, hard-times, player cuts, and murder rhymes. Stuff that we on.

So, what's up... I know on your new record you've got a joint coming out at Bone. What's up with the beef between y'all?

Twista: The Bone beef. It's like, basically, to me it was just a little hatin' goin' on. I guess brothers felt like their style was being bit by certain artists from Chicago and stuff like that. And they said a few things on their single, and then came out with the album which said a few things. And, basically, me as an MC, I did just took care of my business. I ain't really dwelling on it, but everybody got a chunk of 'em. Crucial did they thing, Do Or Die did they thing, and I did my thing. Hopefully, it'll just stay on wax.

I think most people really remember more the beef with Naughty By Nature and your record "Suicide." But, listening to it, you were also talking about the Beanuts right? "Intoxicated Demons?"

Twista: Yeah. It was just a little hip-hop thing, back then. I think back then you had a few cats who wasn't ready for the Chicago scene to blow up a little bit, I guess. There was a little dissin' goin' on back then. It was just some hip-hop stuff. I kicked it with Treach today. That was just in all of our younger days. But now, everybody's tryin' to unify and work with each other, stuff like that. It ain't about none of that, 'cause we done lost a few good rappers over stuff like that. So we just tryin' to make sure they keep it on the positive level a little bit.

Earlier, when you did the Resurrection album, that was basically independent… Did you put that out entirely by yourselves?

Twista: Yeah, the Resurrection thing was independent. It was just what we wanted to do after the album that dropped on LOUD records. it was cool, it was cool. We was hurtin' though, back then.

So were you happy with what came out on LOUD Records? Or did you think it was just not really true to who you were?

Twista: I mean, I just chalked it up to experience. We was young back then. I was young, I ain't know nothin'... too much. All I knew was I had a little flow. I just took it as experience. Once we got in the game a little bit, you know. Took it as experience, and went on with the next. Now we on some Mobstability thing.

Mayz: We got Danny Boy on now. We got Shock the World on now, with the Legendary Traxster. So, y'all go get that album 'cause it's the bomb, ya heard?

You're already getting a lot of play from the single now off the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack...

Twista: Right. That was basically an Atlantic hook-up, you know. We was fortunate to get on a soundtrack like that. We sold a lot of units to a lot of people who didn't or might not know about us. So, when they got that soundtrack, hopefully they checked out that cut and it was something that made them feel like it was something that made them want to go get the album.

And, also, a lot of people probably also remember you from that Puff Daddy cameo.

Twista: Yeah, that got us a lot of east recognition.

So how did that happen? Did Puff call you or something?

Twista: He basically wanted to work with me. There was a small circle of artists who wanted to work with me because they liked the verse I did on the "Po' Pimp" song, so I was fortunate enough to get that call from him. Bam, I wanted to put that down, 'cause I knew that was gonna be hot.

And so lately you've been doing a lot of that - appearances on a lot of other peoples' records. You've been on like Ras Kass...

Twista: Yeah, Ras Kass. Ras Kass was like a hook-up of Wendy Day's. Wendy Day had a rap coalition. And me and Ras Kass were like two of her favorite rappers. And she just basically wanted to see us get on a joint together, so we did that.

And you were on Usher, I think it was?

Twista: Yeah, Usher. Usher liked me. He said I was one of the MCs he liked. He just wanted me to jump out on the remix of "Nice and Slow". Like, MJG... I did a couple underground things. A few nice, new people.

Anybody you haven't worked with yet, that you want to do a song with?

Twista: Redman. I like Redman a lot. He needs to jump out; gotta jump out.

Cool. And you've got another solo album comin' out now, right?

Twista: Yup. Right now it's titled Kamikaze. But I ain't even started working on it yet, 'cause, right now, we on this Mobstability thang.

So now a lot of people are gonna be familiar with you, but not the other two members of Speed Knot. How would each of you describe each other's styles for the people just discovering you guys?

Mayz: Ay-ight. I would describe probably Lif. Like, Lif he just the street nigga, the nigga that you gonna run into everyday on the street. The one that's just gonna give it to ya in the raw. And just tell you the real. And if you don't like it, so what? And how he's comin' atcha, it's comin' atcha everytime.

Liffy: With Twista's style, he brought us to a point where... When we first met him, we was just kinda like wild out there. We couldn't count bars or do nothin'. We was just writing rhymes. And he showed us how to break it down into songs. You know, 16 bars, 4-bar hooks and stuff like that we wasn't used to. But, by him bein' in the business, and him knowin' how to lay it down, he just showed us the way. And it was all good.

Twista: Lemme see... Mayz style. He'll bust out on you a couple of times. Mayz might sit back and listen to what me and Lif doing and what he feel like, the cuts don't have, he'll sit up and put his part to like, "Man, they need a little bit of this, or they forgot to talk about this. And cut it tighter on this, so I gotta make sure I do this." So Mayz, on this cut he might do this, on this cut he might say, "Let me come raw," On this cut he might put things into perspective. That's Mayz. He'll put a little swirl on it... A little swirl.

Ok, so going back to the early days… didn't you battle Daddy Freddy for like a 'Fastest Rapper,' title? Weren't you officially considered the fastest rapper of all time?

Twista: Yeah, it was like... I don't even hardly remember, that was so long ago. It was cool. We just battled on stage one time, at a DJ Quik concert. And I got my p's cause we was in Chicago. And the Guinness book thing was he had a little record and I beat his by a few syllables so I got my props from that, too.

Are you still the fastest now?

Twista: Yeah, I'm still fast. I don't know if I'm the fastest. I'm not really dwellin' on the fastest no more; I'm trying to be the largest.

So what's up with you dropping the Tung from your name? It's just Twista now. What's the significance behind that?

Twista: It wasn't really a reason. You know how sometime a person can have, like, a long name? You just call that person the shorter version. People just got tired of saying Tung Twista and just started saying Twista. "What's up, Twista?" It wasn't really a thought-about change, it's just how things came out.

What are your feelings about the Chicago scene in hip-hop? I mean, a lot of people took a long time to blow up, like EC Illa, Juice, and all that.

Twista: Yeah, it took a while. You got different elements when it comes to rap music in Chicago. Up north... You got the heads up north. And in the south, you got the mixture. They might like a little bit of the gangsta stuff, or a little bit of the east coast vibe. And on the west side of Chicago, where we're from, we just don't give up with it. We just puttin' it down like we feel it should be put down for the Chi. That's why we doin' it.

Alright, cool. So you got any last words you wanna say for people reading this?

Twista: Man... I want y'all to check out the Mobstability album comin' out October sixth, because it's raw. We're puttin' it down for the Chi. We feel like it's a new thing that we're comin' with. It's basically raw. I did my thing, and I want people to check the album for Liffy and Mayz because they raw. After this, hopefully, we gonna break off into some solo and expand from there and expand from there. Check us out, 'cause we all the way live. ...Any last words?

Mayz: Mobstability.

Liffy: I'd like to thank you for havin' us. Go get that album, October sixth.

So, that was about ten years ago (wow!) now. Twista is still very much doing his thing... After looking like he'd be a sorely underrated rapper lost beneath the industry, he really found deserved success (go ahead, you rap like him. See? You can't! Ha!) with a long stretch on Atlantic. Yeah, he's put out some flat-out bad, commercial cuts, playing the industry game a la Jay-Z; but he's undisputably talented. Anyway, he's back on the indie tip again, starting his own label with some new music, so go check him out again: Twista.com is his site, and there's a pretty glossy fan site at twista.net... both of those are good but out of date The latest info and new music is, as always, on his myspace. And yes, he's still down with the Mobstaz, who all have myspaces linked in his Top Friends.

Tags: Tung Twista, Speed Knot Mobstaz, Twista

A-B-C, 1-2-3

Hey, guys! If you haven't seen it already, drop by EclipticSight.com's blog… there's an interview with me up there! So, yeah, I hope you guys enjoy that… then come back here when you're done, because I've got another 12" write-up for ya tonight:

"Yo Jeff, what's shakin'?"
"Coolin'; what's up?"
"Girlies!"
"Come pick me up!"

Like the "As We Go" quote suggests, I'm not done with the girlie rap just yet. Today's record is the answer to that age-old question, "what do you get for the L'Trimm fan who has everything?" Tricky Nikki's obscure "Bust the Rhythm of My ABC's" 12", featuring L'Trimm, from 1989.

The first thing you'll notice and the first thing I've got to mention is that Tricky Nikki sounds exactly like Lady Tigra, and if there's any detectable difference at all, it's that she might sound slightly more Bunny D-ish. Honestly, I wouldn't be all that surprised if it was discovered that "Tricky Nikki" was really just some kind of alias (though I don't believe that's in fact the case). At any rate, with L'Trimm actually present and providing the chorus and the backing vocals, this is practically indistinguishable from a genuine, lost L'Trimm record. It's on their old label and is produced by The Fly Boys, using a fast-paced classic style Miami beat, except without much of a bassline… it's got a lot of repeated vocal samples and adlibs by Bunny and Tigra, and features a several simple keyboard refrains, including one that plays a note for each syllable of the chorus:

"A-B-C-D-E-F-G.
I wish that you could be with me.
1-2-3; can't you see -
What a [something mumbled each time they say it] has done to me?
A-B-C-D-E-F-G.
Why don't you come play with me?
A-B-C, 1-2-3…
Bust the rhythm of my ABC's!"

The rhyme's a simplistic narrative about a guy with a bad rep who Tricky Nikki decides to give a shot anyway: "So we danced and romanced for a little while. He wanted to make love, but that's not my style. I said, 'not now; maybe later. They call me Tricky Nikki and there is none greater.'" That's pretty much the whole story, really. It's a quick vignette in three verses that doesn't quite get to any larger point beyond, "they call me Tricky Nikki and there is none greater." …Which is perfect for this kind of song. There's some basic scratching on the breakdowns and even a goofy human beatbox solo towards the end.

Then the b-side features a street mix… It's hard to imagine a song like this really appealing to "street" audiences no matter what they did to it. But this version does successfully strip away a lot of the keyboards (most notably the note-for-note bit mentioned during the chorus) and some samples, for a more raw, harder edge. Still, I think all those people who'd rather not hear the chintzy keyboards are the same ones who'd pass on this record regardless; so anyone who'd want this rare Tricky Nikki/ L'Trimm collaboration will probably prefer the original.

You might have a hard time locating a copy of this bad boy today, but if you want it bad enough, I have faith you'll be be able to track one down for cheap. 8)

Tags: Tricky Nikki, L'Trimm

Tiger Toys and Bunny Boys

Here's a 12" I bet none of you guys reading this have… and it's not rare or expensive, so if you decide you want it after reading this, it's easily had. Can't ask for more than that, can you?

This is the title, first and only single off L'Trimm's second album, Drop That Bottom. They talked in interviews about wanting to make "Trouble In the House" their second single, but their label never wound up putting out another single off this album, instead jumping straight to Groovy.

"In the city late at night -
Cause that's where he rocks 'em -
He's funky fly,
'Cause all the girls jock 'im.
He gives 'em a smile,
And, yeah, he's got 'em.
'Cause girls love to see him...
Drop that bottom!"

It's a pretty hype beat (there's a reason this was the title track), with a cool variety of samples. How much you like the song will depend entirely on how much you can tolerate L'Trimm - for many of you, that may be not at all. But those of you still around will probably rank this just below "Cars That Go Boom" as a favorite. It's also one of the first examples I can think of (open challenge: name an earlier one) of a female artist turning the tables on their audience and making an entire song objectifying men as sex objects (calling them "Tiger toys" and "Bunny boys" respectively), but in a cheerfully inoffensive party record way.

Now, check wikipedia for a minute (or don't and just take my word for it… save yourself some time). They credit jungle music as having birthed "circa 1993." Well, this is a jungle remix (by The Fly Boys) from 1991 - L'Trimm is fucking cutting edge, I'm telling you! And it is a jungle remix: the 150+ bpm drums and sample loops… it's not just called "Jungle Remix" because it features a sample of The Jungle Brothers or something. Personally, I don't really care for drum 'n' bass or jungle music, but this is reasonably well done.

The bass remix, also by The Fly Boys, is similar to the album version but strips off a few bits of instrumental and, of course, adds that car vibrating bottom drop. Being a bit more hardcore, I could see it being some peoples' favorite mix, but personally I like and miss the pseudo-cutting on the hook of the original version too much.

Finally, for those of you who just can't bring yourselves to listen to anything so anti-macho as a L'Trimm song (they do literally giggle at their own delivery at one point in the song), there is an instrumental version of the LP mix.

As to where they are now, I have some good (or terrible, depending how harshly you judge them) news: Lady Tigra is back with a new solo album called Please Mr. Boombox (so far only available as mp3 on places like ITunes, I believe). Visit her myspace page to check it out. For a few months, she had a website at: theladytigra.com, too; but it seems she's already abandoned it. There's also a fan-made myspace page for the group that shamelessly uses my discography and all of my scans but gives me no credit - give 'em a shout. ;)

Tags: L'Trimm, Lady Tigra

The Sah-B That Never Was

So I can't end my Sah-B coverage without finishing the tale in my usual, definitive (critics could probably come up with another term for it) style. In my last post, I talked about the flagship 12" of her return, "The Freestyle," and how it seemed designed to hype up a comeback that never followed.

When she was still a teen in the late 80's, she started out in a crew called The Revolutionary Posse of Terrace, which included other NJ heavy-hitters Redman and The Lords of the Underground. And of course, it was her attention grabbing debut on Lords Of the Underground's posse cut (with fellow up-and-comer De'1) "Flow On" that we all still really know her for today - it didn't hurt that an already really hot track was later given a smooth Pete Rock remix when LOTUG put it out as their sixth(!) single. They all followed that up with another impressive posse cut, "Da Underground Sound," which was put on the B-side to De'1's debut single; and she did one more guest spot on LOTUG's second album. Off the strength of those, she became one of the first (though not the first) female MCs to land a major label record deal and released a really nice single (especially the b-side!) on Reprise Records in 1994. Unfortunately, the label then lost interest in her (possibly as a backlash, since she was known for her almost shrill, hardcore but witty lyrics and rapid-fire staccato flows, and her debut single was a blatant stab at crossover mainstream pop rap, a la The Fresh Prince of Bel Air), and her promised album Some Ol' Sah-B Shit never surfaced.

Here's my first good scoop: I asked then-producer K-Def if her or De'1's albums were ever finished… if original, unreleased recordings might be tucked away in an A&R's closet or a promo cassette sitting on some music journalist's desk. He answered, "I'm not sure either album was completed. I do know is I did a few more songs for De'1 that was on the album supposedly. I'm pretty sure Marley has it locked in the vault...lol" Thanks for getting back to me, K!

So, that was it from Sah-B for a couple of years. Either tied up in label politics, or just not interested in dealing with the uphill battle, she didn't come out with anything until 1997, when she returned to the scene with some less than thrilling, mainstream R&B remix singles (I'm sorry, but I don't think *any* MC could get me excited about an Uncle Sam remix). But she also came out on the independent tip, appearing on Systahood's "M.O. Money" single (already blogged about here). Then in 1998 came her own, aforementioned "The Freestyle" 12" and the 3 Minute Blunts EP with The Andre Johnson Project, which was really just several different remixes of a song called "Why We Swing." In 1999, she did a couple more appearances. By 1999, it seemed like it was almost all over already… when Lords Of the Underground made their (first) underground comeback album, she was featured on the track: "Hennessey: Pt 2" (it was just okay, but then... everything on that album was just okay). And I didn't discover it until a few years later, but she did do one more guest appearance: it was an independent 12" on Cipher Records (backed by the infamous Echo International) with a group called Blackwatuz, who as far as I know, never put out anything else. It's an ok song (the b-side, which doesn't feature Sah-B, is better), but she only contributes the hook - no verses.

And, unfortunately, that's all she ever put out (to date). But here's the second good scoop of this entry: I have a demo CD of material she didn't put out on Born Hustlers Ent.



It's untitled and consists of four tracks, and two of them are the-b-sides to "The Freestyle" 12": "Tonight" and "Let Me Know." But the other two tracks are all new (unreleased).

The first new song is "Nobody," produced by someone named Vega (he's also listed in the contact information on that Blackwatuz 12", so that's the connection there). It's got fast, kind of bouncy/ kind of hard track with a lot of cuts and a repeating horn loop that's very catchy, if a bit cheesy. As with "The Freestyle" 12", nothing is up to her classic "Some Ol Sah-B Shit," and what's really surprising is that this is the same hook The Outsidaz used for the song called "Nobody" on their demo, and which was slated to appear on Pace Won's unreleased Pace Won Effect album, right down to the scratching... the only difference is it's Sah saying the hook instead of Pace and Zee! I gotta say the Outz version (especially the grittier demo version, before they polished and slowed it down for Pace's album) is the hands down winner - it's an unreleased Jersey classic. But the track is indeed addictive, Sah comes with some nice freestyle rhymes, and it's a good hook even if you did hear it before (we'll probably never know who came up with it first).

The other track is "Born Hustler," also produced by Vega. It's slower, with a cool 70's ambiance. It's got a bit of a more mainstream vibe… but if it does, it sounds like it'd be one of the few good tracks on a crappy mainstream rapper's album… if you take my meaning. Like the title suggests, Sah-B explains the hustle behind her label name:

"Born hustler,
Stay sweet like sugar
Who's the nicest?
Well, pick me like a booger.
Know why?
'Cause I'm gon' live and die for hip-hop
I seen crews flip-flop
Until they drip drop.
On the tic-toc, ya don't stop
Love me tender
It's time to surrender
I'm rocking this here down
So remember
See more dirt than Huffy
Know more Bad Boys than Puffy
Dudes find it hard to trust me
Know why?
Because they stay stagnated
And constantly, my thoughts stay elevated
So they think I'm slickin' them
Straight gettin' them
But my shoes ain't fittin' them
Or they average ho
I coulda got you for your dough
Long time ago
But now I'm doin' me
'cause only through the Earth
Is a real man able to find his true self worth
See, I was born to see
Born to teach
Born to be
Born to speak
Born to be
A born hustler."

But holy cow - I'm still not done! Here comes the third good scoop of this post:

'Cause a little after all the Born Hustlers stuff faded, I was contacted by her management. I'd already written about her for The Source, and they were putting me on to another comeback she was mounting. In fact, I was even gonna do her website… I got as far as designing the front page for'em. They sent me a 1-track CD single to review on my site. It never wound up getting released except they gave me a mailing address that people could mail order 'em from that I put up in my forums. That was 2001, so even though the threads still there, I wouldn't send 'em any money and expect to hear back.

The CD single is titled "Whut That Be About" and don't feel too bad about missing it if you weren't reading my site in '01 (though it's just one more example of why you should always be checking my site! Haha) unless you're a real fan. It's kinda disappointing. If the Born Hustlers phase was a step down from the Reprise phase, then this is a step down from the Born Hustlers phase. I said in my previous post, "Sah-B sounds a little more subdued (I guess she'd say "mature") on this record, which is definitely to her detriment," and she's gone further in that direction on this release. Gone is the energetic, Milk Dee voiced, rough punchline spitting MC we were all dying to get an LP from. And in her place, we've got a dull, slow, generic female rapper who sounds like she 's been listening to too much Eve, post-45-King Latifah, Da Brat, and so on.

Don't get me wrong; it's not terrible. The track, again produced by Vega, is fun - it's got a weird string sample emulating a buzzing bee playing throughout and a cool horn sting every so often. The lyrics still have the edge of an intelligent writer, though as you might gather from the title, the hook's annoying as.

Through everything, you can always see the talent running underneath each of her endeavors. But like just about all rappers and groups making comebacks, you can't help but pine for what they'd've accomplished if they just went for theirs and did their own thing instead of trying to fit in with whoever was featured in last month's Vibe.

Tags: Sah-B, Sakinah Britton

Some Not Quite As Old Sah-B Shit

This 12" is the flagship for the comeback of Sah-B that never quite got off the ground. You'll note she's changed her name to Sakinah "Sah-B" Britton... she'd later drop the "Sah-B" completely. Anyway, this came out in 1998 on Born Hustlers... it's kinda rare now, but probably not all that expensive, because I don't think it's been all that sought after. I reckon this cassette version, which comes in a plain white cardboard sleeve, is even rarer:



The first song is called "The Freestyle" and lives up to its name. Sah-B rocks over a number of crowd-pleasing beats from that period, like Camron's "357" with the Magnum PI loop, MOP & Jay-Z's "4 Alarm Blaze" that took the "Eye Of the Tiger" beat and the "Ruff Ryders' Anthem". .. You know: "Stop! Drop! Shut 'em down; open up shop." Ha ha This is a real artifact of its day. There's no producer credited, presumably because the "guest DJ," DJ A.P. - who does some really nice cutting throughout this record, including a few points where he gets to do solos on the tables - is just flipping instrumentals on the spot. Sah-B's pretty dope here, kicking fairly hardcore freestyle rhymes over each beat - not up to her classic, "Some Ol' Sah-B Shit," but you'll definitely have a good time - as much thanks to the DJ as the MC. Plus, it's impressive how she just keeps on flowing and flowing on this long track.

"There's a lotta corny people
In this industry
Tryin' to get me to sell my soul
In exchange for going gold
Five hundred thousand units sold
I call them the devil
Operatin' on the corporate level
I speak against them
They call me a rebel
Whatever, man
I'm doin' it properly
There's no stoppin' me
I'm God's property
I've got the remedy
For those who wanna be an enemy
You ain't offendin' me
When you pretend to be
Less than my fan
Left me dead and strand
When I was reachin' out to you
You wouldn't grab my hand
Damn!
Shit...
I'm not supposed to be bitter?
I watched you like a babysitter
Become a bullshitter
If bullshit was power
You could rule the world
Try to play me like a girl
I'm every woman
It's all in me
Until infinity
Keep my head high,
Walk with dignity
I was tailor-made
To get paid, true indeed
In high school
I was voted most likely to succeed
Sweat and bleed
You gotta control ya greed
Be hungry
For what you want ain't always what you need
Watch where you be
A flower in bloom
Could soon become a weed
As I take the lead
These cats can't hurt me
Sah-B signing out
Arrivederci
And it don't stop
One, two, and it don't stop
Sah-Bdee
Up in this piece with DJ APdee
Doin' this Born Hustlers style"

...And that's just one verse.

The first of the two b-sides is produced by Lord Jazz, and its very much like his work for LOTUG's Undaground Buttas 12"s: simple, even a bit under-produced, but solid enough to support some really dope rhymes. But these rhymes are just i-ight, so all in all, it's an underwhelming effort. There's a cool violin sample that they sneak in every so often, and we get some nice cuts from Lord Jazz, though nothing as exciting as the A-side. Sah-B sounds a little more subdued (I guess she'd say "mature") on this record, which is definitely to her detriment.

The second b-side, "Tonight," sounds like some typical studio-fare, with familiar samples and an R&B chorus... it's a slow song and a bit dated, even for '98. It almost sounds like it could be a leftover from her unreleased Epic album. That said, it's not that bad. If you can tolerate this style of song, it's well done - producer DJ Backspin sounds at home handling this kind of production work, and Sah swaps the freestyling for some smart, semi-narrative rhymes... this is essentially her "Summa Day" part two.

Now, this is my third Sah-B post (see here and here), so we've covered all that "where is she now"-type stuff. I'd still very much like to know if she ever recorded her full Some Ol' Sah-B Shit album (if so, who's got them in their vault?), or even if there are just a couple other tracks from that era waiting to someday be released. Maybe if we pester K-Def enough,he'll give us a definitive answer. But until then, stay tuned... there'll definitely be some more posts on Sah-B's comeback material down the road right here.

Tags: Sah-B, Sakinah Britton, Lord Jazz, DJ Backspin, DJ AP, K-Def

Get Unique

Woohoo! It just arrived today! My copy of Unique's new 12" single from Diggers With Gratitude (DWG003). It's a limited (175 copies) release... mine's #11 and as you can see in the picture, the sleeve is signed by the man himself. 8)

If you don't know who Unique is - or perhaps more understandably, are confusing him with any of the many other people in the rap world named Unique - all I can say is the sooner you stop sleeping, the happier you'll be. Unique's from New Jersey (say word!), and is tenuously connected to Naughty By Nature; but he first came to most peoples' attention in the "random rap" scene. He had two incredible 12" singles (actually, I'm just assuming one of them is incredible, because I still haven't heard it haha) on New Day Records in 1989. New Day was a small label run by the Robinsons, who also own Sugarhill Records. In recent years, his songs started getting featured on some mixtapes, and because they were so undeniably good, they started fetching upwards of $100 on EBay. He did complete a full album, called Die Hard, but Hot Day shelved it... however DWG finally found a test pressing of it.

Now, this is a new 12", but it's not newly recorded material - it's four of the best, unreleased (nothing from the two singles) tracks off the LP. For those who haven't heard Unique yet, he has a really clear, strong voice and comes with kinda fast (not Tung Twista fast, but more like Kool G Rap "It's a Demo" fast) over classic tracks. In fact, I immediately recognized three of the four breaks that other rappers like Lakim Shabazz, K-Solo, and The Poison Clan have used before... although slightly tweaked in each case. And with fresh cuts provided by his DJ, Godfather D, you're not gonna be bothered by the familiarity of the samples. It's three smoking freestyle/battle rhyme cuts, and one admittedly kinda corny anti-drug dealing song ("selling crack is wack, and not cool") that even in '89 might've garnered some rolled eyes, but it's still fresh.

None of his music is easy to find (even this 12" is already sold out), but it's all worth whatever effort you have to put in to get your hands on it. And if you come across his "I'm Untouchable" 12", don't forget to pick up a spare copy for me. ;)

Tags: Unique

Shut 'Em Down for MLK

"Shut 'Em Down" is the second single (following "Can't Truss It") off of Public Enemy's Apocalypse 91: The Enemy Strikes Black album. The song consists of almost constant, fresh scratching over a wailing sample and hardcore beat, while Chuck kicks what are essentially freestyle rhymes with a message. Ultimately, the song seems to be about shutting down the major corporations that are oppressing us: "I like Nike; but wait a minute. The neighborhood supports; so put some money in it. Corporations owe; they gotta give up the dough to the town, or else we gotta shut 'em down." But he's just as apt to be tossing around battle rhymes or whatever the heck else just randomly pops into his head: "1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9: what I use in the battle for the mind. I hit it hard like it's supposed; pullin' no blows to the nose. Like Uncle L said, I'm rippin' up shows."

Now that track is just lifted straight off the album, but what's new to this 12" is the "Pe-te Rock Mixx" ...it's tempting to ask, "why the hyphen?" but I find it's best not to question PE's kooky, pseudo-intellectual spelling games. A better question might be how well does Pete Rock's cool and soulful production style jells with Chuck's angry, hardcore delivery; and the answer is: not too smoothly. This is early in his career, remember... before he'd broadened his range to include a rougher edge. It almost sounds like a mixtape remix, where the DJ just takes the acapella of one record and matches it up as best he can over another instrumental. But after a few spins, you won't care; because it's just a really dope instrumental you'll want to listen to again and again. The constant, high energy scratching of the original is replaced with some new, subtler scratching that blends better with this new groove. It's good stuff, but won't make you think, "damn! I gotta have this record for the scratching alone!" like the original version. Pete also replaces the hook with his own ad libs of the phrase "shut 'em down" (anyone familiar with Pete Rock's records from back then will know exactly what I mean) and he plugs himself in with the requisite "remix producer bonus verse," like Warren G on "Behind Bars" or something... where he name drops but never really speaks on topic:

"I wreck for respect
Check one, hit the deck.
Let the man of the hour
Commit the soul power.
For once I gotta say, 'shut 'em down' on the regular.
'Causin' mass hysteria... in ya area.
Kickin' it for my man Chuck D,
Down with PE
On the remix,
Hun, on the flix.
So check it:
Before I step down,
When I'm in your town,
Ya know, I got ta shut 'em down."

So the reason to get this is the "Pe-te Rock Mixx" of "Shut 'Em Down," but the reason I'm writing about this, naturally is the B-side, "By the Time I Get To Arizona." Why? Because it's Martin Luther King Day, of course; and this song is all about today. This is the big hit off the album, which featured the controversial video (I think "Shut 'Em Down" had a video, too; but it's the stuff of PE completist DVDs, not influential pop culture fare), but surprisingly - this was only a B-side.

See, at the time, Martin Luther King Day wasn't an officially recognized state holiday in every state except two (although, of course, it was a federal holiday in those states anyway): Arizona and New Hampshire. And there was a bill being proposed to make it a holiday in those two remaining states, so PE took up the cause: performing in Arizona and writing this song about it (for some reason, New Hampshire got a pass, as it's not even mentioned in passing). The bulk of the controversy resulted form the video: showing the band going to Arizona, training, and then killing the governor and his political staff (snapping a cop's neck, sniping someone, delivering a mail bomb and ultimately blowing up the governor with a bomb planted in his car) - probably not the way most people choose to respect and honor the memory of this nation's greatest advocate of non-violent protest and civil rights. I've heard it argued, in fact, that the only violent message is in the video and not the song, and that's certainly where the bulk of the violence is; but with lines like, "I'm on the one mission to get a politician to honor, or he's a goner," and "what he needs is a nosebleed," I think it's safe to say that it's in the song, too.

At any rate, it's a hot song. It's definitely the stand-out single of this album (and possibly the last stand-out single of their career), and the only one with real hit potential, even if I am partial to the True Mathematics cameo on "Get The Fck Outta Dodge" myself. The beat is a nice blend of soul, banging beats, and a grinding guitar... and on the breakdown, when most of the instrumental is stripped away and replaced with screams of terror? Forget about it. That's just powerful stuff. Now, interestingly, the notes for this and the LP version of "Shut 'Em Down" say "rhythm of the cut" by Terminator X and "Additional scratchwork" by Kamron. So, let me guess... does that mean Kamron did all the real cuts and scratches and Terminator X just sorta "oversaw" it... kinda like how Eric B and Puffy produce? Well, it's just speculation. Kamron, by the way, is part of Young Black Teenagers, and you'll probably remember him best as Kid's wacky, white dreadlocked roommate in House Party 2.

So, for this Martin Luther King Day, rock a hip-hop holiday classic, and then enjoy a nice Pete Rock remix (the instrumental's included, yes).

Tags: Public Enemy, Pete Rock, Kamron, Young Black Teenagers, Martin Luther King Jr. Day