So, I decided to make another new artists' page on my site, and make a post about doin' it. I picked Home Team, 'cause they're an under-rated group I've always just felt belonged on my site. It's the same reason I just added Kurtis Blow - how could they not be there?
I'd kind of held off for a while. I guess always hoping in the back of my mind that Malignant Graffiti would turn up (see this post for the story about their unreleased second album). And without it, their discography is kind of small/simple. One album, two singles (at least one has an exclusive remix, right?)... But working out their guest spots was a little more involved and made the page worth making.
Of course, right off the bat we've gotta have the "...and, as a member" line crediting DeBonaire's membership in The Poison Clan for their first album. And of course Drugz is featured on the skit "Drugz Bullshittin'" on Poisonous Mentality. That's the easy stuff out of the way; now it's time to get a little more involved.
First, I went through my tape and record collection and pulled out all my "related" albums... Luke's albums from the 90's, all the Poison Clan albums, Bust Down's album, etc. Even take out Sports Weekend, just to double check the liner notes there. I could've sworn at lease DeBonaire was featured on The New 2 Live Crew's "2 Live Freestyle;" but it turned out to just be a guy named Phat-Daddy. We're talking, like, fifteen years ago here, so I have to double-check everything I think I remember.
Ok, so the next thing to do is go through all the Luke solo albums... I remember some of the guest spots, but definitely not all, or which albums they appear on. The liner notes are only partially helpful. In the Nude flat out reads, "Home Team appears on 'Bad Land Boogie' and 'Freestyle Joint' courtesy of Rocksville Management" and has similar credits for the other MC's featured on the song "Freestyle Joint" with them, so that's easy enough. 1994's Freak for Life 6969 credits Home Team's appearance on "Represent," but also lists two songs ("That's How I Feel" and "Movin' On") as being just with Poison Clan. Well, "That's How I Feel" is just JT Money with a little ad-libbing by Luke, but "Movin' On" features JT with DeBonaire and the also uncredited Likkle Wicked, Luke's in-house reggae artist*. I guess they figured because Deb and JT used to both be in Poison Clan, they'd just credit it as a PC song. I check the other Luke records, but those are the only ones with Home Team on 'em.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Alright, Now I've Had Anuf
To compliment my new artist's discography page on my "main" site, I'm reviewing a single straight off of it. This is a 1994 retread of Kurtis Blow's classic "The Breaks" featuring the man himself, guesting with Reprise Records' start-up group Nadanuf.Nadanuf never took off - they put out their full-length (with contributions from Def Jef and Howie Tee) and one other single and then disappeared. The group consisted of two young girls from Cincinatti, Ohio: Skwert and Phor-One-One. See? The Cincinatti scene was being represented before Mr. Dibbs and Dose One. Anyway, these girls had a bit of a shtick where they always wore goggles, which they explained in an interview with Urban Network Magazine, "The goggles are kinda like a vibe. It's like our head gear or more like our armor to take on a crowd. Just like our bright clothes; if it's bright that's just Nadanuf. It has to be extra or it's just Nadanuf." Okay...
If they don't already, labels should have a position for the guy who comes up with their rappers' gimmicks' explanations. Not the designer or whoever who first comes up with the ideas like, "you girls shall always wear goggles," or "Y?N-Vee, you girls will always wear your pants below your thongs" (remember them? What marketing genius came up with that idea?). I'd just like to be the guy who comes up with the official explanations after the gimmick's been chosen. Like, "it's our vibe... headgear, armor..." that's weak sauce. See, if it was me, I'd give them something more along these lines: "See, there's all these forces in the world trying to control your perspective... our vision of the world. Corporations, government, the media, all trying to shape the way we perceive events, like, this 'you should want this product' or 'these people are guilty' even before the trial. So the goggles are our way of saying, 'hey. We're going to view the world the way we choose to see it. We're going to think and make decisions of how we choose to act based on our ideas and our unique perspectives.' No matter hwo much you try to change us, or control us, and make us see things the way you want us to see them, you can't ...'cause we got these goggles." That shit would've got the girls a full-page write-up in Rap Pages! But did they come to me? No. And now it's too late.
So, anyway, yeah. A remake of Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks" by up-and-coming major label unknowns sure doesn't qualify as a "must-have" in my book - not now and not in 1994 - but they went the extra distance by actually getting Blow on the track, so I picked up the cassingle for 99 cents when it came out. Now, in the same Urban Network Magazine interview, they talk about how that all came about, "Babyboy [producer Aaron "Babyboy" Griffin] just came up with the idea to re-do the song and at the time we were working with Def Jef because we had just finished recording 'Worldwide.' Def Jef said, 'I know Kurtis, he's just right around the corner. I can call him up.' Kurtis came by the next day. At first we were just going to ask him to do his original 'Clap ya hands everybody.' Then he asked could he do them all. So he re-did the whole song with us. Afterward we ran to 7-Eleven and got a disposable camera to get our pictures with Kurtis." It's not really bad, but the final verdict is obvious even before you hear it: there's no reason to play this song when you could just as easily play the superior original.
This is ok as an alternative, though - the music is essentially the same, but with more traditional verses by the girls. Then Kurtis Blow comes up with new "that's the breaks"-isms for the hook (it may possibly be your only chance to hear Kurtis Blow say "late night creep" as well, so think carefully before passing this one up). He actually has a lot of energy and sounds damn enthusiastic to be there, which makes this a pretty fun listening experience.
The B-side, "Many Emcees (Madd Drama)" is actually better than you'd think. The first MC (sorry, I've no idea which is Skwert and which is Phor) comes out with fast freestyle rhymes: "You musta thought we couldn't get down, you under estimate, you smell like shit now, we makin' hits now, we been down, we take you MCs to four thousand degrees, you others make me sneeze, like infect-u-ous disease. I tear you into pieces as I hit you with my thesis; I release the vocals that you smoke to," etc. She wasn't exactly going to be the Canibus-before-there-was-Canibus; but she holds her own on a posse cut. The secondMC, then, comes and steals the show with a surprisingly compelling, smoother verse. Finally, the third verse is shared by two guest MCs who aren't credited in the liner notes; but a little online searching tells me their names are Elmyzik and Manzini. They come out doing their best Onyx impression ...which is frankly a bit silly. Just try to remember: it's all in fun.
Today, Kurtis Blow is still performing (and preaching!). He's got a myspace, of course, and he's got a new mp3-only single with his new Christian rap crew, The Trinity, called "Just Do It." You can download it at b4entertainment.com. One of the other members of The Trinity has several mp3-only albums available there, too... a couple of which feature Kurtis, and one even features Bushwick Bill! Their next one, apparently come soon, is called "Crunk Wit It" b/w "Grace of God" with the Gospel Gangstaz. So look out for that. ...Unless you're like me and think it sounds terrible, in which case stay far away from it. You know which choice is for you, I'm sure.
(The Nadanuf girls don't seem to have any myspaces... goodness knows what happened to 'em.)
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Mmm Dropped?
So, in the comments to my recent post Hot Garbage, on the subject of Hot Karl's debut album (or his second, depending how you look at it), it was brought to my attention that Hot Karl was featured in a documentary called Dropped. It's distributed by Sundance, but seems to be a Netflix exclusive. I guess they mainly bought it for their channel. So, anyway, I said I'd rent it, I did, and here's the scoop:
It's a roughly 60 minute film, broken up into 7 or 8 segments, each on a different music group that got dropped from a major label. It's not Hip-Hop specific, but three of the segments are on Hip-Hop acts (including, yes, Hot Karl). With that many pieces crammed into that short a running time, you might think they couldn't possibly get into very much depth - and you'd be right. They're mostly just short interviews mixed with performance clips for each artist or group... they play like EPKs for the most part. And, well, I'm just going to touch on the Hip-Hop acts, 'cause, you know, nobody cares about rock music on this blog. ;)
I've just watched this, and I already don't remember much about Spearhead's segment. It's the most EPK-ish of the three... a single interview with lead vocalist Micheal Franti who spends most of his time talking about the first Spearhead album. He makes the point that he's glad he was dropped because this way he can continue to address topics his label wouldn't like because his music was too radical.
The Hot Karl piece is actually much better... it's the one they open the film with, the longest by far, and it features interviews with a bunch of people besides just Hot Karl himself. A couple radio DJs talk about how he won an on-air freestyle contest, which is what got labels interested in him; and they seem pretty genuinely enamored with him as an MC. Will I. Am shares some memories of also being on Interscope when all of the label's attention was focused on Karl. As Karl elaborates, Interscope was apparently convinced he would be the next big thing and gave him a limitless budget. Whatever he asked for he got... at least until they signed Eminem, after which he was totally shut out, his project was shelved and they lost all interest in him. Mack 10 (whose name this doc continually spells as "Mac 10" on-screen) talks about how he tried to sign Hot Karl to his own label but Karl held out for the Interscope deal (hindsight is a big theme in this doc). You can also tell by how his clothing and background locations keep changing that they interviewed Karl on more than one occasion, unlike the other artists in the other segments - this is clearly their star segment. I'd bet the doc was originally intended to be all about Karl, and then the other interviews were added to broaden the subject matter into something more marketable.
One thought I had while watching the Hot Karl segment... he takes a shot at A&Rs, saying they're all really just frustrated musicians who wish they could rap or perform but lack the talent. It's almost painful how he misses the irony that the exact same thing could be said of former musicians who get dropped before releasing any records. Both statements are unfair, mean-spirited, and true probably about 95% of the time. Maybe he should be applying for an A&R position at Interscope?
Finally, the third Hip-Hop segment claims to be about Burning Star, but I think the filmmakers are just confused here... The segment consists of just one interview with Apl. De Ap who talks all about The Atban Klan. He details how they were signed and dropped by Ruthless Records, which is kinda interesting; but it's all much too brief to really hook us. Bizarrely, Will I. Am was interviewed for the Hot Karl segment, but not this one, even though he was a lead member of the Klan! Now, Burning Star is a band that did a few songs with the Klan/ Black Eyed Peas, but Apl. is not a member, and the whole interview is about the Klan, not Burning Star. There are a few seconds of footage of a Burning Star show, which I guess Apl. was at when they interviewed him. Considering the filmmakers didn't know how to spell Mack 10's name, I'm guessing Hip-Hop isn't really their "thing" and they just didn't understand the distinction between the two groups.
Anyway, all in all, Dropped doesn't get nearly close enough to its subjects, and is too lazily assembled to be considered a good film. The Hot Karl segment is the most compelling and the best done, and even that's way too short to justify tracking the film down (basically what I wrote above gives you all there is to be found in the three Hip-Hop segments, and the rock segments are no better), so save yourself the trouble. But if you happen to catch it on the Sundance channel, it'll hold your interest for the short time it takes to plow through.
It's a roughly 60 minute film, broken up into 7 or 8 segments, each on a different music group that got dropped from a major label. It's not Hip-Hop specific, but three of the segments are on Hip-Hop acts (including, yes, Hot Karl). With that many pieces crammed into that short a running time, you might think they couldn't possibly get into very much depth - and you'd be right. They're mostly just short interviews mixed with performance clips for each artist or group... they play like EPKs for the most part. And, well, I'm just going to touch on the Hip-Hop acts, 'cause, you know, nobody cares about rock music on this blog. ;)
I've just watched this, and I already don't remember much about Spearhead's segment. It's the most EPK-ish of the three... a single interview with lead vocalist Micheal Franti who spends most of his time talking about the first Spearhead album. He makes the point that he's glad he was dropped because this way he can continue to address topics his label wouldn't like because his music was too radical.
The Hot Karl piece is actually much better... it's the one they open the film with, the longest by far, and it features interviews with a bunch of people besides just Hot Karl himself. A couple radio DJs talk about how he won an on-air freestyle contest, which is what got labels interested in him; and they seem pretty genuinely enamored with him as an MC. Will I. Am shares some memories of also being on Interscope when all of the label's attention was focused on Karl. As Karl elaborates, Interscope was apparently convinced he would be the next big thing and gave him a limitless budget. Whatever he asked for he got... at least until they signed Eminem, after which he was totally shut out, his project was shelved and they lost all interest in him. Mack 10 (whose name this doc continually spells as "Mac 10" on-screen) talks about how he tried to sign Hot Karl to his own label but Karl held out for the Interscope deal (hindsight is a big theme in this doc). You can also tell by how his clothing and background locations keep changing that they interviewed Karl on more than one occasion, unlike the other artists in the other segments - this is clearly their star segment. I'd bet the doc was originally intended to be all about Karl, and then the other interviews were added to broaden the subject matter into something more marketable.
One thought I had while watching the Hot Karl segment... he takes a shot at A&Rs, saying they're all really just frustrated musicians who wish they could rap or perform but lack the talent. It's almost painful how he misses the irony that the exact same thing could be said of former musicians who get dropped before releasing any records. Both statements are unfair, mean-spirited, and true probably about 95% of the time. Maybe he should be applying for an A&R position at Interscope?
Finally, the third Hip-Hop segment claims to be about Burning Star, but I think the filmmakers are just confused here... The segment consists of just one interview with Apl. De Ap who talks all about The Atban Klan. He details how they were signed and dropped by Ruthless Records, which is kinda interesting; but it's all much too brief to really hook us. Bizarrely, Will I. Am was interviewed for the Hot Karl segment, but not this one, even though he was a lead member of the Klan! Now, Burning Star is a band that did a few songs with the Klan/ Black Eyed Peas, but Apl. is not a member, and the whole interview is about the Klan, not Burning Star. There are a few seconds of footage of a Burning Star show, which I guess Apl. was at when they interviewed him. Considering the filmmakers didn't know how to spell Mack 10's name, I'm guessing Hip-Hop isn't really their "thing" and they just didn't understand the distinction between the two groups.
Anyway, all in all, Dropped doesn't get nearly close enough to its subjects, and is too lazily assembled to be considered a good film. The Hot Karl segment is the most compelling and the best done, and even that's way too short to justify tracking the film down (basically what I wrote above gives you all there is to be found in the three Hip-Hop segments, and the rock segments are no better), so save yourself the trouble. But if you happen to catch it on the Sundance channel, it'll hold your interest for the short time it takes to plow through.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
The Last X-Clan Record?
X-Clan's big comeback album in '07 - which they'd been talking about for years - was pretty disappointing when it finally dropped, huh? It didn't help that by the time they finally put it together, Professor X had passed on. And it didn't help that even though he'd made all of these recordings, they wound up using none of them on the album. And it really didn't help that they decided to scrap their signature sound and replace it with a compilation of disparate beats by a various west coast producers. Oh, and they filled the album with up a bunch of random indie MCs. I can just see everyone in the studio trying to one-up each other in second-guessing the X-Clan, throwing more and more random people into the mix to get the "kids" interested. Meanwhile, I don't think any of the artists they got: Fat Jack, Charli 2na, DJ Quik*, RBX, Abstract Rude (plus a bunch of unknowns) - are really who "the kids" are listening to anymore, anyway (well... maybe Charli 2na). It's like thirty-somethings enlisting some tired twenty-somethings to totally fail reaching the teens.And it's telling that Return to Mecca was CD-only. They also talked a lot (on their site, on their myspace, in their press releases etc) about their first single... when there actually was no single; just an mp3 and youtube video.
But this is the last actual record they released (to date - there's still hope). It's pretty overlooked and definitely under-rated... it came out in 2004 on Up Above Records. There's still no Professor X here, but the production is still essentially "in-house" X-Clan, as both sides are produced by Dark Sun Riders O.G. Ultraman. To be fair, they did let Ultraman produce one song on Return To Mecca, by the way - and if you notice, it's by far the best track on there (hint taken for the next album, I hope?).
"The One" is just dope. The beat is deceptively simple, with several subtle layers to the track that will get your head nodding whether you want to or not. And Brother J is definitely bringing his A-game, both lyrically and delivery-wise. I mean, yeah ok... it's not as good as the classic, amazing X-Clan singles from their heyday, but it's a very worthy entry into the X-Clan/Dark Sun Riders oeuvre.
The b-side is OK... Brother J's delivery sounds a little less enthusiastic, and the beat's definitely less engrossing - it actually sounds more akin to the Return To Mecca stuff (but better than most of it). It's not bad, though... it gives you more of Brother J MCing, which, after "The One" is exactly what you'll be wanting to hear. But the A-side is the winner and clearly where they directed all their creative energies at the time.
This record also includes instrumentals for both tracks, although both have Brother J's ad-libs and hooks all over them. But the best thing about this record is that it was so over-looked, you can pick it up for bargain-bin prices (ughh.com, for example, still has copies four years later, now at a marked down red price). If you're an X-Clan fan or were still feeling Brother J when he came back with the Dark Sun Riders, then you'll definitely want this in your collection - this would be one of the best tracks on that album. And only "Weapon X" off their latest effort comes close to "The One."
Oh, and I almost forgot: they do have a myspace. There's a video up there now with Brother J saying he's working on a new album called Mainstream Outlaw - hopefully this one will be a little more like an X-Clan album and a little less like a Project Blowed compilation. They also have an official website at xclanmusic.com, which looks like it could use an update. ;)
*His contribution sounds nothing like the work of DJ Quik, anyway. I don't know how good X-Clan and DJ Quik could ever possibly sound together, but this is terrible. If I were them, I'd be demanding Quik send me the check back.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Mo' Lux
This is the debut single from Lux*, "Boom Box" b/w "Gangsta," that I mentioned in my last post. It came out in 1994 on Feature Recordings. Both tracks are produced by Steady B and "remixed and engineered" by DJ Miz. The A-side also features Steady B on the mic. "Boom Box" - in the liner notes, it's given the longer and preferable title, "Boom Box Material" - only comes in one version (well, except for an instrumental)... it's clean, but it sounds like the MCs are censoring themselves as they perform. Anyway, although there's a decent amount of curses they have to drop out, it's not too distracting. The beat's ok. It's a little cheapish sounding, but it's basically just a hardcore track for the Lux and Steady to spit over, so it serves its purpose. "Boom Box (Material)" is a dope song designed to introduce the world to Lux, and Steady shows he's still got it as well.
"Gangsta" is the same as the version that later appeared on the EP. Interestingly, though, the credits are a bit different. The EP says it's co-written by Steady B, Mizery and Dame Dollaz (who's credited as asistant engineer on the single); but this release gives sole writing credit to Levi Scott Jr. (I assume that's Lux). This single also gives Steady B production credit for the track, which he doesn't get on the EP. The EP does say it's co-produced by someone named Wycked (I'd guess not the guy who produced for 2Pac and Thug Life, but hey, you never know), though, who gets no mention on the single.
Anyway, whoever did what on it, "Gangsta"'s a dope song (in fact, it's the song I quoted in my The Man They Call Lux write-up). It starts out with a loop from The Godfather theme softly playing, which is then quickly overshadowed by a loud, banging track with some deep piano chords. The sample keeps playing in the background, though, filling in what few gaps the drums and Lux's vocals leave in the track.
The single features radio, street, instrumental and even acapella versions of "Gangsta," and the main and instrumental versions of "Boom Box." It's a dope 12" for anybody, and a must track-down for Lux fans fiending for more material.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
The Man They Call Lux
What do you get when you combine Freddie Foxxx and Steady B? You get Lux (that's a good thing). The Man They Call Lux is Lux's main release, although he had an earlier 12" single (featuring Steady B himself) and later did a few appearances. Lux came out of the overlooked indie Philly scene in the late 90's, and was produced by DJ Miz (as in Freshco & ______), here going by the name DJ Mizery.Now, there's two versions of this EP - the cassette version and the vinyl version, with different track-listings. The vinyl version has:
1. Just Enuff (Vocal)
2. Just Enuff (Instrumental)
3. Why? (Vocal)
4. Why? (Instrumental)
5. Street Playa
6. Baby (Instrumental)
7. Don't Give a...
...while the cassette version track-listing is this:
1. Intro
2. Jailhouse
3. Winna
4. Don't Give a...
5. Why?
6. Street Playa
7. Just Enuff
8. Gangsta
9. Outro
Saturday, April 19, 2008
(Werner Necro'd) It's 2099 - Jeru the Damaja Interview
You were just telling me you had a new project coming out, so...
Yeah, ay-ight, it's called "Safe Sex (Billie Jean)," you know what I'm sayin'? But it's not gonna come out on London. It's gonna come out on KnowSavage Records. And it's only gonna be on wax. Strictly for the DJs, so all the internet heads, who are DJs, that's how ya get it. Ya gotta call up or see it in a store around the way... It's gonna be in all the specialty stores. But it's not gonna be like CDs and cassettes.
You did that before with "Ya Playin' Yaself," right?
Yeah. I mean, some records are just for the DJs. I mean, not that it's not for everybody; it's just that when a DJ gets it, it goes that extra length. So, it's like I'm givin' 'em something special, 'cause they're trying to destroy the wax... the whole hip-hop thing. So, certain things I gotta do just for DJs just to keep that balance.
And KnowSavage Records, is that your label? Do you own it?
Yeah, that's my label. That's my own thing. I'm not crazy big or official or nothing like that; it's just my own thing. Small, little distribution. It's like that; tryin' to work it like that. This is aside from what I'm doin' with my album on London.
Do you know what the title on that is gonna be yet?
I know the title. The title of my album Armor of Gold, Dirter Dan Ever and that's solely produced by Jeru the Damaja. Now it's my turn. I mean, Premier's beats are hittin'. I hear there's, like, a lot of controversy, or people are talkin', but the only reason I'm not usin' Premier is because it's just time for Jeru the Damaja to do beats, you know what I'm sayin'? Some people are gonna love 'em, and some people are gonna hate 'em, but that's with anything in life.
Do you still consider yourself part of the Gangstarr Foundation at all, or is that kinda dead?
I mean, with Jeru and KnowSavage Productions, that's it. Sometimes you gotta go and start your own team. We all still cool and everything, as far as that goes, but as far as I'm doing my own thing and they're doing their own thing. You saw the new Gangstarr record, you saw who the new Gangstarr Foundation is. I'm Jeru the Damaja, doin' his thing.
Are you still working with Afu now? I know he's got his new single out...
Who? "Afu?" Oh, nah, he's got his own thing. He's out there working with a lot of different brothers I really don't know. I really can't speak on that. I'm just KnowSavage Productions, Jeru the Damaja. I'm doin' my girl, Miz Marvel, right here. We're getting ready to throw out a single on KnowSavage Records... another joint. She's also rhymin' on my album, and on the single that I'm doing, "Billie Jean," and the b-side is called, "Bitches With Dicks." And it's a joint that's got me, Miz Marvel, and my man L'il Dap from the Group Home. And, basically, that's it. So, support Jeru the Damaja. This is gonna be on the internet, right?
Yeah.
So everybody support Jeru the Damaja. He's trying to do his own thing. By the time this airs, my record'll be out. KnowSavage Productions. You just gotta look it up in the directory. It'll be there. KnowSavage Productions Incorperated. That's Jeru the Damaja. You see that, call me up. Find out where to get those records from. 'Cause what I'm doin' now is strictly for hip-hop. And, like I said, in a month or two, I'ma put out Miz Marvel's shit and do it like that; underground, strictly. Not the fake shit. This ain't about no Mo', no Benzes, or nothin'. It's about hip-hop. I mean, I'ma make my dough, no doubt. You should get paid for any work that you do. That's the law. You like to get paid for your job. But that's love. For all the brothers and sisters who love hip-hop, support Jeru the Damaja, go out and buy "Billie Jean" b-side, "Bitches With Dicks." Support hip-hop. It's for the real Jeru fans who want something new. If you're looking for the same exact thing as on my last two albums, then you can't get it. It's the same, but now it's some new futuristic shit. It's 2099. That shit I be on is 2099, not 1999.
So who're you listening to? 'Cause I remember on your last album, you kinda called out Foxy Brown... is there anyone big today, like on Hot 97 or whatever, that you would listen to?
Who do I like? I don't listen to Hot 97. I listen to the new 105. (Laughs) For real, if you really wanna know... Basically, Jeru the Damaja is the same as he's always been. Some people I like. I like all the regular heads... that's good. That know how to MC. But, to me, most everybody else is corny. And people gotta understand, too. It's not playa hatin'. 'Cause I don't hate. I'm happy when people make money and make a livin'. I hate corny. I'm a corny hata. If you're a playa, you're a player, if you say. But a playa don't spend. That's trickin', not pimpin'. So I can be a trick hata, you know? So, I don't know.
Anyway, off that subject. Like I said, mostly everybody to me, the artists who talk about they're the nicest and all of that, be really corny. They're ay-ight. I'm not knockin' 'em for what they're doin'. I don't envy, and that's another thing. I don't envy no other man, what no man has, or what no man is doing. I'm an opinionated person; that's it. And if my opinion is that it's corny, it's corny. If I like it, I like it. And, the reason with Foxy Brown and all that is, I mean, ain't nothin' to really say about that. I called it how I saw it. It wasn't nothin'. It was singin'. But, that's a girl. And a girl is gonna act like a girl. Plus, if you don't write your own rhymes like that, you can't battle.
And it's not like a motherfucker is mad a person's making money, 'cause I had a record deal years before that. I've been all over the world in spots that platinum artists haven't even touched that. I've done thousands of shows, you know? Professional. So it's ain't envy or anything like that. I read in a magazine, "Oh, he's just sayin' that to be bad." I'm not bad. You're just corny. That's it. It ain't like that. I just call it like that. I said, "With all that big gun talk, you're playin' yaself." And motherfuckers like, "Oh, Jeru's a playa hata." but that same year, you see, niggas get killed. And I said it's gonna happen. 'Cause you're playin' yaself. You can't be a certain way and expect certain things. It's not gonna happen. Like me. I don't be claim to be the most perfect or the most righteous. To a certain level, I do shady shit. Not intentionally. Not with malice in my heart. But I know that, and I know the consequences. I know if I do something shady, the consequences of something shady happening to me are more likely.
You mentioned battling... Are you still down for battling?
If you try to pull your sword out on me, than I have to battle you. Any mic, with whatever MC is there. It don't matter if they're selling one million, or one record, ya understand? On the mic, it's mic domination. That's it.
Even though it's been a while since your last album, you've been doing projects, like Walkin' Large and Rae & Christian... some pretty diverse stuff. How'd you hook up with those?
Like I said, Jeru the Damaja, I'm worldwide like that. I've been to spots that heads ain't really been. So, dudes out in Germany know me like that. So they could call me up. And Rae & Christian, I know those dudes in Grand Central, down in Manchester, 'cause I flow through there. So they call me up, like, "What's up?" And I'm like, "Cool." If I like what they're doin', then I'll fuck with it. If not, I don't.
Ay-ight... It's kinda old news, but you just wanna touch on, real quick, the Fugee thing? Where they're talking about you on the record and such-and-such.
I mean, it's like this, man. All that type shit, I ain't really got nothin' to say about, 'cause can't none of them can burn me MCing. That's really the bottom line. you can sell a million records, you can have a million bitches, whatever. But, you can't burn me MCin?, bottom line. That's what I'm sayin', as far as all of that. If motherfuckers really want to take that to a level, let's just battle.
You said, on your last album, your label kinda fucked up your project's momentum, on "Too Perverted"...
Right.
What'd you mean by that? What happened?
I mean labels don't really know what the fuck they're doing. They just don't listen to a brother. Because, the status that I got, the sales don't reflect. So, obviously, it's not me, 'cause I'm not the one selling the record, or marketing the record, or promoting the record.
Right, ok. So, real quick, you went on tour for a long time with DJ Shadow, Latryx... What was it like touring with them, out west? It's not the type of groups that people might associate you with.
I mean, I tour with all types of heads. I'm alternative, but still underground. I'm regular, but I'm still alternative. I appeal to an alternative, college crowd. So, really, the crowd was mine, anyway. It wasn't different than nothing. Those were the crowds I appeal to, the college crowd, the white crowd. It's not just like for the boys in the hood. It's for everybody from the boys in the hood to the Filipino kids... Whoever. They like Jeru the Damaja for bringing conscious lyrics. It's just hip-hop. No matter what it sounds like, it?s hip-hop. It's no gimmick. It's no nothin', just hip-hop. And they like that. They feel that. They feel that, because that's culture. That's the way I live my life everyday. And that's what hip-hop is. Culture. It's not a fad, and the kids respect that. I got culture in my shit, and the culture that I have is gonna spread out. And that's it. So, playin' with DJ Shadow wasn't nothin'. I'm bringing my culture.
Today, Jeru is still doing his thing. His latest album, Still Rising, just came out this past October on Ashenafi Records, plus he just did a stint on Ill Bill's latest album. And of course, he has a myspace page. Miz Marvel changed her name to Omega, which she's mostly been ghost-writing pop songs as, though she also did a track for a compilation album called Queendom vol. 1 last year..If she has a myspace, though, I can't find it.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Hot Garbage
In this blog I harshly criticize a dead record by an independent MC. I usually avoid this kinda post, because struggling, starving artists don't need more negativity thrown at them - I'd much rather spotlight a dope or at least interesting record that hasn't gotten much attention... But this album annoyed me enough that I don't care, and more importantly: it answers the question "what's that album listed on your 3rd Bass page," which I've actually had 2 e-mails about.This is the 2005 debut album by a guy named Hot Karl on Headless Horses Records, The Great Escape. I didn't know who he was, either. Like a year or so ago, I was googling around for some info on MC Serch's unreleased ridiculously titled M.any Y.oung L.ives A.go: The 1994 Sessions album (mp3-only doesn't count as released, you hear me, Serch? No vinyl is bad enough, but at least put out some CDs!)... and an EBay listing popped up for this album featuring MC Serch. So, I looked around and ordered it from Amazon for a penny (note the hole-punch in the scan). I listened to it once, updated my 3rd Bass page and put it away. Tonight, I've taken it out for my second listen and to blog about it.
So, it turns out Hot Karl is the guy on the left-hand side of the album cover holding the puppy. He's one of the billions of rappers who rap about how they're the only rapper who's against the "bling" clichés of hip-hop (hence the album cover). And he's all about pop culture punchlines. I actually realized when the CD arrived that I had heard Hot Karl before - he was on a DJ Rectangle 12" with Eminem called "You Must Be Crazy" with Dree. You could really stop the record after Eminem's verse, but Hot Karl was passable (and for the record, Dree was wack. So's the hook. Seriously, just download Em's 40-second verse onto your IPod).
Now I believe that track was originally meant to be on Hot Karl's debut album, Your Housekeeper Hates You. He was signed to Interscope and had a whole other album with appearances by people like Redman, Fabulous and Mya, which was shelved because the guy's essentially a novelty act (though a couple of the bigger guest spot tracks were white-labeled)... and Karl later put out the album, radio-blended into a mixCD called Industry Standards to promote The Great Escape. And I'm not one of those guys who says every white MC sounds like Eminem, but this guy really does sound exactly like an Eminem knock-off.
The album starts out with the MC Serch collaboration. It's a duet with Serch playing an A&R trying to talk Karl into selling out by "going jiggy," but Hot Karl stands firm for his principles. Karl makes some jokes about Serch's career, and it turns into a pure "Guilty Conscience" rip-off ("it's becoming obvious why Pete Nice kicked you out"). He's got songs like "Butter-face," which makes fun of ugly girls and of course he name dorps a lot of female celebrities, and "Kerk Gybson" a reminiscence (list) of 80's pop culture references, like Pac-Man and The Facts of Life sitcom (that one's even in the hook). "Suburban Superstar" is a horrible dance track all about how he's from the suburbs with one of many lame R&B choruses... it's like some horrible, ODB-less follow-up to Pras's "Ghetto Superstar" from the Bulworth soundtrack. "Back/Forth" is a song with a female MC named Boobie Poquito (no fooling) making 3rd grades jokes about his sexual prowess. His album is also full of skits, too, all "humorously" touting his artistic credibility, where an A&R tries to talk him into selling out in various ways and he stands firm. But it's hard to imagine anything more commercial and trite than the content he's already filled his Great Escape with.
All in all, the production on this album is super annoyingly poppy (though 9th Wonder provides one decent track towards the end), and full of cheesy hooks by studio singers. Each song and skit feels like they're playing to the same gimmicky image, and his snarky, jokey delivery will all make you wish bad things on him. A few of his punchlines are amusing, but mostly you get one random pop culture reference after another mixed with embarrassingly juvenile humor. In fact, while he's definitely doing the Eminem thing (I don't care what he says in interviews I've just googled; the man is borrowing from Em)... he's actually more along the lines of Tom Green or Jamie Kennedy. "Circle Circle Dot Dot" sounds like it was ripped straightoff this album.
The one plus side is that he wrote really nice liner notes talking about each song on the album... the anecdotes (did you know Ali Dee, who produced "Back/Forth" on this album was the voice yelling "Can't Truss It" on Public Enemy's single?) and explanations are fun and engaging, although the bit where he explains how two of the songs are inspired by David Lynch's Mulholland Drive is ridiculously pretentious. But for the most part they actually kinda make you like the guy and feel bad for hating the man's music so much.
And yeah, Hot Karl does have a myspace... there's a video up on it of his final performance, because he's quit hip-hop (no comment). He talks about how he started rapping as a gag (not news once you've heard his material) and makes a lot of punchlines about Interscope ("if you're not laughing, then you don't get the joke. And if you don't, then you should work for Interscope" etc). He does have a book he's selling, which - unsurprisingly - is a collection of 1980's pop culture references. It also lists his homepage as HotKarl.com, but apparently it's a porn site now (so no link - type it into the browser yourself, pervs). ...Anyway, now you know what that last Serch guest-spot is.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Before Marrying Kool G Rap...
Before she married Kool G. Rap and changed her name to Ma Barker of the 5 Family Click, Satina Pearce was known as Shaqueen. I first heard of her through Shabazz the Disciple in '96-'97. In fact, when I interviewed him in '97, he brought her with him, hyped up her upcoming album (which didn't come out) and hit me up with a copy of her first single.Sadly, a lot of that interview has been lost, but I do have a portion of it, which I'll probably post as a Necro one of these days. In the meantime, here's a small excerpt where he answers when I ask if Shaqueen will be involved with the Celestial Souljahz - him, Freestyle, Killah Priest and some others he was down with - collaborative album he was working on (which also didn't come out... the indie hip-hop scene is full of disappointment, I tells ya): "Well, she's gonna be involved... I mean, we're all involved. I just started working with them [Shaqueen and another MC they were down with, named Omen]. And, on the new album, Omen is featured on the same song I'm featured on. So, we're all touring together, we got tight. We networked. And then, you know, my man Baby J's album is coming out. You know, I asked him to be on that and bring Shaqueen, 'cause I always loved her stuff. The family's just getting tighter. The links... It's just all links in a chain."
So this is that single. "Just Because" b/w "Shaqueen Rules" on Mighty Music. The A-side is a pretty blah attempt at a crossover radio hit. The hook is a play off of DJ Quik's "Mo' Pussy" changing "just because I didn't say that I wanted to fuck, don't mean that I don't want to... Just cause you didn't say, that you wanted to suck don't mean that you don't want to," to "Just because I got a man and I'm not your boo, doesn't mean that I don't want you. Just because you got a girl and she's your boo, don't mean that I can't run through." It sounds better on paper, though - the delivery of this hook is definitely nowhere near as fun as 2nd II None's hook for Quik, and the R&B singer she has echoing her lines doesn't help much. Omen comes in to drop the perfunctory "male perspective" verse (look what you started, Positive K!), but it doesn't liven up the proceedings too much. In fact, since Shaqueen's material is better written, another verse from her would've been preferable.
But it doesn't really matter, because once you listen to the B-side, you'll never play the A again, anyway. It's just Shaqueen spitting hardcore freestyle rhymes over an unassuming beat. Omen (and The Death Tribe!) appears again to spit the hook, but fortunately he stays out of her way for each verse. There's also a nice little bit of scratching, cutting up a Slick Rick vocal sample. Her lyrics are tight and her delivery is vicious - this is still probably the best record she's ever done.
Both tracks were produced by Tony T, who did some production for late-era Cold Chillin' releases by artists like Kool G Rap and Roxanne Shanté. He was no Large Professor, but I think his work is a little underrated. Each song features clean, dirty, instrumental and dirty acapella versions; and as you can see in the scan, the original sleeve is a sticker cover. So it's a quality little release.
Shaqueen put out a few more guest verses (appearing on the Baby J album Shabazz mentioned with Omen, Big Daddy Kane's Veteranz' Day and even a Gerald Levert album) before getting down with Kool G Rap, and doing a lot of collaborations with him under her new name. A couple years ago she announced an album titled Wife Of a Don: Unforgiven Sins, to be released 4th quarter of 2006. That didn't happen (maybe she was too distracted by the drama with G Rap's ex and her book), but she still has a myspace with tracks up, including a diss track to said ex/author.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Platinum Is Fundamental
Platinum Ice Records is a new label co-owned by AB Money and Easy Moe Bee* ...which means you're pretty much guaranteed to get a lot of top-shelf production, giving them a nice head start on every other new label just coming out the starting gate. And this is their first release, a compilation label "sampler." The track-listing on the CD is kinda incomplete with the credits (and, yeah, there's no artwork at all, except a small "Platinum Ice" sticker on the back)... so for the sake of completion and my own convenience, I'm posting the full album track-listing, crediting every artists. I can't find production credits, though - they don't all sound like Easy Moe Bee's work. Anyway, here it is:1. Ms Quick: You Should Have Known By Now
2. Ms Quick ft. Big Bub: Alright
3. Jay the Bossfather ft. AB Money, Smooth B and Swift: VIP
4. Jay the Bossfather: Boss In the Trap
5. Jay the Bossfather ft. AB Money, Mac A Don and (BU) Born Unfortunate: Keep It
6. (BU) Born Unfortunate ft. AB Money and Josi Wellz: Gab Gotcha
7. (BU) Born Unfortunate ft. Jay the Bossfather and AB Money: It's On
8. Tiger: It Ain't Cool
9. Tiger: Who I Am
10. Josi Wellz ft. (BU) Born Unfortunate: Roll Slow
11. Josi Wellz ft. Jay the Bossfather: What It Do
It's mostly straight hip-hop, but it opens with two tracks by R&B singer Ms. Quick... she's pretty good, and the instrumental for the first song is fantastic! Seriously, if this blog gets you to do nothing else, at least download that one song (they have one of those .99 per track download things on their myspace, which I link to below). I haven't been this into a straight R&B song since, like, The House Party soundtrack. Ha ha But, yeah; it's really dope. The second song is pretty bland, though. But after that, until you get to the two Tiger songs near the end (blah!), it's all straight hip-hop. Actually, I say "straight hip-hop," but there is a lot of singing on the hooks and what-not - not unlike what we used to hear from the Rappin Is Fundamental members who founded the label. In fact, a lot of times it's AB Money himself (which is frankly the reason I bought the CD).
The next song is the stand-out of the album, "VIP." Smooth Bee (yes, that one) does a verse and comes off slick. The instrumental sounds a little "fake, studio instrumenal"y (which in this day and age of fear of sampling, is all too rampant), but it still sounds good, and AB's constant background vocals and hook really elevate it.
Unfortunately, the rest of the album never really reaches those heights again... it's consistently OK. All the new MCs are fine but don't really stand out (from other rappers in the game today, or even from each other), except for Josi Wellz. He does a slow hip-hop sing-songy thing which is pretty cool but definitely dependent on getting solid production behind him (which he has on this sampler - I recommend you check out "Roll Slow").
More recently, PI Records just sent out an mp3 to everyone on their mailing list - the latest song by Jay the Bossfather, featuring Cappadonna, Masta Killer and AB Money (though AB's just on the hook, unfortunately) over a dope beat by Easy Moe Bee. It's fresh, but they only sent the clean version, which is fine until the third verse, which just becomes an unlistenable, edited mess. Guess we'll have to wait for the album.
He's also got some other songs on his myspace, including one with Grandmaster Caz, which is pretty dope. Jay isn't bad, but you can't help but wish Easy Moe Bee, AB and all these dope guest MCs would cut out the middle man and do a record together, instead of putting all that music and energy into playing a back-up role for this new guy. They could even give this guy a couple unwarranted guest spots, if they wanted, just to promote his upcoming project. Like I said, he's not bad. He's just kind of generic and unexceptional... he doesn't have the delivery of AB, the clever lyricism of Caz or the charisma of Masta Killer. Hell, they should just call up JR and put out the next seriously overdue RIF album.
Still, whatever they do, there's some real talent behind this label. Even the weakest tracks (well, except some of the R&B) are decent and will get your head nodding if it's playing wherever you are. They've definitely at least got my attention for what they're going to do next, which I'm sure is what this sampler was designed to do. If you want to check them out, too; the official site for Platinum Ice is platinumicerecords.com, and here's that myspace I mentioned (Jay's and the other PI artists' pages are linked in the Top Friends). Have fun. =)
*Along with two other guys who I don't think are involved in the music end.
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