Cocaine Blunts Vs. Werner Von Wallenrod

Woohoo! It has landed - the year-end issue of Hip-Hop Connection magazine (January '09, issue #230 with L'il Wayne on the cover for those on the lookout), that features this very blog you're now reading. :) By the way, I had a devil of a time getting an issue here in New Jersey, so thanks very much again to a nice guy who was generous enough to mail me a copy from Europe.

It's a nice, four-page piece written by Andrew Emery called "Hip-Hop Blog World Cup," which picks the top 16 hip-hop blogs and pits us against each other. There's commentary on each blog by the writer, as well as by the other bloggers (we were all interviewed in advance). So the article writes, "Werner's unique approach to obscure hip-hop and compellingly strange video essays take the blog into new territory" (hehe), and then like Trav of Wake Your Daughter Up says about me, "If all of us old school bloggers held a Jeopardy type tournament, Werner would crush us all." Man, I loves this article.

So, we're then pit up against each other in pairs. As you may've guessed from the title, I was rivaled off with Cocaine Blunts, which is some stiff comp... I said (an unused quote, which makes this like a bonus, unreleased 12" b-side to the full mag article LP), "CB closed down for a minute, but I'm so glad it's back. Noz is one of the best hip-hop writers.” But then, I guess there's not really anyone in the piece that I'd want to have to dual it out with. That's why I'm glad that outside of this article, it's not a competition - I'm honored just to be on the same page as these guys, and every single one of them is in my Reader.

We're also quoted throughout the article talking about each other's blogs like this on Soul Sides, "Werner Von Wallenrod sums it up best: 'Knowledgeable, well-written blog… too much about the music used to make hip-hop than actual hip-hop music for my tastes; but they’re definitely authorities on what they write about.'" Here are a couple more bonus ones of mine that aren't in final the article:

Unkut - "Sometimes gets a little lazy just posting random mp3's, but has done some of the best interviews in any hip-hop blog, ever... getting to the hearts of stories most hip-hop writers aren't knowledgeable enough to even ask about."

Nah Right - "Basically just news aggregation, I guess; but does so much (you can scroll through pages of old posts and they'll still be from today!), that Nah Right's become a pretty definitive source."

Bust the Facts - "When all the other mp3 blogs seem to be reading from the same playbook, ripping and posting the same albums; BtF always finds what all the others have overlooked. And posts a lot."

Dallas Penn - "Does the best video blogs: funny, sincere and smart."

Hip-Hop Isn't Dead... - "Great track-by-track reviews, and lots of them! Respects the greats (esp the Wu), without being blind to their shortcomings."

So yeah, check out the issue to read the whole thing, including who beat out who, and which blogger ultimately won the Hip-Hop Blog World Cup. I also found some other nice bits in the same issue to sweeten the pot, including a great big piece on The Cookie Crew, a fun interview with Russell Simmons, a cool little editorial piece on Kool G. Rap and a substantial Top Choice Clique interview. ...Why can't we have magazines like this in the US?

The Fresh Prince Meets Doo-Wop

Here's one that's probably for the hardcore collector's only, but it's kinda fun if you're willing to be seen walking out of the record store with this. "When the Radio Is On" is the single off of Paul Shaffer (yes, David Letterman's bandleader... that Paul Shaffer)'s debut album, Coast To Coast. It came out in 1989 and it's of interest because it features Ecstasy of Whodini and The Fresh Prince (who otherwise never dropped guest verses). The album was sort of a compilation, where Shaffer went around the world (or at least different parts of the US) and collaborated with all types of famous musicians; and because it was the 80's, of course his New York song had to be a rap song!

It's not that terrible, though, in a hodge-podge kind of way. It starts out like a doo-wop song, but Ecstasy quickly comes on to kick the first verse, and from then on it's a flat-out rap song with a sung chorus. The Fresh Prince rhymes second, and at first comes off as well as he was doing on his own records, but after a few lines the lyrics stop sounding like they were written by him (indeed, he doesn't get a writing credit; but then rappers often didn't get writing credit for their lyrics back in the 80's), when he says lines like, "my first romance, ooh we used to dance to the man with the blue suede shoes." So, a young Will Smith and his first girlfriend started out dancing to Carl Perkins is what you're asking us to believe? Perhaps that line was originally intended for Shaffer, who actually takes the final verse for himself. That he comes off as the weakest link should go without saying to anybody within a mile of this blog, especially since he shouts every single word of his verse, but at least he's energetic.

And the instrumental is listenable enough. It's co-produced by Whodini's producer Larry Smith, Shaffer of course (Smith and Shaffer both also play the keyboards here), and Russell Simmons. It's got a healthy dose of live instrumentation by genuinely talented musicians and vocalists like singer/songwriters Johnny Maestro, Jay Siegel, Dion, Carole King and Ellie Greenwich. And everyone just sounds so awfully damn enthusiastic singing about how much they enjoy listening to the radio.

Now, I'd actually been half-heartedly looking for this one for a while (not too hard, 'cause you know), but could never remember the title. I just remembered seeing this live on The David Letterman Show, when Paul Shaffer did a big production number to promote his new record (naturally), and it featured The Fresh Prince and Daddy-O of Stetsasonic. Daddy-O was performing because Ecstasy was unable to attend (I still remember Letterman joking that "Ecstasy is in agony"), and a couple of the other vocalists were swapped around, too. But I finally found this 12" in somebody's dollar stock (where it belongs), so I had to pick it up: "that's that's song!" Then, once I got it home and knew what the title was, I did an online search, and found the original Letterman clip is on Youtube (but minus the Ecstasy joke - I guess that came later in the episode).

Now, the 12" features five different mixes: The Big City Beat Mix, the Def & Dum Dub, The GoGo-A-GoGo Instrumental, Acappella and The Single. The one dubbed the single is the one from the album (I think it was also subtitled "The Single" there to showcase that it was, yaknow, the singlem which makes a little more sense). The Big City Beat Mix is an interesting alternative mix... it brings in some different musicians, most notably Jeff Lorber on keyboards (a lot of people with a lot of Grammys worked on this single!) , and goes for a less pop music-y vibe (though, of course, all variations of this song are inherently extremely poppy). The GoGo-A-GoGo instrumental is a bit different than the actual instrumentals to any of the other versions, but it's close to the Big City Beat Mix and features the same credits. The Acappella is self-explanatory.

Finally, there's the Def & Dum Dub, a version mixed by Larry Smith. Despite being called a dub version, it features full vocals; but most of the instruments are stripped away or turned into short sampled loops. This works to make it easily the most hip-hop sounding version of the song, though, in the case of a tune like this, I'm not sure if that's even preferable. Still, all told, the different mixes are varied enough that all five versions in a row hold together as an acceptable little listen when you're in the mood for something upbeat and goofy.

2009: Year Of the Juice Crew EP

It's here! The Juice Crew E.P. is the sixth vinyl release from DWG (and the third release from Hot Chillin' Records). It's limited to 350 copies, in four different vinyl colors (mine's blue). It features five incredible, vintage unreleased songs by Juice Crew All-Stars straight from Marley Marl's vaults, and all produced by Marley himself.

The first song is "I Declare War" by Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, recorded during the Road To the Riches sessions. The press sheet points out that Marley declared this "iller than 'It's a Demo'" during their listening sessions, and it definitely gives that song a run for it's money. The instrumental sounds a little cluttered with noise, but hits no less hard for it, and DJ Polo is really given a chance to shine on the tables during the hook. And G Rap just spits one vicious line after another:

"Old school is cool,
But I'm better than veterans.
My rhymes are vitamins,
The baddest they ever been.
MCs will freeze;
I make G's go overseas;
Records and movies,
Polo is Cool Breeze.
Ready for war
With a rap knapsack
On my back;
White or black,
G Rap will attack.
To destroy anything
Seen or an unseen,
Like Idi Amin,
You know what I mean.
Helter skelter
With no bomb shelter,
Rhymes will explode;
This beat is a Morse code.
Quiverin', shiverin',
Rappers ran again;
I make 'em panic and
Stand like a mannequin.
It is a fact
My mic'll be an artifact;
You get a heart attack
Any time I start a rap.
You want more
From a man with a high score?
That's what I'm here for;
Yo, I declare war!"

The next track is "Stunt Of the Block" by the Super Kids (as in Tragedy, the Intelligent Hoodlum), recorded the same week as "Eric B. Is President" and "The Bridge." There's a reason he was billed as a super kid, though; if you've never heard his super early recordings, you're familiar with the "Teen Voice Tragedy." But don't get it twisted, his voice works, sounding really raw against the big, old school Marley beat and constant cutting, while he preaches at a young girl, "gettin' in bed while you're punchin' a clock? Don't even try to front 'cause you're the stunt of the block."

Track three is one that Stretch Armstrong revealed to the world last year on his blog: Big Daddy Kane's long lost, "For Your Own Concern." Of course, this - like all the other tracks on this EP - is a clean, top quality pressing taken from Marley's original masters, a nice improvement over the old (but much appreciated!) radio rip. "For Your Own Concern" was intended for Long Live the Kane, "but somehow never made it" according to the press sheet. It's a little slow and features a few rhymes Kane later recycled (though there's a lot of nice unheard material on-hand, too!); so to me this is the weakest song on here, but it's still a great example of early Kane that would easily merit a place on his best albums.

Fourth is another Kool G Rap & Polo cut called "Enter the Dragon." An alternate version of "Enter the Dragon" was released to the public in 1996, when Cold Chillin' put out the Rated XXX/ Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous compilation to finish out their contract with the label. That version was cool. but it sounds like a corny, in-house producer remix that sloppily meshes an old vocal track to a new instrumental, compared to the original included here. This is a totally different instrumental using Joe Tex's "I Gotcha" and some more nice scratching by Polo on the hook. He may even have managed to steal the show from Kool G Rap on this one, which is certainly saying something! You can go ahead and dismiss the Rated XXX version now as a novel curiosity piece for completist fats only; this version is clearly the definitive version of this rap masterpiece.

Last, we have probably the least anticipated - and as such, the sweetest surprise - Craig G's "Drop a Bomb On 'Em." This is really nice. His flow over this beat is Craig at his best; standing right alongside "Droppin' Science." From the line, "a lot of feelings were hurt when I dropped 'Duck Alert," though, we can assume this was made shortly after In Control vol. 1. I'd guess it was recorded for The Kingpin, and then left off because Atlantic needed to make room for the house and love jams, so they excised one of the nicest tracks. But whatever fool was responsible for keeping this gem from the public, DWG has finally corrected that.

Let me end with this drool-worthy quote from the press sheet, "when we were at a loss for a final song to include on this project, Marley came up with five or six different options - each as dope as the next. Which, of course, begs the question, 'when is Juice Crew EP Vol. 2 gonna drop?'" ::shudder::

Cause Marley Can Do It Righter

^^(Video blog!)
(B-side wins again.)

Whata Ya Want fur Nuthin'?

Let me start off my saying I haven't really been keeping up with the EPMD comeback hype, but what I have heard of their new reunion album, We Mean Business, (the CD is already out now; the vinyl drops later this month) was pretty respectable. So when I saw this second single (following the "Blow" 12", which came out ages ago) being offered as a freebie with any purchase from accesshiphop.com, I threw it in the cart. That single is "Run It (Remix)."

Now, from what I understand (feel free to correct me in the comments if I'm wrong; like I said, I haven't followed too closely), "Run It" was one of several tracks promotionally leaked onto the internet in advance of the album. The beat (self-produced by EPMD like most of the album) was cool, but response was a little underwhelming. So this was later leaked again, as a remix. The beats and rhymes were the same, but they added a new verse by Krs-1 at the end (he also threw in some ad-libs behind Eric and Parrish's vocals). That version was better received, and that's what finally wound up on the album.

Well, this single makes the bizarre choice to go back to the non-Krs 1 version. It's brought to you by Scion, the same car company(?) that put out that kinda cool Big Daddy Kane/Percee-P collabo last year. Supposedly you can hear samples of all their hip-hop promo singles on their website, but I can't get it to do anything but crash my browser.

So anyway, you've got three remixes here: the "Herve's Got His Hands Up Remix" by Joshua Harvey, the "Sinden Remix" by Graeme Sinden and the "Duke Dumont Mix" by Duke Dumont. No, I've never heard of any of those guys, either. And I'll tell you straight off, the first two remixes are crap. Can I just leave it at that? I guess I shouldn't.

Ok, well, any element you liked about the original instrumental is out - the ill piano looop right down to the hip-hop drums. Both remixes use typical club beats instead, and just use a different sample set on top. Harvey's variation is an irritating collage of straight-off-the-laptop sounds. He also rips out all the vocals, and just endlessly drops in a few repeating vocal samples from Sermon's verse. It's sort of a cross between the sounds of a construction site and a dentist's drill.

Sinden's remix, on the other hand, is like you might expect to hear in a London dance club, if you're an American who's never been overseas and has the worst possible opinion of Europeans. He also spends a lot of time looping short snippets of Sermon's verse, but eventually lets P's verse play through, albeit often chopped and juggled. I'm sure you've heard every sound on this mix in other dance club mixes, and you hated them then, too. I was left wanting to break up with my girlfriend for making me experience this, but then I realized I subjected myself to this.

Fortunately, Duke Dumont's remix is on a substantially higher level. I mean, it's not great; but compared to the other two it's like vintage Paul C. For one, it's back to being a hip-hop verse, with real drums and EPMD both actually spitting their verses (though still no Krs). It sounds like something you might randomly catch on Hot 97 in the evening. The hook is reduced to simply the phrase "Hands Up" looped a few times, but it's passable. Dumont adds some cool, Egyptian-sounding musical elements and marries them fairly well to the track - it's even catchy, but it kinda sounds like this track would fit a lot of artists better than EPMD.

In the end, though, the clear winner is the album version - which, for the record, isn't included here - followed by the promotional leak that wound up being rendered obsolete. But Duke Dumont's version isn't terrible, and you might finding yourself revisiting it every couple of years as a curiosity piece, if you've got the single in your collection. At least it's free.

A Nightmare On Elm Street rap, part 3.1

^^(Video blog!)
(I had to go in one last time and finish up the last detail.)

More On Vinyl Sales

The underrated KnowGoodMusic just posted this article (which I linked over in my "Best Blog Posts" section), with more about vinyl sales going up while CD sales continue to decline. I suggest you also read his source articles from Wendy Day and The Associated Press. Let me point a few details out:

First, the non-vinyl (from AP), "Lil Wayne had the year's top-selling album, 'Tha Carter III,' with 2.87 million units sold... The top selling digital artist was Rihanna with 9.94 million tracks sold, followed by Swift and Kayne West." Souljah Boy may've just accused Nas of killing hip-hop, but it still seems to be dominating the sales charts.

Now, let's look at the vinyl (also from AP). First the good news, "Ironically, as digital downloads grew, vinyl album sales also climbed. In 2008, more vinyl albums were purchased (1.88 million) than any other year since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991." Woot! Right? So how come all our hip-hop labels and artists are bypassing vinyl presses now of all times?

Well, let's read a bit further, "More than two of every three vinyl albums were purchased at an independent music store during the year, the company reported. The top selling vinyl albums were Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' (26,000 units), the Beatles' 'Abbey Road' (16,500) and Guns 'N Roses' 'Chinese Democracy' (13,600)." This really just seems to confirm my theory I've been building for a while now, based on my armchair research and discussions with artists and indie label owners online. For whatever reason - whether you blame the mp3 blogs, the urban economic demographic or whatever - wax is on the rise in every genre except hip-hop, the one genre that used to be the only ones holding it down.

Why is that? I don't know. The theories have certainly been tossed around and around, and it won't amount to much than that until somebody grows the balls to test a few of them. But it certainly seems to be true that none of the major hip-hop players are marketing/ advertising towards the vinyl side of things, or even acknowledging that it exists (you'd think at least Vestax or somebody would spring for a few XXL ads, right?). Instead, they seem to be deadset focused on chasing those dwindling CD sales down the tubes and becoming ringtone rappers. And that feels like everybody's loss.

Update 1/12/09: I'm refraining from making a whole new blog post on the subject, but here are a couple more links with some very interesting info on the rise of (apparently non-hip-hop) vinyl:
Will Merriweather Post Pavilion Vinyl Sales Land It On Billboard Charts? - Click through that article to a write-up on the same subject on MTV.com, too - a vinyl-only double album hitting the Billboard charts in '09!
Radiohead, Neutral Milk Hotel Help Vinyl Sales Almost Double In 2008 - The title says "almost double," but in the article, they go on to specify "89 percent more LPs were sold last year than in ‘07." Again, click through that article to another of theirs called "Vinyl Returns!"

The Mini Chandelier

Today we have Canadian producer Factor's The Chandelier EP, from his full-length album, also dubbed The Chandelier, that came out this August on his own label, Side Road Records. This EP conveniently collects the best vocal tracks with the most notable MCs, and leaves off all the boring instrumental stuff.

As you can see, it's a 7" picture disc on Ooohh That's Heavy Recordings, a label that specializes in limited 7" edition picture discs. And, yeah, this is limited, too. 500 copies were made; but that's beginning to feel like an appropriate, regular run on hip-hop vinyl these days. So, it's six solo songs by an eclectic collection of guests: "More Rude Than Handsome" by Awol One (California), "Time Of the Year" by Sadat X (New York), "The Leen" by Josh Martinez (Canada), "Good Old Smokey (My Kanine)" by Mykah Nine (California), "Pray" by Ceschi (Connecticut) and "Out Of the Same Thing" by The Gaff (Canada).

Like you'd expect from a Freestyle Fellowship veteran, Mykah gets creative with his flow, this time using a quick staccato delivery to contrast with the slow beat. Each sylable is deliberately pronounced, fitting in between rather than over each piano note, chopped vocal sample and drum hit. I get the impression both the MC and the producer were making a showcase track here.

Awol One, on the other-hand, goes for a sing-songy hook and a very relaxed flow for his verses/ The beat features driving power chords, rolling piano riffs, and a snare-heavy drum. The production is amazingly effective at making Awol's verses sound distinct and important, and he's written his unique brand of lyrics and dramatic pauses for the tune: "People and passion die inside. Your friends are just dorks and losers; my friends are incredible people that change peoples' lives. And my friends they influence the world. Your friends are just little drunk boys and girls with big dreams that they'll never carry out." He doesn't quite bring his A-game in the writing, which is a shame because the track is going all out for him, but the combination of the music and his delivery still make this a worthwhile Awol One venture.

Ceschi and Josh Martinez also go for sing-songy hooks. I don't know if Factor's beats just naturally inspire that type of hook, or if he specifically requests it. It doesn't sound out of place at all for Josh, who's upbeat number sounds like it could be lifted right off any of his recent albums, but Ceschi sounds like he's auditioning for The Eurythmics or something. It's certainly interesting, with a simple guitar loop, strong bassline and keyboards that sound like they're straight out of a Lucio Fulci film - but he leaves hip-hop a little too far behind for my tastes.

That's not a problem for Sadat's track, though. With sharp, horn-like keyboard stabs and a chopped vocal sample, care was clearly taken here to make Sadat sound at home on this track. But there's still enough piano and guitar here to make this exercise stand out from your typical Sadat X album filler. My only disappointment here is that it's too short - just 2:04... Sadat really only kicks one (nice) verse. If he'd just added one more, this could've be a successful single for Sadat to coincide with his new album.

Finally, The Gaff's contribution is a short DJ track. He cuts up various vocal samples as Factor adds and subtracts one musical element after another. The actual cutting is unexceptional, but it all adds up to a nice little interlude, anyway.

So, all in all, it's a solid EP. The best moments, the ones you'll find yourself going back to, are when the guests really manage to keep up with the producer. The rest is definitely passable, and will easily keep your head nodding if you've got it playing in the background. Bottom lime: they've made an affordable EP (and as a bonus, they've made it a cool picture disc) so you can skip the clunkier full-length. Definitely worth picking up for the highlights.

Hogs Leicht

So, we're nearing the end of another year, here... my last couple posts have been about newer releases (even if some are new releases of older music), and I'm gonna stick with that 'till the end of the year. There's still plenty of new stuff that needs to get some shine. And since last post was Grand Invincible, I'm gonna stick with the theme and do talk a bit about a sorely overlooked release from Sacred Hoop.

"Hogs of Rap" is a 12" release limited to 500 copies, but not "collector's priced" like the other limited edition I was writing about before. It's "handmade, stamped and screen-printed," and comes in the unusual picture cover shown above. This is the first release on Smooth Triumph Records... I'm not sure who runs that, exactly; but their press-sheet does say to "be on the look out for more 'vinyl only' releases from your favorite label: Smooth Triumph," so apparently they have more in store. Their motto is "breakin' even in this rap game."

"Hogs of Rap" is the first single off of Sacred Hoop's totally underrated Go Hogwild album, which I called possibly the best album of the year in '07. It's an epic posse cut, clocking in at over 11 minutes. It features Jihad, Eddie K, Brandon B, Conceit, TopR, Z-Man and of course Luke Sick over a series of Vrse Murphy's beats. Yeah, the track changes for each MC's verse. It's practically 7 separate songs with all different vocal and musical samples and distinct breaks between segments (Jihad's features a nice, altered use of the sample from Atmosphere's "Jackpot" and Eddie K's features guest scratching by DJ Quest), but somehow they all come together to make one ill cut of MC's representing both their collective crew and their own distinctive selves. Each instrumental effectively pulls you into the MC's world, who uses his unique style; and everyone involved brings their A game. It's damn fresh.

This 12" also features the full instrumental and two collections of "Acapella Scratch Phrases," where various lines from every MC are dropped acapella for DJing purposes. It actually came out at the tail end of '07 but was mostly just available at their shows. I don't know how many are left, but as of this writing, you can get it online direct off of Sacred Hoop's myspace.

While you're there, you can pick up Vrse's new instrumental album, Sport Leicht. It includes the instrumentals for all of Go Hogwild, plus a few new instrumentals ("Matador," "Cantana" and "Perfect Game"), unique to this album. And besides the new single and upcoming album from Grand Invincible mentioned in my last post, Sacred Hoop have a couple other projects in the work. Their next album they're working on now is tentatively titled Coffins In the Fourier; and Vrse is still talking about releasing The Bachelors album with Z-Man (in a semi-recent interview he said they were recording new tracks for it to keep it fresh), plus his EP with Neila. Then, Luke Sick and Z-Man have another project coming called The Motel Crew, which is them working with more "experimental" producers Mike 2600 and Doug Surreal (personally, I'd take some Vrse or Eons One beats any day; but the handful of Motel Crew tracks that've floated out onto the internet have been pretty cool - I mean, you can't front on the MCs). Oh, and Luke has mentioned another possible Disturbers album, and some unreleased Brougham stuff, too. Now, usually when artists talk about a grip of upcoming releases like that, they don't all wind up coming out, but even if only one or two of them do, it's gonna be hot.

So, yeah, that's it for tonight. We'll look at another contemporary vinyl release next time. Don't give up on new hip-hop music, old school heads. ;)

Grand Invincible

Grand Invincible is the second coming of Underbucket, the duo of Sacred Hoop's Luke Sick and DJ Eons One. They've just dropped a brand new 12" single of "Purse Thieves" b/w "Elephant Tranq." If you can't make it out on the sticker pictured above, the 12" includes instrumentals of both "Purse Thieves" and "Elephant Tranq," an "Elephant Tranq" acapella, and the bonus track "The Style Is Bonkers."

Luke described the subject matter of "Purse Thieves" on the Gurp City news column, "100% grimey! Back in the early-nineties when San Jose Live was still open in the south bay during the Hump Hut Gang’s forever-broke-never-have-a-job days, my ace boon cracker Oak D and I used to kick girl’s purses underneath the pool tables and then send Ruddy Rudd to crawl under and get ‘em into the bathroom, loot ‘em, and throw ‘em in the trash. We’d also snatch 3/4 full Long Islands off the bar when fools had their backs turned and suck ‘em down quick. We were full on fuckin’ dengenerates and it is kinda with a mixture of embarrassment and pride that I speak of it now (mostly pride though, fuck it I’m a scumbag, y’all know me). Anyway, 'Purse Thieves' kinda turned into an homage to that time in my life with a little modern shit thrown in (the first title for this song, before I wrote the chorus, was: Doing Coke in the Car). And the moral to the story kids?: Being dead broke should never stop you from getting drunk if you are determined and shameless enough. And if you should get caught? Do what we did at the Hut: Deny it to the bitter end. Why? ‘Cause nobody believe dem hoes!'"

And "Elephant Tranq" is just more ill, freestyle rhymes over a fantastic piano break and neck-snapping drums:

"Ya wanna win medals?
Better train hard
Biters take their styles from the tapes in the trainyard
Talk brain hard, droolin' on like retards
Coppin' a lame broad and tell her the game's on
Who's gonna blame y'all?
I ain't the one, Holmes.
The street lights came on
And y'all just run home.
The Year of the Rat,
And that’s twelve whole months of the
hardest G’s alive hidin’ under their comforters.
Leave no witnesses,
Send no condolences;
Didn't have to mention that I'm reppin' the holiest
Patrolin' car pullin' up in Orange
County while they bounty hunt for Vrse like he's foreign
Legion in the evenin', and I'm weavin' through traffic
Dimes hittin' guns strikin' hot like matches
You don't wanna know about the rest of the accidents
Tomorrow ain't promised, so we're gettin' some action."

As the hook says, "if rhymes is dope, then mine's elephant tranq." He sums it all up perfectly with in his singular, interminable style (and I don't think I could name another MC who'd start a verse with these opening words): "I got pussy blood on my white comforter cover; I got money in the bank that you'll never recover. I got more in my pinky than ten copies of you, so when it comes to gettin' sloppy I'm a motherfuckin' fool."

All three 12" songs are also featured on their full-length CD album, Ask the Dust. The liner notes are simple: DJ Eons One: Beats & Cuts, Luke Sick: MC. No guest MCs, no celebrity producers. They describe their style, "Grand Invincible was formed under the philosophy that hip hop as an artform was best served under the technological limitations of the late-80s and early-90s. Armed with only an AKAI MPC 2000, two turntables, a mixer, a microphone, and a diggin' ass record collection with the intention of making the most out of the least (the original hip hop aesthetic), the duo set out in the summer of 2007 to resurrect the grimey breaks and elevate a rare science. Time to put the hoodies and Tim boots back on and spark a White Owl! Long Live the Dust!"

But while Eons does a commendable job keeping this album from sounding typically over-produced, it's not just a collection of sloppy, repetetive loops. It's nothing but hot tracks driven by compellingly layered samples that blends perfectly with Luke's flows. Oh, and Eons sporadically pops in to cut up a perfectly chosen old school record. Underbucket was cool, but this is definitely the better album.

Now, they've already announced their next album, Cold Hand In the Dice Game, will be dropping in 2009. Drop by their myspace and pick up a 12" or CD, or just listen to some tracks on their player. It's some seriously good shit.

No Sleeping In Nick Wiz's Cellar

Nick Wiz has long been an underrated, east coast producer, but true to their name, No Sleep Records isn't sleeping on this man's talents. They've just a 42-song (not including two "Intro" skits), double CD set of rare and unreleased songs from the 90's, entitled Cellar Sounds volume one 1992-1998.

The nice thing here is the vast majority of these tracks fall under the "unreleased" rather than the "rare" category. The previously released joints are some Pudgee white label tracks, one of the Rakim remixes from his recent, limited The Cellar EP (also on No Sleep), three or four tracks from the very rare Lyricist Lounge/ Echo Underground Airplay tapes and (kind of an odd, not-so-rare choice) Main One's "Main Event" single. I'd say ten or under are previously released, which gives you about 35 completely unreleased gems on this compilation.

So, what's on this compilation? Unreleased joints by Nick Wiz's regulars like The Cella Dwellas (two tracks left off of their second album, plus an unreleased remix of "Good Dwellas") Shabaam Sahdeeq/Shadows In the Dark, Milkbone (yeah, I was a little surprised by that, too - apparently Wiz worked on his Milkcrate album), Ran Reed, Chino XL, and a whole bunch of production and remixes he did for other artists. There's a joint from Pudgee's unreleased King of New York album (not counting the white label stuff that's on here, too) and a remix of "On the Regular." There's a short but hot Chubb Rock track, an unused remix of Red Hot Lover Tone's "4 My Peeps" posse cut, another Rakim remix, a Channel Live track, a song that was left off of Darc Mind's LOUD/Anticon album and a surpriingly fresh Lady Luck track. There's also a bunch of demos and stuff he cut with several underground New Jersey artists (LSD, Mister Fit, Ill Mentatlity, Nautilus, Emskee and Tross). It's hard to pick a favorite when there's so many tracks to absorb here; but a pre-Flipmode joint by Lord Have Mercy is a clear stand-out for me.

The price is right ($13 for the double CD set), and it has some great liner notes. Nick Wiz writes a brief explanation/history for all 42 tracks! Example: "Shabaam Sahdeeq feat. Baybe - 'Sexy' - 1994 - While we were working on Shabaam's demo, Guru from Gang Starr brought Baybe down to the studio to work on her project. She jumped on the hook for this song, and actually she also sang the hook for The Cella Dwellas' single 'Perfect Match'." This is a must-have for those who've come to appreciate Nick Wiz's production and the artists he's worked with. You can order it direct from his or No Sleep's myspaces. Oh, and one of the nicest things about this release? The Volume One in the title implies a second volume in the future. :-D