Poison Clan Appreciation Week, Day 8: Home Team

Ok, so the original line-up of The Poison Clan was DeBonaire and JT Money. Deb's little brother Drugz was loosely down, too (he speaks briefly on the first album and has a skit on the second album called, "Drugs Bullshittin'." After the first album, DeBonaire quit The Clan to form Home Team.

In 1992, they put out one album (Live Via Sateliite From Saturn) and the hit single "Pick It Up" on Luke Records. JT talks about the split in this Murder Dog interview, "I never knew to this day really why. He just wanted to do what he wanted to do. Maybe he felt like he wasn't doin the typa music that he wanted to do. Cause remember when he went and did Home Team with his brother, they did 'Pick It Up Pick It Up,' when I was doin 'Shake Whatcha Mama Gave Ya.' But we were always tight, we still tight."

In 1993, they followed that up with this second (and unfortunately final) single, "Back To the Bronx," produced by DeBonaire himself. It's the Home Team formula at its best: a classic old school beat and familiar samples retooled to boom even deeper while the MCs kick ill freestyle verses. They're not really saying much, though there's a few clever rhymes; but it's mostly all about their use of dozens of short, clipped staccatto rhymes, their voices kicking almost like another set of drums. The actual drum track is a short loop that's continually re-scratched in (ok, the scratching is probably looped, too... but it still sounds great); and the hook is nothing but them letting the beat roll in silence until one of the MCs grabs the mic again for another crazy verse.

Then once again, regular Poison Clan contributor Frank Ski is back on hand to issue another exclusive 12" remix, the "Blunted Remix." He's added a bunch of new vocal samples (mostly on the hook, but really throughout) and an extra-old school hand-clap track to the original, unchanged instrumental. It downplays the bassline, which dominated the original, and plays up the snappy percussion. It's hard to pick a favorite - both versions are dope for different reasons.

The b-side is "Reminiscing," the final song on the album that stood out as the only one where they completely changed their styles. Instead of just fun freestyle rhymes, they stick to straight, simple topic-driven rhymes, reminiscing (natch) on their high school days in Brooklyn:

"Combination locks,
They got broken with a hammer.
The classroom was boring
Like they threw you in a slammer.
Girls that wanted to wear them bamboos,
They got them yanked out;
Brothers that was illin' gotta fight
For gettng ranked out.
Teachers couldn't stop us
When we roamed the whole buildin';
We had a crazy fat mob
When we was in Tilden.
We used to go up to the mall
They call The Kings Plaza.
Kings Plaza was kinda cool;
I think it has a
Macy's, maybe JC Penny, and some others.
We used to boost the gear
From out the store with other brothers.
If you was a sucka
And you wasn't actin' proper,
You would get a hundred stitches
From somebody's chopper;
Or maybe I should say a shank,
A razor, or an axe.
We used to wear the funky outerwear
and sport the backpacks.
People got robbed
For stuff like Polo gooses;
People carried handlers,
Knives and deuce-deuces.
We used to cut school
And go up to the ball court;
Slap-boxin' everyday
Like every day we fought.
I really can't forget
How we made the rap tapes,
Then brung them up to school
And let the suckas catch the vapes."

It's also produced by DeBonaire, and uses the same piano loop The Geto Boys used on "Six Feet Deep" the same year. The 12" also includes the instrumental version of "Reminiscing."

Home Team were all set to drop a second album, Malignant Graffiti, but Luke never put it out. I've blogged about that here; there's even an image of the cover. The Poison Clan have also talked every so often about reuniting - first on Luke Records (one reunion song, "Movin' Along," was featured on Luke's third solo album, which I've already blogged about here). But then Luke's label went bankrupt and all that got shelved... They talked about it again years later. In the interview I quoted earlier, JT had this to say on the subject, "We're gonna do an album. I went and talked to him a coupla months ago. Like right when I get this out we're gonna put this thang down. He's just waitin. He's still doin his music, but he ain't did no deals or nothing. He might be waitin on his boy, might be waitin till I come back to the hood." Most recently, in March of '08, they had a Poison Clan reunion concert that featured JT, Deb, Drugz and Uzi.

Poison Clan Appreciation Week, Day 7: Bustdown

I'm not sure how much Bustdown was ever really considered an actual member of Poison Clan, but apart from being labelmates and collaborating on Luke's Kid 'N Play diss with JT Money (see this previous post for more on that), he also appeared on "Somethin' 4 You Raggedy Ho's" from Poisonous Mentality. He also worked with Poison producers Mike McCray and DJ Toomp on his album. So he's at least a relevant affiliate.

Bustdown had a series of singles - "Pop That Thang," "Pissin' Razor Blades" and today's 12": "Putcha Ballys On," - and even managed to get an album (Nasty Bitch, Chapter 1) out before Luke closed his doors. Juvenile talked about him in this 2006 interview (I recommend reading the whole thing; though none of the rest pertains to Bust), "Bust Down, the dude that invented pussy poppin’, he came out with a record that was real big called 'Putch' Ballys On,' and he had 'Nasty Bitch,' and that record got him a deal with Luke Skywalker, and Luke Skywalker kinda shelved him and took the whole pussy poppin thing away from him."

So this 12", along with all his other singles and album, came out in 1991 on Effect Records. There's nothing on this 12" but the one mix of the one track, but it's all he needs. Produced by Ice Mike, the first thing you'll notice is the blaring horns. It's got a nice funky guitar lick and a funky breakbeat, and Bustdown just kicks some fresh freestyle rhymes - it's just all about how cool his rhymes sound on the track and really isn't what you'd associate with a 90's Florida track at all ...I guess because he was originally from New Orleans and held that style down. Bustdown's really an MC who should've gotten a lot larger than he did.

But unfortunately, his '91 output and 1992 guest spots were the end of his run on Effect Records and effectively his entire career. He did put out a comeback 12" in 1997, though. It's a pretty interesting story (his label turned out to be a front for a drug runners), which I've already blogged about here. So check it out if you're interested. ...Oh and by the way, just because this was day 7, don't think this is the end of Poison Clan Appreciation Week. I've got more good stuff to come. :)

Poison Clan Appreciation Week, Day 6: Madball & Uzi

Probably the biggest non-JT Money staples of The Poison Clan are these guys: Madball & Uzi (unless you count producers like Mike McCray or DJ Toomp, who even credits himself as "of the Poison Clan" on the 2 Nazty album cover). Take a look at Poisonous Mentality for a minute... "Uzi Gets Shot," "The Tip On Madball," "Shorty-T in Madball's Basement"... yeah, that's these guys. And they stuck with the Poison Clan even in their post-Luke Records days.

But it wasn't until the post-Luke days that these guys struck out for themselves. Calling themselves The Rufftown Mob, Madball & Uzi released an album (Rock Bottom of the Pile) and this single, "Surviving the Game." Both came out in 1997 on Lil Joe Records, not coincidentally the label that bought up the entire Luke Records catalog when they went bankrupt and also signed the post-Luke 2 Live Crew.

To be honest, I'm not sure why the fellas picked this track for a single. It's pretty good, but the beat doesn't stand out like some others on the album. I guess they felt the subject matter was emblematic of where they were, though, and were using it as a sort of anthem.

Now, I've gone with the CD single for the image, just because it fits better in my scanner. But I have both the CDS and the 12" and they have exactly the same track-listing and the same picture cover. The cover is handy because the album has no production credits - it just tells us that Madball and Uzi wrote all the songs and some guy named Gary King played guitar on two of them.

But the single tells us that DJ Toomp produced everything on this single. First we've got the Album Version/Explicit" mix (there's also a radio edit and instrumental available for this version). The beat is alright, slow but hardcore with a hint of the g-funk slidewhistle that dominated the mid 90's and no recognizable samples. It features guest vocals by the unfortunately named LilHo (did he lose a bet?). Everybody's lyrics are pretty solid, though; and the hook sounds like it's provided by JT Money, though he's not credited. It's a solid, "real" rap single that won't disappoint their fans; but wouldn't've attracted any new ones.

This single picks up for the last track, though, "Surviving the Game - Part 2 (Radio Remix)." It features a lot of the same elements, but with harder drums, a subtle piano riff, and a few nice samples (though, again, nothing recognizable - these are purely studio-made, non-diggin' tracks). LilHo has been replaced by Big Ram and B.O.X. who provide an angrily hollered hook (though I'm pretty sure the verses are just by Uzi, Madball, and Uzi again respectively). Again, the lyrics on the subject matter are of a quality that help this stand out ("I got it in my heart, just can't find it in my pockets").  I mean anyone who rhymes Donkey Kong with Farakhan while delivering a serious message is alright in my book. ;)

Afterwards, the duo did return, this time dropping the "Rufftown Mob" moniker and just coming out as Madball and Uzi. They put out two 12" singles and finally an album titled 21 Thug Salute, which was also produced by DJ Toomp, as well as Mike McCray.

Poison Clan Appreciation Week, Day 5: Clayvoisie

One of the most common questions I hear about The Poison Clan is, after DeBonaire left, who the heck are all those other guys in Poison Clan? So for the next couple of days, we're going to look at all the members of Poison Clan who aren't JT Money.

First on my list is Clayvoisie. He was featured on several songs on Rufftown Behavior, but is probably best known for doing "Cowards In Compton" (again, see the vid I just did on that joint). He was also featured on "Freestyle Joint," a fresh posse cut I wrote about in yesterday's post.

But in addition to those appearances, he was signed to Luke's Effect Records as a solo artist. The label shut down before they could release his debut album, but fortunately they did at least put out this nice cut. "I.O.U. Nuhthin'" comes in four mixes on this 12", so let's start with the "Original Recipe Mix."

Let's get this out of the way - the song is hype. Pick it up and you won't be disappointed. Clayvoisie is joined by a hypeman calling himself Mr. Perfect and later a chorus of taunting girls who shout, "hey! Hey! Hey! I owe you nothing" to anyone who had their hands out to Clayvoisie. It's a fast paced-beat with a little funk guitar and some great horn stabs. It's upbeat, but definitely a hardcore track, with Clay angrily dissing anyone who's "trying to gain all on my fucking wealth."

The "In Your Face Mix" is similar to the original but has a new, mch more distinct bassline. Mr. Perfect also has some new adlibs (among other things telling us that this is the remix version). Then, on the B-side you've got the "In Your Nasty Face Mix," which is the same as the "In Your Face Mix" but with the vocals redone with added cursewords. Mr. Perfect especially curses up a storm; and there's also an added vocal sample of Ice Cube going, "mother fucker" on the hook. Finally, there's the "In Your Face Instrumental," which is pretty much what you'd expect. It should probably actually have been titled the "In Your Nasty Face Instrumental," though, because this instrumental includes Cube's angry "mother fuckers" on the hooks.

So even though Effect Records wound up shutting down right after this 12" release, this is not quite the only record Clay put out. He came back later with a very interesting indepedent release on a label called Black Power Records - a 12" I already blogged about here.

Poison Clan Appreciation Week, Day 4: The Good Luke Songs

There's a reason most Luke albums are the stuff of dollar bins and rarely even find their way online. They're bloated and about 50% skit. And Luke doesn't even pretend to be a rapper and adopt a rudimentary flow - ever - he just talks on half his songs and does hooks only on the rest. I mean, he's had some short-term successful singles with his shout and call songs, with good reason: he had some great in-house producers (even his biggest detractors can't really front on the instrumental to "Breakdown"). But I could still sleep peacefully at night if all of those songs were wiped from existence tomorrow.

But, there's one reason to own them all: The Poison Clan!

All of his albums before Luke Records self destructed (post label destruction his albums changed and aren't really relevant to the discussion) were worth picking up because, naturally, Luke used his albums to promote his artists (and help deflect the fact that he was putting out rap album after rap album without being able to rap). Each of his albums have some great songs; all featuring The Poison Clan. The rest of the albums you could throw away. So, let's look at all of those now:

From I Got Shit On My Mind:
1) "Fakin' Like Gangstas" - This is essentially a JT solo joint, although Luke adlibs ("I still don't know the fuck nigga that I was shootin' at!") on the hook. It's a solid cut, with JT using a simple flow over a nice beat, speaking out against everyone he thinks is faking being a gangsta. It's the song that made Snoop and Dre turn around and diss Luke on "Dre Day," and would be a solid entry any Poison Clan album.

2) "Pussy Ass Kid and Hoe Ass Play (Payback Is a Mutha Fucker)" - This is great. A raw, hardcore beat with JT and the underrated Bustdown just trading verses dissing the hell out of Kid & Play. The beat switches around and there's some nice scratching on the hook; but Bustdown really steals the show. JT is as dope as ever, too. Luke riffs a bit at the end, but he doesn't really add anything.

3) "Head, Head and More Head" - At first this sounds like just another of Luke's shout and call songs, with him shouting out various dirty phrases to an audience that enthusiastically shouts back over a hype track with an ill guitar lick. But then JT Money and Jiggie Gee get on the track, spitting sexual diss verses at each other. It's a fun battle-of-the-sexes joint, though Luke's parts feel a little protracted.

From In the Nude:
1) "Bad Land Boogie" - I forgot about this when it was new, so it was a really nice surprise when I went back to my old Luke tapes in the 2000's (even more surprising, Luke included this on his greatest hits CD years later). This is a Home Team joint (just in case anybody's joining us late, both Home Team members were down with Poison Clan; Deb Rock was a founding member), and in classic HT tradition takes a well-loved old school beat and adds some deep bass and samples, and the duo take turns kicking ill, bugged verses. This is really the only proper Home Team song besides what's on their album, so fans should definitely snag this - you won't be disappointed!

2) "Cowards In Compton" - I just did a video blog about this yesterday, so refer to that. Suffice to say: it's dope, and the only noteworthy Luke track that he released as a single.

3) "Head, Head and More Head part 2" - This is pretty self-explanatory; Luke clearly wanted to recapture the success of the first one by barely varying from the first one at all. JT and Jiggie are back over the same beat and Luke is doing the same thing over the hook. The only change is that JT and Jiggie have some new verses... but, really, what more do you want? These are definitely the least of the songs I'm highlighting, but they're still fun.

4) "Freestyle Joint" - Now this is what it's all about. JT, Deboinaire, Clayvoisie and Fresh Kid Ice of the 2 Live Crew make a posse cut over a really nice track. Everything about this song is just right, the beat is fresh, the samples are cool and everybody sounds good with their verse... like when Deb gets on the track, his voice sounds perfect. Even Fresh Kid Ice's hardcore boasts ("fuck with Chinaman and ya die!") work when they shouldn't. I don't think you can even be a hip-hop fan and not enjoy a song like this. The two concepts just can't occupy a human brain at the same time.

From Freak for Life 6996:
1) "That's How I Feel" - This is a cool, Mike McCray produced solo joint for JT, with a fresh MC Lyte sample cut up for the hook. Luke adlibs a bit on the breakdown but again, his input is irrelevant; it's just about JT, the beat and the DJ. Good shit.

2) "Represent" - This is sort of like "Freestyle Joint" part 2. The beat is different but still tight... it's rawer (there's even a Big Daddy Kane sample saying "get raw" on the hook) with whining horns, and the MCs on this posse cut get a little more lyrical. There's even a human beatbox on the track! This one features JT, Verb (of The New 2 Live Crew who tried to bring an east coast lyrical vibe to the group), Fresh Kid Ice and Drugz.

3) "Movin' Along" - We end with a nice track but an unkept promise - a Poison Clan reunion track! It's just credited as being PC, but it's JT and Deb as a pair again. It's a slow, smooth cool-out rhythm and features Luke's in-house reggae artist Likkle Wikked (who sounds dope) on the hook, along with a soulful, vintage vocal sample. It's all about hearing each of them ride the groove, with a collection of old school funky guitar samples, including one which is clearly a deliberate call back to the Poison Clan's first album. It's painful to imagine all the nice material we'd've had if Luke Records didn't have financial problems... damn.

So, anyway, that's it. After that, Luke lost all his good acts and his subsequent guest stars were all lame or outside his camp (a la his stuff with Doug E Fresh and Biggie). It's probably hard to justify picking up crap albums for an average of three good songs; but considering how cheap you can get them now, it's like buying three sweet singles of just the tight songs (and, like I said, at least the rest has some good production). So to me it's worth it: classic Poison Clan material.

Poison Clan Appreciation Week, Day 3: Cowards in Compton

Poison Clan Appreciation Week, Day 2: Check Out the Ave.

This next single from the PC is of their third album, 1993's Ruff Town Behavior. On the album, this is two songs, "Check Out the Ave. part I" and "Check Out the Ave. part II," two to three minutes each. On this 12", however, they're edited together into one five minute song.

This song is clearly indebted to Ice Cube's "It Was a Good Day." A mellow vibe as JT Money narrates some tales of his own hood. He does it well, though; and Mike "Fresh" McCray's beats are always dependably solid, if sometimes familiar. Here he samples Curtis Mayfield's "Let's Do It Again," which has certainly been used a few times (the only example that comes to mind at the moment is Wrecks-N-Effect's "Let's Do It Again" off their debut EP), but it always sounds good. There's a quick line in the lyrics about how he's driving with Home Team's "Pick It Up" in the deck (including a soundbite), just in case anyone thought he was sour about the split.

The 12" then has an exclusive remix (no credits are given, so we can only assume McCray did this one, too). It's an original instrumental (no Mayfield or other driving sample to speak of), but effectively maintains the same vibe. So, basically you've got your choice between the original, which sounds better but has been around or the remix, which is still ok and original. There are also edited radio versions of both mixes of the song.

Finally this 12" also includes the album track "Sugarhill Style." It's a fast, upbeat track with an instrumental that's like half classic Miami bass and half old school throwback. There's some "Planet Rock" vocal samples being cut up while someone (Mike Fresh again?) talks shit on the hook. Good times.

Poison Clan Appreciation Week, Day 1: Dance All Nite!

Another "week" kicks off here at Werner's! As you'd expect, we'll be looking at some Poison Clan 12" action, plus we'll take a look at their affiliate groups, and I've got a cool little "Mini-Post" article in the works, too. So let's jump right into it, shall we?

We're starting off with Poison Clan's first banger, their single "Dance All Nite." Now there's two separate 12" singles of this (not counting promo and foreign variants), but you'll want to stick with this one. The other version features some of the stuff on here, plus two house remixes which I would recommend for only the most die-hard fans. And it's missing some nice stuff this 12" has got, so yeah... this is the 12" you want.

It's easy to see why "Dance All Nite" was picked as the single - it's the clean, dance-oriented track of the album - and I think it worked better than they expected. It was the huge 1990 hit (especially regionally) that showed Luke Records The Poison Clan was more than just a throw-away "Baby 2 Live Crew," but recording artists to be taken seriously. Produced by the underrated Mr. Mixx, this song works mainly for its instrumental - it's a killer loop from the Shaft soundtrack laid out over some classic Florida beats and of course a hot, deep bassline. It's also got some really nice scratching for a chorus. It's got a breakdown where the music eventually strips entirely away, and the DJ is cutting it up acapella - fresh! The rhymes are simple and unimpressive, but they (this is back when the Poison Clan was a two-man outfit, Deb and JT) have cool, distinct voices that sound good over the beat.

But before getting to the album version, this 12" starts things off with the "Remix With Bonus Beats." It's basically just the album version but better. You've got the same beats and rhymes, but additional break-beats and samples are added to the mix (plus an added shout & call vocal sample on the hook between Luke and his audience shouting, "dance, sucka!"). It also ends (like its name suggests) with an extended bonus beats outro which loops some killer Shaft horns and adds a really nice bass drop.

Next you've got the "Felix Remix." No other credits are given, but I think it's a safe assumption that it's by Felix Sama. It's essentially the same as the "Remix With Bonus Beats" minus the bonus beats, but it does drop in those Shaft horns in a few other places which is cool, and there's some additional points where the beat is chopped up (a la Double Dee and Steinski rather than proper scratching).

Finally, it ends with the awesome posse cut "Poison Freestyle" featuring Tony M.F. Rock (of Let Me Take You To the Rockhouse fame) and Brother Marquis of The 2 Live Crew. While no one here is going to put Percee-P out of work with their complex lyricism, each MC comes with a tight verse - think Ant Live on "Money In the Bank." And they've picked the perfect track to rap over, the incredible instrumental K-Solo used that same year for his third single, "Fugitive" ...and which, more recently, it turned out Unique used on his Die Hard EP. Considering those guys used it for a narrative and message song respectively, it's great to hear this as the foundation for just a raw, freestyle posse cut. It's one of those songs I could just lift up the needle when it ended and listen to again and again.

The Fresh Prince Meets Pop Rock

Remember in a recent post when I said The Fresh Prince only did one guest spot in his entire career? Well, apparently I lied. There were two... but can you blame me for neglecting an obscure Billy Ocean record?

Well, I can't forgive myself! In the name of completism, it must be blogged about!

Besides being doomed not to be a hit single by its title alone, "I Sleep Much Better (In Someone Else's Bed)" is a bit of a throw away tune recorded as the new song for Billy Ocean's 1989 Greatest Hits album to compel die-hard Ocean fans to buy a collection of songs they already owned. But fortunately for us, they did press it up as a single in the hopes that a few DJ's might promote it (when a pop star like Billy Ocean can't even be bothered to make it a picture cover, you know that's all it's for), so there's no need to buy the whole album for the one Fresh Prince appearance.

The first thing you'll notice is that it's a pretty simple, repetitive song (Protip: skip the seven minute Extended Version). The production (by Ocean regular Robert John Lange) is professional... certainly nothing as catchy as "Get Into My Car," but some passable pop studio loops. And the chorus is passable; but there's not much more to this ode to sleeping around than a few lines and the repeated chorus for the first three and a half minutes. Honestly, it feels unfinished - which might literally be the case. This could easily be a work-in-progress that Jive stumbled upon in one of their closets and threw onto the album.

Things pick up, though, when the rappers finally get involved at the end. That's right, despite The Fresh Prince being the only artist credited on the sticker cover, there's actually two MCs on this song, Smith and Mimi. They do a back and forth, line for line exchange, a la Positive K & MC Lyte (this came the year after "I Ain't Havin' It" so there's no doubt who inspired who): "FP: Come on, baby, these are girls I used to play with; but you're the lady I want to stay with. ... Mimi: Don't you understand it's hard to deal with this? You play me part time: hello then goodbye, while you run around town like some playboy - some fly guy?" It's kinda fun, certainly not great, but at least the rhymes are written by the Fresh Prince himself (Smith, but not this Mimi character, gets a writing credit).

The b-side also has a Version Without Rap for all those pop fans who screamed "oh my god, what are rappers doing on my nice Billy Ocean record!?" and an instrumental. Though it's not bad, if you're not a collector of all things Fresh Prince you can easily live without this. If you do want it, though; the good thing is it's available in dollar bins the world over. Snag it cheap and complete your collection; but you probably won't take it out again once you've filed it away.

Who's Singin' This? Total Control Interview

I recently had a chance to speak in depth with Chas Bronxson, formerly known as Prince Charles of Total Control. If you don't remember Total Control, they were a mad talented group with killer raps and harmonies who were down with Chuck Chillout in the late 80's-early 90's. Unfortunately, they never got to drop an album, but they still made a lasting impression on NY hip-hop doing shows and especially on the radio. Finally, their story is told... and personally I've gotten answers to questions I've been carrying around in my head since I was a freshman in high school. I'm not gonna tell you anymore, because it's all below:

So to begin, break down the group and tell us how it all started.

Total Control is a group that came together when we were teenagers. We'd always go, do our little demos and what-not. We'd go to the studios and spend our hard-earned money… The original group was me and a guy named Masterpeace. That's the light-skinned dude with the flattop in the picture. It was just me and him; and one day we decided we were gonna do a promo. We were listening to the promo and we heard Chuck Chillout, and we said, ayight, we're gonna do a promo for him and we're gonna take it down to him. So we went in the studio and he did all of the rapping and I did all of the singing. And so we put it together, we took it down to Chuck and he instantly liked it. He used to play it to open up his show.

And what year would this have been?

This is December '88, I remember that. And the next thing you know, my cousin came up; and that's the other guy n the picture. Divine. So that was our unit right there; we used to sing and harmonize like The Force MD's - that's who we patterned ourselves after.

Then, one day, Chuck got a record deal; and he decided that he was gonna put all of his groups on there. And we were featured on that album. Did you get to hear that version I sent you? I don't know how well you know that song now, but if you listen to both you'll notice there's a difference between how we did that verse on the original.

Well, the singing's definitely different at the end.

Right, right. That's the way it was supposed to be. And also there's a variation of the music. If you notice, when Sherm finishes his verse, he goes, "we're from Edenwald, and we're rolling with Bronxwood Productions." That's the way it was supposed to flow, right into that. But they told us after that session, "yo, Chuck said that y'all were dominatin' too much in the song. He wants you to change it." And we went back in and we had to change the chord of the harmony we were singin' to some low pitch. Ah man, dude; I'm telling you I hated that! And the producer, to match what we were doing, he lowered the octaves when he was playin' the keys, and it just didn't sound right. And then, on the song, after Sherm's verse he goes, "we're from Edenwald and we're rollin' with" and you don't hear no singing. It just drops out. Chuck comes on talking about, "yeah, this is Chuck Chillout. You heard Deuces Wild," and I'm like, yo, what are you doing man? So I just walked away from the project; I wasn't proud of that at all. 'Cause how it was supposed to go, "we're from Edenwald and we're rolling with Bronxwood Productions," singing, and then he could talk on top of that. You could even bury our vocals in the mix at that point. But Chuck had something else in mind and personally, I don't think it worked.

It still kinda works, though. Like I agree the rough version sounds better, but it was still a great song.

John, I'm telling you that song could be better! 'Cause all it would've took was for us to sit down and map it out. But there was no organization with that song; everybody just did their verse. But it could have been executed so much better.

And after that - this is the impression I always had as a listener - with you guys featured on "Bronxwood Productions," was it sort of understood that he was gonna be producing records from you guys?

Yeah, and that's how it was gonna be. That was exactly the plan. Because he had this guy: Boy White. He's the producer I was talkin' about; he did the production for everything. And we were looking forward to doing some music with him. I mean, we had our own songs; but we didn't have the studio savvy that Boy White did. So Boy White was gonna be the one to put us out there with the music. And we even did about three or four songs with Boy White. And these songs, Chuck Chillout was going around shopping, trying to get us a deal. And what I remember him telling us is that he went to Andre Harrell to try to get us a deal, and supposedly he wanted the song that we did that Chuck was playing for him, but he didn't want the group. We had this remix of one of the songs we did called "Young Love," where we were singing to "Impeach the President." Chuck went in there asking for this crazy amount of money for the group and Andrea was like, "nah." So that deal never jumped off.

Do you know what he wanted that song for? Like was it a soundtrack, or why did he only want one song?

I don't know. I really can't call it, 'cause I wasn't there at the meeting. So, once we got word of it, we were like, damn. Did Chuck blow this deal for us? What was going on there? And then Chuck got his deal, and they had an album release party; and Chuck was just nervous. He was all over the place. And it got to a point where we were like, yo, he's not really paying attention to us. And we felt like he was more into what he was doing with Kool Chip. So, a little bit after, when Chuck was into his own thing, we said, well let's go and try to find out what happened with that deal at Uptown/MCA. So we set up an appointment to go and meet with the A&R at Uptown to find out what happened. So we went down; they gave us like a 4 or 5 o'clock appointment; and we met this dude who turned out to be Puff Daddy. So we're in his office and we play that song for him and ask whatever happened. And he's like, oh yeah yeah, that's that song.

And we had this other song where we did a remake of this old song by Chaka Khan, called "Tell Me Something Good." And Boy White had sampled that and we rapped over it; and we used to go around and perform it. And you know, we were winning shows at Town Hall and everything; we were building a little name for ourselves. And I'll never forget, after the little meeting was over, we were getting ready to walk out and this dude comes in and Puffy goes, yeah, this is an artist, he's getting ready to come out. And he used that same song we had sampled, "Tell Me Something Good." He was like, Total Control, this is Father MC. And dude was like, "oh, Total Control! What's up?" You know, like he knew us! And we were like, yo, who is this kid, man? And sure enough when that album dropped, they had "Tell Me Something Good" on there. And that was one of the songs, in addition to "Young Love," that was shopped at MCA.

So, once they heard the demo…

Well, I'll tell you - I can't call it. I'd like to think that. It's almost obvious to me, but if you weren't there, you can't really call it. Because whenever you use a sample, there's no telling who else is gonna use it. Anybody can have that idea. So there's no telling what happened with that. I can't really say they got us on it.

Did they use it pretty much the same way, though? Like, was it chopped the same?

It had similar elements; it definitely had similar elements. Because, when it comes to a sample, it's not even the way you chop it up; it's just the sample. Once somebody else gets that sample, people hear it and are like, "oh man, look at what they sampled." So if somebody else comes behind, they're like, "ah, they're biting. They're trying to be like what was already out." So we were just thinking: man, the way Father MC responded to us… did he see us performing somewhere and get the idea to use it and take it to a producer? Anything could've happened.

And so many times that happened, man. I know there was one time we really had our song lifted. It was a song we did with Boy White, and they shopped it… and Chubb Rock came out with a song. And, I'm telling you, man… word for word. Or, the sample. The sample. See, you can't really blame it on the rapper. A lot of times a rapper will come in and his producer will have a track; the rapper don't even necessarily know where the producer got the idea from, but if the track is tight, he's like, "oh shit, I wanna rap over that!" And he'll make something to it.

Do you remember which Chubb Rock song it is?

It's a song called (sings) "She's with someone, someone, someone"[see my Chubb Rock discgraphy page; it's on his second album]... And I'm telling you, we had this song that we shopped and we were like, "let's tell these people who we are. We are (singing) Total, Total, Total… Total Control." And we were singing over this Brothers Johnson called "Strawberry Letter 23." Man, I'm telling you. You hear this song and you'll hear exactly what I'm talkin' about. It's just too ironic. I'm going on record saying they lifted that from us. They definitely got that from us, man!

And that "Young Love" song I was telling you about. I remember when Puffy was listening to it, he was like, "yo man; I remember Andre definitely wanted this." And next thing you know… I don't wanna sound like I'm sayin' everybody's stealing and everybody got everything from us; but there's just certain things, when they happen, that make you think to yourself, "damn, man. Did they get us?" Because then Jodeci came out, and they had "Come and Talk To Me" and "Forever My Lady"… And Devante's an excellent producer; I'm taking nothing away from him. But they had a remix for "Come and Talk To Me" where all they were singing over was "Impeach the President." And Puffy's name was listed as a producer on that. We were like, "yo, did Puff get us, man?" Did he get us? But that stuff happens.

And anyway, the deal with MCA fell through; nothing happened with that, and by that time, Masterpeace… we had a falling out. He left the group. And so we got somebody else, who was more singing oriented. But we continued doin' shows, and you know, we was buildin' up the name. And I remember we did a show at this club called The Castle. And the owner of the club was like, I want you to meet Red Alert. And Red Alert had come down to see the show that we did, and we tore the place down, man. And they said, well we want you to do a promo for Red Alert the same way you did for Chuck; and we were kinda skeptical about that, because at that time, Chuck and Red didn't get along. I mean, they were really like enemies, and we didn't realize that until one day we were down there at the radio station with Chuck, and we were getting' ready to leave and the elevator came up. The doors opened and when we got ready to get on the elevator, Red Alert was on the elevator. And Chuck was like, "nah, nah. Don't get on." And it was thick. The tension was thick and we was like, damn - they don't get along like that?

And Chuck was pretty much acting as your manager back then?

Well, it was never really official. It was just that he was a DJ and he was gonna put us on. And we were told he was shoppin' a deal for us, but he didn't make nothin' happen. And it got to the point where we felt maybe he's just not interested or just focusing on what he's doing. So when this opportunity came for us to do this promo for Red Alert, we were like, yo man - should we do it? Shouldn't we do it? Let's just do it.

At that time did you know it was gonna be for the album, or just the show?

Nah, nah, nah. At that time, it was just gonna be for the show. And the promo, it did real well. And we found out that Chuck, according to Boy White, when he heard it on the radio, he flipped. He was like, "yo, they flippin; on me! They flippin' on me!" And it wasn't even a thing where we were trying to flip on 'im. 'Cause we wanted to be a part of Bronxwood Productions, we wanted to make it pop. But it just seemed like he didn't really have no plans for us. And when we did the promo for Red, we just looked at it as we were doin' a promo. We weren't trying to get down with Red or nothing like that; we just did the promo. And it took off.

And I can't forget to mention my brother. The first part was me rappin', and then the second verse, that's my brother Brandon. At the time, he was going by The Mac. We just featured him on that promo. But that's family. He just happened to be in that situation when Masterpeace had left. And we needed someone to write that hip-hop, because me and my cousin were focused on the R&B. That's what made us strong. Masterpeace would do the hip-hop and we would sing and put it together. Masterpeace would sing with us also, but he was like a background singer; and vice versa. We'd do some raps, but he was like the front rapper. So when he left, it was like what are we gonna do? And my brother just stepped up like crazy. He wrote my verse and his verse, and we were like, god damn, where'd you get these skills from? It just shocked us; so we brought him in the studio with us; and that's what you hear now.

So he was never really a member of the group, he was just on that song?

Yeah, he was just on that particular one. He's a producer now, and although he's nice with the pen he prefers to just produce hip hop tracks. He's currently producing a rapper named Illa Ghee. Illa Ghee is known for his fire verse on Mobb Deep's 2004 hit "Hold You Down" featuring Nina Sky. Illa Ghee & my brother went to school together, and they've been tight for years.

But that thing took off and became real popular. And the next thing you know, Mitch - who was the owner of The Castle - said, "yo. Red Alert is comin' out with an album, and he wants to include this on his album." So we was like, i-ight, cool. And it came out on his album, and I remember I tried to set up an appointment to get a deal with Next Plateau [Red's label then]. 'Cause I was doin' a lot of hustlin' back then, man. I would go and try to get an interview going or get an appointment… just, you know, try to play our demo and get a deal. That's how it was back then. And we had something set up with Eddie Oh, I think his name was, at Next Plateau Records. And I remember thinkin': let me try to really solidify this thing and make this appointment worth it. And I knew that Red Alert had affiliations there. I remember I called Red and said, yo Red, this is Charles from Total Control and I'm just calling to ask if you could put in a good word for us over at Next Plateau. Just put in a good word for us. And he was like, "well, what's in it for me?" And I was like, "huh?" He said, "what's in it for me? 'Cause I'm not just gonna have y'all usin' me to get a record deal," and I was just whoa. I didn't know what to say. I was dumbfounded, man. So that didn't pop off. He didn't put in no kinda word for us or nothin'. And you would think that after we did this spot for him and as popular as it was, you would go, "well, yeah." 'Cause all it was was for him to say these guys are comin' in; give 'em a shot. It's not like I was askin' him to come in the studio with us or into the office to make it happen. But I wound up going in there with no representation and Red didn't put in a word for us or nothin'; and nothing happened with that.

We got stuck just doing these promos. I did one for Bugsy, Wendy Williams - a little mixtape thing with Wendy Williams - Angie Martinez, the Wake Up Club with Ed, Lisa and Dre. It became just monotonous. I was like, yo we're more than this, man. We've got more to offer, and it comes to a point where you're just not gonna do any more promos. At some point, you've gotta move beyond where you're at, otherwise you're gonna get stuck.

Yeah, those Red Alert tapes had incredible promos. On the later tapes, they were better than the songs.

(Laughs) Yeah, I've heard people say that. I remember meeting Queen Latifah and telling her about the group, how we did a promo for Red Alert and she knew about it. Oh, you did that? That was hot! People knew about it; but it's like The Twilight Zone. Friends used to joke, "when's the album coming out? You keep doing all those promos, we're gonna change your name from Total Control to Total Commercial." And we understood, we were trying to get it out there. And so, after a while, the guys just got frustrated, man; and it all just dissembled. And that's pretty much the story of Total Control.

Well, what about...? I know you came out with a record after that: "Keepin' Me On the Line."

Oh yeah. Well, that was some years later. That was around '95. We put our little money together and we did a video for it and got it playin' on like a lot of college shows. So, yeah; we was still doin' it, but as far as like the DJ's and all that - it was over at that point.

And I see you produced it… did you do the remix, too? The label doesn't really specify.

Yeah, that was me. I taught myself to produce music so I could be able to do what Boy White used to do. The rap was done by my cousin, and I did the writing on it and the singing vocals. Then there's another remix that I did that's not on there. If I remember right, that wasn't done until like two months after we put that 12" together. It's pretty much the same song, but it doesn't have the rapping on it. The parts where there would be rap, it's got some singing on it.

And that label: 4-Ever Flowin', was that just you guys yourselves, or was there an owner and all?

That was just us. Actually, about a year ago, I called the boys over and we did a couple songs. The chemistry is still there, man. When we get in the studio and do stuff, it's like magic. Kelvin - he's the guy who did the Red promo with us - he got behind the keyboards and started playin' something, and then words come to me like quick. And like two days later, I have them come back and I wrote the whole song, and put the musical arrangements around the keyboards that Kelvin had played. And the song is nice, man. But they don't have that kinda stamina. There's so much to this game, you've gotta have endurance; and they don't really have that. But if ever something pops off, and I get to do a project, I'ma have them come in and we'll do a couple songs together.

Are you guys still doing the same kinda thing? I mean, I know times have changed, but as far as combining hip-hop with the R&B?

Yeah, exactly. Yes. We got this one song where it's R&B and hip-hop together, and another one where it's just straight singin'.

And do you still have those old demo tracks?

Yeah. Those tracks from the late 80's, early 90's? Yeah. And the promos, like the first ones we did for Chuck Chillout. And I turned some of those into full-fledged songs, man. 'Cause I didn't want the ideas to go to waste.

But I'll tell you what… about the stuff I was sayin' before. I got nothin' against Red, man; and I got nothin' against Chuck. As a matter of fact, I saw Chuck like two months ago and everything is cool. That stuff is part of your past and you learn from it and you move on.

Was there ever a tour for the Chuck Chillout album or anything?

Nah, that never happened. The last thing that I remember happened was Chuck had this album release party at The Tunnel. And after that everything pretty much disbanded because Chuck was doing his thing. And I don't know if you know, but Funkmaster Flex came from that whole outfit.

Yeah, he was on the same song as you, right?

Yeah, he was with the group Deuces Wild. He was the DJ for that group. All of us came out from the Chuck Chillout umbrella, and Flex is the one that blew up. And one of the guys, Derrick, was known as Nine who went solo later. He was the lead rapper in Deuces Wild.

They were pretty much the only ones from that song that Chuck actually did put out a record with.

Yeah, yeah. Well, see, I don't know if Chuck really knew how to deal with us, man. Because we had that singing element. And I guess that's one of the reasons why Sherman, Masterpeace, felt like he'd be better off going by himself. Because that was his main thing, rapping. And he was fire. Listen to that verse he did on the Chuck Chillout album, man; it was ridiculous. Dude was just nice with it. And when we would go out singin', the harmony would just be so right; and that was my strength. But I don't think Chuck really knew how to deal with a R&B situation.

I guess maybe it was a weird time, after like Force MDs and Whistle were like making a decision to go full R&B…

Well, I would actually say that it was a good time. It was a real good time, 'cause that was when you had Guy coming out. Al B Sure and everybody adding that hip-hop element in their music. So it was right there for us. It just didn't gel.

And did Masterpeace ever come out with anything when he went solo?

Nah, nothing ever came out. I don't know what he did. When he left, he left hard. I haven't seen him since… you're talking about 1990, man. I haven't seen this dude. But, you know, I'm hearin' that he's alright. I hope everything's fine with him.

Was there issues between you guys, or was it just the situation?

Well, you know, we had some argument, man. We was gettin' ready to do this show. Like I was telling you, we were always going around and doing different shows and concerts. We were in this contest called The All-Star Talent Show, and we won the semi-finals. And we got in some argument when we were rehearsing. And he just bowed out, a week or so before we went to the finals. And we were just devastated. We were like, what're we gonna do now? We got this show comin' up at Town Hall of all places, and dude just bounced out. And we had to go and get somebody who really just couldn't cut it, man. He was a good singer, actually; but he couldn't rap for nothin'. So we got the guy to fill in for him, and I was upset with Sherm for a while for that, man.

But then, as time goes on, man… I found out this business has a way of breaking up friendships, and driving a wedge between people who were close. I grew up with that kid, man. You're talkin' about 9, 10 years old. And it wasn't until we got into this music thing that we just like fell apart. And it's a messed up thing, but that's just the way it is. You know, wherever he's at, I hope he's doing fine. I wouldn't even mind seein' him, man, and talkin'. Whatever we were beefin' about before? It's nothin'. We had an argument over a rehearsal, man. Over a rehearsal. Friends for over ten years to have something like that to happen. And like with Chuck; everything's cool now. Years later, all that promo beef… it's meaningless; everybody's moved on. It's just too bad we couldn't see it like that when it was all happening. 'Cause we was just a group trying to get out.

Have you ever gotten back in contact with Boy White?

Nah. You know, I think I talked to Boy White sometime around 2000. 'Cause I had some questions to ask him about contracts. 'Cause I had won this song writing contest, and they were offering me a publishing deal. So I was like, let me get in contact with Boy White, because I know he knows this stuff in and out. And we spoke for about an hour, and he gave me his numbers and everything; but I think he moved out. And when I spoke to Chuck a few months ago, I asked if he'd seen him and he hadn't heard from him either. Cool dude.

And how about the others from "Bronxwood Productions," like No Self Control?

Chuck told me that a couple of dudes died. I was like damn, because I hadn't talked to anybody in like years. So we were just talking, like a whole half hour, goin' over all the people we knew from this died. This one died, this one got locked up. And Nine moved down South and he's out of touch with everybody; nobody has heard from him.

So, let's get into your current stuff...

Well, the video that you saw on my site… I had done a lot of promotion and got it on a lot of underground shows across the country. But the subject matter kept me from getting on radio. Not because the listeners didn't want it, but because the female program directors really had a hard time with it. One time, I remember at a popular radio station here in New York, I had a meeting with a programming director and she was like, well, I don't want to play this because I'm afraid it's going to offend our female listeners from the ages of 25-54. Those were her words.

Really? 'Cause that song seemed pretty positive.

Well, I remember, I did the show Street Soldiers with Lisa Evers on Hot 97. She had me on that show regarding that song and video, and I remember the first thing she said, "and Charles Bronxson, who I have some issues with. I saw the video and I gotta ask you about this later on." And then the question that she asked, she said she thought the video was nice, but there was a certain lyric that stood out to her. She said, that the woman would do things that made Daddy want to hit her.

So I had to explain to her what I meant by that. Because if you listen to the lyric… in the song, the father is explaining to his daughter why he wasn't there, trying to rekindle his relationship with his daughter. So the lyric actually said, "she picked fights every night and started arguments for nothin'. She wasn't like she was at the start. She used to say and do things to make daddy wanna hit her, so stayin' wouldn't've been too smart." So he's saying he left before it came to hittin' her. But all these programming directors heard was daddy wants to hit her; that's all they heard. So that caused a conflict, but I mean, I got a lot of love from women. Like the viewers? I got e-mails like incredible. So even if the song didn't get the rotation, the e-mails made me feel like the project was worth it.

So, that project went pretty well for one guy doing it all himself. I covered a lot of ground with that. A lot of radio shows, Michael Bivens featured on his show with it. And the next project will be the same, but it's a little more friendly for the women. And ultimately, it may be a compilation of songs like an album; but I'm doing all of this so I can get that shot as a writer. Because that's what I love doing. I've got songs I could never do and cover all of them with just me as an artist; the volume is just too much.

So is most of what you're writing now R&B?

Well, you know what's ironic is that the video I'm about to do is rappin'. Just like the last one. 'Cause even though my focus is R&B right now, I can write the Hell out of some rhymes. And I guess that was part of it with the group. 'Cause I was doing the writing and I'm looking at whole vision… and also the publishing. But when they're just singing, they're not seeing that stuff. In fact, Source magazine had done a little expose on a song writing contest that I was a part of [click right to enlarge and read the full article], and I had won. And they gave me some money, some studio equipment, and they offered me a deal. And, you know, I had to turn it down. Because they wanted all the publishing.

On the phone, they would say we'll split the publishing with you. I asked them and they said yeah… But when the contract came in the mail, it didn't reflect what we talked about on the phone. So I thought maybe they just want me to take it to my lawyer and be smart enough to get it changed around to be identical to what we discussed. And I took it back to EMI and they kept putting off signing it. But they kept trying to give me $5,000 to sign over the song. They wanted more of a one night stand; I wanted a marriage. They told me, "yeah, well, Puff Daddy had the same kinda deal!" Like, you must think I'm some kinda new jack. They kept pushing that $5,000, man. And I was broken hearted. Because I thought I was gonna get a deal, like this is my shot! But I had to be strong enough to walk away. Because I learned that a long time ago: you never let go of that publishing.

Do you remember Johnny Kemp? I remember I saw him in Harlem around 1991 or so… I saw him walking down the street, and I was like, "oh shit - Johnny Kemp!" So I went up to him and I'm like, you're Johnny Kemp, right? And he nodded his head yeah. And I'm like, I love your music; when's your next album coming out? How come it's been so long? Because "Just Got Paid" had come out two or three years before that and I hadn't heard anything from him after that. So I was like, yeah man, when's your next album coming out? And he's like, "I don't want to talk about it." You know, he had like this accent, "I don't want to talk about it." And I said nah, man, I'm not some writer or magazine or something like that; I'm just a fan, curious about what happened. And he said, "I don't want to talk about it" like stern faced. And I was like whoa, alright, and started backing up; I left it at that. I'll never forget that little encounter, man. I just wonder what happened to this dude to make him like that.

But I promise you, you're gonna see somethin'. And you're gonna hear something from Total Control. Because even though we're not a group, we're still boys. Once my stuff pops, I'm gonna incorporate something we did. That's a promise.

You can check Chas Bronxson out online at his website, chasbronxson.com. And his CD single of "Let Daddy Explain," with both the rap and R&B versions and the video, is available at CDBaby. He also has a myspace, which you might wanna bookmark since he says he's planning to start building on that including possibly putting up those vintage, unreleased Total Control songs(!).

Axe's Steelo

Sat-R-Day is a Dutch R&B trio that specializes in club tunes. "(I'm Diggin' Yo) Steelo" is the second single off of their 2001 ZYX debut album, The Weekend Is Yours, and their biggest hit. Their lead singer later left the group and they replaced him with another guy for their second album, which wasn't as well received. But I don't care about any of that any more than you do. If you're not DJing for a nightclub eight nine years ago, there's one reason to note this single: it features a surprising guest appearance by The Outsidaz' Axe.

So, you get six on the CD single or five on the vinyl (take THAT, traditional DJs!), and as you can see from the pic, the cover promises us a 2-step mix. In fact, two of the mixes are 2-step mixes. For those who don't know, Wikipedia tells us that, "2-step, is a typically British style of modern electronic dance music... In 1999 and 2000, 2-step reached the peak of the genre's commercial success." That's pretty much why you can scoop this up super cheap today if you're so inclined.

Ok, so let's get this out of the way real quick. You've got the two 2-step mixes, "Mike's Ministry Mix" and "CC Lounge Mix," neither of which feature Axe (and one of which barely features Sat-R-Day). By the way, according to the liner notes, all six tracks are produced by Rutti. I don't know who the Mike of "Mike's Ministry Mix" would be, then... maybe Rutti's first name is Mike?). There's also the "For AM Mix," which plays it more traditionally R&B and the "Bubbeling[sic.] Mix," which features some silly reggae verses. No one is credited for doing that either, so I suppose it's one of the guys from Sat-R-Day. Those mixes don't feature Axe either.

So that leaves us with the tracks we actually do care about, the ones featuring Axe: the Radio and Extended mixes. The Extended mix is that sixth track that was left off the vinyl, by the way. It's basically the same as the Radio Mix but features some additional riffing (50 seconds worth) by Sat-R-Day at the end.

So how is the actual song? It's not bad. For a dollar bin pick-up, I was satisfied with it. Sat-R-Day are some genuinely decent singers with a Jodeci-like sound (some of their online fans praise them for sounding American), but the song is faster and more upbeat than anything those boys'd do. The subject matter is pretty obvious from the title - they're digging some girl's style - but they already have a girlfriend so we've gotta "keep it on the low-low." The production won't impress any Paul C. stans, but it's certainly competent enough and keeps you following along.

And the good news is that Axe's verse is tight. The beat is much more poppy than traditional Outsidaz material, of course; but it's fast and upbeat, so it actually works surprisingly well with Axe's flow. Despite its name, the Radio Mix actually leaves Axe's curse words and drug references intact, so if you got the vinyl you're not missing out on anything important.

I mean, I don't want to overhype his contribution here; it's not "oh my god, how incredible"... there's no really ill, stand-out lines, and I'm not suggesting most heads should go seek this out like the next hidden jewel. But he sounds good here. So if you're serious a fan, go ahead and spend that penny for a used copy on Amazon. And if you're with your girl and you have to listen to some clubby R&B-type joints, definitely go for the one with the Outsida on it.