HellterSkkkelter

To an Esham/horrorcore aficionado, I'd say the cream of his career crop starts with the Judgment Night albums (Boomin' Words had some good tracks, for sure; but it's not as consistent, and Esham comes off as a bit young & sloppy) and lasts 'till Kkkill the Fetus, dwindling down through Maggot Brain Theory, and anything after that is for the die-hards only. And the short (four song) HellterSkkkelter EP comes along right at the peak there. That would be 1992 on, as always, the Reel Life Productions label, with the familiar notice, "all songs written, performed, composed, programmed, produced and engineered by Esham A. Smith/ The Unholy."

We start out with the title track, "Hellterskkkellter" ...though I guess, technically, it has one too many "l"s to be the title track. Regardless, this song later wound up on his 1993 full-length, Kkkill the Fetus, too... this time perplexingly spelled "Hellter Skkklter." Almost as perplexingly, however, is the fact that he opted for a censored version of the track on there (especially when you consider how obscenity-filled the rest of the album is). So a line like:

"A public enemy, public figure;
Not your regular nigga."

becomes:

"A public enemy, public figure;
Keepin' my hands on the trigger."

and:

"You better murder me man, before some nigga get hurt.
Let a nun suck my dick in the back of a church."

becomes:

"You better murder me man, before somebody get hurt.
Sister Mary do me work in the back of a church."

This makes our 1992 EP the only way to hear the original version. And it's worth hearing, 'cause this is one of his better tracks. The original version opens with a spoken monologue, with Esham telling us, "just like Ice-T, you motherfuckers should've killed me last year." Actually, the one interesting thing about the edited version is that it replaces the original opening with a repeated line sampled from the Hellraiser movies, "what's your pleasure, mister?" That's actually more effectively atmospheric. But then, whichever version you're listening to, the beat kicks in to full effect with a droning heavy metal guitar riff, looped and mixed beneath some hard drums and deep bass notes that effectively suck the heavy metal right out of it, leaving you with a grimy feeling hip-hop track. A tortured horn wail on the hook seals the deal.

Next up is the sex song, "Rocks Off!," which was also included on the soundtrack album of the movie The Fear. This was later remixed on his greatest hits album, Detroit Dogshit, but this EP (and the soundtrack) include the original version. It's a little faster and the bass has a lighter tone, which sounds better to my ear. That may make it sound like the distinctions between the two versions are pretty minimal, but they actually sound noticeably different. In any case, it's not really one of his better songs (his sex songs aren't generally as fun as his crazier shit), but it does a good job of feeling really sleazy, which I assume he'd take as a compliment.

"Be-4" has a more old school feel, with some boom bap beats, a choppy flow to the rhymes and some literal old school vocal samples from The Beastie Boys and NWA. Lyrically, he's still on some wicked shit, though: "still dreamin' 'bout death, and every day is like dead. Got a screw loose and a hole in my head." This is a short song, really just a single verse with no hook, about his suicidal thoughts. Esham haters probably won't find much to like about this besides the bassline, but this is right up a fan's alley for sure.

Finally, it ends with my favorite song of the album, "Devil's Night." Like the opening song, this one takes another distorted guitar riff and merges it with ominous bass notes for a dark tone, though this one uses more classic breakbeat style drums. There's even a little scratching. The music drops out completely for the hook, leaving only the sound of sirens and an assortment of vocal samples. Lyrically, Esham takes on the subject of the real "devil's nights" in Detroit, when each year on October 30th ("mischief night" to us softies out here in New Jersey hehe), acts of arson would occur in the inner cities. Of course, Esham takes the perspective of a gleeful arsonist, "strike 'em, struck 'em; burn 'em up, fuck 'em. Firemen come? Buck, buck, buck 'em! 'Cause I'm a fireman, but I've got a gas can." It's just one of those songs where all of the elements come together perfectly to form an ideal Esham moment.

And really, that's what you could say about this EP as a whole. The styles, subject matter, production... all just come together to form a nice little highlight moment of Esham music. It makes a good intro points for new fans, and it's a solid collector's item for old ones (like all of his vintage tapes, this usually goes for $60-90 these days).

Lord Mustafa and DJ KIng Born, United

Movement Ex really kinda reminds me of an East coast Low Profile, where you've got a solid, lyrically conscious MC paired up with an incredible DJ - King Born - who fills their entire album with a ton of hype scratching. The MC, Lord Mustafa, is the weaker link of the pair, though. He's pretty adept and clearly focused on intellectual and socially relevant content, but he just doesn't have the voice or style that'd threaten to knock another politically radical MC like Brother J or Wise Intelligent out of position... which is probably why they (again like Low Profile*) never made it to a second album. And that's a shame, 'cause this is some quality hip-hop right here.

So they only had the one self-titled album in 1990, but fortunately their catalog doesn't quite stop there. They released two tight 12" singles, including this one, "United Snakes of America." Just look at that picture cover. You've got a good shot of them, and their logo, in front of the pentagon, with a giant blue snake wrapped around it! And look at that little blurb promising an exclusive Marley Marl remix... that's the kind of cover that when you see it in a shop, you buy it even if you don't know who the artists are.

So "United Snakes of America" is in many ways what you'd expect, but you'd probably find it surprisingly up-tempo, which really works in its favor. It gives a lot of energy to Mustafa's rhymes, and sets King Born up perfectly to cut the shit out of the hook. The beat, produced by Sir Randall Scott, who made all of Movement Ex's beats (and as far as I know, nobody else's), has some nice change-ups and layers. By the third verse, new sample elements are still being introduced. But it doesn't sound cluttered at all. The instrumental's also included, so you can take the time to appreciate it.

Then, on the B-side of course, we come to that Marley Marl remix. The drums and hardcore horn-stab definitely sound more Marley Marlish, but it doesn't feel like a signature MM track. It's damn good, though, and has a sick horn sample on the hook. The scratching's a little muted on this version, which is the only disappointment. This isn't so much as an ideal replacement of the original so much as a nice companion piece. And considering the severe shortage of Movement Ex songs, it's a very welcome addition to your collection.

Finally, it wraps up with another album cut, "Zig Zag Zig." The beat is the great, funky soul break from Rose Royce's "Zig Zag" (you probably remember it making a stand-out cut called "Buggin' On the Line" on Tony D's debut album). Again it's full of rapier-like cuts by DJ King Born. And again Mustafa is kicking some slick, fast-paced knowledge on the track. Granted, it gets a bit immaturely mired in confrontational white vs. black stuff, and some of the lines don't seem too well thought out ("no caves in Africa, so who you callin' a caveman" is a nice, anti-stereotype sentiment... but, you know, there are plenty of caves in Africa - like a lot - so you kinda feel a little embarrassed for him there). But they were young and sincere, and they brought a lot of dope music to the table; so you've gotta work with 'em here and cut them a little slack.

It's sad that Movement Ex never returned, but I say it's a credit to Columbia Records that they put these guys out at all. Let's just enjoy what we've got, 'eh?


*WC and the Maad Circle don't count. :P

InstaRapFlix #26: Trick Daddy: Thug Holiday Uncut

Yayy! It's the first InstaRapFlix of 2010! Today's movie is Trick Daddy: Thug Holiday Uncut, which has a Netflix rating of 3 stars. Yeah, that's out of 5, but for a hip-hop doc on Netflix, 3 stars is the equivalent of an Oscar statuette. And as you can see on the cover, there, this is apparently in the "Platinum Series." So I'm excited.

It begins with our hosts, CO and Money Mark of Tre+6, telling us that this is "the DVD for Thug Holiday which is in stores as we motherfuckin' speak." So, I guess this DVD is just a glorified advertisement for the album, even though it's sold separately? Well, okay, whatever. Let's just see what you've got, DVD.

Well, for starters, it doesn't have a lot quantity-wise. It's just 46 minutes long (less if you subtract the opening and closing credits!). So I hope you didn't pay retail for this DVD. But this is free viewing on Netflix for me, so I'm not mad.

We start out with a little footage of Trick and his engineer recording the album in his studio, which is kinda cool if you're a fan. It's much too short and edited to pieces to give you any real insight into their recording process, though, instead just focussing on his silly ad-libs to the camera.

And that's pretty much the whole DVD in a nutshell. Teensy tiny sound-bites that are too short to have any value. Here's an example of how it works. Here's a Trick Daddy interview segment:

off screen interviewer: What's your favorite song on the album?

TD: I got fifteen. "Thug Dollars," "Thug Holiday." They're all my favorites.

End of interview segment. And it's another one of those DVDs that lists a whole bunch of featured artists on the box, but what you get from them is just teensy tiny clips of them having the camera thrown in their face at a show. For example, did you buy this DVD 'cause you're a Kase One fan? Well, here's a complete transcript of his involvement:

"Y'all know how we do in the motherfucker. Can I cuss on this shit?"

That's it. That's his whole "interview." Do you prefer Wild Child? Here's his complete transcript:

"My dog T double D! He's about to get loose tonight, you know what I'm sayin'? It's all good."

Wow; I just typed up two whole transcripts from this movie - I must've stayed up all night, huh? I can't believe how many DVDs I've found in this InstaRapFlix series that do this. What a racket!

The film's padded out with music video clips and a long segment of some guys riding motorcycles in a parking lot. What they have to do with Trick Daddy, I have no idea. But it sure was drawn-out and boring. I guess the trick was to make 46 minutes feel like 4 and a half hours.

There is some poorly recorded concert footage a segment behind-the-scenes of some of his music videos that... if you edited it all down, might make a short YouTube video that'd be worth your time. If you're a huge, non-discriminating Trick Daddy fan desperate for any footage relating to him, that is. This isn't a movie, it's a marketing scam.

InstaRapFlix, it's good to be home. :)

Juice Crew Defies the Law!

When is an LP Version not an LP Version? When it's the LP Version of MC Shan's "Juice Crew Law," in which case it's a super dookey hype remix cleverly disguised as an LP Version!

Yeah, this is a 12" that tends to sit on shelves, passed up by collectors in favor of other 12" singles with exclusive B-sides and remixes. That's because the label promises only a "Vocal Version" and a "Dub" for both songs on the 12", so there's not a lot to tempt anyone who already owns Shan's Born To Be Wild album. Heh. If only they knew...

This is really a must-have 12". While this version of "Juice Crew Law" uses essentially the same beat (and Shan's verses are the same), it's mixed differently, with deeper bass and harder drums. More importantly, there's tons of high energy scratching provided by the great Marley Marl (who also produced). He even talks on the mic, reprising his "I ain't gonna give y'all no microphones no more, 'cause y'all tear it up when you're out there" character from "The Symphony," telling Shan, "I ain't gonna give you no microphone neither!" It may not be radically different - "Juice Crew Law" was already a tight track on the album - but it's a distinct and marked improvement. This is the definitive way "Juice Crew Law" should be heard.

Then the B-side, "They Used To Do It Out In the Park," is different too. The beat is way more broken down, often with just Shan rhyming over the simple drum loop and snare kicks. But like the other version there's a whole bunch of new scratching. It's mostly on the hook, but also comes in at certain points to illustrate the old school stories he's telling about shows he heard in the park. The signature scratchy horn loop from the album version is still played on the hook, but now there's new horn sounds, as well as vocal samples, constantly being cut into the mix. Like the "Juice Crew Law" mix, this adds a whole lot more energy to the song, because there's clearly a live DJ working behind Shan throughout the whole song.

So here's a 12" that features two of Shan's best cuts, both given exclusive, killer remixes (plus Dub versions), that make the album versions feel like under-produced demo mixes. And it's so slept on, it always goes for cheap. I felt like I was getting away with something shady when I found this out and picked up my copy. ;)

A L'il Tweak

I've decided to make a change on the blog, which isn't uncommon. I tweak it every so often. But since it's gonna look like I'm removing a nice section, I figured I better post and let you guys know what I'm up to.

See, first of all, I only post on Twitter every couple days or so. And then I've never really been happy with the Best Blog Posts I Didn't Write section's layout: the only feed I found that would post my comments along with the link article looks like dog poop, pretty much. The text of my comment would run right into the first line of the post I was linking to with no distinction. And it would always redundantly say "by Werner," even though I'm the only guy posting here.

So I've decided to kill two song birds with one nailgun. I'm taking down that fugly Best Blogs section, and from now on, I'll highlight all the best hip-hop blog posts (that I didn't write) on my Twitter account ...which will still display on my blog's main page via the Twitter feed. Sounds good and makes sense, right? Kill an ugly layout, breathe more life into a slow section, and waste a little less real estate on the right-hand column.

Oh, and I'll continue to post whatever news bites or retweets that I'd ordinarily post on Twitter there, too. So there'll be no less content, it's just gonna be more stream-lined.

Finally, if for any reason you've grown attached to it and want the link to my watched items feed, it's here. Cheers, guys! Another, proper, hip-hop related update's comin' later tonight.

Do You Want Quality Indie Hip-Hop On Vinyl Or Not?

Do you want quality indie hip-hop on vinyl or not? Well, a new record label that's apparently sitting on half a vault's worth of classic, 90's indie material, isn't sure if you do.

The label's called Six 2 Six Records, and actually they're sort of a revival of Launchpad Records, who put out a handful of "raers" circa 1997. Now they're back with most of the old roster plus more ill "random rap" stars like Constant Deviants, Steve Colossal and Sparrow the Movement. I can't tell you how many EBay auctions I've lost for Sparrow material! lol So yeah, they're working on new material... but even more exciting is the fact that they're sitting on tons of vintage, unreleased material by all these guys.

But according to Verge at the T.R.O.Y. blog, they're waiting to hear from us fans on whether to actually press all this up on vinyl (and CD), or just dump them on the market via "digital release." It looks like their initial plans are to release one 12" from Sparrow ("Flows Of Death" b/w "Armageddon") and one from Constant Deviants ("Feel That" b/w "Problem Child"), and then just kinda see how it goes. Other projects that may or may not see a proper release include a Global Platoon LP, and two full-length unreleased albums by Constant Deviants and Sparrow (apiece).

So it's up to us to to let them know there's a market waiting for them and that they shouldn't just box up all their DATs for another 15 years. You can do that by following their blog, which they've been posting a lot of spec artwork on, and joining their Facebook group. And if you need further convincing before you jump aboard, they've also got a Youtube channel, which is full of the hot songs they've got in their arsenal.

So that's it, guys. Ball's in your court now.

Doug E. Fresh 2000, part 2: Yawn

So, in the summer of 2008, I blogged about how Doug E. Fresh made an under-publicized comeback in 2000, releasing two rare white label 12"s I discovered from that year. Well, it turns out I'd underestimated that comeback - I've found two more! There's no dates on these, so I can't say with any certainty that they came out precisely in the year 2000. But they seem to've come out at roughly the same time - heck one is a remix 12" of one of the records I reviewed last time, so they must've come out pretty close to each other.

That remix 12" is "He's Comin (Mayham Party Mix (Special Edition)." Like "He's Coming (Party Rocker Vocal)," this is a live recording... of the same performance... over all the same beats. So the difference is... he's performing it in front of a different crowd? Except, it's not even that. I bust out my first 12" of "He's Coming" and it's exactly the same recording, with the same crowd responses. So there is absolutely, 0% difference between the Mayham Party Mix and the Party Rocker Mix. That's a bit of a rip, huh?

Then, like you'd expect, the instrumental for both is exactly the same, too. Well, at least this "Special Edition" 12" comes with a "Beat Box Bonus," right? No, that's on printed on the label, but it doesn't actually appear here! I think it was intended to be, but the pressing was screwed up, because actually, there's a short, unlabeled track on this 12" with a few beeps and tones and a guy saying, "this is the instrumental mix, mix two." Clearly that was meant to be left off the final recording, but instead they left that on and chopped off the Beat Box Bonus. Jeez!

Still, at least this 12" has a B-side, so let's check that out. There's two more songs here called "The Show" and... "La Di Da Di." Waitasec; these aren't new at all. These aren't even live performances or anything - they're exactly the same tracks as pressed on Reality Records in 1985. They've even included "The Show (Instrumental)" from that 12". Well, ok. So this is really just a combo of two pre-existing Doug E Fresh 12"s merged together. I guess that's handy if you didn't already own "He's Coming" and "The Show;" you could buy this 12" and save a little money. I guess that's what they meant by "Special Edition." Ok.

That's a little disappointing, but I'm not phased. I've still got this fourth white label 12", "Who Run This." And it features old school legends Busy Bee and Luv Bug Starski - yeah, now we're talkin'! This is an all-new studio recorded track (as opposed to a live performance). It's a lot like "He's Coming" though, in the sense that they're basically just doing various shout and call responses ("Do the ladies run this?" etc). But it's all over just one, original beat... a boring, lifeless beat. And Starski and Busy Bee just sound kinda tired, randomly ad-libbing for a minute or two. Curiously, Busy Bee does all of his shout-outs and stuff from the end of his 1992 song, "Busy Bee's Block Party" ...right down to thanking us for giving him his block party. Huh? That's weird.

So yeah, nobody raps. The beat is weak. The shout and calls sound somnambulistic. Sorry, guys, but this joint sucks. ...Not that it seems like anybody on this record cared if it would be any good or not in the first place, so I'm not sure why I'm apologizing for that remark. It makes you appreciate why he records these shout and call tracks live, though. I mean, this song would've sucked either way, but at least a live audience infuses the proceedings with a little more energy.

Well, now my enthusiasm's thoroughly sapped... I don't even feel like flipping this over to check out the B-side to this one. But I will. It's "Where's the Party At?" If that title sounds familiar, that's because he had a song called "Where's da Party At?" on his 1995 album, Play. There was a video for it and everything. And this is it. Yeah, just like he threw "The Show" on the back of "He's Comin'," he's thrown "Where's da Party At?" on the back of "Who Run This." Again, there's no difference... this isn't a live recording or anything. It's just the same songs repressed. He includes the instrumental here as well, which was also included on the 1995 Gee Street single. Meh.

So all in all, this was pretty disappointing. There was actually only one new song across these 12"s (not even an alternate mix), and that song was half-assed and lifeless. If you're a hardcore completist collector, then I'm glad to let you guys know these records are out there. But otherwise, guys, do like Dionne and walk on by. No wonder these 12"s were so obscure.

A REAL OUTLAW IS A MUTHA FUCKA

When K-Rob is outlawed, only The Outlaws will have K-Rob production. Y'all know who K-Rob is, right? He's best know for his classic old school duet with Ramellzee, "Beat Bop," a record known for adding off-beat funk (featuring unusual instruments and echo effects over a slow bassline) to hip-hop when everybody else was still doing the pure disco sound, and for having a famous picture cover painted by Basquiat. Then in the mid-80's, he did a couple records for Profile, and finally resurfaced in the 90's as a producer... mostly underground, though he worked with Jay-Z several times.

And I don't suppose you get much more underground than this. I'd never heard of it until The Old School Rap King hipped me to it, and there's not a single mention of it online anywhere. In this day and age where the most obscure random rap singles have countless message boards and blogs on fire, how many albums can you say bring up zero hits on Google?

So yeah, this album is called Super Heroes Of the Ghetto by The Outlaws, for whom K-Rob seems to be the sole producer and lead MC. There is another rapper who appears less often, and a reggae guy... think The Crusaders Of Hip-Hop, where K-Rob is Tony D and you get the picture. This came out on Bad Azz Records in 1993, a label which I'm guessing is K-Rob's own (the only other record I know of on this label was also produced by K-Rob: "Who You Be?" by Bro-N X).

So how is it? It's pretty raw. K-Rob's got a pretty tough but sample-heavy sound... Most of said samples are pretty original, though "Give the People What They Want" is essentially the exact same instrumental as Grand Daddy IU's "I Kick Ass," but filtered so heavily the horns are all but inaudible, sunk deep beneath a roaring sea of heavy, heavy bass. Like, "WHOMP!! Whomp, whomp, whooomp!" And a few other songs use some very traditional hip-hop samples, but in every case they're flipped uniquely or paired up with something fresh and unheard. K-Rob is definitely a producer who can stand next to the greats.

Lyrically, it's even rawer. There's some really angry content here... with songs dedicated to their hatred of white rappers ("No Frosted Flake") and rape victims "She Cried Rape (Dedicated To Mike Tyson)." They lighten the mood a bit to talk about their hatred of the media "(Kill the Media"), killing cops (an untitled skit about Rodney King), how much it sucks to ride the subway ("Hopping Trains"), and their resentment of Yo! MTV Raps ("Fuck MTV (Doctor Dre and Ed Lover Dis...)"). They even squeeze the line "fuck the Pope," into "How a Black Man Feels." This album is so much like the New York equivalent of Disco Rick's first album, they even have a similar manifesto in their liner notes:

"A REAL OUTLAW IS A MUTHA FUCKA WHO HOPS TRAINS, DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT BITCHES AND COULDN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT MTV ...... CAUSE DRE AND ED LOVER ARE NOTHIN BUT UNCLE TOMS. A OUTLAW HATES THE DAILY NEWS, THE POST, NBC, ABC, CBS, TED KOPPEL, DAN RATHER, MARK KRIEGEL[a sports columnist lol] AND PHIL DONAHUE (THE WHITE LIBERAL).
CUZ WHEN IT COMES TO A BLACK MUTHA FUCKA THEY NEVER TELL THE TRUTH! SO KILL THE MEDIA AND GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT OR YOU'LL HAVE RIOTS ALL OVER AGAIN, CUZ THAT'S THE WAY A BLACK MAN FEELS! SO SUCK MY DICK AND LICK MY NUTS AND LISTEN TO THESE FAT ASS CUTS."

Yeah, this album isn't for the squeamish. But then neither is this site; we love the hardcore here! And this album is pure good times. This album gets a full, all-around recommendation from me... if you can find it any place!

Hip-Hop on 8-Track with 2XL!

(Youtube version is here.)

Marley In the Mirror

"Check the Mirror" is pretty much the track used to illustrate how far In Control vol. 2 fell from vol. 1. After all, vol. 2 had a lot of dope tracks: Tragedy's "America Eats Its Young," Ak B and Kev E Kev's "Out for the Count"... Hell, even Marley Marl's own rap track, "No Bullshit," was alright. But Marley went for a wider scope on that outing, with a little more new jack swingy moments and giving his R&B group The Flex a solo track... and the flagship of What Went Wrong was Portia's "Check the Mirror." So of course he chose it for the single!

Actually, I remember thinking back in the day that this track wasn't so bad, and today it gives me a nice feeling of reminiscence for all the time I spent watching BET after school. I mean, I kinda like new jack swing, and the track is well produced if you go for that sort of thing. Portia was an dancer turned R&B singer "who also rapped." Her singing's okay... I doubt anybody came out of this eager for her solo album; but the track, with a funky piano line, bouncy beat, boards and synthesized back-up vocals made for an upbeat good time.

Now, this is the CD single (the 12" only came in a plain sleeve as far as I know), but it has essentially the same track-listing but with two extra mixes, totaling SIX different versions of "Check the Mirror." So strap yourself in for some serious neo-pop soul swing!

Actually, it's a lot to listen to, but it's not too complicated to break down. You've essentially got two key mixes, the Mirramix and the Reflection Mix, and both of those come in regular, extended and instrumental versions (the 12" only has the extended and instrumental mixes). And neither of these versions are the same as the album version, which isn't included here.

The album version was a little more hip-hop, and the remixes are a little more dance. The drums, stuttered hook ("ch-ch-ch-ch-check the mirror, y'all") and all the vocals are retained, but the remixes go for more of an almost house music feel. The album version had harder drums and old school samples (horn stabs and such), not to mention some scratching, that are all dropped for the single.

The Mirramix adds some vocoder and some additional keyboards. It starts out with a nice little acapella lick (sample?), that recurs once or twice throughout the song. There are more little touches and changes, especially on the extended mix, but the main distinction is that it downplays the deep bassline of the original, playing up instead a new, lighter keyboard line that plays throughout the song. The main piano loop is the same as the album version, though, so this mix doesn't feel too far removed. This is the version they used for the video (yeah, there was a video for this).

The Reflection Mix, then, is even more club-oriented with more new keyboards and spacey disco sound effects. The extra acapella lick is back on this version, too. The signature of this mix is that the keyboard player is really allowed to shine here, getting a couple solo numbers and everything; and the piano riff of the album version is completely dropped.

But even if you don't give a fig for Portia and her dance music, this single's worth picking up for the B-side: "At the Drop Of a Dime" by MC Cash. This is a pure hip-hop track, with Cash kicking freestyle rhymes over a fast but very hard hitting track. It's pretty much all rugged, layered percussion, a lone horn squeal and a bassline until the hook, when the "UFO" riff screeches in the background and Marley gets on the 'tables and cuts up his signature like from "The Symphony." It's a fast, unrelenting experience with a seamless blend from verse to scratching to verse.

"At the Drop Of the Dime" was also on the album, but this single features an exclusive extended mix. It's not a remix - the instrumental's completely unchanged except where the album version would end, this one keeps going into a whole new third verse! The beat's allowed to ride out more at the end, too... but a whole new verse? That clearly bumps this up into Definitive Version status. It's more furious freestyling just like the other two verses ("now watch ya step, no beef, no Rambos; the Cash just keeps 'em souped like Campbells"). Oh, and the instrumental is also included for a final treat.

So yeah, another worthwhile single that can be had pretty cheap. Buy it for the MC Cash, but the Portia stuff's at least a fun bit of nostalgia. Kinda wish they'd included the album track, too, but oh well. They already included a lot, so can't really complain. Oh, and if want some more Portia nostalgia, she's got her own channel on Youtube, with her music video, an interview, and footage of her dancing for LL Cool J and EPMD. Check it out and relive the early 90's. :)

Triggerman 2000

Last time I did a post about The Showboys, I talked about their lesser known debut single that dropped the year before their big hit, "Drag Rap." Well, I'm gonna keep dancing around their classic centerpiece, and this time talk about their under-the-radar follow-up, "Triggerman 2000"/ YIIG'$.

The Showboys are from Queens, but in 1986, "Drag Rap" became a huge hit in the South, and is one of the most important records in the history of bounce music. "Drag Rap" was often mistakenly referred to as "Trigger Man," since Trigger Man's name is used so often in the song. In fact, when Profile repressed it in the 90's, they retitled it "Drag Rap (Trigger Man)." So know that, it's obvious that "Triggerman 2000" is their sequel to "Drag Rap," Orville “Bugs Can Can” Hall and Phil “Triggaman” Price's colorful gangster narrative about being pursued by the infamous real-life crime-fighter Elliot Ness. But "Trigger Man 2000" is actually just one song on their debut full-length album, YIIG'$ which they dropped on album, CD and tape on their own label Papergame Records.

There's no reference to their debut single (or their Christmas rap song from 1987), but this song is all about "Drag Rap." Seriously, the entire album is one giant ode to that song. It opens with one in a series of well-produced skits telling us how Bugs and Trigger are still on the run from Ness. Then they play the original "Drag Rap" (exactly as it was released in 1986) and after another skit where a judge sentences them to prison, they hit us with "Triggerman 2000."

Now, you'd be forgiven for thinking this song and album would be one huge piece of crap, but actually it's pretty dope! "Triggerman 2000" plays it very close to the original, using the same instrumental, including the crazy whistling and human beatbox breakdowns, but provide a very updated hook and all new lyrics. These detail the further exploits of Bugs and Trigger as they organize a jailbreak. They sound older (and Trigger sounds grimier), but otherwise this could easily have been a lost 1986 B-side:

"Triggerman!
Yeah, I'm in jail.
My boys ain't raisin' no bail;
Them niggas raisin' HELL!"

Oh yeah, they do curse a bit more than they were back in the 80's. But this whole song, in fact the whole album, is all about being a fun throwback... both to their 80's sound and to the old school style of 1920's era gangsters.

The rest of the album doesn't sound quite as old school as "Trigger Man"/ "Trigger Man 2000," but the samples of that record return in different forms and styles through-out the album. One song will have the same drums, another the same bassline. And the whole album continues the narrative of Bugs' and Trigger's escapades with elaborate skits and songs that continue the theme. For example, there's a skit called "Da Hideout" where some old girlfriends let them hide out at their place and lay low, which is immediately followed by the song "Ladies Luv Gangstas." The title says it all, I think.

Sure, it's a bit corny - The Showboys incorporating modern Southern elements to their old school styles - but it's surprisingly well produced, and the whole album feels much more like a "rap opera" than The Fugees' half-assed attempt at it (or The Fat Boys, who did it first). The only disappointment is that it peters out on side 2. Instead of building to a climax, the skits just kinda stop, and there's a remix and a song or two that don't quite fit in with the whole theme as well. So that's a bit of a let-down.

But seriously, when you hear that some old school rappers are coming out of retirement after fifteen years to do a sequel to their biggest hit, you hope for one thing and expect another. And I'm happy to report that more often than not, this is a lot more of what you hope for than what you'd expect.