South Africa No Free Neither Are We

"A.F.R.I.C.A." is a classic Stetsasonic single that was surprisingly left off any of their albums. This was a pretty big release at the time (1989), and went a long way to putting a pre-"Talking All That Jazz" Stetsasonic on the map. It was a side project of the Artists United Against Apartheid's Sun City release - not included on the album (because that came out four years earlier), but single is marked with their logo and says it's "endorsed" by the Sun City album.

You surely remember the video, if you were around back then, with Stet superimposed over South African news footage. The song has a very rudimentary, old school feel to it. It's that low tech sound you either reminisce fondly of, or you're embarrassed to death to listen to today. But there's no denying the funky percussion... probably because it's provided by Olatunji and the Drums of Passion. And the hook to this song is one of the best geography lessons I ever had in life. How many cities countries (whoops! fixed - see comments section) in South Africa can you name? I can name "Angoloa, Soweto, Zimbabwe... Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana!" The picture cover[upper left] also says it's featuring The Reverend Jesse Jackson, but that's a little disingenuous. They sample a speech he made when he made about South Africa... but how many tons of rap songs sampled speeches? They didn't claim them as featured guest stars! Still... the CD single[which I don't have, but I stole the scan from discogs... right] features a photo of Jackson posing with the band, so he must have at least signed off on this record.

And speaking of the picture cover, it's a pretty neat one! The inner sleeve also includes the lyrics, production notes, an essay on the problems of apartheid (an excerpt: "After a network TV report on [Jackon's] trip appeared on ABC's 20/20, Stetsasonic checked out the situation. They wrote A.F.R.I.C.A. to get more people interested in finding out about apartheid and the Frontline states") and a detailed map. Seriously, there's a lot to read with this record.

There's a couple mixes here... the regular version, a slightly shorter Radio Version and The Stetsafied Mix. The Stetsafied Mix isn't too different from the other two; but it does feature a lot more beat-boxing from Wise, some deeper drum machine notes and a few other odds and ends thrown into the mix.

Finally, there's "Free South Africa" by Tack Head. Tack Head is actually an alias of The Sugar Hill Band, a.k.a. Fats Comet. I assume the change in name is so people wouldn't expect the softer disco sound of the early Sugar Hill Days... this features hip-hop drums, electric guitars and a lot of vocal samples from news programs laid over them. It's kinda dated, but in some ways sounds even more dated than "A.F.R.I.C.A."

It's worth noting that Stetsasonic's third and final album in 1991, Blood, Sweat & No Tears featured alternate bonus tracks on its CD and cassette versions. One of those tracks was a new remix of "A.F.R.I.C.A." (curiously titled as "Free South Africa (Remix)"... but it's a remix of "A.F.R.I.C.A.," not the Tack Head song); and this might be a bit controversial to say, but I prefer it to any of the original mixes. It's a whole new instrumental, with a cool, rolling bassline, funk guitars, and girls (sampled?) singing along to the hook. What's really impressive about it is that it takes the same vocals as the original but manages not to sound dated at all. Seriously; it's like... how'd they pull that off? The remix is fresh and timeless.

But don't let my preference for the remix dissuade you from the original. Like I said, the percussion's ill; and this 12" is an important piece of hip-hop history. And before anybody asks, yes, they freed South Africa. In 1994, South Africa held their democratic election, voting in the African National Congress and their democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela. 8)

Don Done Right

Ever feel like, "somebody out there's listening?" Well, I do today because I just received Godfather Don's Selections EP (though to my mind, this is full enough to constitute an LP) from No Sleep Records. I'll forgive you if you've forgotten a blog I posted way back in 2007, where I gave a positive review of Godfather Don's CD The Nineties Sessions, also on No Sleep; but also expressed some disappointment with it.

Only some of the tracks were new (and some were blatantly stepping on another label's toes), and of course - it wasn't on vinyl. Well, I guess they heard me (and all the other collectors who felt the same way), because in 2010, No Sleep is back with a new release that addresses all of my concerns and then some.

The Selections EP features all seven songs from The Nineties Sessions album that had never been released before and puts them on vinyl for the first time. And, thanks to a last minute recall where some low-volume wax was taken back in favor of a new, first class pressing, the sound quality is excellent (better than what was pressed on the CD, I daresay). Back when we looked at The Nineties Sessions like, "damn, this is good, but could have been so much better..." Well, it's now been done so much better. :)

Oh, but wait! That alone would make this an absolutely essential purchase in my book, but there's more. In addition to those seven songs, the Selections EP features a completely unheard, never-before-released Don track from the 90's. "For Your Ear" is easily one of the best tracks on here, too (I'd say the best, but "Memories" was smooth); this is no second-stringer, and really captures that magical 90's production sound. This'll take you back to the days of flipping to the back pages of The Source and nodding your head to NYC radio back when it was worth listening to.

This is a limited release (though there is some question as to exactly how many were pressed... apparently 175 were available for pre-order, but nobody presses in quantities of 175), and comes in a cool sticker cover. This might prove to be a difficult one to get your hands on, but damn worth it if you do.

DJ Mark & Rakim

(Youtube version is here.)

Fear Of the Rap!

Hip Hop Connection is back with a new digital issue, and as ever - that means a new Fear Of the Rap! piece by yours truly. It's a wild one this time; I won't even spoil it by telling you what it's about. Just click here to check it out.

Other attractions include an in-depth interview with Flying Lotus, some early NYC graf shots, and an interview with Ricky Powell, the photographer who documented the Beastie Boys' career. Oh, and they cover the new Digital Underground in their review section... I forgot that one was dropping. Gotta give it a listen.

Treacherous, Devastating, Supreme

(Youtube version is not here. Just kidding, yes it is.)

"Home Taping" Hurr Durr

I'm not a musician. I have some sympathy for the artist - seemingly more than most hip-hop bloggers today - but I generally leave them to fight their own battles. Illegal downloading killing your career? Well, maybe if you'd pressed up your album I would've supported, but you didn't care so I don't.

There is however, one point I feel compelled to make, just because I see so many people get it wrong in online discussions. It's frustrating, damn it.

We've all seen it. The usual "mp3s are killing music!" versus "artists need to adapt!" debates, and someone ironically posts the old "HOME TAPING IS KILLING MUSIC" logo (which did have a pretty awesome image, I must admit). Laugh at how paranoid and foolish the music was for thinking taping stuff off the radio, or making cassette copies of albums, would topple the music industry. I mean, they probably did lose some revenue, but don't look at that. The joke is how senseless they were being.

But here's where the comparison really becomes invalid:

1) This is a lesser point, but I'll throw it out there anyway. Home taping still required blank tapes. It was substantially cheaper than buying a proper cassette album Sam Goody's, but there was still a discouraging expense involved that isn't there in sharing mp3s. This is marginal (but still a factor) if we're talking me hooking a friend up with a tape of an album. But it's huge when you compare the cost of uploading one mp3 to a site like Zshare for free and having hundreds - or even theoretically potentially billions - download it verses the cost of buying a blank tape for every one of those people.

2) But more importantly, that the internet is killing the distribution gatekeepers... which for the most part, I'll happily concede, is a good thing. What that means, however, is that the labels, the stores, etc. no longer have any say in what music you get. In olden days, if no music store in your area stocked the album you wanted, you were SOL (shit outta luck). And I'm not just talking about, "damn, my local Sam Goody's doesn't carry Esham's first EP!" What they didn't stock were album dubs. You couldn't say, hey let me pass on that $10 album and get the $1 dub of it instead. But now on the internet, it's just as easy (if not easier) to download something free and illegal as it is to get it legally.

3) A dubbed cassette tape, with a generic Maxwell or whatever logo and the title of the album written in ballpoint pen seriously lacked the luster of a proper album, with the track-listing printed nicely on the tape, and of course the fold-out cover art and liner notes. But an mp3 from Amazon or Itunes has no advantage of an mp3 you snagged off of Soulseek or some random blog. In fact, with issues like DRM, the illegal copy might just be better.

So, anyway, my point isn't to make a grandstand against internet piracy or anything like that. It just irks me when people make the "home taping" point without any realization or acknowledgment of how off-base a comparison it is. And even if you want to pull a "well, that's just, like, your opinion, man," on me, I think a look at the Soundscan numbers after the rise of home taping versus the after the rise of Napster will show an incredibly vast distinction in declining sales.

So, go ahead. Continue to download everything you like. I don't care. Just don't throw that cassette and crossbones logo into any more message board debates as if you'd just intellectually crushed the opposition.

Shadez of Brooklyn

It's a shame that a crew like Shadez of Brooklyn, who sounded so ill and had such break-out success with their debut single - I think I could safely use the word "beloved" in relation to their hit, "Change" - only managed to put out three 12" singles before disappearing. Well, in 2010, Chopped Herring Records has finally rectified that situation with the release of their Pandemonium EP.

To be clear, this isn't new material by the group reunited; this EP consists of 5 previously unreleased tracks recorded in 1996 and '97 (which means they actually predate Shadez' second and third singles). And like their previous singles, all the tracks here are produced by Da Beatminerz, so don't expect any disappointments. Only one of the tracks, "Everyday Livin'," has ever been heard in any capacity before - it was included on an Evil Dee mixtape. But, like the other songs, this is the first time it's being released in a full un-edited/blended capacity.

Really, if you're familiar with the Shadez of Brooklyn's previous output (and you really ought to be), all I need to tell you is that this is every bit as good as their past singles. Production-wise and lyrically, any one of these songs would have fit perfectly on their previous 12"s. The voices, the flows, the way the MCs play off each other going back and forth over hot beats with killer piano loops and fresh cuts from crazy comic book records... it's all here. In fact, the opening track, "Now a Dayz," seems to be a sequel to their original B-side, "Survival Wars;" with a hook that goes, "Now a days/ You've got to live in a certain way/ Watch what you say/ Here comes the gun spray/ East to west, South Shore to North Shore/ We told you before/ This is the time of survival wars." And "Pandemonium" is presumably the song they named their record label (Pandemonium Wreckords) after, so it's nice to finally get to hear it.

And in addition to those five unreleased joints, they also threw "Change" on here as a bonus. I can't imagine many people who'd buy this wouldn't already have "Change" on vinyl, but just in case, here it is.

As you can see in my scan, this comes in a nice sticker cover, and it's limited to 300 copies. It's still available (mine just landed today) as of this writing directly from the label's website: choppedherringrecords.com. The limited releases don't get much more essential than this one.

Remembering the Gifted

Following the recent loss of one of hip-hop's most esteemed MCs, Guru, we're celebrating his work over at DWG with a series of reviews of classic Gangstarr 12"'s. Mine just went up now. I picked a more recent one than you might expect, but hopefully you'll find it a fitting choice.

Mad Child's Early Days In a Jazzy Hell

What the Hell is the group Mad Child was in with DJ Flipout before he created Swollen Members. They dropped this single, followed by an album, on Tandem Records in the early 90's. Now I'm not gonna front like I was rockin' this back in '93. Like a lot of indie hip-hop fans, my head was blown when Swollen Members came out of seemingly nowhere with a series of amazing 12"'s (and eventually albums). So I looked into them and found out about this earlier project, and thanks to the miracle of the internet, picked up used copies of the album and single cheap.

Predictably, he sounds younger here, and the Swollen Members atmosphere that's especially present in their best work, is absent here. But his distinctive voice is unrecognizable, and while this doesn't sound like a Swollen Members-minus-Prevail record, it's still pretty nice. Imagine Pharcyde kicking naighty rhymes ("oh yeah, it's really important that you don't fill out a statement!") over DITC production, and you've got a rough idea. It features a nice Beastie Boys sample cut up on the hook: "The girlies I like... are underage!"

We're then laced with two exclusive remixes of "Young Girls," the Rogie Mix and the Manooshi Mix. The Rogie Mix is so named because it's produced by a guy named Rogie Swan; and the Manooshi Mix is called that because it's produced by a guy named... David Christian. haha I dunno. Anyway, the Rogie mix is pretty cool. It uses the same crackly old horn sample, but slows it down about 50% and adds a little extra instrumentation (vibes especially)... it gives the whole thing a moody, soulful feel. That kinda clashes with the subject matter, but it works if you don't think about it too hard.

Conversely, the Manooshi Mix speeds things up. It uses a cool bassline that kinda sounds like "Cool Like Dat" or "Juice (Know the Ledge)" but played at triple time. Even the vocals are sped up considerably, giving the MCs cartoony voices (think Big Scoob when he rapped with that awful accent or B Real)! If you just heard this song on its own, you might think you'd accidentally set your turntable to 45. This one's jazzy, too, with some more scratchy old samples and nice drums. Long story short: the production is surprisingly good, and the rhymes are juvenile but fun.

Finally, the B-side rounds out with two more tracks taken from the album, "Summer Styles" and "Down Like This." After "Young Girls," "Summer Styles" is more of the same (which is good). Classic, jazzy style production and high-pitched raps about the summertime. There's a lot more scratching provided by a DJ Ajax which is nice, cutting up the same vocal sample 3rd Bass used for "Steppin' To the AM" ("What time is it?!"). And everything I just said about "Summer Styles" can be said about "Down Like This" except this time they're kicking harder battle raps.

Seriously, the production on this 12" is surprisingly good. In fact, I would say great. Even if you're thinking "ah, I don't care about this indie, art fag rap type shit. Just give me Freestyle Professors' '94 and leave me alone," check this out. I think you'll be really surprised and have to add this to your collection or wishlist.

1, 2, 3, the Crew Is Called Jam Rock Massive

What we have today is "Stop the Violence" by Jam Rock Massive & Krs 1 (not to be confused with "Self Destruction" by his Stop the Violence Movement, which was named after this song). This was released independently on Massive Records on 1988, and has that classic B-Boy Records feel.

Now, you may remember that "Stop the Violence" was featured on Boogie Down Productions' second album, By Any Means Necessary (also 1988). Of course you remember: "I say: one, two, three/ the crew is called B-D-P/ And if you wanna go to the tip-top/ Stop the violence in the hip-hop/ Y-Oh!" In fact, they released it as the second or third single (not sure if "Ya Slippin'" came before or after it), with a colorful picture cover and everything. But this is the original version, that didn't wind up getting put out by Jive/RCA Records.

Well, this mix is the one for sure. I don't know why Krs bothered to remix it for the album, except possibly they felt every song on a Boogie Down Productions album should be produced by them on principle? Because production here is credited to an R. Stafford... which I guess is a government name for one of Jam Rock Massive? Anyway, it's still got that funky, reggae vibe, but this version has a different, much funkier bassline; and while it doesn't include the horn section from the album version, which was decent, this one has an ill horn clip that sounds like it was sampled off a turntable with a busted belt. Fortunately, both versions feature that silly Caribbean library tune that comes in after he says "the president's on vacation," though. :)

This 12" just has the one song, but it's fully-loaded with all the elements: Extended Version, Radio Version (which is about a minute and a half shorter), Instrumental and Acapella. There's no picture cover like the major label version, but it does come in a bright red sleeve, which is coming close.

I wish I had more info to impart on who Jam Rock Massive is exactly... All the vocals are pretty much Krs-1's except possibly some back-up on the hook. And they never released any other records that I've ever heard of. It's also possible it's a fake name... in the May 1988 issue of Spin Magazine, where they write, "the single's sparse underproduction and relaxed pace make it more exciting than anything on the album," Krs-1 replied that it was just "a bootleg of a demo recording." But whatever it is, it's dope.

InstaRapFlix #27: Black and Blue: Legends of the Hip-Hop Cop

It's been over two months since my last InstaRapFlix review, but I'm still workin' it. Today's is a little different than the ones I've been looking at lately (using the term "lately" loosely, I admit)... It's not a vanity piece for a Southern rapper, it's not approximately half an hour long. This looks like a real hip-hop focused documentary film. Black and Blue: Legends of the Hip-Hop Cop has a rating of 2.5 stars on Netflix, which is high for an InstaRapFlix movie. What can I say? Guess I'm usually attracted to the trash. But have I elevated my standards this time, or is this really just more of the same?

Well, it's a QD3 (he did the Beef DVDs) Productions from 2005, and it's narrated by Saul Williams. It's from 2005 (though Netflix dates aren't always the most accurate) and opens with a clever credits sequence.

It starts out with a sequence about how rappers are profiled by cops. It features a pretty impressive line-up of rappers addressing the topic - everyone from 50 Cent to Biz Markie. But it gets more interesting when it gets into how The Miami Herald [Hey; I once wrote for them!] first caught word of a police department specifically gathering info on hip-hop artists. Impressively, they interview the staff of the Herald, the cops, lawyers... this is a thorough doc. Anyway, it all eventually boils down to the fact that almost all these hip-hop related police efforts are directly connected to one retired police officer named Derrick Parker, who calls himself the hip-hop cop.

Soon (and we're only about 15 minutes in), the film transforms into a glorified vanity piece on Derrick, who gives a series of interviews, drives us around in his patrol car (retired officers still drive patrol cars? silly movie fakery), and they even do a cheesy 70's cop-show sequence for him. Any airs of this being a "legit documentary" breaking any kind of important story soon blow away, and we're left with a silly puff piece of Derrick boasting about what rappers he's performed security for.

After about the first half hour, it gets pretty dull. It's a Derrick shows us pictures of him at Jack the Rapper with Heavy D, his dad shows us around their apartment, his former boss talks about what a good cop he was. All that's cute, but the bulk of the film is just Derrick talking and talking with not much to say. It was a real test to my dedication as a reviewer not to start fast-forwarding through a lot of this.

Oh well. Started out promising, and slid down hill, slowly but surely. I can't even say it's worth the free watch, because it IS long. And goes nowhere, flailing around without a point. Blah. Maybe the next one.