New and Upcoming Music

The jury's still out on how 2010 is gonna be for hip-hop music, but there's some stuff out there and on the horizon that's pretty promising, at least. Let's break it down:

* Buck 65 has a new EP out called Avast. So far, it's just available as a CD extra packaged with his new DVD; but he promises on his website that vinyl is coming soon. "Soon" better mean soon, and not one of those situations where we're posting on a message board in December 2011 asking, "whatever happened to that vinyl EP Buck said he was about to drop?" Apparently, Avast is the first in a series of monthly EPs he's gonna be dropping from now until October. Want, want, want!

* Branesparker of The Freestyle Professors has a 6-song collaborative EP with Nutrageous coming out called Da Gritty & Da Grimey. They've "leaked" (it's not really a leak if you put it out yourself, is it?) the first song, and it's nice. Check it out here. Freestyle Records has also announced a new Freestyle Professors 7" and "Showbiz Presents: The Big L / Silky Black Double Pack (limited collectors 2x12" in pic sleeve)." 0_o

* Speaking of collaborations, Neila and Vrse Murphy have been promising a collaborative effort for years, but oh shit - there's a rough edit on Youtube now! (There's a couple other dope rough tracks on her channel as well, so poke around while you're over there.) That loop has the classic Vrse Murphy vibe to it; I'm amped. Someone once told me they weren't feeling Vrse because he sounded like Timbaland. ...I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one.

* If you haven't yet heard, K-Def is dropping an unreleased LL Cool J monster jam from their 90's sessions on 12" called "Year Of the Hip Hop." It's b/w an unreleased Real Live cut, too; but A-side sounds like the clear winner to me. This site has clips.

* Hydra Records is back with Godfather Don's unreleased third album, Donnie Brasco. I listened to the snippets on ughh, and it sounds like a step down from Diabolique and some of the stuff DWG and them have unearthed. But I'll still be picking it up.

* Grand Invincible released their second CD, Cold Hand In the Dice Game, practically in secret. As far as I can tell, you can only order it from this one site. But trust me, it's worth it.

* If you've been paying attention to my Twitter feed, you should've caught me retweeting Grand Daddy I.U. who says he's about to release "a bunch of never before released joints. from years back." I also mentioned an upcoming Themselves remix album of Crownsdown, which isn't quite as exciting; but could be worth checking out.

* You may or may not've caught Z-Man's free digital EP by now (if not, download it), but I bet you didn't also know that his label has a compilation album out that features a bunch of exclusive Z-Man songs (and other artists like Gift of Gab of Blackalicious). It's just $7.99 and only available from this site as far as I can tell.

* Finally, Phill Most Chill is coming with a full length (including lots of vintage, unreleased material) from DWG. Details are being kept under wraps, but what more do you need to hear?

Unarmed Soldiers of Lust

Unfortunately, this single from Buck 65 is only available on CD. The song, confusingly titled "Woodmatches (Square 2)," was originally featured on an unreleased (but leaked on the internet) album called Boy/Girl Fight. It was a nice album, and at the time I was really disappointed it never came out as it had a lot of good material - this song being a stand-out.

"Boy/Girl Fight" actually wouldn't have been a bad title for this song, as it illustrates the nightclub/party hook-up scene of young men and women:

"It's just like dodge-ball
But instead of a ball,
The contestants throw around
The head of a doll.
Now I don't know what it means,
But it makes it worth the cost alone,
Even with the overflowing
Load of testosterone
And sexual appetites.
Sorry, it's a circus;
The circuits are faulty
And everybody's uptight.
Sweat stains and jet planes
And hot rod love songs,
Blistering kisses
For every mister and missus.
In the same amount of time it takes
For you to make a sandwich, love;
You can probably find someone
That you can take advantage of.
'Cause the girls are desperate,
But the boys are even hornier;
The rose smells sweet,
But the stem is even thornier.
It's a match made in purgatory.
What more do you want to know?"

Fortunately, Buck wound up savaging pretty much all of the material from Boy/Girl Fight and including it on other albums. This song was no exception, and found its way on his 2002 album, Square. This version was different though... the vocals were all rerecorded, and this time they're not delivered in that high-pitched nasally vioce he sometimes used on his older material, but a more natural cadence. Fortunately, he manages to say the lines in the same perfect way he did the first time... that's a problem he's often had when he recorded many of his previous older songs ("Wildlife" or "Centaur," for example) - that he may have improved it technically, but he actually rapped it better the first time. Well, not here.

The annoying thing about most of Buck's old albums, though - and Square is no exception - is that they're all done in as "mixtapes," meaning they're all continuous mixes with every song blended into each other and padded with a lot of instrumental noodling. Also none of the songs were given titles or broken into tracks. Square is just broken in 4 parts (sides A, B, C and D of the double LP). So you can't pick it apart and just enjoy the songs you're interested in. That's where this CD single comes in.

It isolates just "Woodmatches (Square 2),"as a stand-alone song, without any of the blending that mixes into the instrumental of the version on the album. It's the only way to hear this re-recorded version of the song unmixed.

Unfortunately, it's the Radio Edit. Now this is hardly a profane song, so there's not a lot of cursing to be removed. But there is one like that's censored "card tricks and hard dicks." It's not song ruining, but it's enough to be annoying. It's a shame they didn't bother to include the unedited version as well as the Radio Edit on here (it's not like they couldn't fit more than 3 minutes on the CD)... Hell, I could imagine a proper 12" which includes the album and Radio Edit, the Boy/Girl Fight vocal version, the instrumental and even an exclusive remix. But oh well.

It's also worth noting that this has exactly the same cover as Square, right down to the title (it doesn't say anything about this being a single on the front cover, or what song is on here). The only difference is it's a little purpler, while the album is more blue.

So, all in all, it's an underwhelming release... But still something us completists will want to have in our collections. It's a great song; just wish they could've done a little better by it.

Further Rumors

Here's a record I think pretty much everybody's slept on: "Rumors 2002" by T.O.N.E. on Select Records (I'll leave you to guess what year it dropped). So let me start by answering your primary unanswered questions about this record:

1) Is it...?

Yes, it's an unofficial sequel to Timex Social Club's hit "Rumors" that uses largely the same instrumental, subject matter and samples the chorus for the hook.

2) Who the heck is T.O.N.E.?

Since it's a Select Records release, you might be thinking it has something to do with Red Hot Lover Tone, but no. T.O.N.E. is the artist formerly known as Style, who put out a Hollywood Impact-produced album on Select way back in 1990. He's also the younger brother of old school legends T-La Rock and Special K (yeah, no shit!), and is still putting out music, now under the slightly altered name T.O.N.E.-Z. Here's his myspace.

So yeah, it's kinda wild that Select still apparently had this guy on their roster twelve years after releasing his one album. Unsurprisingly, Hollywood Impact is no longer involved - instead this one is co-produced by someone named Rock Stardom (never heard of him - maybe a pseudonym to go with the song concept?) and T.O.N.E. himself. Like I said, it's basically a riff of the TSC instrumental, but they do flip the drums etc and make it more contemporary. The fun of this song, really, is the lyrical content anyway: T.O.N.E. just drops a barrage of crazy, silly name-dropping rumors about everybody in the industry:

"Funkmaster Flex...
Ran up in Mary J,
And robbed Jay-Z,
Wrote all of Biggie's rhymes,
Made Stevie Wonder Blind!
Krs ate pork,
Then slobbed down Monifah!"

...And so on. Yes, it's more than a little gimmicky (think "Bomb MC" or "Ghost Writer," both of which preceded this) and some of the rumors are just too childish and corny ("Jackie Chan's bionic! Bruce Lee's alive!") at times, but it's amusing. And for the final verse, he does flip it and kick a serious verse about the rumor mill ("See how you laugh when I spit those bars? See how easy it was for you to believe bars? It's the rumors, the lies, the gossip, the tabloids."). You get a Main Pass, Radio Edit and Instrumental for this track on the 12".

But that's not all! There's also "Rumors (Part 2)," which is a total lyrical and instrumental remix with a completely different hook as well. This time the instrumental is essentially Nice & Smooth's "Hip-Hop Junkies," though chopped a little differently; and it's basically an opportunity to throw in a couple hundred more zany name-droppings ("Did you hear about Dr. Dre? He made a gay porno flick that'll drop today!"). This one has a serious third verse, too; this time settling rumors about himself ("ain't shit changed for the assassinator").

It's definitely not a great record; but it's a neat little dollar bin pick-up with some unexpected old school roots.

Sally Got a Four Track 12"

Anything off of Diamond D's first album shouldn't need much by way of introduction. I'm sure you all remember this second single off his first solo outing... "Sally Got a One Track Mind" followed a common theme in hip-hop in the early days: warning against women being too materialistic in their relationships. The only thing hip-hop heads were warned against more than money chasing women by their favorite musicians were sucker MCs. But Diamond's expert production, highlighted by the slow, soft flute sample, gave the song a feeling of sincere maturity: a wise grandfather pointing out a flaw in our social fabric rather than a sexually threatened young man trying to demonize womens' sexual freedom. This cause was furthered by Diamond's smart lyrical structure, too: each verse visits the same character at a different stage in her life. First verse she's underage, next she's 18 and finally she's a young mother with an expanding consciousness. The tone's a little different than Poison Clan's "The Bitch That I Hate," even if it's ultimately the same message.

So that track in a picture cover already makes this 12" a crate staple, but this single shines with some nice B-sides. First up is the Remix by Showbiz. This track is ferocious; and belongs right at the top of any DITC greatest beats list. Fast drums, squealing trumpets. deep bass... it's really only the light piano(?) notes that make this fit the "Sally" song as opposed to some Percee-P and Big L fast rap bonanza.

Then we get the album track, "Check One, Two." Diamond kicks some fun, arbitrary freestyle rhymes over a very cool, jazzy track which was co-produced by The 45 King. There's some nice references to his first group, The Ultimate Force (in fact, he even samples a brief moment from "I'm Not Playing" when he brags about how he flipped a blues loop for that track (and he should brag; that song was incredible). But it makes you a little sad that there would be no more Ultimate Force records.

Finally, we come back for another pass at "Sally," this time with the Two Track Beat Down, again produced by Diamond D. This is more stripped down; just a big, fast drum break. It's definitely dope, but is even further removed from the tone of "Sally" than Showbiz's mix. So much so, that it really doesn't fit. It's cool and worth checking out, but this beat should've been used for a battle rap, not Diamond's reminiscent morality tale. It's a misstep, still worth a listen for DITC fans; but that's about where it ends.

Anyway, it doesn't matter how screwy the last track is, the Showbiz mix already makes this a must-own. And like I said, even if it was nothing album track, I'm sure this single would be pretty popular. But if you've passed on it 'cause you didn't know what else was on here, I can assure you it's worth your time. I mean, some instrumentals would've been nice; but you can't have everything.

Wu Mortal Kombat

(Youtube version is uploading very slowly... I'll link it later. Ok, it's here.)

James Brown, the Rapper

(Youtube version is here.)

Timex Social Club Meets the Dangerous Crew

The Dangerous Crew formed, I think, because Too $hort and his producers realized his records were a goldmine, but he could only plausibly release so many himself. So he signed a bunch of mini-Short Dawgs, released a plethora of records (mostly through the same label - Jive) and probably made a mint. Now, it's true, they all didn't sound exactly alike... Father Dom had a smoother, less dry voice, and Spice 1 was more on some hardcore killer shit. but basically, all those guys: Ant Banks, Pooh Man, Goldy... were all releasing interchangeable songs that could've just as easily turned up on one of the other's albums. It was a good time if you were a Too $hort fan, and I was happily eating all this stuff up in the early 90's.

Father Dom's "Rumors" (or "Rumors Rumors Rumors Rumors" if you take the cover literally), off of what would have been his 1995 "debut" album, Mellow Madness. I put "debut" in quotes, because that's the way Jive Records was billing it, but he'd actually put out an independent album a few years earlier (hey, Jive pulled that stunt with Goldy, too!). And I said "would have been," because the album wound up getting shelved. I'm petty sure it was recorded, though, because the track-listing has been widely available, and there's probably even some official promo tapes from Jive floating around amongst the collectors.

Anyway, the first single did come out. And the cassette single even had a picture cover. It was called "Rumors," and it was more grist for the mill. Production credit goes to "Father Dom and the Dangerous Crew," and the subject matter is well-trod ground. The hook is based around on an old Too Short vocal sample ("Keep your jealous ass thoughts to yourself"), but what makes this song stand out is Dom's ultra-smooth flow, along with a smooth, bass-heavy track.

But the Jealous A. Remix is more than just some cool Father Dom album filler. Now, there have been a number of songs to use Timex Social Club's hit "Rumors" pretty liberally... The South Central Cartel's "Hookaz," Master P's "Stop Hatin'," and of course The Vicious Rumor Club provided the original rap version. Bobby Jimmy and the Critters parodied it, Club Nuveau blatantly ripped it off, and there's a bad 2Pac song that replays all the music of "Rumors" for the track. So I guess it was a pretty predictable idea that Dom and his co-producer on this remix, Tone Capone, would decide to use the music of the original "Rumors" for their "Rumors." But this version one-upped all those who simply ripped the TSC off.

He actually found them and featured them on his version (or at least lead singer Michael Marshall, who was pretty much the sole remaining member in the group).

The music on this remix is completely different than the album version... it's essentially the music to the original "Rumors" but replayed. I'm sure, even if you haven't heard it, you can imagine it: the main riffs replayed as Ant Banks-style keyboards and a slower, deeper bassline. Anyway, unlike the 2Pac song, this blend of old and new really works. The music is tight, TSC's hook sounds great... he might've actually sung it better here than on the original. And if you're unsure who's preferable on the mic: Father Dom or Master P, then you have an anti-west coast bias that's way out of control! ha ha This is one of those rare old school updates that works, and I think surpasses the Vicious Rumors Club song (though that gets credit just for being fun and old), that both captures the original vibe and updates it for the 90's:

"Now if you're tellin' lies on me and my crew,
In Oakland, you might get the old 1, 2.
'Cause if your mouth's writin' checks your behind can't cash...
We're gonna have to get the ski masks." 

The B-side, "Let 'Em Know," features what would've been just another album track, had it come out. But since it didn't, it's a rare treat of Dom's Jive material. He gets to flex his style here (which - did I mention? - is smooth), over a fresh, laid-back track with some great live music vibes by Tone Capone. "Rumors" (especially the Original Version) is pretty generic Dangerous Crew material in a lot of ways... but this is uniquely Father Dom, and shows why he was a noteworthy artist in his own right. The "Rumors" remix is what really makes me glad this single got released, and "Let 'Em Know" is what makes me disappointed the album never did. Damn, I might have to go do some googling and see if there're any leaks out there.

Allah U Akbar

When Grand Puba left Brand Nubian (uh, the first time), there was a lot of question about whether the group would hold up. Sure, we knew from "Concerto In X Minor" that Puba wasn't the only praise-worthy mic holder in the group, but it was still pretty unclear what would be left when you took out the most dynamic element. Think Fugees minus Lauryn. And regardless of the creative content, I remember being pretty convinced at the time that this second album was going to be a one-off for devotees and the final Nubian album. It was a good look that Elektra didn't drop them right there.

And Elektra was surely all the more nervous when they first heard the single they'd soon be offering up to the public. "Allah U Akbar" certainly didn't have the upbeat swing of "One for All," the crossover sound of "Slow Down" or a collection of witty one-liners from Puba. A gritty self-produced beat, some tough lyrics ("So if you’re feeling lucky, then come and catch a buck. How could I kill a man? Well, I just don’t give a fuck! ...We’re bound to win, 'cause God don’t like ugly. You'll get slugged, rushed, raped, robbed and mugged, G.") and an attention-getting vocal loop for a hook added up to a pretty rugged debut. Even just the title... of course, it's a very positive saying (it means "Allah is the greatest;" it's a saying of praise); but I don't think it was an easy sell to MTV's advertisers in '92.

But lyrically, except for some standard NY tough talk in the mix, it's actually a pretty simple reintroduction of themselves. Sadat lays down the plot of their return:

"The deuce crew of the new makes the whole shit clear, yeah.
Give the question - I’m tired of brothers guessin'.
The Nubian name
Brought the X a lot of fame,
But wouldn’t it be a shame if it all up and ended?
That ain’t the plan I had, and shit like that ain’t intended."

It's really just a simple, unpretentious single to say, "hey we're back!" And the B-side is even less pretentious: another album track called "Steal Ya 'Ho." It's kind of a lighthearted extension of Jamar's line from "All for One," "every time I drop a rhyme to show Jamal is intellectual... girls wanna get sexual," with the pair kicking somewhat dirty raps about girls over another self-produced beat.

By the way - a quick aside to discuss dates. Discogs for some reason lists this single as coming out in1993, as opposed to the album and the "Punks Jump Up" single, which they list as 1992. But I could swear this one actually dropped first. And just check the scan I posted: the date is clearly labeled 1992. At any rate, this definitely came out around the earlier side of things, and their biggest hit from the album, "Love Me Or Leave Me Alone," came later.

So, okay, back to the music. Besides the two songs, and instrumentals, we also get two remixes - one of each song, both also self-produced. The "Steal Ya 'Ho" remix is interesting... it takes out the familiar funk guitar and replaces it with a simpler, grittier beat that draws you in more with the bassline. It's kinda cool, but would be non-essential except for the fact that it's also a lyrical remix. So it's essentially a whole new song, with new lyrics and instrumental. ...Not one of Brand Nubian's better songs, mind you (lyrically, it's kinda lame), but still.

And the same goes for "Allah U Akbar" - it's not just an instrumental remix (this one's more smoothed out and kinda cool), but it's a lyrical remix as well. This mix is way more in tune with what you'd probably have expected from the song in the first place: Five Percenter talk, social and political commentary, shots at the devil. This time around Jamar's on some righteous shit. And Sadat, well...

"Your raggedy ass women, they always be lustin'.
Pale, skinny creatures with subhuman features.
Have you ever noticed when it rains and their hair gets wet,
That it stinks so bad it makes you have to jet?"

So, it's not exactly a remix I'd recommend casually around the office. But if you like your Brand Nubian records O.G. and edgy, I don't see how you could resist adding it to your collection.

A Little Jersey Random Rap...

Found a cool, little 12" in my crates that I haven't listened to since I got it way back in the 90's. Turned out to be pretty fresh, so I reviewed it for DWG. You can read it here here.

You would think there has to be an end to all the dope "random rap" that could turn up from the 90's, but there never seems to be...

Big L & G Rap Double Up

Q: How many records have Kool G Rap and Big L done together?

A: Not enough!

Okay, I guess I shouldn't put that question in your heads and leave it at that. lol The real answer, by my count, is two. One is "Fall Back," a song off Big L's The Big Picture, his posthumous album on Rawkus. And the other one is this nice, oft-overlooked track by Royal Flush on Offical Jointz. There's no year on this 12", and the catalog numbers are a little confusing, but thanks to the fact that I've been documenting Kool G Rap's discography for years now, I can confidently say that this dropped in late 2003/early 2004.

So yeah, it's just the one song, "Double Up," in Clean, Dirty and Instrumental versions (the B-side duplicates the same three mixes). The uncredited production is decent but unexceptional - it sounds like a billion other mixtape-type tracks these cats were rhyming over around that time. It's got one of those "epic" film soundtrack loops with a little pitched-up vocal sample that Canibus seems to be madly in love with. Really, you'll be expecting Whookid, J Love or some other asshole to start shouting their fool name over the song at any second. Fortunately, though, this is a proper 12" and there's none of that here.

But getting these two giants together makes this a must-have:

"How I'm livin': swell;
You can't scar L.
Head of the cartel,
Sellin' more cakes than Carvel.
Now I'm labeled a kind thug;
Police got my line bugged;
Hope I see the grave from old age,
And not a nine slug.
I'm quick to bust a mean nut
In some teen slut;
Big L is clean cut,
with more jewels than King Tut."

Kool G Rap's verse is even sicker. But disappointingly, it's another case of him recycling his bars from another guest verse: Canibus' "Allied Meta-Forces" from his Mic Club - The Curriculum album that had dropped earlier in the year. But I think for a lot of G rap fans, this 12" will be the preferable way to have those rhymes in their collection, anyway. So yeah, G Rap's verse is recycled... and if those Big L lines seemed a little too familiar... yup. They're from his guest verse on Gang Starr's "Work" off their Moment of Truth album. So this is one of those tracks that seems to've been stitched together from old acapellas. But in L's case, at lease, you had to expect that considering this came out well after his passing.

Anyway, Royal Flush's verse seems to be original (as far as I know... there's a lot of Royal Flush singles I haven't got), and he holds his own pretty nicely as well ("Feds wanna challenge us/ Off balance with silencers/ Locked up with calendars"). And of course you can't take G Rap anywhere without Ma Barker tagging along. But it could be worse - he could've married Charli Baltimore. Besides, the presence of Barker at least suggests that G Rap was actually knowingly involved with this recording, even if he was spitting old material.

I don't know how rare this is. Curiously, it isn't on discogs yet, and a quick google search doesn't return much... but I didn't think anything on Official Jointz was really that limited. Anyway, I wouldn't expect to have to pay a lot for it, but I recommend picking one up when you see it.

The Way They Used To Krush

Depending how hip you are to Michigan hip-hop, you may or may not know that one of their founding rap crews, The KMC Kru, was once known as The Krushin' MCs and put out some dope material on Macola Records in the late 80's. Back then they had a third member, Stevie D, who didn't follow T and The Butcher when they signed to Curb Records. But what you probably didn't know is that The Krushin' MC's were around even before their Macola period, and they had a slightly different line-up.

In 1986, The Krushin' MCs dropped "The Way We Krush" on Midwest Records. The MCs here are Wonder T and Sir Klank, somebody they used to shout out on their Curb albums (I used to assume he was a dancer for them). Sir Klank wound up doing some appearances on KMC Kru's independently released fourth album, AKA IG's, where the line-up changed again, with The Butcher leaving and a new MC named Cat Man stepping in. Confused? Maybe I should draw a chart. But the point is, it turns out Klank was an original, founding member who shares microphone duties on this rare, first single.

They also refer to a DJ Mike Ski (guessing on the spelling), who's probably not The Butcher, since his real name was Ken White.

This is some serious old school hip-hop. It's got that deep, thudding drum machine sound, lots of hand-claps and simple, loud cuts. The MCs trade rhymes line for line and word for word:

"We never, never hog the mic!"
"'Cause we're not greedy!"
"We're still at full power!"
"'Cause we eat our Wheaties!"

It's b/w "Bittin' Attack," which is similar, but features some hard (keyboarded) horn stabs. For the DJ gets a little busier on this one, cutting up the classic UTFO "bite it!" sample on the hook and mixing in the horn sample Slick Rick would later use for "Mona Lisa" (that's right, these guys had it first) at the end.

Production for both songs are credited to a Mark Wilson. And instrumentals are featured on the flip.

Like my previous review, I could see this being labeled "too old school" for a lot of heads, but really this is an excellent example of how it was done... way back in the day. This is a tough one ot find, but I also doubt most heads are up on this so demand is low and you just might get lucky.