Werner In Record Collector Magazine

While browsing through the magazine stands this month, be sure and take a moment to leaf through the latest issue of Record Collector (Feb '12, #398) for a spot of writing from little ol' me. I'm one of multiple contributors to the latest installment of Dudley Jaynes' Hip-Hop Collector's Guide series of articles. As the intro explains, he "gathered 17 passionate hip-hop heads from different corners of the industry to examine 40 classic albums (and a few EP's) from rap's formative years." It's a nice four-page spread, featuring contributions from a lot of our favorite writers 'round these parts and some great (and some unexpected) album choices - you may even wish to take the issue home with you.

It's not a specifically hip-hop geared magazine, so most of the rest of the mag is focused on other genres. But the recent Black, Rock & Ron reissue also gets a pretty nice review here. If you can't find a copy near you, you can order one from their website: recordcollectormag.com. And if you're a subscriber, apparently you can also read the article online, as well. So, yeah, check it out. 8)

The Original Gangstress

Today, Antoinette is just known as the female MC who lost when she dared to tangle with MC Lyte. You know how you keep hearing MCs bragging about how "yo, I'll kill your career" in diss records? Well, this is one of the few instances where that pretty much actually happened, It didn't help that the rumor had it that Lyte wrote her own rhymes, while Antoinette didn't (I'm not sure how 100% that is, though... Antoinette may have written at least some of her own verses - she does get a writing credit on her album, after all - and it's no secret that Lyte has had writers for her records over the years; but it didn't matter. Lyte came out with the hardest diss records from a female MC ever - I don't think even Antoinette's parents would debate who won.

But it's still a shame, because Antoinette put out some hot records. I mean, if you tell me Big Daddy Kane ghost-wrote a song (and he supposedly did ghostwrite for her), that's gonna sell me on it, not put me off it. So good writers, a good voice, hard flow, producers like Mantronix and Ced Gee in their prime... sign me up!

Not that every 12" is a buried gem ("Never Get Enough" can't get lost enough to the sands of time IMHO), but a lot of them are, including this one: "Who's the Boss." "Who's the Boss" is the title track off her debut album on Next Plateau, and just one of several dope singles that album yielded. Antoinette comes tough, rattling off hardcore rhymes, including a quick semi-subliminal shot at Lyte ("Grab your cup and I'ma fill it to the brim. So take a sip; don't bite your lip; don't take bites out, or it's gonna be MCs' lights out"). But it's really not another Lyte diss record, just a general battle joint that goes hard.

It's produced by Jay Ellis and IG Off. That's right, remember that DJ Spinna duo that made a lot of noise in the backpacker scene in 1999, IG Off and Hazadous? Well, long before that, he and his earlier partner were regular producers for Antoinette, doing a grip of tracks on both of her albums; and they were good at it, too. "Who's the Boss" plays it a little safe by using one of the most classic and oft-used breakbeats of all-time, James' "Give It Up or Turn It Loose" Remix; but there's no denying that the Jungle Groove sound is raw as Hell. And I like that, instead of using any of the many brilliant horn samples that pop up all over that record like many, many artists - from the great to the wack - who came before them have. Instead they brought in their own from somewhere else, and it compliments Antoinette's tone perfectly. Finally, add 360's cuts as the final ingredient and voila, it's très magnifique!

Oh yeah, there's also this Mission Impossible schtick in the song, where some guy tells Antoinette that she's our future and her mission is to destroy MCs or something. It works a little better in the music video than the when you're just listening to the record; but basically, the less said about that the better. It at least manages not to be too distracting.

So, you've got a great 80's rap record on your hands. And it's got the Instrumental, Acapella... But that's not the half. Also on here is the Club Mix by DJ Pooh. Yeah, that DJ Pooh, the great west coast DJ producer from The Compton Posse. Apparently he was able to get away from making hits for King Tee long enough to come east and do a remix for our girl. And it's even stronger than the original. Pooh keeps the same breakbeat for the drums in parts, but then swaps them out for other drums intermittently, also stripping away the horns to add whole new layers on top. Most noticeably, he pulls in that killer piano loop that Gangstarr turned into "No More Mr. Nice Guy," bringing it in and out. 360's cuts are also brought up in the mix and sound a lot cleaner and aggressive. This is one of those, "damn, why don't they make rap songs like this anymore?" records.

You also get the Instrumental for DJ Pooh's Club Mix, and then flip it over and you get another 12" exclusive. A whole new song (and its accompanying Instrumental) called "Hit Me With Your Best Shot." But this one is... not so good. This is a very poppy track - a rap cover of Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" replete with an uncredited woman (I assume it's not Antoinette herself!) singing a Benatar impression for the hook. It's produced again by Ellis and IG Off, but this is obviously a product of the fact that Antoinette came out of Hurby Luv Bug's camp. This is probably something Salt 'N Pepa were gonna use, then decided against. There are even back and forth interplay bits, which Antoinette does... with herself?

"Boys make noise!"
"They do?"
"Of course they do.
"Move your hands, boy..."
"No, chill. I want him to
Do it to me groovy."
...
"I won't repeat it;
He gets me heated."
"You're dreamin'!"
"No, I'm schemin',
Baby!"
"I think you're buggin'."
"I think he drives me crazy.
I'll be his wild thing;
Just give me some room,
And push it harder.
In fact, make it boom!"

Yeah... this interplay was surely meant for the duo. Also, I think "push it" is a reference to their big hit, especially since the whole song is set to the "Push It" drums; though the "make it boom" line must've been added to personalize it for Antoinette ("Baby, Make it Boom" was her single right before this one). Of course, the most obvious one is the Tone Lōc reference. This has "please play this on MTV" written all over it, except they neglected to actually shoot a video for it. It's got a simple, electric guitar riff dominating the instrumental - a tinnier version of the main refrain in the chorus of Benatar's original.

Still, it's engaging and enjoyable enough in an empty-headed pop kinda way if you like that stuff. I mean, you could take from a lot worse sources; and they turn it into a proper hip-hop track with proper drums, etc. I can see every contributor who's ever written for Rolling Stone face palming as I write this, but I'm certainly gonna choose to listen to this over Pat Benatar's original. This is the hip-hop version, after all; and I'm a rap fiend. So if you're in the mood for L'Trimm, Young MC, Nicki Minaj-type pop rap and you don't care about the lyrics; this one's serviceable enough.

But of course, the reason to own this is the A-side. A great album version made even better by an exclusive DJ Pooh remix. Don't front on Antoinette; she had some seriously hot joints. Just... push the pop stuff out of your mind.

The Tuff Crew Ride Through the House

There aren't a lot of 12" exclusives from The Tuff Crew. After their rare, debut singles "Get Smart" and "Philly Style" - which are so old school they don't even sound like the Tuff Crew we know and love - it's pretty much a case of: if you've got the albums, you've got everything. The "My Part of Town" Remix was an exclusive for a minute when it first dropped; but a few months later, it turned up on the Crew's next album. Really, if you're after vintage remixes and exclusive B-sides, there's only one 12" single you need.

"She Rides the Pony" dropped on Soo Deff Records in 1989, the second single off their third album, Back To Wreck Shop. Kind of late in the Tuff Crew's legacy, it's already signalling the group's change in tone and direction. Rather than a bombastic ode to their hometown or their incredible DJ's turntablism, it's a sex song. Times were a-changin', and the Crew, to their detriment, was changing with them. If the hip-hop world wanted smoother, more gangsta, west coast-style rap, the Crew was gonna go there for us, which is why their next album is easily their worst.

But they hadn't gone there completely yet, we're just catching the first glimpses here. Fortunately, the beat is an incredibly funky production, and this track owes as much to The Jungle Brothers' "Jimbrowski" as it does anything from Compton (they even refer to "my Jimmy" about fifty or sixty times in the song). Unfortunately, I guess the vibe they were going for was too low-key to let DJ Too Tuff detonate the ace deuces; but it gave them a chance to prove they could make a killer track without lathering it in exultant scratching. Instead, they take possibly my favorite drum break of all time (Tommy Roe's "Sweet Pea" - most memorably used for MC Lyte's "Lyte As a Rock," but tons of great artists utilized it, from Gangstarr to Chuck Chillout, De La Soul... even, Tragedy for his best record ever), but marry it with a fast, rumbly bassline and 45 King-style horn stabs. If you can 0ver the juvenile aspect of the lyrics and the fact that there are no cuts on a Tuff Crew record, this can stand right alongside their greatest hits.

Oh, but I was talking about 12" exclusives, right? Well, okay, right after the album track "She Rides the Pony" comes the Remix. It keeps the same drums, but replaces the bassline with dominant funk guitar loop, which may've been inspired by South coast hip-hop of the time, but the Crew manage to keep it from going too far afield of the original's sound. It's also got some new stabs and horn samples - as well as keeping the horns from the original mix; making the whole thing feel more upbeat and lively. So it's a little more club oriented, but enough to alienate Tuff Crew fans, who'll surely want both mixes.

Then you've got a Dub mix of the "Pony" Remix, and another album track called "What You Don't Know." This is the one they had the video for, which makes sense, because I imagine "She Rides the Pony" would've been a tough sell to the FCC in 1989 (today, they'd probably be happy for a song so innocent; but in 1989 it was edgy). It features another funky break as its main selling point, some funky understated congos. And this time, they let Too Tuff get bust, cutting up the hook and getting busier on the breakdown. Overlord's distinctive voice dominates most of the track, but Tone Love comes in near the end to breathe some extra life into the track just as it was starting to run short. Overall, it's a pretty cool track, but doesn't quite click like their best work... it's dope, but never totally takes off.

The label apparently felt the same way. But their solution was to... hire an outside producer and turn it into a house track? Yup, and this is actually the version they used in the video. EC LaRock keeps a lot of elements from the original, including the congas, though he sometimes swaps them out for some more new jack house percussion. He also adds keyboards and some really traditional house samples for the breakdowns.

That might sound like a travesty, but it actually works. There's enough of the original track, the Crew's rapping and most importantly Too Tuff's cuts to keep the proceedings down to Earth. This is "Tuff Crew meets house," not your typical "house music tropes completely overrun whatever music it was added onto" mix. It actually gives the verses and cuts that extra kick that the original version was calling for. This song manages to make the extremely short list of house mixes that even the die-hard hip-hop purists who would normally accuse the subgenre of ruining half a decade of rap music will have to give it up for.

So, overall, you get two quality album tracks, a Dub and two exclusive remixes. Not bad for a Tuff Crew fan who's been starved for more material... Reminder for Solid Ground Records: don't leave us hanging on that Danger Zone Mobb Sqwad material!

Hell Raising and Bush Killing

Hip-hop didn't get much more controversial than Paris's second album, Sleeping With the Enemy. I remember first searing him when the video for "The Devil Made Me Do It" hit. I wasn't in a terribly receptive frame of mind, but by the end of the song I was blown away. This guy was coming harder than NWA (and the line "attitude but I ain't from Compton!" showed he wasn't afraid to say it to their face), merging it with the social awareness and revolutionary talk of Public Enemy. I immediately bought the single, then soon after the album, which also featured his earlier, more underground singles that I'd missed, "Scarface Groove" and "Break the Grip of Shame." This guy was the hardest ever (exactly what I was after at that age) - I mean, sure, I guess you had guys like The Geto Boys; but Paris wasn't kicking shock value songs like "Mind of a Lunatic" or "Chucky;" this was serious, socially conscious "message" rap that managed to be so edgy. And, wow, this was coming out on Tommy Boy?

Apparently, Tommy Boy couldn't believe it either, because when it was time for his second album, he was too hot for them to handle. First of all, the guy wanted to make his first single, "Coffee, Doughnuts and Death" a first person narrative about revenge killing cops over some "Atomic Dog" drums. The rapping doesn't even start until a minute and a half, because it opens with the extended sounds of a cop raping a woman. Tommy Boy was a subsidiary of Time Warner, and this was the year of the heavy metal song "Cop Killer," so it's not surprising that the label nixed that idea. ...I mean, can you imagine the music video?

But hey, they just passed on that as a single; they only wanted to him to go back and pick another song. We haven't even gotten to the real deal breaker yet.

See, one of the reasons "Cop Killer" was such a controversy, besides the obvious, is that the president himself (who at the time was George Bush, the senior) spoke out against it, calling the song "sick," pressuring Time Warner to remove the song from the album, which they did. ...So take that fact, and combine it with the fact that Paris was surely no fan of Bush's politics in the first place, and we come to the concept Paris came up with for his second album cover... George Bush is waving at the press as he walks around the White House, and Paris is seen hiding in the foreground, dressed all in black and holding a machine gun, about to take him out. It would go with the new song he was recording, called "Bush Killa" where... no, see; Warner Bros wasn't having that. Paris also shopped it around to the other major hip-hop labels - no takers.

But Paris was generating enough controversy with this stuff that he could release the album on his own independent label, Scarface Records, with just as much distribution as Tommy Boy could. So he put out Sleeping With the Enemy himself with a safer, non-threatening cover. But, while I'm not so sure about the LP and CD; the cassette does feature that original cover photo on the inside [pictured above], as well as the track "Bush Killa." But that's not bad ass enough, dear reader, for this blog. I still haven't gotten to today's record.

On the album, "Bush Killa" came with a long introduction. The first minute was a skit (yeah, that's one of the problems with this second album), where Paris snipes George Bush at a parade. Then, that's followed by a one-minute freestyle; and finally the song starts. Remember that? Okay.

Well, today's record is the first single off Sleeping With the Enemy, "Days of Old," a slower, calmer song reminiscing on his youth. I guess even Paris saw the wisdom in releasing safer stuff when it came to putting out on his own dime. It's an okay song... it still has a message, but even in 1992, it was a tired "heard it before" sample. I mean, Paris's voice does sound pretty good over it, and he adds a few tiny new elements; but he's basically using a giant chunk of an old record that had already been used to great effect years earlier. I mean, not only did Shakespeare and the Last Empire flip it first years earlier, but The Almighty RSO had just used it earlier in the year; and it was still in everybody's decks. So, the video got some play; and the single comes in a dope picture cover and includes the instrumental, but it's all pretty shrug-worthy.

Until you flip it over, that is. On the back is the "Bush Killa" Hellraiser Mix - now this is the reason to buy this record. The first thing you'll notice on the label is the running time: eight and a half minutes! And, when you start playing it, you'll realize that he cut off the minute long skit AND the minute long freestyle introductions. Since the original was just under five minutes; that means he added 5 and a half minutes worth to this song, almost tripling its length!

It starts out just like the album version ...except, again, minus the first two minutes. But once the album version kicked in with the song proper, it was pretty much the exact same thing as how the Hellraiser song plays. Same vocals, same guitar (by Kenny M, who also played on Paris's first album), same ominous bassline and the same "Atomic Dog" drums. "Wait a minute, Werner, didn't you say he used the 'Atomic Dog' percussion on the cop killing song?" Yes, well, along with the skits, that's the other problem with this album: unoriginal sampling. Regardless, it sounds good - there's a reason it's used so often... it's a classic break. And combined with the scratches and other samples brought in on here; it sounds pretty incredible.

But where the album ended with gunshots (which, if I recall, lead into another skit); this 12" mix is just at the 3 minute mark. The gunshots are blended into some juggled percussion and instrumentation. Then Paris comes in with an all-new verse:

"Now you know...
That I ain't never been a slave to the bottle;
All I see on the tube is the punk black role models:
The passive girl-like she-men
That make and dictate the lives of black men.
And sometimes I wanna give up hope,
'Cause all they wanna do is grow up and work for white folks,
Or be a pimp, drug dealer or sports star;
It ain't no wonder the blacks don't go far.
Now the trick is stay quick to bust shit.
Got to be equipped so the devil can't flip;
And be aware of the government plan to keep
Young black folk walkin' in our sleep.
Fuck the games; I still feel the pain,
I still feel the shame, 'cause ain't nothin' changed.
I can't fade peace when the war is all around;
You better run 'cause the lost are bein' found.
Choose your team, square up and take sides,
But don't be punked or a skunk when the gat fire.
'Cause I'm the first one to let the caps go;
No more vetoes or negroes
Who run scared, full of fear when the devil squawk.
Funk is on to the dome; the glock'll talk,
And be sure that a devil is peeled.
Make way for the motherfuckin' Bush Killa!"

Then the song transforms into a crazy, hardcore megamix! A ton of records are brought in, sometimes for quick vocal samples, other times to flip the whole song and add in entirely new musical elements. Kenny M then goes for a huge, wild guitar solo, until they finally let the beat ride some more and eventually fade out. Paris effectively turned the song into an epic to match the song's infamy.

The Lyrical One

Papoose gets a lot of shit on the internet. Mostly because he tries to walk that fine line between backpacker and thugged out gangster, resulting in a lot of tough talk and attention-getting punchlines which are sometimes clever ("I serve my beef with shells like a fuckin' taco"), sometimes silly ("set fire to y'all ass like heated car seats") and sometimes.... just trying too hard ("If Kay give me the nine, then I'ma go squeeze off. That means I had K9 like a police dog").* ...Also because he gets in the news for doing stupid shit like this. Through it all, though, he maintains a consistent fanbase. After all, he has a mean flow if you don't scrutinize his lines too hard, and he can probably out rap most of his critics.

Plus, a lot of us heads still have this memory of the young, lyrical cat who made his debut on Kool G. Rap's underrated Roots of Evil album (to clear things up; there's no relation to the west coast Papoose who was down with Chunk years earlier). Unlike the 5 Family Click, who you knew G Rap put on only because he married into the family; Papoose and Jinx da Juvy were these two hardcore but lyrical younger cats who G Rap was bringing out like the next generation. Not that he was ever in any danger of them taking the crown, but they at least earned the right to sit by the throne. And it's that tiny place in history I go back to every time I revisit the only Papoose record I own, his debut.

"Thug Connection" dropped on Select Records in 1999 (this was right around the end of Select, when they signed one last small circle of underground MCs). At the time, he was going by the longer name, Papoose the Lyrical One, sort of like how AZ went by AZ the Visualiza on his first single. Maybe sharing that connection is what convinced AZ to appear on this track. Not really, I'm sure it was the fact that he and G Rap were working a lot together around that time, and he was appearing because he was also on this. So, you've got a hardcore, lyric flexing showcase track featuring Kool G Rap, AZ and produced by DR Period (for some reason, under the alias The Lab Kats)? Hell, even if Papoose was complete garbage, I'd own this record. But this is 90's Papoose; when he was a seriously respected MC, so this was a crate essential.

One gimmick came dangerously close to ruining the whole outing, though. And no, it's nothing corny Papoose says on the mic (in fact, he doesn't spit any bad punchlines and manages to show and prove here). The instrumental is a synth-heavy reworking of the theme song to that crazy 80's show, The A-Team. But you know what? It make be a little bit cheesy, but works. It's high energy, it hits pretty hard (despite being all synthy... a testament to whoever composed the original theme song), and it feels like an anthem - perfect for three MCs spitting with the specific intent to impress. And the cuts definitely help.

Considering Papoose's album never came out on Select (and, in fact, while he's still an active musician putting out music; he's yet to drop a debut album), it's great to these tracks on vinyl, and not just tucked away on a crappy mix-tape blended into other shit. You get Clean, TV Track (instrumental with ad-libs) and most importantly the untampered with Dirty Version.

Then, flip it over, and you've got Main and TV Tracks of "Alphabetical Slaughter," also produced by DR, er... The Lab Kats. This one doesn't hold up so well for me, but it seems to be generally considered his masterpiece amongst his fans. It's reasonably clever; he raps his way through the alphabet, using words that start with A for a few lines, then B, and so on... Naturally, he skimps on letters like Q, X, Y and Z. His flow is nice, but when you look past the gimmick, the lyrics are empty, plus we've all seen this alphabet schtick done several times before, and it's nowhere near as smart as "Vowel Movement," or even as catchy as KMC Kru's "Alphabet Rhyme." The beat just feels like a heavily watered down version of "Broken Language" ... those Nexx Level cats tried to recapture that lightning in a bottle a bunch of times, but they should have just let it go. Still, though, it's not bad - Papoose's flow saves it. But I'd rather just lift the needle up and restart the A-side again than flip this over to the B-side.

So, I don't know if I'd go so far as to fuck with his other records, or his seemingly never-ending saga of mixtapes; but I definitely recommend going back and giving this one a listen. It's a fun one.


*I just grabbed all those lines from his "Otis" remix.

Juice Crew Thugs

(Youtube version is here.)

Meet Mood At the Lounge

The vaults of Cincinnati's Mood are truly bottomless! Some time ago, I blogged about a demo or two of theirs that was full of unreleased tracks. Then, a demo appeared online (also referred to in that last link) with other unreleased Mood tracks that weren't on the ones I had. And now they've come out with a new vinyl release featuring two more previously unreleased tracks that no one'd ever heard before. It's like a magician's hat; no matter how much they pull out, there's still more!

So, what is this release exactly? Well, it's sort of a repress of their first two 12"s. See, their debut 12" in 1994 was "Verbal Stampede" b/w "Hustle On the Side" on their own label, Below Zero Records. Both of those songs are repressed on here, as well as the remix of "Verbal Slaughter," which was also on the original 12". They dumped the Edited versions, to which I say "good riddance," but they also dumped the Instrumentals, which is a little disappointing... but only until you hear what they took them off to make room for.

Mood's second 12", from 1995 and their only other release on Below Zero, was a remix of their original B-side, "Hustle On the Side." This was the debut production of DJ Hi-Tek, producer for Kweli/ Reflection Eternal. And yep, they've included that mix on this record as well.

But this 12" isn't just a repress - even a pretty sweet one that cherry picks their first two singles - it also features two previously unreleased tracks from those aforementioned vaults: "Can't Fuck With My Crew" and "Not Goin' Pop." And everything is up to par. If you dig Doom's style, you'll definitely dig the stuff you haven't heard... creative, backpackery lyrics and jazzy, moody samples over traditional, boom-bap drums. Everything except the Hi-Tek remix is produced by Doom's own Jahson.

The price of entry will surely disappoint some fans ($40)... You all know the limited game by now. So you'll have to decide just how big a Mood fan you are. But, if you are that Mood fan, your expectations will be fully met. And they also didn't skimp on the presentation. When you order, you have your choice of marbleized green, orange or classic black wax. It comes in a tight picture cover, it's hand-numbered (mine's 72 of a total 250 pressed), and it's even signed by Donté. The sound quality is excellent, all remastered from the original recordings. This is the third record on the GoodFelons label, following Roc Marciano's EP and Labtekwon; and can be ordered here. It's a first class release all the way - these guys do good work.

This Whole Enterrpise Is BONE'd

The release of lost rap music and shelved hip-hop demos didn't start with Freestyle Records and the current limited scene. Thankfully, there have long been the few, dedicated individuals determined to see vaulted art see the light of day... or at least cash in on a sudden explosion of popularity by a previously unregarded group. The latter was probably the case in today's instance, but whatever the motives, the results are the same for us listeners - old, forgotten music finally sees the light of day.

In 1994, the difficultly named B.O.N.E. Thugs-N-Harmony exploded on the scene through Eazy-E and Ruthless Records. They just came out of seemingly nowhere to become one of those break-out popular sensations that suddenly became inescapable in the media. But, of course, they didn't actually come out of nowhere. They came out of Cleveland, where they'd been recording music and trying to find the attention they eventually achieved in spades. The instant success of their hit single "Thuggish Ruggish Bone" and debut EP Creepin' On ah Come Up convinced Eazy to immediately push them back into the studio to record and get a full-length album out in stores. But he wasn't the only person convinced of the wisdom in getting a B.O.N.E. album out in stores.

So the same year that brought us E. Eternal and the even huger single, "1st Of tha Month" also brought us a strange, independent album (Stoney Burke Records) called Faces of Death by BONE Enterprise. BONE Enterprise was B.O.N.E. Thugs-N-Harmony before they went to Compton and developed the sound that hooked so many fans - the unique blend of fast raps, hard g-funk tracks and some old school harmonizing thrown in. On Faces of Death, you still get some fast raps and some harmonizing, but it's not at all mixed with that Compton sound. Instead, the production is handled by... Cleveland guys you've never heard of, except Archie Blaine, who did a couple tracks. Hardcore BONE fans may know him because he stuck with the group and did a few things after they got popular. But otherwise, it's all pretty random and low budget.

For the most part, that means, yes, you get cheap, inferior stuff that fails to live up to the Ruthless Records material everybody was loving. Many fans were surely disappointed. But it also meant you got some interesting experiments and compelling bits you couldn't find on their more official releases. So we got some at least interesting failures (that's more than you can say for a lot of artists already), plus a couple genuinely dope moments.

We also get one less member. See how there's only four guys on the album cover? This album was recorded before Flesh was down, so the line-up was just Krayzie Bone (Leather Face), Layzie Bone (#1 Assassin), Bizzy Bone (Rest In Peace) and Wi$h Bone (Strate Jacket!). Yeah, they all had Gravediggaz-style nicks. Anyway, I think that may be why Flesh has the most contrived "Bone" name (Flesh-N-Bone, how awkward): because he wasn't originally part of the concept, so they had to shoe-horn him in later.

Perhaps the most interesting element here is the reggae vibe that gets incorporated into a number of the songs, both instrumentally and occasionally even in the vocals. Sometimes there's reggae style percussion, sometimes there are soft (as in mixed low) James Brown samples. The subject matter ranges from sex songs to a downright horrorcore track called "Hell Sent," which starts out using the Phantasm theme and winds up with them singing a silly yet familiar "Murder, Murder" hook - it's fun in a very campy sort of way:

"Sold my soul to the devil,
But I changed my mind; now I want it back.
But he won't cooperate, so now it's time to jack.
Called RIP and Strate Jacket,
Number One Assassin is fully strapped.
We bailed through hell in khakis, locs, and black skully caps.
So Satan called his posse full of demons and witches,
We met up at the Abyss ready to slaughter the bitches, yo.
But wouldn't you know, Satan went out like a sucka;
So I left a message in blood: 'to be continued, motherfucka'!"

That might almost be too jokey to even be considered horrorcore, though other verses are a little more straight-forward. But the highlight of the album is surely "Flow Motion," which showcase their fast rap abilities over a fun, if very un-BONE-like track featuring reggae-style percussion and the loop from Candyman's "Melt In Your Mouth." In fact, supposedly, this is the track that got them signed to Ruthless. Disappointingly, however, it's a Clean, edited version. The rest of the album is dirty (at some points, very dirty); but this one track - the best one - is censored. :(

It looks like we can largely thank a rapper named K-Chill for this release. He's executive producer, a featured artist (you hear him briefly on "Everyday Thang") and he even did the graphic layout. The liner notes even make sure to point out that his other albums, Get Ya Funky Off and Chill Factor, are also available. K-Chill has stuck around in the game, and even worked with the guys after they signed with Ruthless. Here's his myspace.

There's no LP of this, only cassettes and CDs, but like the limited game of day, that often puts out black and limited colored vinyl pressings, this was available on cassette in standard clear plastic, and (pictured) limited red. A lot of this album is forgettable; but the highlights should work for BONE fans, and maybe even people who don't like BONE because of their Compton, gangsta rap influences. I mean, yeah, there's a song here that clearly owes a lot to NWA; but this definitely doesn't feature the slow g-funk of their famous stuff. It's more conventional, which for some people is probably a good thing. It's like BONE Lite.

Bring Me a Shrubbery!

You may remember a time, back in 1994, when a label called Wrap/Ichiban, home of artists like MC Breed, Kilo and Success-N-Effect made a major bid to bring the old school back to the new. They signed and put out brand new albums by The Fearless Four, Kool Moe Dee, Kwamé, MC Madness (as in "DJ Magic Mike and _________"), Doctor Ice. MC Shy D... they even threw their own MC Breed into the mix, giving him the signature white on orange spined release, since it had been a while since he'd had a hit. And the flagship group of this short-lived movement was The Treacherous Three.

They were the flagship in that they were pretty much the first, and easily the most heavily-promoted. I've read recent interviews, where members of T3 (as Ichiban liked to abbreviate them) complained that their album flopped because of poor promotion, but they actually got a pretty good deal: big ads in The Source, press interviews, etc. I mean, it may not've been the kind of promotion Def Jam gives Jay-Z with giant subway billboards and big endorsement deals. But compare what T3 got to all the other old schoolers on Wrap, who you usually found out about by being surprised to see them in the store ("MC Madness? Could this be that MC Madness?") and these guys were super stars.

They squandered a lot of that by making their big, lead single a remake of their classic "Heartbeat" called "The New Heartbeat" which used the same beat, hook, and many of the same lyrics... it was so similar, it was downright pointless. And maybe, for most not-terribly interested fans, that's about where it ended. A pointless single and a lackluster album. But there was another single that snaked out, like most singles by most of these guys: a completely unheralded 12" that most heads - including serious fans of the artists who would've been quite interested - didn't find out until they started popping up as bargain bin listings on the internet many years later. And in the Treacherous Three's case, it included an exclusive shrubbery.

Now, the single was for a not-particularly exciting album track called "We Come Phat." The deliveries are very old school, pass the mic back and forth mid-sentence kind of party rhymes. It appeared early on the album and was a nice sign that these guys weren't going to try and copy the latest gangster rappers or whatever other trends they could latch on to; they were going to be the same Treacherous Three we remembered from ten years ago. But it was just meh. It featured vocal sample from The Fat Albert Show, and the main loop that Nice N Smooth used on "Early To Rise," but flipped into a duller mix... with live bass, apparently, by Jimmy O'Neil. I don't even hear any additional bass, though. I guess they're replicating the main loop instead of sampling it, which might help explain why it doesn't sound as good as it did for Nice N Smooth. This is no "Action;" the production almost seems determined to counter-act the effort the MCs are making to inject energy into the song.

And for some reason, on that 12", it's referred to as The Shruberry Mix. Besides being one of the most screwy, peculiar names for a traditional hip-hop track, it's also odd because they're just labeling the album version. Well... I think that's accidental. See, the next track on here is an exclusive remix, and that's just labeled as a Full Mix. So, I assume the label screwed up and reversed the two subtitles. And that's not the only gaff. The production, according to the album, is by someone named Joseph Carne. According to the 12", however, it's produced by Steve Philips and Edd Miller. I'm inclined to believe the album credits over this 12"s labels, just because the 12" seems to be on unreliable in a number of areas. Those two names (Miller and Philips) don't appear anywhere in the album credits.

Anyway, let's talk about this version that's probably meant to be called The Shruberry Mix. If the last beat failed to deliver the appropriate amount of energy, this beat, by O.C. Rodriguez, is like the intentional antithesis: dark and ominous. The bassline's pretty cool and all, but it's the sort of instrumental where you'd expect some shady, independent MC to tell you a somber tale of how his man got shot in an alley during a drug deal gone bad, and that's why crime doesn't always pay. But instead it's set to:

"Down... down... down... down!
I can't get off the ground; the heavy weight's holding me down.
I'm caught up in the groove, got me hemmed up in the bass,
Kickin' like the 808, resonate, wait wait!
Listen to the zoom... zoom... zoom!
Put the needle to the groove,
Now watch it phatten up the room!
I hear the beat, I catch the Moe, I flow;
I'm off and runnin', black;
I rhyme to the P to the H to the A to the T;
God, I'm phat!"

And it's still got that crazy Fat Albert sample. It's actually interesting, and I like it better than the album version for sure. While the album/Full Mix just feels dull, here the difference is extreme enough that it makes for an interesting contrast. I mean, it's still no "Action," but this could've fit in well on Terminator X's second album, say.

Then flip this over and there's a couple album tracks. There's "The Mic Wreckers," which is produced by Rahiem of The Furious Five, but it's pretty underwhelming. Far more interesting is "We Wit It" which is by far the stand-out track of the album. It features Big Daddy Kane, Chuck D, Grandmaster Tito, Grandmaster Caz, Heavy D (who they credit on the album, but they forgot to here... like I said, the labels are all kinds of sloppy), and Grandmaster Melle Mel. It's a massive posse cut (especially when you consider T3 brings three solid MCs of their own to the mix), and the track is a good but not great mix of ever-changing, familiar breaks by someone named Ken Fambro.

"We Wit It" is pretty much the sole reason for anybody other than hardcore T3 fans to buy the album (some of the MCs really come nice on this track)... so it's nice that you can just get it on this single instead. And the ridiculously titled Shrubbery Mix is better than most of the album tracks as well. So it's no masterpiece, but you don't have to explicitly share my fetish for obscure releases by known artists to appreciate this one.

Martin Luther King Jr and the Holiday Crew!

(Youtube version is here.)

Hidden Bustdown Remix

So, I recently picked up Bustdown's single "Pissin' Razor Blades" from his 1991 Effect album, Nasty Bitch (Chapter 1). I'd never picked it up previously, 'cause I already had the album and I don't generally sweat picking up every 12" single that has nothing new to offer besides a Radio Edit and maybe some kind of Dub mix. But it was cheap; plus, as you know, a boy can't really become a man until he's completed his Bustdown collection. So I finally broke down and bought it along with some other stuff. Well, three cheers for wasteful spending, because this 12" turned out to be a Bustdown essential!

There's four tracks on this promo-only 12" (I'm pretty sure there is no non-promo version). "Was It Worth It" is the B-side - a pretty cool album track. It's surprisingly mellow for Bustdown as he kicks a serious message. But he sounds sincere, doesn't come off as too corny and the instrumental's pretty interesting, so, while it's not a highlight, it gets a pass.

But then there are three versions of "Pissin' Razor Blades:" the Nasty Version, which is the one from the album, and the Club Mix are on side 1, and on the flip you have... also the Club Mix. Well, that's redundant. But if you look a little closer, you'll see the label lists two different running times for the two Club Mixes. These are actually different versions. Presumably one is mislabeled, because the Club Mix on the A side is a full-blown remix.

Now, it's a little difficult to say who produced what, here. the label credits everything, collectively, to the trio of Mike Fresh, DJ Toomp and Rodney Terry. Well, Toomp is dope and Mike Fresh is one of the greats... Rodney Terry I don't really know, but still, that group of producers is all promising. However, there are shenanigans afoot.

This 12" credits the production for all four tracks to those three. But having spoken to Ice Mike - Bustdown's original producer - personally, I know that's not entirely accurate. "Was It Worth It" was one of his productions, along with several other tracks Bustdown recorded before he signed with Luke/Effect and hooked up with those producers. But then, as Ice Mike explains, "on the record, my name didn't come out. I mean, it's on the 12" that Luke first pressed up ["Putcha Ballys On"], but the CD has another guy's name, Mike Fresh."

But he didn't name "Pissin' Razor Blades" as one of his... and even if he did that beat, by the time they got around to making a remix for this Effect single, he was probably fully in the camp of the Fresh/ Toomp/ Terry team, so they probably did that one. But regardless, Ice Mike, Mike Fresh, Toomp... they're all ideal producers for Bustdown, so either way we're in good hands.

The album version that we all know and love is a gritty tale (as all of Bustdown's tales are) of the dangers of STDs. It takes a liberal dose of Parliament's "Mothership" (the same killer loop Sweet Tee used in "On the Smooth Tip"), and sweetens it with the dash of the famous whistling from Eric B & Rakim's "My Melody." All that supporting Bustdown's cocky, no bullshit flow - probably inspired by Willie D - makes for a great little record that makes you wonder why so many people slept on Bustdown causing us to never get a Nasty Bitch (Chapter 2).*

The new version, smooths things out a bit, with an emphasis on a super funky, rolling bassline. But it's kinda quick and upbeat, giving a more humorous tone to Bustdown's angry condemnations of the girl who burned him. The "Melody" whistle is still here on the hook, along with that crazy riff from The Fearless Four's "Rockin' It." It's a little less dynamic than the original, and so it feels less "signature." But it's real cool. It won't replace the original, but it's a great companion to it. And considering we're so starved for Bustdown records, we can't afford to pass these things up.

So, that's the Club Mix on side A, what I consider to be the mislabeled remix. The actual Club Mix, on side B, is a slightly tighter edit of the album version, but with a few interesting changes. It has a new skit for an introduction, with a guy sounding like an advertisement asking, "has this ever happened to you?" that sort of reminds me of the silly sketches NWA used to do. And, more compellingly, during the breakdown in the middle of the song where Bustdown argues with his girl over the phone, they add a really smooth horn sample that breathes some fresh life into the whole proceedings, possibly making it the preferred definitive version.

So, if you're the Bustdown fan who thought he had everything, make sure this one's in your collection, too.


*The answer, of course, is that he was associated with Luke, and thus the bass music stigma that was prevailing outside of Florida.