Cause Marley Can Do It Righter

^^(Video blog!)
(B-side wins again.)

Whata Ya Want fur Nuthin'?

Let me start off my saying I haven't really been keeping up with the EPMD comeback hype, but what I have heard of their new reunion album, We Mean Business, (the CD is already out now; the vinyl drops later this month) was pretty respectable. So when I saw this second single (following the "Blow" 12", which came out ages ago) being offered as a freebie with any purchase from accesshiphop.com, I threw it in the cart. That single is "Run It (Remix)."

Now, from what I understand (feel free to correct me in the comments if I'm wrong; like I said, I haven't followed too closely), "Run It" was one of several tracks promotionally leaked onto the internet in advance of the album. The beat (self-produced by EPMD like most of the album) was cool, but response was a little underwhelming. So this was later leaked again, as a remix. The beats and rhymes were the same, but they added a new verse by Krs-1 at the end (he also threw in some ad-libs behind Eric and Parrish's vocals). That version was better received, and that's what finally wound up on the album.

Well, this single makes the bizarre choice to go back to the non-Krs 1 version. It's brought to you by Scion, the same car company(?) that put out that kinda cool Big Daddy Kane/Percee-P collabo last year. Supposedly you can hear samples of all their hip-hop promo singles on their website, but I can't get it to do anything but crash my browser.

So anyway, you've got three remixes here: the "Herve's Got His Hands Up Remix" by Joshua Harvey, the "Sinden Remix" by Graeme Sinden and the "Duke Dumont Mix" by Duke Dumont. No, I've never heard of any of those guys, either. And I'll tell you straight off, the first two remixes are crap. Can I just leave it at that? I guess I shouldn't.

Ok, well, any element you liked about the original instrumental is out - the ill piano looop right down to the hip-hop drums. Both remixes use typical club beats instead, and just use a different sample set on top. Harvey's variation is an irritating collage of straight-off-the-laptop sounds. He also rips out all the vocals, and just endlessly drops in a few repeating vocal samples from Sermon's verse. It's sort of a cross between the sounds of a construction site and a dentist's drill.

Sinden's remix, on the other hand, is like you might expect to hear in a London dance club, if you're an American who's never been overseas and has the worst possible opinion of Europeans. He also spends a lot of time looping short snippets of Sermon's verse, but eventually lets P's verse play through, albeit often chopped and juggled. I'm sure you've heard every sound on this mix in other dance club mixes, and you hated them then, too. I was left wanting to break up with my girlfriend for making me experience this, but then I realized I subjected myself to this.

Fortunately, Duke Dumont's remix is on a substantially higher level. I mean, it's not great; but compared to the other two it's like vintage Paul C. For one, it's back to being a hip-hop verse, with real drums and EPMD both actually spitting their verses (though still no Krs). It sounds like something you might randomly catch on Hot 97 in the evening. The hook is reduced to simply the phrase "Hands Up" looped a few times, but it's passable. Dumont adds some cool, Egyptian-sounding musical elements and marries them fairly well to the track - it's even catchy, but it kinda sounds like this track would fit a lot of artists better than EPMD.

In the end, though, the clear winner is the album version - which, for the record, isn't included here - followed by the promotional leak that wound up being rendered obsolete. But Duke Dumont's version isn't terrible, and you might finding yourself revisiting it every couple of years as a curiosity piece, if you've got the single in your collection. At least it's free.

A Nightmare On Elm Street rap, part 3.1

^^(Video blog!)
(I had to go in one last time and finish up the last detail.)

More On Vinyl Sales

The underrated KnowGoodMusic just posted this article (which I linked over in my "Best Blog Posts" section), with more about vinyl sales going up while CD sales continue to decline. I suggest you also read his source articles from Wendy Day and The Associated Press. Let me point a few details out:

First, the non-vinyl (from AP), "Lil Wayne had the year's top-selling album, 'Tha Carter III,' with 2.87 million units sold... The top selling digital artist was Rihanna with 9.94 million tracks sold, followed by Swift and Kayne West." Souljah Boy may've just accused Nas of killing hip-hop, but it still seems to be dominating the sales charts.

Now, let's look at the vinyl (also from AP). First the good news, "Ironically, as digital downloads grew, vinyl album sales also climbed. In 2008, more vinyl albums were purchased (1.88 million) than any other year since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991." Woot! Right? So how come all our hip-hop labels and artists are bypassing vinyl presses now of all times?

Well, let's read a bit further, "More than two of every three vinyl albums were purchased at an independent music store during the year, the company reported. The top selling vinyl albums were Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' (26,000 units), the Beatles' 'Abbey Road' (16,500) and Guns 'N Roses' 'Chinese Democracy' (13,600)." This really just seems to confirm my theory I've been building for a while now, based on my armchair research and discussions with artists and indie label owners online. For whatever reason - whether you blame the mp3 blogs, the urban economic demographic or whatever - wax is on the rise in every genre except hip-hop, the one genre that used to be the only ones holding it down.

Why is that? I don't know. The theories have certainly been tossed around and around, and it won't amount to much than that until somebody grows the balls to test a few of them. But it certainly seems to be true that none of the major hip-hop players are marketing/ advertising towards the vinyl side of things, or even acknowledging that it exists (you'd think at least Vestax or somebody would spring for a few XXL ads, right?). Instead, they seem to be deadset focused on chasing those dwindling CD sales down the tubes and becoming ringtone rappers. And that feels like everybody's loss.

Update 1/12/09: I'm refraining from making a whole new blog post on the subject, but here are a couple more links with some very interesting info on the rise of (apparently non-hip-hop) vinyl:
Will Merriweather Post Pavilion Vinyl Sales Land It On Billboard Charts? - Click through that article to a write-up on the same subject on MTV.com, too - a vinyl-only double album hitting the Billboard charts in '09!
Radiohead, Neutral Milk Hotel Help Vinyl Sales Almost Double In 2008 - The title says "almost double," but in the article, they go on to specify "89 percent more LPs were sold last year than in ‘07." Again, click through that article to another of theirs called "Vinyl Returns!"

The Mini Chandelier

Today we have Canadian producer Factor's The Chandelier EP, from his full-length album, also dubbed The Chandelier, that came out this August on his own label, Side Road Records. This EP conveniently collects the best vocal tracks with the most notable MCs, and leaves off all the boring instrumental stuff.

As you can see, it's a 7" picture disc on Ooohh That's Heavy Recordings, a label that specializes in limited 7" edition picture discs. And, yeah, this is limited, too. 500 copies were made; but that's beginning to feel like an appropriate, regular run on hip-hop vinyl these days. So, it's six solo songs by an eclectic collection of guests: "More Rude Than Handsome" by Awol One (California), "Time Of the Year" by Sadat X (New York), "The Leen" by Josh Martinez (Canada), "Good Old Smokey (My Kanine)" by Mykah Nine (California), "Pray" by Ceschi (Connecticut) and "Out Of the Same Thing" by The Gaff (Canada).

Like you'd expect from a Freestyle Fellowship veteran, Mykah gets creative with his flow, this time using a quick staccato delivery to contrast with the slow beat. Each sylable is deliberately pronounced, fitting in between rather than over each piano note, chopped vocal sample and drum hit. I get the impression both the MC and the producer were making a showcase track here.

Awol One, on the other-hand, goes for a sing-songy hook and a very relaxed flow for his verses/ The beat features driving power chords, rolling piano riffs, and a snare-heavy drum. The production is amazingly effective at making Awol's verses sound distinct and important, and he's written his unique brand of lyrics and dramatic pauses for the tune: "People and passion die inside. Your friends are just dorks and losers; my friends are incredible people that change peoples' lives. And my friends they influence the world. Your friends are just little drunk boys and girls with big dreams that they'll never carry out." He doesn't quite bring his A-game in the writing, which is a shame because the track is going all out for him, but the combination of the music and his delivery still make this a worthwhile Awol One venture.

Ceschi and Josh Martinez also go for sing-songy hooks. I don't know if Factor's beats just naturally inspire that type of hook, or if he specifically requests it. It doesn't sound out of place at all for Josh, who's upbeat number sounds like it could be lifted right off any of his recent albums, but Ceschi sounds like he's auditioning for The Eurythmics or something. It's certainly interesting, with a simple guitar loop, strong bassline and keyboards that sound like they're straight out of a Lucio Fulci film - but he leaves hip-hop a little too far behind for my tastes.

That's not a problem for Sadat's track, though. With sharp, horn-like keyboard stabs and a chopped vocal sample, care was clearly taken here to make Sadat sound at home on this track. But there's still enough piano and guitar here to make this exercise stand out from your typical Sadat X album filler. My only disappointment here is that it's too short - just 2:04... Sadat really only kicks one (nice) verse. If he'd just added one more, this could've be a successful single for Sadat to coincide with his new album.

Finally, The Gaff's contribution is a short DJ track. He cuts up various vocal samples as Factor adds and subtracts one musical element after another. The actual cutting is unexceptional, but it all adds up to a nice little interlude, anyway.

So, all in all, it's a solid EP. The best moments, the ones you'll find yourself going back to, are when the guests really manage to keep up with the producer. The rest is definitely passable, and will easily keep your head nodding if you've got it playing in the background. Bottom lime: they've made an affordable EP (and as a bonus, they've made it a cool picture disc) so you can skip the clunkier full-length. Definitely worth picking up for the highlights.

Hogs Leicht

So, we're nearing the end of another year, here... my last couple posts have been about newer releases (even if some are new releases of older music), and I'm gonna stick with that 'till the end of the year. There's still plenty of new stuff that needs to get some shine. And since last post was Grand Invincible, I'm gonna stick with the theme and do talk a bit about a sorely overlooked release from Sacred Hoop.

"Hogs of Rap" is a 12" release limited to 500 copies, but not "collector's priced" like the other limited edition I was writing about before. It's "handmade, stamped and screen-printed," and comes in the unusual picture cover shown above. This is the first release on Smooth Triumph Records... I'm not sure who runs that, exactly; but their press-sheet does say to "be on the look out for more 'vinyl only' releases from your favorite label: Smooth Triumph," so apparently they have more in store. Their motto is "breakin' even in this rap game."

"Hogs of Rap" is the first single off of Sacred Hoop's totally underrated Go Hogwild album, which I called possibly the best album of the year in '07. It's an epic posse cut, clocking in at over 11 minutes. It features Jihad, Eddie K, Brandon B, Conceit, TopR, Z-Man and of course Luke Sick over a series of Vrse Murphy's beats. Yeah, the track changes for each MC's verse. It's practically 7 separate songs with all different vocal and musical samples and distinct breaks between segments (Jihad's features a nice, altered use of the sample from Atmosphere's "Jackpot" and Eddie K's features guest scratching by DJ Quest), but somehow they all come together to make one ill cut of MC's representing both their collective crew and their own distinctive selves. Each instrumental effectively pulls you into the MC's world, who uses his unique style; and everyone involved brings their A game. It's damn fresh.

This 12" also features the full instrumental and two collections of "Acapella Scratch Phrases," where various lines from every MC are dropped acapella for DJing purposes. It actually came out at the tail end of '07 but was mostly just available at their shows. I don't know how many are left, but as of this writing, you can get it online direct off of Sacred Hoop's myspace.

While you're there, you can pick up Vrse's new instrumental album, Sport Leicht. It includes the instrumentals for all of Go Hogwild, plus a few new instrumentals ("Matador," "Cantana" and "Perfect Game"), unique to this album. And besides the new single and upcoming album from Grand Invincible mentioned in my last post, Sacred Hoop have a couple other projects in the work. Their next album they're working on now is tentatively titled Coffins In the Fourier; and Vrse is still talking about releasing The Bachelors album with Z-Man (in a semi-recent interview he said they were recording new tracks for it to keep it fresh), plus his EP with Neila. Then, Luke Sick and Z-Man have another project coming called The Motel Crew, which is them working with more "experimental" producers Mike 2600 and Doug Surreal (personally, I'd take some Vrse or Eons One beats any day; but the handful of Motel Crew tracks that've floated out onto the internet have been pretty cool - I mean, you can't front on the MCs). Oh, and Luke has mentioned another possible Disturbers album, and some unreleased Brougham stuff, too. Now, usually when artists talk about a grip of upcoming releases like that, they don't all wind up coming out, but even if only one or two of them do, it's gonna be hot.

So, yeah, that's it for tonight. We'll look at another contemporary vinyl release next time. Don't give up on new hip-hop music, old school heads. ;)

Grand Invincible

Grand Invincible is the second coming of Underbucket, the duo of Sacred Hoop's Luke Sick and DJ Eons One. They've just dropped a brand new 12" single of "Purse Thieves" b/w "Elephant Tranq." If you can't make it out on the sticker pictured above, the 12" includes instrumentals of both "Purse Thieves" and "Elephant Tranq," an "Elephant Tranq" acapella, and the bonus track "The Style Is Bonkers."

Luke described the subject matter of "Purse Thieves" on the Gurp City news column, "100% grimey! Back in the early-nineties when San Jose Live was still open in the south bay during the Hump Hut Gang’s forever-broke-never-have-a-job days, my ace boon cracker Oak D and I used to kick girl’s purses underneath the pool tables and then send Ruddy Rudd to crawl under and get ‘em into the bathroom, loot ‘em, and throw ‘em in the trash. We’d also snatch 3/4 full Long Islands off the bar when fools had their backs turned and suck ‘em down quick. We were full on fuckin’ dengenerates and it is kinda with a mixture of embarrassment and pride that I speak of it now (mostly pride though, fuck it I’m a scumbag, y’all know me). Anyway, 'Purse Thieves' kinda turned into an homage to that time in my life with a little modern shit thrown in (the first title for this song, before I wrote the chorus, was: Doing Coke in the Car). And the moral to the story kids?: Being dead broke should never stop you from getting drunk if you are determined and shameless enough. And if you should get caught? Do what we did at the Hut: Deny it to the bitter end. Why? ‘Cause nobody believe dem hoes!'"

And "Elephant Tranq" is just more ill, freestyle rhymes over a fantastic piano break and neck-snapping drums:

"Ya wanna win medals?
Better train hard
Biters take their styles from the tapes in the trainyard
Talk brain hard, droolin' on like retards
Coppin' a lame broad and tell her the game's on
Who's gonna blame y'all?
I ain't the one, Holmes.
The street lights came on
And y'all just run home.
The Year of the Rat,
And that’s twelve whole months of the
hardest G’s alive hidin’ under their comforters.
Leave no witnesses,
Send no condolences;
Didn't have to mention that I'm reppin' the holiest
Patrolin' car pullin' up in Orange
County while they bounty hunt for Vrse like he's foreign
Legion in the evenin', and I'm weavin' through traffic
Dimes hittin' guns strikin' hot like matches
You don't wanna know about the rest of the accidents
Tomorrow ain't promised, so we're gettin' some action."

As the hook says, "if rhymes is dope, then mine's elephant tranq." He sums it all up perfectly with in his singular, interminable style (and I don't think I could name another MC who'd start a verse with these opening words): "I got pussy blood on my white comforter cover; I got money in the bank that you'll never recover. I got more in my pinky than ten copies of you, so when it comes to gettin' sloppy I'm a motherfuckin' fool."

All three 12" songs are also featured on their full-length CD album, Ask the Dust. The liner notes are simple: DJ Eons One: Beats & Cuts, Luke Sick: MC. No guest MCs, no celebrity producers. They describe their style, "Grand Invincible was formed under the philosophy that hip hop as an artform was best served under the technological limitations of the late-80s and early-90s. Armed with only an AKAI MPC 2000, two turntables, a mixer, a microphone, and a diggin' ass record collection with the intention of making the most out of the least (the original hip hop aesthetic), the duo set out in the summer of 2007 to resurrect the grimey breaks and elevate a rare science. Time to put the hoodies and Tim boots back on and spark a White Owl! Long Live the Dust!"

But while Eons does a commendable job keeping this album from sounding typically over-produced, it's not just a collection of sloppy, repetetive loops. It's nothing but hot tracks driven by compellingly layered samples that blends perfectly with Luke's flows. Oh, and Eons sporadically pops in to cut up a perfectly chosen old school record. Underbucket was cool, but this is definitely the better album.

Now, they've already announced their next album, Cold Hand In the Dice Game, will be dropping in 2009. Drop by their myspace and pick up a 12" or CD, or just listen to some tracks on their player. It's some seriously good shit.

No Sleeping In Nick Wiz's Cellar

Nick Wiz has long been an underrated, east coast producer, but true to their name, No Sleep Records isn't sleeping on this man's talents. They've just a 42-song (not including two "Intro" skits), double CD set of rare and unreleased songs from the 90's, entitled Cellar Sounds volume one 1992-1998.

The nice thing here is the vast majority of these tracks fall under the "unreleased" rather than the "rare" category. The previously released joints are some Pudgee white label tracks, one of the Rakim remixes from his recent, limited The Cellar EP (also on No Sleep), three or four tracks from the very rare Lyricist Lounge/ Echo Underground Airplay tapes and (kind of an odd, not-so-rare choice) Main One's "Main Event" single. I'd say ten or under are previously released, which gives you about 35 completely unreleased gems on this compilation.

So, what's on this compilation? Unreleased joints by Nick Wiz's regulars like The Cella Dwellas (two tracks left off of their second album, plus an unreleased remix of "Good Dwellas") Shabaam Sahdeeq/Shadows In the Dark, Milkbone (yeah, I was a little surprised by that, too - apparently Wiz worked on his Milkcrate album), Ran Reed, Chino XL, and a whole bunch of production and remixes he did for other artists. There's a joint from Pudgee's unreleased King of New York album (not counting the white label stuff that's on here, too) and a remix of "On the Regular." There's a short but hot Chubb Rock track, an unused remix of Red Hot Lover Tone's "4 My Peeps" posse cut, another Rakim remix, a Channel Live track, a song that was left off of Darc Mind's LOUD/Anticon album and a surpriingly fresh Lady Luck track. There's also a bunch of demos and stuff he cut with several underground New Jersey artists (LSD, Mister Fit, Ill Mentatlity, Nautilus, Emskee and Tross). It's hard to pick a favorite when there's so many tracks to absorb here; but a pre-Flipmode joint by Lord Have Mercy is a clear stand-out for me.

The price is right ($13 for the double CD set), and it has some great liner notes. Nick Wiz writes a brief explanation/history for all 42 tracks! Example: "Shabaam Sahdeeq feat. Baybe - 'Sexy' - 1994 - While we were working on Shabaam's demo, Guru from Gang Starr brought Baybe down to the studio to work on her project. She jumped on the hook for this song, and actually she also sang the hook for The Cella Dwellas' single 'Perfect Match'." This is a must-have for those who've come to appreciate Nick Wiz's production and the artists he's worked with. You can order it direct from his or No Sleep's myspaces. Oh, and one of the nicest things about this release? The Volume One in the title implies a second volume in the future. :-D

Winter In Wernerland

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(An all-original Christmas vlog - ho ho ho!)

Recovered Science

Man, it's hard to believe I haven't done a post about Main Source yet. But if I've gotta be late, it's nice to finally come out of the gate with a hot 7" arriving in the mail of three classic, never before released demo joints from the Breaking Atoms period. Lost Science, as it's titled, is the second limited (500 copies), but reasonably priced release from DWG, following their hot Cadence 7" which came out less than a month before.

So, yeah, these are demo tracks, so the sound quality isn't perfect, especially on the lead track... that's part of the reason the price is easier on the wallet. But it's reasonably cleaned up for demo tape standards - not perfect, brand new Sony album clear, but you won't be complaining.

The A-side, "Bootlegging," is the clear winner for me. Just in terms of song-writing, it's one of Main Source's best songs ever, period. Of course the beat is nice, too... very jazzy, and just keeps getting sweeter as more samples are laid in. Large Professor walks a great line between being comic and straight-up serious as he assumes the identity of a bootlegger, breaking down the situation better than any other of the many songs on the subject:

"I lamp on the corner selling bootleg tapes;
Rappers collect breaks so that I make papes.
I don't give a fuck about Kane or Biz...
Finally, somebody beats The Wiz;
And that somebody is me.
Catch me around three, and I'll be busy as a motherfucking bee.
Call five-0 and let 'em know
I'm selling bootlegged tapes, and they'll say... so?
My brothers in rap
Are gonna have to keep comin' up off the trap;
'Cause I'm a salesman on the street.
You know what to do if you can't stand the heat - can't eat:
Vacate the kitchen with your bitchin'.
I specialize in reproducin' tapes over Wild Pitchin'.
If stupid people buy 'em, I'll continue to supply 'em;
For $4.99, you can't complain about the volume."

It's really tempting to transcribe the whole damn song, but I'll leave you with the first verse. The other two tracks are hot, too. Lyrically, they don't stand out as much (though the short "Raise Up" has a nice, dead serious tone to it), but Large Pro rides his own rhythms expertly, and the grooves sound just as good as anything on their album... they would have fit in perfectly if they'd be included; and you can't ask for much higher praise than that when you consider how Breaking Atoms is regarded as one of the very pinnacles of hip-hop classic albums. For all Large Professor beat fiends, this is 100% top-shelf[link joke!] material.

What's more, this 7" is part of a package deal with their debut mixCD, Lungbutters, mixed by DJ Format (you can also buy just the CD without the record, for a few dollars cheaper; but that would be insane). Format does a nice job with some clean cuts, slick changes between songs, but doesn't go all out in the beat juggling, scratching and generally getting frantic. DWG are definitely out to showcase the tracklisting (with good reason), and Format manages to find a solid balance between doing too little and making the original songs unrecognizable. It's got some nice "you'll never hear this anywhere else" exclusives, selections from current DWG releases, future DWG releases, and some basic tracks that aren't so rare but just fit in to make a solid mix. It's a diverse troupe of artists, too, from MC Shy-D to Godfather Don to The Fifth Platoon(!). There are a few "shout outs" and what-not, but it never gets into that irritating business where they're just screaming their names all over the tracks to watermark them. Phill Most Chill drops by to kick a nice freestyle and announce an upcoming DWG release (woot!); and there are some other surprises here, too (hint: read the liner notes... not that any serious collector ever needs to be told that hehe).

I'd stick around and write a tidy little outro about DWG's upcoming Juice Crew EP (it's gonna be incredible!) and maybe link you to Main Source's official myspace page, but I've gotta go listen to this stuff about twenty more times before I go to bed. ;)

Definitive Ltd.

In this new age of ringtone rap, there's come a controversial series of releases: a new hip-hop phenomenon of very limited, high-priced collectible records of previoulsy unreleased material. It all started in the summer of '06 when Ed Catto posted on The Vinyl Exchange forums that he had the complete, unreleased album by The Freestyle Professors, a very dope and underrated crew that was affiliated with DITC. They'd only released one (excellent) 12" back in 1994, but now Catto was working with the artists themselves to press up a very limited run of the entire double LP. Each copy was signed and hand-numbered, and cost a cool $100.

In an online interview with Platform8470, Branesparker (one of the FPs) spoke on the subject, "We felt this was a fair price considering the bootleg of the original was selling for fifty and wasn’t from the original masters. We also gave a classic album cover. Until this dropped, the world never knew what I looked like. There are 4 unreleased songs, plus 2 unreleased instrumentals. All copies are hand numbered and autographed by original group members and we threw in 2 new songs from our new EP. Plus this album (thanks to my collectors, much love) is not gonna lose its value; the price can only go up if you choose to sell your copy years from now. My fans must understand this project was put out only for collectors... We are aware that 100 bucks is a lot of money to some people." Adding, "I was like; if they can buy my OG EP for 500 [on EBay, which was happening] and I don’t get a dime, then they can support me for 100, get more music and help finance Freestyle Records so I can drop affordable albums."

The online debates about the expense have not stopped since then.

But regardless, a number of artists and start-up labels have followed Frestyle Records' lead. In fact, on The Vinyl Addicts forum, Catto pointed out that, "news about our release was made public on the internet months in advance (I began receiving payments in June) and was the subject of quite a bit of controversy (particularly on the old Vinyl Exchange board). There is no question in my mind that the FP's release softened the blow for the DWG release and prepared vinyl heads for the prospect of limited edition collector's-only vinyl release priced accordingly."

The important thing to remember here is that none of these are bootlegs. There are certainly plenty of bootlegs out there (some have even tried to inflate their prices to match those of these limited releases, which is extra shady), but all of the limited releases I'm discussing here are fully supporting the artists.

So now here's a complete list of all the great limiteds we've had so far (drop me a comment if I've forgotten any!), in no particular order. ...They're links if I've previously blogged about 'em.

Freestyle Records:
Freestyle Professors - Your Pockets Been P:cked 2LP (500 copies)
Showbiz & A.G. – Broken Chains: Soul Clap & Runaway Slave Unreleased, 1990-1992 2EP (500 copies, yet to ship)
*notes: Freestyle Records has since gone on to put out more affordable projects, both on CD and vinyl, of new and unreleased material by the Professors.

Hot Chillin':
Kool G Rap - Men At Work 12" (500 copies)
Big Daddy Kane - Set It Off 12" (500 copies)

Diggers With Grattitude:
Phill Most Chill - The Be Intelligent EP (100 copies)
Godfather Don - The Slave of New York EP (150 copies)
Unique - Die Hard EP (175 copies)
The Juice Crew EP (350 copies - yet to ship)
*notes: DWG has also released a pair of inexpensive 7"s of unreleased Main Source and Cadence of Raw Produce material, and a mix CD called Lungbutters.

Vinyl Addicts:
Lord Finesse - Funky Dope Maneuver EP (200 copies)
Sport G. & Mastermind - Let The Rhythm Roll EP (250 copies)

One Leg Up:
Herb McGruff - The Demo EP (200 copies)
The Cenobites - Demented Thoughts EP (200 copies)
Lord Digga - The High Plains Drifter EP (200 copies)
Shorty Long & DJ Mike Smooth - South Boogie EP (200 copies)
*notes: apparently, in 2009, a bonus 12" will be awarded to everyone who ordered all five limited releases from One Leg Up - fifth release pending. No word on what will be on that 12" yet.

Blue Concept:
Alps Cru - Loudmouths 12" (300 copies)
*notes: Blue Concept has announced another limited Alps Cru release in the new year.

Soundtable/ No Sleep:
Lord Finesse - Return of the Funky Man remixes EP - (300 copies)
Large Pro - Secret Design 12" (300 copies)
B.I.G. & Sadat X - Come On 12" (300 copies)
Rakim - The Cellar EP (300 copies)
Lord Finesse - Rare Selections EP Vol. 1 (300 copies)
Lord Finesse - Rare Selections EP Vol. 2 (300 copies)
Lord Finesse - Rare Selections EP Vol. 3 (300 copies)
*notes: No Sleep also put out affordable CD releases by Godfather Don and Kwest tha Madd Ladd, plus the unreleased Ill Biskits album, 2 Finesse compilations, a Nick Wiz comp, the Buckwild comp, and a mix CD of DITC material by DJ Boogie Blind.

Crate Escape:
Kurious - A Constipated Monkey Demo Sessions (200 copies)
*notes: CE is now putting out an affordable 7" single by Serocee.

I've blogged about every one that I own, so you can see that I have well less than half (about a quarter) of them. So far, there hasn't been a single release of this nature that I don't consider really dope, but I don't got it like that anymore than most of you. If I was an eccentric millionaire (and believe me, I've got the eccentric part ready, just waiting for the millions), I'd get them all for sure, but I've had to pass on many ...and I downright missed that BDK 12", dangit!

So, what's up with the cost, amirite? How can Invincible afford to press up her 12" and charge $7 through the normal indie hip-hop venues, but these guys have to charge just over or under (depending on the release) $100? Here are a couple of comments Sureshot La Rock of Diggers With Grattitude has said on the subject, "The artists get paid properly for their music (if we sell all of the Marley EPs[meaning the Juice Crew EPs, listed above] and all of the Lungbutters CDs, we'll nearly break even on the Marley project: that should give you an idea of what goes into this). If we were ripping people off, how would we convince the next artist in our series to get involved? The fact that we are still involved with each of the artists we've worked with previously should reassure that no-one is getting ripped off... We are not a record label: none of us sit here online 24/7 counting money we've made off selling limited edition records. So far, to date, any profit (which is far less than people may assume) went into the next project." He added, "We don't have the space, time or investment to press up 10,000 copies of something and then try and sell them. This is a labour of love."

Now, I don't know anymore than you guys. I've never tried to press up a limited run of records to find out all the costs involved. But I'll say this. To anyone who doesn't like how these guys have done it, why don't you just do it yourselves your own way? These labels haven't done anything you couldn't do... they go to the artist(s), pay them for the songs, get them mastered, design the labels/stickers/whatever, go to a plant to get them pressed up, take orders on their website (all you need is a Paypal account), package them all, and ship them out. Everyone reading this can do that, too (granted, you might have to remortage your home to be able to afford it, but that's no more than one of the DWG guys has done). In most cases, they don't have exclusive access or "ins" with the artists (Hot Chillin' being an obvious exception, since Marley Marl owns that label himself) - you can hit up their myspaces or websites just as well as these guys.

And if any of my readers press up some great, unreleased music on vinyl and sells it at a cheap price, you can bet your ass I'll support ya and buy a copy. ...I'll even go further and say that if it's music I'm into in (and if you haven't noticed, I'm into a lot when it comes to hip-hop), I'll guarantee you a review on my blog, with direct links to your site to send customers your way. And then YOU can pick what lost songs released (in most cases, the artists have had more unreleased songs to choose from than just the ones that got pressed up - maybe your taste would be better). I will give you props, money (buying your release), reviews, links, advice. What's more, I'll design the labels and help you select the songs if you like. I can even point you in the direction of some artists who have unreleased albums I'm dying to hear!

And Hell yes, I'd love it if you released your vinyl in the $6-10 range. I might even buy TWO copies if you get something dope out that cheap. Oh, and P.s. - Freestyle Records still have 150 copies left of that original, Your Pockets Been P:cked album. You can order it direct from their site. :-D