Silver Fox Is Back, Back Again

About this time last year, I made a video about the comeback single of The Fantasy Three's Silver Fox, the MC probably best known as being the inspiration of Kool G Rap.  It was a little 7" on the new label Hip Hop Be Bop Records, a new venture from from hiphopbebop.com.  Obviously, I've already espoused on that record in said video, but I was really happy with how it turned out.  And now, as the title says, he's "Back."

Again on Hip Hop Be Bop and again with the same, virtually unknown producer, Clandestine, this one's a little different; and I think a lot of heads might actually like it better.  Where the first one reached back to the Fantasy Three-type of records Fox was known for, this one still definitely has an old school throwback feel, but not in that upbeat early 80s way.  There's nothing like those kind of upbeat, electro synth riffs looping loudly over the beat.  This is more of hardcore, battle-style track, you could imagine the Grind Mode Cypher guys taking turns on, except faster and more high energy.  And that energy is tripled by DJ Credit One, who's going ham on the turntables the entire time, cutting up the vocal samples for the hook and just randomly getting busy almost the entire time Fox raps.

And Fox handily keeps up with the pace.  He doesn't go for punchlines, but he's definitely flexing his skills on this one.  Where "The Buck's Still Here" had a lot to impart socially intertwined with the more fun, freestyle rhymes; this one has nothing to say but "we hittin' the door like a wrecking ball."  It's just a fierce flow, constantly playing with syllables and how he chops up his bars.

In my video on his first record, I neglected to comment on the remix, or "Rawmix," on the B-side, where the new wave-style loop is pulled back and the drums hit more prominently.  Well, I won't repeat that mistake, because this one has a remix on the B-side, too.  And the strategy is similar: removing some of the samples to let the break dominate the track a little harder.  They do add another little string sample to this version, though, and Credit One's cuts are the same on both mixes.  In both cases, I prefer the A-sides, but the the remixes are valid enough that I can easily seeing people preferring them instead.  It's a close call each time and I'm glad to get both versions on wax.

Like "The Buck's Still Here," this is a 7" release that plays at 45 and comes in a plain sleeve.  It's technically still a pre-order, but the release is tomorrow, so assuming there aren't any delays (and since I have my promo copy safely in-hand, we can probably assume it's safely past the pressing plant stage), it's basically out now.  I also can't help but notice that the catalog number here is HHBB-7-003, and the last one was HHBB-7-001.  Is HHBB hiding another interesting 7" up their sleeve?