Before Cool V Was Biz Markie's Main Man

This one reminds me a lot of that Brothers Unique record, for some obvious superficial ways... It's an old school, PSA-like message song about the importance of education by a rapper who only put out one record. And it's produced by genre outsiders who usually make non-hip-hop records. Plus it's on Sutra Records.

But Abdul Tariq's record is also quite different. This time, it's not made by a bunch of jazz guys but disco guys. Specifically, it's produced by Bert Reid of Crown Heights Affair. And it's several years more modern, 1986, so it's got a much more electronic feel. Spacey sound effects, loud handclaps and multiple keyboard lines. It's super upbeat and happy, basically, with girls singing "got to get your education!" and Tariq joyfully shouting "pop pop pa-pa-pa-pop pow!" When he's not rapping to tell you to "keep your eyes in your books." What he lacks in skills he makes up for in sheer enthusiasm. And during all this, there's also a male singer on a funkier, almost Keith Sweat tip going off in the background.

The record label credits the R&B girls as Jamaica Girls, and that's not just a fun way to describe the neighborhood girls he brought into the studio to sing for him; they were an established disco trio who put out several records throughout the 80s. And they actually play a big part on this seven and a half minute song. They don't have a lot of lyrics, but they're singing more "pa-pop pa-pop"s and "educaaaayshun,"s through the whole song, even while Tariq steps away from the mic for breaks. The male singer isn't credited... perhaps it's Tariq himself. That would be a little odd, since he almost duets with him at one point; but it's certainly possible. And the keyboards are provided by Jeff Smith, who's apparently better known as a saxophonist. But here he's playing futuristic keyboard riffs.

But for us hip-hop heads, the most interesting name in the credits is easily Cutmaster Cool "V," who's credited with scratching on the B-side. Yeah, he's not on the main song. But on they have a Dub Mix and Instrumental on the reverse, and he scratches on both of those. I mean, you'd expect the Instrumental to be exactly like the A-side, minus the voices, but it's not. It's a couple minutes shorter and.... features Cool V.

And it's certainly the same guy. I mean, I could accept two "Cool V"s existing in this world as just a coincidence; but both calling themselves "Cutmaster Cool V?" It's gotta be the same guy. And this is 1986, the same year Biz Markie debuted on wax beat-boxing for Roxanne Shanté. In fact, the Dub mix features a small sampling of human beat-boxing, which could actually be a clip of the Biz. ...I mean, it's probably not, but hey you never know. Update: according to Cool V himself, it's him doing the beat boxing, inspired by Biz.

So yeah, the Dub Mix is the more hip-hop oriented of the two. It doesn't have most of the lyrics from the A-side, naturally, but it does have some vocals by Tariq unique to this version. And it has Cool V's cuts and that that really brief beatboxing moment I mentioned.

The instrumental has some scratching, too; but it's just for a little bit. Despite being called the "Instrumental," it's got a good deal of vocals, including a lot of singing by the Jamaica Girls. The most notable unique element of this version is that it has a huge saxophone part. Nobody's given credit for that on the label, but it's surely got to be Smith, right?

Anyway, this whole record is fun. It almost feels like one giant song, rather than three versions of one song; and that's the way I'd recommend listening to this one. Just rock it all the way through like a huge monster jam. Lyrically it's pretty light and preachy, but it's just so hyper you won't even notice. It's too bad Tariq didn't make any other records, because I'm sure they would've been fun. But I guess Reid had his non-hip-hop career to get back to, and of course Cool V was called away to make all those classic Biz records; and we wouldn't want anything to have stood in the way of those. So this winds up being just an entertaining one-off, as well as an interesting historical footnote.

The Ultimate Tribute To Scratching

Let me start with some back story here, for those of you who aren't fully versed in the legend. "A Tribute To Scratching" was a fresh showcase of Cutmaster Cool V's scratching that appeared on Biz Markie's debut album, Goin' Off. Rather famously, another "Tribute To Scratching" was played on the radio back in the day. Dubbed "A Tribute To Scratching Pt. 2," this version has often been heralded as superior to the original. This version features a lot of Jackson 5 records (there'll be more on this as we go along), and it's a common theory that only Tim Westwood has the acetate of this; and other DJs were just playing cassette copies. Low quality - really, I've never heard a version that didn't sound pretty seriously awful! with WBLS promos, radio blends at the ends, and massive amounts of painfully loud hiss - radio rips have been prolifically shared since the days of tape trading, onto file sharing, and even been pressed up on vinyl (as part of the Holy Grail series).

Well, for their third, limited (to 350 hand-numbered copies... as you can see in the pic, mine's #14) 12" release, Hot Chillin' has finally unleashed this from the vaults. And they've done it in style.

We start out on side A with the original Marley Marl-produced "Tribute To Scratching." Actually, even better, we start out with a never-before-released Extended Version of "Tribute To Scratching." You're probably all familiar with this song by now... Biz rocks raps about his DJ, who cuts it up in between verses, over a phat track with the "Peter Piper" bells, the guitar riff from Whistle's "Transformation," etc. You know it, it's dope; and now it's even better in it's extended form (which is a hefty minute and a half longer than the album version).

Next we have the previously unreleased Alternate Mix. This is essentially the same beat as the original version, but features some new cuts, a new breakdown, etc. I'll have to listen to this 12" several more times before I pick a favorite between this and the Extended O.G. mix.

Third, we get the instrumental to the Alternate Mix. To clarify, this instrumental keeps all of Cool V's scratches; just none of Biz's vocals.

Since "Tribute To Scratching" has never seen 12" release before, the above already qualifies this as a dope 12" worthy of Hot Chillin' status. But it's the B-side everyone's been waiting for.

We start off with "A Tribute To Scratching pt. 2," or as we now know it's officially titled,"A Tribute To Scratching (J 5 Mix)!" Here it is, finally, in pristine quality taken from the original masters in Marley's vaults. If you haven't heard this mix before, it doesn't feature Biz's raps... it's just Cool V going off cutting up classic vocal samples and of course Jackson 5 grooves. It's completely different than the album version; and it's a revelation to hear it in pristine quality after all these years.

But then we get a whole new version that nobody but I guess Marley, Biz and Cool even knew existed - a Marvin Gaye mix! Once again, it's completely different - it's essentially "A Tribute To Scratching pt. 3!" It features just a brief appearance by Biz at the start letting us know that this is a tribute to Marvin Gaye, and that Cool V's gonna get funky. Then Cool V proceeds to unleash all new cuts and samples over Marvin records, including a lot of "What's Going On." And thanks to the label's credits, we now know what we pretty much already assumed: that all the remix versions were produced by Marley as well.

Finally, the 12" (more an EP rather than a single) is rounded out with the acapella for Biz's rhymes from the original version. ...Oh, and did I mentioned that the sleeve is signed by Marley Marl? Hot Chillin' outdid themselves with this release.

Now, you may remember one caveat I had to make in my write-up of the previous Hot Chillin' releases... and I'm pleased to say they've fixed that issue, too. No longer mailing their records in bubble envelopes(!); HC shipped these in proper, safe cardboard boxes; and their shipping rates are much more reasonable, too (last time it was $30 for two copies within the US). I also received another nice bonus in my package; but I'm not sure if everybody's getting one or if I just got lucky, so I'll hold off on talking about that. But suffice it to say: Hot Chillin' have topped themselves in more ways than one, and all the rumors have been resolved in the best possible way.

I don't know how long they'll last (it's a bit pricier than previous HC releases, so that might slow 'em down a little), but you can get copies from their site, here. And, hey, wait; there's still one last thing... Tucked away in a tiny nook on their website is a note about an upcoming, extra-limited "special edition," which reads, "As we are celebrating a special release, we have decided to release a further amount of 50 copies accompanied by special artwork. These 50 copies are considered to be a separate release and will be numbered differently. More information on pricing and artwork will follow soon."

Hot Chillin'

One of the major players in the current limited vinyl release game is Hot Chillin', Marley Marl's new, indie hip-hop label (a play, of course, on the classic Warner Bros subsidiary label, Cold Chillin' Records). They put out their first record in 2007 and their second in 2008, but it turns they have copies of both still available direct from their website, hotchillin.com.

HC000 is their debut 12": Kool G Rap's "Men At Work." "Men At Work," of course, is one of the many killer songs of G Rap's debut album, Road To the Riches, which - 'till now - had never been released as a single. This wrong has been corrected, and it's now available on 12" with an instrumental and acapella. But best of all, the vocal version on this 12" is a vintage but never-before-released extended version. Dope! This was limited to 500 copies or, by some accounts, 1000.

They came back the next year with HC001, Big Daddy Kane's "Set It Off" 12". Like HC000, this is again an unreleased extended version, b/w unreleased instrumental and acapella versions. Now, it's true there was a UK 12" of "Set It Off" back in '88 with an extended mix. But this is an extra-extended version, different and longer than that mix. What's more, this also features a short unreleased live version, and even better, an unreleased WBLS promo song called "Raw Attitude" by Kane featuring Antoinette. This was indisputably limited to 500 copies, as each copy is hand-numbered on the label. Mine is #232. :)

If that's not special and limited enough for ya, Hot Chillin' has produced 25 DJ sets of the "Set It Off" 12". What's a DJ set? Well, first of all, it's doubles of the HC001. But more importantly, it comes in a custom, graffiti-style cover hand-painted by Lordroc. All 25 covers were hung up the wall, and painted as one giant mural... the full picture will only come together if all 25 covers are reunited.

Most recently, Hot Chillin' released the limited Juice Crew EP in conjunction with DWG. I've already blogged all about that one, though, so check it out here.

So definitely drop by their site... it's a little wonky, but there's some great material to be found there. One caveat: Hot Chillin' is shipping their records in bubble envelopes with no other support (i.e. cardboard stiffeners) inside. So far, I haven't heard of anyone receiving broken wax, but there's a lot of creased covers going around. Now, that's no big deal if you're getting the regular 12"'s, which just come in plain, white jackets and sleeves (if it really bugs you, buy a $1 techno record off EBay and replace the jacket), but if you bought one of the one-of-a-kind, only-25-copies-in-existence DJ sets, you're kinda screwed. And considering the fact that they're charging $15 shipping per copy, and they're only spending $6, including the envelope, that's a bit of a racket.

Now, HC002 has finally been announced. Apparently there was a delay at the pressing plant, or it'd already be out; but it's now due for June and it's going to be Cool V's unreleased "Tribute To Scratching part 2!" They also have some other cool stuff planned for further down the road, including an instrumental series, with instrumental LPs of Goin' Off, In Control Vol. 1 & Long Live the Kane and an In Control Radio Show DVD.