Where the Sidewalk Ends

There's been a hip-hop documentary floating around online for years now. I'm not sure I watched it all the way through, but there are pieces and snippets on Youtube and all over, and it had some nice freestyles and clips of unreleased music.  Released in 2003, the uncreatively titled Hip-Hop: A Tale From the Hood* followed indie favorite IG Off, and after his recent passing (if you haven't already, check out this piece by DJ Eclipse), I decided it was time to finally seek it out and watch it properly.

Unfortunately, that proved rather difficult. There is no DVD or official release of this film. It's actually a German film - filmmaker Harald Rumpf came to America to film this, and it aired on German TV, plus had various screenings throughout the world. And DVDs were definitely planned... Off the Block Entertainment, the indie label IG Off was associated with, still has a rough looking DVD cover on their myspace page. And I even found a photo showing the plans for the DVD's menu [right]... but no DVD ever appeared, here or in any other country.

IG Off and his partner Hazadous put a few nice tracks and a lot of freestyle appearances during the late 90's and the heyday of the DIY vinyl scene; but never really seemed to make much noise after that.  Well, this documentary details that "after that"period first-hand, capturing the creation of their labor of love, the essentially unreleased IG Off and Hazadous album, Where the Sidewalk Ends. Every element is here, from IG Off's home life and day job (working with the mentally handicapped), to late night studio sessions, radio appearances, securing guest verses (look for multiple cameos, including Killa Sha and Kool G Rap, who nearly becomes this film's Godot) and discussing the real specifics behind the budget of the album.

The filmmakers follow him and his crew for some time, as opposed to single interviews, so they capture a lot of insight and depth. Personal stories are shared, it manages to get very close. One disappointment is that, while IG occasionally speaks on the history of hip-hop, they never really talk about his own musical history, like his old school production work and writing for Antoinette. I'm sure there's a ton of great stories there, but while his mother briefly mentions that he had disappointments in the industry, that's it. I suspect the filmmakers really didn't know enough to ask, which is a bit of a sad missed opportunity.  But what they do get is certainly compelling enough and overall makes for a successful and rewarding film. It's touching. And one of those rare films that works just as well if you're a hardcore hip-hop head who knows all the players involved, or a film lover who never listens to rap.

Now, granted, the film is in German. Meaning, not just of German origin, but made in the German language. If you don't speak it, good luck understanding what the heck the narrator's talking about at any point in the film. But fortunately, 98% of this film is just off-the-cuff footage of IG and co speaking their native language in Queens. So you can just ignore the subtitles and follow the film with ease. ...Or, you could, if this film was ever actually released.

Maybe the slim silver lining to IG's tragic passing could be that renewed interest in his work leading to both a proper DVD release of this film and IG Off and Hazadous's Where the Sidewalk Ends album. Granted, some of the tracks found their way onto a compilation album called Burnin' tha Block, but I'm sure we'd all like one of those CDs (if not vinyl) of their whole album like we see in the movie. I know a lot of heads still hold down their early 12" singles and appearances on projects like the Lyricist Lounge album and Eddie Ill & DL tapes, so if the rights-holders could make it happen, I'm sure there would be fan interest to support the projects. Here's hoping.


*I believe the original title was going to be Where the Sidewalk Ends like the album, as implied by this trailer for the film on Youtube; but it was probably changed to avoid confusion with the famous Otto Preminger film.

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.