Answer Record Week 3, Day 1: Who Rules the World?

We start out Answer Record Week 3 with a bit of a two-parter: first a very famous one, followed by a rather obscure answer to the same record. Youtube version is here.

Sony Finally Releasing the Nas Demos!! ...Kinda, Sorta

Due to be released on April 15th, a promo copy of Sony/ Columbia's upcoming 2-disc set of Nas's Illmatic XX has just landed on my desk. Illmatic XX is the 20th anniversary re-issue of Illmatic... which was last reissued in 2012 by Get On Down as a "Gold Edition." And before that in 2006, and before that was the 10 year anniversary "Illmatic Platinum Series," and before that in 1996 (and that's not including the many, many bootlegs and unofficial pressings). So, basically, since its initial release in 1994, this has never been out of print and you could pretty much pave the streets of the world with Illmatic CDs. Which is cool because it's a great album. But since everybody under the sun must A) already own Illmatic or at least B) have access to a bajillion cheaper copies of the many former pressings, the natural question: why would anybody spring for yet another reissue in 2014?

The exciting answer: they've finally included the demos!!

Well, kinda sorta, partially.

Illmatic XX is a 2-disc set. Disc 1 is Illmatic, just like it's always been. All the same songs, nothing new except, admittedly, some extensive liner notes. But 2 disc is all new (kinda) - the Demos, Remixes & Live Radio disc!

Unless you're copping the vinyl. Illmatic XX is a double CD, but only a single LP, so... the vinyl is just another in a long line of completely redundant, generic Illmatic reissues. Woo.

But oh well, so sad, let's talk demos already!  Nas demos have been floating around, taunting collectors, for decades.  Hand labeled cassettes have sold for crazy money on EBay. One Leg Up Records announced a demo EP of the demos in 2009 but then closed up shop. Complex listed it in their "30 Greatest Hip-Hop Demos" aggregation article, and they had audio because... low quality dubs have appeared on rip blogs and Youtube for years. In other words, we've all been anxiously waiting and salivating for these to be cleaned up, mastered and officially released for years and years.

And Illmatic XX finally delivers.... one. Yup. Just one of the songs. Admittedly, many of the songs floating around as Nas "demo" seem to just be unreleased tracks from early in his career, but still after he was signed and working for the label. So, in other words, not strictly speaking his demo songs.  But that doesn't make them any less desirable to us fans, since they're still great and unreleased. Like, did they think we wouldn't want "Number One With a Bullet" because it was intended for an unreleased Kool G Rap project instead of his demo tape? Crazy talk!

And even if you're going pointlessly strict about ruling out anything that isn't strictly from his original demo, we all know there's two OG demo tracks out there, the other one being "Nas Will Prevail," a sick early version of "Ain't Hard To Tell" with an alternate instrumental and alternate lyrics. It's pretty great, in fact. But it ain't on here.

The sole demo joint we have here is "I'm a Villain." Yes, it says "Demos" right on the packaging; but that should actually read just "Demo." But at least it is a great demo track, produced by Jae Supreme (according to the liner notes... I know the popular theory is that Large Professor made it, but Sony says no) using some lyrics that later found their way onto other Illmatic tracks, and freshly remastered (albeit still still full of pops; I guess they sourced this from a vintage acetate?) for this release. They got this one song right, but where's the rest?

The rest of disc 2 consists of a Stretch & Bob radio freestyle... the "Live Radio" part. And the rest are just the remixes from the old 12"s singles... most of which were also included on the 10 Year Anniversary Illmatic Platinum Series. They go a bit further this time, though, including two of the weaker remixes that were made exclusively for the UK 12"s. They're not bad. But then they also don't include other bonus tracks that were on the 10 Year Anniversary Platinum Series, "On the Real" and "Star Wars." So they give and they take away, making neither version definitive... devoted fans will have to buy both.

Now let me guess. If we want "Nas Will Prevail" and "Number One," we'll have to wait for the 30th anniversary edition. Then maybe "Just Another Day In the Projects" on the 40th anniversary. This feels exactly like the mess of that Natural Elements CD, which was also an "anniversary" edition, where they pulled off the jewels we all wanted to make room to re-sell all their biggest songs we already owned. Sony's just dolling out these tracks one to two at a time, something they can keep pulling out of their hat to sell you more editions of the basic catalog disc. Eventually, our grandchildren will have all of the songs remastered - along with a thousand identical CD copies of the main Illmatic album they can shred and build owls out of - and compile them onto one bootleg vinyl. And finally we'll have a really great, worthwhile release I can get behind. In the meantime, you'll have to decide for yourself how badly you need the one unreleased track to buy this CD set or not.

Nas Is Essentially Like...

I haven't blogged enough about Nas, so this upcoming release is perfect. Not just for that reason, but because, well, look. Like every hip-hop head on the planet, I'm a big fan of Illmatic. And then I got It Was Written, and it was disappointing in points, but... Hey, you don't need me to explain to you the up and down history of Nas's post-Illmatic career. And honestly, one of the reasons I don't write so much about Nas is that I have the most common, least controversial opinions of his output. I mostly stopped getting his albums in favor of just getting the hotter 12" singles, cherry-picking individual songs I liked online, or at least waiting until I could get stuff like the 2LP of I Am for 99 cents.

So when I saw this album: The Essential Nas from Legacy Recordings (it comes out next week), my first thought was the obvious. "So, it's Illmatic with a couple bonus tracks?" Nyuck, nyuck. But honestly, Nas is an artist who'd benefit from a "Greatest Hits" compilation like no other. Distilling his later albums to just the few best tracks each and putting them all together actually adds up to a pretty great reminder of why he's hung in there all these years and  why we should really appreciate that.

Now, he's had a couple greatest hits albums already: Not including mixCDs, bootlegs and little vinyl EPs, he's had The Best of Nas in 2002 and Greatest Hits in 2007. But this is the best and most definitive. It certainly helps that this is a 2 disc set, so it has the room to dig a little deeper than those more superficial outings.

It's got some pretty extensive liner notes by Gabriel Alvarez, which is refreshingly honest at points, with lines like, "that murky period between his second album and Nastradamus," which you wouldn't expect to see a major label admit to on their own product. Of course, they then goes on to defend it and blame an excessive amount of blame for the lack of critical and commercial success on bootleggers. But still, it's a good, intelligent read and shows that some effort was put into making this an all around quality release.

But of course, a compilation like this all eventually boils down to: what songs did they pick? Well, I'm happy to report that it doesn't feel Illmatic top-heavy, nor does it feel neglected. The selections are pretty smart, and well-coordinated with the liner notes (Alvarez mentions "Black Zombies" and "Doo Rags" as personal highlights from Lost Tapes, and they're both on here). Remember how Nas leaked the awesome comeback track "Nasty" for Life Is Good, with an official video and everything, and then left it off the final album? Of course you do, we all do. Well, this album opens with "Nasty."  And the only other Life Is Good selection is the Large Professor No ID-produced banger, "Loco-Motive." So obviously this track-listing was put together by a real head, instead of a panel of studio executives.

Don't get it twisted, though. "Oochie Wally" is still on here. It's not some kind of "strictly the real" themed project. And some of the songs, like the aforementioned "Black Zombies" are compellingly written songs on Nas's art, but come up short in the production end, and wind up being not the greatest songs overall. Sure, we all like "Nastradamus," but mostly just because it's an EPMD beat jack; I'm not sure it deserves to have been lifted out of its original album to be preserved here. And it's crazy that his beloved Lauryn Hill duet "If I Ruled the World" isn't on here, in favor of... "Just a Moment" featuring Quan? Really? But okay; I realize it's impossible to make an album like this that won't have listeners questioning the choices.

A greater weakness is that, except for "Nasty," this album seems limited to just the album cuts off his LPs. Side projects like Distant Relatives or The Firm aren't represented at all (on second thought, maybe that's for the best), and there's no 12" remixes or B-sides included. Most harmful is that it means no guest spots.  No "Live At the Barbecue," no "Fast Life" with G Rap, and once again, another opportunity has been missed to include the original "On the Real." I realize it probably would've meant spending a little money to license those cuts, but that's what ends up hurting this comp the most... some of his guest spots are unquestionably among his greatest hits, and this double disc set definitely has some soft tracks on here I'd love to trade for his nest work on other rappers' projects. Admittedly, I do kinda like "Hate Me Now" with Puffy, but compared to his Main Source debut? Come on.

So, no, it's not perfect. And no, there's no vinyl version. ...Though there is a clean CD version, for the unlucky offspring of strict parents.  hehe  But it's still a great way to deal with his catalog of albums overstuffed with filler and sometimes corny production. And what's more, it effectively shows how Nas is still a killer MC to reckon with and always has been... even during that murky period.

Kool G Rap & Nas "Holla Back" - The Protoype?

I've done a pair of pretty thorough posts on the many, variant tracks left off the commercial release of Kool G Rap's Giancana Story on Koch Records, here and here. But, you know, there's always another little piece of the puzzle to be found. And today's bone fragment that I've linked to the giant, Tyrannosaurus skeleton (really, Giancana Story's a great album if you gather up all the pieces besides what you just get on the 2003 CD) is a neat white label 12" featuring an alternate version of "Holla Back" featuring Nas.

Now, before you cut me off and tell me you already know about the "Holla Back" version with Nas, allow me to point out that this is another version featuring just Nas. Now, I've already talked about the more well-known, unreleased version of "Holla Back" and how it differed from the one on the final Koch album. Here's the break-down of those two versions:

11) "Holla Back" with Nas, Nawz & AZ - Yeah, this was featured on the album. But the leaked version had Nas kicking the first verse instead of Tito of, believe it or not, The Fearless Four. Nas seriously came off with one of his tightest, illest verses, too ("Throw niggas off yachts, hold niggas with shots, my bitches ran 'cause I'm stupid - I put the shit on digital cam. Light up an ounce, let my bitches watch it on television, hella relentless. Fifty a pop, sell it like Menace. When I sleep, all I see is a white skeleton image. It's telling me something... I opened up Shakespeare's tomb, stole his remains, grinded his bones and got in the game"); so it's a real loss. This version was only featured on the leak. The Koch version also remixed the beat adding a few extra samples and bits. None of it makes up for the loss of Nas.

But there's also this white label 12", which features its own, unique version of "Holla Back." The main difference? No AZ or Nawz, and no Tito either. This is strictly a duet, making it a more fitting follow-up to "Fast Life," going right from Nas's killer verse to G Rap's. Now I'm not mad at the other guest verses (especially AZ's) so it's not a "yay! they're gone" situation; but it does turn a sort of awkward posse cut that takes too long to get to G Rap's part into a concise heater with just the two greatest verses from any version of the song.

But that's not the only difference. Where the original version and the Koch version feature someone (I think Nawz?) doing a spoken intro starting out, "yo, it's 2G" etc, this one has its a different intro. This version starts with Nas explaining how Kool G Rap inspired him. Then G Rap gets on to tell us to check out these tracks, and then we're right into Nas's verse. I actually think maybe this intro was recorded specifically for the 12" (which also furthers my suspicion that this white label was a promo release from Rawkus and not a bootleg), but it is blended into the song.

And this 12" has some nice bonuses as well. It features three freestyles which decidedly don't sound like radio or mixtape rips. The sound is clean and professional and I'm guessing they were recorded for this 12". Two feature Ma Barker (natch) and one features him going over the "It's a Demo" instrumental. All three are pretty nice - G Rap kills it on all of them. My favorite is the one titled simply "Unreleased."

Then, the B-side features the Jagged Edge song "Ride On," which features Kool G Rap. Produced by The Trackmasterz, it features them singing over pretty much the same instrumental The Arsonists used for "Venom," so it's pretty hot. Like the more official 12" Rawkus put out of this song, it features Clean, Dirty and Instrumental versions. But only the other, separate "Ride On" 12" has the acapella.

All in all, this is a pretty sweet 12" with a lot of value, considering it has "Ride On" and the three exclusive freestyles. And for me, this is probably the ideal version of "Holla Back" with just the absolute tightest verses on it. But even if you decide you'd rather have the version with the extra AZ and Nawz verses on it (I can't imagine anyone deciding they'd rather have the Koch version which excises one of Nas's illest appearances), this is still an interesting historical artifact. If you see it, pick it up.

LOTUG's Nas Bootleg

Ok, I covered all the other Undaground Butta releases, so I guess I might as do the final one. =) Although there's no artist credited on the label, this is Kamakazee's "On the Real," featuring Nas and Cormega. In an interview with Unkut.com, Blaq Poet of Screwball talked about how that song originally came about, "[w]ith that 'On The Real' shit, Marley had the DAT at his crib and Nas came up there one day and laid down shit first, to the beat. Then KL and Solo went up there and Marley was like 'Yo, I got some shit with Nas. Y'all cool with Nas, right?' 'Oh yeah, yeah. Nas is our man.' They jumped on the track, then Marley played it and motherfuckers was loving it." It was originally pressed up as the b-side to Kamakazee (the group Kamakazee was the duo of Screwball members KL and Solo, later known as Kyron)'s "The Bridge '95" 12". As an indie release from a then unknown group, it was a very small run; so when the B-side started turning up on mixtapes and playing on Marley Marl's Future Flavas show, a bootleg was inevitable.

The track's produced by Marley Marl, where he essentially just loops the very opening of The Soul Children's "Move Over" (listen to it; the first six seconds are pretty much the entire instrumental of "On the Real"). Well, Marley's name is on it, anyway. As to who actually produced it, K-Def had something to say, in his interview with Unkut, "I was on the radio one day, cause I used to the radio with Marley on pirate, I played that break for the first time and Marley had recorded that radio show and looped it up and then put Nas' vocals on it, and then claimed the fame for that track."

Now, a few of you reading this might be thinking, "hey; wait a second; I've got Nas's 'On the Real,' but it doesn't have KL and Solo on it." Yeah, there's actually been a couple versions of this song, though the beat never changes on any of 'em. First you have the original mix featured on this 12". But then, in 2000, Screwball included it as the final track on their Tommy Boy album, Y2K. But since Nas, as Hydra Records co-founder Jerry Famolari explained in his Unkut interview, "wanted a certain amount of money, so they took him off and they put Havoc and Mega on there." So, that's mix #2, with a new, alternate verse from Cormega and one from Mobb Deep's Havoc. Then there's mix #3 that came out in 2004. Nas included an "On the Real (Remix)" on his Illmatic 10th Anniversary reissue on Columbia, featuring his original verse from the first mix, and replacing any other MC's verses with two new ones of his own. Columbia and Ill WIll (Nas's imprint label) also put this version out on 12" that same year with clean, explicit and instrumental versions; b/w the other "unreleased" song from the reissue, the Large Professor produced, "Star Wars." According to The Record Inspector, however, some copies of this record (or at least one) are misprinted, featuring only the "Star Wars" b-side on both sides of the record. So listen to it in the store before you take it home. ;)

So, the Marley Marl/ Future Flavas connection sort of explains why this wound up being booted on The Lords Of the Underground's indie label, which otherwise stuck to putting out legit releases of their own music. DJ Mike Nice clarified on the DWG boards that the "[s]tory behind it was someone from the group left with a dat after a Marly session, their was some Real Live and Kamakazie joints on it as well." So, this was the second release on their label, and they gave the b-side over to Jac Swinga, DoItAll's little brother, to make his debut with his only released solo cut to date, "Coast II Coast."

Well, I say "solo," but actually the second verse is shared by two uncredited MCs Jac apparently met on the West coast. Anyway, they keep it short, and the weight of this song is all on Jac Swinga's shoulders, who carries it well. The production - which doesn't sound like Lord Jazz's more low-key approach during this era… could it be Marley? bounces along, with a nice little horn loop for the hook, as Jac Swinga, sounding kind of like UG using Masta Ace's Slaughtahouse flow, shines, narrating his trip "to LA, around the time of OJ." This song alone more than makes this 12" worth nabbing. Really, it's a shame those cats didn't use him a bit more.

All in all, a nice little 12", even if it is 50% boot.

Tags: Kamakazee, Nas, Screwball, Cormega, Jac Swinga, LOTUG, Lords Of the Underground

Where They Are Now

This Is It, Y'all. Mp3s have been floating around the 'net for a while, but the actual record finally just came out: "Where Are They Now," the remixes. In fact, it's a Japan-only limited edition 12" on Ill Will Records (Nas's sub-label imprint), so snatch it while you can.

So, what's the big deal about a remix 12" of a mediocre (at best) Nas song? After all, Hip-Hop Is Dead is just one more in an increasingly long series of dull and disappointing follow-ups to Illmatic, and "Where Are They Now" was one of the worst songs on there. The beat was dope, but very familiar: James Brown's "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved," which has been used in about a bajillion previous hip-hop records, from Kool G Rap's "Poison," to the most similar that I can think of, Professor Griff's "Pawns In the Game" (let's face it: essentially, this is the instrumental to "Pawns In the Game"). It's still damn good, though; and this beat would be fine - one of Nas's best even, though that's saying very little - if it wasn't for the rhymes. Yes, "Where Are They Now" is another one of those boring, lifeless name-dropping songs; where an MC does nothing but list the names of other MCs in the hopes that some of their "street cred" rubs off on them. 2Pac did it, Big Daddy Kane did it, Bahamadia did it, Edan did it; everybody's done it. It's not original, engaging, entertaining or thoughtful; it's just... a list. It's like when hip-hop albums had those boring shout-out tracks at the end, only here they're right smack in the middle and the artists think it makes them cool or something. Who the heck wants a remix of that?

Of course, most of you reading this already know the punch-line... As I say, this has been on the internet for months. But now the actual record has been released. Why is this such a must-have? Because of the line-up!

"Where Are They Now (90's Remix)" features Redhead Kingpin, Rob Base, Spinderella, Father MC, Monie Love, Mike G of the Jungle Brothers, EST of Three Times Dope, Positive K, Krazy from Das EFX, Mr. DoItAll from Lords of the Underground, Chip-Fu from the Fu-Shcnickens and Dres from Blacksheep! Nas doesn't even rap on this; he just "hosts" it, saying a few words between every couple of verses. Instead he's just found all (well, not all... but a lot) of the MCs he name-dropped on the album cut and gave them eight bars each to shine on this new, massive posse cut. The instrumental keeps the James Brown track, but blends in the instrumentals form each MC's greatest hit - sometimes more than one, even - during their verse (most of the time it works really well, though a few times they don't gel together as well as the rest... for example, "Monie In the Middle" mixes in hot, but trying to get "I Got a Man" in there feels a little awkward).

So, you've got the 90's remix, plus the instrumental, then you flip the record over and damn! "Where Are They Now (80's Remix)," which is formatted the same way and features MC Shan, Raheem of the Furious Five, Doctor Ice and Kangol of UTFO, Kool Moe Dee, Sha Rock of US Girls and The Funky Four + One, Tito of the Fearless Four, Grandmaster Caz, LinQue, Dana Dane, Pebblee Poo (remember? She did "Fly Guy," the answer record to the Boogie Boys' "Fly Girl") of the Masterdon Committee and Just-Ice!

Then there's "Where Are They Now (West Coast Remix)," which gives up on the decidedly east-coast sounding James Brown foundation in favor of a more mellow track for the West Coast MCs: Breeze, Kam, King Tee, Candyman, Threat, Ice-T, Sir Mix-A-Lot and the Conscious Daughters. It's a definite head-nodder, but they've also forgone the technique of blending in each MC's previous hit(s) to the instrumental, which is a little disappointing. Guess they got a little lazy by remix #3, but it's still cool; you won't really miss it.

Now, I say how can you not need this record just looking at those line-ups? And most of the MCs come off well, too (even the ones that don't instill much faith based on their past output). Stand outs for me would be: Redhead Kingpin, Shan, Doc Ice, Kool Moe Dee and Breeze; but I'm sure everybody will have their own favorites. I made two previous posts (here and here), naming what I feel are the two essential, full-length albums of 2007 to date. Well, this would be one of the two essential 12" singles of 2007 (the other being Master Ace & Marco Polo's "Nostalgia;" except, lamely, it only features the clean/edited version), definitely a necessity.