Dirty Jersey Week, Day 7: Tony D's Eminem

I've covered the most recent Shawn Lov projects before, but this is the perfect Week to go back and look at his most recognized record.  If you go through his catalog now, it's not his first release, but basically any of the earlier stuff is online-only material that most fans have been discovering in retrospect.  This was his vinyl debut, produced by Tony D in 1999 on his own Cha-Ching Records label.  And this is really when he started appearing on diggers' radars, in no small part because it had a real Eminem vibe just as the Eminem craze was blowing up.

I don't mean to say that Shawn was like an Eminem clone; this is no Dasit situation.  Even in his super early stuff, Shawn was very much his own artist.  And I know there was a bit of a kerfuffle for a while about every white MC getting compared to Eminem and accusing them all of sounding alike, a la Asher Roth's "As I Em."  But first of all, Asher did come out with Em's sound, and secondly, that complaint is kinda B.S.  Nobody ever said Vanilla Ice sounded like The Beastie Boys or the Insane Clown Posse sounded like 3rd Bass.  In fact, at the time, Eminem was getting a lot of his signature style from The Outsidaz.  But ever since I first heard this single, you're going to have a hard time convincing Tony D didn't put Shawn on thinking he was catching a little bit of the Eminem wave with this kid.

And to be clear, that's not a bad thing.  When people were saying The Wizard of Rap sounded like Rakim in '89, that wasn't their way of saying, "waiter, take this back to the kitchen."  It was more of a reason why "you gotta get this record!"  Eminem is still one of the most respected rappers around, but there was no better time to sound like Em than '97-2000.  That was his peak.  Think about it: Tony D producing an indie 12" for Eminem back then, wouldn't you want to hear that?  Well, you almost kinda sorta can.

So let's finally talk about this record for a minute.  The first song "That's What's Up," is just a fun, punchline heavy battle freestyle rhymes over a bouncy beat.  And yeah he sounds like Eminem sounding like The Outsidaz... his voice with the higher pitch, the way he races from line to line, changing voices to respond to himself.  But then the B-side, "Respect This," is less so.  He sounds more like himself here, more natural.  The beat is heavier, too, and the rhymes are less jokey.  He's free of the influence, and actually I think this song has aged much better for it.  In 2017, this is really the song I mostly revisit the vinyl for.

But there's one more song, called "Pathetic," and I think this is actually his most Em influenced sounding of all.  Instrumentally, it's not.  Tony D lays down a cool and jazzy but very familiar track.  But then Shawn comes actually sounding like he's doing a deliberate Emzy impression on this song.  The way he packs syllables into punchlines, pitches up on the hook and again changes voices is all so much like "Just Don't Give a Fuck."  It's almost like Tony made a smoothed out remix with Em's Acapella.

Now, let's head over to Shawn's bandcamp page, because he wrote out some cool descriptions for all his back catalog, and I'm curious what he says about this.  The songs here were only physically released on this 12", but he has a whole mp3-only album (or maybe there was a rare CD?) of these sessions he recorded with Tony D called The G.O.D. LP, and all three songs are on it.  One quote from there kind of confirms my theory, at least partially: "Recorded in 1998... The G.O.D. was the album that was intended to introduce Shawn Lov to the Hip-Hop world at a time when there were no other 'White' Emcees with comparable talents."  Pay particular attention to the "recorded in 1998" part, because he also writes, "I'm Pathetic,' a self-deprecating song created a year before Eminem came along, who enjoyed global success using the same humorous shtick."  I'm glad to see this because it shows I'm not the only one drawing the Eminem connection.  But more to the point, the 12" was released in '99, but these songs were recorded in 1998.  Okay.  And what year did The Slim Shady EP come out and make the underground scene go crazy?  1997.  So my timeline holds up.

But "Pathetic" has a unique premise which is not out of the Slim Shady playbook.  It's basically a diss record directed at... himself.  Non-stop vicious and comic lines putting himself on blast, "I feel frightened and alone even when my crew's around, 'cause they don't even give me pounds," "I ain't got no rhythm, no soul, no breath control.  What I need to do is grab a control and start playin' rock & roll, 'cause I ain't nothin' but a wack-dressed crash test dummy.  I only lost my virginity 'cause this big bitch took it from me!"  It's a genuinely clever, original concept.  The only song I can think of that came close to that idea is Esau the Anti-Emcee's "Boo."  And since I've just been breaking Shawn's balls about timelines, I have to give him full credit and say this handily pre-dates Esau's record by 2-3 years.

All told, this is a cool slice of wax that belongs in the crates of any underground late 90s heads.  Of course, it's a must for Tony D collectors.  And ironically, most of us were checking for this back in the days because of the Eminem sound; but now the song that holds up the most is the one where Shawn steps out of his shadow.  The 12" comes in a sticker cover and features instrumentals, dirty and clean versions of the first two tracks.  Unfortunately though, "I'm Pathetic" only has a clean version, and it does include a few curse words which get silenced.  But it's not too distracting.

Oh, and by the way, Day 7 was naturally going to be the last day of Dirty Jersey Week; but tomorrow I'll be adding one more last minute bonus day.  And yes, I'll actually post it tomorrow-tomorrow.  😛

The Wlid Retirement Album of Trenton's Shawn Lov

So, I'm trying to add a little more new music coverage to this blog.  You know, no plans to forgo all the stuff I usually cover or big sweeping changes, but this has always been about hip-hop of all eras, every decade, and over time I think the feel of it's veered off a little into being a strictly old school blog. There's always going to be non-stop old school and history here, but not at the total expense of what's going on now. Admittedly, Hip-Hop may not be in the best place right now, but if you're willing to dig, there's still good music to be found.  So, you know, last post we looked at the return of The Fearless Four's Peso, and the next couple will be new music, too.  So that's just a little heads up for what you can expect around here in the coming days.  And for right now, we have the latest and apparently final album by Shawn Lov, his 2016 retirement album, Escape From Never Never Land.

Now it's hard not to be a little skeptical about any rapper's announced retirement.  I'm sure we all remember when Too $hort made a huge deal about retiring and his Gettin' It being his final album, before going on to release about 13 more albums to date.  And Master P retired somewhere between albums #6 and 7, Mase retired then came back, and 50 Cent said he would retire if Kanye outsold him, but then Kanye did and he didn't.  And didn't Jay-Z retire at some point in the 2000s?  You know, we live in a world where Friday the 13th 4 is The Final Friday, and the most recent entry was part 10... not even counting the reboot.  But of course rappers do genuinely get out of the game (I think I'm just about ready to give up on Big Lady K's sophmore effort), and I don't see any particular reason to disbelieve Shawn.  He's left New Jersey now and has his own, non-music-related business.  I'm just saying, if you're a fan, there's always reason to hope.  Like, if they make a second Shady Corps album, I don't see Shawn telling those guys to fuck off, you know?

But certainly for now, if not forever, this is the Shawn Lov's last album, and he's definitely decided to go out big.  This album is packed with 25 songs, and yeah, one or two are on the short side, and one's more of a skit than a proper song ("1986," which is a recording of him rapping as a kid), but this is still a seriously dense collection of material.  And since these are essentially his last words, he's clearly determined to get everything there is left off of his chest.  So there's a lot of raw emotion on display, including bitterness and frustration to a degree I'm not sure I've heard another rapper lay out so bare, at least on a personal level.  Yeah, you'll hear it from artists like Dead Prez talking about socio-economic conditions and all, but not on such a bare exploration of his own ego, delving into his rap career and why he never blew up, etc.  He's not shy about suggesting that he resents not being where Eminem is now, for example.  It's almost like this album wasn't made for the public to hear... and maybe it wasn't. 

I mean, it's not 100% all about him as a rapper.  There's a posse cut and a couple other tracks that seem to primarily be just about flexing skills, plus a song for his daughter at the end.  There's variety here, and tons of the punchlines and wordplay he's known for.  But I'm just letting you know, you're going to have to be able to work up at least a little genuine interest in the life and times of Shawn Lov as a person to really get into this album.  Like a lot of artists might be writing about themselves emotionally, singing something along the lines of, "I loved my darling, though she didn't love me back."  But the message is universal, and the listener can relate in the sense that, hey, I also fell for someone who didn't feel the same way once.  I also left my heart in San Francisco or like the cars, the cars that go boom.  But in this case, it's very specifically about Shawn.  His first verse on his first song starts out with, "y'all love my joints 'Disco Queen' and 'Love Doctor." Them shits' before two thou; fuck'm I supposed to do now?"  There probably aren't a lot of people in the audience who also wrote songs called "Disco Queen" and "Love Doctor" in the 90s who this would apply to.  And plenty of other rappers have done the career overview thing in the past... like LL Cool J's "Funkadelic Relic" or K-Solo's "Can't Hold It Back."  But this is a like whole album.

That's not really a criticism, though.  I mean it'll probably turn some people off, but fortunately Shawn's an interesting character, so it's easy to get curious about his story: "I was rhymin' and stealin' in '99 when I was as skinny as Ally McBeal and since then I've only come close to capturin' how I was feelin' when I was out for the deal and my chance to shine was actually real."  Does it get self important, you ask?  It sure does: "I have to remind myself I'm fuckin' with children, and I've been draggin' bricks through the desert for so damn long I that forgot what I'm buildin'" (and by the way, all these quotes so far have still been from the first song... and remember, there's 25 of them!).  But that's actually part of what makes it so interesting; he's putting out there what anybody else would filter - what he's probably even been filtering all these years before he decided this was the end.  And it's not like he's been shy about saying what's on his mind on previous albums, but there are moments that feel like telling off your boss on the day you quit your job: "you might imagine why I want you out of my face; like I can't even tell you what a pork chop tastes like, so I don't give a shit what direction you pray towards.  I make knowledge born; you just stand up and say words; and I don't gotta listen."

To better understand where he's coming from with this album, it would probably help to know that Never Never Land is an mp3-only album.  And that's where the imagery of Peter Pan with a mic from this album cover comes from.  I think the general idea is that Never Never Land represents the Hip-Hop scene that doesn't want to grow up.  But it's probably worth at least going back to just the "Never Never Land" title track before digging into this album for a more complete picture.

If you've ever looked at his youtube channel, you've probably seen Shawn Lov's series on how to make beats with an SP-1200, so you can imagine how most if not all of these tracks were made, and they range from good to great.  Most of the tracks are credited to Raiden, with the slightly confusing liner notes putting it like this, "Beats by Raiden (Metal Gear Solid), produced by Raiden with Shawn Lov (Metal Gear Solid)."  I guess Raiden made the beats, but they worked together in recording and assembling the final versions of the songs?  A couple tracks are guest produced, too.  Shawn's new labelmate Melph produced one of the two big posse cuts, "Expect War" featuring Sol Zalez, Self and another labelmate named Psix.  It's got a nice groove, but overall I prefer the other posse cut, "Universal Rhyme Kickers," with The Cause, Kwytestorm, Raven, The Massive and Self again.  Speaking of Self, The Custodian of Records is the other guest producer, with three tracks on here.  In fact, one of his tracks, "Spirits of '93," is my favorite on the album.  Not many beats can make you bob your head and laugh at the same time.

There are a couple other guests on here, though across 25 songs, that still means it's mostly Shawn on his own for long stretches, which is appropriate for a retirement album.  A couple of these cats I've never even heard of: Aalon Boots, Fatboi Sharif, Knowledge, Zach Childs, Horizon... but everybody sounds good on here.  The biggest guest is Pace Won, who appears on two songs.  "Suicide" is okay, but he really steals the show on "#FOH," which might be one of his best verses since his classic Outsidaz days, but it's dead serious, not crazy battle lines.

Escape From Never Never Land is available on CD and not, I believe, digitally.  You have to cop it the old school way, which is definitely fitting for this album.  It's available direct from the label, Akkie Records, which I believe is situated in the Netherlands. This is a new label for Shawn, whose previous albums have all been on Nuffsaid Recordings; but of course it's also his final venture with them.  But I don't know, maybe if this sells well enough, they can convince him to come out of retirement.  I'm not fully convinced this man never wants to rap again.

Future Soon To Be Left Behind

Future Left Behind is the upcoming album from Shawn Lov. It's on NuffSaid Recordings, the Australian label that put out his last two albums; but make no mistake -Shawn Lov's an OG New Jersey MC. He's been quietly putting out albums since 1994, but he really started appearing on peoples' radars when he teamed up with Tony D (R.I.P.) and dropped a couple records on Cha-Ching. Hell, if nothing else, you should remember him from the interviews I did with him back in November. And so this is his new album... it's not out yet, but he hit me up with a finished copy, including artwork and everything, so it should be just around the corner.

And how is it? It's dope; I dig it. It's produced by a roster of international heads who manage to give Shawn a surprisingly consistent backdrop... boom bap but with a clean, almost lush vibe. 100% headnodders. The majority are handled by Prowla, a resident NuffSaid producer, but you've also got producers from Germany, Holland... and yes, New Jersey. Custodian of Records provides three songs with a slightly rawer edge, including the album's two stand out bangers: "The Problems" and "Rare Grooves," a high energy duet with Sadat X.

This is a Shawn Lov album, so clever punch-lines and battle raps are a given; but the overall tone here is "battle rapper grown up." Whether remembering conversations with Tony D on "Future Left Behind," or just the fading of the culture on "[1-14] Be True:"

"Now I'm watching college boys grab the mic and try to handle it;
They culture-fuck hip-hop, 'cause they don't understand this shit.
You ain't the first geek with a win-streak;
When that track ends, it's still too hard for you to make black friends.
'Cause he ain't really in like, say, a Mike D or Eminem;
So it's impossible to see the music through that lens.
And I grew up with Brand Nubian, Wise and Brother J in my ear;
Took the time to learn the way we got here.
And you grew up to P Diddy and all that shit,
And threw a frat parry, 'cause to you that's all rap is.
A far cry from the soul of an '88 cipher."

Shawn even manages to sneak in an ode to his love of vintage video games without making it sound jokey or gimmicky. Yeah, if you didn't know, Shawn Lov runs a classic arcade in Burlington, NJ called High Scores. In fact, I've got a fun bonus video, never-before-seen 'till now, I did talking to Shawn a bit about gaming. And if you're interested in Future Left Behind snippets, the intros to each of my video interviews with Shawn (one, two, three plus the one below) features music from a different album cut. :) So now, without further adieu:

(And I got a Youtube version here, too, if you prefer.)

Werner and Shawn Lov part 3: The Limited Game

(Youtube version is here.)

Werner & Shawn Lov part 2: Contemporary Hip-Hop

(Youtube version is here. Look for part 3 tomorrow!)

Werner & Shawn Lov part 1: The Lost History of Trenton Hip-Hop

(Youtube version is here. Look for part 2 tomorrow!)