New DWG Review

I just added a new review to Diggers With Gratitude - some dope Crusaders for Real Hip-Hop 12"-only joints that you'll surely want to pick up. Here's a direct link (all DWG reviews have mp3 audio previews, too; just fyi). 8)

Demo Week, Day 6: Stezo

(And here, of course, is the Youtube version.)

Demo Week, Day 5: The Mystro

(and here is the link to the YouTube version.)

Oh, and that myspace... I was thinking maybe it's this guy?

Demo Week, Day 4: L.I.F.E. Long

L.I.F.E. Long gave me this back in 1998. Even if you don't recognize the name, you surely have at least a few albums he's done guest verses on, because this Brooklyn MC has done enough to rival Canibus or Grand Puba. Eventually, he'd start putting out his own material independently, but this demo shows he was working on his own material even back in the 90's. If you need catching up, drop by his myspace.

Now, this is a four-song tape, and I'm pretty sure none of it has ever been released. I was meeting Thirstin Howl III, and L.I.F.E. was rolling with him and hit me up with this demo. He was changing his name to Major Thoughts at the time, but I guess in he decided to stick with L.I.F.E. Long (probably because that name was just starting to get some recognition), because this demo is the last time I've seen him referred to as Major Thoughts.

The first song is "One Voice in a Billion," produced by DJ Pistol Pete. It's a dope number and a good opener, but sometimes the the engaging Spanish guitar and horn samples are so strong, you completely lose the vocals. I don't mean in terms of volume, but just the liveliness of the music completely distracts you from the MC... you could listen to this ten times in a row and still have no idea what L.I.F.E. was rapping about (I'm sure whatever record they were originally sampling never had vocals in front of it). But, it's interesting stuff, so... fortunately for you readers, I'm a dedicated reviewer who made a point of paying attention. They're still a little confusing, but are essentially about his poetry heralding a revolutionary uprising. Here's the first verse:

"Similar to fire,
These thoughts burns within kingdoms.
Steps are drastic.
Categorize the poet as a great, classic
Soloist
That accumulates evidence in abundance,
While meditating in survival tunnels.
It's years of patience
That'll form a revolution in the making
With one thought:
Annihilate an entire sick nation.
So in touch with my past life,
My actions or maneuvers;
Multiple contusions
On a misunderstood ruler.
Forms of expression is now in question,
Poetry in its rarest state is manifestin' into a universal nuclear weapon
That breaks down the anatomy on chemical contact.
It's more than combat that contains physical vengeance.
The silent war's
Really relentless and never endless;
Shootin' bullets that the man-made commandment, tryin' to correct this
Insane format, introduced to time's existence,
Staying consistent,
On a level non-comprehended.
Speak out on secrets in a coded dialogue created divinely,
Designed precisely to expose the world fraud.
Only one voice in a billion."

Now, after the first that song, the following songs are unmastered. And you notice that fact the most on this second song, "Finally." It's produced by Game (7) 12th Round. Huh? Anyway, that's what he wrote on the sleeve. it's got some engaging string samples, but at certain points in the song, they used vocal samples from speeches, and you just cannot make out what's being said. Presumably an official version, had it ever been released, would've cleared that up.

Third is "For the Safety of My Wisdom" ("wisdom" as in mother), and it's as sappy slash pretentious as you'd expect from a title like that. It features an R&B hook and some slow production which isn't bad... I could see some rap fans really getting behind a song like this. But me, I just skip this shit. ;)

Finally, the last one is probably the most interesting. First of all, it's a duet with Mr. Malik of Illegal. Remember when they were big for a minute? And then, after that, Jamal put out a nice single and Malik went down South and appeared on the Sic-Wid-It compilation album, DownSouth Huslters? Well, this is actually a remix of that song, now featuring L.I.F.E. Long. While the original version of "Big Bank" was produced by Sam Bostic, this mix is produced by Meech. It's a cool mix of high quality Sic-Wid-It-style production and the two MCs getting creative with their flow to match it, while doing the east coast NY lyrical thing as a contrast. Unfortunately, they don't do that last part nearly enough. But it's still a cool little number... certainly different.

Demo Week, Day 3: D12

When Eminem just started blowing up outside of the underground heads circuit, and they gave Em his own Shady Records as part of his deal, the first act he signed, of course, was his crew, The Dirty Dozen. And when they first signed, one of the guys at Interscope gave me this tape. It's only one song, but it's hot and it's still unreleased.

Before Em and the Dozen all started doing this Dre-style pop music they all do now, and the Dozen got a reputation as being weed carriers to an E! Channel wannabe... before all that, I think people've forgotten, these were some lyrical cats. They were some sick MCs with some some sick ideas and a dope sound. And this song is really in that vein... so I guess it's no surprise it got left off of Devil's Night.

And before you ask, "We Live This Shhh" does not feature Eminem. And there's no production credits, but hazarding a guess, I'll say maybe it's Denaun Porter. It's got a hardcore, gritty sound, but with a touch of that "not sampled but made in a studio" music to it. And it features the MCs just continually passing and re-grabbing the mic, kicking ill, freestyle rhymes. Proof comes hard, "Holdin' three-eighties to naked twin babies - Dirty Dozen the reason y'all don't fuck with Slim Shady!" Bizarre makes extended Boogie Down Production references, "Let me begin: What? Where? Why? or When? Bizarre fuck around and blast you and your friends. See I'm not insane, in fact I'm kinda lyrical. If you live past twelve, it'll be a miracle," but surprisingly it's Kon Artist that comes with the wickedest verse:

"My idea of a romantic evening is date rape!
A caged ape
On the run from police,
Hoppin' off of your momma's fire-escape.
It's ten stories high,
Land on a limo;
Kill the chauffer,
Then skirt out bumpin' my new demo.
My life's on lease.
Get a piece of your grandniece
Then tell her my real name's Reece."

This isn't maybe the very best Em and the Dozen were capable of -if they continued in the right direction, they probably had some slicker rhymes and even more compelling beats - but it's absolutely the D12 that should've been rather than the D12 that was. Supposedly, the Dozen are working on another album after all this Relapse nonsense, but frankly, I'd just like to hear all their old school shit with Bugz, Outsidaz collabos, Proof, etc see the light of day. I'll be happy to sleep through the rest of their over-produced, teen-catering-to major studio period.

Demo Week, Day 2: Outsidaz

This is a 4-track demo The Outsidaz gave me in '98. It says "Source demo" 'cause I was writing about them for The Source at the time.

The first song is "Rain Or Shine." It's the same as on the single, which had already been released before this tape was made, so we'll move right past it except to say it's a Hell of a song and if you don't have the single, you should go get it. Now onto the goodies.

You may remember "Keep On" from their album, The Bricks. It was a pretty decent track, and was even released as a single (with a "Mozart Remix"). But this song, beat-wise and lyrically-wise, blows that shit out of the water! It's faster, more hardcore, grittier, and features a lot more Outz' members (the release version only features Pace and Zee). Like Zee says (on this version only) "my clique fill up a van; Navigators be too small. To go to Outz' shows, we need a school bus and a U-Haul."

This one starts out with one of Rah Digga's tightest verses... she sounds really young here, and without that slower, more relaxed flow (yawn) she later developed. She comes with those awkward yet incredibly-fresh style The Outz were the kings of, spitting lyrics like, "i-ight, dig; I'm swifter than an airforce Mig forced to land on an off-shore rig," and brags about being "so ready to bust I got a bad case of blue balls... and rugged as I wanna be, too. Ain't no niggas in the world gonna make me wan' shoot. Fuckin' with me, you'll have war scars from four bars and get a worse flash than any Iraqi nerve gas." This one also features D.U., and Zee & Pace's verses are 100% different from the album version as well. Only the hook is similar, and even that works better over this beat and with each MC performing the hook once before passing the mic. "Keep On" on the album was ok, but this is a killer.

The next track, "Nobody" is essentially the same as the "Nobody" that appears on Pace Won's Won album (and, before that, the unreleased Pace Won Effect album), but with one crucial difference. The "mixed" version slows the whole song down. The beats, the lyrics... basically they just slowed down the completed recording of the song. Maybe they were worried people were having trouble following Pace's complex flow? I don't know; but trust me, this demo version is the only way to hear this song. Once you hear it, the album version will forever sound wrong to you. I don't know why they did this, but if you notice, almost all of the Bricks-era Outsidaz stuff is slower than their earlier indie-era material, and I think really to their detriment.

Finally, is the completely 100% unreleased song, "Brick City." Now, I know I just trashed the slowing down of their material, and I believe it to be a general truism; but this is a slower song that works. It's got a deep bassline, rough drums and a slow and low piano riff. Again, this sounds rougher and grimier than most of their later stuff, Pace Won's verse is definitely nastier than usual:

"I hope you're ready for it when we set it off lovely.
I drop a metaphor it's like every whore love me;
Wanna hold me close,
They know we smoke,
It's like we in church, now, they catch the holy ghost.
They spread their legs and I slide a greasy dick in;
My rap style's for greedy chickens,
Like easy pickin's.
Watch me like the C.I.A.
Feel my pain,
While pussies retreat, I stay;
Beef I spray.
Screamin' out my name from the Brooklyn zoo to Jersey,
Think the average rap crew can hurt me?
I do you dirty!
Savage,
Slappin' that ass with no mercy;
I can beat that ass with both hands down like six thirty!"

It features a raw verse from the underrated Yah Lovah ("the best you can do is die, battlin' is suicide; I can take out half the niggas you influenced by! What? I ruin guys. Outz, all we do is ride. Call the ambulence, I'm 'bout to put two inside!"), Young Zee braggin' about crazy drug antics ("we got hoes takin' weed down South in hair dryers. And spare tires filled up with coke in it. We got them bitches out there tryin' to sell weight to No Limit. Drug addict, since fourteen I've been on Morphene; knockin' niggas in the youth house out, high off Thorzine") and a couple other Outz members... I think maybe D.U. and Azizz, but I'm not certain.

Between this and other unreleased tracks that've been floating around the internet ("Hard Act To Follow," "Duck Huntin'," etc) The Outsidaz are sitting on a classic album (at least one!) worth of material. And I mean classic classic, like Illmatic level. If someone could get all this material released - at least the very best stuff, but preferably everything - it'd be incredible.

Demo Week, Day 1.5: Chino XL

Ok, this is being billed as "Day 1.5" because it's a bit of an underwhelming entry. I almost didn't bother writing but, but I thought, what the heck. It should at least be of some nominal interest to the hardcore fans.

What we have here is a 3-song demo Dan Charnas sent me in advance of what would... eventually lead up to Chino XL's I Told You So album. I think I got this in '99 and the album came out in '01, so it was a long time before any of these tracks got heard by the public, but eventually they... mostly did.

Before I get to that, though; let me get the easy stuff out of the way. The other two songs on this tape, "Nunca" and "Chianardo Di Caprio" are the same as what wound up on the album, right down to the excruciating skit about Chino being visited by an angel in traffic. So nothing new there. These are "ruff" mixes, but there's no significant differences.

But the third song, "Papi," is essentially unreleased. I say "essentially," because he did eventually put it on his 2006 mixtape, The Definition of MC; but of course there it's marred with your typical radio blends and vocal tags being dropped over the song. So, it's kinda been released; but it's never been properly released.

It's a nice track, with a funky guitar picking sample and hard drums. Chino's delivery is nice, too; but the gimmick of his first verse, where he name-drops every Latino pop culture celebrity wears thin right at the first line, where he says he's, "in a kayak with Selma Hayak and Jennifer Lopez." He describes himself as "that lyrical Antonio Banderas," "pounding niggas like John Leguizamo" and so on. It gets better when he gets past that, but his need to turn everything into a cheesy punchline still weighs him down. But hey, the beat is really cool and his flow is engaging... it's better than a lot of Chino songs.

So, yeah. Pretty underwhelming. And that's why this is just "1.5." Look for Day 2 later tonight. :)

Demo Week, Day 1: Ahmad

Today begins Demo Week here at Werner's! Where, obviously, we'll spend the week looking at demos by different artists. And we'll start the week of with Ahmad.

This demo dates back to 1998, which is the perfect era for some unreleased Ahmad material to originate, because it's after his early pop-MC days, when he showed us he could be really impressive with slick, complex wordplay when he wanted to be. And it comes before he started playing second chair to his crew, which gets more "neosoul" by the album.

Titled Call It a Comeback, this 8-song demo largely consists of what would become his crew 4th Avenue Jones' debut album, No Plan B, which, like this demo, came out on his own label, Look Alive. But this has more of an emphasis on Ahmad the MC... this was an Ahmad demo, featuring his crew, not a 4th Ave album. So while many of the songs here are the same as on No Plan B: "I Know," "Move the Crowd," "Truth or Dare" with Pigeon John, "All I Have" and "Betcha Bye," a couple of the songs are exclusive and were never subsequently released.

"Where You Go There You Are" features a hard drum track and piano riff, with fellow Jones member Senoj kicking the second of three verses, and their R&B singer Tena Jones doing the hook and some back-up. The hook is a little sappy, but it's all about the MCs rapid-fire flows, spitting syllables over the punchy drums. And of course, with it coming from Ahmad, it's got a message along with the clever wordplay.

"I got a question, Senoj,
How can I win if I never race?
Say I like it if I never taste?
How would I catch it if I never chased?
Our people running in place
When we shoulda took a leap forwards;
And when we got it,
God created us like him
With talent allotted,
Like an apple 'till it's been rotted:
Coulda been great,
Coulda ate it,
Had it sliced up;
Coulda been baked.
Man, you get outta life... whatever you make."

"Rules of the Game" is off of No Plan B, but here it has a different beat. The demo version has a very distinct (flute? slide whistle?) sample over the entire track. I'm not sure which version I prefer, actually... the album version has grown on me somewhat. But if nothing else it's a cool remix for fans of the official version. It's hard for me to hear the album version without hearing the demo version in my head though! LOL

"The other demo-only track is called "No, I" and again features Senoj. It's got a fast based beat... the samples and Senoj's flow actually sound more like the kind of hip-hop that's in vogue at the moment. It's also a short song, with each MC only kicking one verse, and a short hook in between. It's definitely not a favorite, but it's not bad and Ahmad kills it again, so it's definitely worthwhile for Ahmad's verse, and Senoj's flow is nice, with some clever interplay from Ahmad doing his back-ups. I'd like to hear this one remixed over another beat, but I guess I'm lucky just to hear it at all. :)

A Tribute to The Vinyl Exchange

I first read about The Vinyl Exchange in this hard-to-read (click to enlarge, but I think you'll find that it won't help much) article in Subculture Magazine. Oddly, Subculture doesn't date or number their issues, but I'd say this one came out in late '96. The article read, "One of the few, true DJ Newsletters out. Every issue is a gem. Vinyl Exchange is basically targeted towards DJ's, but non DJ heads will catch themselves reading it too. The newsletter has everything any DJ would want each issue. The best thing is Vinyl Exchange is from the heart and doesn't get caugh tup in the politics. Vinyl Exchange is one of the few things I live for in life... and I'm not even a DJ." All you had to do was mail them a stamp and receive a free issue - who could resist that pitch?

Now, every issue was free if you could find one (you probably had to live in Cali), but the rest of us could get a yearly subscription for $7. Put out by DJ Stef (I've got her 80's freestyle mix on my iphone!), each issue of The Vinyl Exchange, the "newsletter for deejays and vinyl junkies," was eight pages and featured news, reviews of dope underground releases, a classified section, and a New Wax list, which listed every hip-hop record that dropped that month, by label. You've gotta remember, the internet was in its infancy, and info like this was crazy rare. There were also cool sidebar articles, where DJs would list their top ten vinyl releases, or there'd be a review of a new mixer or a column from P-Minus. The last issue I've got has a dope interview with Lord Finesse.

After publishing for several years (I believe it started in '95), The Vinyl Exchange eventually wound-up becoming online only. But it was still dope. I won some Z-Man CDs in one of their contests, and they had the illest, most knowledgable hip-hop internet forums ever. AJ Rok even became a moderator there! I really credit the VE forums for bringing together the right people to open the doors for the return of The Freestyle Professors, and all the terrific, limited vinyl releases by labels like DWG and Vinyl Addicts.

Unfortunately, a serious case of debilitating spam closed the forums to shut down, and the community essentially moved on to The DWG forums. But vinylexchange.com is still up and running, and DJ Stef also regularly updates her personal blog. Better yet, though, dig around archive.org, and you can find some classic VE interviews, like this one with DJ Evil Dee. ;)

Roxanne's Revenge's Revenge

(And here's the link to the YouTube version. I've started uploading them at the exact same second... it's a race! Which one will finish first??)

Rather Uneek

(And here's the link to the YouTube version.)