InstaRapFlix 20: Beef 3

"Beef, beef, BEEF! Back in the Duh-hayz!" ...To quote Chubb Rock. Yeah, it's back on with Beef 3 (Netflix rating: 2 stars), this time narrated by DJ Kay Slay.

The first beef, Bang Em Smurf & Domination Vs. Fifty Cent pretty much sets the tone for this declining chapter in the series. First off, Fifty doesn't even bother to comment; they didn't get him on this DVD at all (though he appeared on the previous discs, and actually has two "vs" segments on this one). So it's just these other guys, basically sounding real ignorant, pointing guns at the camera and bragging about stupid shit like throwing chairs at Summer Jam.

Chingy vs. Nelly was just a pair of bickering bitches whining about each other for no good reason. And that segment went of forever... it felt like it was never gonna end.

Twista gave a good interview, but in his segment (vs. Bone Thugs N Harmony), it basically just came out that they didn't have beef and never did. So, umm, ok. What did we just spend 10 minutes on it for? And there's more interviews, too, where rappers just talk about how hard it is to break a record or something in the South, the mix-tape game or rappers' frustration with the police, and don't have anything to do with beef. Clearly, the filmmakers just had some interviews that didn't fit anywhere and so they just padded this film with every random film clip they had. Even the film's final moments are Snoop Doggy Dogg talking about how the west coast is gonna make a comeback or something. Then, boom, cut to credits. What? Why was he even on camera? He didn't have anything to say about anything in the movie.

So, basically, Beef 3 is a big, fat let down. Half this movie has nothing to do with beef and just flounders around, boring and directionless. Then, the other half is just stupid. The squabbles are lame and the rappers are childish.

And it looks like this may be the last Beef write-up for me. I've just read that the final installment, Beef 4 is out to prove "that rappers aren't the only folks who have beefs" and instead "explores the battles brewing between ball players, skateboarders, comics, actors and more." As one commenter asked, "going from the first beef which featured the likes of biggie smalls vs tupac and 50cent vs murder inc to Ethan Hawke vs Will Smith and Dave Chapelle vs Comedy central. Whats next Burger king vs McDonalds?" This is a hip-hop site, so I think this is where we get off. And after what I just watched, I'm only to happy to.

Happy 4th, Everybody! American and Proud!

Big Scoob dropped this anthem in 2002 on the underrated label, Fully Blown (they did a full run of 12"s with Scoob, plus Chubb Rock's last 12", PRT's last 12", etc). It's produced by a DJ by the name of L. Supreme, who also produced Scoob's "The Way They Go" single. He does a good job, but really it'd be pretty hard to screw this one up.

The concept is pretty simple... it changes James Brown's epic tune "I'm Black and I'm Proud" to "I'm American and Proud!" The hook is basically the same, with a chorus of children shouting it out, and the instrumental liberally takes from all its elements - the funky horns, etc - from the original. This is hardly the first time that song has been used in this way - think Tragedy or Kool Moe Dee - but since when has cribbing from James ever been a bad look? It's not breaking any new ground (even slightly) but like the "Impeach the President" breakbeat; it still works perfectly every time.

And this is well after the period, thankfully, where he was doing that high-pitched B-Real knock-of voice... here he's back to his natural, engaging voice and flow. His rhymes are witty without being punchliney, clear, and they move at a consistent pace but without ever spilling into "fast rap" (not that I mind fast rap at all; but it ain't mainstream if soccer moms can't rap along) Honestly, I think Big Scoob is like the second Jay-Z who just never got that big break. You see it somewhat here, but not quite as strongly as on some of his other records, since he's a kinda tied down to the stars and stripes talk here.

There's nothing else here besides the song and the instrumental on the flip, but it's a good song. If Fully Blown was larger and had wider distribution, I could easily see this being one of those records DJs break out at the same time every year; and when they did, it would get the crowd open.

The Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff Transform Together

Now, you might be reading this title and thinking, "no shit, Werner. DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince were platinum superstars who recorded five albums and tons of hit singles and videos. Your title telling us they worked together is meant to come as some sort of surprise or news to somebody?" No, no. But stick with me here for a moment.

"A Touch of Jazz" was Jazzy Jeff's solo cut on their debut album, Rock the House (sometimes people confuse it as their second album... but that's because it was re-released in 1988 after the duo blew up). And it truly is jazzy, classy, smooth and probably the most important DJ record since "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash On the Wheels of Steel." Pop audiences may only remember the album for "Girls Ain't Nothing But Trouble;" but for the real heads, this was the stand-out track. There's some scratching, yes; but this is more about smooth blends of phat jazz loops, Marvin Gaye, soul mixed into a seamless rhythm. It's everything DJ Shadow's Entroducing was, only twice as def and a decade earlier!

And that classic (I may be guilty of overusing this word, but it applies here in the truest sense) album version is present on the 1987 12" single, but so is a lot more, starting with the "Extended Re-Touch." Now, at first this essentially plays out the same as the LP mix, except with a deep vocal sample declaring "A Touch of Jazz!" every so often, which I could just as easily do without. But a quick look at the label shows us that this version is over a minute and a half longer, and soon Jeff is blending in new records, with new sounds and scratches. Every aspect you loved from the original has been retained, and the new material fits in perfectly and the quality is still top notch.

Then we flip this record over to the B-side, and here's where the title comes into play. We get the "Collapsed In the Street Mix" (as well as a shorter "Collapsed In the Street Edit") that turns Jeff's instrumental masterpiece into a vocal track featuring The Fresh Prince. There's some new scratches, drums, etc... but obviously the inclusion of several rap verses is what stands out the most in this mix. Fortunately, there are still extended instrumental periods giving Jeff a chance to flex both his cuts (this time adding a lot of "Good Times" over the classic "Rapper's Delight" bassline) and his innovative blends... it doesn't follow the verse/hook/verse formula of the typical record, so it manages to keep the mood of the original pretty well intact. And The Prince doesn't try to distract with comical stories or battle rhymes, he just raps enthusiastically about the music:

"Making a record
Is similar to baking.
You need ingredients
If you plan on making
It come out correctly
And in a second,
I'm gonna give the recipe
We used on this record:
A quarter cup of rhymes
And a cup of beats,
A half cup of clubs
And dash in the streets;
A piece of the present
And a pinch of the past;
Throw in Jeff and the Prince
And a touch of jazz!"

The song winds up being almost 7 minutes long! And that's where this 12" really gets it right... with each increasingly different mix, they don't replace anything, they just keep adding onto what they have and building up. So they never sacrafice anything - the album version was less than half the length of this mix.

All that and a colorful picture cover? In this day of rarities going for record-breaking prices, it's nice to know that some of the crate digger's shiniest gems are still in plentiful abundance.

InstaRapFlix 19: Beef 2

Woot! Netflix returned the Beef sequels to their Instant Viewing List, so it's back on. As you may remember from InstaRapFlix #11, I was pleasantly surprised by the original outing. So now we're going to find out if Beef 2 (Netflix rating: 2 stars) holds up to its predecessor.

It starts out with a skippable "history of rap" kinda opening... the last one also had a skippable opening, but this one's closer to 90 seconds, so it's no big deal. The film's narrated by Keith David (of John Carpenter's The Thing, etc) this time around. Anytime anyone takes the opportunity to replace Ving Rhames with Keith David, I'm all for it; so this movie already has me on its side.

It's starts of with the infamous "Roxanne" wars... It features interviews with Roxanne Shante (I seriously question her claim that there were over 55 response records to her), Kangol, Marley Marl, and more; so it's fun. But considering you could fill several full-length documentaries trying to adequately cover the Roxanne saga, it feels more than a bit rushed. In only about two minute's time, it's already segued into "The Bridge Is Over." And in another minute, it's already onto "Big Mama;" and that gets literally just one and a half sentence's worth of coverage.

And that's basically this entire film summed up. It's fun, because it interviews the artists and covers cool records. But it's so involved in trying to be a comprehensive overview, of both diss records and hip-hop's history in general, that it never digs in and gets really compelling. It also has some hammy, preachy (in the writing) narration, and at times you start to feel like you're watching some ultra-corny Cops knock-off on Fox. But you'll enjoy hearing the Priority Records employee talk about the time Ice Cube (and friends) came in and assaulted one of its CEOs... you'll enjoy hearing Parrish Smith talking about pulling up to his house while it was being broken into by Erick Sermon's boys... You'll definitely get a kick out of K-Solo taking a lie detector test to prove that he wrote "Spellbound!" So it's a no-brainer recommendation.

But you'll be like, "what? It's over already!?" after every single segment - especially the old school ones; they really get put in the backseat behind the contemporary (at the time... now they're all old) dramas. This was a decent, definitely-worth-a-watch movie. It just could have been a really great documentary (or several great documentaries) if they'd taken their time with it.

Whistle and Jazzy Jeff Transform Together

Disappointingly, this is the only single off of Whistle's second album, Transformation, that features any rapping (there were two other singles: "Falling In Love" and "Right Next To Me," but they were pure R&B). It's a genuine double A-side - the picture cover is flippable, so whichever side you face out shows one track on the bottom and one on the top. It's also in keeping with the album's gimmick, where one side is straight R&B and the other straight hip-hop. So, being the site this is, let's start with the hip-hop.

"Transformation," is of course the album's title cut. It's a fun song, but certainly feels like an unlikely choice for the lead single. It's an up-beat, party style track, co-produced by The Hitman Howie Tee and Whistle, with Jazz and Kool Doobie kicking various short verses, which seem loosely (at best) tied to a common theme (additional lyrics credit is given to Kangol, of UTFO, who worked a lot with Whistle over the years). Perhaps most memorably, for such a typically G to PG rated group, this song features a very unexpected verse about S&M group sex in the middle of the song:

"Pay attention, people;
Kool Doobie is speaking.
There's a lady
That I've been seeking.
I see her over there
And I'ma ask her her name;
And if she's with it, yo Jazz,
Bring your whip and your chain!
(I got a rope!)
Bring your rope so we can tie her down!
(And handcuffs!)
Handcuffs so she won't move around!
(I got a radio.
I'll bring it down to your room.)
What for?
(When she screams, we can)
PUMP UP THE VOLUME!"

I'm sure it's all meant in good fun and not intended to be taken too seriously, but it sure does... stand out. Still, if you can get past that, there's a lot more to this song that one outlandish rhyme. Silver Spinner cuts up Rakim's classic "pump up the volume" vocal sample for the hook, while some girl sings "traaanns... formation!" in the background. Silver's cuts are dope and, appropriately, he throws in a bunch of nice transformer scratches.

But that's just what was on the album. On this 12" is a surprisingly undervalued "Transformation (Swing Beat Mix)," which is remixed by none other than DJ Jazzy Jeff (and engineered by Joe the Butcher). Bear in mind, this was 1988; and Jeff was not working with anyone outside of his LPs with The Fresh Prince. Yeah, he did a few underground tracks beforehand, and has done plenty after; but I believe this is the only outside production/remix he did during this era. Anyway, it features all new transformer scratches (I guess by Jeff this time, though Spinner proved himself just as capable on the previous mix), and a bunch of new samples - some vocal samples, some instrumental, giving the whole song a more chopped up, wildly varied feel. And if that wasn't enough, it's a vocal remix, too, with all new rhymes from Doobie and Jazz, mixed in with the old ones... some verses start off with the old stuff, then switch to new lines, and vice versa (but don't worry, they all include the S&M part lol).

Then, there's another remix, called the Street Mix (at least, I'm pretty sure this is the Street Mix and the other is the Swing Beat Mix... the sequencing on the label is screwed up; so this is my best guess), which is again substantially different. There's new scratching again on the hook, this time primarily cutting up Cheryl Lynn's "Got To Be Real," and the instrumental has been replaced with a classic, funk breakbeat - the same breakbeat and bassline The UMC's used for "Invaders of My Fruit Basket" the following year. That's right, you wouldn't normally think of these guys as being the first to any classic breaks; but Whistle had this ultra-funky groove first. And it's impressive how much naturally funkier the rhymes sound over this break. This one's also got an extended breakdown at the end with some more classic, old school samples; and also uses the new 12" remix rhymes.

Finally, is the other A-side, "Still My Girl." Like I said about their other R&B songs on this album, they went pretty classical on this. It's co-produced by Kangol and Whistle, and while it isn't acapella (in fact, the Instrumental version is included here... think long, drawn out synth lines), it really puts all of the emphasis on the singing rather than the music, which is put in a pure backdrop role. This isn't the sort of new jack pop style R&B you might've expected, but pure ballad. Still, these guys were capable singers (if a bit bland when you take out the 80's studio tricks). And, unfortunately, that's the direction they took their career after this album, sadly giving up on hip-hop.

By the way, it's interesting to note that on their next album (Always and Forever), Whistle took another stab at this song and recorded "Still My Girl (90's Version)." I'm not really sure which I prefer. It's all about The A side,anyway. Or, umm, side 1.

Micheal Jackson's Rappers

I was going to stay out of the whole MJ thing, just because I figured you were all already suffering from media overload. And also, I was assuming another rap blog would field this topic, but it seems nobody has. Heck, I don't think anyone's even thrown up a zshare of T-Ski Valley's "Billie Jean" yet. And so it falls to me. 8-)

You couldn't call yourself the king of pop during the 80's and 90's without at least briefly crossing path with hip-hop. Michael Jackson did so, though less often than you might've expected. Here's a look at each of them.

Vincent Price: This one might feel like a bit of a stretch, but Vincent Price's contribution to "Thriller" are labeled as a rap in the album's liner notes, and I guess technically they are. And, considering "Thriller" predates "Haunted House of Rock" by a good year, you could make a pretty solid case that Vincent Price started horrorcore (lol)! Every DJ in the land also owes a debt of gratitude for that maniacal laugh, which has possibly appeared on more records than Jackson himself.

Heavy D: Janet Jackson and Heavy D already scored a hit with their collaboration "Alright" in 1989. And just in case you'd forgot, he brags about it in his verse for "Jam," his first collaboration with Michael, in 1991. He worked with Michael again in 1995, appearing on the Masters At Work remix of "Rock With You."

Nancy Cartwright: Also in 1991, Michael wrote and produced (uncredited) the Bart Simpson (voiced as always by Nancy Cartwright) rap single, "Do the Bartman," which became a huge hit. It spawned the sequel, "Deep, Deep Trouble," which didn't have Micheal's involvement, but was produced by DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Aqil Davidson: Still in 1991, Teddy Riley produced the Dangerous album track "She Drives Me Wild." So unsurprisingly, he put his Wrecks-N-Effect boy Aqil on for a quick verse in the middle of the song. He raps to the girl whose look is driving Michael wild ("far from Medusa"), and says, "you've got me lookin' like Buckwheat." Whatever that means.

L.T.B.: Most people remember the rap verse from "Black Or White" as it was lip-synced by Macaulay Culkin in the video. But anyone with ears could tell it was a grown man doing the actual rapping. That man is credited as L.T.B. in the album's liner notes. I don't know anything else about him; that name may well be an alias.

Naughty By Nature: In 1995, the second version of the "Scream" single dropped, featuring two remixes, including one by Naughty By Nature on the "Street" side, with raps by Treach, and a couple vocal drops by Vinnie. The bulk of the remix sounds like a clumsy, half-assed mess; but the part where Treach drops his verse sounds alright.

Notorious B.I.G.: On the HIStory compilation album, The Notorious B.I.G. is featured on "This Time Around," one of the new songs recorded for this largely "greatest hits" release. Oddly, his verse is about his friend who he thinks is stealing from him... I wonder if Michael realized what Biggie was gonna rap about on his record: "I'ma kill a nigga; I ain't jokin'. Endo smoke got me chokin'; I'm hopin' the fool comes slippin' so I can blow him open." Still, the working relationship must've been good, because Biggie returned to drop a verse on "Unbreakable" off of his Invincible album in 2001. ...Despite dying in 1997. That's a little ghoulish of whoever decided to assemble that, isn't it?

Shaq: When you look at Mike's list of chosen hip-hop collaborators, I think one word will spring to mind before all others: "integrity." And when you're all about the art, putting aside the publicity and the image to only work with the most talented, best of the best, there's one man you go to before all others. If you're organizing a basketball game. But for some reason, Mike got confused and asked Shaquille O'Neal ("the man of steel organism") to rap for him instead. So he kicks a little verse at the end of "2 Bad" from HIStory, including his signature fake laugh.

Will.i.Am: Recently, on his 25th anniversary album (there was also a single), he remade "The Girl Is Mine" (off the Thriller album) with Will.i.Am in Paul McCartney's role. Or, more accurately, I think they just remixed Paul out, because Micheal's vocals sound the same as the original. In any case, they called it "The Girl Is Mine 2008," and it was a bad idea. He also did the same thing with "Pretty Young Thing," calling it "(P.Y.T.) Pretty Young Thing 2008."

Kanye West: Kanye West did the same as Will.I.Am, producing a remix, featuring a verse from himself, called "Billie Jean 2008 (Kanye West Mix)." I could be wrong, but I don't think Michael was involved in recording these cash-ins.

...And unless I missed someone (hit me up in the comments, but remember, unofficial mash-ups don't count), that's it. Of course, that's not to say that more producers won't take more old Jackson vocal tracks, and edit together more collaborations in the future. We'll just have to wait and see.

Update 7/1/09: I KNEW I'd forget a couple! Here are three more of MJ's rappers:

Eve: The Trackmasters remixed Jackson's 2001 single "Butterflies," featuring a some traditional old school samples, giving it laid-back, soulful feel. It also features two verses from Eve, who manages not to disrupt the mood.

Jay-Z: "You Rock My World" was the debut single off of Invincible. A separate single was later issued featuring the Trackmasters' remix containing a lot of Biz Markie vocal samples and two verses from Jay-Z.

John Forte: In 1997, Micheal's people put out a remix EP called Blood On The Dance Floor - HIStory In The Mix. One of the featured tracks was the Refugee Camp Remix of "2 Bad" (which was on the original version of HIStory), which now included vocals by John Forte.

Update 12/4/15: Hey, I noticed this post is riding up the "Most Popular Posts," column, and I thought I should update it with what came out since this was written back in 2009. They've put out more posthumous releases, with guest appearances by guys like Akon and Justin Beiber. But just one more with a rapper...

50 Cent: The album Michael, released in 2010, featured all unheard Jackson songs including one called "Monster," with raps by 50 Cent. It's clearly an unfinished song and filled with vocals from other Jackson songs to flesh it out, and there are rumors that other parts were sung by an impersonator. But nobody had to fake the verse from 50, who comes in with an odd mishmash of bragging about how hard he is, scary monster movie imagery to stay on theme, and just generally heralding the return of MJ. There was even a single for "Monster" in 2011 with a terrible house remix.

Louie Louie Conveys!

You might remember me talking a bit about the early 90's Chicago group Ten Tray before, on my post about the underground Chicago posse cut, "Put Down Your Guns." Unlike some of the acts on that single (including its headliner, JG), Ten Tray did manage to put out an album of their own, titled Realm of Darkness on Smash Records in 1992.

Well, that album spawned this single, "I Convey!" It's a good choice, as it's one of the better album tracks... lead MC Crunch comes with a very hardcore, practically yelling flow, in his angrily righteous way ("The oppressor helped me intimidate; Martin Luther helped me articulate; Huey Newton helped me to protest; and Elijah helped me rise above the rest"), sort of like a prototypical Freddie Foxxx. And DJ X-Ray provides some nice cuts. The beat's pretty dope... nothing that'll make you say, "oh, I need that 12"!" but, you know, the sort of track you'd expect MMG or someone to rhyme over.

But the jewel of this single is the remix. They managed to enlist Priority One's Louie Louie (a.k.a. Luis "Phat Kat" Vega), The 45 King's right-hand man, and man does he do these guys a hell of a favor! The beat is funked up a little, and at its core, it's not too drastically different (essentially the same bassline and all), just a bit toned down. But then he lays on top of that a few vintage jazz loops... that come and go throughout the song. The second verse as some nice funk guitar licks, and the hook features a very chunky sax riff, that extends into a full-blown solo after the final verse, played in tandem with X-Ray's cuts. And everything marries perfectly together - nothing sounds tacked on.

If they had this level of production on Realm of Darkness, they'd have a really sought-after banger. As it is, at least we've got one seriously under-rated single, easily available super cheap 'cause it's entirely slept on.

Hip-Hop On Your iphone part 2

(And the Youtube version.)

Hip-Hop On Your iphone, part 1

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

The Fresh 3's Fresh 2

The Fresh 3 M.C.'s were a cool but short-lived crew signed to Profile in the early 80's. Comprised of Unique aka Supreme GQ, Mr. Bee and Jay Cool, they were featured on as a part of Pumpkin's Profile All-Stars line-up for his well-known hit, "Here Comes That Beat!" in 1984.

But they're easily best known for their debut single, "Fresh," from 1983. It's been featured on, oh, only about half a million or so old school compilation albums throughout the decades, and one listen makes it obvious why. It's got everything. It has a classic, true school-style harmonized hook, which is instantly memorable: "F-R-E-S-H; fresh, fresh, yo, that's fresh!" And it's got some catchy, hardcore keyboards (can keyboards be hardcore? Apparently so!), and a funky beat full of hard drums and hand claps. The rhymes are fun:

"A girl walked up;
She gave a wink;
She said, 'I bet that your girl
Could use a new mink.'
I agreed with her;
She said, 'what size?'
I said, 'you'll do just fine.'
I had her hypnotized.
I then took her to the crib,
And with one last yell,
I had her and the coat
That she tried to sell.
'Cause I'm (F-R-E-S-H)!"

...But the delivery is tough. Remember, this is before Run DMC's first album made the hip-hop scene do a 180 (though their first singles were just coming out around the same time), so these guys were giving you the hardcore, pure rap style that the heads were fiending for. It also has some (not terribly impressive) scratching and it also gets at least a novelty mention in the Rap Hall of Fame for an amusing First: it's the first rap record to feature backwards rapping. This would be a lot more impressive if they actually worked out some backwards rhymes; but instead, after announcing, "we're so fresh, we don't have to rehearse. We can even rap to you, in reverse!" they just play the regular vocal tracks backwards. Still, despite being a cheap cop-out, I promise you, there's no one who was listening to hip-hop back in those days who doesn't remember that moment.

Not nearly as well remembered, but still kinda neat, is their follow-up single, "Have Your Heart" b/w "A Few Minutes More." It's produced by the same guys - oh, did I not mention them? Dave Ogrin, who did a lot of big-time production throughout the 80's and on into the 90's, co-produced both Fresh 3 M.C.'s records with Bill Moore, who did a few other things... but "Fresh" was pretty much his pinnacle. So, the production team is back, the 3 MCs are all back, still on Profile, ready to make another hit. What went wrong?

Well, probably that they went in the completely wrong direction, and made the A-side a love song. Now, this pre-dates LL Cool J's "I Need Love," so it's not that ultra-sappy whispered-word delivery kinda love song. Actually, the beat is pretty funky. But for a crew that boldly displayed a proto-typical boom-bap style the previous year, this just sent the wrong message. If they'd held out long enough to get an album, and then stuck this on there, I think it could've found its audience, but as it is; it's a pretty obscure follow-up from a veritable 1-hit wonder group.

But, really, it's pretty (dare I say) fresh. They come with multiple, short upbeat verses over another a very head-bodding beat. Again, it's full of funky synths, handclaps and tough drums; and the hook is harmonized again "We're gonna have your heart, have your heart, have your heart, girrrrl... we're gonna tear the place apart!" In fact, except for really veering off on the subject matter, they're sticking pretty doggedly to the formula, but it still sounds different enough to be more than just a sequel.

Still, someone must've known a love song was going to alienate some fans, 'cause the B-side features a simpler, more rugged beat: no synths and the hand-claps are tweaked to almost sound like additional drums. And they just spit freestyle rhymes, passing the mic back and forth without even a hook. And it probably would work, to some extent, to appease fans they annoyed with the A-side. But considering the A-side went in the wrong the direction, and the B-side is too raw to really have gotten much radio play, most "Fresh" fans just didn't hear it.

Fortunately for us, though, both records are cheap and plentiful. So hindsight being what it is, it's easy for us to go back and:
A) enjoy a true classic
and
B) appreciate a funky little sleeper that's really a lot better than it's given credit for.

Yo, that's fresh!

Live & Direct From the House of Hitz

Just put up a new review for Diggers With Gratitude, check it out here (direct link). Apparently, this is also their 50th review, so woot! =)

By the way, for anyone still curious about that Teac GF-350... the sound samples on this review (and my previous DWG reviews) were taken from it... then just tweaked a bit in Audacity when I uploaded 'em.