Gangstarr Adjusted

Gangstarr's "Gotta Get Over (Taking Loot)" was originally released as part of the soundtrack to Trespass, one of those movies made during that brief time-period where soundtracks were so lucrative, that whole films were produced on the cheap just so they could market the albums. I did see it at the time - as I recall, it was about a couple of guys (including a less famous Bill Paxton) who discover gold in the middle of some drug dealing gang's territory... eventually everybody shoots everybody, and the deep message is "greed is bad and some people really shouldn't have guns."

But forget about the movie (the rest of the world has); the important part, as I say, is the soundtrack, on Sire Records. Now, it's mostly a west coast affair, featuring artists like Ice-T, WC and The Penthouse Players' Clique (which I'm not saying is a bad thing, mind you - I'm a PPC fan), but it includes two stand-out east coast songs, Lord Finesse's "You Know What I'm About" and Gangstarr's "Gotta Get Over." Sire Records put out a single or two (AMG's "Don't Be a 304" was the big one), but "Gotta Get Over" was such a stand-out track that Gangstarr's label, Chrysalis Records, picked it up and released it as a single themselves.

"Gotta Get Over" features one of the most memorable basslines in hip-hop history. Couple that with Guru being on a more hardcore, street edge than usual, and Premier's pro cuts and horn samples, and you've got a Gangstarr classic that rivals any of their greatest singles. But this 12" takes it further, and includes, in addition to the album version, a brand new Large Professor remix. Now on a song this great, a remix really isn't needed - who's going to stop playing the original, which nailed it perfectly, to spin an alternate version? But now many years have passed, I think we can go back and this excellent production by Extra P. No, of course it doesn't top the original; but taken on its own, it's a great track. It keeps the aesthetic of the original, dominating the tune with a dope, memorable bassline. It's not the same bassline at all, but it's used in the same spirit and is similarly accentuated by Guru's voice. But in this case, the remix really comes to life on the hook, when these ill samples come in... it actually reminds me of the kind of stuff RNS provided for the first UMCs album.

So you've got both versions of "Gotta Get Over" on here, plus the remix instrumental. But turn it over and you've got another Gangstarr cut. This time it's for "Flip the Script" off the Daily Operation album. You've got two mixes on here: the Album Mix and the "Remix/ Minor Adjustment Mix," also by Premier. "Flip the Script" was always one of my favorite cuts off that album, the loop has this really hard chop to it that's almost broken but sounds great. And this new version maintains that. In fact, considering the name, you might think that the "Minor Adjustment" remix would be one of those where you have to keep your ear to the speaker just to suss out the distinction; but actually it's apparent. The piano keys that make up the bassline are switched out with new ones comprised of more notes, giving the song a richer vibe, almost more like live music. The other big difference is the addition to a new high-pitched, heavy metal guitar sample being scratched and looped into the track. It's hard to single out one as better than the other, really; I think it just boils down to a question of whether you prefer a busier, more complex beat or the rawer, simpler original.

Regardless, this is a pretty sweet 12", and right up there with Gangstarr's classics. It's a good thing Chrysalis was smart enough to license the song and commission release, or we fans would've really missed out.

Introduction of a Character Problem Child

You know what's frustrating? When you heard a cool song once on the radio, but you weren't sure what the name of it was or who it was by... and as time passes, you're looking for that song but never find it. Eventually, like 15 years later - thanks probably to the internet - you finally find out what that song was... and it was never released, and you still can't get it! With so many shows playing exclusive DAT recordings or demo tapes, it's a sadly recurring story for fans of indie, 90's hip-hop. But at least one of those cases has finally been resolved satisfactorily.

The Constant Deviants were one of those artists whose demos got played on Stretch and Bobbito in the mid 90's. They're essentially a Baltimore crew, but I think at the time they were staying in Jersey when they broke into the east coast indie scene. And while they did go on to drop a couple of 12"s over the years, including some stuff through Buds Distribution which you've probably seen around, hardcore connoisseurs were stuck with nothing but dodgy radio rips of two of their best cuts: "Problem Child" and "Feel That." Well, Six 2 Six Records (that label I just guest blogged for) has stepped up to correct that. In fact, you might remember me blogging about them early in the year, saying how they needed a little encouragement to get their stuff the proper final treatment, right? Well, they've done it and this is it. 8)

"Problem Child" b/w "Feel That" comes in a fresh picture cover and is pressed on clear vinyl in a limited pressing of 500 copies. For those who haven't been waiting impatiently all this time and don't know what to expect: Constant Deviants aren't really on that rugged, rah rah tip, but more of a smooth, summer cool out kinda vibe. Think a little bit Unspoken Heard or early Juggaknots. They've got some nice, quality scratches by DJ Cutt who clearly knows what he's doing, but it's all played very low-key. There's no hectic scratch frenzy break-down, but the cuts are there, adding another level. And similarly, M.I.C. doesn't go for showy punchlines or hyper-kinetic spitting... just an assured, easy-to-listen-to flow. He comes with a message that's essentially the same as 3rd Bass's "Problem Child" - natch - though presented in a little more of a reserved, autobiographical manner.

"Problem Child" is undoubtedly the one for me, but "Feel That" has a cool, distorted sonic loop as the driving sample, which is really addictive. And this 12" doesn't just finally give us these two songs in pristine sound quality for the first time, plus instrumentals... There's also a "Problem Child" remix. It's almost a cross between the two songs, with the vocals from the original "Problem Child" (of course), but set to an instrumental that's more in the vibe of "Feel That."

At the end of the day, it's all good music. It may not be the most attention-grabbing "oh shit; I need that!" material to come out of the limited scene; but if you appreciate hip-hop's subtle side, you're sure to be feeling everything on here. And like their music, the pricing is also more down-to-Earth than most of the other limiteds these days, which definitely helps. So for the heads who've been holding onto low-quality cassette rips of these songs, it's definitely a happy ending.

Sealed Records MAGIC!

(Youtube version is here.)

Can it Be That It Was All So Simple Then?

This is an under-praised excavation from Stones Throw Records... In 2008, they put out a nice repress of Arabian Prince's debut album, Situation Hot. That album was only released on cassette, and Stones Throw gave it the top quality double vinyl treatment in a nice gatefold cover, and they included one or two other vintage-era Arabian Prince songs from that era as bonus tracks. Granted, it wasn't really the first time these songs were getting released on vinyl - they'd all been put out on a series of 12"s back in the day - but it was still a first-class reissue.

Even better, though, they also included a bonus 7" with the album. It features two vintage, never-before-released tracks: "Simple Planet" and "Beatdabeat." I have mixed feelings about Arabian Prince's catalog as a whole, but I love his early Macola stuff, and that's what this is!

My excitement has to be tempered, however, by the fact that these are both instrumental tracks. That's a definite disappointment, and probably why I wasn't blogging about this the day it dropped. But, still, it's that great, O.G. Arabian Prince sound... "Simple Planet" even features some signature riffs from some of his early hits like "Situation Hot" pop up occasionally.

So, I'm letting you guys know about this now because, until recently, this was only available with purchase of the double LP, Innovative Life - The Anthology - 1984-1989. And I do definitely recommend that package... but if you already had all the original 12"s, the repress would be pretty redundant. But now, some online vendors (like hhv.de) are finally making this 7" available for purchase separately, so you can finally complete your Arabian Prince collection without re-buying his whole back catalog. Sweet as!

P.s. - Stones Throw has released one more Arabian Prince record... 2009's reissue of "Let's Hit the Beach." "Let's Hit the Beach" is one of the many fun tracks from Situation Hot/ Innovative Life (and it was originally released on 12" with "Take You Home Girl"). This reissue features a fun picture cover and two exclusive, contemporary remixes. If you were considering picking this one up, let me just tell you: those remixes suck! Stay away! It doesn't even include the original instrumental, though it does for both remixes. If you're a hardcore completist, go for it. But if you were eyeing those remixes, take my word for it and don't bother.

Six 2 Six Guess Blog

Hey, guys. I've been invited to be a "Guess Blogger" over on TheSix2SixShift. If you don't know, Six 2 Six is the label that's been putting out recent releases by The Constant Deviants, Sparrow and that Lord Digga record I reviewed earlier this year. Anyway, my post there just went up, so you can head over and read it here now. 8)

Also, if you missed it in my tweets, TheBigSleep has done a flattering write-up of me over on The TROY Blog. So check that out here - thanks, guys!

UGK Let Their Nuts Hang

(Youtube version is here.)

(New) 2 Live Freestyle

The 2 Live Crew went through some turbulent times in the 90's... breaking up, reforming, members quitting and rejoining. And at one point during all of that, Luke realized he had lost too high a percentage of its members to act like nothing had happened. So he added a new member, made himself an official member and with remaining original member Fresh Kid Ice, released an album by a crew he dubbed The New 2 Live Crew. It was to be a short-lived experiment, as Back At Your Ass For the Nine 4 was this iteration's only album.

But it was an interesting experiment. The new guy, Verb, had a real east coast sensibility and was focused on lyrical skills in pretty much the exact opposite way the 2 Live Crew had been up 'till then. And Fresh Kid Ice was doing some interesting things (see my review on Hip Hop Isn't Dead to learn about that) at the time with his production company ICP (not that ICP), working with the very underrated duo Balli and Fat Daddy, who were recently featured on the Diggers With Gratitude mixtape.

But unfortunately it was also a failed experiment, It featured way too much Luke, doing his "I can't rap so I just filibuster on records" shout and call songs, some lame crap where they rip off the hook to Barney the Dinosaur's theme, and a bunch of skits, which unfortunately wound up being the most memorable part of the album, as they featured Dolemite.

There were a few decent moments, but only one really good song.

Thankfully, the released it as a single.

"2 Live Freestyle" came out on Luke Records in 1994. Promisingly, the album credits say this features Fat Daddy (though they spell his name "Phat Daddy" here), and the 12" mentions him, too. But disappointingly, he's not on here. I guess maybe his voice can be heard if you stick your ear to the speaker during the hook? But he doesn't get a verse (it goes Verb, Ice, and Verb again), which is a seriously missed opportunity.

But, putting aside what we don't get, we do get a hot beat, which they credit to The New 2 Live Crew themselves. Personally, I suspect that might really mean the ICP, which would also explain why Fat Daddy's voice would be on the track if they didn't bother to give him a verse. I also don't imagine Luke, Vern or Fresh Kid Ice are doing those scratches. But, whatever; it's dope and certainly not typical 2 Live Crew. It's more Bomb Squad or something with it's squealing horns and hard bass. Lyrically, Verb is just okay, but his delivery and this beat are great. And Ice at least treads water and manages not to ruin the song.

The 12", as you can see, comes in a dope picture cover done by Society (yes, that Society). More importantly, it also features a pretty dope remix by DJ Spin. It's not quite as good as the original... it's a little lower in energy, going for a darker, subtler vibe (sort of like a Buckwild does, but yaknow... I'm not saying it's exactly on par with a Buckwild remix). There are also radio edits for both mixes, if anybody cares.

There was one more single off Back At Your Ass with a similar picture cover and a couple exclusive remixes. But this is the only one worth your time. The New 2 Live Crew went on to do a couple more worthwhile songs on Luke's last solo album and the delightful holiday-themed compilation album, Christmas At Luke's Sex Shop; and then it was a wrap. Fresh Kid Ice followed Marquis and Mr. Mixx out the door, and the The Live Crew re-formed with no connection to Luke on Joey Boy Records. Verb was apparently meant to go on to a solo career, but that never quite materialized (see my video here for his "lost" songs).

Bazerker

There's nothing rarer in hip-hop than the comeback album that actually lives up to the artists' past material. Usually we're happy if there's just a slim reminder of what once was to be found in what now is. But this is that elusive, mystical beast., just dropped at the end of 2010: Son of Bazerk featuring No Self Control's second album, Well Thawed Out.

It opens with their lead "single" (in quotes, because that's as close as I'll ever come to calling an mp3 or Youtube video a single) "I Swear On a Stack Of Old Hits." This captures everything that's great about Son Of Bazerk. Their energy, their signature voices, classic samples and ever-changing music and styles, the frantic craziness. It's nineteen years later, but this could just as well have been released in 1992.

And the rest of the album definitely holds up. The production is great, sometimes coming with old school samples which sound fresh and new when put through the Son of Bazerk wringer, alternated with all new samples and loops you've never heard before. And the whole gang is still intact... this isn't one or two guys trying to carry on the legacy of a bigger group. As they say on "Let Me Tell You Who I Am," it's still "three guys, four girls and a one man band." Johnny Juice is still cutting ("my DJ spins to keep the roaches from comin' in") Half Pint is still screaming. You never know what's going to come around the next bend: something slow and soulful, something rough and rugged, is the song suddenly going to stop in the middle for a silly gag? Will they rap or sing? Will they do a number where they hiccup through the whole song?* You never know what's around to expect, but whatever they hit you with, it always flows perfectly.

In fact, fuck it. I'm going to come straight out and call it: I think Well Thawed Out is actually better than Bazerk, Bazerk, Bazerk. It's more consistent and the highs are at least as tall as they were in their MCA days. Take "Stomp." I really don't see how anybody could not like this song, whether they're an old school head or hipster tween, underground purist or commercial fair-weather head, die hard New Yorker or someone who swears my west coast gangsta rap from the 90's. It just plays.

Now, this was mostly just released via mp3 (sigh), but there is a physical release, available from amazon. It's one of their made-on-demand CD-R releases made with CreateSpace. But really... is there any actual difference between the sound of this and a regular CD? I can't hear any. And it comes in a proper jewel case with artwork and label. The front even folds out booklet style (though there's not really anything in there besides the track listing which is already printed on the outside), so the only practically difference between this and an official CD release is that it's... cheaper. Well, that works for me. I couldn't be happier with a CD release or a comeback album than I am with this one.


*Yes, they will. That's on here.. ;)

Ruthless Rod & MC Dollar

Not a lot of heads are familiar with MC Ruthless Rod & MC Dollar, a Chicago duo (or trio if you count their DJ, Fellow-Rock) who put out a killer 4-song EP in 1989 called Loud As a Banshee. It's a pretty rare record, and most surviving copies suffer from water damage. So as you can imagine, this is one of those records that goes for beaucoup bucks, and just screams for a repress, which is where Dope Folks Records comes in.

Yes, Dope Folks, the label that brought us the recent Mixmasta "D" EP, have repressed Loud As a Banshee, including reproducing the great picture cover. But they've also brought something better to the table than a mere repress...

Loud as a Banshee featured three amazing hip-hop songs. It's not so much that the MCs are mind-blowing, though they've got strong voices and deliveries. It's just one of those instances where the flows, the beats, the sample selection, and some fantastic scratching all come together and gel in that way that even the very best hip-hop artists usually don't quite manage to pull off.

It starts off with "In the Groove," with some banging percussion. It really sounds like it's all being created by a DJ constantly running back two copies of the record, too. And then on top of that they bring in a ton of records to sample and scratch, ever-changing as the song progresses. Just when you're like, "oh man, this song is great," another record gets thrown into the mix and the sound is even hyper! At one point, they bring in the break from they used on Eazy E's "We Want Eazy"... it's just great. Nothing else I can say about this song.

Then you've got "Blowout Time," which is totally different and a pretty unique cut in hip-hop in general. Where "In the Groove" used all the classic, raw elements of hip-hop, this one features a new school (for 1989) sound. The drums are just as rugged and hard, but it uses these slow, deep bass notes and high keys that sound like they're taken from some epic sci-fi film. It's the kind of thing that runs the risk of being horrendously corny, but it all works. The fact that the MC is kicking unrelenting earnest rhymes over seriously hardcore beats certainly gets a lot of the credit for that... and when the drums break down in the middle? It's sick!

Finally "As I Get Funky" is an even stronger showcase for Fellow-Rock. It features some classic horn samples and amped beats, and the rhymes are non-stop, too... But it's really all about the scratches, which are front and center on this one, from the hook to ill, extended breakdowns.

...And then there was also a fourth song, "Just 4 U." That was their slow jam, their love song. As far as rap love songs go, it's pretty good... the production has a deep, rich sound to it with these harp/bell notes which sound like they might be playing live. But, you know... it's one of "those" rap love songs, with the slow, half-spoken delivery and, you know. It's corny and definitely not highly regarded like the rest of the EP.

So here's what Dope Folks did. They took off "Just 4 U" (so collectors, hang on to your originals!), and replaced it with a vintage, never before heard cut from that era. It's called "As I Break 'Em Down" and it fits in much better with the rest of the EP. If you didn't know which song was the new addition, you'd never be able to tell from listening to it. It features some classic old school samples, a lot of hand claps and more great drums and rhymes. There isn't so much scratching on this one and the energy isn't quite as high as the other songs, but again, you can tell the main sample for the hook is just being scratched into the track live throughout the song. If the other songs are perfect 5 out of 5 star songs, this is a 4.5. It absolutely trumps the weak link track from the original EP.

So like Dope Folks' other releases, this is another limited release. There's only 300 copies, and they sell for $20 (which, for a limited, is definitely on the nice and reasonable end of the spectrum - especially considering the nice picture cover). You can order them directly from their site, dopefolks.com; and for an extra $5 you can order an extra picture cover. I'm not sure if there's much of a market for that, but the option's there if you want it I guess. Anyway, at least get the EP, 'cause I can't recommend this enough. Just listen to the samples they've got up and you'll see, it's an instant must-have.

Dept. of Homeland Security Vs. Hip-Hop File-Sharing

How was your Thanksgiving? If you ran sites like hiphopgodfathers.com or onsmash.com, it probably wasn't so fun. Those guys went to their sites today to find their main pages replaced with:
According to articles like this one on TorrentFreak (I know "TorrentFreaks" doesn't sound like the most reputable name for a source; but they were the first to break the news), the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) have both seized control of their domain names. And according to an article on myce.com, "DHS and ICE agents raided a Dallas datacenter Tuesday and seized the sites servers." So if that's correct, they're not just taking over domain names, but seizing servers.

As many of you have probably noticed, I'm not a big mp3 kinda guy... This is the first I've heard of these sites, but apparently RapGodFathers alone had 146,500 members. They've publicly defended themselves by telling TorrentFreaks, “We only link to mixtapes, albums in the hiphop/rap genre... Lots of those mixtapes help new artists become much bigger for example Drake, Chamillionaire, Wiz Khalifa. It also gives the users to listen to an album before buying it to judge the quality. Almost 99% of the time if people on RGF liked the album and posted positive comments, that given artist had a big success.”

Now, I'm not even going to get started on the case against mixtapes as a genuine benefit to artists and labels (that's a post for another day). Instead, I'm just going to give you a quick screenshot I took myself browsing their site and say, "stop lyin', RapGodFathers!" You're gonna have to click to enlarge that, but believe me, it's worth it. I only spent like 2 minutes looking at their forums, and there was page after page of this stuff. They came back online later last night at the URL rapgodfathers.info, so they're back up and running, and they've still got this stuff up. I didn't even look at their hip-hop and music sections.

But my point isn't really to call these sites out (I just couldn't let RGF get away with that line of "only link to mixtapes" BS), but just to point out what's going on. According to this video from ICE, this is just the very beginning of a long-term campaign. So if you have a site along the lines of these guys, I'd be worried. Not that it's just hip-hop sites going down. Other stuff, like lifetimereplicas.com and handbag9.com also got taken offline (really, were a lot of people going to a site called handbag9.com? Come on, guys!). But so far, in the music department, they seem to be solely focused on hip-hop sites.

In that video I mentioned before, he talks about one site that moved to a new domain after they took it down, and said they were going to stay on top of it and go after that one, too. So rapgodfathers.info may not be much longer for this world. And Splash, the guy who runs dajaz1.com, has said on Twitter, "I dont even no if imma come back." So yeah, this could be big and long-term. It will be interesting to see if this turns out to be the beginning of a changing landscape online, where mp3 piracy no longer dominates the music industry. Or if this is going to be just another futile drop in the bucket of effort, along with the RIAA lawsuits and the battle against Napster.

Errata 11/26/10: I just updated this blog to remove an erroneous paragraph where I pointed out that dajaz1 posted full rap album downloads. Again, I wasn't familiar with dajaz1 before this incident, so I can't say for certain either way... but everything I found when going through their google caches and links from other sites suggests dajaz1 only posted single mp3s that were being promotionally sent out by the labels specifically to be posted on blogs like his. If he only posted mp3s like that, there is no legit reason why his site should have been seized, and I apologize for saying he offered links to "major rap albums."

Also, an update... another one has bitten the dust. rmx4u.com, who describe themselves as "the biggest community for black music in world!" [sic.] have just been taken down, too.

Update 12/09/11: Dajaz1.com is back! According to a new article on CNET, "the government abruptly abandon[ed] the lawsuit." It took them over a year.

Werner and Shawn Lov part 3: The Limited Game

(Youtube version is here.)