Buck! Buck! Buck! part 2

...And we're back. And it's still 2001 and. Josh Martinez & Low Pressure Records have put out his second version of Buck Up Princess, now sub-titled The Touring CD. It's got a pretty memorable cover of Josh in a mud pit (this photo appears on the inside booklet of the final album), and a black and white back cover with some funky artwork.

This version is only eleven songs long, the shortest of all of them. We no longer have any songs by completely unrelated artists; it's all Josh, building towards the album proper. "Rip Rap," "Theories," "BC Trees," "Nightmare," "Rainy Day" and "Women Loving Women" all return from the previous version, albeit with slightly altered spellings "Nightmare" is "Nightmarezzzz..." and "Sushi/Rip Rap" is now "RAP (r.i.p.?)." Even "Nova Scotia Baby" is back. Oh, and these are still the "demo" versions, by the way, though a couple songs (like "Nightmare") never really differ.

So those songs were carried over, others were taken away... that leaves us with four new songs. Or at least, four new titles. "The Long Way Home" turns out to be the song we now know as "Walk In the Park," though again, it's an early recording of it, missing Josh's opening chatter and the brief turntabelism by Scratch Bastard at the finish. And "Munks Inna Bunka" is actually "End Of the World," which I wrote about in part 1.

That means there's only two new songs. First we have "Never Say Die" featuring Hanni Hotstepper.: actually Logic from The Aboriginals using a silly name.  It's a pretty smart, back-and-forth duet with a funky guitar loop, even better than a couple songs that wind up making it to the final version. And finally we have "Another DAY, Another DOLLAR," produced by Logic. Now, you may recall the final album has two mixes of this song, one titled "Another Day," which opens the album, and then "Another Dollar," which is the last song. Well, this is "Another Dollar" - for some reason, Logic uses another alias - Cills - on there, but it's him again and the same track. And yes, it's another "missing the scratches demo" version.

So originally, this disc hit us with two new songs.; they were the selling points for fans to buy this CD  But now that time's passed and more versions have been released, there's really no exclusive music on this version, making this the least desirable in the series today. You don't need this in your collection unless you're a diehard completist.  But, uh.... no, I still won't sell you mine  :P

Now we enter 2002. Josh is still promising us that his new album is just around the corner, but in the meantime, he's got some more rough drafts we can buy to tide ourselves over. He released Buck Up Princess!!! (The Touring CD Vol. 2) on Low Pressure and then released it again as Buck Up Princess, Volume: Whatever on Good Luck Records. These CDs have exactly the same, identical track-listings. So that's how I came up with a half when I said there was 4.5 versions of Buck Up Princess. I just can't bring myself to call these two separate versions, and even I couldn't bring myself to purchase both.

So this one has essentially the same cover as The Touring CD, though if you notice the fonts are different, and of course the subtitle is, too. The back cover and CD itself are completely different, though, so they're easier to tell apart that way. Ten of the eleven songs from the last CD are on this one(!) - "Nova Scotia Baby" has finally been retired and "Never Say Die" has been retitled "These Pillllls!" But this album's longer, clocking in at 16 tracks, meaning we get 6 new songs.

So, what's new? "Hard Fall," "Uphill Climb," "Forged," "Blaze of Grey," One More Coffee" and "Deep End." All of those are also on the final retail version, and they aren't really "demo" versions. A couple songs, like "Uphill Climb," do feature some additional vocal samples at the beginnings and ends, but it's hard to say whether they're updates to the songs or just skits between the tracks that get blended in (the final version of the album uses a lot of snippets from movies). So in 2002 it was another six new songs to compel you to buy this next CD; but looking back on it now, it's not adding much. "These Pillllls!" never made it onto the final version, so you'll want to get one of the "mud pit covers" for that exclusive track. That paired with the demo versions (though the differences are just academic, not preferable) make them version reasonably collectible. I'd recommend either one - not both - for the dedicated fan, but no one else.

And finally, in 2003, the actual finished album dropped. And god damn is it good. It's got the new, final mixes of just about everything we've heard before, plus a couple additional tracks: "Hobo's Lullaby," "Bermuda Shorts" and the new version of "Another Day" that's even better than the old one (which is also here, anyway). This is indisputably the best version, and as I've said, the best album Josh has ever done. The production is fantastic, and Josh is on fire with both his flows and his song-writing. If you just swapped out a couple songs from other projects with the weakest three or four from here, Buck Up Princess would be a greatest hits collection all by itself. It was a slow and tortured journey, but the destination was surely worth it in the end.

I do have a few last notes, though, before I leave you. First of all, the track-listing on the final version is all screwed up: "Nightmare" is listed as "Blaze of Grey," "Uphill Climb" is listed as "Deep End;" and if you notice, the numbers jump from 5 to 8. This has only added to the confusion over what songs are and aren't unique to each version over the years. Then, the other thing I have to say, is that not only did most of this album get released years earlier on these tour CD versions (and label samplers) I've been talking about, but Josh had released many of these songs on other projects as well. There were two EPs: Rumble Pie (2002) and The Good Life (earlier in 2003), which were full  of Buck Up Princess songs, too. I think the man set some kind of record for selling the same songs to his fans the most amount of times. It was seriously ridiculous; and it's only because the album is so good that I've forgiven him.

Buck! Buck! Buck! part 1

Somebody recently tweeted me a question about one of the many, varying versions of Josh Martinez's Buck Up Princess album, which made me realize what an ideal blog post this album makes, what with all its obscure, different versions. There's a couple listed on discogs, and a couple others will turn up if you google around enough... Well, I think I have them all.  It's really hard to confirm that, though, considering how rare and unknown some versions are. See, for years before the main, commercial version of the album was released, Josh used to put out "rough versions" on the indie tip.* These were made to sell at his shows on the road and online, where the rest of us could snag them if we were quick and on the ball enough.

Buck Up Princess is, to my mind, Josh's best album; and one of the time period's best (and most under-valued) hip-hop albums all around. It had better be pretty f'ing good, after all, for me to have kept buying it over the years. But thanks to the fact that I did, I'm now in a position to break down every single version, compare them, and see what's special and unique about each one. Ready? By my count, there are... four and a half.

We begin in 2001, with this very homemade edition on Low Pressure Records, the precursor to Camobear. It's a hand-written CDR that comes in a slimline jewel case, and the artwork is a simple, black and white print out, folded in half to give cover and interior artwork, wherein the old Charles Atlas comic book ad meets airplane safety instructions.  All of these are strictly CD releases. by the way, except the final LP, which came out on both CD and wax. This version is fifteen tracks long, and you can see the complete track-listing for this and all the iterations on my Maxwell page. But as a short summation, this is the most removed from the final retail album of any version, not just chronologically, but content-wise.

This Buck includes some songs that had been previously released by Josh and Low Pressure, on sampler compilations and such, and a bunch of songs I suspect weren't ever intended to actually be on the official Buck Up Princess album. "Theories," for example, is credited both here and on its earlier sampler appearance as being by InkOps featuring Josh Martinez. I'd bet you two dollars that it was initially planned to be on InkOps' Low Pressure album that never wound up coming out. So it was stuck on here along with some other random tracks - a couple of these don't even feature Josh! - but slowly became an integral Princess element, lasting through every tour CD and eventually landing on the real album.

The track-listing is a bit screwy. "Rainy Day" and "Energy Crisis" (a duet with mcenroe that's didn't make it to the final version of Buck) have their titles swapped. One entry is left blank - they don't give a title for it - but we know from later versions that it's "Walk In the Park." And did I mention songs on here that aren't even by Josh? Yeah, there's a couple Governor Bolts songs on here that were never otherwise released, a Kaboom (of InkOps) song from his first album, and a DJ Moves-produced instrumental called "Boy Sex With Knowself."  I'll guess that it's maybe an instrumental version of a track off one of Knowself's albums; but I don't have those, so I'm not sure. There's also a song by Stubs, Seriph and B-Side... whoever those guys are, and a weird, instrumental/ skit called "Nova Scotia Baby."

It's important to note, too, that some of these songs are essentially early "demo" versions of the better known versions on the final Buck Up. At first glance "Sushi" sounds like an exclusive; but it's actually an early version of "Rip Rap" under an alternate title. The instrumental and lyrics are the same, but they seem to have been re-recorded a little cleaner for the later version. Josh's adlibs before he starts rapping are completely different, and this early version doesn't have the scratching at the end. "Rainy Day" is also missing the scratches from the later version, but instead has an exclusive outro with Pip Skid talking about healthcare. "Nightmare" is missing the scratch breakdown (sensing a trend here?) and the opening vocal sample. And "Walk In the Park" is missing, yes, the scratches... but it also doesn't have the distinct echo effect on Josh's vocals, making it sound decidedly more ordinary.

Finally, there's "End Of the World," a Josh solo song (produced by Moves) that never made it to the final version of Buck Up Princess. Josh raps a literal narration about the end of the world over a dramatic, low-key instrumental (with some cool cuts, presumably by Moves). "I nearly died that day when I was carried underground; thinkin' fightin' why can't I follow all these people I've seen fallin' down?" Although I wouldn't rank among my favorites, it's a good song. I suspect it may've been removed from later versions simply because of the darker tone.

So ultimately, only seven songs from the final version (which has 17 total) are on this early disc. That means there are eight "exclusive" songs, though many of those appeared on other releases, and again, several don't even feature Josh. This feels like half a Buck Up Princess album and half a Low Pressure sampler. A pretty neat collectors' item for the serous fan, for sure.

And golly, that was long... and we only covered the first disc. Looks like this is gonna have to be a two-parter.


*This isn't the first time he'd done this. There are at least three incarnations of his previous album as well.

Father MC World!

(Take a journey with Werner into the world of Father MC and his... mostly debut single, "Treat Them Like They Want To Be Treated."  I get a bit silly on this one; see it before I think better of the whole endeavor and delete it! Oh, and the Youtube version is here.)

Spittin' Game In the Vegetable Garden

So, I've done a couple posts on Z-Man's side projects on this blog; but, to varying degrees, none of them have really been to his strengths. The Motel Crew, that pink 12" with Automator... And the One Block Radius stuff was especially disappointing. Through it all, it was still evident that this was a really great MC; but they just didn't hold a candle to his regular stuff. It was frustrating to see him experimenting with different genres or artists who weren't on his level, because it just felt like it was all wasting time he could've spent doing a real, dope album just by himself. Well, here's a Z-Man side project that happily breaks that trend; a side project that's just as good as any solo releases, albeit a little bit weirder.

It's called The Vegetable and the Ferret, and it's a collaborative album with White Mic of Bored Stiff, an underground San Francisco crew that dates as far back as Z himself. It's a limited edition cassette available pressed in Finland, for some reason; but since most copies were surely sold online or at shows, that doesn't make much difference in the long run. Only 100 hand-numbered copies were pressed (mine's #37), so that makes this harder to find than its country of origin.

There are no production credits on here, but whoever did what did it right. The tracks are really funky and thumpin'; just like the best of the indie, west coast underground scene from back in the 90s. And lyrically, it's just as refreshingly sick. One song is a surprisingly sincere examination of their roles in underground hip-hop, at once complaining that nobody supports the real, credible MCs, while at the same time not buying the tapes of their fellow artists themselves. Then another song is a bugged out extended metaphor about vegetables in a garden:

"Check it, ok;
The vegetable wasn't genetically modified;
He was organically grown
Without the pesticide.
I could testify:
His plant life wasn't the easiest,
He was a whole different strain
Around a gang of devious
Hedonists; mischievous,
Weavin' through the garden,
Hustlin' that sweet cream,
Not one fiend starvin'.
Rats and raccoons
Plottin' on how to rob 'em
For every little bit he had
Kill 'em than gobble 'em
Up, everything but
His big golden heart
He was known for;
What he built they try to pick apart.
But that's the homeboy,
Sippin' corn whiskey with the crows
Talkin' shit, cappin',
Blowin' broccoli smoke;
Talkin' to these folks like they relatives,
'Fuck the competitors,'
Goin' through his big lettuce head
It's Brussel Sprout
Lookin' out for the fat-faced farmer.
And these chocolate chickens
Tryin' to be his baby's momma;
But a really, really jealous rooster
On the barn top
I got beef wit',
Fuck him up and bare - why not?
Hot like a pot of grits
Killin' watermelons,
Duckin' buckshots,
Blood hounds tryin' to get rid of
The buh-buh-booty.
Me and vegetable have so much in common;
We're smarter than they think
And bigger than this garden."

And that's just one verse! I mean, the rhyme scheme is pure Kool G Rap, and the delivery is classic Z spittin' game, just a little bit slower over a track that's oddly mellow and smooth, with whistling and birds chirping over a cool bassline. It's totally crazy and wonderful. The whole tape's vibrant and lively, with crazy sound bites between the songs; it would fit right at home on Beneath the Surface, though its sound actually reminds me a lot of old Raw Produce.

There's a number of guests, including several appearances by other Bored Stiff members. There's also Akil (of Jurassic 5) and a couple names I don't recognize. There's not so many that it ever feels like White and Z have lost the wheel; and they all feel right at home on this production with their mates. Really, everything just works. Every time it starts to too crazy, they bring it down to Earth. And well before things get dry or generic, they get creative again. If you remember fiending for those ill 4-track tapes they don't make anymore, this is exactly what you've been missing.

You can find this on mp3 everyplace, and the label will sell you CD-Rs which is better, but this feels absolutely designed for cassette; so if you can find a copy (I got mine from accesshiphop), I urge you to listen to it the right way. Otherwise I'm sure it would still be fresh; but the charm and the magic would still be diluted. White Mic has gone on to release two more solo tapes on this label (Hiss Tapes... though their sound quality is actually quite clean and well mastered). And while I really picked this one out because of Z-Man, after this tape, I'm gonna have to check for those others and look at some of those other tapes. I'll need something to tide me over while I wait anxiously for a sequel.

Master Ace From the Parallel Dimension

Anybody who grew up in hip-hop has to have a lot of "what if" scenarios running around in their head... What if Ice Cube had never lefr NWA? What kind of records would they have made after 100 Miles & Runnin'? What if The Beastie Boys stayed with Def Jam and Rick Rubin? What if The DOC had never lost his voice? What would a new Biggie record be like in 2013? You know he'd be making millions just ghost writing for Nicki Minaj alone. Or what if Duval Clear never moved to Delicious Vinyl and went from being Master Ace and Action³ to Masta Ace Inc? How would that have sounded?

Well, thanks to Chopped Herring Records, we can finally get a glimpse into that last alternate reality. Shelf Life vol. 1 is an EP worth of tracks (mostly) recorded for his second Cold Chillin' Warner Bros album that never happened. Their website tells the story, "sales were dipping slightly and Warner Brothers, who were responsible for Cold Chillin's distribution, in true management consulting style came in and started making cuts. Literally cuts were made - a line (not a figurative line an actual line) was drawn (probably with some kind of square/un-hip fountain pen or possibly a quill!) between the keepers and the ones who had to go! Ace was the first name under the line. Above the line were the usual (and entirely guilty) higher selling suspects: Kool G Rap & DJ Polo, Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane and below were the new signings and Ace. Ace was offered the chance to drop his second album on Prism but declined - why downgrade?. It was at this point his manager began shipping his talents to other labels and it wasn't that long before Delicious Vinyl bit. Unfortunately all his work for the second album was not part of the new deal so had to be discarded at the time." And so yes, Chopped Herring has just un-discarded it for us.

To be honest, I've always been a bit on the fence about Ace's Delicious Vinyl years. I mean, sure, who couldn't love "Saturday Night Live," the introduction of Lord Digga, "Jeep Ass Nigga," that crazy cut with the Cella Dwellas, and all the great highlights? But still... the experiments with production style and flows, some of the more extreme concept songs... sometimes he started to get a little weird; and to be honest, I just wasn't ready to let Juice Crew-era Ace go. And, now granted. You can't put everything on Delicious Vinyl and leaving Marley's nest... a lot of his musical evolution probably would've taken place no matter where he was at. And again. the changes weren't all bad... one of the most exciting aspects of Ace is how he's proven himself able to not only adapt but be a stand-out MC in all different eras. But some of those shifts were frustrating, and that theoretical Cold Chillin' MastER Ace has always been in the back of my mind.

And now, holy shit, he's on my turntables! It's not totally Take a Look Around sounding, though... The production on that album was all Marley (and a couple songs by Mister Cee), and this material is mostly self-produced, just like a lot of Ace's Delicious Vinyl stuff.  Like I said, a lot of his musical evolution was gonna happen regardless. But it does certainly bridge that gap. Also, the stuff here sounds more raw, but I'm not sure how much of that is due him being to a different creative head space, and how much of it is just these tracks not being fully polished, final versions meant for the public. Some of these might be rough versions he planned to re-record or who knows what. Certainly the sound quality suggests these aren't fully mastered reels a big budget label would've put out.

How much that's a plus or minus will probably depend on your own taste, but I think that raw feel definitely works in the favor of the opening track, "Kick It On the One." It's just an ill, hardcore freestyle track with Ace trading rhymes back and forth with a very young sounding Paula Perry. Her voice doesn't sound fully developed yet here, but that doesn't hurt the track at all. It's a killer and would've been a highlight on any Ace album.

Speaking of young sounding, the next song features the EP's only other guest, Sha Stimuli. Then known as Kid Dynamite, I don't know just how young he was; but he sounds like he easily qualifies as "kid rapper." That doesn't spoil anything, though, as "Hell Up In Harlem" is a hot track and a radical political salvo. ...It also doesn't seem to be at all faithful to premise of Larry Cohen's original Hell Up In Harlem film, but who cares? It's dope.

There's a couple other unreleased tracks (including two surprisingly produced by Delite of Stetsasonic), and an original, unheard early version of "Jack B, Nimble," which was an album track on Slaughtahouse.  Some of the elements are the same, including the fresh "Jack of Spades" cuts on the hook; but this one is definitely higher energy, matching the frenetic energy of the story, Jack on the run. I like it better.

And finally, I said this EP was "mostly" recorded for Ace's second, shelved album, right? That's because the last track is an instrumental for "Ace Iz Wild." That was a Marley-produced cut from his first album that was never put out as a single or any other method that would've given us the instrumental version. So here it is now, for the first time. Personally, "Ace Iz Wild" was never one of my favorites... when I used to listen to Take a Look Around back in the day, I'd often flip the tape over after "Four Minus Three" to skip it. I mean, it was good, but the hook was goofy and it just never quite caught on with me like the rest of the album. And unfortunately, that hook is included on instrumental track. But, still, I know a lot of heads will be happy to finally get their hands on it, so I'm happy to see it here. Just not as happy as I am to see the parallel dimension Master Ace material.

Now, who's going to release the record telling us what we would've gotten if Queen Latifah stayed with DJ Mark the 45 King?

Prince Paul + Chill Rob G = Greatness

Chill Rob G is definitely one of those artists who should've had more albums. It's one of those "the music industry screwed up" stories that he only put out one album in his heyday, because he definitely had the critical and fan following to support a fuller career. But because his output is so limited, it makes every rare B-side or remix all the more essential. Especially when it turns out he ventured outside of his safety zone of making incredible tracks with The 45 King to record with the one and only Prince Paul.

Yeah, this is his 1990 single "Let Me Show You," which features two tracks from his classic album, Ride the Rhythm. But they're not the album versions, they're subsequent remixes. It also comes in a fresh picture cover and includes instrumental versions, so it's pretty sweet.

So, yeah, the A-side: the "Let Me Show You Ultamix" is remixed by Prince Paul and Pasemaster Mase, a.k.a. Maseo of De La Soul. Now, it's hard to say that this is better than the album version, because we're talking about prime 45 King production here. But as you can imagine, their Ultamix is zanier, and uniquely fresh. While the original was tough with a killer horn sample, the Ultamix is upbeat, with a new horn sample, a piano riff that Paul used for somebody else and a crazy cartoon sound effect in the main loop. They two versions are totally different and don't feel like the same song at all... If Chill didn't have some memorable lines on this song ("the truth will set you free, let you see the light; there's no need to watch TV tonight"), they probably could've slapped a new title on this and nobody would've noticed (just like they did with "The Power!").

Now you're probably less excited for the B-side remix, the Midnight Remix of "Make It" by Nephie Centeno. That's understandable.  First of all, "Make It" is the album's token house track. And secondly, who the fuck is Nephie Centeno? But come on, you can't front on 45 King's house tracks. He had a way of making some of the few hip-house tracks that could stand alongside the purest of hip-hop tracks. Younger heads might not quite get it, but if you were their age back in the late 80s, I don't believe you were skipping over these tracks.

And as for who's Nephie Centeno? I have no idea (though he has a couple other credits on discogs); but he plays it smart by not spoiling DJ Mark's work. While Paul and Mase essentially made a whole new instrumental for the acapella; Centeno keeps pretty much all of the original version's elements... same key sample, same funky bassline, same vocal sample on the hook... he just adds some elements, freaks it a bit, and makes an even more club-friendly version of the track. He also extends it by an extra two minutes, repeating the second verse (just like they did with "The Power!") to make it a proper, three verse song.

A fun note about the Instrumental version of this remix, by the way... While it's naturally missing most of Chill Rob's vocals (being an instrumental and all), they've included some new vocal samples to flesh it out, including Mel Brooks' sleazy "come on, do it... you know you do it" as King Louis XVI from History Of the World, Part 1 (plus, I guess if we're naming vocal samples, that "okay, chaps, take it from the top" line The Fat Boys used on "Rapp Symphony (In C-Minor)").

Now, how essential this 12" is depends on which pressing of Ride the Rhythm you have. The original pressing just has the original 45 King versions of both songs. But later pressings added the "Let Me Show You (Remix)," transferring a lot of the value from the single to the album (just like they did with "The Power!"). The "Make It" remix is still exclusive to the single, though. So if you've got an original LP, you'll definitely want the 12"; but otherwise, it depends how highly you rate a tweaked house track.

Wack Attack #2! Tone De(a)f

(The wack Youtube version is here.)

Introducing... Dr. Dre!

Shout out to Darrell for this hooking me up for this post. :)

A couple years ago, I talked about Ice Cube's first appearance on wax... not as part of NWA, even before The CIA. So now I'm going to do the same for Dr. Dre... again, before NWA. Even before The World Class Wreckin' Kru: this is "Scratchin' 100 Speakers" on Saturn Records from all the way back in 1984.

Saturn was a cool, early West coast label that released stuff like Captain Rapp, Ice-T's earliest B-boy singles, etc. And on this record, they actually managed to score a couple of important debuts all on one 12": not just Dr. Dre, but also the great DJ Unknown, and also DJ "Gee."

Now, if you look at the label scan I posted, you'll see how the billing's kind of confusing. It says "Arranged and performed by Daniel Sofer," then the 12" is collectively titled "A Dr. Dre Scratchmix: 'One Hundred Speakers'," and then it goes on to list the specific tracks on the 12", which credits individual artists. Also, one side is labeled "side A" and the other "side AA," so we all get to decide for ourselves which should be considered the true "A" side of this record. The only way to really sort out what's what is to give it a proper listen and work it out.

For all the artists making their debut on this single, one guy who wasn't appearing for the first time on wax is this Daniel Sofer guy. He'd been involved in funky electronic music since the 70s, and already had another 12" of his own under his belt. He did a lot of synths and drum programming for west coast artists who were transitioning from DJing to making records, including Ice-T, Arabian Prince, the Wreckin' Kru and DJ Unknown. He did the drums and bass on this record... In fact, he's the guy who wrote the manual and recorded the internal sounds for the DMX machine they all used. I highly recommend this interview with the man over at westcoastpioneers; a really important person in the development of west coast hip-hop who most people have probably never heard of. About this record specifically, he explains, "Cletus Anderson of Saturn Records had me come to the studio -- I'm not sure how I hooked up with him, probably he heard my demo -- but I was there in the studio and Unknown and Dre were rapping and scratching."

So, what we have here are essentially three variations of one song.  Not variations like on most 12"s where you'd have an Dub Mix, a Radio Edit and a TV Version, but three versions that could each stand on their own, which other early west coast singles did, too. Think of the Rappers Rapp label 12" of "When Doves Cry Rapp," which had essentially three different covers of Prince's "When Doves Cry" by different hip-hop acts from the same crew. Except in this case, the track they're all using is original to this 12", and it's by Daniel Sofer. And since this 12" is a double A side, I'll just arbitrarily decide which version to start with.

To make it interesting, I'll start with Dre's version, "Scratchin' 100 Speakers." Specifically, this is credited to Dre and Unknown (who, remember, was also making his debut here); but as he has his own version coming up, I'm pretty sure this version is mostly Dre's. The record is labeled as being his scratchmix, after all; and that's what this is, Dr Dre getting busy on the turntables over Sofer's track. The instrumental's exactly what you'd expect if you're familiar with west coast hip-hop from this era: big hand claps, cool electronic bass notes and big yet subtle drums. There are no vocals, just Dre (and Unknown?) laying some nice cuts for 1984, and bringing in a constant variety of fresh sounds. The cuts are played a little light in the mix, unfortunately, which places too much emphasis on the under-laying beat; but if you pay attention, you can hear he's already light years ahead of "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash On the Wheels of Steel" in terms of turntablism. The second half of the song features less cuts and lets the beat ride and change up a lot more (I suspect parts of this might be Unknown's contribution, rather than the scratching); it's never just simple loops repeating, but a very alive track, altering and bubbling all the way through.

After that we get the other artist making his debut. He's not nearly as famous as Dre, and didn't have the long or influential career of Unknown, but he still merits a mention. He's DJ "Gee," also known as M C G, who released that funky "Friday the 13th" record I blogged about a few Halloweens ago. He uses the same Sofer beat but provides his own raps and scratches to his track, "Rappin' 100 Speakers." To be honest, his rapping is a little sloppy, but his cuts are cool. This is the weakest version on the 12", but I don't think it's all about Gee being wack (I like his style in general), so much as the track is just too staccato for him. Some smoother keyboards or something behind his vocals would've really held him up, and he probably should've re-recorded some of his lines.

Then, finally, we get the "Rhythm Rock Rapp," which is ostensibly Unknown's solo version. But if you look carefully, you see Dre is credited as a writer on this version, too. It actually uses a lot of the same scratches from Dre's version, but this time they're regularly interrupted to allow for full rap verses by Unknown. Perhaps these are Unknown's cuts, and the repeated cuts are the ones he's credited for on Dre's version, or more likely, he's rhyming with Dre's already recorded cuts from "Scratchin' 100 Speakers," which would be why he gets credited for this mix, too. Either way, the ultimate effect is that this turns Dre's instrumental scratch track into a "proper" song. Unknown's raps are okay - he sounds decidedly softer here than he would on his later projects, which of course used a lot of vocoder. Nothing fantastic, but since, like I said, Dre's version downplays the best elements in the mix, this version winds up with the most energy and feeling the most compelling.

So, yeah, this is where Dre got his start - the first time he went from DJing at Eve After Dark to working in the studio. Later that year, he'd start making records as a member of Telesis and of course the World Class Wreckin' Kru... then the rest, of course, is history. And while it might at first appear to be a humble debut, he actually acquits himself quite well and demonstrates a talent to watch out for.

Man, I can't believe this is my first Dr. Dre-related post on this blog.

How Young Zee Could Just Kill a Man

(Youtube version is here.)

Werner's Top 5 Sweetly Unromantic Hip-Hop Moments

It's Valentine's Day! So I thought I'd go back and listen to a bunch of old school love raps. 'Cause 'tis the season. Donald D's "A Letter I'll Never Send," Just-Ice's "I Write This In the Dark," Eric B's solo album... if you don't listen to 'em today, you'll have to leave them in your crates for another whole year, because there's no chance you'll break these songs out any other day. And while listening to all these songs, I started to reflect on some of my favorite lines and moments that've popped up over the years. Slowly, I came up with my Top Five Sweetly Unromantic Hip-Hop Moments.

Let me clarify what I mean by that real quick. We all get what a romantic moment in a song is... the music swells, or a really touching, poignant lyric graces our ears. But that's not what these are. These are unromantic moments. BUT. They're still sweet. So, not the opposite of romantic hip-hop moments, like some vile Akinyele song about kicking his pregnant girlfriend down a flight of stairs. These moments are still meant to be loving; they're sincere, they're earnest expressions of love, that also just miss the mark of being romantic by such a wide margin, they so fail at saying just the right thing in the right moment, that they become delightful for all new reasons.  With me? Okay, let's go!

#5) The World Class Wreckin' Cru's biggest, most enduring hit, "Turn Off the Lights." Each MC kicks a short, almost whispered verse to the woman he loves over an elegant, effective instrumental. Dr Dre, Yella, Shakespeare... they're a little hokey and simplistic, but they're fine. And every time the chorus comes in, Michel'Le astounds with an amazing voice that could stand right alongside the greatest hits of classic R&B. And then Lonzo, the frontman of the crew, comes in for the fourth and final verse, and kicks a cringeworthy verse about how, "like a male, exotic dancer, for you I'll dance," and just breaks the mood in half! The stilted language, the goofball concept... "Your kisses and hugs I'd slowly collect, for they will be my tips." What? This is taking bad poetry to new depths. And you can't help but picture it as he describes, "with nothing but a g-string upon my hip." Look at the picture cover and reread those lines. Just no. You know he means well... it's intended to be a genuine expression of sensual, erotic passion, but surely no one's ever gotten through a full listen for the first time with a straight face.

#4) The Fat Boys have a love song on their fourth album; their first really mainstream album on a major label, called "Falling In Love." It's sort of a love song, and sort of a cautionary, anti-love song, detailing heartbreak and how hard it can be to trust somebody... and ultimately hurtful when you do. It's well produced, but you know... poppy rap love song (well, as much as any song can be a love song while including the line, "now a skeezer's a skeezer, and a freak is a freak, 'cause I was all about freakin' every day last week"), so I doubt anybody ever checks for it. But there's a really interesting moment, which is both touching and utterly silly... a sort of skit, mid-song, where Buff Love calls up his girlfriend and beatboxes, "BRRRT! I! Pft ski-pft! Love! Pft pft pft! You! Pa-pa-pa-pfft! Pa-pa-pa-pfft! BUH-HUH-HUH, BUH-HUH-HUH!" The acting leading up to it is actually pretty sincere and compelling, you really feel like this guy is pouring every ounce of his heart into this, and then the begins with an epic fart noise and ends with his trademark, exaggerated huffing. It's all a bit mad. And then, in the song, the girl winds up laughing him off and rejecting him. Our Buff Love, who tells his girl he loves her for the first time through his beat-boxing. It's the most heart-breaking thing ever.

#3) I'm almost inclined not to include this one... to go back and pick something else. Because in this case, the artist is deliberately subverting the emotion. It's a joke song, and it's an intentional twist, which really kind of goes against the sincerity of this list. The other artists here are really trying to bowl the women in the audience over with how deep and romantic they can be. It just so happens they're charmingly inept. Except in this case. But ever since I was a little kid, the line where Bobby Jimmy, freshly signed to a major label after spending years on the indie west coast Macola, promises his sweetheart on his ballad, "Close the Door" that, "I'll even pop the bumps on the back of your neck." Both funny and scarring, it's permanently embedded on my brain since childhood, few lines in hip-hop have made such a last impression.

#2) Buskwick Bill is on this list! Yes, and maybe just in reading that sentence, you know where I'm going with this one. "Ever So Clear" isn't a love song; it's the disturbing, true story of how he lost his eye. It's meant as a cautionary tale... he specifically warns us not to follow in his footsteps. But the real life events are so fucking insane, there's really no danger of anyone taking his path. He got so twisted, he decided he wanted to shoot his girlfriend, but then concludes, "but you know what'd be sweeter? If I make her shoot me."
Again, this is a true story... the cover of the third Geto Boys album is a candid shot of him being carted out of the hospital. So, he tries to force his girlfriend to shoot him ("but I knew she wouldn't do it on her own, so I provoked her, punched her, kicked her and choked her"), but being at least somewhat sane, she refuses. "Damn near crazy, I ran and grabbed the baby; held him by the window and said 'I'm a throw his ass out, ho'!" So, only in the struggle to save the life of their baby does the gun eventually go off, and he then speaks his dialogue form the moment, not in rhyme, but just perfectly naturally, "Ahhh, my eye. I can't see. Why'd you shoot me in the eye? I woulda shot you in the body." It's probably the most insane rap song in all of recorded history. Yeah, there's horrorcore and shit, but crazy graphic gangsta rap songs, but this is real. And totally fucking nuts. It happened. But even at that worst moment, he tells her that he would've shot her in the body rather than the eye, because of how much more horrible that is. Because even deep within the complete throes of his mania, he still cared at least that much for her. It's like the nightmarish madman's version of saying something sweet. God help us.

And the Number One Most Sweetly Unromantic Hip-Hop Moment ever?

#1) Comes from a true pro of the hip-hop love song. Big Daddy Kane. A lot of this comes from his earnest desire to bridge the gap between hip-hop true R&B soul music. I mean, many rappers have worked with the great acts of yesteryear How many rappers have gotten George Clinton to come out of retirement to appear on their records, for example? But Kane did a song with Patti Labelle that actually made her song better. His pairings weren't desperate cash-ins of struggling rappers with old school performers whose careers were in the dregs. His collaborations (usually) actually worked. They wound up making good new music together, not just cheap knock-offs of past hits.

And one such collaboration was "To Be Your Man" featuring Blue Magic. Kane's spoken word delivery is a little flaccid, admittedly, but the merger of hip-hop beats (and, on the album version at least, the bold use of a high-pitched screeching sound) and authentic, smooth grooves has a live, classical feel. And Blue Magic's singing is beautiful. Kane shares nice memories of times he spent with his girl, it's all cool until it starts to make an odd little turn when he decides to hip things up for his more modern audiences. Instead of rolling out a cliche like vowing to climb any mountain or swim any sea to be with his true love, he switches it up to talking about "that time I called you long distance on my car telephone." Already, it's a bit jarring to the mood, especially as he caps it with, "now that's what I call reaching out to touch somebody in the million dollar zone." I mean, it's real, and he's saying something sweet. Long distance on a car phone from the 80s? That's the down payment on a house! If you were going to do that with your girlfriend, she'd say "hang up the phone! Do you know how much money you're throwing wasting?" That's actually quite a big gesture to make. It just lacks the emotional punch of traditional songwriting about a great sacrifice to end your broken-hearted loneliness to say that you're willing to rack up a large phone bill.

But okay. We've hit a bump, but I'd just let it slide if he didn't keep going with this... He continues, "but you see, it don't matter, baby, because I'd call Mars for you." He'd call Mars? That's so... goofy! And yet totally awesome; I love it. It's my favorite line of any love song ever, hip-hop or otherwise. Big Daddy Kane, out on tour at night in his limousine, calling Mars on his car telephone (which he can do because he's the god damn Big Daddy Kane) to connect with his true love. Can you imagine if the music video had just a tiny, brief cut-away to a Martian answering the telephone for that one line? Kane has won romantic song writing. No one can or will ever top this moment. When I get married, no joke, it's going in my wedding vows. My pick for the most sweetly unromantic hip-hop moment of all time.  Happy V Day!

Rap To Burn Your Flag To

I really don't understand why 2 Black 2 Strong MMG didn't last longer. I mean, don't get me wrong. I understand why they weren't embraced by widespread, mainstream audiences like MC Hammer. Angry, militant, extremist... these are not adjectives that appeal to the 10-13 year-old middle class market that had become hip-hop's primary market. Or their parents. But there's a wealth of gradients between Katy Perry and abject obscurity. And these guys had appeal... some of the hardest rap records going, solid production and messages that you could at least sometimes get behind. I'm just saying, if Professor Griff could have five solo albums; I'm surprised these guys didn't at least last long enough to put out two.

But, then again, they sort of did, if you're willing to split hairs between EPs and maxi-singles.  Before Relativity adopted them to their main imprint, they put out a little, controversial rabble-rouser on their sub-label, In Effect Records. It was a disco parody record about flag burning, featuring Chuck D! ...Okay, maybe I do understand why 2 Black 2 Strong's career was so short.

But, no, seriously, Burn Baby Burn is some good shit. I used the word "militant" earlier, but really, MMG had a way of being as no-holds-barred political as any crew to grace the industry, but always from a more authentic "every man" stand-point. There's more than a little Willie D mixed into their PE. As 2 Black told Spin magazine in 1990, "I don't consider myself a politician or activist, but when I heard all that controversy about flag burning, I was like, Fuck that, I'm burning the motherfucker."

The first track is just an intro - the "Joey Johnson Prelude" - but it's an interesting one. Don't feel bad if you don't recognize the name; it's a bit of an obscure reference in 2013. But it's one you should know if you want to fully appreciate this record. Gregory "Joey" Johnson is the guy who burnt a flag at the 1984 Republican National Convention, and whose case wound up going to the Supreme Court. He's the guy from the ultimate flag burning case, and this intro features Johnson quoting his own speech to the court, "we live in a sick and dying empire, clutching desperately at its symbols." That case didn't end until 1989, so bear in mind: this record was pretty much an immediate response  - a response which did actually include them burning a US flag with Johnson himself when they performed this in NYC. You can read more about that incident in this vintage interview with Bomb magazine, and this old Village Voice article on the incident.


Which brings us to the main course: the Club Mixx of "Burn Baby Burn." It's a pretty tight track, with the funky bassline Gangstarr used for "Positivity" but paired up with a rugged break, blaring horns, and a generally more Bomb Squad inspired production sound ideal for 2 Black's signature, forceful delivery. It 's really alive with ever-shifting samples and high energy elements, as 2 Black boldly declares his lack of allegiance to the flag. Eventually he starts to announce "the places we'll hit," and the mic is passed to Chuck D himself to list off a bunch of cities... nice to hear his voice, but kind of a waste not to have him actually rap.

Then, the rest of the tracks on side A are really just elements of the main song. Titles like "Strike a Match" suggest all new, unique songs, but they're really just the TV Track, Radio, Dub version, etc. of the one song. So, time to flip it over.

Did I mention "disco parody" earlier? You betcha! Now, "burn Baby Burn" did wind up appearing on the crew's 1991 album, Doin' Hard Time On Planet Earth, but this B-side is exclusive. "Imperialist Inferno." Amusingly, it's a parody of the old Saturday Night Fever stand-by "Disco Inferno." Yes, girls known as NP4R sing "burn baby, burn, imperialist inferno" in the exact key and tune of the original disco hit. The instrumental, however, is a house track, with some light cutting and a bunch of sporadic vocal soundbites. Guys like Jimmy Cliff and Shaba[sic.] Ranks are credited as appearing n this record, but I think they're just samples.

Anyway, you know who doesn't appear on this track? MMG. Yeah, it's easy to see why 2 Black 2 Strong left this off the album... it only makes me wonder why they recorded it and put it on their single in the first place. Not that it's junk; it's actually a lot more enjoyable than it should be, and its subversive message lets you feel like you're listening to something more substantive than your standard, brainless club track. I'd say this was the pet project of its producers Kurt Norval and The Dub Organizer, who were associated with Clappers Records, whose imprint also appears on this single. They produced the A-side, too, so I guess they insisted on this B-side (and on dedicating this project to Peter Tosh), which really doesn't fit in at all with 2 Black 2 Strong's catalog.

Then this second side does what the A-side did in terms of song titles. There's titles like "Could We Really Win?" and "Yes! Yes! Revolution To Pass," which imply additional, original songs, but are really just names for alternate versions. In fact, most of them are more versions of "Burn Baby Burn," not "Imperialist Inferno." So I really don't think you can call this a proper EP... essentially 2 songs with a brief intro. But it's a dope, fully loaded single with an exclusive (if silly) B-side. The liner notes feature quotes from Bob Marley, art by Keith Haring, and a full color picture cover... a pretty posh release for a group that were complete unknowns at the time. I like it. And I reckon they should've put out more records like it.