The Cold Crush Vs Punk Rock

(Youtube version is here.)

The Retail Ginacana Story

So, I've done a couple posts on Kool G Rap's somewhat infamous sixth album... The Unreleased Giancana Story, about all the mp3 leaks, The Other Giancana Story, about the bootlegged Rawkus version, and a post about "Holla Back," one of the best and most important tracks from the album. Well, today I'd like to touch on the actual, official, final version that was released by Koch in 2003. Because, while I can't exactly say it gets an unfair rap - most of the criticisms leveled against it are valid - it does have some under-appreciated qualities. And, much like pizza, sex and Ingmar Bergman films... even "bad" Kool G Rap albums are good.

The important thing to remember about this album is the position Koch was in when they released it. This was an album Rawkus had already dropped the ball on. They'd been dangling it in front of fans' faces for years, and then collapsed before they could actually release it. But not before, as my previous posts have detailed, it could leak online. In fact, it leaked more than once, with alternate track-listings as the album was still being worked on, and then re-worked on to address its commercial viability after the initial leaks. The hardcore Kool G Rap fans already had the bootleg double LP on wax. So what did they do?

They actually went about it exactly the way I would've hoped a label would.  Instead of just repressing the bootleg and calling it official, they went back through all of the G Rap's vaulted and focused on the as-yet unheard and unreleased material. Most labels would've just tried to sell us the same material we already had.  I know I wouldn't have bothered getting that. But no, Koch really took the right, commendable approach in my eyes, and dug up what we didn't already have. Sure, they kept the signature Giancana tracks... the biggest single, the amazing "Black Widow" track, his awesome Jinx duet and "Holla Back" (minus Nas, but I'm sure that's because they couldn't afford him, not because they somehow imagined the song would be better without him). You just couldn't call it The Giancana Story without those. But so much on the album, after being booted and leaked to high heaven, was new to our ears. They actually managed to put together another record that belonged in the collections of a G Rap fan in 2003.

Just think of it a Bootlegs and B-Sides compilation, a la Ice Cube. Yeah, the Rawkus version is easily the better of the two Giancana Story's... it's got the Premiere remix, the awesome track with CNN... If you only get one version of Giancana story, absolutely get that one. In fact, if you've heard the Koch version back in the days and were unimpressed, I recommend you go back and find the bootleg album; I think you'll be impressed.

...But if you really appreciate KGR, there's no reason to limit yourself to just one Giancana. This version features a couple of the earlier singles, like "Streets" and "My Life," which the Rawkus version for some reason left off, and eschews the lame Snoop collabo in favor of a far grittier team-up with Havoc called "Thug Chronicles," which features some amazing bars from the Kool Genius. It's got "It's Nothin'" with Joel Ortiz, though he only gets to do the hook because G Rap just can't stop spitting amazing lines long enough to pass the mic.

And yeah, there's some weaker stuff, too... "Fight Club" has G Rap and Ma Barker catering to some club styles of the time, and the production on "Drama" really doesn't live up to the MC. Even tracks with a more traditional NY-style, like "Thug for Life," are still pretty weak in the production department compared to the jewels he'd been blessed with from guys like Marley, Extra P and Sir Jinx throughout his career. But they're still preferable to songs we already owned, and like I was saying above... G Rap at his worst still easily outshines music recorded by most MCs at their best. And for every no-name produced track, there's another by Rockwilder, Mike Heron or Buckwild. I'll still take this out of my crates and spin it any day of the week.

Koch gave this a nice, double LP treatment, so there's not much to complain about. No, I wouldn't rate most of the material here alongside his classics, but I still wouldn't want to be without it. And I'm grateful Koch rescued some stuff from the vaults that otherwise surely would've gone forever unheard otherwise, second tier or not.

Picture Discs!

(Youtube version is here.)

Youtube Vs. Werner and Fair Use Law

So I, or rather my Youtube channel, was just made the focus of a fairly extensive article on the site fairusetube.org. Apparently, Youtube has a hitherto unknown contract with UMG (Universal Music Group), and possibly other labels, to ignore DMCA counter-notifications regarding videos that involve their content.  And I was unlucky enough to be one of the first test-cases, I guess. In other words, Youtube is ignoring Fair Use law because labels are paying them to.

The article explains it much better than I am, so please, have a read. And if you don't know much about copyright law and how it applies to the 'net, DMCAs, etc, browse around the rest of the site; it's an excellent, educational resource.

Update! Torrentfreak.com has picked up the story. They interviewed me and did some more research on their own.  Check it out here. Hopefully, this leads to us getting some information, so people could know what YT will and won't support.

A second update! (I hope you brought your reading glasses): Techdirt has picked up the story, too.  You can read it here.

Lucky update #3: The Daily Dot just interviewed me for a new article covering the on-going story.  Check it out here. I don't really expect we'll convince Youtube or UMG to get right on this issue (though that would be great), but we should at least find out what these contracts are, who they're with, and which Fair Use videos Youtube won't protect as a consequence.

Howzabout a fourth update?: PCMag has picked up the story; you can read it here. 

The Force Is Slammin'

I appreciated Tha Grimm Teachaz project, and "Loco-Motive" was hot... but what if you're trapped in the 80s? Jurassic 5 was live, but they took it all the way back to the 70s. I know, you want that Sleeping Bag vibe. I know because so do I. Well, have I got the throwback rap project for the both of us: The Force Is Slammin' EP by Rime Force Most Illin'.

Rime Force Most illin' is the latest project from Sacred Hoop's Luke Sick, and partner in rhyme Rob Rush. Last summer, I posted about their Supalove prelude tape, which featured a DJ mix of a couple of their upcoming tracks on side A, and a live show on the flip. Well, the project they were building to is finally here, another killer cassette tape (of course!) release on Mega Kut. And, actually, it's pretty much all new material. I was expecting all the songs we heard on the mix side of Supalove to be here, just in full, unblended versions, but no. The original mp3 ("On Dope") they dropped on the 'net when they first announced the group is here; but otherwise, it's all different stuff on both tapes. We did hear live versions of some of these songs on side 2 of Supalove; but the tracks from the mix are all exclusive to that tape, so hope you picked that one up!

But if you did sleep on that tape, at least make sure you don't sleep on this one (and hey, you can still get the mp3s from their bandcamp), because this in no way disappoints. It's just a six-song EP; but it's so damn good, I'm kinda glad they didn't risk diluting it by adding five or six more songs. Now, the production credits aren't too clear... they tell us Fatees, Vrse Murphy, Proe, G-Pek and Rob Rush produced the tracks (and DJ Quest did the cuts), but they don't specify who did which ones (though I think I can guess one that Vrse did!). Regardless, for all the chefs involved, this tape has a more consistently old school feel than the Supalove tape. It's less a blending of the Gurp City and 80s style, and more like Rob and Luke just went back in time to record with The Tuff Crew.

The opener, "Biggest Party of the Century" is perhaps the best example. Constant cuts, hand claps, cowbell, familiar samples... but all crazy hardcore. And it ends with a perfect breakdown at the end where they declare, "now check out my boy as he imitates Prince," and Quest cuts up a signature guitar riff."Rime Force Most Illin'" has more of a west coast influence, and "We Get the Most Props" has a fast-paced rolling bassline that sounds like something DWG should be preserving. "On Dope" shakes things up with a bold, strident piano loop over its crackly drum track; and the title track has a great rudimentary, random rap feel to it. The only track that doesn't really fit the mold is "Rawhide," but you have to forgive it, because it's a masterpiece of instrumental and cinematic samples; one of those songs where as soon as it's over, you rewind it back because you just have to hear it again.

This limited edition tape is available for only $5 from rimeforcemostillin.com, and that includes a downloadable mp3 version as well, so there is really no reason for anyone not to get this. If we're chatting six months from now and you tell me this isn't in your collection, iw ill literally be disappointed in you. I'm tellin' you.

Sheep Doggy Dogg

Well, it's April 1st! And you may be looking at the artwork to the right and thinking: nice one, Werner. But I must assure you: that is no April Fool's Day joke. "Give a Dog a Bone" by Sheep Doggy Dogg is a real single by a real artist that was really released in 1994. The artwork is obviously a play on that of Sheep's namesake, Snoop Doggy Dogg, who Joe Cool (Snoop's cousin) depicted as a similar cartoon dog on his early album covers (Doggystyle, plus the singles for "Gin & Juice" and "What's My Name"). Just in case you thought it might be, no, this cover art is not by the same person, but a guy named Jerry Sprankel.

A couple interesting things to note about this cover, though, before we move forward:

1) Sheep is depicted as a stripper on the cover. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions there.

2) There's a dog holding the "Sex & Money" sign; but that other sign, "It's Like This" is just floating in space. Look at it.

3) The whole thing is so damn silly, it feels like a parody record... but like it says right there on the cover, this is "the female answer to da Snoop Doggy Dogg." It's not a joke song riffing off his hit single, where instead of rhyming about loving gin and juice she professes a love of shepherding and docking. This is actually played straight.

I should point out now that Boomin' Records and Sheep Doggy Dogg are from Florida. Not that it sounds like a Miami bass thing; but that's probably because this is clearly a variation on "What's My Name?" It's actually pretty well done, in how it mirrors every element of Dr Dre's infamous instrumental but doesn't duplicate it. The drums, bass, keys... all clearly similar enough that they're meant to be recognized; but they're different enough that it's a distinctly different song. It's actually refreshing to hear something more original than the "Atomic Dog" drums again, so I've gotta give props. A pleasant surprise.

The hook's not quite so impressive. Part of it's a 90's style shout chorus, where they flip Dre's line to "bow wow wow, yippie yo, yippie yay, Sheep Doggy Dogg's in the motherfucking house." And the rest is some guy named Paul Hawthorne singing a variation of the "What's My Name?" hook. But this guy comes nowhere near the Funkadelic-style chorus of the original, it sounds like the worst budget knock-off you could wind up with. It's not so bad that it ruins the song, per se, but it definitely makes it less fun than it otherwise would've been.

And the rhymes?  Well, Sheep takes the song pretty earnestly, sort of coming off like a Lady of Rage-lite.  But she also keeps name-checking herself, which causes a schism: we can call you Sheep Doggy Dogg or we can take you seriously, but we can't do both. It seems like maybe everybody wasn't on the same page here. She's not being funny, and she's also not dissing Snoop, though she's referencing him and his record constantly. It's like half the team was making a novelty answer record, and the other half was trying to establish Sheep Doggy Dogg as a legitimate artist, laying down the groundwork for a long-term career. But again, you really cant do both at the same time; it just comes off as a knock-off who's taken copying a hit artist's sound to a whole new level of rip-off.

Now, I'm showing you the cassingle above, but there is also a 12", minus the picture cover. The track-listing is the same for both. including a Radio Edit (which does not edit out the curses), Extended Radio, and Bow Wow Wow Mix (basically a TV Track) of the main track. There's also a B-side, "It's Like This (Live)," which features two of her label mates, Def-Soul and LSD, who produced this single. They're basically just advertising their own album, Nigga Bass, over Scarface's "A Minute To Pray and a Second To Die" instrumental. Sheep isn't even on it. And it's also not really live; they just loop some fake crowd sounds over the whole song. LSD adds some nice cuts on the hook, though.

Sheep actually followed this up with a full-length album, Doggystyle Funk, also on Boomin'.  This features both songs from the single (there is no non-"live" version of "It's Like This"). It also features songs with titles like "Dear Bitch," "Get a Job Bitch," "Don't Ask Me 4 Shit" and "Deep Money." I do have it, and in short... the quality seems to have dipped after the single. There's too many guests (including DJ Spankx, of "Tryin' To Get Paid Like Luke" fame); Sheep's on less than half the album(!); and nobody's verses are compelling enough to hold your attention when they're not connected to Snoop, which basically none of this album is. There's a song called "F**k Snoop Dogg," but it's a false promise - it's really just an unfunny skit. The best songs are an instrumental megamix called "Gangsta Groove" and "Child Support Blues," with a liberal but effective use of a Stylistics classic, some nice cuts, piano and a good topic; but the rapping is too basic and clumsy. What I suspect is that they just recorded the single as a one-off; but then found stores were interested in a full album. So they just quickly threw something together using a bunch of random left-over recordings and outtakes they had in the studio.

Surprisingly, though, Sheep's story goes a lot deeper. She actually made a record years before, in 1991, as the front-woman for Operation Panic, called "Ring On My Finger" (also produced by LSD). What's more, she's then changed her name to Red Sonya, and is still doing her thing to this day. Here's her facebook and her youtube. If you search around, you'll see she's put out tons of stuff on CDBaby, Datpiff, Itunes, myspace, etc over the years. In a few more years, she may turn out to be the longest lasting female MC in the genre - wouldn't that be a heck of an April Fool's surprise?

To Me, R&B Ended When Sexy Leroy & The Chocolate Lovelites Broke Up

Tragically, Sexy Leroy and the Chocolate Lovelites never had a music video, so we were forced to just imagine how they would've looked on stage. I always pictured them outfitted like Randy Watson and Sexual Chocolate, the outrageous band that played the church in Coming To America, with Eddie Murphy playing one of his many roles as the lead vocalist. Not that they sound alike (which is a good thing, because Eddie succeeded in making his rendition of "Greatest Love Of All" as truly terrible as it was hilarious); maybe it's just the similar band names. But that's who I picture whenever I hear the Lovelites.

Of course, like Randy Watson and his band, Sexy Leroy and the Chocolate Lovelites were just silly aliases for DJ Quik (who had the curls to play Watson... see, it's not that unfounded) and his boys, 2nd II None. The world was introduced to them on DJ Quik's second album, Way 2 Fonky on Profile Records in 1992. The last thing we expected to hear was a crazy, funky throwback (way, way back) R&B group sing sing a number by themselves at the end of Quik's album. It was funny, but it was more than a skit that just ran four plus minutes. The doo-wop style back-up vocals, catchy harmonized hook and casual lounge instrumentation were surprisingly funky. It may've been a parody, but "Let Me Rip Tonite" by Sexy Leroy and the Chocolate Lovelitez (as it was spelled in the original tape's liner notes) featuring Darreyn Johnson was a surprise hit; Quik really utilized his musical talents to create a good song, disguised as a joke.

It's not exactly a complex or brilliantly clever joke... sexism in hip-hop isn't funny because it's, unfortunately, kinda the norm. But all that wildly inappropriate talk ("what you mean rape? Bitch, I been knowing you for two years and you're gonna call it rape?") coming out of the mouth of this singer who should be shouting out at your grandfather as he plays at their 50th wedding anniversary? It worked. But what really sold it was how much they committed to it. Again, it's a full, robust song that, while on some levels perfectly captures the chintzy sounds of a sad, small time band, also slyly showcases Quik's musical abilities (and his guitarist's) beyond simple beat making and becomes endlessly relistenable. And showing off his versatility is what Quik's albums were all about in this era. Tough tracks, slow g-funky tracks, purely instrumental tracks, reggae tracks, tracks with cuts and samples that could play in New York, to classic, laid back Cali party songs. So R&B was a natural inclusion. And Sexy Leroy was an infinitely preferable choice to showcasing another generic Shatasha Williams knock-off.

In 1995, Quik's next album was a real crowd pleaser, delivering full-on disses to MC Eiht and AMG while bringing back the rest of his crew. There was another "Quik's Groove" and ever-expanding jazzy instrumentation, and yes, the Lovelites returned. This time it was a real, hip-hop track showcasing everything the crew did best... tight production, fun sex verses (including Hi-C, who was born to appear on tracks like this), but with that funky lounge vibe and Lovelites on the hook. There's a little bit of humor, of course - if you've got Hi-C talking about orgies, Leroy talking out the track and the guys earnestly singing a hook that goes, "this is for the ho in you, the ho in youuuuu," it's definitely designed to have you smiling - but any pretext the last song may've had of just being an extended joke is gone. It's a full song, this time with integrated hip-hop production, and plays right alongside any of the more serious songs on the album. In fact, it's easily one of the best tracks on an album that's already set a very high standard.

And that's the last most of us heard of Sexy Leroy and the Chocolate Lovelites for... pretty much ever. But that isn't the whole story. See, before Quik signed to Profile Records and started making hits, he was making a name for himself creating underground tapes... demos, essentially. He created one known as The Red Tape, which is basically what got him signed. It features a ton of songs which were later remastered and featured on his and 2nd II None's major label debuts. Online sites all claim this is from 1987 (most are just citing each other, I'm sure), but based on the production styles and everything, that seems pretty unlikely to me. I'd guess 1989-1990. Anyway, yes, it also features a prototypical Sexy Leroy song.

And no, this isn't a raw mix of "Let Me Rip Tonite;" it's a whole new/ old song! It's called "Chocolate Lover" and it's everything a "Let Me Rip" fan could want. It's pure Lovelites style all the way, with Leroy talking to the girls in the audience ("you know, I first seen you at the Alpine swap meet. You was over there just looking so pretty, buying you some hair") as the boys "Shoo-doop, shoop, shoo-doop, wowww" in the background, and they all come together for the hook to serenade the "sweet chocolate mama."  In fact, that's the title it was released as in 2012 when a portion(?!) of the song turned up on 2nd II None's greatest hits compilation album (mp3 only), Infinite.

And that still isn't the whole story. Remember in 2007(ish), when 2nd II None's lost second album leaked? No, I'm not talking about Classic 220... They recorded an album's worth of material (at least) before that, for Profile and/ or Death Row, that never got released. Well, somebody came up with a cover for it, dubbed it The Shit, and leaked it online. “We didn’t even name the album yet,” D said in an interview with HipHopDX. “It’s shit we recorded. The shit surfaced. How, we don’t know. Ain’t no telling. The shit was hot. People wanted it and I’m glad they did put it out there. I still like some of The Shit, it’s timeless.” It also featured a fourth chapter in the Sexy Leroy saga!

It's called "If U Ain't Fuckin' (How You Gonna Get Home?)" That title should tell you all you need to know. It's more of Quik's melodic production, this time driven by a flute; and it's the first song that lets one of the other Lovelites take the lead role for a verse, besides just singing the background and chorus. That's probably because it was the first Lovelites album recorded for a 2nd II None album instead of a Quik album, so they had to get a little more of an active role. But apart from that, it's completely in line with what you'd want and expect from them.

And they might still come back again. I remember an interview a long time ago (like, ten years old) where KK was talking about he and D both putting out solo albums. He was then asked if The Lovelites might return. He said they would be appearing on both of those solo albums, plus 2nd II None's next group album, Compton Blockz... and the Lovelites would actually get their own album "next year!"  Well, none of those projects seem to have happened; but 2nd II None are still around - they dropped a song called "New Shyt" online last year. And since they used their vocals on the "Chocolate Love Outro" to Infinite just last year, I have a feeling that as long as D and KK are still doing it, there's always a good chance they'll bring out that Lovelite magic one more time.

So Sexy Leroy, Sweet Johnny Ray, Bobby Bit-O-Honey, Carmel Williams, Cinnamon Jackson... this post is dedicated to you guys.

Questionable Lyrics #2: Tough Actin' Like Tinactin

This is another long one, but I promise it's worth it. Not every Questionable Lyrics post is gonna be about biting, but...

Similar to surprise I got when I heard Monie Love repeat a Kane line from my last Questionable Lyrics entry, I had a similar feeling in the mid 90's when I heard Xzibit and Ras Kass each drop the same commercial reference on different songs... By his second album, Coolio had thoroughly crossed over. I mean, "Gangster's Paradise" was playing in the waiting room of my dentist's office.  But he had a posse cut on there, which featured Ras Kass amongst a host of others. This was early in Ras's career, too, so any appearance was exciting. Well, his verse contained the following line:

"For them niggas steppin' up with the funk, I'm packin' Tinactin."

That same year, 1995, Ras's fellow Golden State Warrior Xzibit was featured on the compilation album One Million Strong, with a song called "No Hand Outs." I made a video about it in 2007 if you want to know the story there. But the point now is that he kicked the following line:

"I ain't on the microphone actin' tough actin' like Tinactin."

Now, this wasn't so bad as the Monie/ Kane thing. While they were both making the same reference in a corny punchline, they weren't making the exact same pun like Kane and Monie (and Def IV!) did. It's one thing if different rappers both reference Keith Sweat in their songs... look at the comments of that blog post. Readers have found [nice work, guys, and thanks!] some great and fun Keith Sweat lines by other rappers. That Big L one is the best. But they're all different. They're not all specifically saying: hey, don't "Sweat" me because my name isn't Keith, nyuck nycuk! So... I noted it (I mean, these guys formed a group together, and these were early appearances for both of them, they had to have known they were both using Tinactin as a punchline), but I didn't think much of it.

Then I heard it on a Kris Kross record. It was still 1995; I was bothering to check for a Kris Kross 12" because it featured Redman. The European pressing was different than the US, with a different B-side.  And it's the European one that caught my attention. The song was a posse cut called "Live and Die For Hip Hop," which I believe later appeared on Kris Kross's Young, Rich and Dangerous album. Anyway, it was neither Kris nor Kross, but one of their guest MCs (Mr. Black?), who spoke the line:

"Smackin' those actin' tough as Tinactin."

It was back, and this time it was the same pun. If you can really call it a pun. See, "tough actin'" is the product's catchphrase.  Like McDonald's commercials always saying "I"m lovin' it," in their song, in the dialogue, printed on their bags and posters. Tinactin - which if you don't know, is an anti-fungal foot powder/ crotch ointment - uses the line "tough actin'." Look at the picture at the top of this blog and you'll see it printed right along the front of the box. It's kinda goofy to be throwing medicated foot powder references into your song lyrics (straight from the soul, no doubt). But at least Ras and X were using it differently. Xzibit was making a play on the product's tag-line, and Ras was saying he gets rid of rappers' bad funk just like Tinactin does to the funk you get on your foot. There the pun's really on "funk." Some additional creativity was involved. You could maybe say Xzibit's line was clever (though I'm not prepared to concede that); but this time it was a total bite! Fortunately, at least, this was the last time any rapper would mention it.

AH HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Sigh...

The Lady of Rage, 1997, on the title track of her debut album Necessary Roughness:

"Fast actin' like Tinactin, mo' deeper than the Kraken."

Defenders might say: well, at least she changed it. I don't know. Honestly, I think she just got it wrong. I think she stole the line and wasn't even familiar enough with the reference she was making to realize that it's supposed to be "tough actin'," not "fast actin'." I mean, look, I like Lady of Rage and generally respect her work. In fact, most of the lyrics to this song are pretty solid. But leaving this line in the mix is at best incredibly lazy. That's me being very generous because I'm a die-hard LA Posse fan.

Anyway, the same year, hardcore indie crew The Ruthless Bastards spit the line on their Flowmaster single, "Murder We Wrote:"

"Tough actin' like Tinactin, breakin' backs in fatigue gear."

There's something sort of charming, in a nostalgic time capsule-ish way about the line in those songs, though. It's like hearing all the MCs who bit Das EFX's "diggity diggity" gimmick; it has that ring of an innocent naivete. But now that The 90's are over, well... Ready for the rapid fire round?

In 2000, DJ Quik had a guest named Skaboobie (his career didn't seem to go very far) say it on "Did Y'all Feel That?" from his album Balance & Options on Arista:

"Tough actin' like Tinactin is how my game got you reactin'."

During the song "Talk big Shit," Dubee (no relation to Skaboobie) of Mac Dre's Cutthroat Committee says on their 2001 Thizz Entertainment album, Turf Bucanneers:

"Wicked with a fashion, tough as Tinactin."

And it's surprising what really credible MCs have used it. Take Phaorahe Monch, who dropped the following line. Lady of Rage-style, on The X-Ecutioners' 2001 single, "Y'all Know the Name" (later included on their Built From Scratch album) on LOUD:

"My beats get feet to steppin' like fast actin' Tinactin."

Foreign Exchange, "The Answer" from their 2004 album Connected on BBE:

"They tough actin' like Tinactin."

 Heiruspecs, "Dollar," from their 2004 album  A Tiger Dancing on Razor & Tie:

"Sayin' your spray is stayin' tough actin' like Tinactin."

Of course you know Chino XL had to get in on this! But actually, he doesn't say it, just a guest on his song: Crooked I on a track called "Tap Dancing" that got thrown out on mp3 and mixtapes around 2007, but never really had a proper release. Here's his line:

"Dancin' around the truth, you rappers are actin'; come out of the booth and need tough actin' Tinactin."

Grand Puba kept it going on Brand Nubian's Time's Runnin' Out album from 2007 on Sound of Dissent... He also says "fast:"

"Took your star, reactin' like fast actin' Tinactin."

MF Doom, "Ballskin" from 2009's Born Like This on Lex Records:

"And being tough actin' Tinactin, bluff jackin'."

And of course The Wu isn't above it. On "Weak Spot," from the Wu Tang Clan's last crew album in 2007, 8 Diagrams on Universal, Raekwon, the chef himself, spits:

"I'ma tap in harder than Tinactin."

Also in 2009, Lil Wayne said it on Rick Ross's Deeper Than Music Def Jam album, on the posse cut "Maybach Music 2." Though he uses the tagline, too; he at least changes up the pun a little, a la Ras Kass:

"I'm on my feet like Tough Actin' Tinactin."

As recently as 2011, Vakill thought it was a good idea to use it on the title cut of his Armor of God album with The Molemen:

"Insecure non-tough, tough actin' Tinactin types."

And in 2012, T-Pain made a video for a song called "Don't You Quit" which features the line:

"Me and my dogs go hard, and you just tough actin' Tinactinin' - Ha ha!"

For God's sake, how do you laugh at that line in 2012? I mean, even putting aside what a bad look it is to laugh at your own punchlines on your own record... does no one in your crew recognize this hacky, stolen line when you spit it in the booth? Do none of your producers pause and think, "gee, that sounds familiar..." There's no way you can think you're being witty or clever in your own head saying this line after such an incredibly long procession of other rappers saying the exact damn thing.

But it's about to get real. Because what really sparked me to write this post is that I recently stumbled upon an earlier occurrence of this line. All these years, I wasn't sure if Ras or Xzibit thought it up, but I thought one or the other started this terrible trend. But no, I just heard it in a song from 1994. Ice Cube's short lived pack of proteges, Anotha Level, had it on their sole album, On Anotha Level from Priority Records. The song is called "Level-N-Service" and Cube's on it himself, though he didn't actually kick the following line:

"I'm tough actin' like Tinactin for the feet."

This line is such a tired, worn out reference that even the originators bit it! It's a time paradox, like that episode where Dr. Who met himself!* I don't understand it. Are Merck & Co. writing these rappers checks? Or has everybody just lost their damn minds? Either way, we need to apply some serious anti-fungal juice to this Tinactin rap shit.

...And guys, if you can find more, please post 'em in the comments again. I already can't stop laughing at this list!


*I've never actually watched Dr. Who, but I think it's safe to assume that this happened at least once.

Glow-Stick Dance To EPMD

Here's something that happened about 10 years too late. Back in '89, Mantronix and EPMD were Sleeping Bag label-mates. Imagine how dope it would've been to have Kurtis Mantronik, back when he was in beat making mode for guys like Just-Ice and T La Rock, to have come up with a remix for EPMD's "Strictly Business" 12", with a new guest verse by MC Tee. But that never happened. Instead, after the surprising and irrational success of the Jason Nevins Vs. Run DMC single, where this Nivens guy made a clubby techno remix of Run DMC's "Hard Times," imitators started jumping out of the wood-work. And now that Mantronik had left Mantronix and hip-hop and was just making club music, he became one of the earliest to jump on the bandwagon with his own remix of an old school hip-hop classic.

So this came out in 1998 on Priority and Playland Records, and it's even got the same cover style as the Nevins single, with both artists logos' over solid black. There's also a second version that came out the same year on Epic Records, because this was picked up for the Blade (Wesley Snipes vs. vampires) soundtrack; but it's the exact same track-listing on both: four versions of the one remix. There's the main MBA Formula mix, a Radio Edit, the MBA Instrumental and a longer Rascal Dub. It's called the Rascal Dub because it was edited by Albert Cabrera for One Rascal Productions, so named because he's one of the original Latin Rascals gone solo. But I have no idea what the MBA is supposed to stand for.

Still, it's a fun little remix. Of course, not a patch on the original; but it also keeps pretty much everything from the original: the chunky piano notes, the Bob Marley vocal sample, etc. It speeds it all up and lays it over a high bpm dance track... and their flows sound good over a faster track. Plus Mantronik actually uses the turntables and cuts up the acapella a little.  He doesn't really cut loose and go all Skratch Picklz on us (which would've been really cool) or anything; but having his cuts on top of K La Boss's, over the faster, thumping track is actually pretty catchy.

Really, apart from speeding it up and adding a little bassy keyboards and some light, spacey percussion bits; he's not doing much remixing it all. If he put this on a mix-tape, you wouldn't really label it a remix, you'd just say he sped it up to blend in with the other tracks. I don't know if Mantronik quits his original keyboard riff right after the introduction, or if they just get completely drowned out by the original version's bassline; but either way, it's essentially just the song sped up with a little added flair. You can't really get impressed by it as an artistic achievement; but it's an enjoyable listen nonetheless. And let's face it, if were at the club in 1998, this is something you could request - unless the DJ was specifically playing a hip-hop set, he'd never slow it down to put on the original. But with this record, your girl could do her glow-stick dance while you get to hear Parrish Smith lay down the law on biting (relationships are all about compromise, you know). So artistic achievement, no; but it provides a genuine service, which is more than you can say about most of the crap these labels come out with. I'll approve it.

Rodney, Joe and Pookie

Here's an underrated little effort from the west coast: the debut (and only) single by Tha Hitmen, off their debut (and only) album, Here Come tha Hitmen. This one's from 1994 on Psychotic Records, and it's a really an undercover Rodney O & Joe Cooley project. The group had a nice run of hit records on rotating record labels (Egyptian Empire, Atlantic, Nastymix); but ultimately they kinda drifted down to smaller, more indie material. General Jeff left the group, and they went on to release their openly bitter F--k New York record. And I guess at time it was decided that was about it for Rodney O & Joe Cooley, and if they were going to stay in the game, changes needed to be made. So they added a new guy to the roster, amusingly named Pookie Duke, and called themselves tha Hitmen. Afterwards, they parted ways with Pookie and went back to releasing obscure, indie projects as Rodney O & Joe Cooley (and Rodney also threw a solo album in there). But for one brief moment, they were tha Hitmen.

The changes were really, mostly superficial. Yeah, they had a new name and a new member; but apart from having a different voice on most of the tracks, their album sounded just like the Rodney O & Joe Cooley albums they released before and after this one. It's still all produced by Joe Cooley, using the same classic west coast styles, and the guys had the same deliveries. Pookie Duke comes off gruffer than General Jeff, but he's not exactly Ganksta NIP; and he basically fills the exact same role the General did. But that's just fine, because Rodney O & Joe Cooley albums are always good times.

The hook is interesting, because it's the guys doing an acapella rendition of Zapp's "Playin' Kinda Ruff." Yes, that means the music stops every time they come to the chorus. It mostly works, although they do lose a little momentum each time it happens. Most of the rest of the track is a heavy-handed use of another Zapp record with the misspelled word "ruff" in the title, "So Ruff, So Ruff." It's an upbeat track (it's even got some vocoder in the loop), with the guys spitting energetic fast verses over it; but the lyrics are surprisingly dark: "if you're sellin' dope you better have a master plan; watch your back because they're straight kidnappin'. Catch a fool layin' up in his [??], booty naked, shove a gun in that mouth, son; beat 'im down, peel his cap and then take the dope. They got the goods now they bailin' out the back do'. Pop goes the glock on the next block; I hear sirens so that means somebody got shot. Or could it be the gang bangers bustin' at the cops? I don't know 'cause they have the street blocked off."

Then the B-side is a Joe Cooley solo track, simply titled "J.O.E.," with Joe on the mic, behind the boards, and... not on the tables? Yeah, that's the only disappointing thing about both songs on this 12", none of Joe Cooley's world champion cuts. Joe's MCing is nothing to get excited about, but he's able to keep a song afloat, at least. And fortunately, the instrumental is excellent: a shifting, dark yet funky track, alternating between sample sets from a soulful Al Green track (the back cover credits the sample, but says it's "Love and Happiness," when really it's "Here I Am," the same loop The UMC's borrowed for "Any Way the Wind Blows"), and the most gangsta-sounding breakdown of The Ohio Players' "Funky Worm." Again, it's surprisingly hard for these guys, with Joe cursing up a storm, and it's even got a 90's shout chorus. The somewhat ironic highlight is when he (over)shares with us that he calls his penis, "Russell the Love Muscle."

So, it's just the two songs (both from the album), plus their instrumentals. "Sho Gettin' Ruff" is labeled as being a Radio version; but I don't think it's any different than what's on the album - I think they're just letting you know it's radio friendly because there never were any curses on that track.

This one isn't going to be anybody's favorite record; but it's really a nice single with refreshingly high replay value. It'll probably be even more appreciated now that they don't make hip-hop like this anymore; but even at the time, this was quite enjoyable if you were one of the few who were up on this. I wonder whatever happened to Pookie Duke.

Last Nite's Dope

Here's a release from my period of having to buy everything on Young Black Brotha Records. It came from discovering Mac Dre when his What's Really Going On? EP. That was actually on Strictly Business Records, but that was essentially the same label, which gracefully morphed into YBBR. Mac Dre followed up What's Really Going On? with a long full-length that featured some tracks from What's, called Young Black Brotha; and then before you knew it, that Young Black Brotha was the label, with the same roster and owner. So, on top of fiending to get all Mac Dre's other stuff, my friends and I were getting releases by Mac Mall and Ray Luv just by virtue of their being on the same label. The blind buying paid off, largely thanks to the fact that they all featured the music of producer Khayree, who was also said label owner.

Now, "Last Nite" was kind of the mainstream debut of Ray Luv in 1994. He'd already had an earlier, rarer EP on Strictly Business, but this was his first single on YBBR, set to introduce him to world at large. It featured a track from his upcoming YBBR full-length debut, Forever Hustlin', and one from his debut EP, Who Can Be Trusted?

This was really the big push for Ray - they even got 2Pac to direct the video for it. And the lyrics are all about establishing just who Ray Luv is. Sure, ostensibly, it's a laid back cut about "last night," a smooth, universally relate-able song where we reflect on the party and drama of the previous night. But Ray's craftily using that framework to lay the groundwork of his own identity: "Last night, somethin' about the sky being overcast, and the doja had me thinking bout the past, let me see, when was all cool? April fifteenth, nineteen seventy-two. That's when Izza gave birth to me, and life gave the whole damn Earth to me..."

See? Just two sentences in and he's already spilling his origin story. And when he's not telling us that, he's laying down his ethos... and at the same time, expertly dropping in atmospheric portrayal of what life's become today; so you can bob your head to a descriptive account of an authentic kick back without even realizing you're being told anything of substance. You can just take it completely on surface level, as a slightly less hedonistic version of DJ Quik's "Tonite" (I suspect the similar misspelling may have been an intentional association), and it works perfectly thanks to the subtle yet lush musical backdrop by Khayree, one of the most under-appreciated masters of the kind of G-funk that didn't rely on heavy-handed P-funk samples, but just smooth instrumentation. There's a simple - unimpressive but effective - hook sung by Steffany Miller; but it's really all about track. As the liner notes make a point of saying, "No Samples Nuttin But Real Black Music."

The song from his old EP is "Smokin Indo." A short and funky little first-person story that quickly turns into a gangstas and guns-style tale before concluding with a surprisingly strong message about "the result of black on black violence," when Ray himself gets shot and killed. Ray Luv later remade this song into a fuller track (the original is just a single verse) called "Still Smokin' Indo;" but there's something more compelling about this rawer, short version.

But still, if you've got Ray Luv's albums, you've got those songs, right? Wouldn't an exclusive B-side be just the thing? Well, that's on here, too! It's called "Mo Careful," and it's an even harder track, with a (small) appearance by Mac Dre. It's still got some Dre-style whistling keyboards in the background; but the real driving force here are some big, "Atomic Dog"-type drums and tough scratches. Yeah, these guys had scratches; DJ Cee was a key member of the YBBR family; and he lent them some serious hip-hop authenticity - and just good music. He was killed (apparently in a tragic case of mistaken identity - see here) in 1995. And while Khayree has certainly able to keep pumping out quality music throughout the years since, and of course Mac Dre's biggest years were still ahead of him; YBBR never quite had the same feel after the his loss.

The A-side concludes with "Mo Dope On da Way," a skit detailing future releases on YBBR. It's interesting to note that the track and the liner notes announce Ray's upcoming album as Nuttin Move But da Money, rather than the title it actually became. Anyway, as you see, it's a pretty full single; and it's also got the instrumentals on the flip (even for the skit), which is nice because there's a reason producer Khayree gets credit right up there on the front picture cover. Not that Ray Luv doesn't hold up his end - he certainly does, with smooth flows that merge seamlessly into the grooves. But it's all thanks to the beautiful production that kids like me could safely buy anything on his label before even knowing who the artists were.