Since the month of February is almost in the record books and I haven’t posted a volume of WYDU’s Classics for it, I figured I better sneak this in while I can. Like most of the WYDU Classics, there is really no theme other than some tracks that I’ve been diggin lately or have been wanting to hear again.
Seems like I was on a remix kick this month, although it wasn’t really intentional. Phat Kat, who is among my favorites from the Detroit area, comes correct on “Dedication To The Suckers”, an old Audio Galaxy favorite of mine from back in the day. It’s also an early Jay Dee aka J Dilla beat. A Dope remix can be found for “Sobb Story”, one of my favorite tracks from LONS first album and the remix is just as good and if not better. There are also dope remixes of “Catch A Bad One” from Del, “That’s When You Lost” from Souls. Heiro always had remixes on their singles and they were always up to par. Former Source “Unsigned Hype” alum, Legion of Dume drop an ill track on “Sons of Sam”. Too bad that group didn’t take off, although if I remember right, Darc Mind who dropped a album a year or two ago was part of that crew. A soulful, rag-time version of “Ain’t Got No Class” shows up from Da Lench Mob. I was a BIG fan of Lench Mob’s first album, simply from the production. This track wouldn’t have fit on there, but it’s still pretty nice. There are some obscure tracks floating around on this as well. That Mood Swingaz track, “The Blessed”, is a great track. It’s nothing new, but the beat and the MC all fit together so well.
Enough talking, check it out and I’ll be back this weekend with some new Spotlights and I’ll have the WYDU Top 20 Chart up early next week….
01 Showbiz & AG feat Black Sheep – Bounce Ta This Remix 02 YZ – Crocodile Dundee 03 Private Investigators – Who am I (God) (Diamond D Remix) 04 Mood Swingaz – The Blessin 05 Brokin English Klik – Here Come Da Hoods (Fat Horn Mix) 06 Puppets of Chaos – Tru Dat 07 Souls of Mischief – Thats When Ya Lost (Remix) 08 Del The Funky Homosapien – Catch A Bad One (remix) 09 Phat Kat – Dedication To The Suckers 10 Leaders of the New School – Sobb Story (Remix) 11 Demastas – No Sunshine (remix) 12 Alphabet Soup – Sunny Day in Harlem 13 MHz – Worldwide 14 Da Lench Mob – Aint Got No Class (T-Bone Remix) 15 Mad Flava – Feel tha Flava (bomb remix) 16 Y’All So Stupid – Van Full of Pakistans (Skeff Uncensored) 17 Alps Cru – Pick Up the Crossfader 18 Tribal Jam – Planet F’y All 19 Legion Of Dume – Sons Of Sam
Hopefully y’all remember Whygee from our New Artist Spotlight last month. If you don’t, a little review; Whygee is quite possibly the dopest MC to come out of Denver. Now, to be fair, I haven’t heard every Denver MC (not even close) but he’s my favorite right now. Fact is, he’d be nice coming out of any city in this country of ours.
He hooked up with Rock The Dub to bring some more unreleased/unheard of flavor, so I suggest if you slept on “The Suicide Watch EP” with Sunken State and Kid Hum, then you probably should check these.
01. “Code Black (Intro)” 02. “ChumpSin Pink” (prod. by Chris Walsh) 03. “Scott Free” (prod. by Da Free Agents) 04. “Neva Asked For This” (prod. by Mirrorkill) 05. “Mr. Bitches & MySpace (Interlude)” 06. “Bitchpleaze” (prod. by Chris Walsh) 07. “Helldate” (prod. by Mirrorkill) 08. “Dinner With Luna (Interlude)” 09. “She Said” (prod. by Mirrorkill) 10. “Luna Was Crazy! (Interlude)” 11. “Smile and Cries (ft. Jedmon)” (prod. by Jedmon & Ryan Conway) 12. “Another Cold Winter” (prod. by Mirrorkill) 13. “The Very, Very, Very Sad Story Of Luna (Interlude)” 14. “MySpaces” (prod. by The Holy Soulja) 15. “Deez Nutz! (Outro)”
The Almighty A-Side Worldwide gang is back at it again, with free music and lots of info. So if you enjoy Buff1, Now On, or 14KT albums from last year (and I know you bought them) peep out all the latest happening with the label - Trav
Oh yeah we Worldwide!
A-Side Podcast #2 | Extremely hard dap from Playboy | A-Side @ SXSW | We give you Much More
All the pictures link! Yes!
A-Side Podcast #2
A-Side Podcast #2: Haircut’s classic Shoot the Duck Vol. 2. Dust off the skates, hit the rink with this one, and you’re doin’ big things.
Click here to subscribe to the A-Side Podcast series
Playboy Picks Mayer
Playboy Magazine recently (March Issue) named Mayer Hawthorne as one of the ten artists to watch in 2009. Big up to the good people over at the mansion holding us down, and be sure to catch the Mayer yourself next month all over Europe, and across the US in April:
Fri, 6 Mar / Paris, France @ Bataclan Sat, 7 Mar / London, England @ Cargo Sun, 8 Mar / Prestatyn, Wales @ Detonate Weekender Tue, 10 Mar / Amsterdam, Holland @ Paradiso Wed, 11 Mar / Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix Thr, 12 Mar / Zurich, Switzerland @ Rote Fabrik Fri, 13 Mar / Lyon, France @ La Plateforme Sat, 14 Mar / Lausanne, Switzerland @ Le Romandie Sun, 15 Mar / Vienna, Austria @ B72 Tue, 17 Mar / Cologne, Germany @ Luxor
A-Side @ SXSW
A-Side will be deep this year at South By Southwest in Austin, TX – March 18th-22nd.
Thursday, March 19th A-Side Worldwide Showcase @ The PureVolume House (presented by VTech) – E 2nd St & Trinity St, 78701 10pm-12am (featuring performances by all A-Side artists and DJ’s)
Friday, March 20th Mayer Hawthorne & The County @ The Waxpoetics Showcase – Scoot Inn – 1308 E 4th St Time TBA (US Debut!)
Saturday, March 21st Buff1 // Now On @ The Back Alley Social (303 W 5th St) – 10:30-11:30pm
Free stuff, every one likes it. On this particular night, if you get free beads, you have to give a free show, that is if you are a female. The infamous Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday night. Funny enough, with my history of celebrating any minor holiday on the calender (Flag Day ’96 was one crazy night), I have never really been out on a Fat Tuesday night. In my old age, hangovers effect me a little more than they used to and something about sitting at a desk in a cubicle that is not good for a hangover. But, if I was 10 years younger, best believe I’d be out participating in the festivities. None the less, here is some free shit and you don’t even have to show me your tits. If you are a hot chick and you feel the need, I won’t stop you, in fact the email is to the right…..
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Wax: Mary [prod by Nobody Famous]
My man Kev posted this up last weekend, so my bad for just now getting to it. Wax and Kev’s boy, Nobody Famous, put up this little ditty, which is soundin’ rather nice. Word on the streets is that Nobody Famous has signed to Kev’s label….yup, Kevin Nottingham’s label….but that’s the rumor, you didn’t hear it from me…..
To read the the post and hear the track, skip on over there if you haven’t already:
My boys, Animal Farm, are busy the next couple months, rockin’ some shows and makin’ some noise. If you missed their dope "Focused Noise" mixtape, the link is down below a little ways. I’m always down to support some of my fellow Pac Northwest artists, so check their music out, and if you are going to be in the Boise area, yours truly will be making a guest apprerence at that show (crowd only, I let the pro’s rock the stage)…no autographs though, thanks….(I kid, I kid)….. From Erik….. It’s gonna be a busy month. We’ll be rocking shows with The Game, Dead Prez, K’Naan, and many more, so please check out the show schedule below and come see us if you’re around.
2/26THE GAME w/ Line of Fire(Gen.Erik & Mic Crenshaw) ft. Serge Severe and DJ Wicked, and Cool Nutz @ Roseland Theater in Portland, OR
2/28THE GAME w/ Animal Farm ft. Mic Crenshaw, Serge Severe, DJ Wels @ McDonald Theatre in Eugene, OR
3/4DEAD PREZ w/ Animal Farm ft. Mic Crenshaw, Serge Severe & Universal DJ Sect @ WOW Hall in Eugene, OR
Hanif Wondir (from Animal Farm) @Elbo Room in San Francisco, CA
3/5Focused Noise’s Serge Severe, Gen.Erik & Fury with Luck-One & Cool Nutz @ Berbati’s in Portland, OR
Mic Crenshaw @ Barnes and Noble Spotlight Stage (University District) in Seattle, WA
3/7Mic Crenshaw @ The Mix in Seattle, WA
3/9K’NAAN w/ Mic Crenshaw ft. Gen.Erik, Madgesdiq @ Berbati’s in Portland, OR
3/13Animal Farm, Mic Crenshaw, Serge Severe at Cooper’s in Nevada City, CA
3/19Animal Farm, Mic Crenshaw, Serge Severe at Homeslice Pizza in Austin, TX (SXSW Week)
3/26Animal Farm, Mic Crenshaw, Serge Severe at The Bouquet in Boise, ID
4/11Animal Farm, Mic Crenshaw, Serge Severe at John Henry’s in Eugene, OR (NW Tattoo Ink Convention Party)
5/2Sportin’ Life vs. Focused Noise Party ft. Animal Farm, Mic Crenshaw
, Serge Severe, D. Black, Spaceman, Fatal Lucciauno @ The Highdive in Seattle, WA
Also, Serge Severe’s newest album "Concrete Techniques" was named one of the top albums of 2008 by rapreviews.com and hiphoplinguistics.com. If you like funky beats and dope lyricism from the likes of an MC who has drawn comparisons to the legendary Rakim and Ghostface, check out "Concrete Techniques" (available on iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, ughh.com, and many more).
Mic Crenshaw has also been making some serious noise with his newest album "Thinking out Loud", which features Stic.Man from Dead Prez, Nightclubber Lang from Boom Bap Project, and many others. "Thinking out Loud" is currently #6 on the CMJ Hip-Hop College Radio Chart. You may have also seen Crenshaw recently as a featured artist on NikeSportswear.com, iTunes, or myspace. The Seattle Weekly recently claimed "Crenshaw is everything a truly ‘conscious’ rapper should be." "Thinking out Loud" is also available on iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, and many more.
Finally, if you haven’t picked up Animal Farm’s "The Unknown" featuring the legendary KRS-One and more, please go cop that on iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, ughh.com, or all over online.
Life Of Villains is proud to announce the release of the first installment of "Recession Proof" spring 2009 collection, and have teamed up the production duo Blue Sky Black Deathto give you a 47 minute 90′s west coast blend. Please visit www.lifeofvillains.com for more information.
Here are a few images of the new line
Blue Sky Black Death cover for the "Recession-proof" mix
Album Cover ReVISIONS is a spontaneous, ongoing digital art project originally conceived by acclaimed painter/illustrator/designer Joe Buck, along with Redefinition Records. Imagined as a way to pay tribute to, and expand upon a noteworthy theme or piece of art, the Album Cover ReVISION series allows the incredibly talented Buck to revise and present his vision of a particular album or single’s cover image as he sees fit.
Some will present Joe’s version of classic and iconic covers, while some may see Joe update a modern release’s cover, as he recently did with his subtle but impactful update on Kanye West’s 808 & Heartbreak cover. In addition to 808, Buck, a Long Island by-way-of Hollis Queens, NY native most commonly known for his classic De La Soul album cover designs (including De La Soul Is Dead), has also released ReVISIONS for LP’s such as Q-Tip’s The Renaissance and J DILLA’s Ruff Draft.
Expanding further on the concept, from time to time, Joe Buck and DJ/producer/MC Damu The Fudgemunk will collaborate exclusively on special A/V editions of ReVISIONS. These special editions, available for free download, will feature a Joe Buck design alongside a related musical production by Washington DC native, Damu.
Here’s a couple joints coincidentally leaked on the same day that i did the beats for.
Cool antecdote about the pryslezz/slum village beat..I made that beat in 2006 as my J.Dilla Dedication beat, so to have slum village on it actually means alot to me..kinda like a dream fully realized.
The bi-coastal production duo Keelay & Zaire will release their debut album Ridin High on March 10th via the newly imprinted MYX Music Label. Featuring a
classic hip-hop and R&B production aesthetic and an all-star lineup of guest artists, the album brings a new breed of polished production to the forefront of hip-hop.
Featuring an impressive guest list of both established artists and newcomers, the album showcases Keelay & Zaire’s ability to fuse their production savvy with the subtleties and personality of the artists they work with. With guest stars ranging from Phonte of Little Brother to Blu to Supastition, the talent pool exhibited on the album allows Keelay & Zaire to display their refined versatility. The album’s lead single "The Times feat. Blu, Fortilive and Nino Moschella," currently in rotation on MTV, BET, and MTVU, is a motivational call to arms that shows us the vibrancy of San Francisco with Keelay & Zaire’s signature soulful soundscape providing our musical backdrop.
With Keelay out west in the Bay Area, and Zaire currently residing in Newport News, VA, the innovative producers each worked on their own independent production projects before ever meeting. Keelay produced tracks for Cali Agents, Fortilive, and Saafir while Zaire flexed his prowess with Norfolk’s emcee/songwriter Khizman and Newport News’ bluesy singer/songwriter Jonathan Moore. Although living on opposite coasts, both Keelay & Zaire were frequent users of online production message boards and used them to share beats and ideas with other producers. After exchanging beats back and forth on the ughh.com message board for about a month, it became clear that Keelay & Zaire needed to meet face to face. Zaire flew out to meet Keelay in the Bay and the duo found that their individual skills complemented each other. They decided to embark on a full-length project that eventually became Ridin High. Ridin High will be released on March 10th on newly formed MYX Music Label. Check out the album sampler mixed by DJ Mere for Ridin High to get a taste for what to expect:
Chubb Rock & Wordsmith LIVE on Jimmy Kimmel June 5th!!
Chubb Rock & Wordsmith will start releasing exclusive promo tracks that are unavailable on their album "Bridging the Gap," over the next few months for the fans, bloggers, major hip hop sites and tastemakers. This will culminate with a mixtape called "A Crack in the Bridge" due to drop in June, so keep it locked as Chubb & Word seek to bridge the gap between the old school and new school era’s.
Watch out for Wordsmith flooding the streets and online in 2009 with his HipHopDX sponsored mixtapes: Chubb Rock & Wordsmith "A Crack in the Bridge" / "The 2009 Mid-Year Review" and "The 2009 Resolution & Re-Cap." Also be on the look out for Chubb Rock and Wordsmith’s "Bridging the Gap" album and Wordsmith & I.N.C The Poets "A Baltimore Martini" UK album coming in the second quarter of 2009!
The Song: Kero One’s opening track on his long awaited sophomore album Early Believers describes the diversity of his hometown, San Francisco. "Welcome to the Bay" tells the story of Northern California sunshine, the pursuit of the American Dream, and the wealth of Silicon Valley juxtaposed with poverty and drugs. Imagine Will Smith’s voice enhanced with the styles of Common, Q-Tip, and Kanye West, and you’ve got Kero One. "Welcome To The Bay" is the Bay Area version of "Summertime." Grab your shades and ride with us. The Background: Former web designer by day and rapper/producer/DJ by night, Kero One, stands as a true testament to the do-it-yourself success story. His early career was marked by endless hours of researching, cold calling, and networking to gain exposure for his debut, self produced project Windmills of the Soul. Persistence paid off with a little help from fate when one of the 50 copies of his album was picked up in a tiny record store in Tokyo, Japan. Success was immediate, as Windmills of the Soul became a hit overnight, which opened the floodgates for international touring and performance opportunities. Three years later, after a Best Hip Hop Album of 2006 award and collabos with Talib Kweli and Mark Farina, Kero One is back with his sophomore album entitled Early Believers, via his label, Plug Label. Modulating from soulful jazz tinged tracks to upbeat synth-driven party bangers, Kero One features some his favorite vocalists such as Giles Peterson protégé UK singer Ben Westbeech, Finland’s own modern day "Stevie Wonder," and Portland’s Ohmega Watts. Early Believers will be released in April 2009, just in time for spring cleaning and summer fun.
Streams: "Welcome to the Bay" http://media.audibletreats.com/KERO_ONE-Welcome_to_the_Bay.mp3
Common Market announces March tour with Digable Planets, and showcases at SXSW
"Scion’s flow is liquid, with superb word choice and breath control, while anyone who has heard Blue Scholars knows Sabzi’s old-school soul fueled beats easily rival those of 9th Wonder." – Pop Matters
"Common Market have created a work that’s brought them closer to the region of hiphop greatness. This is no exaggeration." – The Stranger
In the wake of critical acclaim for their recent Full Length Tobacco Road on Hyena Records, Common Market bring their intense and energetic live show to Austin for several showcases at SXSW followed by an East Coast tour in support of the legendary hip hop group Digable Planets (http://www.myspace.com/digableplanets)
Wed Mar-18 Austin, TX, SXSW @ Back Alley Social 9:10
Sat-Mar-21 Austin, TX SXSW @ Palm Door 4:30 pm
Wed-Mar-25 Boston, MA @ Paradise
Thu-Mar-26 Providence, RI @ Jerkys
Fri-Mar-27 Northampton, MA @ Pearl St
Sat-Mar-28 Portland, ME @ Asylum
Sun-Mar-29 Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
Mon-Mar-30 OFF
Tue-Mar-31 New Haven, CT @ Toads Place
Wed-Apr-01 New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
Thu-Apr-02 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brendas
Fri-Apr-03 TBA
Sat-Apr-04 Baltimore, MD @ Bourbon Street Ballroom
Sun-Apr-05 OFF
Mon-Apr-06 OFF
Tue-Apr-07 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club (early show)
My boys and partners for the G.O.D. Hour (WYDU Style, check out their radio show by the same name if you live in the Bay Area), The Understudies, are back with a video for their track “This Is The Beat”. Abstract ain’t even describing this video, but it’s cool none the less. They are also rollin’ with a new label, called WeedTracker Music. You can check that out at:
Also a new track from Citizen: (my bad for spacing it as long as I have)
This is a joint I did with Deuce Eclipse from Zion I called Rainy Days(Remix). The Original appeared on “Citizen & Livin’ Poetry – Live Hard, Die Free“. I’m releasing it to DJs and blogs and such, since Zion I has a new album dropping in a few weeks and and I’m dropping “A Tribute to Nina Simone Vol.1″ at the end of the month.
My man ScholarMan is back with a new free EP. I haven’t had the chance to listen to it yet, but I’m willing to bet it’s worth the time to check it out. - Trav
ScholarMan’s new EP “A Meeting With Andre Kostelanetz” is now available for download! With guest appearances by K-Mynez, Kats, Domer and Random.
The download link, cover art and song information is listed below!
Ah yes, it’s one of those days that I didn’t really have enough time to run what I wanted to run, meaning I didn’t finish it and I don’t feel like staying up until one in the morning…..soooooooo. I reached into the assortment of mp3′s and shit I have sitting on my computer, hoping to find something interesting that hasn’t been plastered on 10,000 other blogs. I don’t get the chance to hit the other blogs as much as I used to. Between increasing demands for my own personal time and the increasing number of blogs popping up, it’s nearly impossible anymore. So hopefully only a couple hundred other blogs have had this shit up in the past. Back to the emails I’m behind on, if you sent me one and you haven’t gotten a response, it’s coming.
1. London to Ny- Rebel Rhyme , Bazarro 2. Change – Shades of Brooklyn- produced by Beatminerz 3. A Day Wit D-rock- Dysfunkshunal Familee- produced by Bazarro 4. Halloween- Arsonists 5. Feel Da High- Finsta Bundy produced by Finsta 6. Verbal Hostility- Poison Dartsmen -Tray Pound – Dollamentary produced by Bazarro 7. Men Of War- Splatterhouse 8. Bushwick Residence- Finsta Bundy , Dj PrimeTime 9. Rains it Pours- Shades of Brooklyn- produced by Rich Blak 10. Where Ya At- Finsta Bundy feat Dysfunkshunal Familee produced by Finsta 11. Bushwick Day Freestyle- Unified Nation, Empire produced by Bazarro 12. BK Broilers- Splatterhouse produced by Bazarro 13. Tribute to Twills- Empire, Supreme, Snipe , Finsta Bundy, 14. SplatterHouse- Lockness 15. Bushwick Coalition- Red Love, Intel, Finsta Bundy 16. Dysfunkshunal familee freestyle feat World Famous Rod 17. Write Or Wrong Thing- Dysfunkshunal feat Finsta Bundy 18. The Session- Arsonists 19. Us Plus ONe- Dwelling in the Attic- produced by Bazarro
Props goes out to Lyrical Gymnastics on the Philaflava board. This kinda of bleeds over to my last half assed post like this. It features DJ Bazarro, who was the DJ for the Dysfunkshunal Family, who was also tight with Finsta Bunday, who is all over this mixtape. Everyone seemed to dig the last Finsta Bundy material and I love this mixtape, so up it goes. It’s one mp3, sorry, that’s the way it came.
More Finsta Bundy (told ya you shouldn’t have said you liked it so much last time, cause you get it again). I don’t know what the story on this is, or how old it is. I think I got it from the same post as the the previous post.
01 Doo Wop–Intro 02 Keith Murray–Freestyle 03 Q-Tip–Freestyle 04 Busta Rhymes–Freestyle 05 Rampage The Last Boyscout–Freestyle 06 Fat Joe–Freestyle 07 Uneek–Freestyle 08 M.O.P.–Freestyle 09 Guru–Freestyle 10 Raekwon & Carlton Fisk–Freestyle 11 Ill Al Skratch–Freestyle 12 Shabba Ranks–Freestyle 13 Tragedy Khadafi & Don Black–Freestyle 14 Smoothe Da Hustler & D.V. Alias Khrist–Freestyle 15 Doo Wop, Fat Joe, Akinyele, Pretty Boy Floyd & Lord Tariq–Freestyle 16 Doo Wop–Freestyle 17 KRS-One–Freestyle 18 Treach–Freestyle 19 Keith Murray & Redman–Freestyle 20 Mobb Deep & Big Noyd–Freestyle 21 AZ–Freestyle 22 Lost Boyz–Freestyle 23 Uneek–Freestyle 24 Cocoa Brovaz–Freestyle 25 Mad Lion & KRS-One–Freestyle 26 Channel Live–Freestyle 27 King Just–Freestyle 28 Buckshot Da B.D.I. Emcee–Freestyle
I really like a good collection of freestyles. At least the ones from back in the day that were on the good radio shows. This particular one is one of my favorites with lots of classic freestyles. Good stuff.
Freestyle Raps #1 1 Lord Finesse 2 OC & Complex 3 Masta Ace Inc 4 Nas 5 LL Cool J (freestyle & live version of She’s Rockin) 6 Masterdon Committee 7 Nas & Akinyele 8 Lord Finesse 2 9 Biz Markie & Redman 10 Das Efx 11 Organized Konfusion 12 Kool G Rap 13 Rakim 14 Grandmaster Caz? 15 Kool G Rap 2 16 Big Daddy Kane Birthday party feat Special Ed, Biz Markie, Smooth B, Masta Ace, Just Ice, Lakim Shabazz, Positive K, ???, Scoob Lover, Scrap Lover, Markey Fresh, Frukwan, Big Daddy Kane, Jay-Z, Jaz, Big Ill, Grand Daddy IU
This is quite possibly my all-time favorite mixtape. I ordered this shit out of the back of a Source magazine back in the day. It was one of the reasons I became a Masta Ace fan (this dropped before Slaughtahouse), it’s also has early Nas using a verse that you will recoginze right off the bat, AND it has the infamous Big Daddy Kane Birthday party, the one in which Big Ill (of Ill Al Skratch) dissed Kane at his own birthday. Insane. My man A-One first hooked me up again after I searched high and low for this everywhere on the net and almost came to the conclusion that it was something that I made up in my head. If you haven’t heard this and you are fan of some of these artists, it’s a must.
One of my favorite DJ’s going right now back at again with another dope mix -Trav
I decided to re-up this mix because it may have fell through the cracks for a bunch of people. I did this mixtape a while back with my man Shuko from Germany & Ecko Unlimited. This was the heavily promoted release but I actually made 3 different versions of this CD. 1 for Germany, 1 for Denmark & 1 for Holland. Stay tuned for the others to be posted up.
1 DJ.Concept
DJ.Concept & Shuko -Ecko Unlimited Edition – Volume 1 – Hosted By: Stat Quo (Germany) DOWNLOAD HERE: http://www.execute1200.com/ecko
Intro (prod by The ARE) Abroo – Hoelle & Erde (prod by Shuko) A + R (Analogic & Rashid Hadee) – Explode (prod by Analogic) Chaundon – Street Runner (prod by Shuko) E-Rock – Estaban (prod by Strike Beats) Massiv / Hot Rod – Gangsta Shit (prod by Shuko) Stat Quo – Where Ya Folks At (prod by Simon Vegas) Franky Kubrick – Komm Seh Sieg (prod by Shuko) Tony D & B-Tight – Was Glaubst Du Kitty Kat – Meine Zeit Rakim feat. Lil Fame (prod by Fizzy Womack) Braille – The IV (prod by Marco Polo) Kaleber – Reunited (prod by Shuko) Leon Taylor – Unser Lied The Game feat. Big J – Black Democrat Remix (prod by The Gunna & Shuko) Stat Quo feat. Gimma – G.R.I.T.S. Remix (prod by Shuko & 7inch) El Gant – This Is The Way (prod by Shuko) The Roots, Dice Raw, Peedi Crack & DJ Jazzy Jeff – Get Busy Soulstice feat. Zwolf – From The Source (prod by The Gunna) K Rings Brothers. – Warum Flippst Du Nicht Aus Sido feat. B-Tight & Kitty Kat – Das Ist Hip Hop (prod by Shuko) Seryoga / St1m – Nastoyashi Rap (prod by Shuko) Bligg – What’s Going On (prod by Shuko) Jeyz feat. Raf – (Never forget me ) Ich Bin Hier Jawon – Get My Gun (prod by BTB) Bubba Sparxxx – Survive
Taken From: “Street Level”-The Beatnuts (1994, Relativity)
Is there any doubt that the Beatnuts “Street Level” is one of the best produced albums in Hip Hop? I mean, c’mon…I dare you to point out one “less-than-stellar” track on this CLASSIC. Not only is this one of the best produced albums ever, but the first full-length outing (being that 93′s “Intoxicated Demons” was an EP release) from Psycho Les, JuJu & Fashion also served as the most cohesive piece of work from this Corona, Queens trio. True, the Beatnuts scored their biggest smash on 1997′s “Stone Crazy” with the Big Pun/Cuban Link (shit, where is that dude these days?) featured “Off Books”, but there’s no doubt that “Street Level”, when all is said and done will go down as the album the Beatnuts are most revered for.
Sampling Hugo Montenegro’s “Again”, the Beatnuts touched new grounds with the last joint on side A of “Street Level”, the Miss Jones-assisted, “Rik’s Joint”. Although, I’m not quite sure where the title to this smooth-ass track originates, the Beatnuts definitely went “outside their comfort zone” with this self-produced jam for astounding results. Yes, once again we have yet another track that features “buttery vocals” on the hook courtesy of the now-infamous radio personality, while the Beatnuts stick to their guys, sh*t talkin’ with the best of ‘em! The track reeks of the ‘Nuts signature sounds: bass that rattles your ribcage, swift drums and clever sample utilization. Damn, after listening to this track once more, does anyone else yearn for another Beatnuts album featuring all three original members?
Taken From: “Bitch Betta’ Have My Money”-AMG (1992, Select)
Believe it or not, AMG’s overlooked gem, “Jiggable Pie” was the first time I experienced the usage of the Emotions “Blind Alley”. Don’t get it twisted, “Jiggable..” isn’t just all about the music either. AMG’s “Bitch Betta..” was a pretty hefty serving of sex, misogyny, blatant sample jerking and clever one-liners, pretty much everything I looked for in a record at the age of 16, HaHa! With the A-side of the cassette labeled as “On Top”, and the B-Side “On Bottom”, you could pretty much get the gist of the album’s subject matter just by glancing at the album’s insert. A fairly decent debut (although, 1995′s “Ballin’ Outta’ Control” contained much less filler), “Bitch..” will not only be remembered for the album’s title cut, but also tracks like the Boss-featured “Mai Sista Izza Bitch”, the Funky Worm-laced “Vertical Joyride”.
“Jiggable Pie” was also self-produced by AMG, who blessed the cut with classic lines such as: “I try to get a head when I get behind”, “Fe Fi Fo Fum I spread the jam for the ho-hums” and “would you let me smack it up, flip it an rub it down to the bone/Call me when your Moms ain’t home”..not the most mind-blowing lyricism on paper, but the true genius of the record lies within the content (if that makes any sense at all?). Sort of a more-lyrically advanced Too Short, AMG’s “Jiggable Pie” was one of the funkiest, most neck-snapping odes to sex to ever hit airwaves.
Taken From: “Prince Of Darkness”-Big Daddy Kane (1991, Cold Chillin’)
The title of this selection could have just as well been “Best Song from an album that sucked”, being that “Prince Of Darkness” didn’t really improve on an album that started the decline of Big Daddy Kane’s career (“Taste Of Chocolate”). Even though the album may have featured tracks such as the Q-Tip & Busta Rhymes featured “Come On Down” and a pretty dope title cut, it’s a pretty fair judgment to think that “Prince Of Darkness” is an album that the man who’s responsible for “Ain’t No Half-Steppin” would like to forget. To solidify my previous statement, just take on listen to “I’m Not Ashamed” from the album and get back at me.
However, “Prince Of Darkness” wasn’t a complete bomb…just really, really close to it. The standout cut from the album was without a doubt, “Brother, Brother”, a fitting title since the track also featured Big Daddy’s little brother, Little Daddy Shane (C’mon, you gotta’ be more original that that!). Borrowing from Barry White’s “I’m Gonna’ Love You Just A Little More, Babe” and Lee Dorsey’s infamous drums from”Get Out Of My Life, Woman”, “Brother, Brother” is a pass the mic, freestyle fest a la Erick and Parrish, without the lisp, of course. It’s hard not to nod your head to a sample selection(s) that always seems to work, thrown in classic Kane lines like: “I keep a fleet of women, probably one of them’s your moms” and you have a dose of vintage Big Daddy.
Taken From: “Straight Up Sewaside”-Das Efx (1993, East/West)
Now, some would argue that after many years Das Efx’ sophomore album, the sans-iggedy, diggedy “Straight Up Sewaside” may very well be a more solid effort than the duo’s CLASSIC debut, “They Want Efx”. Truthfully, I’m not really seein’ it…if anything, I’d place “Straight Up..” as Das’ 3rd best release, behind 95′s “Hold It Down” (and if they would’ve trimmed a few tracks off of “Hold It..”, it would have been something REALLY special!). I can recall being extremely let down after purchasing this album the same day as Queen Latifah’s “Black Reign” (which I consider to be the best female release EVER), “They Want Efx” was original, mind-blowing and charismatic….this was just “blah” to me as Das where truly victims of their own style being jocked to death.
However, “Check It Out” will always hold a special place in my heart (awwww, how nice). Yep, this along with Queen La’s “4 The DJs”, Redman’s “Time 4 Sum Aksion” (obligatory) and Pete & CL’s “Mecca & The Soul Brother” (single) served as “warm-up music” for my High School B-Ball games. You shoulda’ tried pause-taping the cusses outta’ those joints, that was a task in itself! Underrated as well, the duo of Solid Scheme unleash the most prominent example of groggy funk this side of EPMD, a perfect extension of the wizardry found on Das’ debut. Drayz and Scoob may have been overly comedic on “They Want If Efx”, but they make it plain and simple on “Check It Out” that they’re not out to play games on what may be the hardest track they ever blessed.
Taken From: “Hi-Teknology 2: The Chip” (2006, BabyGrande)
Keeping up with more recent times, I have decided to shed light on one of my most favorite cuts over the last few years, Hi-Tek’s “Keep It Moving”, from an album that received a less than favorable response when compared to it’s predeccesor (“Hi-Teknology”). Hi-Tek’s sophomore album did have it’s fair share of highlights (see: the J-Dilla ode “Music For Life”, “Let It Go” and “Where It All Started At”), but also had more than a handful of flops (specifically “The Chip” & “Baby We Can Do It”). However, this average LP was less then expected from an above average producer.
Now, the good: featuring a somewhat…um, odd (?) pairing of Q-Tip & Kurupt, on paper “Keep It Moving” has “failure” written all over it. Much to my surprise, this track worked beautifully! The unforeseen highlight of this track was the vocal performance from crooner, Dion (see Game’s “Runnin” from “The Documentary”), who also lent his lungs for two additional cuts on the “Hi-Teknology 2″ (“Where It All Started” and “Let It Go”) to mixed results. I don’t know if dude ever plans on dropping a solo joint, if he does I’m buyin’!! An “uplifting” track to say the least, Hi-Tek’s production on this joint is a mixture of sparse drums and a haunting sample that nearly gives you goosebumps. A sure-fire recipe for a memorable track, no doubt.
