by Travis on March 28, 2012
To say this WYDU Spotlight is a long time coming is a huge understatement. Both in the fact it’s been well over a year since we’ve conducted a spotlight around these parts and the fact of who it’s with.
Way back in 2007, when I was still a bright eyed and bushy tailed blogger living in the Mile High city of Denver, Colorado, still gave a rats ass about hip hop blogs and my little blog Wake Your Daughter Up, was starting to make some noise on the blogging scene. That meant I was starting to get promo materials from labels and promo companies. It would later turn into a gift and a curse as these days my email is virtual avalanche of 
music and material being passed off as music (not to mention videos, video shoots, events, listening parties and a variety of other mostly pointless things). But back in those days I listened to ANYTHING that somebody sent me. One of my very first physical submissions was from a label from Connecticut by the name of Dekagon Records. They were releasing an album from a hip hop group out of Lawrence, Kansas by the name of Archetype. I still remember sitting down in my little cramped apartment one afternoon, throwing in the CD to my computer/stereo, picking up the sticks to play some Madden and by thirty seconds into the intro, I had stopped with the Madden and concentrated on the album. Archtype’s Bleed For Them would end up being one of my favorite albums of the year (#3 album for 2007) and the decade (I listed it in my top 5 for Passion of the Weiss’ Top Albums of the Decade, everyone scratched their heads). I even got my blog partner, Eric C. on board of my Archetype fanboy-ism tour…
CONTINUED ON THE JUMP
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by Eric on March 25, 2012
Kinda’ odd that Kriss Kross found themselves gracing the cover of the October, 1993 issue of The Source. What, for their for their “stellar” follow-up “Da Bomb”!? Lots of goodies to be found in this issue though, to include the 4.5 mic review of De La’s “Buhloone Mind State” (hmmmmm, interesting, originally thought this one received just 4 mics?), a 4 mic review of the classic Liks’ debut “21 & Over” and not to be forgotten a 3.5 rating for one of my favorite, most slept-on LPs, Poor Righteous Teachers’ “Black Business” (R.I.P. Tony D). Hit the skip for tracklisting and link…BTW, this is one of the more “well selected” Fat Tapes that I can ever recall the Source compiling!
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by Eric on March 23, 2012
Wow, another Almighty RSO track in the Sept. 1995 issue of The Source via the “Sure Shot Singles”, imagine that!? Regardless, pretty solid line-up on this edition. Hit the skip for tracklist and link…
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by Eric on March 21, 2012
Before “the deal went sour” my second favorite duo of all-time Erick Sermon & Parrish Smith found themselves gracing the cover of the Sept. 1992 issue of The Source. My guess is this all occurred around the time of the infamous “break-in” and forthcoming split of one of Hip Hop’s most prolific crews, The Hit Squad. Nevertheless, I’ve noticed something quite “odd” while compiling the last few “Fat Tapes” from the 1992 issues. Is it pure coincidence that the Boston-based Source featured local group Almighty R.S.O’s “One In Tha Chamba” as the 9th track on the last 3(!) Fat Tapes that I’ve compiled!? Hit the skip for tracklist and link..
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by Eric on March 20, 2012
Let it be known, the infamous Luke “Censor This” cover from 1991 was one of the very first Source mags I copped (along with Special Ed’s “Legal” tape), while visiting the Pittsburgh Zoo on a field trip. However, the Too Short-graced issue from August of ’92 is also one of the first issues that I can vividly recall actually purchasing. The issue that gave EPMD’s best album to date, “Business Never Personal” a near “CLASSIC” rating with 4.5 mics and one of my favorite “personal” albums of all-time, K-Solo’s sophomore LP, “Time’s Up” 3.5 mics, was also busy introducing the world to a young Mary J. Blige and her debut “What’s The 411?” along with a nice feature on the Brand New Heavies live, collaborative LP, “Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. I”. Oh, and who could forget the extra dope Pete Rock & CL Smooth feature from the issue’s final pages? Ahh, the good ‘ol days, no doubt! Hit the jump for link and tracklist for one of the illest “Fat Tape’s” from The Source…
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by Eric on March 19, 2012
The May 1993 “Source” found Sadat X taking home the “Hip Hop Quotable” of the month for his “I need seven brothers ready to roll..” verse from “Pass The Gat” (taken from Brand Nubian’s “In God We Trust”) and EPs/Albums from The Beatnuts (“Intoxicated Demons”), Masta Ace Inc. (with my favorite Ace LP, “Slaughtahouse”), The Geto Boys (“Till Death Do Us Part”) and L.O.T.U.G.(“Here Come The Lords”) all receive 3.5 mics, while the “Who’s The Man?” soundtrack garnered 4 mics. I guess Big’s “Party & Bullshit”, Pete & CL’s “What’s Next On The Menu?” and the title cut from House Of Pain carried more weight than the aforementioned 3.5 mic albums? Hmmmmm… As always, hit the skip for tracklist and link, and “NO” the PM Dawn inclusion on the Fat Tape is not an accident/misprint, LOL.
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by Eric on March 18, 2012
Ahhhh, the infamous Feb. 1995 issue, the issue where Dana Dane’s LP, “Rollin’ wit Dana Dane”, received more mics (3.5) than “newcomers” Smif N Wessun’s stellar debut, “Dah Shinin” (3). Adding salt to the wound(s), “Dah Shinin” reviewer Joe Charles, closed the review with the following less-than-flattering sentiments:
“This (“Bucktown”) was the song that led many people to think that this group’s album would be the shit. Instead of sticking to this mode, they leap into tough guy BS and make their album a little weaker than it sould’ve. The tracks, by Evil Dee and Mr. Walt, are too similar (dirty, plodding beats and bumpy bass) and make them sound even more like Black Moon proteges. If they were hooked up with more diversified flavors, listeners wouldn’t feel deja vu and might be more satisfied.”
Wow, harsh words, undoubtedly, but these days I’d say that “Dah Shinin” although two years younger than “Enta Da Stage” is the better of the two albums and kept up with the times just a pinch better, in my opinion. Regardless, hit the skip to grab the tracklist for the Feb. 1995 Fat Tape & Sure Shot Singles…
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by Eric on March 18, 2012
Ok. Let’s try this again. So, lately in my quest to track down every “The Source” magazine I ever owned (pre-2003, BTW I’m gettin’ pretty darn close to completion, I’d dare to say I’m one of the few folks left who has every issue from ’91-2000), upon recipt, I’ve immediately been leafing through the pages to the “Fat Tape” feature(s). Act like you know, the “older” source mags featured the “Fat Tape” section near the front and the “Sure Shot Singles” in the closing pages. However, as a bit of nostalgia, I’ve been collected nearly all of the “Fat Tapes” on my spare hardrive and adding the playlist to my Ipod. Kinda’ corny, right? Nah, I love it man, I freakin’ cherish these old “Source” mags like my O.G. ’95 Neon Air Maxes or my O.G. Jordan Cement IV’s. So, me being the ‘gent that I am, I figured I’d start featuring the compiled “Fat Tapes” here at Bloggerhouse, as soon as I add ‘em to my Itunes. So enjoy, our first edition, yeah…you remember the CLASSIC M.J.B. year end issue from January of ’95!
The uploads will be featured in no particular order, just basically whatever I feel like venturing into. So you may have a goodie from ’92 on a Monday and something from one of Hip Hop’s last great years, 1997, the next. Without further adieu, hit the jump for linkage and the tracklisting from the January, 1995 issue. Oh, BTW, couldn’t track down the Miss Jones/Horace Brown goodie (insert sarcasm), “This Christmas”, but I have a feeling it won’t hurt your feelings too terribly, LOL. Enjoy!! Oh, also of note…I’ve done a decent job of labeling and ordering the fat tapes, so just unzip and add to Itunes and you should be gravy!!
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music and material being passed off as music (not to mention videos, video shoots, events, listening parties and a variety of other mostly pointless things). But back in those days I listened to ANYTHING that somebody sent me. One of my very first physical submissions was from a label from Connecticut by the name of Dekagon Records. They were releasing an album from a hip hop group out of Lawrence, Kansas by the name of Archetype. I still remember sitting down in my little cramped apartment one afternoon, throwing in the CD to my computer/stereo, picking up the sticks to play some Madden and by thirty seconds into the intro, I had stopped with the Madden and concentrated on the album. Archtype’s Bleed For Them would end up being one of my favorite albums of the year (#3 album for 2007) and the decade (I listed it in my top 5 for Passion of the Weiss’ Top Albums of the Decade, everyone scratched their heads). I even got my blog partner, Eric C. on board of my Archetype fanboy-ism tour…
