Bloggerhouse Hip Hop

Peace kiddies, what’s good. It’s a drab and gloomy day here at the WYDU offices. No football, baseball hasn’t started yet (for those of us who still watch it) and I’m already tired of watching speed skating on the Olympics. So I figured it was time for some mixtapes. I’m not talking about Lil Yung’s lastest “street album”, I’m talking about REAL mixtapes, or the closest to what we had back in the 90′s when DJ’s such as R&R, Ron G, Kid Capri, and others used to put out. Meaning, it’s just hot tracks, mixed by some dope cats. I’m not much of a mixtape head anymore, there is just way too many of them, but all of these are quality. Good music to throw on while playing some Madden, or fuckin’ around the house, or whatever else you do on a snowy, rainy, cloudy weekend day.

First up, remember Polarity? If there are still any cats out there that have been reading WYDU since it’s conception, you will remember Polarity was the cat I started WYDU with. He goes by Debonair P now, and is the producer/DJ for Australia’s Low Budget. P has always done mixes and blends for himself and others, and they are always top notch. He grabs a bunch of rare and obscure stuff for Debonair Blends #5, some stuff I din’t even know about, but P got some bangers on this for sure.

Good friends and colleagues,

In case you missed it last summer – We have just Re-Upped DJ Superix’s – ‘Teddy Riley: King Of Swing’ mixtape. If you haven’t heard it – please check it – we had great feedback on this during last summer and has gained well over two and a half thousand downloads.

Please feel free to post it anywhere and distribute it to anyone you know.

Original post here: http://www.southernhospitality.co.uk/blog/?p=2991

Here’s some blurb should you need it:

‘Unless you have either been born after 1999 or just woken up after being frozen in carbonite from 1983 until now – then you will no doubt be familiar with one of the greatest producers ever in modern music – Teddy Riley. Not only responsible for creating the ‘New Jack Swing’ sound, he completely changed modern soul music, flipped it, and took it back to the streets again. This is a mix that certifies what a genius hitmaker he was in both hip-hop and R&B. It will of course be confirmed to you from listening to just 30 seconds of this mix hearing the beat from Doug E Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew’s ‘The Show’ – a classic hip hop track that was co-produced and arranged by the man himself. When Teddy wasn’t producing for his own groups such as Guy and Blackstreet he was working with heavyweight’s such as Bobby Brown and Michael Jackson (and of course actual scientifically proven heavyweight – Heavy-D). We think this mix sums up the wide range and flexibility of Teddy’s musical genius, from uptempo cuts such as Big Daddy Kane’s ‘I Get The Job Done’ to Blackstreet’s ‘Joy’ (which was originally intended for Michael Jackson, who also wrote the track btw).

Anyway, let the music do the talking – enjoy the mix.

Southern Hospitality Presents:
Teddy Riley: King Of Swing
Mixed By DJ Superix

DOWNLOAD LINKS:
DOWNLOAD SINGLE MP3 VERSION:
http://sharebee.com/7ecb96db

DOWNLOAD SPLIT TRACKMARKED MP3 VERSION:
http://sharebee.com/f453743b

Don’t forget to check our site here:
http://www.southernhospitality.co.uk

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twitter.com/djsuperix
twitter.com/southernh

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“Remember music videos?”, says the bitter, crusty, old man. They were a great visual aid to the groups that you loved, and a lot of times actually helped you get into new groups.

Below are some great videos from The Pharcyde and Beastie Boys. I set out to load up a bunch of different groups, but figured I’d start with these two groups, since they have so many great videos between the two. Most of them are directed by Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Where the Wild Things Are), who directed a number of great videos, including Bjork’s It’s Oh So Quiet and Undone (The Sweater Song) by Weezer.

The Pharcyde – Passin’ Me By

This isn’t quite the same as the LP version, and I don’t remember if this is the version that was originally aired on television, but it’s very close to the LP version. It’s a simple black and white video, featuring members of the group periodically hanging upside down while kicking their rhymes. I think someone, maybe Ludacris used this upside down technique in one of his videos.

The Pharcyde – Drop

This one is directed by Jonze and is uses some badass slow motion… backwards. Obviously, the lip-syncing isn’t exact, but it’s not bad for trying to reverse lip-sync. There’s also a nice Beasties cameo in the middle of the video, as this song samples the oft-sampled Adrock line, “Mmm, drop!” Great video.

The Pharcyde – Runnin

This song, along with Drop, was from the group’s second album. Parts of the video show the group on a plantation with white slaves, one of which is Max Perlich, friend of the Beasties and co-star of Gleaming the Cube. Some cool imagery, which made up the cover of their debut follow-up.

Fatlip – What’s Up Fatlip?

This video was also a Spike Jonze joint. It features Fatlip at his self-deprecating self. This song came out years before Fatlip’s The Loneliest Punk, which was a pretty dope album. I first heard the song on a Delicious Vinyl sampler, or mix CD, that also featured songs from Masta Ace and The Pharcyde. I don’t think I saw this video until I bought a DVD set of Spike Jonze videos, which I recommend, that also has a documentary featuring Fatlip discussing his break-up with The Pharcyde, among other things.

Beastie Boys – Sabotage

Spike Jonze directed the Beasties in this 70’s cop show parody. They star as fictional actors playing fictional characters (does that even make sense?) that run, jump and chase each other all over LA.

Beastie Boys – Sure Shot

So, every video for this son I found had the embedding disabled. So, you get a link. Anyway, it’s another Spike Jonze directed video and a good one at that.

It includes the Adrock line “Well, it’s the Taking of the Pelham 1, 2, 3. If you want a doo-doo rhyme, then come see me.” Which I had no idea what that was until the remake came out with Denzel and Travolta.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSTsS4A3XU0

Beastie Boys – So What’cha Want

Apparently, the Beasties are pretty strict about embedding their videos, so the closest thing I could find was the video below. It’s the remix with Cypress Hill, but it shows pieces of the original video of the Beasties hanging out in the woods. The video is in slow motion and was filmed normally with the song being sped up, so you get a slow motion video with better lip-syncing than a Britney Spears concert.

Here’s a link to the real video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzaFGMQRBfs&feature=fvst

Okay, so I got a bit annoyed that you can’t embed any Beastie videos, so I stopped here, but you can view a lot of them on YouTube if you want to reminisce, or if you want to become acquainted with the trio.

What makes a good album cover? Well, obviously it’s subjective and everyone is going to have there own ideas of what makes good art.

Some of them are made good because of how much you like an artist and may not seem significant to non-fans. A simple picture of the group, or artist, can be special to a fan, but may seem plain to those that aren’t big fans, or even know who that group or artist is.

All of the above being said, here are some that I thought of, mostly off the top of my head, that are great and some that are not. I’m sure I’m missing some that I like or hate, but I had to cut myself short, because this had the potential to really get out of hand.

Great LP Covers

This is a small list of great album covers. I’ll explain a little about the artwork and a quick synopsis of the actual music. I also tried to keep it to one per artist, because some have consistently great artwork and I didn’t want to post a 12 page article. Here are some (and I know I’m missing a lot, feel free to share your faves):

The Notorious B.I.G. – Ready to Die

Artwork: I like simple, uncluttered stuff. The album artwork is real simple and clean. I always loved this cover featuring a small child (maybe Big’s, maybe Puff’s, I was unable to find this info).

Music: Classic. This LP is an all-around great piece of music, including the intro, which may be one of the best intros ever.

Nas – Illmatic

Artwork: Nas as a child over his childhood home. Again, a pretty simple concept, but a great.

Music: Another classic. Sometimes I think the artwork, or cover, can be seen as even better than it is when the music is so good. I’m not saying that’s the case here, because I really do like the artwork, but great artwork can be seen as even better when the music is on point.

A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders

Artwork: Man, this is one of my favorites ever. Just the fact that they had all those other dudes on their album was a cool idea to me. For some reason, I thought my CD was green, but all I could find was the above picture and I can’t find my CD right now.

Music: This is my favorite Tribe LP. I mean this is a great LP with some classic tracks (Electric Relaxation, Steve Biko, Award Tour, We Can Get Down, Clap Your Hands, Oh My God). All of those songs could easily be in my top 100 songs of all-time.

Beastie Boys – Check Your Head

Artwork: It’s pretty simple. All their albums have had great artwork, but this is my favorite. This is one where being a huge fan really makes the artwork better. Black and white with the Beasties showing off their respective instruments, which they decided to pick up for this album.

Music: I’m a huge fan and this is my favorite album from them. Just like Tribe, there are a couple different albums that could be considered my favorite at any time. To me, this album is solid all the way through and the instrumentals work well in the flow of this LP. I didn’t quite feel the same way with Ill Communication, but it’s still a great piece of music.

Camp Lo – Uptown Saturday Night

Artwork: This is lame, but I don’t remember what this artwork is an interpolation of. I know the title is from the old movie of the same title, but I feel like the artwork was from something else, maybe Cooley high?

Music: This is definitely one of my favorite albums and I can just listen to it all the way through without skipping a track.

Public Enemy – It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

Artwork: This is just an iconic image for hip-hop heads. If you’re a PE fan, you remember the video for Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos.

Music: “I got a letter from the government the other day, I opened and read it, it said they were suckers.” Great album and arguably the best from PE.

EPMD – Business As Usual

Artwork: I dig this artwork and EPMD is one of my favorite groups. This isn’t my favorite album from the duo, but it has the best art of all their albums.

Music: It’s a great album and I actually think I like it better than when I first got it, and I liked it then. EPMD was talking about the pitfalls of Gold Diggers before Mr. West and made some music with LL before he got bit by a shark.

Masta Ace – Disposable Arts

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Artwork: Everything on this cover is cool. The angle and the lighting, just lounging’ in the street on a car seat. It’s just a real cool picture and Ace is my favorite emcee, so that helps I’m sure.

Music: DA was a triumphant return from MA. This album is what TNT would call a ‘new classic’ if they played music instead of Jason Bourne movies.

The Pharcyde – Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde

Artwork: It’s a bit infantile when you view the entire thing, but the artwork is great.

Music: “I got a letter from the DMV the other day, I opened and read it, it said they were suckers.” This is one of those albums that just holds a special place in the pantheon of 90’s hip-hop. One of the few west coast artists that bucked the gangster trend and just had fun.

Tha Alkaholiks – 21 and Over

Artwork: There’s just something about the view from inside the fridge as the Liks partake in one of their favorite past times. It’s simple, but it fit’s the group perfectly.

Music: It’s a short album, but a classic. The entire album is perfect for that party that you’ve been wanting to throw, so just put this on repeat and get your drink on. Tha Liks are one of those groups that I’ve had numerous people (non-rap fans) comment on how much they like them when I play one of their CD’s. How they never just blew up, I don’t know.

Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

Artwork: This is one of those covers that just fit in with the Wu. It’s raw, like the Wu was one the first hit the seen. I imagine it looks even better in the form of a vinyl cover, where the title and W symbol would fit a little better.

Music: I remember not being into Wu-Tang the first time I heard Protect Ya Neck, but then I came to my senses. It’s a phenomenal piece of music and a great debut.

Bad LP Covers

There are a lot of albums that I could probably put in here, but I tried to relegate the list to stuff I own, or artists I like, with the exception of Lil’ Flip. Pretty much all of those LP’s from the south back in the late 90’s/early aught could go in here (No Limit, etc.).

Again, I could have went nuts here, so here’s just a small list:

Nas – I Am…

Artwork: Okay, the It Was Written made sense, it seemed to complete the gap from child Nas to adult Nas, but here he’s a pharaoh from the future I guess. I don’t know, he pushed it.

Music: After Illmatic, I bought the next 2 albums and they both disappointed. This LP has the classic “Nas Is Like” and that’s about it from what I remember. It’s been a long time since I’ve listened to anything from here except “Nas Is Like“.

Goodie M.O.B. – World Party

Artwork: Goodie M.O.B. caves in to all the artwork from the south during the time that this LP came out. Nothing bothers me more than when people copy something that’s popular, especially when that something popular is lame (see Autotune).

Music: There was some alright stuff on here, but I really didn’t get into this album much.

Lil’ Flip – I Need Mine

Artwork: I don’t own this. I just think this is one of the most ridiculous covers I’ve ever seen, so I had to include it. Who does this appeal to? If I was living in the ghetto or the trailer park, I’d want to beat the holy living hell out of this guy, not run out and buy his album. I think he covers all the stereotypes here (grill, money, jewelry). The capper here is the giant wad of cash, which has always been lame as hell to me, whether it was Pac or lame ass Lil’ Flip.

Music: I’m sure it’s awesome. I mean, he has Lil’ in his name. That’s original.

Heltah Skeltah – D.I.R.T.

Artwork – This cover makes me laugh. I think that’s what they were going for, but it still looks goofy.

Music: I was really impressed with this album. It definitely was a surprise to me. It’s worth picking up.

Binary Star – Masters of the Universe

Artwork: I think my little cousin drew this. It’s a real goofy cover, but it’s an extremely indy album, so I guess I’ll let it go.

Music: Oh, and it’s a great album, so who cares about the artwork really. Buy it
if you can find it.

If you’re checking this blog out, you probably have most of these albums, but here’s a download with a track from every album above, with the exception of Lil’ Flip:

Download it Here

It’s time for more “hard-to-find” goodies from my arsenal of tracks that I’ve managed to find in my visits to records stores, back of magazines, and of course the world wide internet. I honestly didn’t intend to do more than 10-20 tracks for the “Bonus” tracks of my “Obscure” Philaflava post, but people seem to dig it plus I haven’t had the time to move onto the next project I have in mind, at least not yet. So if you don’t like them, tell everyone else to shut up, or if you do like them, keep the comments coming. Easy enough.

LINKS FOR ALL

Beastie Boys – Scenario (Grand Royal, on the “Drum Machine”, “Scenario”, “I’m Down” 12 inch, 2002)

At first you might see the Beastie Boys listed and think “Is anything the Beasties done actually “hard to find”? And my answer to that would be, actually, yeah….The Beasties have lots of b-sides, unreleased and remix joints out there. “Scenario” happens to be one such track. I don’t know much about the origins of the cut. I’m sure some Beastie aficionados can probably fill in the history better than I can, but I’m venturing out on a limb here and will say it was probably done before “Licensed To Ill”, so don’t let the year fool you, that would be when it was released to wax by the Beasties. Movie buffs might remember it being in the Christian Slater movie “Pump Up The Volume” about a pirate radio DJ and this would be a track he would play. It was also that movie that sent me on a 15-year search for “Scenario”, finally finding it when my man Tommy B from Miscreant Productions hooked it up. Needless to say, it was a great day. Song wise, it’s pretty much a rip off of another personal favorite artist in Schoolly D and his classic “PSK”. The drum effects are there along with the other sounds present on “PSK”, but what the hell, I can look past that in this day in age. If you are fan of the Beasties such as I am, especially their earlier work, then you have to check this track out.

Da Bush Babees – Love Song Remix feat De La Soul & Mos Def (Warner Bros. from the “Love Song Remix” 12 inch, 1996)

Another example of a song that isn’t horribly “obscure”, but one that is need of mention just in case some kids are sleeping on it. The remix for the Bush Babee’s “Love Song” track has long been one of my favorites, mainly because it contains De La Soul and Mos Def when he was still focused on making music. The remix is actually done by Da Bush Babee’s Mr. Man, which is a nice twist on the original beatwise. Mos really does his thing on the hook, reminding us older heads why we thought he would be the next Chuck D or the first Kanye West. Of course since I would probably consider De La Soul my favorite hip hop group of all-time, I’m on this tracks proverbial jock because of their shining appearance that almost makes this song sound like a De La song. In fact when I first heard it, I thought it was a De La track (I didn’t fuck with the Bush Babee’s back in the day), it’s got that De La flavor to it. Nothing wrong with that!

Constant Deviants – Can’t Stop (Brooklyn Pipeline, from the “Can’t Stop” b/w “Fed Up” 12 inch, 1998)

A couple of weeks ago I kind of clowned the whole Indie boom that happened toward the end of the 90′s decade. It made many kid go out and buy a Jansport back pack, some big ass Kross headphones and bitch about the mainstream. While they had a point about the mainstream around that time (shiny suits anyone?), the whole genre would soon grind down to boring, monotonous, and straight up garbage type of hip hop and these little hipster nerds would become just as condescending as their mainstream thug counterparts. BUT, some of the early Indie stuff was pretty tight. This is one such little gem that I know next to nothing about, but I LOVE this track. I can’t even remember what caused me to download this track from the almighty Audiogalaxy (anyone remember that shit?) back in the day. I’m glad I did, but I’ve never been able to find much out about them. This track was released in ’98 on some small label. The beat is some fly jazz shit with dope piano keys and a nice string rift, horns, shit it’s got everything. I couldn’t even tell you the name of the MC, but he does a nice job talking about the old days. The hook is nice as well, it’s basic but sticks in your mind and it actually has one of those DJ fellas and he is making squiggy squiggy sounds….weird…don’t hear those anymore. Anyone have any material by these cats, hit me up.

Alright, so I’m cheating a bit here, this was something I posted up a year ago when I first posted this track. Since then, I’ve managed to track down all their 12 inch singles and there was also someone close to M.I.C. and DJ Cutt (who produced this track) educated us as well:

“lead rapper M.I.C is now solo and DJ CUTT does remixes and produced
a gang of stuff for NORE (In House Production Team for Thugged Out Militainment), RICK ROSS, and he was a former producer for Crazy Cat Catalogue(Derik”D.Dot” Angelettie) – Notorious B.I.G, Black Rob, 50 Cent, Lil Kim..etc,
They still grind together with Impact Music Group a multimedia entertainment Co”

Eminem & Royce Da 5’9 – Renagades (Original Version) (Never officially released?)
As far as I’m concerned, this version shits all over the one with Jay that appeared on “The Blueprint”, and I actually liked that version. Royce and Em share great chemistry on everything I’ve ever heard them on, so it’s only natural that they killed this. Their work as “Bad Me
ets Evil” and the 12″ they dropped made me hope they would release something back when they were both hungry.

I’ve heard multiple reasons for Jay ending up on the final version, all from Royce’s label wouldn’t allow it, to Jay paying more money for the beat, to it was part of the fall out with Dre and Royce. I’m not going to venture which one is true, although I would go with the label issues. I hope they can work together again in the future, maybe working with Royce will make Em hungry again. Excuse fuckin’ Kay Slay screaming all over the damn track.

Ghostface feat Raekwon & Slick Rick – The Sun (Never officially released)

This is my favorite Ghostface track. I’ve seen this on some of those “unofficial” Ghostface releases, but I think it was left off of “Bulletproof Wallets” due to sample clearances. I looked up to see where he got the sample from, but no dice. Ghost is typical Ghost, while Rae comes off and adds to their obvious chemistry. Slick Rick bats cleanup and this sounds like this was made for him, even the chorus sounds like something rick would come up with. This is a great song to wake up to on an early spring morning…who said we didn’t have feelings??

Kid Sensation – Ride The Rhythm Cruise Control Mix (Nastymix, from the “Ride The Rhythm” 12 inch, 1992)

I’ve always liked the remix for Kid Sensation’s lead off single, “Ride The Rhythm”, so much that I had to include in my “bonus” picks. I can remember picking up this bad boy on the cassette single back in the day. I was shocked that the remix was just as good as the original version. To this day, I’m still not sure which I prefer more, although I think this remix might have a slight edge over the original. I remember this track having a killer bassline in a decent car studio, with it’s stuttering drum break laying underneath it, it was something for the trunk ‘o funk for sure.

Lord Digga - My Flow Is Tight (Game Recordings, from the “My Flow Is Tight” b/w “Sacks 5th Ave” 12 inch, 1998)

As big of a Masta Ace fan as I am, I was surprisingly never that big of a Digga fan. I thought he made for a decent hype man, but I always kind of cringed when he did full verses on the Inc albums. Yeah, I know, some of you will call me crazy, I just thought he was never that good of a lyricists. I still don’t, but this solo single he dropped in ’98 did prove to me he could at least carry a song on his own. Even if the track is almost a novelty in its approach. If you haven’t heard this track before, Digga flips the “Price Is Right” theme from the legendary game show and makes it his own. I can never argue against the fact that Digga was a extremely talented producer and he does his thing with this track and keeps it from just being a corny disaster, which could have happened rather easily. On the mic, Digga is still Digga, but he is easier to handle in the smaller dose of one track. Also include the fact he is a little more mellow on the track, which also helps me enjoy the track more as well.

Erick Sermon – Rock Da House (Rush Associated Labels, from the “Stay Real” 12 inch as a b-side, 1993)

Being a big fan of Erick Sermon during those early 90′s days, with both his production on the first two Redman albums along with Keith Murray’s debut and then combine both his production and mic duties on “No Pressure”, I thought E Double could do no wrong. This track came from the “Stay Real” 12 inch which I once again bought as a cassingle back in the day. For some reason, I lost it fairly quick, so I wasn’t able to enjoy “Rock Da House” as much as I would have liked back in the day. My man Jaz over at Cold Rock Da Spot went on a hunt to find this, which I think finally popped up at Dr. OK’s blog about a year ago. The track is full of the funk, something that I love to this day. It’s all about the dirty bottom and only E Double, Redman or Keith can do a track this sloppy justice. Great stuff.

Nice & Smooth – No Bones In Ice Cream Original Version (Fresh Records, on the “Funky For You” b/w “No Bones In Ice Cream” 12 inch, 1990)

This original version of “No Bones In Ice Cream” took awhile to track down. I’ve always thought the original version was head and shoulders above the “No Bones” (Remix) that is found on the Jewel of the Nile LP. Nice & Smooth excelled in making non sense rhymes, concepts and ideas sound dope as fuck, probably more so than anyone else. The beat takes a familiar piano loop and lays it over another familiar sample (I’m horrible with naming samples) all over a simple drum break, but in true Nice & Smooth fashion, the shit is nice. It’s nothing new from the duo, but true fans of their work should appreciate hearing when they were on top of their game and a track that could have easily been on any of their albums and still been one of the better tracks.

Zhigge – Rakin’ In The Dough Uptown Bounce Mix (PolyGram, from the “Rakin’ In The Dough” 12 inch single, 1992)

There are always tracks that hold some special memory and this happens to be one of them for me. I bought a DJ Red Alert tape out of the back of the Source magazine back in the day. The Uptown Bounce Mix for Rakin’ In The Dough happ
ened to be one that Red played on that show. I never heard the version before and spent the next 15 plus years (yes, again) trying to track down the version. Thankfully for the internet, I once again have it in my collection. I wasn’t big on Zhigge back in those days, but I’ve learned to like them since then. The beat and the bangin’ drums, both supplied by Salaam Remi, or the true treat found on this album.

Another weekend in the books and another weekend without a post. Oh well, you all should be getting used to that. So be it, I guess. It’d be okay if I was actually getting work done even without a post, but I can’t say that’s happening either. One of these weeks, hopefully, I’ll become a wild man unleashed and get everything done that I keep telling myself that I’m going to get done…until then, we’ll keep on winging it.

While I continue to get in order (read: start on) the next big series I have planned, I thought I’d do something I haven’t done in a while and that’s take requests and do re-ups. Instead of doing it all in one day like I did last fall, we’ll spread it over the week. THE RULES: Request anything that I have posted up in the past that is no longer working (MAKE SURE IT’S NOT WORKING check first, because I will) or if there is something you are looking for that you can’t find (meaning do a blog search first), drop me a line in one of three ways: 1. The comments 2. The C-box 3. An email. Each day I’ll post up 3-5 requests/re-ups. Try to keep the requests in the “rare” and out of print realm of things. Easiest way to check if something is out of print is to go to Amazon.com and see if they are selling new copies of said album or not. If they do not have it in stock, it’s more than likely out of print. I’ll make a few exceptions, there are a few things out there in print but are just a bitch to find regardless. I’d be open to sharing those, but I’m not going to post up the new Brother Ali album or something like that, there is more than enough places to download that type of stuff if you must. Stick to the albums, I’ve never been a DJ, so any 12 inch releases I have are stuff I’ve gotten from other blogs. Polarity is the 12 inch genius, but it would be a while for him to get any of that kind of stuff up.

There won’t be in system on how I’ll do it, basically whatever I can find the easiest in my collection will get posted up first. Also if you are a fellow blogger or a “preferred” visitor, you’ll more than likely have your stuff up a bit faster as well (I do play favorites). Feel free to help each other as well. That was the beautiful thing about doing the requests last year, people would help each other with requests. Get to requesting……..

Songs———–

In the vein of a traditional “Sunday Lite” posts, we’re sticking to single tracks, because, well, I want to.

Dr. Dre feat Royce Da 5’9 – Way I Be Pimpin’

I meantioned the whole Dr. Dre/Royce ordeal that went down during the making of “The Chronic 2001″ last week when I posted up the Royce Aftermath demo. The track contains the same sample/beat (I should know the sample, but can’t think of it), but with different lyrics from Dre, that were ghost written by Royce with the hook done by Royce. After the fall out between the supposed “big headed’ Royce and Dre, Dre went back to the lab and cranked out the album version of the song, which would become “Xxplosive”.

I can’t say which I prefer more really. I’m more used to the album version, so I suppose I would go with that creation, but it just shows what could have been, if Royce would have kept his head on straight. To give Royce some credit, he did seem to learn his lesson. On “Death Is Certain”, he produced a much more personal and humble album that I thought was highly overlooked.

De La Soul feat Mos Def & Truth Enola – Stakes Is High (remix)

This is one 12 inch release I wouldn’t mind having, Itzsoweezee(Hot) b/w Stakes Is High (Remix). The A-Side was possibly one of my favorite tracks on my seventh all-time favorite Hip Hop album (the dorkiness continues) and any remix that has a Jay Dee beat and Mos Def added to it, you know it has to be fairly decent.

The beat itself is basically the same but switched up from the original. It’s still got that early Jay Dee/J Dilla feel to it in the same vein as “Runnin’” or some of his other earlier works. The lyrics are also different as well, but sticking with the original meaning of the song. Mos Def, who at this time was fairly new to the game (I can’t remember if the UTD stuff came out before this or not). De La’s weed carrier at the time was also featured on this track, Truth Enola. Enola never really impressed me and I can’t say I heard his album from a couple years ago, but he doesn’t ruin the song, which is all you want.

The Pharcyde – Pork

I realized when started to do a write up on this joint that it isn’t as rare as it once was. Originally, you could only find this track as the unreleased B-Side to “Passing Me By”, but it was recently included on the “Sold My Soul” compilation released last year, but whatever, for those of you that slept on that, you need to get with this track. You know what to expect if it was recorded in the “Bizarre Ride…” era, some off the wall, silly, fun to listen to joint, it is called “Pork” after all.

Produced by La Jay, the horns on this track are lovely and all four MC’s (wouldn’t that be great again?) are in rare form, coming with their trademarked goofiness that made everyone love “Bizzare Ride..”. If you haven’t heard this, get up on it.

Beastie Boys feat Def Squad & Biz Markie – Body Movin’ Remix

I always kind of chuckle/vomit in my mouth at the same time when someone says the Beasties were a bunch of sell outs. Is that why everyone from Q-tip to Redman to Biz Markie has worked with them? Give me a break. The Beasties are just as much as a part of Hip Hop as any of the Golden Age greats. And don’t even get me started on the two white dudes dressing up in business suits questioning the music store clerk because the Beasties are filed underneath Hip Hop and not Rock, which I was a witness to last week which made me want to take an used White Lion CD and beat them upon the upper torso region for being stupid.

All 80′s rock violence aside, the Beasties come at us with another posse cut similar to Soul Assasians remix of “So Whatcha Want” from the “Check Your Head” LP. This time Redman, E Double and Biz Markie join the Beasties and basically steal the show. You don’t hear a lot from the Beasties on this one, basically some adlibs and the such. Biz, a long time Beasties cohort, drops a verse as well that will please any Diabocal fan. (Excuse the quality of the track, it was copied to one of the first CD-R’s I ever did, making it probably 8 years old or so, so the CD has received a beat down of epic porportions)

Eminem – Bad Influence & Go To Hell (?) feat Pauly Yams

On the topic of shunned white MC’s, we’ll piss everyone off and go to some Eminem. I know, I know, whats a 30 something, self proclamied Hip Hop purists posting up some Eminem for? I ain’t going to lie, I like me some early Eminem (no homo). The Rawkus stuff? That track was an example of all that’s right in Hip Hop, humor, clever rhymes and just fun to listen to. His apperance on Sway & King Tech’s album was just as good as that was and the joint on Funk Flex’s “The Tunnel” could be grouped in this class as well. His first two albums were, yes, some what mainstream, but also catered to the underground head as well. I know his whiteness has helped him for than hurt him, but I believe if he was black, he might not have sold 70 zillion copies of his albums to every 12-15 white surbuban kid, but he’d be more appreciated for what he really is(was) and that’s a talented MC.

The first track is from the straight to video (okay, it should have been) Arnold “Da Govenator” flick “The Last Days”. It come out right after Em’s first album (I get the names of the LP’s mixed up and am in a hurry, so I won’t bother looking it up) and sounds like a cast off or a different version of “Role Model” from said album, but there is some pissed off Em, doing what he does best, bitching, but he sounds good doing it. Since the Soundtrack probably sold less than the actual movie, I’m trusting not too many people have heard this. I (blushing) bought the OST just for this song (it was before I was too into downloading music off the internet).

The second track is kind of mystery to me. I believe I found it on Audio Galaxy or Napster back in the day. I think it was supposed to be included on DJ Jazzy Jeff’s “The Magnificant”, but I can’t find much as a name, let alone it’s orgins. I’ve always called it “Go To Hell” from the sample from South Park it uses (Mr. Garrison screaming “You Go To Hell”). Pauly Yams from Jeff’s camp also appears on the track, which is the reasoning I use that It didn’t make the “The Magnificant” cut or something. Maybe someone down with Em’s crew reading this will fill us in…(yeah right, like Paul Rosenberg reads this, or any blog).

Trav’s Top 5 Spins Of The Week……
1. Stricklin – The Resume Mixtape
Big Strick! I’ll be the first to admit that when I’m listening to something new, the first few listens I will concern myself with the beat, if the beat doesn’t grab me, I won’t usually give it enough time to listen to the lyrics. Not so with Strick, which to me, is a sign of a good MC. Eminem, Redman and a few others are MC’s that have that effect on me. Some of the stuff Strick kicks lyric wise is nothing short of amazing.

2. Senim Silla – The Name…The Motto…The Outcome
I was pretty big on Binary Star’s “Master’s Of The Universe”, which would probably be in the top 10 albums of this decade in my book. They split and One Man Army aka One Be Lo went on the solol tip and dropped a top 5 album in ’04. His partner Senim Silla comes with his own project, which is just as good as One Be Lo’s effort. All Binary Star fans should check this out.

3. Evidence – The Weatherman
Still pumping the Ev album, one of the better albums of the first third of the year.

4. 10 Bass T – Do You Know The Way
Every now and then, I’ll pull out an album I haven’t heard in awhile and give it a listen, that was the case with this album. I love this album, but know next to nothing about the group except they were from San Fransico….I think. Despite my lack of knowledge on the group, the album is a solid effort from the mid 90′s. Good luck trying to find a copy, I still haven’t seen it except for a couple times on Amazon for two President Jacksons.

5. Joel Ortiz – The Brick: The Bodega Chronicles

After a close friend of mine told me I NEEDED to hear this joint, I finally gave into my recent fear of the sound a like/rhyme a like/ look a like NY artists such as Tru Papoose or Dip Life or any of those other artists that have 15 million mixtapes out, yet not one album amoung them. This pains me to say that about NY artists, because NY is the Mecca of hip hop, the birthplace, it’s where my love for hip hop started….but they are just as guilty of bringing stale music to the table as the south. Back to the actual album, this was better than I expected, which wasn’t much (the same friend told me I had to listen to Serius Jones and Tru Life and I fell asleep and/or stopped half way through both of them). I’ll give it more listens than the 3-4 I gave it last week. It has potential and is much better than any of the PapdipsetoosetruJonesLifeSerius that I’ve heard lately.

WHY?????

I recieved emails from both David Icke and Condoleeza Rice about me not doing a “Why???” during my Sunday Lite p
osts, so due to such high requests, I figured I’d better throw of the more mind questioning thins I’ve been pondering recentely.

Why will the Cleveland Browns still suck even after their “A+” graded draft? (edit: Because they are still the Browns and Tim Couch errr Brady Quinn won’t save them….hahaha)

Why did the Steelers draft a TE in round three when they already have Heath Miller?

Why did they trade up to draft a punter in the forth round….yes, A PUNTER??????

Why are some of my early CD-R’s starting to fall to pieces, I thought CD’s were supposed to last “forever”?

Why does going out anymore on the weekends result in dropping no less than 60 bucks?

Why am I not excited about the new Beastie Boys album? (probably because their last one was their worst)

Why did watching MTV’s original “Rapumentary” this past weekend almost bring tears to my eyes? (in a good way)

Why are there not more songs like “Nostaglia” by Masta Ace these days?

Why is a big fat Chicago Principal hooking up with with seeminly hot looking teachers?

Why on God’s green earth is the godess Salma Hayek marrying this dude?

Why can’t the Pittsburgh Pirates win a game at home to save their ass?

Why am I in last place a month into the season in the Bloggers Celebrity Fantasy Baseball Challenge?

Why is Alfonsio Soriano being a piece of over priced crap?

That is all….dismissed

Travis