Live At The BBQ – The Missing Link

Not content with being the second greatest posse cut of all time (nothing’s knocking “The Symphony” off the top, sonny), Main Source‘s “Live At The BBQ” is also responsible for launching the careers of Nasty Nas, Akinyele and…Joe Fatal? According to Grimm Reaper (bka MF Grimm), he and Fatal were driving to the studio when they were involved in an accident. I’m assuming somebody crashed into them, since Grimm ended-up getting locked-up for assaulting the driver of the other car. Fatal got released early, and was able to make the session, but Grimm was still behind bars so missed out on the recording. In a Source interview, Pudgee The Phat Bastard (who dropped a decent Trackmasters-produced album called Give ‘Em The Finger) later claimed “I wrote the second verse to Main Source’s “Live At The BBQ”-that’s MC Fatal’s verse. And I got no props. I wrote 16 outta 20 lines, and those were the ones that got Fatal props.” This is not suprising considering that Joe was primarily known as a DJ and producer. The point being, Grimm wrote a verse for “BBQ” that he never made it to the hotplate, so he decided to cook-up another two and put it out.

The result was “So Whatcha Want Nigga?”, which, despite featuring a standard 1993-style shouting chorus, is lyrically incredible. The following year, Grimm got busy at the Rocksteady Anniversary jam, holding his own alongside Bronx heavyweights such as Lord Finesse, Fat Joe and KRS-One. He also dropped “Get Down” / “Emotions” on Stretch Armstrong‘s Dolo Records in 1996. The A-side was a club hopping joint set to a superb, moody Dr Butcher production, while the remix added Fatman Scoop for some extra excitement, but it was the team-up with B-1 that really lets Grimm get loose, as we catch a glimse into one of the sharpest mind’s in rap. Forget the Nas / Rakim comparisons, MF is in fact a closer match to the microphone god in terms of steely-eyed delivery and deep thought.

Other notable Grimm appearences include Kurious‘ “Baby Bust It”, KMD‘s “What A Niggy Know” (Remix), Kool G Rap‘s “Take ‘Em To War”, not to mention his own “WWIII” and “Tick, Tick” with Doom. Recent material has seen him adopt a more experimental, abstract lyrical style, but I’ll reserve comment until I’ve heard more of it.

Note: There’s a track from a B-1 demo tape (when he had briefly changed his name to One) featuring Grimm, Lord Finesse and Freddie Foxxx, called “Takin’ Niggas”. If anybody has a copy of this in any shape or form, let me know!