Perhaps best known for providing Melle Mel with the beat to “The Message” while working as a Sugarhill Records session player, Duke Bootee went on to unleash a series of DMX/Linn Drum driven speaker smashers for Profile and his own Beauty and the Beat imprint, as well as his own solo album. When combined with a great scratch DJ and some effective Shout Rap (Word of Mouth‘s “King Kut”) or the hardcore b-boy stance of one-time Rammellzee rhyme partner and a razor sharp Latin Rascals edit (K-Rob‘s “I’m A Homeboy”), the trademark Duke sound was unstoppable. Here’s a collection of his production and vocal work, including that time that Bootee was recruited to record a guest rap in Ewok…
Download: A Salute To Duke Bootee
Track listing:
1. K-Rob – ‘I’m A Homeboy‘
2. MC Crash – ‘Life On The Street‘
3. Word of Mouth feat. DJ Cheese – ‘King Kut‘
4. Point Blank MC’s – ‘Hard To The Body‘
5. Z-3 MC’s – ‘Triple Threat‘
6. Word of Mouth feat. DJ Cheese – ‘Coast To Coast‘
7. Melle Mel and Duke Bootee – ‘Message 2 (Survival)‘
8. Rap-O-Matic Ltd. – ‘Lies, Lies‘
9. Duke Bootee – ‘Broadway‘
10. Masterdon Committee – ‘Get Off My Tip‘
11, Point Blanks MC’s – ‘What The Party Needs‘
12. Melle Mel and Duke Bootee – ‘The Message‘
13. Duke Bootee – Live Wire(I Want A Girl That Sweats)
14. Gil Scott-Heron feat. Melle Mel, Duke Bootee and the Fat Boys – ‘Let Me See Your I.D.‘
15. Meco feat. Duke Bootee – ‘Ewok Celebration (Club Version)‘
Like.
Real Dope.
Nice one Robbie, Duke Bootee deserves more recognition, if only for his fundamental role in The Message. I first heard of him when he was interviewed in a documentary about the history of Hip Hop that was made for Channel 4 here in England around about 1999/2000. I liked him immediately when he dismissed Diddy in the interview, saying he’d rather buy a sandwich or a cigar than a diddy record. A man of good judgement.
Everything that Bootee made is worth listening to. He made some great music- more props to him