Though in recent years the name Flavor Unit has been seen only as Queen Latifah‘s production and management company, it’s origins can be traced back to 1987, when a young New Jersey-based rapper named Latee teamed-up with local DJ, Mark The 45 King to kick some lyrics over a dope Fatback Band loop. Dubbing the…
Author: Robbie Ettelson
45 King & Latee – Brainstorm EP Review
A welcome addition to the growing ranks of rap reissues is the famed 45 King Brainstorm EP, unoffically named after the incredible Latee track of the same name that’s contained amongst it’s six selections. I was lucky enough to get a copy of the original pressing of this a few years back, and as far…
Decent Albums With Awful R&B Style Back Covers – Three Time Dope
Talk about “punk smoove shit”. Whoever convinced 3xD to abandon the sound that made Original Stylin’ so great and start making songs with ex-Slave vocalist Steve Arrington needs to be slapped silly, Yaggfu Front style. While the front cover was OK, the pastel suits that these three Philly fellas are rocking on the back set…
Tribute To Ignorance Awards For 2005
Real Talk Award: Sadat X on “Back To New York”: “They sayin’ New York don’t hold it down that slot no more – we ain’t make people get up on the dancefloor/We rhymin’ like other niggas, dressin’ like other niggas/using other niggas slang when that ain’t our thang!”
Decent Albums With Awful R&B Style Covers – Barsha
Not to shit on Nat Robinson or anything (I’m a big fan of both the Audio Two albums), but Bum Rush Records really should have fired their art director, because Barsha’s Explicit Lyrics album cover not only resembles some Keith Sweat gone wrong type of status with his leather vest and matching gloves, but also…
Sadat X – Experience & Education LP Review
As another year of microwave rap albums draws to a close, even the decent LP’s have long since worn out their welcome. Seemingly out of nowhere, The Great Dot X steps back into the picture, sounding rejuvinated and back to his usual top form following the musically forgettable Fire In The Hole. Vocally, Experience &…
Snake Eyes
For the final in my series of Tragedy Specials, I’ve got an unreleased burner and a brand new joint for ya. A lost jewel from Khadafi‘s catalogue is a short track known as “Leviathan”, which appeared on a 25 Ta Life test-pressing that was later bootlegged on a double 12″, along with a random selection…
Decent Rap Albums With Awful R&B Covers – Kings of Swing
Not only does the cover photo for this album have a “smoothed out on the R&B tip with a pop-feel appeal to it” vibe, the name Kings of Swing brings to mind an album of full of trendy Teddy Riley inspired New Jack Swing jams. As it turns out, Strategy is the only album from…
Jealous Ones Envy?
Trag has had a few different kids join him on songs at various stages, but one of the best combinations was when he teamed-up with Iman Thug for some outstanding efforts such as “The Bridge 2000”, “Allumniti” and “True Confessions”. Despite the fact that a lot of people thought that “Confessions” was a Raekwon and…
Half Gracious, Half Foul
Jumping ahead from the War Report era (which I’ll return to in a minute), 2003 saw the release of Still Reportin’, which was a strong return to form that managed to generate a nice buzz with an “XL” rating in Elliot Wilson‘s mag amongst other things. As you know by now, Trag got locked up…
Will The Real Pubah Please Stand Up? – Krown Rulers & Masters of Ceromony Review
Some bright spark over at Traffic Entertainment came up with the idea of releasing a bunch of ’80’s albums on CD, which is a pretty decent concept since most of these are tough to find for anyone under 30 who wasn’t around to buy them when they first came out. Plus only stuff like Run-DMC…
Decent Rap Albums with Awful R&B Covers – Greyson & Jaysun
Over the years there’s been a few decent albums that I’ve picked up in the dollar bin, having previously ignored them when they were originally released on account of their cheesy, R&B style cover photo. That’s right…this is a new series called “Decent Rap Albums with Awful R&B Covers”. Greyson & Jaysun were not only…