This installment of “Forgotten Beefs” is also somewhat of a mystery to me, in that there is very little information on the basis of it. Freddie Foxxx has experienced many ups and downs in the rap game, but has maintained his position as one of hip-hop’s most enduring tough guys. Originally slated for vocal duties…
Author: Robbie Ettelson
Forgotten Beefs Part 2: Choice vs. NWA, Geto Boys & Too $hort
Biting the hand that feeds you is never a good idea, but when you’re a foul-mouthed Houston broad struggling to get noticed, it seems like the only option. Such is the story of Choice, the first “lady” of Rap-A-Lot. Willie D gave her a break by generously allowing her to appear on his seminal Controversy…
Years To Build – DJ Ivory of the P Brothers
With all this talk of kids jumping on the ’88 rap bandwagon, it seems strange that nobody has bothered to ask DJ Ivory his views on the whole phenomonen, considering his two Hear No Evil mixes seem to have had a such a large impact (I somehow managed to resist calling this piece “Speak No…
Forgotten Beefs Part 1 – DITC vs LOTUG
Remember back to the days when annoying, gimmicky raps were flavour of the month? A time when groups like the Fu-Schnickens* were actually taken seriously, and you could dance around with a muppet in your video and still get respect (UMC‘s “Blue Cheese”)? In a similar vein, Marley Marl unleashed the Lords of the Underground…
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…
Revenge of the (Rap Record) Nerds
The rise of the Rap Record Nerd has, not coincidentally, coincided with the invent of the “online shopping revolution” (aka Ebay). While it’s by no means a new phenomenon, it’s far more widespread than I had initially realized. Before the internet age you’d find poorly-dressed weirdos skulking around record fairs and second-hand music shops, armed…
The U.N. – “Greater than great?”
A lot of people seem to be sleeping on this group. Some high-brow lyric fiends might consider the U.N. to be just more of the same old gun-toting, hoodlum-style rap (which is never a bad thing anyway), but don’t get put off by boring cuts like "Russian Hat Wear" (aka the "Money" remix). Sure, Dino…
Large Professor Vs. WWF
For anybody who bothered to pick up the Main Source Breaks The Atom 2LP reissue (gotta love a loud pressing of "Snake Eyes"), the inclusion of an unreleased cut (from the aborted sessions for their never-completed album The Science) was an exciting prospect. However, "Hellavision (Large Professor Vocal)" is not exactly what I was hoping…
Marxman Cinema Review
As a life-long M.O.P fanatic, the prospect of two CD’s/four LP’s worth of new and unreleased Mash Out material had me chaffing at the bit. When they connect with Premier, Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame transform into Brownsville’s aggravated answer to Run-DMC, and without him they still attain EPMD status. Their records pump adrenaline into…
Nas, OC and Jeru – Three The Hard Way
In 1997, I wrote a small piece analyzing how these three had progressed. Seven years later, I thought I’d look at how things have changed since then, and do a quick update ………………………………………………………………………………………… “Time’s Up”, “Half Time” and “Come Clean”. These three tracks defined street-level hip hop in the first half of the 90’s. They…
The search for Godfather Don
During those oh-so-mediocre days of the “indy revival” in the late 90’s, one of the few artists to actually put out records that still hold up today was Godfather Don. Although he was no stranger to the rap game, as he had dropped a great album on Select back in 1991 (“Hazardous”) which nobody heard,…
A Tribute to Hydra Entertainment
While Rawkus Records has to be the most overrated label of the 90’s, Hydra Entertainment is easily the most overlooked. Dismissed by many critics as a purveyor of “mediocre thug crap” while they championed snooze-worthy Talib Kweli records, Hydra has been the delivering a stream of classic street material that rarely disappoints. And for those…