This is the first take of ‘Jam On It,’ recorded on a four track tape recorder and sans the Wikki’s.
Author: Robbie Ettelson
King Sun Demos
Until the demo tape which Ice Cube ripped off surfaces, these two King Sun unreleased tracks will have to tide us over. King Sun – ‘Mr Policeman‘ A Jazzy Jay produced burner submitted for the Who’s The Man? soundtrack which rocks a loop that would later appear on one of Godfather Don’s Hydrabeats LPs.
Stream: The Combat Jack Show – The Consequence Episode
Combat Jack kindly informed Cons that I had crowned him the Greatest Weed Carrier of All Time, and his response was fairly predictable. I can now tick off offending Consequence from my rap bucket list.
Download: A Salute To Original Demo Versions
As much as it’s always a treat to hear the early, unreleased demo efforts of great rappers, it’s also intriguing to be able to experience the early, rough takes of songs that would be polished-up, adjusted or paired back. Some of these demo versions feature different lyrics, alternative loops or sometimes simply looser deliveries, and…
Rap Guest Shots That Featured No Actual Rapping
Nothing worse than seeing the names of rapper’s on the back of a hip-hop album and thinking to yourself, ‘Sweet! Looking forward to hearing this dude rap on this shit!’ Then you get home and it turns out that the ‘feature’ is just the MC in question performing the hook and doing a shout-out at…
No Country For Old (Rap) Men: The Lessons That Hip-Hop Forgot
Fun Fact: Chilly Tee gave up rapping after his Bomb Squad produced LP tanked and got into the movie business, serving as the Lead Animator for stop motion films Coraline, The Boxtrolls and Paranorman (which is one of the better kids films I’ve seen in recent times). No Country For Old (Rap) Men: The Lessons…
Download: A Salute To Showbiz Remixes
Photo: richdirection Remember that time that A.G. fired shots at Arrested Development in The Source for not mentioning Show when they won the Grammy for ‘Tennesee’? Here’s the remix in question, alongside fifteen other examples of Show’s production magic, ranging from his early big band horn-stab style through to his incredibly sparse, stripped down period…
Let Ren Down – Thoughts On The Straight Outta Compton Movie
I really wanted to like Straight Outta Compton, and in many ways, I did. But in many other, more important ways, I did not. The fundamental problem with any biopic that’s produced by the people it’s telling the story about is that you’re getting an incredibly sanitized, white-washed version of events which goes to extreme…
Pause-Worthy Rapper Names Hall of Fame
Because I have the maturity of a teenager, I present my list of suspect rapper names. Please add on where appropriate. *Updated with comment section suggestions.*
No Country For Old (Rap) Men: Albums That Fell Tragically Short of Their Potential
Those times when I got played for my $22 at the vinyl import spot…salutes to P_gotsachill for the idea. No Country For Old (Rap) Men: Albums That Fell Tragically Short of Their Potential
Forgotten Beefs: N.W.A. vs Romeo & Master Rhyme
DJ M-Walk, who you may remember as Tone Loc’s DJ, produced a song for Romeo & Master Rhyme in 1987 which sampled ‘To Be Real.’ It was picked up by Delicious Vinyl and remixed by the Dust Brothers, and contained some lines which were seemingly aimed at another local LA crew: M-Walk don’t dig dirty…
Download: A Salute To Rap-A-Lot Records
Some of my favorite rap sprung from Houston’s Rap-A-Lot Records, as the label incorporated organs, harmonicas and funk guitar with traditional breakbeats, creating a unique blend of east coast and southern hip-hop before everyone jumped on The Chronic bandwagon and started playing everything from scratch. Here’s a selection of my favorite moments from the early…