P-Vine Records are releasing an official pressing of the shelved Main Source album The Science. In the meantime I thought I’d dig up my attempt at replicating how the LP might have shaped up in a 2014 post. Download
Author: Robbie Ettelson
What really makes a rapper great?
After making the classic rookie mistake of logging onto Rap Twitter the other day, I was reminded of the absolute disparity that exists with how fans and insufferable Please Follow My Account types judge ‘good rapping’. There seems to be three main schools of thought here: 1. Punchlines and multi-syllable verbal gymnastics are the apex…
LL Cool J – Illegal Search [Pre-Trial Hearing Mix]
Somehow I completely missed this amazing original mix of LL’s ‘Illegal Search’ until I picked up the 12″ of ‘Jingling Baby’ last year. For starters, it reminds me of Little Shawn’s ‘Hickey’s On My Chest’, which was released three years later with Howie Tee’s take on the same James Brown loop and still rocks on…
X-Clan – Funkin’ Lesson (Part II)
Not sure why the Stereo MC’s labeled this remix as Part II, other than that they thought they might sell a few extra copies via if the punter’s thought it was a brand new song from Brother J and co? They also recorded some nice remixes for the Jungle Brothers and Latifah under their Ultimatum…
Black Rob – Jeans and Sneakers [CRC Edit] / Questions & Answers
The late Black Rob was always great, but around the time that he released his second album, The Black Rob Report, he really hit his stride and recorded two tracks that I still listen every chance I get. ‘Jeans and Sneakers’ was originally an unholy alliance between a heavily-edited promo rap for Biggie’s planned Brooklyn…
Reserve a copy of Past The Margin: A Decade of Unkut Interviews now
Reserve your copy of the hardcover, first edition of Past The Margin: A Decade of Unkut Interviews, shipping January 2023, by signing up at the link below: Conservative Rap Coalition newsletter (if you’re already subscribed to the CRC newsletter then you’re already in the queue) Once they arrive, I’ll email the details for shipping and…
Mobb Deep – White Lines
What could be a better end to the working week than for a couple of Mobb Deep bootlegs to arrive on my doorstep? This Prodigy masterpiece first did the rounds on the mixtape circuit under the name ‘White Lines’ before it was pitched down and redone as ‘Quiet Storm’, with Hav on the hook and…
The B-Boys – Rock The House Y’all (Special Instrumental Version)
Smurf across the surf with this Netherlands-only instrumental mix, featuring what sounds like tiny versions of Donald D and Brother B, because that was how everyone was rolling in 1983.
Pete Rock feat. Tragedy, Noreaga and Meccalicious – Strange Fruit
That faithful winter of 1997, when Queensbridge went nuts finding haunting vocal samples from jazz greats like Nina Simone to rap over, gave us the CRC anthems ‘Alluminatti’ (or ‘Norematti’ if you’re Team NORE instead of Iman THUG) and ‘True Confessions’ via local beat merchant G-Money. This powerful sound eventually bled into Pete Rock’s consciousness…
Diamond D feat. Noreaga, Zev Love X and K-Terrible – Feel It
An alternative version of the Diamond D track from the One Tough Cop soundtrack, a film starring Stephan Baldwin and Chris Penn which no one I know has seen or even heard of. Zev’s verse would resurface when his MF Doom transformation was complete, but interesting to hear an early take here.
DJ 7L – In My Lifetime (A Cey Adams Megamix)
DJ 7L sez: This mix is an audio celebration of the work Cey Adams has done as a designer and artist. As head creative director at Def Jam in the 90’s Cey created some of the most iconic album covers and logos. In My Lifetime is source material from albums he has worked on, everything…
That one time I got Pete Rock to diss Kanye in print…
This gave me a good chuckle when this copy of Hip Hop Connection magazine arrived in the mailbox, with Kanye West paying respects to Pete Rock while getting shat on in the paragraph beside the sidebar. Truly the salad days. Click for the full size scan