When news that two of rap’s most eccentric and creative nutjobs (Ghostface & MF Doom) were holed-up in a studio together, working on music, the first thing that sprung to mind was that they’re either cooking-up some mind-blowing, classic shit, or are about to unleash some of the corniest crap ever laid down on two-inch…
Category: Steady Bootleggin’
Holding it down for angry loners & the unemployable
Part Time Rappers, MC’s Beware….
Not content with serving-up killer beats for the Flavor Unit crew, DJ Mark The 45 King also blessed us with several examples of his impressive mic skills, a tradition that’s since been carried on by Kid Capri, Doo-Wop and Tony Touch. Forget that “best producer on the mic” talk, DJ’s that rap are where it’s…
The Original Flavor Unit
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Khadafi – Arab Nazi?
Following Saga of A Hoodlum, it would be a few more years before we heard from Trag again. Having become frustrated with the struggles that come from being an artist on a clueless major label, plus an unforseen “up north trip”, he soon focused his attention on the bigger picture, and pieced together a project…
Attention A&R Dept: Lost Ultra Tracks
Funk Your Head Up has already been talked about on this site in great detail, and thanks to Ultra associate Marc Davis, it was revealed that Mercury records had refused to release the original version of the album for being “too hardcore” as far as the production was concerned. This further illustrates just how clueless…