Photo by Janette Beckman Super duper, extra-large shout out to Wilizm in the comments for finding this gem, long since removed from when I first posted the YouTube version. If this isn’t in your top ten then why are you even listening to rap? Download: Ultramagnetic MC’s – ‘Bait’ (original version) Source: A vintage episode…
Category: The 80’s Files
Three Classic DJ Scott La Rock Print Features
After catching this NME piece from Frank Owen’s vault (courtesy of Mask Of Norro), which featured an actual interview with the great man shortly before he was fatally shot, I thought I’d dig out the 2002 XXL Mag piece by Noah Callahan-Bever and revisit the original New York Times report. The New Musical Express piece…
Eric B – The Unkut Interview [Extended Edition]
This interview was originally conducted ten years ago, while Mr. Barrier was promoting a new rapper he was working with who none of us can remember. Since I was compiling some material for a Queens book idea that never panned out, I held back the best parts – namely, the stuff about the park jams…
The Unkut Guide To Steady B Solo Albums
After realising that I only own one Steady B album (and all of his Pop Art singles), I thought I might revisit his catalogue in order to fill in some gaps in my Philly rap knowledge. Bring The Beat Back Fresh off his run of popular answer records and duets with Shante, the rapper formerly…
That time Paul Shaffer from Letterman made a rap song with Larry Smith, Ecstasy and The Fresh Prince
Following on from Kane and Biz hanging out with Paul Simon in 1987, Quincy Jones’ all-star ‘Back On The Block‘ and Rick James’ ‘Loosey’s Rap‘ with Kane and Shante, Paul Shaffer (David Letterman’s band leader and the author of ‘It’s Raining Men‘), decided to blend doo-wop and hip-hop a full two years before Easy Moe…
Spoonie Gee for Prez
Spoonie Gee isn’t talked about enough in terms of the greatest rappers ever. The popular dialogue will sometimes include Caz, Mel or Moe Dee as the token old schooler, but I still put Spoonie in my personal top ten to this day. Just taking a look at some of his achievements should really set the…
Why 1986 Changed Rap Forever
While many people think of Run-DMC as being the epitome of 1986 rap with the dominating force of the Raising Hell album – which was an undeniable cultural and musical testament to the power of rap music – it’s also worth noting that the next generation of rappers has already moved on from the Shout…
JVC Force lyric mystery finally solved, thirty years later
#Wow I just came across the original print in a crate… pic.twitter.com/son1vRMJHn — Curt Cazal (@curt_cazal) September 29, 2018 All these years I could’ve sworn that the line was ‘Like a video game, in Elenor’s computer’… I also thought that Schoolly-D’s DJ was called ‘Cold Money’ at one stage. What’s the worst line you mis-heard…
80’s Rap 101: The CRC Edition
‘You wot, mate?!’ In the spirit of eighties Answer Rap, here’s my list of alternative’s to the Martinator’s 80’s Rap 101 list. I’ve stuck to his original list of artist’s (except for a few who only had one record…or one good record) and presented an alternative to each to demonstrate just how great the best…
The Wacky World of 2LP Repressings
At some point in every rap fan’s life, there comes the day when you have pretty much every album worth owning but realize that all those late eighties and early ninties albums that were designed to fill up a 74 minute compact disc were doomed to whisper-quiet single vinyl pressings that you could only hear…
Who was MC Kool Breeze Steve?
If the YouTube comment section is to be believed (which it is, natch), this is a tape rip of a party on Feb 14, 1986 at Central High School in Philly where DJ Cash Money and DJ Jazzy Jeff first publicly unleashed the infamous ‘Transformer’ scratch. It also featured Kool Breeze Steve, who rolled with…
An in-depth study of EPMD’s Jane saga
I like to think that Jane somehow snuck in to the photoshoot for the ‘Golddigger’ single. The Jane saga is the longest running series in rap, and also the most confusing. It’s almost as if Erick and Parrish have completely forgotten what happened in each previous episode, as there is very little continuity between each…