Never less than ill
This is a weird one. The cynical part of my brain tells me that Marley Marl is deliberately messing with Ced-Gee and the crew here, as he acts as if he’s never heard an Ultramagnetic record before in his life – despite the fact that they’ve been making some serious noise since 1986 with ‘Ego…
If you were hanging out at clubs in 1992, there was no way you could miss the impact of the SWV’s ‘Right Here’ [Human Nature Mix], which was also the second and final modern R&B tape I bought after the What’s The 411? album. Who could forget that video with ya gals suited up for…
I can’t seem to leave the house these days without tripping over a crate of rap bootlegs with 300 Yen price tags on the sleeve. Apparently Japanese record dealers have decided to unload all of the nineties rap white labels they bought by the container-load from Beat Street Records, and as a result the place…
Earlier this week I was enjoying a few beers at a bar (set to the soothing sounds of a four-hour Japanese jazz and soul set courtesy of CRC representative Callum), and was soon joined by my old mate Debonaire, who proceeded to drop a bomb on me when he announced that he’s decided to shut-up…
Issue #62 of The Source (with a cover date of November 1994) marked the point that co-founder Dave Mays said ‘fuck it’ and threw-in a four page special on the group he was managing at the time just before the issue went to press. As a result, Jon ‘J. The Sultan’ Shecter, James Bernard, Reginald…
Much like the dreaded Rap Ballad, Hip-House Track or the R&B Crossover Attempt, the DJ Scratch Track has long been relegated to the foggy past of old rap albums. While the Rap DJ eventually got to the point where they could release entire albums of them scratching at a billion miles an hour, following on…
I just lost my shit hearing this on a KISS-FM rip tonight, thinking I’d unearthed some lost treasure for the first time in recent history…but quickly realised it had already been released on the Traffic Entertainment gun-shaped USB stick (and later the ‘Elite Edition’) of Criminal Minded. Regardless, it’s great to hear this new intro…
One of these dudes is G. Wiz I guess. Captain G. Wiz was a member of the Mighty Mike Masters, who held it down with Freddy B for the memorable ‘The Main Event’ and the not-quite-as-great ‘The Main Event (Round 2)’, plus that single they did with Ced-Gee and Paul C. (‘We’re Back’/’Coolin’ On The…
Before rap blogging, print magazines dipped their toes into the wacky world of making fun of rappers. More often than not, this led to someone getting put into a yoke at an open bar even the following week. Let’s hope that no interns were harmed following the release of the 5th anniversary issue of XXL…
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…
Click for full size screen shot. Need a retirement fund? Track down a box of 3.5 inch floppy disks, load them up with MPC loops and whack hand-written stickers all over them with stuff like ‘Shook Ones Drums’ and ‘Godfather Don Loops #6’ and fill your boots!
Mr. Magic (or ‘Madame Tragic’ as Chuck Chillout’s boys The Dismasters once dubbed him) seemed to relish taunting anyone who was down with Red Alert, BDP or…basically wasn’t in the Juice Crew. Actually, ignore that – even his own crew wasn’t safe from the wrath of the Magic Man! Here are some timeless examples of…