Remember back to the days when annoying, gimmicky raps were flavour of the month? A time when groups like the Fu-Schnickens* were actually taken seriously, and you could dance around with a muppet in your video and still get respect (UMC‘s “Blue Cheese”)? In a similar vein, Marley Marl unleashed the Lords of the Underground…
Not content with being the second greatest posse cut of all time (nothing’s knocking “The Symphony” off the top, sonny), Main Source‘s “Live At The BBQ” is also responsible for launching the careers of Nasty Nas, Akinyele and…Joe Fatal? According to Grimm Reaper (bka MF Grimm), he and Fatal were driving to the studio when…
The rise of the Rap Record Nerd has, not coincidentally, coincided with the invent of the “online shopping revolution” (aka Ebay). While it’s by no means a new phenomenon, it’s far more widespread than I had initially realized. Before the internet age you’d find poorly-dressed weirdos skulking around record fairs and second-hand music shops, armed…
A lot of people seem to be sleeping on this group. Some high-brow lyric fiends might consider the U.N. to be just more of the same old gun-toting, hoodlum-style rap (which is never a bad thing anyway), but don’t get put off by boring cuts like "Russian Hat Wear" (aka the "Money" remix). Sure, Dino…
For anybody who bothered to pick up the Main Source Breaks The Atom 2LP reissue (gotta love a loud pressing of "Snake Eyes"), the inclusion of an unreleased cut (from the aborted sessions for their never-completed album The Science) was an exciting prospect. However, "Hellavision (Large Professor Vocal)" is not exactly what I was hoping…
As a life-long M.O.P fanatic, the prospect of two CD’s/four LP’s worth of new and unreleased Mash Out material had me chaffing at the bit. When they connect with Premier, Billy Danze and Lil’ Fame transform into Brownsville’s aggravated answer to Run-DMC, and without him they still attain EPMD status. Their records pump adrenaline into…
In 1997, I wrote a small piece analyzing how these three had progressed. Seven years later, I thought I’d look at how things have changed since then, and do a quick update ………………………………………………………………………………………… “Time’s Up”, “Half Time” and “Come Clean”. These three tracks defined street-level hip hop in the first half of the 90’s. They…
During those oh-so-mediocre days of the “indy revival” in the late 90’s, one of the few artists to actually put out records that still hold up today was Godfather Don. Although he was no stranger to the rap game, as he had dropped a great album on Select back in 1991 (“Hazardous”) which nobody heard,…
While Rawkus Records has to be the most overrated label of the 90’s, Hydra Entertainment is easily the most overlooked. Dismissed by many critics as a purveyor of “mediocre thug crap” while they championed snooze-worthy Talib Kweli records, Hydra has been the delivering a stream of classic street material that rarely disappoints. And for those…
In my post about Akinyele’s classic debut album, I mentioned that “unlike Nas, Akinyele lived up to the hype”. While such a comment might seem to be a textbook example of attention-seeking behaviour, it’s a point that I’m more than happy to qualify.
Did anyone notice in that dope NORE interview that’s been doing the rounds lately (actually it’s old and was done by Life Sucks Die magazine) that amongst his promotion of anti-social behaviour and his own unique brand of straight-up Ignorance, he cited Akinyele’s Vagina Diner as his all-time favourite rap album? That comment alone was…
Just saw a mention of the PHANJAM album over at Cocaine Blunts & Hip Hop Tapes, which also featured a link to the Krown Rulers site….I can’t believe those kids are still making records. At least I’ve finally found somewhere that stocks the “Paperchase” CD. Now all I need is the tape! The thing that…