Although rumors of a reunion have been floating around for the past couple of years, I can now confirm that it’s official – after a ten year hiatus, Ced Gee, Kool Keith, TR Love and DJ Moe Love are back together doing shows and working on a new album called It’s The Best Kept Secret, with a working release date of July on Olio Records. First up they have a new white label 12″ called “Is It Them” b/w “Super Spell Bound”. I’d be interested to hear what everyone thinks about the A-side (the flip is closer to Keith’s solo stuff production-wise, on some “cosmic slop” funk tip).

Ultramagnetic MC’s - Is It Them (snippet)

Advance supplied courtesy of Black Pegasus Music.

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Sharing it’s title with one of the better only decent songs from the first Handsome Boy Modelling School album (nullus), here’s a new Pete Rock team-up with The Chef and Masta “Bitch-Ass Critic Killa” Killa, taken from the same Nature Sounds compilation that houses that MF Doom & Ghostface piece.

A smoothly-chopped David Matthews bassline (first heard on “Mad Scientist”) is married to that Fantasy Three tune that the Crash Crew made their own via classic strong arm tactics, while Raekwon delivers another quality slang editorial, “staying away from you fake-ass motherfuckers, laying up in the barber shops, getting fucked-up cuts. We don’t respect y’all.” Say word.

Pete Rock featuring Raekwon & Masta Killa - The PJs [Natural Selections, Nature Sounds, 2006]

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Just when you thought the Ced Gee Special was over and done, I received a little something in my inbox from a guy calling himself Tim Frog. He sent me versions of the unrelesed mixes of “MC Champions” (sadly it cuts out before MC James gets on) and “Message From The Boss” that are a lot clearer than the versions previously posted here. Best of all, he also included “a recording from a short live appearance they did at VPRO radio in The Netherlands in 1990. All Star Fresh is DJ’ing for them”. (more…)

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It’s only appropriate now that we’re halfway through the Flavor Unit Special that I mention this new 45 King album (released last year) that features return performances from none other than Lakim Shabazz and Chill Rob G! Lakim and Chill Rob have still got the goods after all these years out of the limelight, as they show and prove on The Cat Jams‘ opening tracks. While only the first six selections feature vocals, the King’s trademark instrumentals tracks dominate the rest of this project. (more…)

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I just copped the American Hunger sampler, which contains 30 snippets from the new 60 track triple album from MF Grimm. One of the standouts was a cut he did with Large Professor, with DJ Crucial on production (who you might remember from the “Gingerbread Man” 12″), while the other song deals with why Grimm hasn’t exploited being shot in order to sell records. Considering that you’re lucky if a third of an album is decent these days, as long as there are at least twenty quality songs on …Hunger I’ll be happy.

MF Grimm & Large Professor - Untitled Snippet [American Hunger sampler, Day By Day Ent, 2006]

MF Grimm - 50 (not the actual name of the song) [American Hunger sampler, Day By Day Ent, 2006]

Courtesy of Day By Day Entertainment.

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Without a shadow of a doubt, the most disturbing development in the rap world in
recent times is the whole concept of “haters”. It’s one thing to stick up for shit that you like, but the whole thing has gotten twisted to absurd proportions. According to some misinformed folks, you should NEVER EVER criticize any rap artist for the following reasons:

1. Don’t get mad that another man is getting paid.

Why not get pissed when some jerky is stacking cheese because music fans have been fooled into spending their hard-earned on some trash CD? (more…)

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Not to go all Just Blaze on ya and start messing with video games all day, but I couldn’t resist an entire console game dedicated to bombing trains. To make a game like this commercially viable, you expect a certain amount of corny shit to cater to your typical clueless gamer who doesn’t know jack about Style Wars, and while Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure contains a couple of cringe-worthy moments, the vast majority of the game is addictive as hell.
(more…)

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Sorry to confuse any UK rap fans, but the Parker Lewis I’m referring to isn’t in fact the British MC/producer who provided the beat for the first song on Fishscale (Lewis Parker), but the name of the lead character from that TV show that tried to recreate the whole Ferris Buellers Day Off vibe. In what must have been a slow news month at The Source, Matty C reported that the star of Parker Lewis Can’t Lose shocked the crowd at Ed Lover’s birthday party with some “impressive” mic skills. All I’ve got to say is that Corky Nemic has to one of the whitest names ever. (more…)

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Without a doubt, Lakim Shabazz was the busiest member of the Flavor Unit during their peak period, with two solo long-players to his credit and guest shots on every 45 King album that featured vocals. This little guy with the voice of a giant was also staunch representative of the 5% Nation of Islam, which he repped in every aspect – from his traditional Muslim clothes to entire songs featuring “Supreme Mathematic” lessons. He even flew to Egypt to shoot the cover to his second album! These days, of course, such a strong Islamic image would ensure that your album would never even get pressed in the US, given the current political climate, but in 1988 a large section of the hip-hop community were spreading the word of Allah, warning us about “the devil’s tricknology” and insisting that we take the pork off our fork. Can you imagine a popular underground group (like Brand Nubian were at the time) releasing a song called “Allah U Akbar” in 2006?
(more…)

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Not the issue I wrote for, but you get the idea.

Thanks to the wonders of blogging, it seems that Modern Fix, a primarily rock-based magazine from San Diego, decided to scout-out some quality hip-hop scribes, but the best they could come up with were me and noz (who also landed a “job” over at XXL ). My first piece is a two-page interview with the legendary Blaq Poet (Hoo-Ha!) in the latest edition. I might even post the bits I edited out of the finished article at some stage. Anyway, you can pick up issue #51 in Cali, New York, Arizona, Washington and a few other places. Who knows, they may even print some more of my ramblings in the future. (more…)

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