I just got an email from a reader named Lily who commented:

i have only recently realized that hip hop (and soul and funk and jazz and so on) is the only thing worth listening to in this day and age. rock music is so fucking tired and i’ve been listening to it for too long. i’m really ignorant though. i don’t know anything about this music, but i’m 15 so i guess there’s still time for me to learn.

While I’m always glad to help, the question is: do I recommend what I consider to be the greatest rap albums ever, or try to consider what would provide the most well-rounded introduction to the hip-hop? Obviously, the first option is the only way to go. Save that well-rounded nonsense for the drive-through customers at Krisy Kreme. Note that I’ve only listed one album from each artist, even though a few of them have several classics under their belt.

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Vividseats.com is your one-stop destination for all Concert Tickets, Theater Tickets, and Sports Tickets. We sell at the best prices Chris Rock Tickets, Cirque du Soleil Tickets, Wu Tang Clan Tickets, Artie Lange Tickets, and many more.

This really takes me back…this piece dropped just before Pete began his reign as the most in-demand producer/remixer of the moment, not to mention the impact of the Mecca & The Soul Brother LP. I wonder what happened to that D-Nice, Heavy D and Ice Cube posse cut that he mentions? (more…)

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In terms of “white guys from sitcoms who also rap”, then David Faustino is clearly king of the heap. While he lacks the distinction of having been dissed by the Metal-Faced Villian, he was part of one of the greatest TV shows ever,¹ and his one and only rap release contained such gems as: “I don’t want no groupie hoochie that only wants me for my gravey!”. True indeed, Budmiester. (more…)

1. 1. Sure, Married With Children out-stayed it’s welcome by a few years, but in it’s prime it reigned supreme. [back]

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Remember this post about Freddie Foxxx and Ultramagnetic? I finally dug-up the Source article about the First¹ Annual Rappers Boxing Match. (more…)

1. 1. Sadly, it was also the last. [back]

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Two of my latest interviews from issue #52 of Modern Fix:

Tame One (ex-Artifacts)

DJ Crucial (worked on the new MF Grimm triple album)

Some Artifacts action:
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Last year I put up the all-star intro to Doo Wop’s ‘95 Live tape, which was a pioneering tape in the history street-level hip-hop mixes. Here’s the second installment, which despite not being as impressive as the original (due to patchy line-up) has still got some nice shit on it.

In case you were wondering, it features KRS-One, Treach, Keith Murray and LOD, Mobb Deep and Big Noyd, AZ, the Lost Boyz, Uneek, Boot Camp, Mad Lion, Channel Live, King Just & Buckshot.
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A new single due to hit the shelves next month demonstrates an impressive verbal display from Termanology, who basically destroys¹ this solid (if hardly unusual) violin-laced DJ Premier track. An M.O.P scratch on the hook always helps as well.²

Termanology - Watch How It Go Down [St./Showoff/Brick, 2006]³

“I’m old fashioned, I believe diamonds don’t belong in the ears of guys” – Nas, 2006.

Hold ya head Fab.

Nas - 2006 Freestyle

1. 1. Although it seems like every “Latin” dude these days is obligated to compare themselves to Big Pun. [back]
2. 2. Which could use louder drums… [back]
3. 3. I ripped this at 64kps since it’s not even out yet. [back]

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There was a brief period where Loud records wasted a bunch of cash putting out Enhanced CD’s back in 1996, when the internets was still really shitty and Quicktime and Flash had recently come out. Xzibit’s first album, Mobb Deep’s Hell On Earth and the Wu-Tang Forever double album all got “special treatment”, but the first two just consisted of basic things you could click your mouse on and here snippets of shit or 30 second clips of their videos, which is pretty gay by today’s standards, and wasn’t exactly mind-blowing ten years ago either. X’s was the worst, while at least the Mobb CD had stupid stuff liuke the project phone where you could get verbaly abused by the Hav and Prodigy, as well as finding a hidden track if you went to some website and got the code.¹ The track in question actually turned out to be a highly amusing attack on Keith Murray, covering when Murray snuffed P “in front of police”.
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1. 1. As it turns out, when you open the folder on your desktop you can just look through the “source” folder to find all the clips and songs anyway! [back]

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Apparently there are at least four remixes of Busta Rhyme’s “New York Shit”, but this version is better than any of them. Kid Capri enlisted the Bouncemaster Doo Wop to remake the song from the mixtape angle, in the same way that Wop did his “10 Tape Commandments”. This works because despite being known primarily as a mixtape DJ, Doo Wop is one hell of a rapper, as tracks like “G’z Up” with Tony Touch have demonstrated (not to mention his old songs like “Hit ‘Em In The Head”). I would prefer to hear Kid Capri, Tony Toca and Doo Wop on the mic than Busta and his pals anyday of the week. I just hope Jazzy Jay is a getting cheque¹ out of all this, since he’s the one that gave the record to Diamond D to use for “I Went For Mine” in the first place.

Kid Capri feat. Doo Wop - Mixtape Shit

1. 1. Obviously, he isn’t. [back]

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Not content with making some dope t-shirts, the Oh Word crew managed to get one to O’Shea while he was in the Rotten Apple to promote his (ninth?) solo release. No mention on whether he plans on rocking it in Are We There Yet, Again?. Speaking of Cube, I was reading an old interview in the August 1990 edition of Hip Hop Connection from just after he released Amerikkka’s Most Wanted, and it ended with this jewel:

I ain’t gonna try and rap forever. If I do another album that’ll probably be it. I respect the kids and I respect the industry and they need to see new people. All the other bullshit is starting to get too commercial and I ain’t with that. I think motherfuckers appreciate you more when you’re not always in their face.

Imagine if the “Bitch Killa” had hung up his mic after Death Certificate? That would’ve been real gangsta. Guess that was before the mortage.
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The results are in – it looks like competitions and a message board beat hardcore porn, while “The Bronx Is Back” took out the comp as the next Bootleggin’ theme (narrowly edging-out long-time rival Queensbridge by only 1% of the vote). The big upset was “90’s rap” taking out the 80’s fairly convincingly…although it’s hardly suprising considering the sheer volume of hip-hop music that was released back then. All you drum machine fans have nothing to worry about – the era of the DMX, Linn Drum and the TR-808 will not be ignored. Less suprising was the strong vote against posts featuring “washed-up” rappers. Judging from my enormously unpopular throw-away piece about CL Smooth and Rampage, this was a one-horse race.

Full results

First cab off the rank is the Unkut Bootleggin’ board, which features an exclusive Executive Lounge reserved for registered users only.

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The 50 MC’s series built on Doo Wop’s ‘95 Live Intros but kept the freestyles going for the whole tape. After compiling three volumes worth (that’s 150 rappers for all you matheletes out there) for the original cassettes, selections from each volume also made it onto vinyl, as the first edition was a 2LP white label, Power Cypher 2 & 3 were single albums complete with picture covers. For the complete collection, track down the six-CD box set that Toca relelased a couple of years back. (more…)

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The votes have been counted and the results are in: The 2006 Weed Carrier Awards have been decided! Even though last week’s poll indictes that a few of you (37% so far) are sick to death of bag holder articles, those that aren’t can congragulate the victors of what will no doubt be remembered as the 2006’s most lasting innovation.

In other news, Unkut.com’s roving reporter Keir has been busy on the directorial tip, and just posted a filmclip he did for Dr. Becket on YouTube: (more…)

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A little something passed on to me from Ross F:

I was just reading you’re Ultra reunion post and thought you might be interested in something I acquired from eBay recently: A demo EP with the four tracks “(NYC Critic) Mix It Down”, “Baby I’m Mad”, “Make It Rain” and “Who I Am”.

The seller had a record company that Ultra’s management had sent it to last year. Unfortunately his company could not afford their demands.

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Before he was hangin’ with Ron Jeremy, DJ Polo was pushing this personalized Benz around the “Streets of New York”.

So I finally took the plunge and upgraded to Wordpress 2. If you don’t run your own blog, that’s pretty meaningless but for those who do it’s worth the jump just for the built-in spam killer. It also enabled me to get some poll action going, following the overwhelming response to the Weed Carrier Awards (over 13,000 votes cast so far). While I anticipate the response to this poll will be closer to 13, I thought since a lot of you were kind enough to pay for our hosting, the least we could do is to try and improve the Tribute. Any suggestions or ideas not covered can be added in the comments section. (more…)

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