When I caught-up with DJ Moe Love in 2010, he sounded as if he was two-sheets to the wind as he explained why he and TR Love hadn’t been involved in the Best Kept Secret LP, and why they decided to release their own Ultramagnetic Foundation project. We also talked about the early days of the legendary crew, the story behind “Ego Trippin’” and the Ultra Lab, and their mixed experiences with different record labels over the years.
Robbie: What age did you get into music?
DJ Moe Love: As far as deejaying and all that stuff? I started at a young age. Probably around ten years-old. I was brought up into music, my father had mad records. Music was in my blood. Before I started with Ultramagnetic I was in a group called People’s Choice Crew. We were from Brooklyn, Fort Greene. I’m originally from Brooklyn. Dana Dane was a part of that crew. People’s Choice Crew was just friends, neighborhood DJ’s and MC’s. We used to do it for the fun. Just-Ice is from my neighborhood also. (more…)
As KRS-One once said: “We’re not done…we’re not done”. After Paypal tried to hate on the Conservative Rap Coalition movement by freezing our account on the grounds that we’re not a “registered charity”, I had to flip the script on the whole operation. Never fear valued members, everything is back on track and we are well on the way to hitting our target in terms of new recruits. If you’ve been a long time reader of the site, it’s time to pony up before I start posting pictures of Kanye and Kim shopping for baby leather kilts. (more…)
Back in 2010 I received a recording of a TJ Swan demo recorded from Tim Westwood‘s show in 1988 titled “Mellow Love”, although someone claiming to be affiliated with Swan then contacted me and demand that I remove the track on the grounds that: “This was a practice session. Swan wrote and sang the song to get a feel for it”. He also claimed that a bunch of TJ Swan music was about to drop, but three years later we’re still waiting.
In the meantime, Rap Blog Godd noz recently blessed me with a few more cuts which may have been intended for Have No Fear Swan Is Here. or are simply more “practice sessions”. The first track, “Sensitive Love” features Swan flexing his microphone techniques and busting some rhymes, while “Love Is Blind” is more of an uptempo number on the Al. B Sure tip. Was Marley Marl involved with these tracks? Are they finished LP cuts or just demos? Sadly, there’s also no sign of the lost Big Daddy Kane/MC Shan cameos that I hoped for…
Having cut his teeth working with the Diggin’ In The Crates crew at the beginning of his career, Milano Constantine went on to sign a deal with Warner Bros. but was let go before the project was released. Thanks to a handful of independent singles, four mixtapes and notable guest spots with The Beatnuts and the P Brothers, Milano has continued to rep that classic Uptown style with his witty wordplay and vocabulary spill. Following an extended leave of absence, ‘Lano is set to return the rap game with three new projects. He took a little time out to speak about how he came up, working with Big Pun, Showbiz and T-Ray and how the late Party Arty taught him his most valuable lesson as an MC.
Robbie: What are you working on at the moment?
Milano Constantine: I’ve got the Alfa Romeo mixtape. It’s a vintage feel, I’ve got some unreleased, uncut raw stuff from the lab on there, and some new stuff that I’ve been working on. I had to take time off, but I feel very blessed, and now is time for me to go back into it with full force. Now I’m just feeling more comfortable with everything, you can’t put forth any good material if you have to get your life situated, everything has to go in line correctly. This is a great time in my life, I just had a daughter. My mother is in good health – she was really sick. You’ve gotta take care of your family first and music will come secondary. I wanted to reach out to y’all guys for always keeping that platform for me. God bless you guys always keeping me alive. I thank you guys for that. (more…)
New album cut from Hannibal Stax and Marco Polo‘s Seize The Day album, which dropped today and is an excellent example on Non-Progressive Rap done right. File under the ever-expanding Brooklyn Anthem category.
Posting this just because Havoc used a loop instead of those keyboard beats he was stuck on for a while, not to mention it fills the Hoody Rap quota for the month with the Raekwon and Styles P spots. Hav’s new solo LP, 13, is out tomorrow on Nature Sounds.
Ever since I returned to Mom’s Basement seven months ago, I’ve been concentrating on delivering a new interview every week and going all out to provide a voice to the rappers, DJ’s and producers that the rest of the world has forgotten about, plus talk a little shit along the way. The time has come, however, for me to leave the basement for a minute and return to the streets of New York IRL (In Real Life) to hunt down some leads and shoot some video.
That means that it’s time for all of you Conservative Rap Coalition members reach deep into your Carhartt pockets and contribute to the cause. I’m been able to get my plane ticket money together after picking-up an extra paper route, but that’s not going to cover my Metro Card’s money, hot dogs, Swedish Fish or 40 Oz’s of Ballentine beer. Your hard-earned dollars will be put towards funding one or more of the following projects: (more…)
