1993 lines
91 KiB
Plaintext
1993 lines
91 KiB
Plaintext
--- --- --- ---- ---- CCCCC OOOOO RRRR EEEE
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| H | / A \ | R | |D \ C O O R R E
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|---| |---| |--/ | | C O O RRRR EEEE
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| | | | | \ | / C O O R R E
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--- --- --- --- -- -- ---- CCCCC. OOOOO. R R. EEEE.
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Vol. 3, Issue 5 September, 1995
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The electronic magazine of hip-hop music and culture
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Brought to you as a service of the Committee of Rap Excellence
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Section 1 -- ONE
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***A***
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-------
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Table of Contents
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Sect. Contents Author
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----- -------- ------
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001 The introduction
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A Da 411 - table of contents staff
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B Da 411 - HardC.O.R.E. staff
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C Yo! We Want Your Demos staff
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D A note about our listserv davidj@vnet.net
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002 Monthly Articles
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A Regional Report: Europe helmut@cosy.sbg.ac.at
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B Homeboy from Hell Monthly isbell@ai.mit.edu
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C The Singles File 3JB3BAUERJ@VMS.CSD.MU.EDU
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D Back to the Old School r.macmichael@genie.geis.com
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E Roots-N-Rap rapotter@colby.edu
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003 HardC.O.R.E. Editorials
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A Freestyle or Paystyle? krs_one@iastate.edu
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B The cancellation of Yo! davidj@vnet.net
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004 The Official HardC.O.R.E. Album Review Section
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A Big L r.macmichael@genie.geis.com
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B Bushwick Bill krs_one@iastate.edu
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C Chucklehead krs_one@iastate.edu
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D Five Fingers of Funk krs_one@iastate.edu
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E Funkdoobiest krs_one@iastate.edu
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F Grand Puba krs_one@iastate.edu
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G Guru & Co. YCAA10A@prodigy.com
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H King Just r.macmichael@genie.geis.com
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I Da Nayborhoodz rapotter@colby.edu
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J Raekwon the Chef krs_one@iastate.edu
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K Raw Produce r.macmichael@genie.geis.com
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L Rodney O & Joe Cooley k_tolber@colby.edu
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M Shaggy r.macmichael@genie.geis.com
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N Showbiz & AG davidj@vnet.net
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***B***
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-------
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The C.O.R.E. creed
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We at C.O.R.E. support underground hip-hop (none of that crossover
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bullshucks). That means we also support the 1st Amendment and the
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right to uncensored music.
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The C.O.R.E. anthems
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I Used To Love H.E.R. Common Sense
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Crossover EPMD
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Mass Appeal Gangstarr
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True to the Game Ice Cube
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Outta Here KRS-One
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How About Some HardC.O.R.E. M.O.P.
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Time's Up O.C.
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Straighten It Out Pete Rock and CL Smooth
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In the Trunk Too $hort
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Remember Where You Came From Whodini
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Access info:
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FTP: ftp://ftp.etext.org/pub/Zines/HardCORE/
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Gopher: gopher://gopher.etext.org:70/11/Zines/HardCORE
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WWW: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~krs_one/homepage.html
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Usenet: rec.music.hip-hop, rec.music.info, alt.zines
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***C***
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-------
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Aight, let's say you got a hip-hop demo that you've been trying
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to shop around. A few people like it, but nobody with some clout is
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buying. Or let's say you know someone who's got some skills, but you
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don't know what you can do to help 'em get on. Suppose even further,
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that you've got an internet account and want to give you and your
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friends' efforts a little publicity. Well, have we got a deal for
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you...
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HardC.O.R.E.'s review section isn't just for the major labels.
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In fact, some of us would much rather review what the independent folks
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are making, since they aren't affected by the A&R and high level decisions
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of major labels.
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So we want to hear what you guys are making. A few groups are
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getting their demos reviewed here among the likes of Gangstarr, Grand
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Puba, A Tribe Called Quest and Ol' Dirty Bastard. Who knows? You might
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even hear bigger and better things from The Mo'Fessionals, Raw Produce,
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Concrete Jungle and Union of Authority before you know it. With all the
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people subscribing to or reading HardCORE, you never know who might want
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to hear your music.
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Give us a shout. You can e-mail me at davidj@vnet.net or Flash
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at krs_one@iastate.edu, and we'll let you know where you can send your
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tape. Keep in mind that we're pretty honest with our reviews (if we
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think your shit is wack, we'll say so to your face), but if you think
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you got what it takes, you'll see a review from us before you know it.
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All you have to lose is a tape, right?
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Peace... the HardC.O.R.E. Review Staff
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***D***
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-------
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A NOTE ABOUT THE HARDC.O.R.E. LISTSERVER
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Most of you folks who read HardC.O.R.E. on a regular basis get
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it sent to you directly through e-mail, thanks to our distribution
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listserver. Our circulation reached more than 600 about a month ago.
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Unfortunately, VNet Internet Access, Inc., the company that
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helps us out with the listserver, lost our entire subscription list
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after a hard drive crash a month or two ago, and as a result, we have
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had to scrap the listserver and find alternate methods of distributing
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HardC.O.R.E.
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So if you had subscribed to HardC.O.R.E. before, you won't be
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able to get it via e-mail anymore.
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We apologize for this inconvenience, and we promise that all
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those responsible for losing our mailing list will have their backsides
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sewn shut and be force fed 200 bean burritos from Taco Bell. (Okay, not
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really, but we've had the urge...) In the meantime, please refer to
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Section 1, article B in this issue for how to find the latest issue of
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HardC.O.R.E., or check out the current HardCORE.411 file, which can be
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found at both our Gopher and World Wide Web sites.
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Oh, and one more thing -- PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't e-mail
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any of the editors asking for a subscription. We set up the listserv
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so that we could concentrate on the zine itself and not waste time on
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making sure everyone who asks is on the list, and now that it's gone...
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well, we can't give any more subscriptions. We would appreciate your
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patience and your cooperation on this. Thanks.
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L8A...
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David J. (davidj@vnet.net)
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Director of Network Distribution
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Section 2 -- TWO
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***A***
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Helmut
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------
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THE EUROPEAN REPORT
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"Realism: a view from the distance"
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How REAL is REAL and what is REAL, anyway? Considering the
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ongoing discussions about the commercialization of hip-hop, I'd like to
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present some thoughts on this topic. Naturally, these point of views
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are biased by distance, and should by no means be considered the
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ultimate truth. Like Nas says, "The world is yours, the world is
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mine..."
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One of the most often-heard phrases of true Hip-hop heads is
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"Keep it real." But what is "real?" An easy answer would be that only
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people who understand the music know what real is. Although this sounds
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like an escape and is close to a tautology, this is in my opinion the
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only real answer. If you listen to Guru when he says, "It's a long way
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to go, if you don't know where you're goin'. You don't know where
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you're goin' when you're lost," then you might get the idea and the
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dilemma. People who know what "real" is don't need an explanation and
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those who take the music and just use it for making dollars might never
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understand the concept of being "real."
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This leads to the question: do people doing the "real" thing
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have to be "real" themselves? The answer is a loud and clear "Yeah!"
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But more and more I read about rappers coming out big, selling big
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numbers, and I listen to what they say in interviews, and I ask myself:
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Are they really "real?" The first thing they say about their music is
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how many records they sold and that they know exactly what people in the
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streets would like to hear. Is this "real"? If the staff here at
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HardC.O.R.E. wrote only what they could be sure most people would agree
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with, what would you call these writers? Suckers, at least. You can't
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be "real" if you give up your own identity, deny your background, your
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roots and your very personal thoughts and feelings, unconditionally
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sacrificing yourself to greenbacks.
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It's extremely tough to stay "real" under the influence of big
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record companies. As soon as you sign a contract, you're dependent on
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other people, and even if you have the greatest of producers and
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managers, they will influence you in some way. So this seems to be an
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inherent problem of "real" music. The artists want to reach as many
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people as possible with their "real" messages. People like it. Many
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love it. The music business rapidly becomes aware of new developments.
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New products are created which are expensive. Therefore, much more
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people have to be reached, and this is achieved by sacrificing
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individual reality to average reality and average music.
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Hip-hop in Europe is definitely different from hip-hop in the
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States. Many small and unknown groups did their own thing, and the
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music industry didn't really jump on the bandwagon, because they could
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earn a lot more money by producing techno. This is one of the main
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reasons why hip-hop is generally "real" over here. People who don't
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care for hip-hop, but just for money are much better off when they go
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Techno. The main problem of some hip-hop groups over here is that they
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slavishly try to imitate U.S. rappers. But with brothers like "MC
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Solaar" in France or "Die Fantastischen Vier" in Germany (who are
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criticized for falling off, too) many groups realized that they have to
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speak about themselves and their situation, and not about a whole
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different world they've never seen. To most people in Europe, hip-hop
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is still a very strange, strictly black thing they can't relate to.
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For all these reasons, hip-hop in Europe is far less commercial,
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but it's still "real" in many aspects. With the usual time delay of
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some years of developments in business and industry between the States
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and Europe, only time will tell how long it takes until Hip-hop mutates
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into a big industry over here.
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***B***
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Charles Isbell
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--------------
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HOMEBOY FROM HELL MONTHLY
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You don't like how I'm livin'?
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This time: _Straight Outta Compton_ by N.W.A
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Next time: _Tricks of The Shade_ by The Goats (and I mean it)
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_Enta Da Wu Tang (36 Chambers)_ by Wu Tang Clan
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_Cypress Hill_ by Cypress Hill
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Last time: _The Last Poets_ by The Last Poets
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_Paid In Full_ by Eric B and Rakim
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_Strictly Business_ by EPMD
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New Jacks: _Hiphopera_ by Volume 10
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_Boxcar Sessions_ by Saafir
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_Blowout Comb_ by Digable Planets
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_Black Business_ by Poor Righteous Teachers
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Distinctiveness: Well, at the time, sure.
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Dopeness Rating: Well, I guess I have to say it: Phat+. Man,
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you could see potential written all over
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them... especially Ice Cube. Frankly, despite a
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heathly dose of unhealthy attitude, they were the
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bomb and I can't take that away from them. And even
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in 1995, this stuff makes you move.
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Rap Part: Phat. In fact, often Phat+. Except for a few
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content low-points here and there and a smattering
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of stilted flow, this worked.
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Sounds: Can't complain at all. Phat+.
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Message: One day... we'll be rich.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Tracks: 13 at 60:25
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Label: Priority/Ruthless
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Producers: Dr Dre and Yella
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Profanity: Let's see. Let me check. Um. Yep. Still cursin'.
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And for no good reason. The worst kind... or the
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best kind, depending on your point of view.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Step back a minute. It's 1988. _It Takes A Nation of Millions To
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Hold Us Back_ has made Public Enemy a household name. Mix in Boogie
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Down Productions' _My Philosophy_, and you've got the first big wave
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of politically conscious rap to make it big. Things looked
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interesting all around.
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In the meantime, unbeknownst to the rest of world, silently sleeping as
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they were, folks were slowly but surely buying up _Straight Outta
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Compton_, the first big hit by N.W.A (but no more their first piece of
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work than _Nations_ was for PE). According to some folks somewhere
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who count these things, there were some 2.5 million copies of this
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stuff out on the streets, if you count illegal copies and
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whatnot... all without airplay.
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Things *were* interesting all around.
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N.W.A referred to themselves as gangstas. They weren't the first.
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You can hear the reference earlier, even on the East Coast, but they
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managed to make the term stick in the mind somehow.
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And stick it did. Riding the gangsta wave, West Coast rappers have
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managed to dominate the market, at least when it comes to making
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money. They're so successful, in fact, that nowadays everybody and
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his great grandmother is a gangsta rapper. Even on the East Coast.
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The term "gangsta rapper" has entered the American consciousness.
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People debate it's impact, some want to ban it, others want to do it,
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some folks just want to sell it and clearly more folks want to buy it.
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Whatever. It's here. It's there. It's Big Bad Hank and it's
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everywhere.
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Which brings me to this review.
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Why, you may ask, am I reviewing _Straight Outta Compton_? Not only
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is it seven years old, everyone has it already. "Damn. Review
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something I've never heard of, why don't you?" I can hear you saying.
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Fine. I will... next time. I'll even review The Goats, after all
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these years. Really. I promise.
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But today, I'm reviewing _Straight Outta Compton_. After spending way
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too much time listening to Mobb Deep in order to write them up for a
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halfway decent review, it occurred to me that I should go back to the
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source (Ok, so we could argue that it isn't the source. Fine, we all
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know that. It was still an important album and it clearly motivated a
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lot of stuff that came afterwards. Work with me, ok?).
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So, here I am. It's 1988. I'm in college (yes, I'm *that* old).
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I've been convinced to buy N.W.A by a friend and despite the fact I
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have no good reason to do so, I buy the album.
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I stick it in my then-pathetic little stereo with my incredibly sad CD
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player.
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This is what I hear:
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"You are now about to witness
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the strength of street knowledge"
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....with "strength" pronounced "strinth," just the way it's supposed to
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be. This is the opening line of the title track and the opening
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volley of the album.
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"Straight outta Compton
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crazy motherf*cker named Ice Cube
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from the gang called Niggas With Attitudes
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When I'm called off, I got a saw-offed
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Squeeze the trigger and bodies are hauled off
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You too boy if ya f*ck wit' me
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Tha police are gonna hafta come and get me
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off your ass; that's how I'm goin' out
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for the punk motherf*ckers that showin' out
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Niggas start to mumble
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They wanna rumble
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Mix 'em and cook 'em a pot like gumbo"
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"AK-47 is the tool
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Don't make me act a motherf*ckin' fool
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Me and you can go toe-to-toe, no maybe
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I'm knockin' niggas out that box daily
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yo, weekly, monthly and yearly
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until them dumb motherf*ckers see clearly
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that I'm down with the capital C-P-T
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Boy ya can't f*ck wit me
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So when I'm in your neighborhood
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you'd better duck
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'cause Ice Cube is crazy as f*ck
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As I leave, believe I'm stompin'
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But when I come back boy
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I'm comin' straight outta Compton"
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I think to myself: "Damn. Ice Cube? What kinda stupid name is that?"
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That doesn't stop me from restarting the track, though, before I even
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got to the next verse. Cube, frozen water or no, hit hard: on-time
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delivery said with authority and an attitude that spoke of quiet
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violence. Like Chuck D, he never quite shouted... but he was loud.
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"(Yo, Ren) What's up?
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(Tell 'em where ya from)
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Straight outta Compton
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Another crazy-ass nigga
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More punks I smoke
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You, my rep gets bigger"
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"It's like burgulary
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the definition is jackin'
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when I'm illegally armed
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it's called packin'
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Shoot a motherf*cker in a minute
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Or find a good piece of p*ssy
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and go up in it"
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Guns, bravado *and* sexual references, too? Damn, what else could a
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teenage male want from his CDs?
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"So if you're at a show in the front
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Imma call ya a b*tch or a dirty-ass ho
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You'll probably get mad like a b*tch is supposed to"
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Hey, what did you want? "Misogyny" wasn't on the SAT. I didn't
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even know how to spell it at the time (hmmmmm... and probably still
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don't).
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"A crazy motherf*cker from the street
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Attitude legit 'cause I'm tearin' up sh*t.
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MC Ren controls are automatic
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for any dumb motherf*cker that start static
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Not the right hand 'cause I'm the hand itself
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every time I pull an AK off the shelf"
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At this point, it didn't even matter that Eazy E's voice was waaaay too
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high to follow Ren's.
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"(Eazy is his name and the boy is comin')
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Straight outta compton
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is a brother that'll smother your mother
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and make your sister think I love her
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Dangerous motherf*cker raises hell
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and if I ever get caught, I make bail
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See I don't give a f*ck,
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that's the problem"
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I was pretty much hooked. Even if the rest of the album just outright
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sucked, I had at least one good song for my trouble.
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"____ Tha Police" made it two.
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"F*ck tha police
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comin' straight from the underground
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a young nigga's got it bad 'cause I'm brown
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and not the other color so police think
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they have the authority to kill a minority"
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Given my strong feelings about cops in general (I had had some
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unpleasant interactions with them by that time in my life), all I
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could say was "F*ck, yeah!". I didn't even notice that I'd used
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"f*ck" when I said it. In fact, it was quite a while before I
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realized that my curse-ration had increased fairly dramatically. Of
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course, I didn't really care.
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"Without a gun that can't get none
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But let it be a Black and a White one
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'Cause they'll slam ya down to the street top
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Black police showin' out for the White cop"
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As was the usual case, Cube had the best lines... but Ren wasn't half
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steppin' either.
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"Pullin' out a silly club
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So you stand with a fake-ass badge
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and a gun in your hand
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But take off the gun so you can see what's up
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and we'll go at it punk
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and Imma f*ck you up
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Make you think I'm gonna kick your ass
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but drop your gat
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and Ren's gonna blast"
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And the Cube/Ren lyrics sound pretty good on Eazy, too.
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"Without a gun and badge
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what do ya got?
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A sucker in a uniform
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waitin' to get shot"
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"____ Tha Police" is probably what they became best known for. It's
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certainly what the cops knew them best for. On the other hand, those
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that frequented the clubs might have known them better for "Gangsta
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Gangsta." It seemed to get played quite a bit... at least where I was
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at the time.
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"'Ah, sh*t man, (give me my purse!)
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them preachy Black gangstas are at it again.
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I wonder who they f*cked up tonight, hunh?'
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'YOU MOTHERF*CKER' [BANG]
|
|
'Got 'em.'"
|
|
|
|
"Here's a little somethin'
|
|
'bout a nigga like me
|
|
never should been let out the penitentiary
|
|
Ice Cube would like to say
|
|
that I'm a crazy motherf*cker from around the way
|
|
Since I was a youth I smoked weed out
|
|
Now I'm the motherf*cker that ya read about
|
|
Takin' a life or two
|
|
That's what the hell I do
|
|
You don't like how I'm livin'?
|
|
Well f*ck you"
|
|
|
|
Of course, the clubs played a cleaner version.
|
|
|
|
"And then you realize we don't care
|
|
We don't just say no
|
|
we're too busy sayin' YEAH
|
|
about drinkin' straight out the eight bottle
|
|
Do I look like a motherf*ckin' role model?
|
|
To a kid lookin' up to me:
|
|
Life ain't nothin' but b*tches and money"
|
|
|
|
And it goes on like that for a couple of more minutes. B*tch, Nigga,
|
|
F*ck, Sh*t and so on. And then some more.
|
|
|
|
But it sounded *good*, dog. Lyrics were on, sure, but Dre and Yella
|
|
had things runnin' in the production department. We didn't call
|
|
things the bomb back then, but we would have called this the bomb if
|
|
we did. Stoopid beats. Just plain stoopid.
|
|
|
|
How ya say it? It was fresssssh.
|
|
|
|
At this point, I had to go to class or something, so I didn't get past
|
|
the first three tracks that day. Or the next few for that
|
|
matter. I just kept it on the first three tracks and played them over
|
|
and over again.
|
|
|
|
Eventually, I got around to "If It Ain't Ruff." This one is all MC
|
|
Ren on mic. Without Ice Cube next to him, he sounds even better. It
|
|
didn't hurt that Dre and Yella hooked him up with a bit of music that
|
|
better suited his microphone tone.
|
|
|
|
"Groupies been waitin' for this
|
|
Suckers been hatin' for this
|
|
You know why?
|
|
'Cause so many of y'all are relatin' to this"
|
|
|
|
"I'm makin' a point
|
|
but it's a point that I'm makin'
|
|
ya see I'm hatin' the fakin'
|
|
I keep the suckers like shakin'"
|
|
|
|
Nice. This brings us to "Parental Discretion Iz Advised," one of only
|
|
two songs that lists Eazy E as the primary author. Plus it features
|
|
Dre on the mic for the first time this album.
|
|
|
|
"'Cause I don't give a f*ck about a radio play
|
|
Observe the English I display"
|
|
|
|
Yes, well, he always did say he preferred to produce.
|
|
|
|
Cough. Um... let's move on to the next track.
|
|
|
|
Things get better on "8 Ball (Remix)" written by Ice Cube and
|
|
performed by Eazy E. They seem to put more heart in these kinds of
|
|
songs.
|
|
|
|
"I don't drink brass monkey
|
|
like to be funky"
|
|
|
|
Once again, the muzak is nice.
|
|
|
|
"Put up the jammy
|
|
and like a mirage
|
|
A sucker like that
|
|
was out of dodge"
|
|
|
|
Very nice, in fact.
|
|
|
|
"Ice Cube writes the rhyme that I say"
|
|
|
|
Anyway, Dre gets a chance to make up for "Parental Discretion Iz
|
|
Advised" by teaming up with Ren on "Something Like That."
|
|
|
|
"For the record it's Ren
|
|
for the street it's villain
|
|
and strapped with a gat
|
|
it's more like Matt Dillon"
|
|
|
|
"Unlike a lotta suckers
|
|
who claim they gettin' busy
|
|
when the records only make good frisbees
|
|
You need to quit runnin' off the mouth
|
|
Stop and think before you put some whack bullsh*t out"
|
|
|
|
He does better, that's for sure. Throw in some random curse words
|
|
here and there and, hey, you got a good song.
|
|
|
|
"Express Yourself", again written by Cube, comes off nice. It
|
|
features Dre and sounds almost--but not quite--like a warm up for
|
|
Dre's later stuff (well, not really, it's missin' the now overdone Dre
|
|
sampling, but other than *that*...).
|
|
|
|
"It gets funky when ya got a subject and a predicate"
|
|
|
|
"Some drop science
|
|
Well I drop english"
|
|
|
|
"It's crazy to see people be
|
|
what society wants 'em to be
|
|
but not me"
|
|
|
|
This one's kinda tame by the standards of the rest of the album, but
|
|
it does sound nice.
|
|
|
|
"Forget about the ghetto
|
|
and rap for the pop charts
|
|
some musicians cuss at home
|
|
but scared to use profanity
|
|
when up on the microphone
|
|
Yeah, they want reality
|
|
but you will hear none
|
|
they'd rather exaggerate a little fiction"
|
|
|
|
Personally, I don't feel that it is my job to point out irony when it
|
|
happens. Therefore I won't point it out here. Besides, I don't have
|
|
to 'cause it's right there in your face. You see it. I see it. One
|
|
only wonders if they did.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, "Compton's N The House (Remix)" has far less irony.
|
|
|
|
"What's up suckers?
|
|
You want some of this?
|
|
Then you a stupid motherf*cker"
|
|
|
|
Actually, this sounds amazingly old school now that I think about it.
|
|
|
|
"Speakin' of Compton it's makin' me sick
|
|
Why?
|
|
Everybody's talkin' that crazy sh*t
|
|
Sayin' they were raised in the CPT
|
|
just as I was they try to be like me"
|
|
|
|
"They got a whacky whack record
|
|
with a whacky whack crew
|
|
Yo, what about the lyrics?
|
|
That sh*t's whacky whack, too
|
|
With a f*cked up style and a f*cked up show
|
|
Hey, yo, Ren, what about the scratchin',
|
|
Is it def?
|
|
F*ck no"
|
|
|
|
Really old school. Hmph. I never noticed that before.
|
|
|
|
Ice Cube returns to center stage with "I Ain't Tha 1".
|
|
|
|
"Sometimes I used to wonder
|
|
how the hell a ugly dude
|
|
get a fine girl's number
|
|
He's getting juice for his duckets
|
|
I tell a girl in a minute
|
|
Yo, I drive a bucket"
|
|
|
|
I'm not going to say anything.
|
|
|
|
"Give you money? Why bother?
|
|
'Cause you know I'm lookin' nothin' like your father"
|
|
|
|
"They get mad when I put it in perspective
|
|
but we'll see if my knowledge is effective
|
|
To the brothers, man, they robbin' you blind
|
|
'Cause they fine with a big behind?
|
|
Pay it no mind"
|
|
|
|
"I used to get no play
|
|
now she stay behind me
|
|
'cause I said I had a Benz 190
|
|
But I lied and played the one
|
|
just to get some
|
|
now she feels dumb
|
|
To my homiez it's funny
|
|
But that's what you get
|
|
tryin' play me for my money
|
|
Now don't you feel used?
|
|
But I don't give a hoot
|
|
because I knocked boots
|
|
You shouldn't be so damn material
|
|
and try to milk Ice Cube like cereal"
|
|
|
|
Well, it's more liberated than his earlier "A B*tch is A B*tch." He
|
|
was *growing*.
|
|
|
|
Yes.
|
|
|
|
Well, that brings us to "Dopeman (Remix)" another piece of Ice Cube
|
|
writing. Again, phat beats doin' well.
|
|
|
|
"Livin' in Compton, California CA
|
|
his uzi up your ass if he don't get paid
|
|
nigga beggin' for credit
|
|
he's knockin' out teeth
|
|
clockin' much dollars on the first and fifteenth"
|
|
|
|
"You need a nigga with money
|
|
so ya get a dope man
|
|
juice that fool for as much as you can
|
|
she like his car and he get wit her
|
|
got a black eye 'cause the dopeman hit her"
|
|
|
|
"If you smoke cane
|
|
you a stupid motherf*cker
|
|
known around the hood
|
|
as the schoolyard clucker"
|
|
|
|
They really do put a lot into this kind of stuff. It seems to inspire
|
|
them somehow.
|
|
|
|
Things take a sudden turn on "Quiet On Tha Set". Ren steps up again,
|
|
doing mostly minimal cursin' and droppin' verbs over funky, if
|
|
repetitive, beats.
|
|
|
|
"I can be loud as hell
|
|
Think I will?
|
|
Never
|
|
Quiet on the set"
|
|
|
|
"If it ain't ruff it ain't me
|
|
So who cares what you want me to be"
|
|
|
|
"They can be cold and ruthless...
|
|
no doubt about that.
|
|
But sometimes, it's more complicated."
|
|
|
|
Hmmm. Only one song left: "Something 2 Dance 2". Eazy E gets
|
|
primary credit for this one along with Dre. They intentionally avoid
|
|
cursin' on this and the music is practically disco. You can see why
|
|
they wrote this one: airplay and $$$$. Maybe there was some World
|
|
Class Wreckin nostalgia goin' on, too.
|
|
|
|
I hate this kind of stuff, but on it's on terms, it's not bad at all.
|
|
And it is hard to go wrong with Sly Stone. Still, there's no point in
|
|
copying lyrics.
|
|
|
|
So, that's it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bottom line? Well, you already know. It was the bomb, misogyny,
|
|
nihilism, cartoonish self-parody and all. And it still sounds pretty
|
|
good. It's harder to feel comfortable with stuff as one gets older,
|
|
but, well, what can I say, really?
|
|
|
|
N.W.A's _Straight Outta Compton_ did gangsta best. Few have come
|
|
close to that particular style of juvenile antics, dope lyrics, and
|
|
phat beats. N.W.A sure never managed it again, at least not together
|
|
(we all know that Cube managed to merge his gangsta persona with a
|
|
vaguely directed political sensibility while Dre managed to, well,
|
|
make lots and lots and lots of money).
|
|
|
|
So, I guess it really was a good album. I still listen to it every
|
|
once in a while, too. And I've got a lot of albums I could choose
|
|
over it. I'm glad I have it. I'm glad they made it.
|
|
|
|
But, man, who knew that this would bring all this other stuff upon us
|
|
all? I mean, look: controversy, I can deal with. I don't really care
|
|
about the evil influence of gangsta rap and how it's destroying our
|
|
moral fiber. I recognize that its underlying lack of respect for
|
|
authority--a healthy thing as far as I'm concerned--has somehow
|
|
managed to become an unfocused general lack of respect for everything,
|
|
including self. Unchecked, that's not at all a good thing. Still, I
|
|
think we'll pull it out one way or another, so I'm not worried about
|
|
it.
|
|
|
|
Now, what *does* bother me is that gangsta-gangsta, harder-than-thou
|
|
stuff is all I seem to hear. Even Kriss Kross tried to be little baby
|
|
macks. Worse, it worked for a little while. On the other hand,
|
|
Vanilla Ice Cream Cone tried to come hard with a psuedo gangsta album
|
|
that even he refused to buy from what I hear. So, at least we still
|
|
have standards.
|
|
|
|
Oh, well, what am I complaining for? This is the price you pay
|
|
sometimes. In the end, it's probably worth it.
|
|
|
|
Still... I must admit: I think it's time for something new to take
|
|
over. We've always got _Straight Outta Compton_ and _Amerikkka's Most
|
|
Wanted_ if we just must have some gangsta stuff.
|
|
|
|
But that's just one Black man's opinion--what's yours?
|
|
|
|
(C) Copyright 1995, Charles L Isbell, Jr.
|
|
|
|
All my Hip Hop reviews are available on the World Wide Web. Use the
|
|
URL: http://www.ai.mit.edu/~isbell/isbell.html and follow the
|
|
pointers....
|
|
|
|
|
|
*** C ***
|
|
Jesse Bauer
|
|
-----------
|
|
THE SINGLES FILE
|
|
|
|
|
|
KRS-ONE: "MCs Act Like They Don't Know"
|
|
|
|
The Blastmaster is back again with a slamming track produced by
|
|
DJ Premier. The new LP is slated for September, and after hearing this
|
|
and all of Parker's other works, you should know he's gonna come with
|
|
some lovely cuts. Premier throws in a bell into the song at times --
|
|
listen to it while your ice cream man is coming down the street. It
|
|
sounds exactly like that.
|
|
The beat is nice and Kris is fresh... check it out:
|
|
|
|
Hoping your defense mechanism
|
|
can divert my heat seeking lyricism as I spark mad izm.
|
|
The 1996 lyrical styles is what I give 'em.
|
|
|
|
|
|
DAS EFX: "Real Hip Hop"
|
|
|
|
OH MY GOSH! DAMN! Das Efx has surprised me thoroughly with
|
|
this one. This is one of my favorite songs of the whole year. This 12"
|
|
you simply cannot afford to pass up -- included on the vinyl is: DJ
|
|
Premier LP version, Pete Rock Remix, Solid Scheme Remix and PMD Remix,
|
|
of which the first two far and away outshine the others. The lyrics are
|
|
outstanding and outright impressive with tons of one-liners such as, "My
|
|
crew is getting more run than Carl Lewis" and "style is well-defined
|
|
like Webster's". Their third LP is called "Hold It Down." Don't wait
|
|
for it, though -- get the 12" right away -- with all the remixes and the
|
|
phatness of it, you'll lose out if you don't.
|
|
|
|
|
|
MASTA ACE INCORPORATED: "Sittin On Chrome b/w Ya' Hardcore
|
|
** OR ** b/w Maintain"
|
|
|
|
The INC's new single is the LP's title track, but you all should
|
|
know about that already. The B-side is what you've gotta get your eye
|
|
out for. The test pressing featured a marker-scribbled "B" on the
|
|
record and a new track by the name of "Maintain". It's a laidback song
|
|
about keeping on and maintaining today and, while nothing special, is an
|
|
overall good song.
|
|
Now it appears the public b-side will be a different, but also
|
|
previously unreleased song, "Ya' Hardcore". This one comically boasts
|
|
how he, jokingly, is going to switch up his style, making fun of people
|
|
who do so:
|
|
|
|
Snoop and the Dogg Pound make me bark
|
|
I dress in black and go out after dark
|
|
...I got some catching up to do
|
|
so let me get 200 dime bags and three lighters too
|
|
|
|
Both b-sides are pretty good, but "Ya' Hardcore" get the edge
|
|
simply because it had me rolling off of the lyrics.
|
|
|
|
|
|
RED HOT LOVER TONE: "Wanna Make Moves"
|
|
|
|
The number 1 player Tone's new 12" has him flipping metaphors
|
|
about dealing with them girlees. Greg Nice is on production of both
|
|
versions of the song. While the "Greg Nice Mix" is good, the b-side is
|
|
much better because it has the beat from Nice and Smooth's 1990 "Funky
|
|
For You". Nice flips the track by, for example, putting a quick AMG
|
|
beat into the cut when Tone says "I like the jiggable pie" and tossing
|
|
in the beat from "How About Some HardCORE" by M.O.P. when Red Hot says
|
|
"I like it hardcore". The b-side is some good stuff.
|
|
|
|
|
|
COUNT BASS-D: "Sandwiches (I Got a Feeling)"
|
|
|
|
This talented kid plays numerous instruments along with flipping
|
|
the vocals. The song begins by using, metaphorically, sandwiches to
|
|
explain girls. The concept is pretty fresh; peep:
|
|
|
|
Speaking on sandwiches is kind of fickle
|
|
she could be white, or wheat or even pumpernickel
|
|
she ain't even out there being discrete.
|
|
Au contrare, she walks around looking for the meat.
|
|
|
|
On the 12" make sure you check out both the "Mellow Mix" which
|
|
is a nice mellowed/smoothed out version of the song and the "Album Mix"
|
|
which showcases Count's nekkid live instrumentation skills. Both are
|
|
phat and I'm anticipating the LP "Pre-Life Crises" (due out late this
|
|
month) to be some refreshing hip-hop.
|
|
|
|
|
|
MAD SKILLZ: "Nod Factor"
|
|
|
|
Tight beat and nice rhyming have kids bumping this track all
|
|
day. There something funky about the beat which makes it actually
|
|
danceable, but there is also this strong realness to it that makes you
|
|
want to just chill and nod your head for days and days. I'm telling
|
|
you, this kid is NICE. You'll know all about the nod factor after
|
|
hearing this...
|
|
|
|
|
|
KOOL G. RAP: "It's a Shame"
|
|
|
|
Kool G. Rap is back with some of that old flava and he proves
|
|
that he has, without a doubt, still got it. The beat comes in and its
|
|
like... BAM. You'll have to stand the female vocals which are good
|
|
after you listen to the song a few times. Here's a quick sampling of
|
|
the lyrics:
|
|
|
|
I drink a lot of Beck's, get a lot of sex,
|
|
'cause I wear duplex, diamond infested rolex.
|
|
...and town and city, I'm rolling like Frank Nitti
|
|
back up kiddies, I got crimies that's grimy and gritty.
|
|
|
|
Look for his upcoming LP "4, 5, 6" in the near future and in the
|
|
meantime, make sure you check out this butta track.
|
|
|
|
|
|
BG KNOCC OUT & DRESTA: "50/50 Luv b/w D.P.G./K"
|
|
|
|
The two kids from Eazy's "Real Muthaphukkin G's" are back with a
|
|
12". The first track reminisces on how things used to be and how they
|
|
wish it could be, while the second is a slow-beat cut taking direct aim
|
|
at the Dogg Pound:
|
|
|
|
Easily I approach
|
|
the microphone because I ain't no joke
|
|
nigga tell Kurupt, Nate and Daz I'ma buck 'em
|
|
matter of fact tell that whole Pound I say "Fuck 'em."
|
|
|
|
I suppose the songs are basically what I expected from the group
|
|
and that really isn't that much. Unless you're into west coast/gangsta
|
|
type music, its not a track worth even looking at, except for a possible
|
|
laugh you might get outta "D.P.G./K."
|
|
|
|
|
|
JEMINI THE GIFTED ONE: "Can't Stop Rockin' (Tribute) b/w 50 MCs in a
|
|
Cipher"
|
|
|
|
Jemini has got hella skills. If you didn't notice it on his
|
|
first single, go get your head checked. Assuming you did, this 12" has
|
|
got a couple more impressive jams. Several phat remixes of "Can't Stop
|
|
Rockin'" are included. The song mentions many old school artists that
|
|
will get you reminiscing quickly. "50 MCs in a Cipher" is the phat b-
|
|
side:
|
|
|
|
Don't walk up to my face talking 'bout you can bust a rhyme.
|
|
You just best be hittin' the road when I explode.
|
|
I corrode the steel, overload it with the real
|
|
verbal manisfestation, lubrication when I peel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
GOODIE MOB: "Cell Therapy b/w Soul Food"
|
|
|
|
You remember these kids from Outkast, right? Their solo 12" is
|
|
hittin' right about now and is good. Again, it's not something that I'm
|
|
flipping out about, but it's not even close to something that's
|
|
hateable. It's good. The beat on Soul Food is a little boring, but
|
|
other than that I have no real complaints. It's something worth
|
|
checking out.
|
|
|
|
|
|
POPPA LQ: "Hot Club Wax"
|
|
|
|
Rap-A-Lot West and Rap-A-Lot are fresh in general when it comes
|
|
to dealing with college radio stations, so I have to give it up to them
|
|
for that. With this 12", you get six songs: "Take The Money and Run"
|
|
(a'ight), "Neighborhoodsta a Funk" (too G-funky), "Die Like a Gee Live
|
|
Like a Trick", "Why Hate Me" (fairly good), "South Central Solider"
|
|
(good), "Every Wants To B A G" (featuring AMG -- fresh). LQ got a nice
|
|
voice and delivery. Toss this kids skills in a pot, mix em up with
|
|
tight lyrics and tight beats and he could be one of my favorites.
|
|
Sadly, however, the lyrics are often uncreative, and the beats are often
|
|
borderline G-funk. Still, his voice and flow are good enough to keep
|
|
you interested and AMG's appearance is a definite plus.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
***D***
|
|
Laze
|
|
----
|
|
BACK TO THE OLD SCHOOL
|
|
|
|
After hearing Grand Puba's latest joint (which isn't too bad)
|
|
and hearing brothers left and right saying his new album really ain't
|
|
shit, I decided it was time to check back on the kid's roots. With
|
|
that, I dug under my bed to tape case #2 (Geto Boys to Phase n' Rhythm)
|
|
and pulled out the Masters of Ceremony "Dynamite" dub I had, not
|
|
forgetting the Dynamite 12" down in the crates in the basement (4th and
|
|
B-way, 1987/88).
|
|
The title track/memorable single leads off the album. Is it
|
|
just me, or is this song just all-together hype? Great stuff from a
|
|
forgotten era of hip-hop. Lots of the verses by other emcees come off
|
|
sounding like a cross between MC Serch and Everlast, yet that wasn't a
|
|
bad thing. It all worked nicely. It was all about drums then -- and
|
|
the kicks you were sporting, too, of course.
|
|
Now the second cut, "Keep on Moving," has that dope-ass "ziggy-
|
|
ziggy zoon ga-zang" chant in the beginning that Nice & Smooth used on
|
|
their first album. And once again, all about drums -- hardly any
|
|
basslines or samples other than occasional beat-one stabs.
|
|
What I realized was amusing while I listened to this album is
|
|
that Grand Puba is very hard to pick out. He has a hyper in-your-face
|
|
style that is similar to most emcees around 1988. Maxwell was far from
|
|
his 1992 and 1995 sounds back then! The pitch even sounds different --
|
|
not higher, just at a different level than I'm used to these days.
|
|
Some other memorable tracks from this album were "Redder Rose"
|
|
(a reggae-R&B hybrid) and "Sexy", though the latter isn't necessarily
|
|
memorable because of it's dopeness (it's kind of a silly six-minutes).
|
|
Also a smiler is Puba telling us to get ready for some "stupid flavor"
|
|
(God I loved that slang).
|
|
So why have we forgotten this piece of history?! Dig in the
|
|
crates, check the dollar bins. You'll find that shit somewhere, and
|
|
it's worth it!
|
|
|
|
-----
|
|
|
|
Two names I'd like some current info if anyone can shed the
|
|
light my way (e-mail me with any knowledge):
|
|
Raheem: one of the original Geto Boys (though he never appeared
|
|
on their albums). He had two dope-ass releases on Rap-A-Lot that didn't
|
|
sell anywhere near what they should have. All I've heard from him in
|
|
the last three years has been a one verse guest spot on the Blac Monks'
|
|
album.
|
|
Lakim Shabazz: I know he dropped two LPs, the last being in
|
|
1991. This kid dropped crazy knowledge. Is he still down with the 45
|
|
King camp?
|
|
Until next month...
|
|
|
|
Peace... Laze
|
|
|
|
|
|
***E***
|
|
Professa R.A.P.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
ROOTS 'N' RAP
|
|
Diggin' in the Crates, part 3: Urban Jazz
|
|
|
|
|
|
With the release of Jazzmatazz Volume II, the hip-hop-jazz
|
|
connection has finally come to full maturity. In the past, all too
|
|
often, jazz was just a flavor for hip-hop, and hip-hop was just a flavor
|
|
for jazz -- but now it's a little later in the night, and the midnight
|
|
marauders have come out of the kitchen with something different. Call
|
|
it "Street Jazz," "Jazz-Hop," "Hip-Jazz," whatever -- the fusion of
|
|
these two kinds of music has changed them both for the better.
|
|
A few other things have changed, too. What was once new now has
|
|
to face critics who may say it's *old*; as Guru puts it, "Time is movin'
|
|
on, ya betta get with it." Yet if you *really* turn back the hands of
|
|
time, jazz and rap -- in the form of spoken-word jazz poetry, skat, and
|
|
talking blues -- have long been a part of the continuum of the black
|
|
arts, what Amiri Baraka calls 'the changing same.' So let's recall a
|
|
little history.
|
|
Back in the earliest days, Jazz was the street music when folks
|
|
at society balls were still doin' the fox-trot. Artists such as Louis
|
|
Armstrong, King Oliver, James P. Johnson, and Ethel Waters got their
|
|
start at all-night clubs, rent parties, and the black vaudeville circuit
|
|
in the teens and early twenties, before the music industry had fully
|
|
realized what a market existed for African-American music. The only
|
|
ground back then was the 'underground.' In both music and lyrics, you
|
|
had to find your style and push it to the limit. Anything less and
|
|
you'd be out lookin' for a new gig.
|
|
Those who think that Humpty-Hump, Biz Markie, or Flavor Flav are
|
|
outrageous should take a look back at Pigmeat Markham, Slim Gaillard, or
|
|
Gladys Bentley. Just as with hip-hop, it was style -- *attitude* --
|
|
that made the crucial difference among hundreds of talented and
|
|
intensely creative musicians. Markham took his classic vaudeville "Heah
|
|
come de judge" routine and parlayed it into a forty-year career; Bentley
|
|
dressed in male drag, taking the pop tunes of her day and replacing the
|
|
words with 'alternative' lyrics so graphic that the clubs she played
|
|
would often be closed down by the police. Gaillard even invented his
|
|
own language, "Vout," and used it to compose extended pieces such as the
|
|
"Groove Juice Symphony."
|
|
Along with the verbal plays and ploys, the music carried on its
|
|
own strain of "Jes' Grew," sampling snippets of top-selling songs and
|
|
turning them inside-out rhythmically, melodically, and harmonically.
|
|
Sound familiar? There's more. The current paranoia against Gangsta Rap
|
|
couldn't hold a candle to the anti-Jazz diatribes of the 30's through
|
|
the '50's, where preachers inveighed against the 'devil's music' and
|
|
newspaper columnists attacked jazz as the music of wanton sensuality and
|
|
corrupting crossings of AmeriKKKa's racial divide.
|
|
From its streetstyle roots, Jazz underwent a series of
|
|
productive changes in mid-century, from Swing to Bop to Hard Bop to Cool
|
|
to Fusion, which altered its course considerably. While jump-jazz
|
|
personalities like Louis Jordan carried the beat through to rhythm-and-
|
|
blues and rock, musicians with a more hardcore anti-commercial ethos
|
|
turned a different corner, making Jazz the core of a new intelligentsia,
|
|
a sometimes-exclusive coterie of musical cognoscenti. Jazz made it at
|
|
Julliard, but in the process lost some of its street credibility, though
|
|
artists such as Les McCann and Eddie Harris, Miles Davis, Herbie
|
|
Hancock, and the Last Poets brought it back to the funky edge of its
|
|
earlier days. Jazz also gained a rep in some circles as a non-political
|
|
music, despite the potent messages delivered by artists such as Max
|
|
Roach (his "Freedom Now!" suite busted down racist doors in 1960),
|
|
Archie Shepp ("Malcolm, Malcolm, Semper Malcolm," 1965), or Les McCann
|
|
and Eddie Harris (whose 1973 anthem "Compared to What" took on Nixon,
|
|
Vietnam, and the fucked-up nature of things in general).
|
|
When hip-hop broke into the scene in '79, few Jazz musicians
|
|
were paying attention, even though many of them had laid down the roots
|
|
of the music. Among the first to bridge the gap was producer Bill
|
|
Laswell. No matter you think of his recent work (and I happen to like
|
|
it), he brought together hip-hop and jazz for the first time in 1983
|
|
when he produced Herbie Hancock's "Rockit" (with Grandmaster D.ST.
|
|
turning the tables) and Last Poet Jalal Nuriddin's b-box remake of "Mean
|
|
Machine" the following year. Rappers and DJ's, for their part, took a
|
|
lot longer getting around to sampling from the Jazz side. The earliest
|
|
examples that come to mind are albums such as the Dream Warriors' "And
|
|
Now, the Legacy Begins" (1991) or A Tribe Called Quest's "The Low-End
|
|
Theory" (which featured jazz veteran Ron Carter on bass on "Verses from
|
|
the Abstract"). Not much was heard for a while after that until 1993,
|
|
when the Digable Planets upped the ante considerably with "reachin' (a
|
|
new refutation of time and space)" and Guru dropped Jazzmatazz Vol. I.
|
|
That same year, Greg Osby returned the favor from the jazz-hand side
|
|
with his "3-D Lifestyles" disc, and US3 became the first "group" -- if
|
|
that's the right word -- to build an entire project around sampled jazz
|
|
loops.
|
|
It was as if the center of gravity moved. With P-Funk tracks
|
|
making a comeback among hardcore rappers, and "Payback" loops past their
|
|
expiration date, innovative hip-hop producers needed a new sound in
|
|
their sonic arsenal, and Jazz musicians, more often than not, provided
|
|
that new sound. Where Guru featured the *live* Roy Ayers, Ayers samples
|
|
were used to distinctive effect by Pete Rock and the Digables; Sonny
|
|
Rollins, Les McCann, and Stan Getz also provided some of their recorded
|
|
legacy. And even where no identifiable jazz loops were in evidence,
|
|
strange new sounds entered into the vocab of many producers: vibes,
|
|
xylophones, various jazz/funk piano loops, and not-so-horny horns
|
|
brought a cool, mellow edge to numerous hip-hop tracks. Coming into this
|
|
year, renewed collaborative efforts, such as DJ Premier and Branford
|
|
Marsalis's "Buckshot Le Fonque" and Herbie Hancock and Will Griffin's
|
|
"Dis is Da Drum" paved the way for the bustout innovations of discs such
|
|
as The Roots' "Do You Want More ?!!??!" and Jazzmatazz Vol. II, which
|
|
are as sonically and lyrically beyond Jazzmatazz Vol. I as Public Enemy
|
|
is from Whodini.
|
|
What new kinds of connections this hip-hop-jazz fusion will
|
|
bring is hard to predict, but it's a sure bet there will be plenty of
|
|
them. Among the innovators in this field are the Bay Area's Alphabet
|
|
Soup, who stirred up shit last year with a disc of fullblown
|
|
instrumental jazz-hop workouts, among them a funky retake of the Last
|
|
Poets' "Blessed Are Those Who Struggle." Other promising new voices
|
|
include the Justice System, with their blend of jazzy sounds and old-
|
|
school dedications, and Me'Shell NdegeOcello, whose smoky vocals and
|
|
funky Go-go basslines are surely lurking around somewhere preparing for
|
|
a followup to her incredible "Plantation Lullabies" (and in case you
|
|
missed it, her collaboration with Herbie Hancock on "Nocturnal Sunshine"
|
|
on the "Red, Hot, and Blue" compilation takes it *all* to another
|
|
level).
|
|
The only people this new kind of music is likely to trouble are
|
|
those who have big, heavy dividers between their "Jazz" shelf and their
|
|
"Hip-hop" -- assuming they've got both shelves to begin with. As
|
|
always, the creative vortex of music makes a shambles of categories, and
|
|
it's one clear sign of life in the middle of hip-hop's third decade of
|
|
darkness.
|
|
|
|
|
|
RECOMMENDED ALBUMS:
|
|
|
|
Slim Gaillard, Laughing in Rhythm: Best of the Verve Years, Verve 314
|
|
521651-2
|
|
Archie Shepp, _Fire Music_, Impulse MCAD-39121 (contains "Malcolm,
|
|
Malcolm, Semper Malcolm")
|
|
Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Coleman Hawkins, and Olatunji, _We Insist!
|
|
Max Roach's "Freedom Now Suite"_, Candid CCD 9002
|
|
Les McCann and Eddie Harris, _Swiss Movement_, Atlantic CD ATL1537-2
|
|
(contains the full version of "Compared to What?")
|
|
Greg Osby, _3-D Lifestyles_, Blue Note CDP 0777-7-98635-2-5
|
|
Alphabet Soup, _Layin' Low in the Cut_, Mammoth MR0082-2
|
|
Justice System, _Rooftop Soundcheck_, MCAD-11118
|
|
_Jazzmatazz, Vol. I_, Chrysalis 0946 3 21998 2 9
|
|
_Jazzmatazz, Vol. II_, Chrysalis 7243 8 34290 2 8
|
|
_Stolen Moments: Red, Hot, and Cool_, Impulse/GRP GRD-9794
|
|
The Roots, _Do You Want More ?!!??!_, Geffen DGCD-24708
|
|
The Dream Warriors, _And Now the Legacy Begins_, 4th & B'Way
|
|
1624440372
|
|
Branford Marsalis & DJ Premier, _Buckshot Le Fonque_, Columbia CK 57323
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Section 3 -- THREE
|
|
|
|
***A***
|
|
Steve 'Flash' Juon
|
|
------------------
|
|
FREESTYLE OR PAYSTYLE?
|
|
|
|
"Freestyle? Ah hell nah nigga, don't even know how to do that
|
|
shit..."
|
|
The other day, I was cruising the information superhighway,
|
|
looking for a place to park. I had barely pulled into the garage of one
|
|
BBS and let my motor idle when I received a message from CrackBaby, who
|
|
also happens to be one of HardC.O.R.E.'s writers.
|
|
"Hey KRS," says CrackBaby (my name there as on most bulletin
|
|
boards is KRS One), "you remember that tape you sent me of the Wu-Tang
|
|
freestyling at KZSU?"
|
|
"Yeah," I said after giving him some dap.
|
|
"Well, you remember how mad you got that Method Man and Ol'
|
|
Dirty Bastard used those same freestyle lyrics on their albums? Raekwon
|
|
the Chef did it too on his new shit!"
|
|
Damn, ain't that a bitch. The Wu has for some time now been my
|
|
favorite crew of lyricists (the Hieros are running far behind in 2nd),
|
|
but these solo forays have given me pause to think. Freestyle? If what
|
|
they did at KZSU in Stanford was a freestyle, why does it seem like
|
|
something they jotted down and used again later? In fact, what is a
|
|
freestyle?
|
|
These days, a freestyle seems to be a paystyle, to paraphrase
|
|
Too $hort. MC's come out for their shows or radio appearances and make
|
|
a big point of getting ready to freestyle. It was inevitable that
|
|
freestyling would become the mark of a true head, considering that both
|
|
the Hieroglyphics and Supernatural got deals on the strength of their
|
|
off-the-head lyricism. The unfortunate side-effect is that we now have
|
|
'studio freestylers' in almost as great a proportion as 'studio
|
|
gangstas'. You got people who come out claimin' freestyle, and then do
|
|
the same 'freestyle' night after night. Among those found guilty as
|
|
charged are:
|
|
|
|
Method Man
|
|
Ol Dirty Bastard
|
|
O.C.
|
|
Notorious B.I.G.
|
|
Raekwon the Chef
|
|
Saafir the Saucee Nomad
|
|
|
|
....and many others. We've come to a point in hip-hop where we need to
|
|
make a true delineation between 'freestyle' and 'off-the-head.'
|
|
I'm asking you, the listener out there, to think about it. Next
|
|
time your rapper on the radio says, "I'ma kick a freestyle," be a little
|
|
more skeptical. Is it a freestyle, or is it a paystyle? Put any MC in
|
|
a cipher and he can sound dope for a while with pre-writtens, but real
|
|
off-the-head rhymers make mistakes and are so good they can play off
|
|
them and keep on going. _That's_ the mark of a true MC, and claiming
|
|
freestyle while running pre-writtens sure as hell ain't.
|
|
|
|
|
|
***B***
|
|
David J.
|
|
--------
|
|
|
|
END OF AN ERA
|
|
The curtain falls on "Yo! MTV Raps."
|
|
|
|
A'ight, explain this one to me like I'm a three-year-old.
|
|
There is no more "Yo! MTV Raps." It's gone. Finished. Kaput.
|
|
Outta here like that $5,000 love seat. No more Ed & Dre clowning
|
|
around. No more Fab 5 Freddy fumbling and fawning over new hip-hop
|
|
artists. No more T-Money dressing up as a chicken (or whatever it was
|
|
this week). No more Live Fridays. No more half-hour or hour-long
|
|
forays into hip-hop -- straight, no chaser, as it were.
|
|
Now, MTV's official hip-hop spokesperson is none other than that
|
|
gel-haired, beach-lovin', stereotype-provin', Martin-Lawrence-wannabe,
|
|
caricature-of-himself, pencil-neck-piss-colored-Gumby-boy Bill Bellamy,
|
|
who wouldn't know a phat lyric if it crawled up his ass and spit out its
|
|
watermelon Jolly Rancher in his appendix.
|
|
And they expect us to continue watching.
|
|
Yes, that vast, stylish wasteland we like to call eMpTyV finally
|
|
pulled the plug on the show that many hip-hop fans considered that
|
|
network's lone salvation. No, hip-hop just isn't all that important
|
|
anymore, so let's just group it with all those other black artists and
|
|
make it all one big, happy, smilin'-with-gold-fronts-showin' family.
|
|
It's not that we couldn't see this coming. At its peak, eMpTyV
|
|
moves "Yo!" from 4:30 p.m. weekdays to 12:00 Midnight weekdays,
|
|
presumably to get away with showing stuff that the censors didn't want
|
|
on daytime television. (These obviously aren't the same censors who
|
|
watch talk shows and soap operas on daytime TV.) Then, just as Ed & Dre
|
|
hit the movie theaters with "Who's The Man?" in 1993, eMpTyV shows their
|
|
support for them by ditching the weekly show and replacing it with
|
|
"Alternative Nation," hosted by Kennedy, the original template for the
|
|
"It's Pat" sketches on Saturday Night Live.
|
|
With nary an announcement, eMpTyV buries two hours of Yo! on
|
|
Friday nights, leaving most hip-hop fans in the dark as to where their
|
|
favorite show went. Eventually, heads caught on, and Yo! started to
|
|
develop a little more. Then just as Live Fridays became a big thing,
|
|
Yo! slid further down the prime time schedule until it reached the late
|
|
night schedule. All the while, Gumby-boy was showing up regularly on
|
|
various shows and at all of the networks big events and such, while Ed &
|
|
Dre were reduced to beach beauty contest hosts.
|
|
Yo! enjoyed a brief resurgence in the past year or so, but it
|
|
obviously wasn't enough for eMpTyV to consider keeping it around. No,
|
|
hip-hop is a mainstream thing now, so you'll excuse us if we scatter
|
|
Craig Mack and Naughty By Nature videos in with Paula Abdul and Soul
|
|
Asylum. Never mind that heavy metal, alternative, R&B and various other
|
|
forms of music have their own shows and forums. There no room for hip-
|
|
hop at eMpTyV -- we have to show more Beavis and Butthead reruns.
|
|
I suppose a network that once considered The Brothers Grunt to
|
|
be quality entertainment would make a decision like this. They probably
|
|
looked upon Fab 5, Ed & Dre as yesterday's news, plain ol' jokers who
|
|
got too long in the tooth to stick around. Hip-hop shows up in the Top
|
|
40 regularly, anyway, so a show dedicated only to rap music is just
|
|
passe anymore.
|
|
But Yo! was something more than just a bunch of guys acting
|
|
stupid while announcing rap videos. Yo! was all about representing.
|
|
Artists who wouldn't have gotten any exposure otherwise could hang out
|
|
with Ed & Dre for a while and just do their thing, maybe put on a show
|
|
or drop a quick freestyle that would help boost not only their careers,
|
|
but the careers of hip-hop heads all across the country. Yo! was a real
|
|
voice for the hip-hop community, something no other network would give
|
|
us at the time of the show's inception. That voice is now gone.
|
|
We should go, too. Granted, this publication has a history of
|
|
pointing its flamethrower at eMpTyV any chance we get, but they have
|
|
made their point -- there's no more room for hip-hop on that network.
|
|
There's plenty of room for strange cartoons, beach parties, alternative
|
|
rock, Newt Gingrich interviews, and weak MC's who rhyme about how they
|
|
wish they were an Oscar Meyer weiner, but there's no more room for us.
|
|
If that's the case, I don't want my MTV anymore. They can have it.
|
|
But not before we let them hear about it. Be sure to go to
|
|
MTV's World Wide Web site (http://www.mtv.com) and send them an angry
|
|
note about the cancellation of Yo! In fact, copy this article and send
|
|
it to them a few dozen times. Maybe then they'll realize they just
|
|
threw away a rather large portion of their audience.
|
|
In the meantime, playas, grab your clickers if you love hip-
|
|
hop -- and change the channel.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Section 4 -- FOUR
|
|
|
|
************************************************************************
|
|
|
|
THE OFFICIAL HARDC.O.R.E. REVIEW SECTION
|
|
|
|
The pH scale
|
|
|
|
6/pHat -- EE-YOW!! A hip-hop classic!
|
|
5/pHunky -- Definitely worth the price of admission.
|
|
4/pHine -- Pretty good, give it a listen.
|
|
3/pHair -- Some potential here, but it's not fully realized.
|
|
2/pHlat -- Falls far short of a quality product.
|
|
1/pHlat -- Get that Vanilla Lice shit outta here!
|
|
|
|
************************************************************************
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
***A***
|
|
Laze
|
|
----
|
|
|
|
BIG L, "Lifestylez ov da Poor & Dangerous"
|
|
(Sony/Columbia)
|
|
|
|
Let me break it down real quick. If you dig a Lord Finesse
|
|
sound (on production and lyrically) and liked "Put it On" and "MVP", you
|
|
will most surley dig Big L's album.
|
|
I've noticed that L really shines when he's over a classic
|
|
freestyle beat with heavy kick drums and rhythmic hi-hats. Thankfully,
|
|
the majority of this LP got the kid well-showcased. His flow is so well
|
|
crafted and the lyrics are often smacks-in-the-face ("You can't kill me,
|
|
I was born dead") that you can't help but bob your head and just groove
|
|
to this joint from track 1 to track 12. It's nice to see that even
|
|
though a brother can drop words with incredible speed, he doesn't feel
|
|
it necessary to force it for an entire album.
|
|
I mentioned earlier about Lord Finesse -- if you're a fan, check
|
|
the joints on this platter: he takes care of some production and drops
|
|
some lyrics as well. "No Endz, No Skinz" shows just the tip of the
|
|
similarity iceberg between L and Finesse, most noticeably on the
|
|
multiple-syllable rhymes. Nice chant on that baby boy, too:
|
|
|
|
If you don't got endz you won't be getting no skinz,
|
|
and if you don't got money you won't scoop a honey.
|
|
If you don't got cash you won't be getting no ass,
|
|
and if you're not clockin' the loot you won't be knockin' the boots.
|
|
|
|
The main difference between the two though is that Big L has
|
|
more of a notice change in vocal intonation. Finesse always seemed to
|
|
be on the same pitch whether he was spouting off about his ego or giving
|
|
a slap-your-head dis (which is neither good nor bad, just different).
|
|
With the monotony of boring hip-hop crews putting out records
|
|
this year, kids like Big L make heads remember there are people out
|
|
there still striving for quality. To close it out, there's no better
|
|
way than just letting him drop some flavor:
|
|
|
|
So don't step to this 'cause I got a live troop
|
|
You might be kinda big but they make coffins that size, too.
|
|
I was taught wise, I'm known to extort guys,
|
|
This ain't Cali, it's Harlem, nigga, we do walk-bys.
|
|
.........
|
|
'Cause on the shelf is where your LP cole stood,
|
|
Because it was no good, that shit ain't even go wood."
|
|
|
|
pH Level -- 6/pHat
|
|
|
|
|
|
***B***
|
|
Steve 'Flash' Juon
|
|
------------------
|
|
|
|
BUSHWICK BILL, "Phantom of the Rapra"
|
|
(Rap-a-Lot/Noo Trybe)
|
|
|
|
"First question, why did you decide to name the album Phantom of
|
|
the Rapra?"
|
|
"Well I named it Phantom of the Rapra because I like opera, and
|
|
it deals with sex, rape, violence, incest, and suicide ya know -- and
|
|
it's accepted by the same people that want to ban rap when rap is opera
|
|
to people in the ghetto that are dealing with the same issues."
|
|
Deep. Bushwick may still be the little Chuckie who wants to
|
|
swing his big nuts and cut your heart out with a knife, but this time
|
|
there's something more: an intellectual side, and a conceptual
|
|
presentation. If "Little Big Man" had been songs like "Ever So Cleer"
|
|
from beginning to album, it would probably sound like this album.
|
|
|
|
The world is on some ol' new improved shit.
|
|
They buildin' bombs everyday but screamin peace.
|
|
|
|
- "Wha Cha Gonna Do"
|
|
|
|
Sure, you might be tempted to jump around this CD to hear
|
|
whatever song your boy told you was pHat, but TRUST ME: listen to it
|
|
from the beginning to the end. Listen for that operatic drive, listen
|
|
for those piano licks, listen as it carries you from glorious heights to
|
|
tragic despair to violent revenge. This IS opera at it's best. Breakin
|
|
away a song like "Times is Hard" may be the move to sell a single and
|
|
push the album, but in the context it feels *that* much more right.
|
|
|
|
I'm spittin game so y'all can feel me.
|
|
Man, I'ma make it out the ghetto if it kills me.
|
|
|
|
- "Times is Hard"
|
|
|
|
This is the new funk, "Dr. Wolfgang Von Bushwick" p-funking up
|
|
some hardcore 5th Ward Houston, Texas style with a twist. Bushwick
|
|
manages to completely reinvent himself and yet remain completely true to
|
|
his original work, an artistic feat that many MC's who've had more
|
|
success were never able to pull off. When Bushwick asks the rhetorical
|
|
question "Who's the biggest little motherfucker that you know?", it has
|
|
to be himself, because even he is no doubt aware that he has set a new
|
|
precedent for hardcore hip-hop.
|
|
So here's the summary: Bushwick is the guy you know and love
|
|
from the Geto Boys, but just like the world in his lyrics he's on "some
|
|
ol' new improved shit." This album is the definite move for hardcore
|
|
hip-hop heads who like conceptual, dramatic, violent, intelligent music.
|
|
Beware that Bushwick is still not now and never has been the most
|
|
tasteful of MC's -- he's the kind of guy who chops up brains and eats it
|
|
as sushi -- but this time around more than ever you sense that it has a
|
|
point, a place, and a dramatic purpose. Bushwick gets nuff props for
|
|
this joint.
|
|
|
|
pH Level -- 5/pHunky
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
***C***
|
|
Steve 'Flash' Juon
|
|
------------------
|
|
|
|
CHUCKLEHEAD, "Fuzz"
|
|
(Summit Records)
|
|
|
|
There seems to be an interesting trend brewing up from the music
|
|
underground these days, uninspired by corporate profit makers or MTV
|
|
chic. Strange as it seems, funk/rap bands often comprised of mostly
|
|
white artists are brewing up a dope concoction of discoesque tracks that
|
|
slam as hard as anything by Clinton and Co.
|
|
One such group is Manhattan's own Chucklehead, who already have
|
|
two releases on Summit Records and have been featured in several motion
|
|
picture soundtracks. With their new album "Fuzz", they display a more
|
|
musical and less hip-hop oriented focus, but still manage to funk things
|
|
up with a passion. This group is almost the Dave Matthews Band in
|
|
reverse -- a bunch of funky white musicians and a black lead singer, and
|
|
they all swing it hard. Occasionally the members of the group take
|
|
turns at the mic MC'ing, not in a serious hardcore hip-hop fashion but
|
|
in more of a Beastie Boys get-down-and-have-fun fashion.
|
|
Chucklehead covers a lot of bases: one moment they'll be
|
|
covering The Beatles ("We Can Work It Out"), the next they take it to
|
|
the grill ("Bozack"), and after that they just funk around for the fun
|
|
of it ("Big Dumb Song"). Their versatility suits their musicality well,
|
|
and it makes for an all around pleasing album.
|
|
If you see this release in your neighborhood music store, you
|
|
might want to pop it in for a preview first -- but if you like some just
|
|
good ol' funk you won't be dissapointed.
|
|
|
|
pH level -- 4/pHine
|
|
|
|
|
|
***D***
|
|
Steve 'Flash' Juon
|
|
------------------
|
|
|
|
FIVE FINGERS OF FUNK, "Slap Me Five"
|
|
(Ho Made Media)
|
|
|
|
"Respect to Gangstarr but I don't want to be 'em..."
|
|
Good attitude kid, although you do have some skills.
|
|
Introducing MC Pete Mizer and his fabulous Five Fingers of Funk, an all-
|
|
white funk group which hails from Oregon. These self-made funkateers
|
|
put together a *serious* promo package, including a fun for kids book,
|
|
reviews of their live show and photos. Would their album compare?
|
|
As a matter of fact, it does. This group has serious
|
|
credentials both as groovy track makers and as credible hip-hop
|
|
producers. Yes, I said hip-hop. Pete Mizer lays down some skills,
|
|
nothing you could compare to AceyAlone or Guru but on a good day Pete
|
|
Mizer could make Everlast jealous.
|
|
In fact, even the DJ's and the track producers have nuff skills.
|
|
Check out cuts like "Do You Know How Many Five Is?" and "DJ Chill Lost
|
|
in Phoneland 1" and you get a sense that these kids ain't playin. Why
|
|
they haven't caught wreck nationally yet? Likely because they haven't
|
|
sent out enough copies of their promotional package.
|
|
If you happen to run across this one somewhere, be sure to give
|
|
a listen to "Posters", a tale of struggle for survival, "Look at Where
|
|
You At" a song in which 'respect means more than any bullshit check',
|
|
and the hilarious "Me Jane You Funky" -- dedicated to when Pete Mizer
|
|
was an extra at a Jane Seymour movie.
|
|
Conclusion: It's sho' funky 'nuff.
|
|
|
|
pH Level -- 5/pHunky
|
|
|
|
|
|
***E***
|
|
Steve 'Flash' Juon
|
|
------------------
|
|
|
|
FUNKDOOBIEST, "Brothas Doobie"
|
|
(Immortal/Epic)
|
|
|
|
Aight, hold up a sec...
|
|
*Clean* version? Well what the fuck? If that's what the record
|
|
label wants me to have what can I do, and it's not much of a surprise
|
|
since they've been pumping this one really hard for radio play. It
|
|
makes me wonder though -- I've heard several songs which aren't listed
|
|
on this _Clean_ version: "Superhoes" from the Friday soundtrack, "Pussy
|
|
Ain't Shit" from the Dedicated 12" among others. So for those of you
|
|
who pick this one up at your neighborhood Sam Goody, check the listing
|
|
and see what you get. If those tracks ain't on then I guess we're all
|
|
out of luck.
|
|
This is definitely another Soul Assassins album, but this is not
|
|
the same group that did songs like "I bow wow wow yippe yo yippie yay to
|
|
the funk". Nobody can accuse the Funkdoobiest clan of being gifted
|
|
lyrically, but even so they come off with a noticable improvement,
|
|
especially Sun Doobie. The songs have stories ("What the Deal"), seek
|
|
spiritual upliftment ("Rock On") and speak to the homies that have
|
|
passed on ("Dedicated"). That's not to say these guys aren't still horn
|
|
dogs who like "XXX Funk" but this time there's a depth and quality to
|
|
their music that was previously lacking.
|
|
The best part is that musically speaking, this is a highly
|
|
listenable album. Between Ralph M, Lethal, and Muggs, the beats remain
|
|
funky from beginning to end, and samples like Chuck D. yelling "Tomahawk
|
|
slam!" in "Tomahawk Bang" are guaranteed to make you a convert to
|
|
Funkdoobiest funk.
|
|
My conclusion: for Funkdoobiest, this is probably as good as it
|
|
will ever get, but even at that it's pretty damn good. They've finally
|
|
broken away from the pack as just another two-bit group with a deal and
|
|
a hot producer and instead given us something we can truly appreciate.
|
|
|
|
pH Level -- 4/pHine
|
|
|
|
|
|
***F***
|
|
Steve 'Flash' Juon
|
|
------------------
|
|
|
|
GRAND PUBA, "2000"
|
|
(Elektra)
|
|
|
|
It's the return of the lyrical don who's smooth like Grey Poupon
|
|
so once again it's on. Nevermind the corny singing -- he's been doing
|
|
that since Masters of Ceremony, and I can forgive him for it -- the man
|
|
still has the mic skills that Brand Nubian *desperately* needed on their
|
|
last album and will hopefully be re-united with on their next joint.
|
|
|
|
So many brothers try to see me, but only two can be me
|
|
That's probably Ray Charles and Stevie...
|
|
Cause when it comes to this Puba's not a stranger
|
|
Get the honies hooked like the kids is hooked on Power Rangers
|
|
|
|
- "Very Special"
|
|
|
|
Do that shit, God! Damn, he comes through again with the witty
|
|
clever metaphors and rhymes that got me on his nuts like a squirrel, and
|
|
that cut is a throwaway compared to the rest of the album. On "2000",
|
|
he's makin fools stupid "like it's Friday and they Urkel." On "Play it
|
|
Cool" (with Sadat X from Brand Nubian) he's "cuttin niggaz down like
|
|
drivebys." The man never stops dropping jewels.
|
|
Musically this album covers a lot of bases, most of them in
|
|
ballparks that you've never seen before. This ain't familiar territory.
|
|
If you're thinking "360, what comes around goes around," you're not even
|
|
*close*. In fact, this is a much better album musically than "Reel to
|
|
Reel." Think about the "2000" when you listen to this one and realize
|
|
it's some ol' back-to-the-future type bombs. Everything from smoothed
|
|
out R&B like "A Little of This" to ultra-modern hype piano of "Play it
|
|
Cool" to George Jetson-style of "Keep On" -- it's all in the mix. Don't
|
|
sleep.
|
|
|
|
pH Level -- 6/pHat
|
|
|
|
|
|
***G***
|
|
Mr. John C. Book
|
|
----------------
|
|
|
|
GURU, "Jazzmatazz Vol. II: The New Reality"
|
|
(Chrysalis)
|
|
|
|
When Guru came out with the first "Jazzmatazz" two years ago, it
|
|
wasn't exactly revolutionary. A Tribe Called Quest had dabbled with
|
|
jazz, Stetsasonic sampled it in "Talkin' All That Jazz," and of course
|
|
Gang Starr opened up the possibilities with "Jazz Thing."
|
|
But "Jazzmatazz" worked on a lot of levels. With songs like
|
|
"Loungin'," "Trust Me," "No Time To Play," and "Le Bien, Le Mal," a lot
|
|
of rap fans who might have never touched a jazz record dug deep into the
|
|
collections of their parents, and some jazz purists finally saw rap
|
|
music as a true artform. It is one reason why so many looked forward to
|
|
"Jazzmatazz Vol. II: The New Reality."
|
|
A lot of the songs on this, even with Guru's lyrical skills,
|
|
remind me of a lot of classic albums from the 70's, like Graham Central
|
|
Station's "Release Yourself" and Earth, Wind & Fire's "Open Your Eyes,"
|
|
simply because of the vocal work of Mica Paris, Shara Nelson and Sweet
|
|
Sable, and the contributions from such jazz greats as Rueben Wilson,
|
|
Ronny Jordan, and Donald Byrd. Because of the diverse mixture of the
|
|
old and the new, Guru takes this "experimental fusion of hip-hop and
|
|
jazz" over the top and onto another level, totally blowing away all
|
|
misconceptions about what Guru can and cannot do.
|
|
"For You" hits massively hard with Me'Shell NdegeOcello helping
|
|
out on bass and vocals and Kenny Garrett on saxophone. Musically, it
|
|
has that vibe that is as hard as the reality of our world and as smooth
|
|
as a day at the park on a Sunday. In this track, Guru gives thanks to
|
|
those who have meant a lot to him in his life, such as family. In one
|
|
verse, he tells the listener the true meaning of friendship:
|
|
|
|
A true friend, kid, is mad mad rare.
|
|
Trust another is a risk. A lot of things ain't fair,
|
|
'cause where I be at, a lot of strange things happen, jack.
|
|
You could know a kid for years and still he'll stab you in the back.
|
|
But that's alright cuz I'm a good judge of character,
|
|
and me and my family, we maintain the balance ta'
|
|
master the challenges of life.
|
|
Like the chain in the star, we link up to shine mad bright.
|
|
To all my boys way across the country
|
|
dealing with the struggle, the good the bad and the ugly.
|
|
Yo, under pressure, we're the best,
|
|
no matter what the circumstance, no matter how much stress.
|
|
Our force has the power to bring forth change.
|
|
I'd rather see or succeed than feel shame or go insane.
|
|
Dedicated to my fam that's supported.
|
|
You should always, I said always be applauded.
|
|
|
|
"Respect The Architect" is mind blowing as well, with help from
|
|
Bahamadia, Ramsey Lewis on piano and moog synthesizer (circa "Sun
|
|
Goddess"), and turntable work from DJ Scratch. You hear the jazz
|
|
platform, you hear the funkiness, and you hear Guru and Bahamadia just
|
|
battling for supremacy in this song, and you got a wall of noise that
|
|
rivals anything the Bomb Squad did on "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted." Just
|
|
when you think it can't get any better, here comes Patra and Kool Keith in
|
|
"Young Ladies."
|
|
And yes, it gets better from there.
|
|
|
|
The overall mood of this album, even in the harder tracks, is
|
|
very laid back, but don't overlook Guru's lyrics. Many have said that
|
|
his "Jazzmatazz" work is weaker than his work in Gang Starr, but one
|
|
listen to "Something In The Past" and "Living In The World" proves
|
|
otherwise. Mix that with the talents of Jamiroquai, The Solsonics, DC
|
|
Lee, DJ Sean-Ski, and Bu, and you have an album that's going to satisfy
|
|
for a long time.
|
|
The only flaw here, ironically, happens to be Guru's track with
|
|
DJ Premier. "Watch What You Say" has everything going for it, in terms
|
|
of music, beats, and production. What makes this wack is Chaka Khan.
|
|
She is a wonderful vocalist, don't get me wrong, but somehow her voice
|
|
and this song do not blend. I haven't heard the remixes yet, but on
|
|
this album it fails miserably. Would have been a nice B-side.
|
|
If you have the CD, don't think your player is messing up.
|
|
Throughout the album you will hear crackles and the sound effect of too
|
|
much dust collecting on the needle (whoever thought we would hear *that*
|
|
on a CD?), which gives "Jazzmatazz Vol. II" a very intimate quality. It
|
|
may seem lengthy at 73 minutes (compared to the 44 minutes of the first
|
|
one) but after a number of listens it starts to settle in and you're
|
|
listening to this as an "album," not a collection of possible singles.
|
|
One vocalist that could have made this album even better is Blue
|
|
Raspberry. Raspberry's voice has been heard throughout a lot of Wu-
|
|
Tang's output ("1-800-SUICIDE" remix, "Glaciers Of Ice", "Stimulation")
|
|
and I am sure she would have caused further damage on this LP (she would
|
|
have been better on "Watch What You Say"). But as it stands,
|
|
"Jazzmatazz Vol. II" is an LP that will be talked about for quite some
|
|
time.
|
|
|
|
pH Level -- 4/pHine
|
|
|
|
|
|
***H***
|
|
Laze
|
|
----
|
|
|
|
KING JUST, "Mystics of the God:
|
|
The Sex, Money, Cess, and the Blas'e Blah"
|
|
(Black Fist Records/Select Street Records)
|
|
|
|
In 1994 King Just was having trouble getting his shit heard, so
|
|
he put it out himself on Black Fist Records. This single was "Warrior's
|
|
Drum," and the man with "one life to lose" made his first mark on the
|
|
hip-hop map. It was a large underground success and this brother-from-
|
|
Shaolin-but-not-a-Wu-Tang-artist clearly had his feet on the ground.
|
|
Finally, after quite a wait, the full LP has dropped. If you've
|
|
heard "Warrior's Drum," you'll notice that this LP is very much tied
|
|
into the first single, featuring cuts with titles clipped from the
|
|
"Warrior's Drum" lyrics: "Can I Get Some," "Hassan Chop," and "Boom
|
|
Bow!" The production on this album (from Easy Mo Bee, E-Swift, and RNS
|
|
from Wu-Tang) is solid. Basic, straightforward drums and the eerie
|
|
underground ghetto-flavor samples set the mood: this is a true hip-hop
|
|
album.
|
|
An interesting piece of this release is the remix of "Warrior's
|
|
Drum" which makes great use of the "Shaolin, Black Fist, they knew the
|
|
time / and Just came back with that old funky rhyme" vocal clip. The
|
|
beat is somewhat corny, but as a whole it works pretty well, though it
|
|
takes a couple listens to get past the "what the fuck?" stage.
|
|
Lyrically, King Just ranks up there among the better artists of
|
|
the year. His off-and-on sing-songy delivery works very well, and
|
|
though his metaphors aren't the most amazing I've ever heard (he used a
|
|
"David Banner/Hulk" analogy twice and he's far from the first to use it --
|
|
I can think of at least three others), but the kid comes off
|
|
nonetheless. As far as guest rappers go, it's pretty much run-of-the-
|
|
mill.
|
|
So, to summarize, I gotta' give this one the nod. It's straight-
|
|
forward hip-hop the way we haven't heard it in a while. "Now ain't that
|
|
some shit, kid?"
|
|
|
|
pH Level -- 4/pHine
|
|
|
|
|
|
***I***
|
|
Professa R.A.P.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
DA NAYBORHOODZ, "Afta Dark: Illa Than Expected"
|
|
(React Records)
|
|
|
|
I came to this album as a skeptic. West Coast hip-hop meets
|
|
dancehall stylee? It sounded like a one-shot novelty act, and the
|
|
first time I checked out the trax, I didn't hear anything that sounded
|
|
all that special. But these guys convinced me, listen by listen, that
|
|
they were more than opportunistic genre-blenders. Despite a few cuts
|
|
that fall flat, this disc packs more innovative sound to the square inch
|
|
than most of what I've heard so far this year. If Da Nayborhoodz only
|
|
packed as much consciousness as they pack funky ragga-hip-hop sound,
|
|
this project would be an instant classic -- and even as it is, it could
|
|
be a hopeful sign of things to come.
|
|
Da Nayborhoodz is Minus (a.k.a. 'Pale Dog'), Culture, and DJ
|
|
Dub'l -- three boyz from the hood with one huge fuckin' axe to grind.
|
|
Minus, from what I can gather, does most of the lead raps; the self-
|
|
dubbed 'Amazin Caucasian' has a solid verbal flow which never falters
|
|
throughout this disc, though it takes more than a few drives by familiar
|
|
lyrical territory; MC Culture brings de raggamuffin sound, and DJ Dub'l
|
|
fills out the crew (along with producer Pro-Jay).
|
|
As with so much recent hip-hop, it's hard to tell where the DJ
|
|
leaves off and the producer begins, but whoever cut up these beats knows
|
|
what they're doing. Whether it's the eerie irie sounds of "Good
|
|
Mourning" and "Makin' Moves," the funky piano and horns of "Illa Than
|
|
Expected," the P-Funky worms of "How We Do It," or the all-out rockbox
|
|
of "Bad Boy Ya Come," this album runs through the whole spectrum of
|
|
sound, and adds new twists and pushes wherever it goes.
|
|
The lyrical flow is equally wide-ranging. One of the strongest
|
|
hooks on the record belongs to "Only the Strong Survive," switches
|
|
smoothly from Culture's ragga riffs to Minus's South Central flow:
|
|
|
|
Only the strong survive
|
|
No time to take five
|
|
'Cos in this game, either ya flow or ya die
|
|
|
|
Sure, it's been said before, but this kid's got a voice all his
|
|
own. I like it. On the title track, over a funky mush of horns, fuzz
|
|
bass, and Twilight-Zone whistles, Minus drops double-time lyrical
|
|
madness:
|
|
|
|
Let your guard down, catch a quick beatdown,
|
|
around my block, 'cos punks get socked.
|
|
Who gives a shit about the scripts ya flip?
|
|
'Cause I flip clips.
|
|
They comin' straight from my lips.
|
|
I run amok, write a rhyme and get fucked up.
|
|
You're outta luck, Punk, better duck.
|
|
|
|
There's enough lyrical voltage here to counteract the occasional
|
|
drift into cliches, and if it weren't for the (seemingly inevitable)
|
|
lapses into bitch-dissin' and gun-barrel braggadocio, Minus could be
|
|
more of a plus in this crew (sorry, couldn't resist that).
|
|
Other standout tracks include the ominous "Makin' Moves," which
|
|
showcases the sound-boi/b-boy shifts; the uptempo ragga-hop anthem
|
|
"Contact Hit"; and the total bustout of "Bad Boy Ya Come":
|
|
|
|
Don't even trip off, I'll rap ya fuckin' hip off
|
|
Tried to get that tip off, instead ya got the flip off
|
|
You got done by that son of a gun
|
|
Yo! The motherfuckin' notorious team minus one
|
|
From Da Nayborhoodz With madd skillz I gets props,
|
|
for fuckin every style in raggamuffin hip-hop...
|
|
|
|
In fact, if there's one negative about this album, it's the way
|
|
Da Nayborhoodz seem to try on every style for size; after a while you
|
|
start to wonder about the Zelig factor. Are these guys fe real, or are
|
|
they just real good at sounding sorta like somebody else? On some cuts,
|
|
such as "Payback" (a sorry-assed OutKast imitation) or the heavily Cube-
|
|
ist "How We Do It," you start to wonder if producers should be licensed
|
|
to clone. But on most of the other tracks, the skills come through and
|
|
the sounds are phat. I expect to hear more from this crew in the
|
|
future; here's hoping they'll come correct next time out.
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pH Level -- 4/pHine
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***J***
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Steve 'Flash' Juon
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------------------
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|
RAEKWON THE CHEF, "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..."
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|
(RCA)
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|
|
|
Watch these rap niggaz get all up in your guts
|
|
French vanilla butter pecan chocolate deluxe.
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|
Even caramel sundaes is gettin touched and scooped
|
|
in my ice cream truck -- Wu tears shit up.
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|
|
|
- Method Man, from "Ice Cream Man"
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|
|
|
The Wu-Tang saga continues, and like Godfather Part II, the
|
|
sequel comes off phatter. The Ol' Dirty Bastard? Yeah, that was a good
|
|
album but this bomb compares to Ol' Dirty like Ol' Dirty compares to
|
|
Method Man's solo: it's on some ol' NEXT shit. Speaking of ODB, you
|
|
won't hear him on this album, and I think that's a wise decision -- he's
|
|
a pHat Clan member but since his own solo is making noise he's already
|
|
exposed. It's time to let the other jewels in the Wu-Tang diamond
|
|
necklace sparkle for a while.
|
|
The RZA really put it together this time, with both the pHat
|
|
kung-fu flick samples and the RAZOR sharp beats. Check a chumpie like
|
|
"Guillotine (Swords)" for example. He pulls the intro to Meth's album
|
|
and stretches that shit into a WELL deserved full length bomb, over
|
|
which 1/2 the Clan (Rae, Ghost, Inspectah Deck, GZA) catch wreck.
|
|
That's the second pHat thing -- you hear so much of the Wu that
|
|
you might think this is the REAL "Return to the 36 Chambers," and even
|
|
the new jack Wu members like Master Killa come off like finely honed
|
|
swords. Most of the tracks feature Raekwon and Ghost Face, and these
|
|
two set it off like EPMD, tag teaming over the tracks.
|
|
One last note, and this is for the headz: Nas got some new shit
|
|
on it. He sounds like he's asleep at the wheel but he STILL comes off.
|
|
How does he do it? Suffice to say, the track is appropriately titled
|
|
"Verbal Intercourse."
|
|
|
|
Stickin weed in they pussy with they minds
|
|
on the pretty things in life
|
|
Props is a true thug's wife.
|
|
|
|
Rae truly deserves the dap, because he is the lyrical and
|
|
physical glue which keeps this whole album sticking together, and he
|
|
gets enough time on the M-I-C to leave no doubt it's his joint. A wise
|
|
move was the inclusion of "Heaven and Hell" and the "Can it All Be So
|
|
Simple (rmx)" from the Fresh soundtrack, both being examples of the Wu
|
|
_and_ Raekwon at a lyrical and musical peak. The nice thing though is
|
|
that you can put this CD on random and nearly any track you hit is gonna
|
|
shine like a mouth full of gold.
|
|
Don't wait on this one. Go buy it now.
|
|
|
|
pH level -- 6/pHat
|
|
|
|
|
|
***K***
|
|
Laze
|
|
----
|
|
|
|
RAW PRODUCE, "Cycles/Make a Mark" 12"
|
|
(Insomnia Records)
|
|
|
|
About two years back Raw Produce, two kids outta' Boston with
|
|
skills far beyond other Massachusetts-bred emcees (Marky Mark, Danny D,
|
|
Def Duo, etc.), put out the cleverly-titled SELLING CELERY TO MAKE A
|
|
SALARY. This freshman effort showed a deep musical knowledge with sweet
|
|
jazz and big-band loops topped off with a consistent, deliberate flow of
|
|
intelligent lyrics and well-weaved rhymes.
|
|
The most recent effort from these two is available on vinyl.
|
|
The first track, "Cycles," makes use of a beautiful Q-Tip vocal sample
|
|
and a smoothed out jazz sound. The flow is the same as it's always
|
|
been, but that's perfectly fine because these kids are so unique in
|
|
their sound it can't be duplicated.
|
|
"Make a Mark" has strong, driving, familiar drums and verses by
|
|
both Pitch and Cadence and picks out the appropriate Nice & Smooth vocal
|
|
hook from "Dwyck." Closing out the first side is the remix of "Make a
|
|
Mark," simplified with mainly drums and a thick bassline.
|
|
The second side has instrumentals of all three tracks and the
|
|
acapella for "Make a Mark." The instrumentals are perfect for DJs to
|
|
spin in the background on the radio or for emcees to freestyle, and the
|
|
acapella is screaming "remix me again!"
|
|
These kids have a clearly defined path for the future: stay on
|
|
point and do what comes naturally. As they say, plainly and simply, in
|
|
"Make a Mark": "'cause ya know my shit is mad dope."
|
|
|
|
pH Level -- 5/pHunky
|
|
|
|
(For more information, contact Insomnia Records at 617-776-7491.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
***L***
|
|
MC Tevski
|
|
---------
|
|
|
|
RODNEY O AND JOE COOLEY, "Greatest Hits: Everlasting Bass"
|
|
(West Funk/React)
|
|
|
|
How you feel about this album depends a lot on where you grew up
|
|
and whether or not you like Miami/Bass Music. If you liked Tag Team or
|
|
95 South albums, then you'll most likely dig this. If you didn't, well,
|
|
leave this one on the shelf.
|
|
The album starts with a trio of late-eighties cuts --
|
|
"Everlasting Bass," "This is for the Homies," and "Say it Loudly." They
|
|
sound a lot like party cuts, the kind that you walk into a party or club
|
|
and figure it sounds okay, so you'll at least check it out. The other
|
|
problem that these cuts have is that they sound like the "homage to my
|
|
DJ" cuts that everyone used to put on their albums in the mid-late
|
|
eighties. (If you don't know what I mean check out the Jive compilation
|
|
"Battle of the DJ's.") The beats aren't great, the rhymes are kinda
|
|
crackerjack, and cutting and scratching aren't special.
|
|
The next few cuts from '91 and '92, two of which contain the
|
|
subtitle "F**K New York" aren't anything to really jump at. Rodney O &
|
|
Joe Cooley give us more sub-mediocre rhymes and decent beats. The
|
|
problem is they diss people who they couldn't even hold jockstraps for,
|
|
like Naughty by Nature. It kinda reminds of listening to (98.7) Kiss
|
|
and (107.5) BLS back in the day when if you were up and coming you
|
|
either dissed Run-DMC, LL, KRS, or the Juice Crew to try to make some
|
|
noise and put yourself on the map.
|
|
Later they give us more forgettable songs like "Cooley High,"
|
|
"DJ's and MC's," and "Nobody Disses Me." Why they would say nobody
|
|
dissed them I can't tell. "Say Yeah Boy (Supercuts)" is wack for (at
|
|
least) three reasons: one, it simply is; two, the rhymes sound like
|
|
they're off of Ice's The Mic Stalker album (if you haven't heard it be
|
|
happy); and three, they bite part of DJ Jazzy Jeff's routine. I guess
|
|
they figured their stuff was so wack it would travel up the coast so it
|
|
was okay to do shit that other people had already done.
|
|
There's more songs after this but they sound like early eighties
|
|
throwaways, even though they were made 5-7 years after that era. It's
|
|
hard because I wanted to be positive about this album, but hey, wack
|
|
shit is wack shit. If you've never rhymed before and want to feel like
|
|
you're the next Rakim, Nas, or CL Smooth, play "Everlasting Hits" and
|
|
then write some rhymes over some beats from one of those synthesizers
|
|
you get at K-mart and compare. Trust me -- you'll think that you're the
|
|
shit.
|
|
|
|
pH Level - 2/pHlat
|
|
|
|
|
|
***M***
|
|
LAZE
|
|
----
|
|
SHAGGY, "Boombastic"
|
|
(Virgin)
|
|
|
|
Shaggy made considerable noise a couple of years ago with his
|
|
remake of "Oh, Carolina". Truthfully, it wasn't that bad. Nowhere as
|
|
entertaining as the original, but the higher-end production seemed to
|
|
work pretty nicely.
|
|
The title track's remix from his new album has been getting a
|
|
lot of airplay lately (to say the least). The remix loops Marvin Gaye's
|
|
"Let's Get it On", and needless to say it probably didn't take a lot of
|
|
intelligence to find that sample, but it works well (the album version
|
|
isn't half as good). Shaggy has a vocal style that appeals to the
|
|
masses but isn't a blatant-jump-up-in-your-face style like Buju or
|
|
Shabba. He often lays back and just kicks it like on the remake of "In
|
|
the Summertime" with Rayvon and "Day Oh."
|
|
Shaggy isn't the most unique reggae artist on the planet (the
|
|
accent is strictly for his albums -- kid's from New York), but he does
|
|
have a style that can reach out and grab you if the mood is right. His
|
|
collaborations (especially with Rayvon but also with Wayne Wonder and
|
|
Ken Boothe) generally work quite nicely and really help boost the
|
|
overall performance. However, the joint with Grand Puba (which samples
|
|
yet another Marvin Gaye song) is really a one-sided affair, leaning
|
|
heavily towards Shaggy. The beat just doesn't fit Pooh quite right
|
|
("Every day it seems like you're maxi on the pad?" Come on, kid, you
|
|
could have gone a *little* deeper).
|
|
Though the album as a whole is not overly innovative, it's a
|
|
nice easy listen worth picking up if you can find a used or sale copy.
|
|
Shaggy is beginning to really make some waves and I sense a lot of
|
|
talent trapped inside his body -- there's just something holding him
|
|
back.
|
|
|
|
pH Level -- 4/pHine
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
***N***
|
|
David J.
|
|
--------
|
|
|
|
SHOWBIZ & A.G., "Good Fellas"
|
|
(Payday/FFRR)
|
|
|
|
Yeah, yeah, I know -- it says "Show and A.G." on the album
|
|
cover, but we all know who it is, so why bother hiding it? After all,
|
|
this is the group that came out of nowhere in 1993 to help Diamond D.
|
|
put DITC (Diggin' In The Crates) on the map in a BIG way. "Runaway
|
|
Slave" is still worth bumpin' in your ride in '95, a year in which there
|
|
seems so little that's truly worth bumpin'.
|
|
So just how are Andre and the Show-B-I going to top that? With
|
|
their latest LP, "Good Fellas," they prove that they don't have to top
|
|
anything. They just bring the beats and the rhymes and let you judge
|
|
for yourself who got the skills.
|
|
A.G. dominates the mic this time around, while Show sits back on
|
|
the production board and sticks with the music for the most part. This
|
|
works primarily to their advantage -- A.G.'s freestyle skills are
|
|
sharper than nearly anything I've heard in '95, and Show brings all
|
|
sorts of different flavors on production, from the playful horns of
|
|
"Next Level" to the eerie boom of "You Know Now" to the all-out illness
|
|
of "Medicine," a personal favorite of mine.
|
|
You won't find anything you've heard before here; A.G.'s
|
|
contention that "Show kept diggin' and diggin' -- now he's got more
|
|
crates" fits the sound of this album just right. Just as on "Runaway
|
|
Slave," a few breaks are sprinkled here and there for the D.J.'s and
|
|
freestylers, though Showbiz is a bit more stingy with them this time
|
|
around.
|
|
Meanwhile, D.J. Premier gets the assist with a phat Nyte Time
|
|
Remix of "Next Level" (two phat mixes of one song on the same LP, a la
|
|
1993's "Silence of the Lambs"), while D.J. Roc Raider presents his first
|
|
beats for DITC. He has some potential, but were it not for A.G.'s
|
|
smooth delivery and lyrical finesse, those tracks would be throw-aways.
|
|
In addition, some songs on this LP suffer from chronic ACS (Annoying
|
|
Chorus Syndrome), though it usually doesn't interfere with the phat
|
|
lyrics.
|
|
Speaking of finesse, Lord Finesse adds to the freestyle flavor
|
|
of the M.C.'s on this LP, as do Diamond D., D-Flow and a couple of new
|
|
kids -- Wali World, who makes a fairly impressive debut on "I Got Your
|
|
Back," and Party Arty, who sounds like a cross between Lord Digga and
|
|
Busta Rhymes. In fact, on the posse cut "Add On," Party Arty's vocal
|
|
resemblance to Digga makes A.G. seem to sound a bit like Masta Ace.
|
|
Unlike the Inc., however, Showbiz and A.G. dismiss the gimmicks
|
|
and stick with the straight-forward hip-hop sound that we've come to
|
|
expect from DITC -- no garnish, no fries, just a platter of beats and
|
|
rhymes. Take 'em or leave 'em. My advice would be to take 'em.
|
|
Showbiz and A.G. are as true to hip-hop as you can get.
|
|
|
|
pH Level -- 5/pHunky
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
The more things change, the more ways you can get HardC.O.R.E. We
|
|
apologize to all those folks out there who subscribed to the listserv,
|
|
but we weren't expecting anyone's hard drive to crash. Don't fret,
|
|
though. HardC.O.R.E.'s WWW site is back and better than ever, and
|
|
now that we're posting to Usenet News, we should be reaching more
|
|
people than ever before.
|
|
|
|
So until next time, keep ya heads noddin', y'all. PEAAAAAAACE!!!!!!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
L8A...
|
|
|
|
David J.
|
|
|