The PreCISE Spot

The PreC.I.S.E. MC is a nice, NY rapper who signed to Luke Records when they made their first efforts to expand beyond Miami bass music. She put out her underrated debut in 1991, which featured a fun follow-up to Super Lover Cee's "Girls I Got 'Em Locked" called "So You Think You Got 'Em Locked," which featured Super Lover Cee himself. Unfortunately, it flew under the radar and she disappeared for a while. But she drew attention in 1995, appearing on Big Kap's hit single, "Da Ladies In da House" as a part of an all-star female MC line-up featuring Bahamadia, Lauryn Hill, Uneek, and someone named Treep. Her verse was nice, but I'm not sure how many people realized who she was.

Well, this is her independent 12" release that followed that up (also her final release to date). "The Spot" came out on Paid Music (this being their first and only venture) in 1997. Well, popular opinion seems to be that it came out in 1997, at least. There's no date on the label. But if it wasn't '97, it was right around there.

The A-side, "The Spot (Radio Mix)," is clearly more of her stab at a club hit. It's produced by Tramp Baby, who's mostly done R&B-type work, and features two R&B singers... a female doing background crooning, and a male who does the hook. But the beat's based around a classic, old school sample and her rhymes are smooth, so there's nothing to complain about. It's on a "Summertime"-type vibe. This is one of those rare examples where an underground MC makes a mainstream song and actually succeeds. And she sounds just like she did on her old records, so PreC.I.S.E. fans from '91 won't be disappointed.

Now, the B-side's a bit mislabeled... they've got the tracks in the wrong order. But basically you get the instrumental for "The Spot" and "Whatever Works," which is clearly designed to be the underground banger of the 12". It's produced by Tramp Baby again, but the R&B singers and soul samples are gone. Instead you get a hard-hitting drum track a deep, speaker-rumbling sample, and a hook based off of T-La Rock's classic, "It's Yours." She doesn't get rough with her delivery, though, and she avoids that straining-to-be-clever, punchline-heavy style that was prevelant in underground NY rap at the time. She's just slick, smooth and engaging.

Unfortunately, like everything else she put out, this got slept on. So track it down and pick it up. It comes with a nice sticker cover and probably won't be too expensive, 'cause most people don't even seem to know who she is.

This Is How It Should Be Done

This Golden Ticket (not actually golden, but "Black & White Ticket" doesn't sound as fun and Willy Wonka-ish) came inside the sleeve of the new BusDriver album (which I wrote about here). I know he's not the first to do this; but he's still one of the select few, so props to him... Honestly, everybody should be selling music this way, now. It's win/win. Forget CDs, Forget itunes or any other way of selling music. Just vinyl coupled with an mp3 download. Perfection. 8)

Where are the Albums at?

Honestly, this is a short blog sort of because I was looking on the horizon to see what new joints i need to be looking for to check out and I see...nothing. Beyond Slaughterhouse the second week of August, there are no albums worth looking for until one full month after when the Blueprint 3 drops.So after Loso's Way came out on Tuesday, there exactly two albums that might pique the buying

The Lil' Mo Effect

Now Lil' Mo may not have had the strongest career of her own as a solo artist even though she has the pipes that many singers would die for. What she has done has co-signed some of the biggest hip-hop acts in recent memory in several ways.I just found this remake? of her hit with Ja Rule, "Cry" with LL Cool J. Maybe it's a Defjam remake thing or something. Take a listen:Who can forget the radio,

When Doves Cry Rap

(Youtube version is here has been taken down! I'm working on getting it back up; fingers crossed. <---It's back! Yay!)

Hip-Hop Love Songs 4

Now Puffy aka Diddy isn't the first person who comes to mind when you;re thinking about love songs in hip-hop. Everyone knows Puff is an asshole. However he has done a couple of songs for the ladies. "Last Night" with Keyshia Cole is from the Nelly school of love songs, where Puff rap-sings about a woman.Puffy - Last Night - Diddy, Keyshia ColeUploaded by cassie84However for Me, Diddy gets on the

InstaRapFlix 21: The All Access Show

Ok, some more weird, random hip-hop shit on Netflix. There's one 20 minute video on there called The All Access Show (Netflix rating: 1.5 stars). It seems to be related to the All Access series of "DVD magazines" (which Netflix also carries, but not for Instant Viewing); but I guess this is a special or something. Anyway, it's only 20 minutes (even shorter when you discount the credits) and nobody's bothered to review it or anything. So of course I had to watch it!

So, right off we got our host, Kraze, telling us he's got some special guests and what-not. First up is a music video by DJ Khaled (alternatively dubbed both "We Takin' Over" and "We Taken Over" on-screen... I hope for Khaled's sake, it's the first one!). It's the censored radio version, by the way; so about 50% of the song is performed in mime. And even though they cut it off just as Lil Wayne's verse starts, that still takes us more than 1/4 of the way through the movie!

Then we get a little behind-the-scenes footage of a Redman video ("Put It Down") for another five minutes. Shit, we're already halfway done! Well, next is another music video: "Wipe Me Down" by Trill Family. If you haven't heard it, it's one of the most annoying songs ever. Finally, we get a little interview with Lloyd, padded out with a couple clips from his music videos.

And that's the whole thing. I don't understand, was this sold as a purchasable DVD all by itself? The actual All Access DVDs are like a proper 2 hours. And I can't find this on Amazon or anyplace else on the 'net. Anyway, fuck it. There's nothing worth watching here anyway, except possibly the Lloyd interview if you're a serious fan of his. Otherwise, it's a waste of time. But not very much time, at least.

Rappin' Tate

That's an awesome cover right there, isn't it? Let's face it, even if the record was blank on both sides, some of us would have to add this one to our collections anyway. The man right there is Chicago's own Rappin' Tate, often billed as Rappin' Tate the Great. I'm pretty sure this is his only record (technically that's my cassette single you're looking at, but the 12" has the same picture cover), though he had a couple other songs he performed live - "Ambitious" on T.O.M.A. Records from 1988. But he's been a pretty historical figure in Chicago's hip-hop scene, doing a lot as an activist, etc.

In his liner notes, he thanks LL Cool J, who he cites as one of his greatest inspirations. But we didn't need him to write it on the label to figure that one out. His flow here is clearly based on "I Need Love." The whole song's a little bit faster, but with the layer over layer of keyboards (credited to Ice Tea of E.T.S.), and his dual themes of "you can do it" and "girl, I love you;" it's at least twice as sappy. The flow's about as basic as you can get, and man, did I mention those keyboards? They're literally dripping off this wax.

It's ok to dig out for the occasional smile if you're up for reveling in the corniness; but forget it. It's all about the B-side. If "Ambitious" was his "I Need Love," then "My Cozells" (as in Cazal sunglassess) is his "Rock the Bells!"

Ok, it's still a little cornier than "Rock the Bells." It's not as synth-happy as "Ambitious," but there's still some on here. They're more hardcore and go well with the driving rhythm of the song, but synths is synths, and to some people they'll always just sound dated and cheap. But fuck it; it's a great old school song and you'll still rock out to it. It's super high energy, and really, this anthem dedicated to his sunglasses takes a lot (in a good way) from "Rock the Bells," as well as, of course, from "My Addidas." "My cozells - if you try to break 'em off my face; I'll hit ya so hard your nose will break!" He just plain raps better on this one, and the stuttering hook is a classic, "my-my-my co, my-my-my co, my-my-my coZELLS!!" Fuck yeah!

By the way, the instrumentals are worth checking out, too. "Ambitious" starts out as the straight instrumental, but on the second half, Ice Tea really crazy with the solo boards. It may actually be a more fun listen than the vocal version. And "My Cozells" gives us something extra, too. It's longer than the original, and unlike the "Ambitious" instrumental, it's actually more stripped down, with less synths and more emphasis on the percussion. It also features about 50% of the vocals, making it almost a remix. It's a little longer than the vocal version, too, and features the opening verse acapella. In both cases, they almost work better as a single, double-length song.

Learn Along With Werner, part 2

It's not necessarily a rule of mine that every "Learn Along With Werner" post of mine be about Father MC, but what can I say? It is what it is; and really, there can never be too many blog posts written about Father.

This album is one I knew of for a long time, and I'd done some online research to confirm the details for my Father MC discography page; but I never actually had this in my collection. But I finally broke down and picked this up last month. It's I Love You Like you Are, by Ray Parker Jr. (best known for the classic GhostBusters theme song, of course), which came out in 1991 on MCA. So, basically the same label as Father, just as he was releasing his third or fourth hit single off his debut album.

Now, I already knew Father had a couple guest spots on this album. Heck, there was even a video for one of them. But one thing I didn't know is that he produced and wrote (not just his own parts) on this album. What's more, even though he's only credited as having guest raps on two songs, the liner notes point out that he and someone named Tricky also do background vocals on a song called "Girl I Saw You" (one that he also wrote and produced). But having now listened to the album, he definitely does more than "background vocals;" he kicks a full verse:

"I'm in the mood for love, ah love;
I'm in the mood for love.
My name is Father MC and uh,
Hello, how are you?
Sorry for the interruption,
I don't want to bother you;
But you look so sweet and petite!
Come here to Love Daddy and have a seat.
'Cause I wish I could have three wishes;
For one, I'd be your mister, and you'd be my missus.
Never will I complain about doin' dishes,
As long as you keep givin' Father those kisses.
But Ray is the man, and I accept that he's the man.
I'm not a fan; and I just want to hold your hand.
But all's fair; I ain't cuttin' no throat.
I'm leavin', so pack me my coat;
I'm outta here - see ya! - on the next train.
So, keep your head up high, 'cause Father can't stand the rain."

...How is that just "background vocals?" So it turns out you've got three, not just two, Father MC guest verses (and I've updated my page accordingly). And the whole album's got a funky, new jack vibe if you like that sort of thing. Hell, Ray even raps a little on a couple of songs! There's only one or two brief moments of sappy, serious R&B; most of it's upbeat, fresh, and definitely a product unique to its short-lived time. And you get a little more hip-hop near the end, when London rapper MC Mello drops in for a guest verse as well.

So, yeah; I definitely wound up liking this album more than I was expecting. I mean, it's not high art, but they don't make 'em like this anymore. And, of course, it was a required purchase to further my position as the world's leading expert on the music of Father MC! ;-)

Hip-Hop debates

Now anyone who likes or loves rap/ hip-hop also loves the hip-hop debate. From which verse is hotter, to what album is better, to which rapper is better, there is endless discussion in high school cafeterias, barbershops, basements, and college campuses across the country. The hip-hop discussion is probably second only to basketball related conversations in the black community.The best of both

Yes NY is Killing Hip-hop

Okay, so many people have seen the trifling video of the guys performing "I eat the P" in front of kids onstage and several in the audience. Here is the horrendous footage if you want to subject yourself to it.So now, instead of just coming, apologizing , saying my bad it was in bad taste let's move on, ude comes out and makes this following statement:Let me turn on my NY slang for a minute.

The Autobot Movement

I know it sounds corny but regardless of how it sounds, understand this, there is a huge problem right now. Wayne is a fool. I think the guy has some real problems a lot of which involve his drug use and his feelings that he is bigger than reality. The guy has been put into a position and because of his money and status, he is starting to believe that the things that come out of his mouth

The Wind's Too Def To Die

There's a brand new review up at Diggers With Gratitude - here's a direct link. I decided to go with a nice, underrated west coast rarity this time. An absolute keeper if you can find it, and another tale of a tragically unreleased album. As always with my DWG reviews, sound clips are included. 8)

Artist Arrogance

Now arrogance and hip-hop go hand in hand. To some extent if you want to be in this game and be successful at it, you have to feel a certain way about yourself. You also have to be able to make other people believe it, but these days, shit is getting out of hand. You have a lot of artists who haven't done anything as of yet and carry themselves with no sense of humility. You have artists who

Album Review - Loso's Way

First off let me say i am terribly divided on Fabolous. He can rap. I mean dude spits some fire at times. He is a remix killer and he can pop singles like no other NY rapper, however I have been disappointed by every single album of his. In fact each successive cd makes me like the first one even more.Fab's biggest problem is that he can be too trendy and he has no depth to his "story". I mean he

SMH @ My boy Budden

Now I'm a Joe Budden fan and I believe that this entire Method Man/ Wu-tnag shicm is over blown way out of proportion because at no point did he just single out Meth in the Vibe "Bracket" video. Dude talked for 10 minutes and all anyone got was anger about Method Man, when the guy was pretty much right in everything he was saying. I don't hear Plies complaining about it, he's getting his money.

NY Minute

Some people know or heard of this guy French Montana. Me, I only know of him through Worldstar and that he has beef with Jim Jones, makes Dvd's apparently titled Cocaine City (and he hasn't been indicted yet? He must be a liar or an idiot), and rolls with Max B. Seriously though, the song isn't bad at all. I haven't heard much of his stuff but he isn't the worse rapper though I don't know how

Boss?

The big trend now is calling yourself a "boss" and creating your own record label. On the one hand I don't have a big problem with it, if you know what you're doing. Running a record label is empowering and the different types offer varying levels of independence balanced with exposure.Here is my biggest problem with rappers running labels, if you don't have a solid career yourself, why would you

Hip-Hop gone Republican?

The title is hilarious isn't it? Makes you want to know what I am going to say out of my mouth with this one. Rest Assured, there is a method to the madness and it has to do with Jay-Z, D.O.A., (yes I know it's been weeks already let it go),Kanye etc... The fact of the matter is, i agree with Jay on that song, everyone shouldn't be using autotune and trying to make every song sound the same so

Gotta Get Ya Groove on! pt. 2

Now the last time i referenced dancing it was in a more social sense, out at the club doing ya thing. This post is more about the aspect of competitive dancing. The wife has me watching So You Think You Can Dance and I notice that a lot of the top pop lockers and hip-hop dancers are not black folks. I'm no racist, but it's crazy that in our most serious forms of dance, and this includes breaking,

Sort of album review

So I been slacking I know. I really didn't find much inspiring to talk about for the past week or so and I didn't feel like writing but I'm back now with three sort of album reviews because in my opinion, none of the three albums that came out last week truly merit a full review of their own.I'll start off with Willy northpole who is one of the most overlooked "new" gangsta rapper types to come