Doug E. Fresh 2000, part 2: Yawn

So, in the summer of 2008, I blogged about how Doug E. Fresh made an under-publicized comeback in 2000, releasing two rare white label 12"s I discovered from that year. Well, it turns out I'd underestimated that comeback - I've found two more! There's no dates on these, so I can't say with any certainty that they came out precisely in the year 2000. But they seem to've come out at roughly the same time - heck one is a remix 12" of one of the records I reviewed last time, so they must've come out pretty close to each other.

That remix 12" is "He's Comin (Mayham Party Mix (Special Edition)." Like "He's Coming (Party Rocker Vocal)," this is a live recording... of the same performance... over all the same beats. So the difference is... he's performing it in front of a different crowd? Except, it's not even that. I bust out my first 12" of "He's Coming" and it's exactly the same recording, with the same crowd responses. So there is absolutely, 0% difference between the Mayham Party Mix and the Party Rocker Mix. That's a bit of a rip, huh?

Then, like you'd expect, the instrumental for both is exactly the same, too. Well, at least this "Special Edition" 12" comes with a "Beat Box Bonus," right? No, that's on printed on the label, but it doesn't actually appear here! I think it was intended to be, but the pressing was screwed up, because actually, there's a short, unlabeled track on this 12" with a few beeps and tones and a guy saying, "this is the instrumental mix, mix two." Clearly that was meant to be left off the final recording, but instead they left that on and chopped off the Beat Box Bonus. Jeez!

Still, at least this 12" has a B-side, so let's check that out. There's two more songs here called "The Show" and... "La Di Da Di." Waitasec; these aren't new at all. These aren't even live performances or anything - they're exactly the same tracks as pressed on Reality Records in 1985. They've even included "The Show (Instrumental)" from that 12". Well, ok. So this is really just a combo of two pre-existing Doug E Fresh 12"s merged together. I guess that's handy if you didn't already own "He's Coming" and "The Show;" you could buy this 12" and save a little money. I guess that's what they meant by "Special Edition." Ok.

That's a little disappointing, but I'm not phased. I've still got this fourth white label 12", "Who Run This." And it features old school legends Busy Bee and Luv Bug Starski - yeah, now we're talkin'! This is an all-new studio recorded track (as opposed to a live performance). It's a lot like "He's Coming" though, in the sense that they're basically just doing various shout and call responses ("Do the ladies run this?" etc). But it's all over just one, original beat... a boring, lifeless beat. And Starski and Busy Bee just sound kinda tired, randomly ad-libbing for a minute or two. Curiously, Busy Bee does all of his shout-outs and stuff from the end of his 1992 song, "Busy Bee's Block Party" ...right down to thanking us for giving him his block party. Huh? That's weird.

So yeah, nobody raps. The beat is weak. The shout and calls sound somnambulistic. Sorry, guys, but this joint sucks. ...Not that it seems like anybody on this record cared if it would be any good or not in the first place, so I'm not sure why I'm apologizing for that remark. It makes you appreciate why he records these shout and call tracks live, though. I mean, this song would've sucked either way, but at least a live audience infuses the proceedings with a little more energy.

Well, now my enthusiasm's thoroughly sapped... I don't even feel like flipping this over to check out the B-side to this one. But I will. It's "Where's the Party At?" If that title sounds familiar, that's because he had a song called "Where's da Party At?" on his 1995 album, Play. There was a video for it and everything. And this is it. Yeah, just like he threw "The Show" on the back of "He's Comin'," he's thrown "Where's da Party At?" on the back of "Who Run This." Again, there's no difference... this isn't a live recording or anything. It's just the same songs repressed. He includes the instrumental here as well, which was also included on the 1995 Gee Street single. Meh.

So all in all, this was pretty disappointing. There was actually only one new song across these 12"s (not even an alternate mix), and that song was half-assed and lifeless. If you're a hardcore completist collector, then I'm glad to let you guys know these records are out there. But otherwise, guys, do like Dionne and walk on by. No wonder these 12"s were so obscure.

Hip-Hop trends that need to end

What's good people? I hopo you all been paying attention to the blogs. drop some comments man and show some love there is a lot of room for discussion here. I don't want people to think I'm too much of a hater, but sometimes we get caught up into following in hip-hop and not innovating the game.One trend that a couple of people started that now need to stop. The first one I would like to address

A REAL OUTLAW IS A MUTHA FUCKA

When K-Rob is outlawed, only The Outlaws will have K-Rob production. Y'all know who K-Rob is, right? He's best know for his classic old school duet with Ramellzee, "Beat Bop," a record known for adding off-beat funk (featuring unusual instruments and echo effects over a slow bassline) to hip-hop when everybody else was still doing the pure disco sound, and for having a famous picture cover painted by Basquiat. Then in the mid-80's, he did a couple records for Profile, and finally resurfaced in the 90's as a producer... mostly underground, though he worked with Jay-Z several times.

And I don't suppose you get much more underground than this. I'd never heard of it until The Old School Rap King hipped me to it, and there's not a single mention of it online anywhere. In this day and age where the most obscure random rap singles have countless message boards and blogs on fire, how many albums can you say bring up zero hits on Google?

So yeah, this album is called Super Heroes Of the Ghetto by The Outlaws, for whom K-Rob seems to be the sole producer and lead MC. There is another rapper who appears less often, and a reggae guy... think The Crusaders Of Hip-Hop, where K-Rob is Tony D and you get the picture. This came out on Bad Azz Records in 1993, a label which I'm guessing is K-Rob's own (the only other record I know of on this label was also produced by K-Rob: "Who You Be?" by Bro-N X).

So how is it? It's pretty raw. K-Rob's got a pretty tough but sample-heavy sound... Most of said samples are pretty original, though "Give the People What They Want" is essentially the exact same instrumental as Grand Daddy IU's "I Kick Ass," but filtered so heavily the horns are all but inaudible, sunk deep beneath a roaring sea of heavy, heavy bass. Like, "WHOMP!! Whomp, whomp, whooomp!" And a few other songs use some very traditional hip-hop samples, but in every case they're flipped uniquely or paired up with something fresh and unheard. K-Rob is definitely a producer who can stand next to the greats.

Lyrically, it's even rawer. There's some really angry content here... with songs dedicated to their hatred of white rappers ("No Frosted Flake") and rape victims "She Cried Rape (Dedicated To Mike Tyson)." They lighten the mood a bit to talk about their hatred of the media "(Kill the Media"), killing cops (an untitled skit about Rodney King), how much it sucks to ride the subway ("Hopping Trains"), and their resentment of Yo! MTV Raps ("Fuck MTV (Doctor Dre and Ed Lover Dis...)"). They even squeeze the line "fuck the Pope," into "How a Black Man Feels." This album is so much like the New York equivalent of Disco Rick's first album, they even have a similar manifesto in their liner notes:

"A REAL OUTLAW IS A MUTHA FUCKA WHO HOPS TRAINS, DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT BITCHES AND COULDN'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT MTV ...... CAUSE DRE AND ED LOVER ARE NOTHIN BUT UNCLE TOMS. A OUTLAW HATES THE DAILY NEWS, THE POST, NBC, ABC, CBS, TED KOPPEL, DAN RATHER, MARK KRIEGEL[a sports columnist lol] AND PHIL DONAHUE (THE WHITE LIBERAL).
CUZ WHEN IT COMES TO A BLACK MUTHA FUCKA THEY NEVER TELL THE TRUTH! SO KILL THE MEDIA AND GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT OR YOU'LL HAVE RIOTS ALL OVER AGAIN, CUZ THAT'S THE WAY A BLACK MAN FEELS! SO SUCK MY DICK AND LICK MY NUTS AND LISTEN TO THESE FAT ASS CUTS."

Yeah, this album isn't for the squeamish. But then neither is this site; we love the hardcore here! And this album is pure good times. This album gets a full, all-around recommendation from me... if you can find it any place!

Politicial Hip-hop Did it end with Barack?

Let's see if we can get some serious discussions going on here about the truth with hip-hop. Why have we gotten so complacent since Barack has made it to the White House? During the time leading up to election and inauguration days, it was all the rage to be involved and to talk about politics. Since then however, the momentum has died just like Puffy's failed Vote or Die movement.I have to think

Hip-Hop on 8-Track with 2XL!

(Youtube version is here.)

Marley In the Mirror

"Check the Mirror" is pretty much the track used to illustrate how far In Control vol. 2 fell from vol. 1. After all, vol. 2 had a lot of dope tracks: Tragedy's "America Eats Its Young," Ak B and Kev E Kev's "Out for the Count"... Hell, even Marley Marl's own rap track, "No Bullshit," was alright. But Marley went for a wider scope on that outing, with a little more new jack swingy moments and giving his R&B group The Flex a solo track... and the flagship of What Went Wrong was Portia's "Check the Mirror." So of course he chose it for the single!

Actually, I remember thinking back in the day that this track wasn't so bad, and today it gives me a nice feeling of reminiscence for all the time I spent watching BET after school. I mean, I kinda like new jack swing, and the track is well produced if you go for that sort of thing. Portia was an dancer turned R&B singer "who also rapped." Her singing's okay... I doubt anybody came out of this eager for her solo album; but the track, with a funky piano line, bouncy beat, boards and synthesized back-up vocals made for an upbeat good time.

Now, this is the CD single (the 12" only came in a plain sleeve as far as I know), but it has essentially the same track-listing but with two extra mixes, totaling SIX different versions of "Check the Mirror." So strap yourself in for some serious neo-pop soul swing!

Actually, it's a lot to listen to, but it's not too complicated to break down. You've essentially got two key mixes, the Mirramix and the Reflection Mix, and both of those come in regular, extended and instrumental versions (the 12" only has the extended and instrumental mixes). And neither of these versions are the same as the album version, which isn't included here.

The album version was a little more hip-hop, and the remixes are a little more dance. The drums, stuttered hook ("ch-ch-ch-ch-check the mirror, y'all") and all the vocals are retained, but the remixes go for more of an almost house music feel. The album version had harder drums and old school samples (horn stabs and such), not to mention some scratching, that are all dropped for the single.

The Mirramix adds some vocoder and some additional keyboards. It starts out with a nice little acapella lick (sample?), that recurs once or twice throughout the song. There are more little touches and changes, especially on the extended mix, but the main distinction is that it downplays the deep bassline of the original, playing up instead a new, lighter keyboard line that plays throughout the song. The main piano loop is the same as the album version, though, so this mix doesn't feel too far removed. This is the version they used for the video (yeah, there was a video for this).

The Reflection Mix, then, is even more club-oriented with more new keyboards and spacey disco sound effects. The extra acapella lick is back on this version, too. The signature of this mix is that the keyboard player is really allowed to shine here, getting a couple solo numbers and everything; and the piano riff of the album version is completely dropped.

But even if you don't give a fig for Portia and her dance music, this single's worth picking up for the B-side: "At the Drop Of a Dime" by MC Cash. This is a pure hip-hop track, with Cash kicking freestyle rhymes over a fast but very hard hitting track. It's pretty much all rugged, layered percussion, a lone horn squeal and a bassline until the hook, when the "UFO" riff screeches in the background and Marley gets on the 'tables and cuts up his signature like from "The Symphony." It's a fast, unrelenting experience with a seamless blend from verse to scratching to verse.

"At the Drop Of the Dime" was also on the album, but this single features an exclusive extended mix. It's not a remix - the instrumental's completely unchanged except where the album version would end, this one keeps going into a whole new third verse! The beat's allowed to ride out more at the end, too... but a whole new verse? That clearly bumps this up into Definitive Version status. It's more furious freestyling just like the other two verses ("now watch ya step, no beef, no Rambos; the Cash just keeps 'em souped like Campbells"). Oh, and the instrumental is also included for a final treat.

So yeah, another worthwhile single that can be had pretty cheap. Buy it for the MC Cash, but the Portia stuff's at least a fun bit of nostalgia. Kinda wish they'd included the album track, too, but oh well. They already included a lot, so can't really complain. Oh, and if want some more Portia nostalgia, she's got her own channel on Youtube, with her music video, an interview, and footage of her dancing for LL Cool J and EPMD. Check it out and relive the early 90's. :)

Guest Blog- Soulja Boi is better than Mos Def

Finally, my man NC-17 is off his ass and is back with another blog designed to piss you the hell off...or maybe not. Soulja Boy Is Better than Mos DefPeople love to shove dirt on Hip Hop and consider it dead and buried. Most of these people are old school fans… yes old school. Its 2010, old school no longer refers to Rakim and KRS One, it refers to Biggie, Tupac, Nas, Wu-Tang, Common, and any