Unarmed Soldiers of Lust

Unfortunately, this single from Buck 65 is only available on CD. The song, confusingly titled "Woodmatches (Square 2)," was originally featured on an unreleased (but leaked on the internet) album called Boy/Girl Fight. It was a nice album, and at the time I was really disappointed it never came out as it had a lot of good material - this song being a stand-out.

"Boy/Girl Fight" actually wouldn't have been a bad title for this song, as it illustrates the nightclub/party hook-up scene of young men and women:

"It's just like dodge-ball
But instead of a ball,
The contestants throw around
The head of a doll.
Now I don't know what it means,
But it makes it worth the cost alone,
Even with the overflowing
Load of testosterone
And sexual appetites.
Sorry, it's a circus;
The circuits are faulty
And everybody's uptight.
Sweat stains and jet planes
And hot rod love songs,
Blistering kisses
For every mister and missus.
In the same amount of time it takes
For you to make a sandwich, love;
You can probably find someone
That you can take advantage of.
'Cause the girls are desperate,
But the boys are even hornier;
The rose smells sweet,
But the stem is even thornier.
It's a match made in purgatory.
What more do you want to know?"

Fortunately, Buck wound up savaging pretty much all of the material from Boy/Girl Fight and including it on other albums. This song was no exception, and found its way on his 2002 album, Square. This version was different though... the vocals were all rerecorded, and this time they're not delivered in that high-pitched nasally vioce he sometimes used on his older material, but a more natural cadence. Fortunately, he manages to say the lines in the same perfect way he did the first time... that's a problem he's often had when he recorded many of his previous older songs ("Wildlife" or "Centaur," for example) - that he may have improved it technically, but he actually rapped it better the first time. Well, not here.

The annoying thing about most of Buck's old albums, though - and Square is no exception - is that they're all done in as "mixtapes," meaning they're all continuous mixes with every song blended into each other and padded with a lot of instrumental noodling. Also none of the songs were given titles or broken into tracks. Square is just broken in 4 parts (sides A, B, C and D of the double LP). So you can't pick it apart and just enjoy the songs you're interested in. That's where this CD single comes in.

It isolates just "Woodmatches (Square 2),"as a stand-alone song, without any of the blending that mixes into the instrumental of the version on the album. It's the only way to hear this re-recorded version of the song unmixed.

Unfortunately, it's the Radio Edit. Now this is hardly a profane song, so there's not a lot of cursing to be removed. But there is one like that's censored "card tricks and hard dicks." It's not song ruining, but it's enough to be annoying. It's a shame they didn't bother to include the unedited version as well as the Radio Edit on here (it's not like they couldn't fit more than 3 minutes on the CD)... Hell, I could imagine a proper 12" which includes the album and Radio Edit, the Boy/Girl Fight vocal version, the instrumental and even an exclusive remix. But oh well.

It's also worth noting that this has exactly the same cover as Square, right down to the title (it doesn't say anything about this being a single on the front cover, or what song is on here). The only difference is it's a little purpler, while the album is more blue.

So, all in all, it's an underwhelming release... But still something us completists will want to have in our collections. It's a great song; just wish they could've done a little better by it.

Jay-z ain't right

So the only two songs I listen to on Drake's album are the one with Nicki Minaj-for her verse, and "Light Up" for Jay-z's verse. Thelatter just exposes a trend that Jay has been doing for a while now successfully, having the hot artist do something minimal on his album then he goes on their album and shits all over their hood, skills, and credibility. Let's check the record here first victim, Lil

Dick Rider

sorry Drake had to do it because these are the most cliched answers ever and don't really have any depth to them.

Further Rumors

Here's a record I think pretty much everybody's slept on: "Rumors 2002" by T.O.N.E. on Select Records (I'll leave you to guess what year it dropped). So let me start by answering your primary unanswered questions about this record:

1) Is it...?

Yes, it's an unofficial sequel to Timex Social Club's hit "Rumors" that uses largely the same instrumental, subject matter and samples the chorus for the hook.

2) Who the heck is T.O.N.E.?

Since it's a Select Records release, you might be thinking it has something to do with Red Hot Lover Tone, but no. T.O.N.E. is the artist formerly known as Style, who put out a Hollywood Impact-produced album on Select way back in 1990. He's also the younger brother of old school legends T-La Rock and Special K (yeah, no shit!), and is still putting out music, now under the slightly altered name T.O.N.E.-Z. Here's his myspace.

So yeah, it's kinda wild that Select still apparently had this guy on their roster twelve years after releasing his one album. Unsurprisingly, Hollywood Impact is no longer involved - instead this one is co-produced by someone named Rock Stardom (never heard of him - maybe a pseudonym to go with the song concept?) and T.O.N.E. himself. Like I said, it's basically a riff of the TSC instrumental, but they do flip the drums etc and make it more contemporary. The fun of this song, really, is the lyrical content anyway: T.O.N.E. just drops a barrage of crazy, silly name-dropping rumors about everybody in the industry:

"Funkmaster Flex...
Ran up in Mary J,
And robbed Jay-Z,
Wrote all of Biggie's rhymes,
Made Stevie Wonder Blind!
Krs ate pork,
Then slobbed down Monifah!"

...And so on. Yes, it's more than a little gimmicky (think "Bomb MC" or "Ghost Writer," both of which preceded this) and some of the rumors are just too childish and corny ("Jackie Chan's bionic! Bruce Lee's alive!") at times, but it's amusing. And for the final verse, he does flip it and kick a serious verse about the rumor mill ("See how you laugh when I spit those bars? See how easy it was for you to believe bars? It's the rumors, the lies, the gossip, the tabloids."). You get a Main Pass, Radio Edit and Instrumental for this track on the 12".

But that's not all! There's also "Rumors (Part 2)," which is a total lyrical and instrumental remix with a completely different hook as well. This time the instrumental is essentially Nice & Smooth's "Hip-Hop Junkies," though chopped a little differently; and it's basically an opportunity to throw in a couple hundred more zany name-droppings ("Did you hear about Dr. Dre? He made a gay porno flick that'll drop today!"). This one has a serious third verse, too; this time settling rumors about himself ("ain't shit changed for the assassinator").

It's definitely not a great record; but it's a neat little dollar bin pick-up with some unexpected old school roots.

Speaking on the new trends- Ras Kass has a point

Take a listen at the above while you start to read this preface to the meat of the post. The funniest part about this is that he is pretty much right when he is talking about the role reversals in urban music now and how things have switched up over the past 10-12 years.

To surmise he is saying that women have become empowered to be more like men in their mentality while singers have adapted

Sally Got a Four Track 12"

Anything off of Diamond D's first album shouldn't need much by way of introduction. I'm sure you all remember this second single off his first solo outing... "Sally Got a One Track Mind" followed a common theme in hip-hop in the early days: warning against women being too materialistic in their relationships. The only thing hip-hop heads were warned against more than money chasing women by their favorite musicians were sucker MCs. But Diamond's expert production, highlighted by the slow, soft flute sample, gave the song a feeling of sincere maturity: a wise grandfather pointing out a flaw in our social fabric rather than a sexually threatened young man trying to demonize womens' sexual freedom. This cause was furthered by Diamond's smart lyrical structure, too: each verse visits the same character at a different stage in her life. First verse she's underage, next she's 18 and finally she's a young mother with an expanding consciousness. The tone's a little different than Poison Clan's "The Bitch That I Hate," even if it's ultimately the same message.

So that track in a picture cover already makes this 12" a crate staple, but this single shines with some nice B-sides. First up is the Remix by Showbiz. This track is ferocious; and belongs right at the top of any DITC greatest beats list. Fast drums, squealing trumpets. deep bass... it's really only the light piano(?) notes that make this fit the "Sally" song as opposed to some Percee-P and Big L fast rap bonanza.

Then we get the album track, "Check One, Two." Diamond kicks some fun, arbitrary freestyle rhymes over a very cool, jazzy track which was co-produced by The 45 King. There's some nice references to his first group, The Ultimate Force (in fact, he even samples a brief moment from "I'm Not Playing" when he brags about how he flipped a blues loop for that track (and he should brag; that song was incredible). But it makes you a little sad that there would be no more Ultimate Force records.

Finally, we come back for another pass at "Sally," this time with the Two Track Beat Down, again produced by Diamond D. This is more stripped down; just a big, fast drum break. It's definitely dope, but is even further removed from the tone of "Sally" than Showbiz's mix. So much so, that it really doesn't fit. It's cool and worth checking out, but this beat should've been used for a battle rap, not Diamond's reminiscent morality tale. It's a misstep, still worth a listen for DITC fans; but that's about where it ends.

Anyway, it doesn't matter how screwy the last track is, the Showbiz mix already makes this a must-own. And like I said, even if it was nothing album track, I'm sure this single would be pretty popular. But if you've passed on it 'cause you didn't know what else was on here, I can assure you it's worth your time. I mean, some instrumentals would've been nice; but you can't have everything.

Album Review- Eminem- Recovery

So the second most-anticipated of the summer behind Drake is the return of Eminem and everyone is wondering if he can recapture the glory that he had on his first three albums. Relapse was an uneven effort at it's best with Em trying but failing to capture the feeling of his Slim Shady days.


The first single, "Not Afraid" is pretty self-indulgent but it also serves as an anthem for those