Battle Rhymes Unearthed

If hip-hop had a preservation society (and it should), this is the kind of release they could bring us: LIB003 1/2. This is the third and apparently final release from Solid 'N' Mind, who you may remember I covered last year with their limited "Centre Stage" 12". That one was a limited release of two of their unreleased tracks from 1991. We thought that was going to be their last release at the time, since that 12" included both of their only unreleased recordings. But a recent find has given us one last entry into their saga.

Whirlwind D, the MC of the duo, recently discovered an old tape of an instrumental their DJ/producer, Johnny F, created for another song they often performed but never recorded, along with a scrap of paper containing all the lyrics. So, all these years later, they finally constructed the song from its long-lost elements and just dropped their "Battle Tipped Rhyme" 12", of course once again on their Liberty Grooves label.

"Battle Tipped Rhyme" has the same quality I raved about on their last release: a mix of originality and the tried and true, by brilliantly combining several known break-beats and samples but turning them into something new, fresh and exciting. As the title suggests, this is a fast-paced battle rap (just like we like 'em), taking the killer drums and rolling bassline from Joeski Love's "Rock Wit Joeski." Well, that's where I recognize it from, anyway. What, you didn't know Joeski had some nice material in his catalog? Quick stabs of the horns used in Phase & Rhythm's "Hyperactive" and then another familiar horn sample (I think the ones Kool Moe Dee used on "Death Blow?") but sped up to almost double time. Anyway, all that plus some furious scratching on the hook makes for a hype, kinetic 90's battle record:

"Chained to the wall as you ponder your fate;
Step to the mic, you're lost in the quake.
Buildings crash and ground swallows whole;
Thought you were ready but D's on a roll.
Johnny F cuts with blaze of fury;
Your fate is sealed by the glare of the jewelery.
Uzis, AKs, what shall I choose?
Maybe just a rhyme that's guaranteed to bruise."

So of course, this 12" contains just the one song. But it comes fully loaded with the Vocal, Instrumental and Acapella versions. As an added bonus, they even include the OG, un-remastered instrumental from that original tape. This 12" is limited to 250 hand-numbered copies, and as you can see in the photo above, comes in a cool picture cover, along with a glossy 12" insert on the history of the Liberty Grooves label, and a press sheet. Pre-orders of this sold out just a couple of days after they were announced, but apparently a few copies will be available at vinylism and one or two other places. So you may need to do a little hunting, but if you're a fan of UK hip-hop at all, it's well worth it.

The First Rap Record Ever!

(Youtube version is here.)

Is this what it has come to?

I don't know how many of you remember Das Efx because some of my readers might be young. but it's saddens me not to see them looking for management, but the way they are looking for management, if this indeed is true.

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/tlg/1876746191.html


That Das Efx haven't been able to find effective management through normal channels is crazy and given their years in the

'Cause We Comin' From Queens and Gets Down

Today's entry isn't an InstaRapFlix entry, 'cause this movie isn't available on Netflix, for stream or otherwise. In fact, the DVD never saw a proper release in the US. But where does all the good US hip-hop go when you it doesn't even come out in the US? You guess it - Japan! Tragedy: The Story of Queensbridge has a proper DVD release out there and can be easily secured by any fan able to negotiate Amazon.jp. 8)

This is a great, raw documentary of Tragedy and the whole QB scene. There's long and deep interviews with Tragedy, much of which were filmed while he's in prison. There are also interviews with practically everybody relevant in the QB scene: Havoc, Capone, Marley Marl, Blaq Poet, Killa Sha (RIP), NORE, plus a lot of the lesser known heads as well. Trag's step-parents are given a lot of time, too; and this was clearly shot over a lot of time and locations, giving us a tour of all QB and some great, candid moments that unfold in front of the camera. At 74 minutes, it's a little short (a little more time spent on The Super Kids records, his time at A&M and some other periods would have been nice), but it does keep things moving at a brisk, content-packed pace. The scene is really laid bare with one open, honest and often gun-toting moment after another.

There are a few flaws... the narration is melodramatic and corny. But thankfully, that's relegated to the slightly embarrassing precredits sequence and the conclusion; so the bulk of the film is narration-free. And the other issue is the cheesy reenactments. Having Trag's voice laid over some real childhood photos would have been a lot more effective than some questionable actors playing his heroin-shooting mother and childhood friends. But fortunately, those are kept to very short clips (the filmmakers must've seen how dubious these were in the editing stage)... but again, a few, real photos would have gone a long way.

But really, these complaints are small compared to everything that's good about this film. This is a must-see for fans of Trag and the Queensbridge scene, and a worthwhile watch even for those who aren't. The DVD has some nice but brief extras, including an excellent segment on Trag's best friend and inspiration, Killa Black (RIP), a great interview Trag on the making of "T.O.N.Y.," an amusing segment on the origin of the term "dunn," plus music videos for "LA, LA" and "T.O.N.Y." So if you want something a little more legit (and better, what with the extras) than a stream or torrent to watch, know that there is a proper DVD option. And, yes, the Japanese subtitles are optional (removable). :)

Are you kidding me?

Who is this Lil B character for real. I haven't been paying him much attention and it isn't just because he got punched in the eye. But is this what is considered hot these days? Now the "Chef" dance was funny I guess because it was stupid but now I think he really takes himself seriously and thinks that because he says it, this shit isn't corny. Check out this wack ass song:



WTF was that?

Cops and Hip-Hop part 1...

Look this isn't anything new. In Hip-hop culture, cops are the enemy and breaking the law is just the way to survive, those are the rules ya dig. but honestly, not every cop is bad, just like not every person is good. So to classify every police officer as another 'pig' that needs to die is stupid to me. Now to call everyone in the hood a loser and throw them all in jail is just as wrong.



Why

InstaRapFlix #28: Pick Up the Mic: The Evolution of Homohop

It's been a while since I've done an InstaRapFlix (since April, in fact); and since I have a lofty goal of building a database that refers, like, every obscure "random" hip-hop doc ever, I'd really better get on the ball. So here I am; and this one seems interesting: Pick Up the Mic: The Evolution of Homohop (Netflix rating: 3 stars). I mean, I'm disappointed that "Homohop" is even a word, let alone one somebody took seriously enough to use for the title of their DVD, but still... the premise seems interesting. And like the Nerdcore documentary I did before (which really turned out to be a glorified tour DVD for one guy), it's fun to learn about hip-hop scenes I really know next to nothing about.

So it's a full-length doc (regular readers will know a lot of these turn out to be ridiculously short) and opens up with a live performance of a song called "No Fags Allowed." Then we cut to rapper Deadlee, who wrote and performed that stage, explaining that he wrote that song - to I guess show that they're not offended by comments like "no fags allowed" because they'll proudly say it themselves. Or something. His logic didn't really seem that clear. But anyway, if you're thinking, "I've never heard of Deadlee," then you've already found the film's weak point. It's full of rappers who you've never heard of (and most of whom, frankly, you wouldn't be adding their records to your crates even if they had one). There ARE known homosexual rappers out there, like Afrika from the Jungle Brothers, Invincible, Madee... not to mention all of the rappers who are rumored to be or presumed to be gay, like Queen Latifah or Erick Sermon*. It would've been great, but you won't hear from any of them in this doc.

The other flaw is that, because it's so PC, half the things they say wind up being so obvious, you know what you're going to hear long before it comes out of their mouths. "Hip-hop wasn't made to exclude anyone," "we're here to challenge stereotypes," "sexual preference doesn't have anything to do with skills," etc. Surely you knew you'd be hearing all these sentiments as soon as you saw the title of the film... so spending the next forty minutes hearing them paraded out before you one by one just feels redundant and boring. And, perhaps more to the point, it's a big circle jerk. It's a group of 10 or 15 rappers you've never heard of - this doc happily plops down and spends all its focus on just a small scene based in San Francisco - all saying how great each other are.

But getting past the negatives, there are good aspects, too. One thing, because this is full-length and not padded with music video clips and other junk like so many hip-hop docs are; you get actually spend enough time with the subjects to delve into subjects and who they are. I'd certainly never heard of Tim'M before, but he gets a lot of time to talk, and the crew travels around with him, to the point where you actually feel like they're building. And if you ARE a fan of the artists presented here, you get to hear a lot from them so you won't feel ripped off (as opposed to Slip 'N' Slide docs I was covering, where artists dropped one sentence sound-bites saying nothing and were never heard from again). Several of the segments even include interviews with the artists' parents.

Towards the end, it finally breaks out of that San Francisco scene, and gets into an interesting look at gay hip-hop websites and all. So it basically starts out as a pretty bland, tiresome puff piece, but slowly builds into an interesting documentary. At the last 5 or so minutes, it gets into a pretty interesting talk on "homohop" penetrating the mainstream; just too bad it took so long to get there. So, it's not a great film; Errol Morris isn't gonna have to find a new line of work... but it's worth watching once, especially since it can be streamed for free on Netflix.

* Ok, that Erick Sermon rumor is old... but it would've been fun to just see an exasperated Erick grabbing the camera and exclaiming, "for the last time: I am NOT gay," right? lol