Consequence's lost '90s album...

If you're a fan of one of the most groundbreaking acts in hip-hop's history, A Tribe Called Quest, you should definitely be familiar with Consequence (who is in fact Q-Tip's younger cousin). He first appeared with the group on a 12" only version of "The Chase" (from 'Midnight Maurauders') but it was with the groups fourth, and heavily underrated, album 'Beats, Rhymes & Life' where Cons' actually provided vocals for 7 of the album 15 songs, including the hit-single "Stressed Out" with Faith Evans. At the time many people were dissatisfied with the amount of apperances from the young rapper, and it's quite clear that he hasn't fully evolved into the rapper he would become further down the road. Possibly due to this critiscism Cons didn't have any verses at all on ATCQ's fifth and final album, 'The Love Movement', but there's no question he was still a part of the groups extended family. Around the same time Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed had started their own record imprint named Sound Museum, a sub-division of Elektra Records, and Consequence was the first artist to be signed to the newly formed label.

Somewhere between 1996 and 1998 the rapper recorded and completed an album etitled 'Hostile Takeover', working with producers The Ummah (Q-Tip, Jay Dee, Ali Shaheed Muhammad), 88 Keys and Mobb Deep's Havoc. "Believe me when I tell you that this album would have been an insta-classic had it ever seen the light of the day" is a quote from 88 Keys who shopped his first two beats ever to the project (one of them which is being represented on the downloadable EP below). As Tip's relationship with Elektra CEO Sylvia Rhone started to become strained the Sound Museum label eventually faded into non-existance leaving Consequence's album ultimately shelved and it still remains unreleaesd. Besides a few dodgy vinyl bootlegs the majority of the album will probably never be heard but as Cons is now signed with Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music and gearing up for a new mixtape ('Movies on Demand 2') and his second official album, 'Cons TV' I thought now is a good time to share this little EP of tracks from the unreleased LP which features vintage late '90s production by Q-Tip, Dilla, Havoc and 88 Keys. Enjoy and leave a comment if you like it!

 01. "Consequences" (Ft. Q-Tip)

02. "Armani Frames (Riot)" (Ft. Busta Rhymes)

03. "Weekendz"

04. "Rock N Roll"

05. "Get The Money" (Ft. Havoc)

Consequence - "Hostile Takeover EP" (1998)

KRS-One - "Maximum Strength" (c7 version)

"Maximum Strength" was an album supposed to be released on Jive in 1999 to fullfill KRS-One's contractual obligations with the label. Only one single was released from the album, "5 Boroughs" with the B-side "Temple Tactics" and even ad's for the LP appeared in magazines like The Source. Kris also did several interviews about the album which he stated was completed but ultimately it ended up being shelved. Jive instead released the Greatest Hits compilation "A Retrospective", sporting the same cover that was seen in the "Maximum Strength" promo ads.

The album was finally supposed to be released independently in 2008 and was promoted with a new cover and the original tracklists; but once it came time for release in late '08 we got something completely different; 12 newly recorded songs. Several songs on the '99 album has surfaced on the net while some appeared on "The Sneak Attack" and "D.I.G.I.T.A.L.".

This lost album became somewhat of an obsession for me for a long period of time and eventually I managed to get my hands on ten of the songs from that tracklist and as the original album had 15 songs I added 5 additional tracks that was recorded around the same era and most likely was recorded for the album (for example the song "Aquarius" is produced by Showbiz and he was one of the producers on the LP according to interviews with Kris), but might have been scrapped before a tracklist was finalized.

This is a must download for any KRS-One fan, as I really took my time to find as much info as possible in form of Kris interviews, extensive search of his discography from that period and then worked extremely hard on the sequencinging to really make it sound like an actual album rather than a compilation. To me this was a worthy follow-up to "I Got Next" and a better album than "The Sneak Attack". Judge for yourself..

 01. "5 Boroughs" (Ft. Buckshot, Keith Murray, Cam'ron, Killah Priest, Redman, Vigilante, Bounty Killer, Prodigy & Rev. Run)

02. "For Example"

03. "Warning Shot (Clap 'Em)"

04. "Boogie Down (Better Run)" (Ft. Wyclef)

05. "Tell The Devil HA!"

06. "No Satisfaction"

07. "Protect Yourself (Ghetto Lifestyle)"

08. "I Will Make It" (OG Mix)

09. "Yeah Yeah Yeah" (Ft. Young Zee, Last Emperor & Channel Live)

10. "Bring it to the Cypher" (Ft. Truck Turner)

11. "Aquarius" (Ft. Courtney Terry)

12. "Let It Flow (Do What You Know)"

13. "No Wack DJ's"

14. "Temple Tactics"

15. "Purified (Acapella)"

KRS-One - "Maximum Strength" (1999) 

Redman breaks down his catalouge

Found this incredible article on Redman (who's about to drop his upcoming album 'Reggie' via Def Jam on December 7) where he personally breaks down his entire catalouge of albums. I love to read these type of things and considering Reggie got at least three classic albums to his name (and never dropped anything wack to me either for that matter) this run-down was a real interesting read. He even talks about the Def Squad, Method Man&Redman and EPMD collaborations so it's a very complete article that i know my readers will appreciate. Big up to Vibe Magazine for still doing great hip-hop journalism from time-to-time.

CHECK IT OUT @ VIBE.COM

[Comp] ROC MARCIANO - "Caviar: The Album]

Roc Marciano has been around for longer than you might think, leading up to one of this years absolute finest releases in 'Marcberg' (go cop that if you haven't already, very recommended) the Long Island MC became a part of Busta Rhymes's Flipmode Squad for a short while in 1999, during the recording of 'Anarchy' where he rhymed on two songs as well as (according to himself) was a creative force in the creation of the entire project (picking the beats, guests, etc.). The Flipmode stint didn't last long but it was probably for the better as he had his own crew, The U.N. 

After appearing on two now classic songs from Pete Rock's 'Petestrumentals', the four men crew recorded their own debut album under the supervision of Q-Tip, The Alchemist, Schott Free, Pete Rock and Large Professor (pretty impressive for a debuting underground crew huh). The result was the criminally underrated 'U N Or U Out!!' (beautiful title) which i strongly recommend you spending money on if you ever come across it, although it's out of print by now. Over the years The UN's leader has obviously done cameos on several hot records and in an attempt to collect the best of that material I created 'Caviar: The Album'; a 15 track showcase of his work from the Flipmode days to 2009 (of course no album material from his solo shit or The UN LP) and featuring production by Pete Rock, Large Professor, the late great Roc Raida, The P Brothers, Easy Mo Bee and others. It originally had 20 tracks but after several listens i decided the "album" flows so much better this way. Enjoy and if you like what you hear make sure you support the man!

01. "Long Time Coming"

02. "Outta Control"

03. "The Regulators" (w. The X-Ecutioners & Sly Boogie)

04. "Lay It Down"

05. "Marcberri Interlude"

06. "Caviar"

07. "Think Differently" (w. Tragedy Khadafi, Vordul Mega & Casual)

08. "Short Race" (w. GZA/Genius)

09. "Firepower"

10. "Here We Go Again" (w. The Flipmode Squad)

11. "Money" (w. El Da Sensei)

12. "As Long As It's Real"

13. "Let's Make A Toast" (w. Busta Rhymes, Raekwon & Chip Banks)

14. "The Heist" (w. Busta Rhymes, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah)

15. "It's So G"

ROC MARCIANO - "CAVIAR: The Album"

Large Professor Comp.

Another one of the greatest producers the world has ever known, William Paul Mitchell, better known as The Large Professor (or The Live Guy With Glasses). He solidified his position in the hip-hop's hall of fame with ghost-producing Eric B. & Rakim's "Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em" and "Wanted: Dead Or Alive" by Kool G Rap and Polo before releasing the classic "Breaking Atoms" with his group, at the time, Main Source. "Breaking Atoms" consisted of MC and producer Large Professor and two Toronto DJ's, Sir Scratch and K-Kut. The album featured the 16 bars debut from young Nasty Nas who Large took under his wing and within a few years produced on and helped put together the ultra-classic Nas debut, "Illmatic". The Queens producer has made his work known all over the place, helping artists like Busta Rhymes, Cormega, A Tribe Called Quest, Diamond D, Akinyele (who's dope "Vagina Dinner" was fully produced by Large Pro). He has also released three solo albums so far, seeing that he ain't no joke on the mic either. I might write a little more extensive bio on Large Pro sometimes but the reason for this post is that i put together a compilation of his outside production, some of the classics and some of the lesser known tracks. All in all 17 tracks that I feel are representive of Large's production work from '91 to '99 (there will be further installments in this series) and as usual you won't find any Main Source/Large Pro album material on here as that kinda defeats the purpose in my opinion.

01. Large Professor - "Intro (Listen/Blast Off)"

02. Big Daddy Kane - "Niggas Never Learn"

03. Common Sense - "Resurrection (Extra-P Remix)"

04. A Tribe Called Quest - "Keep It Rollin'" (Ft. Large Professor)

05. Tragedy -."Pass Da Tek (Extra-P Remix)"

06. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - "Bad to the Bone (Street Remix)"

07. Mobb Deep - "Peer Pressure (Large Pro Remix)"

08. Mad Skillz - "Extra Abstract Skillz" (Ft. Q-Tip & Large Professor)

09. Beastie Boys - "Sure Shot (Large Professor Remix)"

10. MC Shan - "Pee-Nile Reunion" (Ft. Kool G Rap, Neek The Exotic, Diesel & Snow)

11. Main Source - "Fakin' The Funk (Remix)" (Ft. Neek The Exotic)

12. Neek The Exotic - "Real Hip-Hop"

13. Apache - "Hey Girl"

14. Organized Konfusion - "Stress (Remix)" (Ft. Large Professor)

15. Leaders Of The New School - "What's Next (Large Professor Remix)"'

16. Canibus - "Canibustible"

17. Rob Swift - "Dope On Plastic (Scratch Version)"

LARGE PRO - "The Live Guy Wit' Glasses Vol. 1"

RZA is still #1

In the '90s RZA was always held as one of the top 5 hip-hop producers of all time, producing classic albums with the same tempo as The Beatles did in the '60s. As he grew spiritually and left the streets behind his music obviously changed as musicians who stay true to who they are should always reflect where they are in life. As his style changed many people felt he didn't got it anymore, failing to see how extremely well-produced albums like "8 Diagrams" and the soundtrack to the "Afro Samurai" series actually were. Earlier this year a track called "Lost in Tokyo" by an artist named City Haze surfaced - produced by the one and only The RZA. Since the song seemed to fly over most peoples heads and it's truly incredible i figured it was only right to bring it back for those who missed it. Below is both the youtube video and an mp3-link in 192 kbps. TURN IT UP!!



City Haze - "Lost In Tokyo" (RZA)

New Track (Black Thought feature!)

I thought i'd share this song with my readers since it features three artist i always found very intersting. I'm not a big fan of todays R&B music with a few exceptions that leans more towards soul (Anthony Hamilton is a good example), but this girl Chrisette Michele with a very unique voice started popping up as a guest vocalist on many fine records around 2006, 2007 (Jay-Z's "Lost One", Nas's "Can't Forget About You" and "Slow Down" by Ghostface Killah). She is about to release her (aparantly) 3rd album and the title track features two of my favorite MC's which, obviously, instantly made me intersted. The song is called "Let Freedom Reign" and the guest features are from my man Black Thought of The Roots and Mr. Talib Kweli - Tariq Trotter absolutely KILLS it, but since when does he not kill a verse. Top 5 rappers alive today.

"Let Freedom Reign" (Ft. Talib Kweli & Black Thought)

Eric. B & Rakim production mysteries

Eric. B & Rakim will forever go down in history as one of the greatest duo's of all time. Together they dropped some of the most timeless hip-hop music the world has ever heard; four albums that were all incredible and in many ways changed the way a great rap album should sound - both vocaly and sonically. All the music on these discs are credited as being "Produced by Eric B. & Rakim". While it's clear that Eric B.'s role for the music was important, all too often rumours about ghost producers working on either one of these albums pop up. Rarely, a rumour tell even half the whole story but at the same time, when they are so consistant as they have been in this case, there is most definitely quite a bit of truth to them.

Me being a beathead that's always interested in production aspects find these albums and the mystique surrounding them intriguing. How much did Eric B. really do as far as the music goes? Was Rakim involved in hookinjg up the beats? Who where the other guys that was part of lacing these classic sounds? It adds a certain amount of mystique to the music that often have been lost in todays hip-hop (what up Brandon) and we have to remember that back in '86, many times the guy credited for engineering would get production or co-production credit today. I've studies this subject for several years, coming across various interviews with producers and artists which all adds small pieces to the puzzle. I have compiled all my knowledge into the article you'll find below which I hope you will find interesting. Beats For the Listeners!

Eric B. & Rakim first met up in 1986 to record their debut single "Eric B. is President" / "My Melody" for Zakia Records. Eric B. had come into contact with legendary Juice Crew producer Marley Marl whose studio the duo were using to record the two cuts heard on the single. Many people believe Marley Marl produced these songs as he and MC Shan are credited as engineers on the original vinyl single. Eric B., however, told his side of that story to HipHopDX.com: "I took the records to Marley Marl's house in Queensbridge and paid Marley Marl to be the engineer. Marley got paid. That's why he's not a producer; that's why he is not getting publishing. I brought the music. I just couldn't work the equipment because that's not what I did...". This sounds like a very plausible scenario, especially considering this was a rather usual work dynamic between the engineer and producer back in those days. It's likely that Marley's involvement on the "Paid in Full" LP, released the following year, stopped with the inclusion of the A- and B-side of the single.

Yet, there are eight more classic joints on the album, filled with seamless samples ranging from AC/DC, to Barry White, and Chick Corea's Return to Forever. Was the formula the same here? Eric B. and Rakim coming up with how the music should sound, and what to use as far as sample material goes; and letting the engineer being the actual "hands on". The engineer in this case is Patrick Adams, a talented and musically experienced producer and technician with more than a load of credits to his name; in fact, he had even released a solo album back in 1978. Looking at his discography he was originally best known for producing soul- and disco records back in the '70s and early '80s. Starting sometime in the mid-'80s, Adams had gradually moved over to the emerging rap music, participating in sessions for acts of legend like Craig G, Spoonie G and The Cold Crush Brothers. Rakim mentions Adams' work on "Paid in Full" in Brian Coleman's "Check the Technique"; "With the drum programming on the album, our engineer Patrick Adams did a lot of that. He's a real talented cat. I'd basically just take my break beats and ideas in, and he'd sample it up and put the 808 on it. Patrick was the guy who first introduced me to the 808."

So, it's clear that the engineer played a major role in shaping the sound of this groundbreaking, modern classic. Eric B. and Rakim came up with the concepts for the songs, what records to use and the overall musical direction, while Patrick Adams did all or most of the programming; the only exception being the original single that sparked the recording sessions - "My Melody" and "Eric B. is President". In Coleman's book Rakim gives credit to Eric B. for the turntable work but claims to have initiated the majority of song concepts on the LP himself:  "Most of the tracks on the first and second albums, I done those myself, no question. Back then, Eric B. wanted to be a businessman so I said 'Okay, you can take care of the business, I'm going to stick with this notebook right here'. So by not getting involved, he was right there telling them to print whatever he wanted them to print on the album cover. That was my mistake. If we did ten tracks on the album, I did like seven of the beats myself. A lot of times they were just old park records. I had a record collection, I had turntables, I had all the breakbeats". Rakim also brought in his brother, Stevie 'Blass' Griffin, to play live keyboards on the track "Move the Crowd" over sampled excerpts from James Brown and Return to Forever.

Eric B. & Rakim followed up with their sophomore LP "Follow the Leader" in 1988, an even stronger effort to many (including myself). The sound had evolved several steps, both from a sonic and vocal perspective, with Rakim delivering some of the strongest and most defining rap verses ever laid down on wax. The beats on the disc again relied on funky breaks, but the music were now more multi-layered, deeply intense and often driven by deep grooves. As on the previous LP, all production credit are given Eric B. & Rakim, with Patrick Adams as the assigned studio engineer. Considering the similiar credits and the somewhat familiar, but updated, sound, one can draw the conclusion that the formula for producing the records remained the same as on its predecessor; with Adams hooking up whatever idea that Rakim and Eric B. brought to the table. As seen by the quote above, Rakim takes most of the credit for initiating the majority of songs on "Follow the Leader". 

The sleeve also credits Ra's brother, Stevie 'Blass' Griffin for playing "all music" which is a very confusing and misdirecting note considering that the vast majority of the music on here were created from sampled records. My interpretation is that Griffin played all any live instruments heard on the LP. However, the only really obvious live instrumentation are the synthesizer sounds heard on "To the Listeners", which Griffin undoubtedly is responsible for, as it bears a striking resemblance to his earlier performance on "Move the Crowd".

There have also been rumours about Mark The 45 King working behind the scenes on much of the "Follow The Leader" sessions. He did officially work with the duo in the capacity of doing 12" remixes for songs like "The R" and later "Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em". However, in an interview with Unkut.com, the producer confirmed he did the beat for "Microphone Fiend" which he created with Fab Five Freddy in mind. 45 King also ended up doing a remix of the song which appeared on the single release of the song the same year. In the same interview with Unkut, On the question whether or not he did any additional work on that album he responded, "I did "The R" I think. The drum beats or the bassline…yep. Eric B. was the first person to give me some real money." This explains where the rumours about 45 King producing the album comes from, but it also puts it to rest. It seems that he worked on the two songs mentioned and that Rakim, Eric B. and Patrick Adams produced the rest of the album in the way described above.

This one is a little clearer since it's been revealed from several sources (including Large Professor, Nas, Rakim, people close to Paul C, etc.) that Paul C was contacted by Rakim to be the engineer of the "Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em". As already stated most of those engineers in those days (especially Paul C from what i read about his work) would have be credited as the main producer today. From an amazing and in depth article on Paul C (by Dave Thompson) i learned the following:

* Paul C prouced "Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em" with Rakim,
(Paul hooked up the Commodore's loop and drums while Rakim added the keys from a Bob James song).
* Paul C produced all of "Run For Cover"
* Paul C produced all of "In The Ghetto"

Paul C passed away during the making of the album, but his protogé who had attented most of the studio sessions continued the production on what still remained to be done on the album. An article in XXL on Large Pro claimed he ended up producing the bulk of "Let The Rhythm Hit 'Em", so we can assume that the remaining 7 songs on the album was produced by Large Professor and Rakim (possibly with some input from Eric. B.... Or not).

The final album from the duo is the most confusing of all to find out who really did what. First of it was hard to find any concrete information on the production tip but once I really started digging for answers the picture got clearer, but still not. The album sounds very much like a typical 1992 hip-hop album, lots of jazz samples and hard breaks which is reminiscent of what Large Professor was doing at the time. Now the sleeve says "produced by Eric. B & Rakim" and even "all programming by Eric. B & Rakim" but it also mentions Large Professor, Kerwin Young and Richard Sims as being  "Production Coordinators" (whatever that means). It's possible that Rakim produced a lot of this album, as he must have learned alot of production techniques working with Paul C, Large Professor, Marley Marl and The 45 King (later beats credited to him like "Long Island" on 'The Master' LP sounds great). Every release of the track "Juice (Know The Ledge)" (singles and soundtracks) except the actual album says it was done by Rakim himself but remixed by Hank Shocklee and Gary G-Wiz (the latter which The God MC worked on for his first single after the break-up with Eric, "Heat It Up"). Kerwin Young and G-Wiz was associates of Shocklee's Bomb Squad at the time. 

But things get even weirder as I happened to stumble across an article on Rashad Smith of Tumblin' Dice productions, where he and ?uestlove played a live set off some of his biggest hits. Tracks included "Juice (Know The Ledge)" and "Don't Sweat The Technique" and other (less reilable sources indiciate that Rashad Smith actually produced about 50% of that album but as he was a new producer on the scene he didn't get the credit - more like a paying dues situation) (SOURCE of the Rashad Smith article)

La The Darkman - New Shit

New mixtape from La The Darkman, still repping that W to the fullest and been around since at least 1996 when he dropped his first classic 12" single, "I Want It All", followed by the equally banging 'Heist Of The Century' LP in 1998. Since then he has moved to the South, hooking up with DJ Drama and his brother Willie The Kid, releasing a gang of mixtapes - some having more of a southern flava. But now La hooked up with legendary mixtape DJ, J-Love, to release the follow-up to their praised previous collaboration 'Return Of The Darkman'. This should please any Wu/La fan, that's for sure. I usually don't post retail material but since this is a mixtape it gets the greenlight. Enjoy!

1) UNDERESTIMATED CHILD
2) LIFE OF A DRUG DEALER FEAT WILLIE THE KID
3) NO GLITZ NO GLAMOUR
4) COLD STEEL
5) I'M GOOD
6) MARK OF THE BEAST
7) VIXEN'S STING'

8) SLIPPING IN THE GAME
10) WE STICK TOGETHER FEAT WILLIE THE KID & J-LOVE (PRODUCED BY J-LOVE)
11) WELL RESPECTED FEAT WILLIE THE KID
12) NECESSARY WAY FEAT WILLIE THE KID
13) MUST BE LOVE FEAT WILLIE THE KID
14) ICE COLD GUINEAS
15) ROLL WITH THE MOB
16) WATCH OUT
17) TRIPLE BLACK
18) FAKE ASS RAPPERS
19) SOMEBODY MIGHT DIE FEAT WILLIE THE KID
20) AMERICA'S NIGHTMARE
21) SERIOUS G
22) GET THIS MONEY
23) BLACK NIGHT
24) FUCKING WITH THE BEST FEAT WILLIE THE KID
25) DIRTY GAME
26) JACK BOYS
27) IN
28) BENZ OR BEAMER FEAT WILLIE THE KID
29) CHECK
30) I BEEN AROUND FEAT WILLIE THE KID
31) THEY KEEP TALKING
32) I'M ABOUT THE PAPER
33) THE STREETS
34) THE WORLD IS FILLED FEAT WILLIE THE KID
35) NEVER BE BROKE
36) CALICO FLOW FEAT WILLIE THE KID

* La The Darkman / J-Love - "Return Of The Darkman II"

NaS - "I Am...The Autobiography"

Most know the story about the faith Nas 3rd LP suffered - after a 13-track advance of the album had been given out to magazines and such for review purposes it got leaked to the internet and quickly spread worldwide via programs like Napster. This was probably one of the first albums that got leaked through mp3 technology, and needless to say Nas and his manager Steve Stoute wasn't exactly pleased and decided to scrap the original project and add new songs. The original concept of an audiobiography documenting Nasir all the way from his moms belly to growing up in the streets without his father, to hustling and getting a record contract and eventually depression and finally his suicide: only to be reborn again as a prophet. A very ambitious project that could only be pulled off by an MC of Nas caliber, but due to the leak the retail album that hit the shelfs was something totally else. While it had traces off the genius that once had been in songs like "New York State Of Mind Part II", "Undying Love" and "Small World" the original theme was gone. The Source rated the original album with 4.5 mics but the official original tracklist has never surfaced in it's entiritey. It is however known which tracks was recorded for it (there have been talks about it being a double disc but i'm not sure that was ever confirmed) and after years of dwelling on this subject and trying various tracklists and track orders i came up with the one i like the best - take a listen to this and i promise you that you won't be dissapointed, it follows the storyline perfectly and the concept is fully intact. If this album would have been released like this there's no doubt in my mind that people would have hailed "I Am... The Autobiography" as a classic. Enjoy!

01. "Fetus"

02. "Poppa Was A Player"

03. "Project Windows" (OG) (Ft. Ron Isley)

04. "New York State Of Mind Pt. II"

05. "Blaze A 50"

06. "Money is My Bitch"

07. "Day Dreaming, Stay Scheming"

08. "Small World"

09. "Find Ya Wealth"

10. "Dr. Knockboot's Do's & Dont's"

11. "Wanna Play Rough?!"

12. "Hardest Thing to do... (Stayin' Alive)"

13. "Drunk By Myself"

14. "Sometimes I Wonder" (Ft. Nature)
15. "NaS is Like"

16. "We Will Survive"

17. "Undying Love"

18. "After Life... (Outro)"

19. "Amongst Kings"

* "I AM... THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY" (192 kbps)

[comp] TRAGEDY - "Raw Footage: The 12" Collection"

Now to the second installment in my Tragedy series, celebrating one of QB's absolute finest lyricists that is alot more important to the QB sound than many give him credit for. The youngest member of The Juice Crew, learned Havoc alot about rapping and producing, coined the term "Illmatic" and if you ask me he was one of the main reasons Capone-N-Noreaga got a classic album to their name, CNN are two good rappers but when Tragedy took them under his wing it became a totally different story - he came up with the whole concept, pretty mufh appeared on as many songs as Capone, released it via his 25 to Life imprint and gathered the producers, etc. This second compilation i put together focusing on that time of period between 1996 and 1998, featuring his B-side, remixes and guest spots with CNN at the time as well as some of the white labels he released during this time, including tracks like "First Day Of Spring" with Mobb Deep and "Blood Type" dissing Noreaga. Both compilations bang, you really do yourself a favor by listening to them both front-to-back. Word life!'

01. Thug Paradise (ft. Capone) [12" Version]
02. Real Live Shit (Remix) (ft. Capone & Real Live)
03. L.A. L.A. (Iraq Mix) (ft. CNN & Mobb Deep)
04. Strange Fruit (ft. Pete Rock, Noreaga & Meccalicious)
05. Calm Down (Ft. CNN & NaS)
06. Alluminati (Ft. Imam Thug)
07. True Confessions (Ft. Imam Thug)
08. The Bridge 2000 (Ft. Imam Thug)
09. First Day of Spring (ft. Mobb Deep)
10. Judas Theory
11. Real (w. DJ Krush)
12. Raw Footage (ft. Sporty Thievz)
13. The Usual Suspects (ft. Mic Geronimo, DMX & Ja Rule)
14. Too Bent & Too High

15. "Blood Type"
 

TRAGEDY - "RAW FOOTAGE: THE 12" COLLECTION"

Tragedy Compilation #1

"Intelligent Hoodlum" and "Saga Of A Hoodlum" are two of my favorite early Juice Crew albums and it was amazing to hear the young Tragedy rhyme real shit about his life like a seasoned street vet and he had mad heart and soul in his music. After the Juice crew days he started his own 25 to Life and managed Capone-N-Noreaga and put together "The War Report" with them in 1997, another classic. After that his albums hasn't really lived up to their potential although he's still an incredible music and there's usually a few true masterpieces on each album which ain't bad at all. My two Tragedy albums (his name was never Intelligent Hoodlum, that was a mix-up from the label)consists of the first: his Juice Crew/"Intelligent Hoodlum" days, 1988-1994 while the second focuses on the start of 25 to Life and his non-album work with the CNN members, 1996-1998. I was too lazy to make a cover for this for now but enjoy!

01. "Your Tragedy"

02. "Live & Direct At The House Of Hits." (Ft. Craig G)

03. "Funk Mode (Large Professor Remix" (Ft. Havoc)

04. "Live Motivator" [Ft. Marley Marl]

05. "America Eats The Young"(Ft. Chuck D & Marley Marley)

06. "Back To Life (Marey Remix)"

07. "Street Life (Return to the Life Remix)"

08. "Buck Buck" (Unreleased)

09. "In Control Promo" (Ft. Big Daddy Kane & Biz Markie)

10. "The Rebel" [w. Marley Marl]

11. "Keep Control" (Ft. Grand Puba, Def Jef, King Tee, Chubb Rock) [Marley Marl]

12. "At Large (Marley Remix)

13. "Pass Da Tek (Large Professor Remix" (Ft. Havoc)

14. "Part 1 (To Da Old School)" (Ft. Dred Scott)

15. "Part 2 (Funky Rhythms)" (Ft. Dred Scott)

16. "Six Million Ways to Die" (Ft. Nine a.k.a. Double M)

17. "Death Row (Original Mix)"

TRAGEDY - "From Street Thug to Intelligent Hoodlum"

Welcome

There are million of personal hip-hop blogs on the net these days, everybody wanna voice their opinion and everybody wanna get their little e-props by having the biggest collection of downloadable retail albums. If you're a true hip-hop head and loves the culture you go out and support your favorite artists when they drop new music that will give you hours of pleasure - alot of that has been lost in todays fast consuming high technology world, but there's nothing like waiting for an album by a dope artist and when it finally gets released you go out and cop it, come home, throw it in the CD-player or on your turntable and play it front-to-back while reading the credits and checking out the artwork. Today people will flick through an album in 10 minutes, judging the song by how nice the beat sounds at first or if the hook is catchy - if these elements doesn't grab them right away they will simply hit next. This way people will miss some of the best music, i'm an avid fan of the ALBUM as a whole and there's countless of my favorite songs and albums that took several listens before i felt it really hit home.


With that being said this blog is about music but, understandably, not about posting retail albums at all. I like to collect rare tracks, B-sides, guest features/productions and soundtrack joints by my favorite artists and producers and i often put together little compilations to put on my iPod. I always strive to make these compilations sound as much like actual albums as possible as they always follow a theme and the sequencing is extremely important for me. Ever since i started posting my comps on the hip-hop forums i visit the most, Wu-Tang Corp., i've been getting a lot of positive feedback and multiple requests for a blog collecting all my mixes. Thanks to the good guys over there I finally gave in and here it is, i'lll call it The Lost Tapes for now since it's mostly gonna highlight songs that failed to appear on the retail albums. I also like to write about hip-hop and it's performers, so besides downloadable compilations and original albums (i love piecing together albums that was hampered due to sample clearances and what not, you'll see) expect to see a few articles and reviews every now and then. I will update it every now and then... My hope is that my compilation will make people go out and buy retail albums from these guys. If just one of my readers download, for example, the Tragedy compilations and go out and buy "Saga Of A Hoodlum" and "The War Report" then my mission is accomplished. Welcome!