Total Pageviews

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

[12" Throwback] OL' DIRTY BASTARD - "O.D.B. EP."

I wrote a good chunk about this EP, but to my vast irritation every single one of my words were destroyed when my comp unexpectedly shut down; but shame those who give in. So here's my second take on Ol' Dirty's "O.D.B.E.P.", released in 1996 through Elektra, and available in Japanese stores only for a limited amount of time. The Dirty One's mid-summer debut LP on the imprint, this 13 tracks long collection of instrumentals, remixes, and B-sides work as a great companion piece to ODB's last year debut album. This Japan only EP featured two exclusive RZA productions that originally had appeared as B-sides to 12" on a couple of the album singles; meaning that they might have originally been conceived for inclusion on the album but had to be cut when so much material kept coming in.

Kicking things off with a mindblowing Lord Digga of The Bluez Brothers/Masta Ace Inc crew who provides a completely different take on Dirt's #1 classic "Brookltn Zoo", incorporating an oriental sample over agressive drums and -bass, and best of all plenty of new ad-libs from Dirt. I suspect that´Dirty recorded all of his verses over to this beat, as the editing is absolutely beautiful.  "Give it to Ya Raw" is a classic RZA's mid-'90s production, with knocking drums in an almost old-school breakbeat fashion, filthy and filter-processed samples, and a real murky bassline. The Dirty one screaming things like "Give it to Ya Raw" and giving shout outs to the piopneers adds to the fact just how rugged and shit-stained this joint is, and personally, I wouldn't have mind hearing this on the LP rather than something like "Sweet Sugar Pie". It also works as an homage to those who came before; the true pioneers; with Dirt giving shouts tothose who came before like Grandmaster Caz, and many more. This is vintage mid-'90s Dirt & RZA right here. This is followed by Elektra's in-house producer's take on the previous funk-jam; the SD50 remix (a trio consisting of Tommy Boy mainstays Dante Ross, Johnn Gamle & Geeby Dajani). The drums and agressive bassline are still in full tact but it's indeed a little cleaner than Prince Rakeem's take on it. You got a lot more keys and plenty of horns to keep it moving on the latter, but placing ODB's unorthdox rhyming style over a brand new drum pattern shows how incredible these three guiys were at manipulating a voice to fir a completely new sound..

Followed here are the so called extended version of "Shimmy Shimmy Ya"; by far, one of Dirt's most cherished songs. RZA's and ODB's original album recordings is pretty much intact for the first and second verse (the regular verse and the backmasked verse is still there) Before Buddha Monk appears together with ODB tying up the loose ends. It's not an essential joint per se, though it runs through an entire new verse by ODB is never heard elsewhere, resulting in the song given a facelift.

For me, the West Coast remix of "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" is without a doubt the most transformed and the most different mix out of them all, for the first time showing Dirt's fascination for the West Coast sound which would later be followed up by collabos with Alkaholiks, Coolio, and Mack 10. Studio Ton brings on a club bouncer fitting for the West Coast scene at the time, with crazy bass, Moog synthesizer, and repetitive but hard-hitting drums. It's a far cry from the original if you ask me, but it's definitely worth several listens especially as it features exclusive verses by Mack 10, WC, and Dirt himself.  Next up we find the second RZA produced outtake from the album in "Don't U Kmow Pt. II" which picks up right where the prequel from Dirt's debut closed out (remember "....Part 2 coming your way!"). The production is similiar, yet it's not a tired repetition. amd on top of that although Priest is curiously missing here. But we get another brilliantview into the chemistry between ODB and RZA this is a must hear for everyone.

The final cut on the EP is another very FAT track, featuring ODB going head to head with the very underrated cousin 12 O'Clock, who I always liked a whole lot. All these tracks were included as bonus tracks on the newly released Get On Down 2xCD edition of "Return of the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version". Enjoy, and TURN IT UP - this is classic Ol' Dirty right here... May you rest in everlasting piece Russel!,
01. "Brooklyn Zoo" [Clean Lord Digga Mix]
02. "Brooklyn Zoo" [LP Instrumental]
03. "Brooklyn Zoo" [Lord Digga Mix Instrumental]
04. "Give it to Ya Raw: Clean" [prod. by The RZA]
05. "Give it to Ya Raw" [SD50 Remix]
06. "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" [Extended]
07."Shuimmy Shimma Ya" [Stidop Ton Remix] (Ft- MC Eith & WC)
08. "Don¨'t U Know Part 2"
09. "Ol' Dirty's Back" (Ft. 12 O'Clock)

No comments:

Post a Comment