[12" Throwback] SLICK RICK - "Ricky D Lost Tracks"

Slick Rick, the original master storyteller that has inspired every hip-hop emcee worthy of his name, has released some extremely tight albums throughout the years - though way to few that his skills deserve. So although his album catalouge ain't all that, luckily Ricky D got a large amount of unreleased bangers from the early to mid-'90s that feature nothing but vintage Rick getting it in over bangers by people like Pete Rock, SD50s, Prince Paul, Vance Wright and more. Trust me when I say that I'm definitely going to do a proper Slick Rick compilation of the best of these type of joints sooner or later. But in the meantime I want to put a bright spotlight on a very unorthodox Japanese bootleg of two Ricky D joints that are as hilarious as they are rare. The two track 12" is simply called "Ricky D. Lost Tracks" and the songs, which was likely too strong in its language and storytelling that Def Jam had no choice but to cut them from the album. The LP in question I am pretty sure is 1994:s "Behind Bars" LP, the album that was released while Slick was still in jail and featured new remixes by artists like Pete Rock, Warren G, Epitome Of Scratch, and Large Professor of previously unreleased material a long with some never before heard songs. It could have been recorded for the previous LP however, 1991:s "The Ruler's Back" as the beat supplied by Mr. Philips' sound more like early '90s Pete if you ask me.

So how do I know that the absolutely brilliant "Sleazy Gynecologist" which appears on the A-side here is one of those rare Slick Rick/Pete Rock collaborations, more than the fact that it sound like an early Pete beat?  Well after some research, I found a very illuminating post over @ RapOhneLizenz with a quote from the Younger Soul Brother, Grap Luva; "Grap was shocked to see [the bootleg 12"], confirming that it was in fact a Pete Rock beat ... He only knew the track from when he snuck into his brothers spot and dubbed it off a DAT" (SOURCE). Slick Rick and Pete Rock is always a magnificent combo for us true hip-hop heads, but Slick Rick himself is truly bringing his A+ game here; telling three magnificent verses where Rick shows why he's a true master emcee by doing one verse as the girl, one as the sleazy gynecologist and one as the boyfriend (who happens to be Rick himself, or so it seems). This is pretty hardcore too, as the sleazy gynecologist's last verse finds the doctor raping an unconscious underage girl under sedation before the cops bust in. It's an extremely well written joint, the beat is slamming, overall it's classic Rick though it's easy to see why no record label wanted to fuck with it at the time. Well, thank God for bootlegs.

The B-side to this rare bootleg is here listed as "Feels Like", but is listed as "The Nutty Professor" on various later tapes, like on J-Love's semi-official mixtapes, so it's safe to say that "The Nutty Professor" is the proper title for the song. Once again this sound like it could be a Pete Rock beat, but I don't have any confirmation for this - and according to the original bootleg both songs are produced by SD50's but we know that that's not the case with the A-side at least. Either way it's another powerful jam, however I have a feeling this was recorded a bit later as "The Nutty Professor" (the movie) wasn't released until early 1996 - and listening to the production (Pete Rock, SD50's or whoever) it's deifnitely a mid-'90s joint, no question). It's not as agressive or original as the A-side but it's a cool storytelling joint with some of Rick's trademark hilarious lines interspersed throughout the songs running time. Both songs needs to be heard by any Slick Rick fan that might have missed out, despite the shitty sound quality -  remember this is a rip from a mid-'90s Japanese bootleg that have only surfaced on mixtapes since (with DJ shouts and all that not-so-good stuff). Enjoy peeps!

A1. "Sleazy Gynecologist"

B1. "Feels Like (The Nutty Professor)"

SLICK RICK - "RICKY D: LOST TRACKS"

12" Throwback: Common Sense - "Resurrection"

While we're at the topic of Lonnie Rashid Lynn (that's Common Sense for those of y'all who haven't done your homework) I figured I oughta bring back the 12" Throwback section of The Lost Tapes since it's been a while. I was dusting off my vinyl copy of the "Resurrection" LP just the other day and it's still one of my favorite albums of all time. The '92 debut LP that preceeded it had some dope beats but was overall pretty corny in its execution. However, once No ID, Twilite Tone and our main emcee started the recording of the sophomore mid-'90s album they really had found their own niché and understood the mechanics of creating timeless music. 

The last release under the name Common Sense (as you know he had to drop the Sense part of his name by the next project), were the "Resurrection EP". The vinyl release featured instrumentals, clean versions and accapellas but the CD-single was more true to the EP format which is why I decided to include that despite the "12" Throwback" slogan of the post. Five banging tracks are featured on this essential record that should please any fan of the responisble MC and producer(s). Although there were mostly remixes and alternative takes of previously released material the majoritly of them includes brand new lyrics furthering showcasing the Chicago emcees tight flow and song writing skills at the time.

"Resurrection '95" utilizes the same amazing No I.D. beat as the album opener but with three completely new Com' verses with additional keyboard work by Mike Lorello. Following that are the two legendary Large Professor remixes, both often mentioned in discussions about Extra-P illest remixes of all time; and rightfully so. Twilite Tone reprises his beat and vocals from the album on "Chapter 13" which still holds up as a true banger. The EP rounds off with an earlier Common Sense song that harks back to his first album. The version inclded here are however an exclusive No I.D. remix of the '92 single "Soul By the Pound", here titled The Thump Mix. Overall this Extended Play is a great companion piece to the "Resurrection" LP and is also notable for being the last disc ever released under the name of Common Sense. All songs are in 320 kbps bitrate so the sound quality is great. Heed this warning though; this should be played loud as fuck!.

01. "Resurrection '95"
02. "Resurrection" [Extra P Remix]
03 "Resurrection" [Large Professor Remix]
04. "Chapter #13" (Ft. The Late Show's Ynot Never The Less)
05. "Soul By The Pound" [No I.D.'s Thump Mix]

COMMON  SENSE - "RESURRECTION '95" [CDM]

DJ Greyboy & AG - "Hidden Crates"

In 1998 P-Jay Records released a 12" single featuring the two tracks "Hidden Crate" and "Hold Mines" with an artist labeled as The Giant. These were both slamming solo tracks by D.I.T.C.'s AG and both produced by talented DJ Greyboy who provided a sinister but laidback BX sound which perfectly mirrored A's style. In fact, it seems that the artist were so pleased with these joints he and Show even included them both on the CD reissue of their "Full Scale EP" in 2002.

Apparantly they even recorded a music video for the A-side "Hidden Crate" but it was first released about a week ago. I wonder if it's supposed to be so short, since it cuts off during The Giant's second verse, which is a shame since that is a classic AG verse (brilliant shit). The single included no instrumentals but only a street and a clean version for both tracks; both street versions also appeared on the CD I mentioned above but for those who might've missed these gems I thought it was a good idea to upload them together with the video. The video is directed by Ben Wolfhinson and the song produced by Greyboy and co-produced by Rob Dyrdek.

A: "HIDDEN CRATE"
B: "HOLD MINES"

12" Throwback: RAPPER BIG POOH

Like many I frst came in contact with Rapper Big Pooh as one third of the soulful trio known as Little Brother. These three North Carolina natives created a unique style that draw heavily from the days when hip-hop was an original and incredible artform that based its music on sampling. Not to say that it isn't anymore, but thanks to greedy A&R's who believes money is the only factor in making great music it's becoming more rare. Little Brother released two critically acclaimed full-length albums as a full trio; 2003's debut "The Listening" and 2005's "The Minstrel Show", both produced in 9th Wonder's trademark soulful boom bap sound. Emcees Big Pooh and Phonte sounded great on these type of tracks but turmoil was starting to take place within the trio. 9th Wonder left the group shortly after the finished '05 album while the group continued to make music on their own and releasing two albums under the Hall Of Justice imprint.

But this post is not about Litlle Brother, although I always likes to give a little background on the music that I'm writing about. In 2004 Pooh released his debut solo album, "Sleepers", featuring usual suspects Median, Joe Scudda, Murs as well as an official LB joint (meaning a Pooh/Phonte track produced by 9th Wonder). I must admit that I haven't heard the album in full yet but some months ago I picked up the first 12" from the project, "The Strongest Man" which is a really tight record that I've been banging alot since. All of the three songs are produced by 9th Wonder, and neither of these collabos dissapoint. As should be the case with any respectable single release, "Strongest Man", includes a B-side that's exclusive for this release; "Theme Music".

Rapper Big Pooh has also just released his new album "Dirty Pretty Things" on the For Members Only label. It's the first of a fomer L.B. members work to not feature any input from former P.N.C.'s. Instead we get fresh beats provided by Khrysis, DJ Khalil, Focus, King Karnov and Nottz. You can order your copy of "Dirty Pretty Things" @ UGHH now.

Side A - Strongest Side

01. "The Strongest Man" (Clean)
02. "The Strongest Man" (Dirty)
03. "The Strongest Man" (Instrumental)
04. "The Strongest Man" (Accapella)

Side B - Strong Side

 01. "Scars" (Ft. Median & Joe Scudda) (Clean)
02. "Scars" (Dirty)
03. "Scars" (Instrumental)
04. "Theme Music" (Ft. L.E.G.A.C.Y.) (Dirty)

RAPPER BIG POOH - "STRONGEST MAN" VLS

12" Throwback: DJ Embee - "Embeetious Art"

"Embeetious Art" is a particularly ill extened play vinyl by the great DJ Embee, who, in case you don't know, is the DJ and producer for LoopTroop. The majority of the EP is made up of instrumentals designed to hold the listeners interest without the help of a vocalist. Instead the focus is on deep, heavy basslines, saxophone parts, cuts, guitar licks and such. The only exception to this rule is "Magnetism" which features a couple of verses by Promoe and, without breaking up the flow of the music, the vibe is very reminiscent of LoopTroop's "Modern Day City Symphony" which to me is the Troop's only true classic although they made alot of good music since. If you're a fan of heavily jazz-influenced hip-hop instrumentals you'll love this one, it's a bit reminiscent of Pete Rock's "PeteStrumentals" since it has that same jazzy, late night vibe with alot of bass, sax lines and scratches plus of course the fact that it's an instrumental record with an MC part on it. Besides Promoe, the guest features are instrumentalists - Jonas Filling plays sax on "Stay Up Late", John Grahn adds guitar to "Semester" and there's some really nice atmospheric background vocals provided by someone called dad & mum. The record was released on LoopTroop's own David vs. Goliath imprint in the year 2000 and has not been reissued since.This is perfect chill-out music for any given Sunday, so enjoy y'all!

A1. "On Tour"
A2. "Magnetism" (Ft. Promoe)
A3. "Another Poor Lonesome Homeboy"
B1. "Egotrippin' Pt. 4"
B2. "Stay Up Late"
B3. "Semester" (Ft. John Grahn)

DJ EMBEE - "EMBEETIOUS ART EP"

12" Throwback: SADAT X / AKINYELE (1995)

Funkmaster Flex used to drop some real hot shit back in the mid-'90s and the three "60 Minutes of Funk" tapes are more than enough proof of that. Featuring both popular tracks of the day, freestyles and self-produced exclusives, these tapes still stands out as a great representation of New York's hip-hop scene in the 1990's. One of the illest track off the first volume (1995) is the single "Loud Hangover" which features Sadat X and Akinyele killing a crazy raw Flex production. I love how sick these guys sound together since they both have such distinctive voices, I could seriously hear a whole album with these two. An alternative version titled "The Allstar Remix" was also released as a separate single. I included that version as well since it's a real cool and different take that I think some of y'all will appreciate. The remix features the beautiful voice of guest vocalist Yvette Michele and were remixed by R&B-producer Allstar a/k/a Allen Gordon.

01. "Loud Hangover" [Main]
02. "Loud Hangover" [Instrumental]
03. "Loud Hangover" [Allstar Remix] (Ft. Yvette Michele)

AKINYELE / SADAT X - "LOUD HANGOVER"

12" Throwback: Edo G Ft. Pete Rock [2005]

In late November of 2004, one of my absolute favorite Boston emcees, Edo G, and one of my favorite producers of all time, Pete Rock, hooked up for the 10 track LP, "My Own Worst Enemey" via Fat Beats Records. The album was easily one of the best releases of the entire year if you ask me, and the chemistry between the rapper and the Soul Brother #1 was undeniable on the seven collaborations that was included. And although the three additional contributions by Diamond D, DJ Revolution and Supreme One was no doubt solid, the LP would have been even better if Peter Phillips had gotten to lace the entire thing front-to-back which would be fully possible if "...Enemy" had just been pushed baci a few more months.

In fact, only a few months later (on my 2005 birthday) Fat Beats released two non-album collaborations between Edo and Phillips that would've fitted right in with the sound of the LP. The A-side is called "Shed A Tear" while my personal choice cut appeared on the B-side, titled "Jus' Listen". Two soulful and mellow Pete Rock signature productions with Edo's socially conscious lyrics and brilliant delivery fully in tact. In other words, two clear winners - check it out for yourself! As an additional bonus track I included the two's first collaboration together, "Situations", lifted from 2001's "The Truth Hurts".

01. "Shed A Tear" [Original]
02. "Shed A Tear" [Clean]
03. "Shed A Tear" [Instrumental]
04. Jus' Listen" [Original]
05. "Jus' Listen" [Clean]
06. "Jus' Listen" [Instrumental]
[*] "Situations" (2001)

EDO G / PETE ROCK - "SHED A TEAR" VLS

12" Throwback: Ruthless Bastards

The Staten Island crew known as Ruthless Bastards first appeared on the scene in the late '90s with a bunch of very promising tracks. The five man crew (Truck, Apocallips, Blizzard, Sha Gotti and Iron Mic a.k.a. Infra-Red) first made heads take notice with their classic cut, "Bastards", which appeared on the Wu-Tang Killa Beez compilation "The Swarm" in early '98. Between '97 and '99 they also dropped two incredible 12" singles on Flowmaster Recordings though they formally were signed to Wu-Tang Records. Since then they've dropped a few obscure mixtapes but nothing that has reached the level of their early material. Good news is that they haven't gone anywhere and the whole group (minus Apocallips who's currently doing a bid) have hooked up with DJ Whoo Kid to prepare a brand new mixtape entitled "Whruthless is Back". The title track to that tape was uploaded to YouTube yesterday and can be seen above and represents that real grimey Staten Island rap. Stay tuned for more info on that tape if you like what you hear above. 

These news also reminded me of the impeccable 12" single the group dropped in early 2000 featuring the joints "The Authentic" (which features a killer verse by Inspectah Deck) and "Misery, Pain & Hunger". As you can see on the single cover it says that this was released as the first teaser single from a compilation called "Out Ta Bomb Vol. 1 (The Ultimate B-Boy Experience)" which was supposed to be released later that year; something that never came to fruition. Both sides of this 12" only release were produced by Rell Love and Mike McDonald of Tha Blaquesmiths. Both tracks features Iron Mic and Sha Gotti and "Misery, Pain & Hunger" also adds a verse by Blizzard. This release definitely has some Wu-Tang flavor to it and if you were a fan of "Bastards" but missed out on this, you're gonna love this for sure! TURN IT UP!!

A1. "The Authentic" (Ft. Inspectah Deck & 100% Has Style) [Street]
A2. "The Authentic" (Ft. Inspectah Deck & 100% Has Style) [Radio]
A3. "The Authentic" [Instrumental]
B1. "Misery, Pain & Hunger" [Street]
B2. "Misery, Pain & Hunger" [Radio]
B3. "Misery, Pain & Hunger" [Instrumental]

RUTHLESS BASTARDS - "THE AUTHENTIC" VLS

12" Throwback: PHAT KAT - "Dedication to the Suckers"

Detroit emcee Ronnie Cash's (A/K/A Phat Kat) and producer Jay Dee's three songs classic "Dedication to the Suckers" single not only stands as some of Dilla's finest productions ever but for me personally one of the absolute illest 12" singles of all time. At the time, Jay Dee had become a household name on the underground hip-hop scene through his many amazing collaborations with A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, The Pharcyde, Mad Skillz, Keith Murray and other sick hip-hop acts, mainly based in NYC. If anyone ever doubted, his work with Slum Village was proof that he was still repping The D to the fullest, often saving up his most banging tracks for his hometown... The ultimate testament to this ethic came in late 1999 when he reunited with Phat Kat and laced all production for the entire single.

The chemistry between this duo was absolutely mindblowing to hear on this, although in hindsight the perfect dynamics displayed here wasn't that suprising. After all, before there was a Slum Village there was a duo called 1st Down - consisting of Ronnie Cash and James Yancey. Their track "No Place to Go" was Dilla's first taste of wax when it was released in 1992. 1st Down eventually got signed to Payday/FRRR (at the time the home of artists like Show & AG, Jeru the Damaja, Group Home and even a young Jay-Z) and released the underground classic "A Day With The Homiez"/"Front Street" in '95. They eventually got dropped from the label without getting to come out with a follow-up release, but the above-stated facts shows us the way that the duo's creative minds was already connected, interlocked and ready to peak. 

The two clearly brought out the best of eachother, as the often soulful Jay Dee showed off his diversity by creating what, at the time, might have been the hardest beats to make it up from the infamous Dilla basement. Phat Kat doesn't miss the oppurtinity and his confidence shines bright like a star throughout every verse, every line, every banging track. It is not that he's the most lyrical emcee, actually he's far from it, but his gruff, dominating force of a voice and hardcore, thugged out lyrics is the perfect match for this batch of beats. 

This is the sound of Detroit right here; the sounds of a city dominating the statistics of crime in the USA for several years but also a city with a vast and extremely rich musical history. Both of these important factors have, of course, played large parts on the city's hip-hop scene and it's sound. Strong influences from both the soulful Motown sound and the original Techno and House scenes that preceeded the rise of hip-hop are clearly traceable on records like "Dedication to the Suckers",  "Don't Care About Us", "Microphone Master", "Let's Grow", "Get Dis Money", "Fall in Love" and countless other Dilla classics - including the entire LPs "Welcome to Detroit" and Frank-N-Dank's "48 HRS". 

The original "Dedication..." 12" was released on local DJ and radio personality Michael Buchannan's (better known as "Detroit's ambassador to the world", DJ House Shoes) independent House Shoes Records. According to Phat Kat, the record sold a mind-blowing number of 5,000 copies in its first day of release, a very strong number for an independent underground record like this. In other words, it didn't take very long til' the original pressings were all out-of-print. Any vinyl represses has yet to happen but hopefully it will in a near future as this shit is way too fantastic to be left as a rare out-of-print single. Phat Kat himself, however, issued the single as an EP on compact disc in 2002, featuring two exclusive Dilla produced bonus cuts from the same era. That CD was however even more limited as only 2,000 copies in total were pressed up and sold exclusively through the now defunct RonnieCash.com website. I mention this since this is the source of the rip presented below, despite the sound of an actual vinyl filling up the room beats that of a CD any day, a CD rip always sounds better than a vinyl rip. The sequence of tracks is pretty much the same as on the original but as mentioned before it also has two bonus tracks tacked on at the end - "Big Booties" (also released on "The Undeniable LP") and "World Premier" (the latter unreleased in any other form). While both are solid joints in their own right they are not on the same high level as the three OG tracks. Aight, that's more than enough talk from me... tune in, turn on, TURN IT UP!!!!

01. "Dedication to the Suckers"

02. "Dedication to the Suckers" [Instrumental]

03. "Don't Nobody Care About Us" (Ft. DJ Dez)

04. "Don't Nobody Care About Us" [Instrumental] (Ft. DJ Dez)

05. "Microphone Master"

06. "Microphone Master" [Instrumental]

07. "Big Booties" [* Bonus Track]

08. "World Premier" [* Bonus Track]

PHAT KAT - "DEDICATION TO THE SUCKERS" EP

12" Throwback: GOLDIE / KRS-ONE

A few days ago, I finally got a good amplifier and some speakers for my Stanton Tables which means I'm finally able to play all my old vinyl albums and 12" singles again. Digging through my crates, I came across several amazing 12" releases that I had totally forgotten about. This means that the section of "12'' Throwback" will appear alot more often, Moving on, my choice for today is....

Back in the mid '90s, I was a pretty big fun of drum'n'bass/jungle music and one of my favorite producers was Goldie, based on his classic "Timeless" LP that was a commercial success but also pushed the boundaries of what D&B could be without selling out. It's an amazing album that I would strongly recommend you to check out some time. In 1997 it was time for his sophomore release, titled "Saturn'z Returnz", another (double-) album which proved the artist wasn't afraid of pushing the bounaries. Disc 1 features only one song, a 60 minutes long dedication to his deceased mother incorporating elements of sinister jungle, long passage of classical music and fusings of many different styles. The second disc featured collaborations with Noel Gallagher of Oasis and more importantly Boogie Down Production's own KRS-One.

As I mentioned I used to be a big fan of drum n bass back in the day which doesn't suprise me the least since it's basically hip-hop beats played at a breaknecking speed over basslines that could blow out windows. To prove how close jungle and hip-hop actually is, the first single from "Saturnz Return" was the joint that featured none other than KRS riding the autobahn speed  of the beat like he never had one anything else in his life. Another proof that Knowledge Reigns Supreme could kill any, and I mean ANY, track he jumps on; especially back in 1997. The 6 minute epos, which is filled with quotables, and although it might be too outdated for the dancefloors toay I woud imagine "Digital" would get the crowd in a frenzy back in '97. Goldie and Robert Playford's production is classic neckbreaking drum-n-bass and KRS-One does an impeccable job with the MCing.

There's been plenty of different versions of this 12" released, as is often the case with jungle music, featuring instrumentals, radio edits, full-length versions and more importantly remixes by Armand Van Helden, DJ Boymerang and even Soul Assassins' DJ Muggs. Out of all the different releases of this particular, 12", The Muggs remix only appeared on an italian promo; a rare record if I ever knew one. Luckily for me, and all The Lost Tapes readers, I came across a rip of that version on the T.R.O.Y. Forum (provided by Mista' Mo - muchos gracias) . It's funny because I actually bought the "Digital" VLS while on a trip to Italy but it did not feature the Soul Assassins remix. Since it's such a rare track that I know alot of hip-hop heads has been dying to hear, I'm adding it to the tracklist for y'all. Enjoy!

01. "Digital" [Original Mix]
02. "Digital" [V.I.P. Mix]
03. "Digital" [Boymerang Mix]
04. "Digital" [Armand Van Helden Speed Garage Mix]
05. "Digital" [Armand Van Helden Dub]
06. "Digital" [Radio Edit]
07. "Digital" [DJ MUGGS Remix]

GOLDIE / KRS-ONE - "DIGITAL" VLS
(w. DJ Muggs, Armand Van Helden and Boymerang)

12" Throwback: "DOPE ON PLASTIC"

I remembering hearing this track for the first time on a mixtape and being absolutely blown away. From the ruthless and fierce delivery and lyrics by BX's Uptown (born Raie Dacosta) combined with that vintage late '80s hardcore production mashed with a passion by The SD50's Dante Ross with C.J. Moore on the classic A-side. The B-side, a ill track too provided by Bobby Simmons, is another heavy joint but doesn't live up to the classic A-side; well you couldn't expect a song as dope as the lead track from this single. A true hip-hop masterpiece if I ever heard one.

Tommy Boy was one of thee number #1 labels back in 1989 and this impeccable VLS release had all the trademarks of a dope, original, timeless release of its time. If you haven't had the chance to hear this yet, especially the A-side, you've been missing on a big chunk of hip-hop history right here so make sure to grab it through The Lost Tapes' link provided below. 

It's fucking weird that Tommy Boy bailed on the album release after such a crazy debut single; think about how hip-hop sounded in '89 and just be amazed that this was the only release the MC ever got a´chance to release on the label as a solo artist before being droppped shortly after. Dante Ross from SD50's, who produced "Dope On Plastic", was an A&R at Tommy Boy at the time, had a hand in releasing the single and then dropped the talented MC from the label. It's a travesty that they broke the contract before Uptown had the chance to release an album. Uptown's vocals, delivery and smooth verses makes for an undoubted hip-hop classic that deserve alot more noise than it actually did. Maybe the label got getting cold feet after the single dropped, as the expected classic didn't do the numbers they had hoped for and acts like De La Soul was just getting succesful.

But maybe things was meant to be that way. After quite a long hiatus the MC returned to the scene and a lot of things would change for Uptown's future career. In 1993 he hooked up with legendary saxophonist Branford Marsalis and hip-hop producer DJ Premier to guest on their project Buchshot LeFonque, That group was the brain child of B. Marsalis and Preemo and was an homage to those old '50s jazz records from the likes of Cannonabll Adderles and it has influences from the classic hardbop jazz but was a fusion of bebop, modal jazz,, hip-hop, reagge, rock, soul, salsa and whatnot. With so may cooks in the kitchen it could easily be a very unfocused album but with Marsalis' and Preem's guidance the albuim is easily one of the most important jazz/fusion LPs in a very long time (Madlib's "Shades Of Blue" also comes to mind). Uptown appeared on the songs "No Pain, No Gain" and the vocal version of "Breakfast @ Denny's"

But it was first with Buckshot LeFounque's second album, "Musical Evolution" from '97 that he joined the group as a full-fledged member appearing on about half the tracks. Here he took on the name 50 Stylez: The Unknown Soldier and straight up ripped it. It might not be as good as the '94 ddebut but it's definitely one to check for; the main flaw was the lack of DJ Premier's participation (he did remix the first single "Music Evolution" however, also featuring Upwon and his late P.N.C. The GURU jumped on another track with Uptown on the LP, "Black Monday").  Around the time of the B.S.L. debut, Uptown also jumped on a DJ Premier remix of Omar's "Keep Steppin'" track. Hopefuly we'll get a new Buckshot LeFonque album  soon before it's getting too late.

A1 - "DOPE ON PLASTIC" (VOCAL)
A2 - "DOPE ON PLASTIC" (PLASTIPELLA)
A3 -"IT'S MY TURN" (VOCAL)
A4 - "IT'S MY TURN" (INSTRUMENTAL)
B1 - "DOPE ON PLASTIC" (DUBSTRUMENTAL)
B2 - "IT'S MY TURN" (DUBSTRUMENTAL)

UPTOWN - "DOPE ON PLASTIC" [VLS]

12" Throwback: "Pump Ya Fist EP"

"Pump Ya Fist" was a ill compilation featuring 12 exclusive hip-hop tracks celebrating black pride, inspired by The Black Panther movement. Among the artists we found people like Chuck D, KRS-One, Rakim, Grand Puba, Jeru The Damaja, Fugees and KAM to name a few. If you haven't heard that LP I would recommend trying to get your hands on it, because it's a seriously ill collection that deals with an important message.

What might be even more interesting however is the extremely limited EP, "Selections From Pump Ya Fist", that was released on Avatar the same year. As on the actual album the EP did feature the original versions of the Easy Mo Bee produced Rakim track "Shades Of Black" and the DJ Premier laced Jeru joint "The Frustrated Nigga" (which of course also appeared on the brilliant "Wrath Of The Math" a year later). What makes this limited vinyl release really stand out is that it includes several remixes not available anywhere else, and severely slamming ones for that matter.

The KRS-One track on the "Pump Ya Fist" album is "Ah Yeah", the same version that appeared on his self-titled album in 1995; but on this EP we are treated to three different mixes that has sadly never surfaced anywhere else. Two of them are produced by the great Diamond D, who also had done three joints for the aforementioned KRS album from the same year which makes me wonder if these remixes were conducted at the same time. Being that he is one of my top-5 producers of all time these two remixes is vintage Diamond and, in my opinion, blows the original "Ah Yeah" out the water; when I upload the "KRS-One" album to my iPod I often replace the original with the Rhodes Mix. The EP also features an alternative piano-laced mix by KRS himself that's also well worth a listen.

The Rakim track has an exclusive remix you won't find anywhere else by producer Chase Clark, not a prolific producer by no means (he's done a few songs for Saukrates, Spice 1 and KRS-One) but it's a sick rendition of the original nontheless. Enjoy this EP, it works greatly playing front to back if you leave out the instrumentals. The only problem is that since it's a record sent out to DJs for radio play the songs are censored. As a bonus I also uploaded Da Beatminerz's remix of "Shades Of Black" which was only released on white label 12", straight up incredible mix.

A1. KRS-One - "Ah Yeah" [Diamond D's Flava Radio Edit]
A2. KRS-One - "Ah Yeah" [Diamond D's Rhodes Mix]
A3. KRS-One - "Ah Yeah" [Diamond D's Rhodes Instrumental]
A4. KRS-One - "Ah Yeah" [KRS's Alt. Piano Mix]
B1. Rakim - "Shades Of Black" [Radio Edit]
B2. Rakim - "Shades Of Black" [Chaze Dat's Da Shit Radio Edit]
B3. Rakim - "Shades Of Black" [Chaze Remix Instrumental]
B4. Jeru The Damaja - "The Frustrated Nigga"

"SELECTIONS FROM 'PUMP YA FIST' EP"

RAKIM - "SHADES OF BLACK" [Da Beatminerz Remix]

12" Throwback: The Roots "Quicksand Millenium" WLB

This is an extremely rare white label 12" single for "Quicksand Millenium" that was released in late 1999. The great DJ Spinna produced the song which was supposed to go on "Things Fall Apart" but in the end ?uestlove didn't think it fitted the overall vibe of the album being that it's a calm, almost ambient track. Black Thought loved it however and I can imagine this appearing on his solo LP "Masterpiece Theater" which eventually got shelved and much of it turned into The Roots's "Phrenology". Speaking on that album I think I will put together the songs I either know was from it and the ones I believe was recorded for it and upload it as a c7 take on the original album, we'll see.

The B-side to this white label single is a dope freestyle session from a NYC radio station where Black Thought blows everyones mind as expected. A little trivia is that "Quicksand Millenium" was remixed by Kelo and The Grand Wizzards for the 2005 Roots compilation "Home Grown! Vol. II" so this extremely limited test pressing is the only way to get ahold of the original DJ Spinna mix of this great song. I've been looking for this for a good while and yesterday the incredible guest poster Justice Equality Supreme posted both songs in 320 kbps over @ The Dope House. Much thanks to him and all props to J.E.S. for these rips, i'm just the messenger haha. I labeled them and put them in a .rar file with the covers for both sides, if you want the separate songs just click The Dope House link.

THE ROOTS - "QUICKSAND MILLENIUM" WLB

12" Throwback: Jemini The Gifted One

Brooklyn rapper Jemini The Gifted One has, sadly, got to be one of the most wasted talents hip-hop has wittnessed.  In 1995 he had gotten himself a recording deal with Mercury Records, and besides releasing this amazing 7-track EP on wax, the label also released two promo singles containing songs from the EP, certainly with DJ's in mind. A video for the lead track "Funk Soul Sensation" was also made and released. In other words, the label were trying to push Jemini to a larger audience and obviously preparing for a debut album. It isn't suprising, such a talented cat, his gift to grab the audience by his words and his hardcore appeal should definitely be heard. After testing the waters my best guess is that Mercury didn't feel the same and decided to drop him from the roster, leaving only a few 12" releases and a funky video as reminder to the rest of the world that Jemini had ever existed.

Luckily the chapter on The Gifted One doesn't quite end there but it would take about eight years before we would hear from him again. This time he hooked up with DJ Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley, DangerDOOM, Gorillaz), an english producer that had yet became super producer extraordinare in peoples minds, to record and release the full-length collaboration "Ghetto Pop Life". If you ever heard Danger Mouse's earlier production, you know the sound, an original approach as well as showing influences from Prince Paul, Dilla and Madlib. Jemini's unique approach to the mic and style hadn't changed much over the years and the album, which featured guests like Cee-Lo, Alkaholiks, Prince Po and The Pharcyde, ultimately proved to be among the absolute best hip-hop albums of 2003. If you havent't heard that one yet, you'd do yourself a huge favor finding it out; and if you're familiar with Danger Mouse's production work and then hear this rare EP i'm about to post I doubt you could resist.

The same year they released an EP featuring some various exclusives as well as remixes for album cuts, but since then Danger Mouse has became huge and is in 2011 working with James Shiner in Broken Bells, while Jemini has once again been left in obscurity. Wether or not we'll ever hear anything new from Jemini the Gifted One remains to see, but however that may be the few releases he has put out will always make me hold him in high regards as an emcee and entertainer. This EP also contains two of my favorite Buckwild productions; "Story of my Life" and especially "Scars & Pain". Track #2 was produced by Minnesota and tracks #4 and #5 by Organized Konfusion. TURN IT UP!!!!

01. "Can't Stop Rockin' (Tribute)"
02. "Brooklyn Kids"
03. "Scars & Pain"
04. "Letcho 'Batyflow"
05. "Funk Soul Sensation"
06. "Story Of My Life"
07. "50 MCs in a Cypher"

JEMINI THE GIFTED ONE - "SCARS & PAIN EP"

12" Throwback: Pharcyde & Souls Of Mischief

Two of the West Coast's illest underground crews in Souls of Mischief and The Pharcyde united in 2002 to form The Almyghty Myghty Pythons. They were supposed to release a full-length from what I remember but the collaboration begun and ended with this 12" maxi-single, or EP if you will, also released back in '02. It's easy to see that an album had plenty of potential, considering their past track records of course, but also by listening to the three tracks featured on here. 

"AMP" and "Contact" were produced by The Pharcyde's Bootie Brown while founding Soul's member and incredibly underrated beatmaker A Plus handled duties on "Curb Your Nerve". The last mentioned are without a doubt the finest track on the single and is the reason I'm even posting this since that was on heavy rotation for me and the fam back when it came out and several years afterwards. It has all the trademarks of a bangin' Souls of Mischief song, you know that dreamy, sun filled that would infiltrate your mind like a musical equivallent to some high-powered cheeba. Of course having The Pharcyde do their thing over such dope soundscapes wasn't nothing to complain about either, to be honest it is probably the finest production they spat over since the best tracks on 'Labcabincalifornia'

So if you forgot how damn sweet this 12" single really was, or if you haven't heard it at all you can hit the download below since it's obviously an out-of-print release by now. If you're hung-over on this Sunday morning, I suggest you skip directly to track A2.

Almyghty Myghty Pythons - "AMP EP"

12" Throwback(s): JUGGAKNOTS / M.B.P.

This two vinyl only releases quickly became out-of-print and rarities, which is a shame since they are both straight up incredible. The first one is from Money Bo$$ Players, with their extremely hardcore street'mini album "Ghetto Chronicle Daily". This was back when underrated producer Minnesota handled the majority of the beats and was a full time member of the group, as was brillaint emcee Lord Tariq together with Tray Bag and Eddie Cheeba - all repping the Bronx to the fullest with that gritty New York sound we all love. The extened EP/features no less than seven songs that hold up all the way through and with track titles like "Death Of A Salesman", "Used to Fear Death (But Not Anymore)", etc. it's easy to see why no major label wanted to push this and the group kinda fell into obscurity. This was until two of the original members reunited as the duo Bo$$ Money and in a way became DITC affiliates. Appearing on their compilation "The Movement" besides dropping their rare solo album, "Consignment", which I strongly recommend, They also appeared on pretty much every Sadat X albums between 1996 and 2009 and their work on the UK's The P Brothers album, "The Gas". That album was some of the sickest, releast shit released in 2008. Come to think about it I need to do a proper Bo$$ Money compilation to wake you out of your coma. The "Ghetto Chronicle Daily" rip below is lifted from a white label vinyl press so the sound quality ain't all that but it's definitely worth hearing. All tracks and cuts produced by Minnesota; vocals by Eddie Cheeba, LordTariq and Tray Bag.

M.B.P.'S - "GHETTO CHRONICLE DAILY LP"
A1. "Use to Fear Death"
A2. "Ghetto Chrornicle Daily"
A3. "Sat. Nite / Sunday Morning"
A4. "What You Saying?"
B1. "Nighty Nighty"
B2. "Stick N Step"
B3. "Death Of A Salesman"
B4. "Ghetto Chronicle Daily" [Instrumental]
B5. "What You Saying?" [Instrumental]


The second incredible, but sadly forgotten, and by noq is out-of-print. The release I want to focus on is the original Juggaknots album that was released in 1996 on 'Fondle 'Em Records, and if I recall right that was Bobbito's short-lived record label who also put out DOOM's first album. The self-titled mini abum features 9 songs that all hold a very high quality and this was before lady Heroine had joined the group so they were still just a duo with Breezly Breewin and his brother BMS. There's plenty of underground masterpieces on here, such as "Trouble Man" (my favorite which samples an absolutely amazing piece of McCoy Tyners piano solo from John Coltrane's "My Favorite Things"), "Jivetalk", "Clear Blue Skies", fuck it the whole album is great. They re-released the album in 2002 but with 11 additional songs (!!) and the original sequencing switched up so i figured to bring y'all the original debut  release of Juggaknots. All tracs are full, CDQ editions of the elevenn song sounds great and If you're listening to both EP'syou got no less than 60 minutes of classic boombap. Enjoy!

JUGGAKNOTS - "THE JUGGAKNOTS LP" (1996)

A1. "The Hunt is On"
A2. "Trouble Man"
A3. "Jivetalk"
A4. "Loosifah"
A5. "Epiphany"
B1. "Romper Room"
B2. "Circle Pt. 1"
B3. "Clear Blue Skies"
B4. "I'm Gonna Kill You"