[Limited Edition] DJ CRUCIAL - "Retro Active"

DJ Crucial is a name well known to some of us hip-hop junkies that love reading those linear notes, you'll recognize the names from his production work on great tracks by MF Grimm, Jia Davis, Juice, Hi-Fidel, Black Spade, Count Bass D, and many more. My personal favorite is the exclusive 12" version of "The Gingerbread Man" that he made for MF Grimm back in 2005. 

Now the small label Trash Flow and F5 Records is releasing a very limited run of 200 double copies of an exclusive DJ Crucial tape, featuring vocal tracks on cassette one (black) and instrumentals on the second (white). "Retro Active" features a host of absolutely amazing artists and hip hop legends, all going in over DJ Crucial bangers, all previously unreleased and recorded between 1993 and 2014. How about MF Grimm, Large Professor, Capo, Sadat X, Black Spade, EDO G, Grand Puba, Jia Davis and many more. I would absolutely love to hear it, I really hope they drop it on wax or CD as I can't even play cassettes anymore and looking at the tracklist and hearing the first single it's easy to tell that THIS NEEDS TO BE HEARD! Cop the album and read more here - DJ Crucial's "Retro Active" page @ TrashFlow.

Side A

01. Alps Cru - "No Question" [SP Remix]

02. MF Grimm Ft. Large Professor - "United" [SP Remix]

03. Casual - "Essence Of Freshness"

04. Capo Ft. Jia Davis & Sadat X - "Struggle"

05. EDO G Ft. J. Davis - "Firepower"

06. Tha Grim Teachaz - "I Getz Summer" ['93 Remix]

07. Black Spade - "Sweetest Revenge"

Side B

08. Alps Cru - "Too Steep"

09. Count Bass D Ft. Black Spade - "Move Blocks"

10. MF Grimm - "Streets" [Ruff Demo Mix]

11.  Grand Puba Ft. Sadat X - "Top Shelf" [1200 Mix]

12. Jia Davis Ft. Gotta Be Karim - "The Suffer"

13. Deep Six - "Verb Burglar" [Lost 4 Track Tape Mix]

[EP] BLACK SPADE x GRAP LUVA - "Grap & Blak EP"

I haven't really paid enough attention to what's going on on the underground hip hop scene these last couple of weeks, as I had missed out on this jewel of a record which already is basically sold out. I'm talking about the split EP between the younger Soul Brother Grap Luva and St. Louis based Black Spade that was released on small indie label F5 Records a couple of weeks ago. Entirely produced on the SP1200 and concocted from dusty jazz samples this record manages to bring back that classic Hip Hop vibe we all love without sounding forced. Black Spade holds it down on the mic throughout, with the two tracks on the A side being produced by Grap Luva and the four joints on the B side are handled by DJ Crucial and Spade himself (also includes instrumental). This is a very limited run as most sites are already sold out but it looks like Fat Beats have a few copies left, so be sure to grab one ASAP! 

All songs have been uploaded to YouTube and is highly recommended listen... Favorite joints on first listen for me? "Perfection" (see above) and "The SP Jazz"!

A1. "Perfection Is..."
A2. "Bonafide" (Ft. Count Bass D)
B1. "The SP Jazz" (Ft. Fresh Daly)
B2. "Listen" (Ft. Dharma Jane)
B3. "Get Wid It" (Ft. Kryptonite)
B4. "Bonafide" [Ruff Mix]