FAT JOE - "Part Deux: Original Version" [1995]

Some more Lost Tapes goodies for y'all... you know I'm crazy about D.I.T.C. so this is a great find right here. Since I first heard time Domingo on Fat Joe's excellent and highly overlooked sophomore album, "Jealous One's Envy" I've been checking for his name in credits! This take on the song is a mezmering version of what would appear on the album, sporting a progressive, yet dusty production that really goes well with Joe's ruff bars, though it will definitely take some listening before it really connects due to being used to the LP version. The track is lifted from Domingo's "Sessions & Lessons" album which is set to drop before the year's end. The compilation also features new music from Sean Price, Ruste Juxx amongst many others and can pre-ordered right here. Stay tuned and....... TURN IT UP!!

DOMINGO Presents KRS-ONE / OMAR EPPS / SEAN P & RUSTE JUXX - A Taste of "Sessions N Lessons" LP

All of the great producers obviously have tons of incredible sessions that for one reason or never failed to make it into the public sphere. Many of these producers choose to hold on to them with white knuckles so to speak, which is unfortunate. In more recent years we have got to see some previously unknown music from legends like the D.I.T.C. brothers, Omniscence, Natural Elements, Mobb Deep and Masta Ace to name a handful. Domingo has often tried to make sure to put out previously unreleased gems to the people and we know that he's partaken in tons of sessions with some of the rap industries absolute top echelon. Good news then that on February 17 yet another compilation of this type of material is being unveiled in the form of "Sessions N Lessons". So far three singles have been released through Domingo's Soundcloud page. Up top you'll hear the previously unreleased KRS-One track "Look Into The Sky", recorded in 2001 for either "The Sneak Attack" (an album Domingo had a lot more to do with than the printed credits lets on) or "Spiritual Minded". Below you find embedded links to Omar Epps (then known as WolfPack's) 1995 jam "The Eyes Of God" and the knocking Sean Price / Ruste Juxx banger "All Time Great". The limited CD is now up for pre-order via IndieGoGo.com where it's revealed that other artists starring on the album includes Rakim, Channel Live, Kool G Rap and many more.

[Coming Soon] BIG PUNISHER - "Bronx Legends Never Die"

I've heard some whispers about this before but now the incredible news of fresh new music from the great Big Punisher is a definite reality. Titled "Bronx Legends Never Die" the project is produced and created by Domingo (who of course produced one of Pun's all time classics "The Dream Shatterer") and will feature guest apperances by Chris Rivers, Cormega, Shaq & Easy Mo Bee. While no tracklist has been released as of yet one song has been revealed to be a re-recording of the Shaquille O'Neal track "The Bigger They R" with Fat Joe and Pun, which is now set to include verses from 'Mega and Chris Rivers, The EP is being pressed up on a very limited CD run of 100 (typo?) copies which is up for pre-order @ IndieGoGo.

SHAQ Ft. BIG PUN, FAT JOE & EZ MO B - "The Bigger They R" (1996)

This is just incredible right here... Now, I know this joint has been out for a while but its producer Domingo has finally unveiled a full/CDQ version of this gem of a lost tape. Recorded in 1996 for "You Can't Stop the Reign", Shaquille O'Neal was hellbent on making a respectable album by surrounding him with all sort of legitimate talents. For "The Bigger They R" he invited Big Punisher and Fat Joe as well as Easy Mo Bee (!), and it's a real shame this never was heard back in the days because it's absolute killer. Terror Squadians!

[Comp/Article] RAKIM - "The Last Platoon: The Lost Rakim '95"

A couple of years back I did a a three part compilation series for Rakim's guest spots, unreleased tracks and B-sides. The first installment in the series focused on the year's between "Don't Sweat The Technique" and "The 18th Letter", without a doubt the numer one era in which fans have been able to hear unreleased songs, radio rips, and alternative/original mixes, thanks to bootlegging and underground radio. Why I've heard rumours before that Ra was working on an album around '95 that was eventually scrapped, the fact was recently confirmed from a very official source. I wasn't very suprised considering the amount of material from '93-'96 that is as good as any album cut but has never appeared in any official capacity.

The quest to do a sort of "Lost Tapes" album for Rakim, focusing on the years mentioned above, came when B.I.G. producer Dominic Owens of Hi-Class who released three previously unreleased singles (and in some cases alternative versions from what we previously had heard) that he revealed he had recorded with Rakim at his Hi-Class Studos sometime durng 1995. This was followed by the official source that revealed the scrapped album, which appeared in Robbie Etterson's excellent interview with Domingo @ Unkut (great read if you haven't checked it out already). Domingo revealed that he produced "Original Style", the original mix of "Bring It On" and an untitled track that unfortunately never was completed; all sessions taking place in 1995. With that said, there was no longer a question in my mind that the world needed to hear this scrapped album, or at least what's still available on the net and bootlegs from it.

As I had done with the original "The Lost Album", I was well aware that there were plenty of heat rocks recorded around '95/early '96 While I there included some guest spots from Ra like Barrry Leinson's "Murderer", while I here only wanted the solo joints that I would imagine very likely were part of that shelved album. These solo tracks are all classic Ra and include jams like the Marley Marl produced "We All Got Plans" - a track that was premiered as an exclusive on Future Flavaz in January '96, and is to my knowledge the first time William Graffin and Marl has collaborated since the original "Eric B. is President" 12". This song was released on a white label 12", so I have updated the links thanks to the kindness of Letter_D's rip which doesn't feature any J-Love or DJ shouts. Other stellar tracks include Pete Rock's "Living For The City", Buckwild's "Last Resort", Easy Mo Bee's "Shades Of Black", Nick Wiz's "Once Upon A Rhyme", and much more. There's also original versions of "Remmber That" (whch made mixtapes rounds as early as '95), a more rugged version of Wiz's "Show Me Love" and Owen's "I Get Visual" track which is an early incarnation of "When I'm Flowing".

All in all, with its 40 minutes running time, this album is pretty much as good as "The 18:th Letter",. Had the best songs from both "albums" been combined in a quality way, there's no question that this would be a true hip-hop classic in the book of a majority of Ra heads. While there's a couple of tracks that didn't make "The Master" and "The Seventh Seal", this shelved, lost album is on another level. I've listened to the 12 tracks, 40+ minutes album plenty of times by now and it truly felt like a natural extenction of the Eric B. & Rakim joints with it's hard knocking beats and jazz samples; yet pointing towards the sound of the mid-'90s that the God MC would come to embrace on his solo debut. If you want to get the ultimate version of Ra from this time, why not add the songs on here with the finest from the retil album like "The 18:th Letter", "New York (Ya Outta There)", "The Saga Begins", "The Mystery" and "When I'm Flowin'" (which would replace "I Get Visual" as the Pete Rock remix is one of the best Ra' joints of all time in my book).

With that being said, "The Last Platoon: The Lost '95 Album", is not only interesting for the immaculate music and expert lyricism it provides. It's also one of the few, if not only, time that fans of The God MC has been taken behind the scenes of his process. Having recorded a full album that would most likely satisfy his clientele, he started out by remixing several cuts (bboth Owens and Domingo took a stab at "Bring It On" (see below), while "Once Upon A Rhyme" and, "New York to Cali" both went through at least one face lift before they were album ready. Add the fact that despite three songs from "The Last Platoon" actually  did appear on the retail they were so thoroughly remixrd that only the vocals were the only common denominator.- "Remember That", "Show Me Love" and "When I'm Flowing (I Get Visual)". The sheer amount of scrapped tracks., original versions,  and so on, I would be very suprised if "18th Letter" is in any way unique in that asopect but ratther Rakim's usual work method. We all remember the Dr. Dre / Aftermath situation, and even after he left that contract "The Seventh Sea" took many years to come - and it didn't feature some of the early street buzz singles like "I'm Back" and "It's Nothing". The former was also made in several versions before Ra settled on his favorite (although, for me - the seropior version was always the one with Lil' Fame. Then there was the blazing posse cut "Euphoria" which was listed as a digital bonus track, but with verses from Styles P, Jadakiss and Busta there's no question that this hardore song would do a great job in breaking up an often smootj album. Maybe even more unexpected when it came to cut tracks was when Canadian true school producer Marco Polo dropped his first single from hi prequel-album "Newport Authority 2" a couple years back. The song called "What's Wrong" was a soulful them e song on the dangers of capitalism that for all intents and purposes was Rakim solo. Marco revealed that it was a track left off "The Seventh Seal" almost came as a shock considering what could possibly have gone through his mind when deleting from the ultimate tracklist. Add to that the various bootlegged original versions of "Don't Sweat The Technique", "Pass The Handgrenade" and a few songs that didn't make the '92 album, and the question posed here gains a lot more weights.

So with that said, let's move on to the 1995 ompilation which I've choosed to call "The Last Platoon: The Lost Rakim '95" (The Last Platoon was actually  a crew that The R was rolling with at the time). Assembled amongst these tracks are an all-star line-up of mid-'90s producers royalty in the form of Dominc Owens/Hi-Class, Domingo, Easy Mo Bee, Gary G-Wiz of Bomb Squad, Nick Wiz, Marley Marl, Pete Rock, Buckwild and possibly Salaam Remi or Clark Kent (I'm not sure who in fact produced the original "Remember Dat" though some sources indiciate either Reemi or Kent) who are all featured here. In usual order I put a lot of thought and hard work into the sequenceing for this album so I really hope you'll at least give "The Last Platoon" a chance to bang it from font-to-back. As with any time with Rakim on the music, this is simply fantastic music; both from a lyrical perspective and from a beatheads point of view. As stated above the jazz samples, addictive breakbeats, horns and stand-up bass lines is a lot more reminiscent of the latter Eric B. & Rakim albums than what eventually become "The 18 Letter". Thereby it works as the perfect bridge between "Don't Sweat The Technique" and "The 18:th Letter"..TURN IT UP!!

01. "Bring It On" [Dominic Owens] (1995)

02. "Shades Of Black" [Easy Mo Bee] (1995)

03. "The Original Style" [Domingo] (1995)

04. "Last Resort" [Buckwild" (1995)

05. "Living For the City" [Pete Rock] (1995)

06. "New York to Cali" [Dominic Owens] (1995]

07. "We All Got Plans" [Marley Marl] (1996)

08. "Show Me Love" (Rugged) [Nick Wiz] [1996]

09. "Heat It Up" [Gary "G-Wiz"] (1993)

10. "Remember Dat" [Salaam Remi] (1995)

11. "Once Upon A Rhyme" [Nick Wiz] (1995)
12. *"Bring It On" [Domingo Mix] (1995)

13. "I Get Visual" [Dominic Owens] (1995)

RAKIM - "THE LAST PLATOON ('95)"
[[Mirror Link]] *

DOMINGO Ft. M.O.P. & GP100 - "We Put It Down"

Always ill New York producer Domingo is finally releasing his new album, "Same Game, Different Rules". Be sure to support Domingo by purchasing the CD from Amazon and pump up the volume when pressing play on the video above - featuring M.O.P. and GP100 with DJ Cazz on the cuts.

DOMINGO - "We Put It Down" (Ft. M.O.P., GP100) / "The Return" (Ft. KRS-One, Chris Rivers & R.A. Rugged Man)

Domingo's is another highly underrated legend coming with a brand new album this year. The East New York producer who has worked with some of the best talent in the game throughout his long career, has rounded up some of the finest talent in the game for his July release "Same Game New Rules". Pre-order and read more about the project @ IndieGoGo.com and TURN THE VOLUME UP LOUD on the three singles released so far; "We Put It Down", up top, features M.O.P., GP100 and DJ Cazz on the wons and too's while "The Return" and "Free" is high powered posse cuts with KRS-One, Chris Rivers, R.A. The Rugged Man and Bamboo, and G Rap, Greg Nice, and KRS again going at it HARD. Phew! 

DOMINGO Ft. KRS-ONE, KOOL G RAP & GREG NICE - "Free"

Oh shit, this is probably one of the most legendary line-ups I've seen in a while and when Domingo (with DJ Dister)  is  behind the machinery you know you got a must-listen to on your hands. Called "Free" this monster of a track will see release on Domingo's "Same Game, New Rules" which drops this July and can be pre-ordered here (which also carries some additional info).

DOMINGO x KOOL G RAP - "Sessions Vol. 2"

Following up on my last post, the second volume in Domingo's upcoming "Sessions" series focus on unreleased collaborations with another super lyrical legend - Mr. Kool G Rap. Check out the two first singles below, "Foul Cats Remix" and the original version of "Risin' Up". HEAT!

DOMINGO x KRS-ONE x CHANNEL LIVE - "Sessions Vol. 1"

I always felt New York producer Domingo's been a particularly underrated beat slinger despite churning out timeless classics like KRS-One's "The MC", Fat Joe's "Part Deux", Big Pun's "The Dream Shatterer" and many, many others. Good news then that he's got two upcoming projects on the way called "Sessions". Vol 1 in this series features previously unreleased music from The Blastmaster and Channel Live. Check out two singles below; "New York, New York" by KRS-One from 1999 (could this have been created for the original "Maximum Strength" LP?) and Channel Live's "Rethink, Replan, Refine".

[Album] AWKWORD - "World View"

NYC emcee Awkword released a very interesting project late this Sunday; unfortunately it hit the net after I had gone to bed due to the dime difference over here, and since I haven't been on The Lost Tapes since then really I haven't been able at all to make any new updates. But better late than never, here's Awkword's anticipated concept album "World View" which featues Awkword and several A-list underground spitters going in over production collected from all over the world. Really interesting stuff, and especially when some of the producers include ATG, Numsonics, Domingo, DJ Fafu, The White Shadows, Tranzformers and many more, while guests include, but not limited to, Chaundon, Sean Price, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Punchline, Beretta 9, Jasiri X, Chino XL, Sha Stimuli, REKS, C-Rayz Walz, Dug Infinite, Mista Lawgne (!), ILLBILL, Slug, and Joell Ortiz. Despite featuring several producers "World View" clearly has a cohessive soun, and comes off as an homage to the Golden Age of true hip-hop. Be sure to check this one out, not least because it's a free digital project, sponsored by the always great DJBooth. TURN IT UP!!

SEAN PRICE / DOMINGO - "I Shot Tha..."

Through his exquisite work with legends such as KRS-One, Kool G Rap, Big Pun, Eminem, Masta Ace, and many others I've held producer Domingo's work in the highest regard for many years, so the release of his "Deranged Collection" comes as a very pleasant suprise. From what I can tell the album is a collection of various Domingo productions and remixes that for one reason or other went unreleased when they were originally recorded. First out from the project is a previously vaulted joint by Mr. Sean Price called "I Shot Ta...". Heavy!

Almighty Ft. Kool G Rap - "F.A.M."

The Almighty crew, led by Canibus, releases their album "The 2nd Coming" today in digital format and on CD. At the same time they lets loose of another single, featuring two names that is always sure to grab my attention - guest rhymer Kool G Rap and producer Domingo. The track is called "F.A.M." and is a pretty dope cut. Grab the album @ iTunes (Mp3) or Amazon (CD).

[comp] LACE DA BOOMS - "MURDER SEASON"

In the mid-'90s there were so many incredibly dope acts on the hip-hop scene that unfortunately a lot of them were lost in translation, so to speak. Not too long ago, the immensely talented New York emcee Big Kwam's entire catalouge was collected in true Lost Tapes fasion as "Verbaliwed: Raw Skillz". Luckily I have been able to find all of Kwam's original 12" catalouge in my local used record shop and was totally blown away; still looking for the "Execution Expert" EP though. But Kwam is only one of many immesely talented rhymers with a great ear for beats that got a chance to drop a few singles through the mid-'90s before fading into obscurity. Big Twan is another example, who's superb EP "One Time For The Lyricist" I recently found in the used section. Then there's of course Mike Zoot, Matt Fingaz, Shades Of Brookltn, and a whole host of other hot emcees that never got their real chance to shine and has since resignde from the recording industry.

One of the most prominent out of these young rhymeslingers was Lace Da Booms, a Brooklyn native, who released a trio of 12"/EP:s between 1996 and 1997 on the Guesswhyld label; a label that was responsible for a whole lot of dope underground music. Lace first made noise in 1996 with the 12" single "Cut That Weak Shit" B/W "Ain't No Secret"; the first record on Matt Fingaz' Guesswhld imprint, and featuring headnodding mixes by Buckwild, Guesswild Production, and Obsession, with guest apperances by Quasi Modoe and Royal Flush, not countig the solo B-side, produced by none other than Domingo.

The following year the same label released the next single, including the Buckwild produced "Murder Season" with two versions of "And Once...", laced by Domingo and Sha-Self, respectively.  The Brooklynite's final '90s release is perhaps his finest, released shortly after "Murder Season", this untitled record was actually released as a 2x12" set featuring instrumental, clean and dirty versions of all eight songs found on the two discs, and only one guest apperance by  singer Hope Calabrass. However, the production credits run like a who's who of the great underground producers of the time: Buckwild, DJ Spinna, DJ Ogee, Domingo, and Derick Trottman. To me, it's probably DJ Ogee's (mainly known as OC's original DJ, and for producing a smaller amount of classic tracks throughout the years), smooth but bass- and turntable heavy contribution "The Glory" that is the real stand-out on an EP full of dope music. On a side note, I've been wanting to do a DJ Ogee collaboration for some time but not sure if the material would be enough.

To be perfectly honest I don't know too much about Lace Da Booms beside the few singles he has released, where he's from, his connections to several ill producers and record label. With remixes and alterative versions I have put together a typical Lost Tapes compilation of every VLS material Lace put out in the couple of years he was active on Guesswhyld. Clocking in at just over 45 minutes with thirteen songs (including three remixes and two guest apperances), "Murder Season" plays out like a dope album and truly makes you wonder whatever happened to Lace.  In fact, in an article from 2009 in Black Sheep Mag, here the emcee is talking about a a then forthcoming EP which will be followed by a full-llength; but this was in 2005, and I sure haven't heard anything yet. Oh well, here's ALL of Lace Da Booms tracks ever released, including singles, B-sies and his two sole guest apperancnes (tracks #3 and #13). ENJOY!!

 

01. "Murder Season"

02. "Cut That Weak Shit" [NYC Mix]

03. "Strategy"
04. "The Truth Iz..."

05. "Glory"

06. "And One" [What's Da Deal Mix]

07. "Countless Thoughts"

08. "Ain't No Secret"

09. "Cut That Weak Shit" [Buckwild Mix]

10. "Sumtimez"

11. "And One" [What's Up With A Deal Mix]

12. ""Cut That Weak Shit" [Obsession Remix]
13. "Mad Abour You"


2, 9, 12 additional guest vocals by Quasi Modo & Royal Flush)
3 additional guest vocals by Raiderman, Mr. Voodoo, Sean Price, & Mike Zoot
13 additional guest vocals by  Wizdom Life,  Matt Fingaz, Craig G & Mike Zoot
2 remixed by Guesswild Productions, 11 remixed by Obsession
1, 7, 9 prod. by Buckwild; 3, 6 prod. by Sha-Self; 4 prod. by DJ Spinna;
5 prod. by DJ Ogee; 6,8 prod. by Domingo; 10 prod. Derric Trotman.

LACE DA BOOMS -
"MURDER SEASON"                                              

Kool G Rap & Necro - "Men @ Work 2020"

God damn, the first track from Kool G Rap and Necro's collaborative "The Godfathers" is here and is sicker than you could imagine. "Men At Work" is my favorite cut of G Rap & Polo's 1989 debut "Road to the Riches" and here goes the 2012 version of that track featuring a host of dope rappers siding up with Necro and the Kool Genius of Rap. Always stellar Domingo hooks up the original sample for G Rap and then goes on to flip a load of classic old school breaks giving this a feel of a true golden era classic. Kool G Rap completely murders it as expected and with the verses from Necro Ras Kass, Street Smartz's F.T., Nutso, Action Bronson and Rugged Intellect it is a blood filled lyrical slaughterhouse. Even Marley Marl pops up!! Man, I'm pumped for "The Godfathers"!