[Classic Clips] PRINCE PAUL - "A Prince Among Thieves"

I remember back in '99 I picked up Prince Paul's magnificent "A Prince Among Thieves" and still to this day I play it on a semi-regular basis. Man, what an album! Whether you listen to it for the full experience with the skits or if you make a playlist using only the actual songs the project is absolutely stunning everytime. Not only might it actually be my personal favorite work from this legendary producer but it might very well also have been my first introduction to the terrific Breeze Brewin of Juggaknots fame. Breeze of course played the lead role of the album's story opposite Horror City's Big Sha while veterans like De La Soul, Sadat X, Kool Keith, Big Daddy Kane, Chris Rock, Everlast, and so many more made some brilliant cameos. Released on Tommy Boy Records in 1999 after almost a year of being held back, Paul's vision for the LP was to release it together with a full-length video feature which unfortunately never came into production. However, a 10 minutes long promo video for the album was shot and released - giving us a pretty good insight into what such a movie would've looked like. As I never featured it before I'm bringing it back for one of my Classic Clips posts.

To be perfectly honest, the main reason that I'm posting this right now is because Red Bull Academy just posted a brilliant interview with Breeze about his experiences working with Prince Paul on "A Prince Among Thieves". For fans of the album and Breeze/Juggaknots that one's an absolute must read, so don't sleep - check it out here. And as the good guy that I happen to be I'm also taking this opportunity to bless you with a cool lil' treat - the original "album trailer" mixed by Prince Paul and included on the promo 12" for "More Than You Know" - definitely a real cool listen with some hilarious voice overs!

PRINCE PAUL - "TRAILER"

[Album Stream] MARCO POLO - "PA2: Director's Cut"

Ooooooh shit, the time is finally hear! If you've been following this blog for at least two months you know that I've been superhyped about the release of Marco Polo's official follow up to his 2007 album "Port Authority"; even going as far as stating that this will without a doubt be among the very best albums of 2013. "PA2: Director's Cut" officially hits stores and retailers via Soulspazm Records this Tuesday but the label and artist have decided to let loose of a full stream of the LP a little early, and luckily I happened to sit at the computer just as they did so so I'm breaking my neck and shaking my head in disbelief to this boom bap monster full of ludicrous hard beats, a guest lists that probably haven't been matched since Pete's first "Soul Survivor" and a whole lot of cuts from turntable wizards such as Shylow, DJ Revolution, and DJ Romes. I'm only a few tracks in but I'm just as blowed away as I predicted I would be... Marco Polo is a name you can count on and has been for years, if he's in the credits you can Count on his placement being one of the best tracks on the LP (one of the most telling examples is the track he laced Torae with for the latter's "For The Record"; an album that also featured contributions by DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Diamond D, 9th Wonder, Large Professor, and Nottz).

Things kick off with "3 O'Clock" and from there it just keeps booming and banging in that hardcore hip-hop direction that only true heads can enjoy - your girlfriend might very well ask you to turn off that damn RACKET!! Litteraly, there's standout after standout, both beatwise and lyrical wise - which isn't really suprising considering it features a majority of my favorite spitters of all time. There's a lot of posse cuts here which are so welcome - hearing Tragedy Khadafi, OC, Inspectah Deck, and Large Professor is sort of a dream come true. The preceding joint featuring Nature, F.T., and Big Twinz is a real Winner too, matching the aggressive Queens style of the emcees with a somewhat more soulful beat... Don't get fooled though, nothing on hhere isn't straight balls to the walls hard as far as drum programming and overall style go. I also like how there's a lot of little crazy beat interludes coming in here and there, sometimes with talk over, sometimes not. On first listen I feel that this is by far Marco's strongest album yet; "Port Authority" was a terrific record with instant classics like OC's "Marquee", Large Pro's "The Radar", Roc Marcy's "Lay It Down", G Rap's "Hood Tales" and so forth. While pretty much all the individual tracks were brilliant, I thought as an album it didn't come all the way through as it sometimes felt more like a compilation than an album, due to a lack in coherrence betweeen the songs. That problem is nowehere to be found here; the skits, the typpe of beats, the sequencing, the guests (which include everybody from Last Emperor, La Coka Nostra, MC Eiht, Breezly Brewin, Malcolm Martin, the original Year Round family with Blaq Po, H. Stax & NYGz Panchi,, etc.), and the emphasis on the DJ makes this a truly exceptional journey into beats and rhymes as they should be done. Hip-hop at it's finest in other Word. And this is just on my first listen.... Can't fucking wait to get this on vinyl and make my neighbors hate me a little more! Stream the full album via OnSmash below, and order the CD from UGHH or iTunes if you're truly diitized. I'ma wait til' December 10 when the 3xLP vinyl drops (this set is like 80 minutes and I'm sure as hell ain't complaining).

 

01. "3 O'Clock" (Ft. Organized Konfusion + DJ Lynx)

02. "Savages" (Ft. ILLBILL, Slaine & Celph Titled + DJ Revolution)

03. "Earrings Off" (Ft. Rah Digga + Shylow)

04. "Can't Get Enough" (Ft. Big Twinz, Nature & F.T.)

05. "Astonishing" (Ft. OC, Inspectah Decck, Tragedy & Large Professor)

06. "6 Trill" (Ft. The Last Emperor + Shylow)

07. "West Coast Love" (Ft. MC Eiht & King Tee + DJ Revolution)

08. "Wrong Girl" (Ft. Reggie B & Reach)

09. "Drunken Sleuth" (Ft. Invincible)

10. "Intermission" (w. Michael Rappaport)

11. "Emergency Man" (Ft. Malcolm & Martin + DJ Revolution)

12. "Strange Brew" (Ft. Gangrene + DJ Romes)

13. "What They Say" (Ft. Lil' Fame, Kardinal Offishal, Styles P + Shylow)

14. "Parental Discretion" (Ft. Breeze Brewin)

15. "Underdogs" (Ft. Supastitition + Shylow)

16. "R U Gonna Eat?" (Ft. The Doppelgangaz)

17. "Sucka Free" (Ft. Blaq Poet, Hannibal Stax & Panchi of NYGz)

18. "G.U.R.U." (Ft. Talib Kweli & DJ Premier)

19. "Glory (Finish Hard)" (Ft. Masta Ace, AG, Posdnous & Dion Jenkins)

MARCO POLO - "PA2: Director's Cut" ... Stream @ OnSmash

Breeze Brewin - "Brew in Control"

It's been quite some time since we heard anything from the always ill Juggaknots front man Breezly Brewin, so anything new is more than welcome. Here Brew ferociously attacks the "Control" beat that Kendrick Lamar spat his 'King of New York' verse on last week (who gets name checked here). This is fucking RAW man, I can only hope that this is the prequel to new Breez material to come.

[Classic Sessions] "Ill Style Live 1995" LP

The updates has been rather slow lately, so I thought to bring back a true classic underground tape for y'all. The "Illstyle Live" compilation was released on Elektra in 1995, right before Sylvia Rhone took over Dante Ross' position as the main A&R of the hip-hop section of the label. This was a true shame, as it resulted that numberous dope underground projects got completely shelved and still remains that way. The most known example is of course the InI/Deda albums that Pete Rock produced, but also lost gems like Omniscience LP debut which only made it to the bootleg market (and which I will post soon). Also the original Juggaknots' mini album, releases from Lin Que, Supernatural, 8-Off, and more. Luckily, the live sessions that was the basis for the label's "Illstyle Live" compilation, was somewhat of a special night highlighting what the label could and should have been if it wasn't for Rhones. 

It was a special night, with the Elektra artists giving respective performances of stand-out joints from their forthcoming releases, with DJ Pete Rock handling much of the DJ duties. I understand most dedicated hip-hop fans are well aware of this, but for those who don't, you're definitely in for a treat; and The Lost Tapes will also strive to bring you as many studio versions as possible of these gems. Originally known as a promo vinyl release, the good folks at the impeccable T.R.O.Y. Blog, managaed to get their hands on a very rare CD promo which they brought to their readers. This is the version I'm bringing here as the sound quality is so superior, but all props to "dirt_dog" from the T.R.O.Y. blog. Enjoy fellow hip-hop heads; oh and the Ol' Dirty Bastard 22 minutes set at the end is fucking priceless!

01. "Intro"
02. Daddy D - "Luv On A Dub"
03. Omniscience - "Amazin'"
04. Juggaknotz - "I'm Gonna Kill You"
05. Lin Que - "Let it Fall"
06. 8-Off - "Ghetto Girl"
07. Deda Baby Pah - "Blah Uno"
08. Coz - "No Place Like the Hood"
09. "Interlude"
10. Supernatural - "Natural Diaster"
11. Das EFX - "Real Hip-Hop"
12. Ol' Dirty Bastard - "Freestyle" / "Brooklyn Zoo" / "Shimmy Shimy Ya"

V/A - "ILLSTYLE LIVE" [1995]

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"