CASUAL & PHAT KAT are RON BON JOVI

Just checking through some random stuff on Soundcloud this dark, rumbling beast of a joint started blaring through my headphones as Phat Kat took microphone duties. Ron Bon Jovi was not a name I recognized so I did a quick search and turns out that the Microphone Master of Detroit has joined up with the super talented Hieroglyphics member Casual to form this duo. Collaborative projects like this has become something of a norm in underground hip-hop these days and sometimes it works like a charm while other times it never truly gels. Listening to the single, "Time Tunnel", I gets a good vibe though so I'm definitely looking forward to the full-length ("Neaux Mursi") which is supposed to drop on February 19.

[EP Stream] PHAT KAT - "Rededication to the Suckers"

After being dropped from their contract with New York underground hip hop label Payday Records after their one and only single "Front Street" / "A Day With The Homiez", who has since gone on to become a true cult classic, The Detroit one MC/one producer constellation who by then went under the alias 1st Down used their failure in the shady industry to record one of the most agressive assaults on the recording industry and the Sucker MC's dominating the airwaves especially in their hometown of the "D". That EP, put out independently with help of unofficial Detroit hip-hop ambassador House Shoes, was called "Dedication to the Suckers" and is one of very few singles that I always mention as one of the best 12" singles and/or EP:s that I'd always argue to be one of the best records ever pressed up.

Fast forward to 2015, of course 1st Down is no more in no way, shape or for as producer Jay Dee / J Dilla sadly passed away in 2006, though Phat Kat with his take no prisoners flow, agressive delivery and great ear for beats. Still I was suprised to say the least when I saw UGHH's list of forthcoming releases list a brand new Phat Kat project called "Rededication to the Suckers", even going as far as sporting an updated cover of the originl artwork. I first thought it was a new reissue of the extended edition of the original '99 EP (which was previously only available on CD), but looking at the tracklistting and producer credits it turns out that it's an entirely new project made in honor of the original's themes and sound. Produced entirely by newcomer Agor and features guest verses from eLzhi and Guilty Simpson on the boom bnger "All Madden", I have to say on first listen I'm actually impressed with this joint. Phat Kat stays coming correct so be sure to preep this below and pre-order your copy on CD or LP which ships on October 30.

01. "Matnetic: Intro"

02. "Revolver"

03. "Redediction"

04. "All Madden" (Ft. eLzhi & Guilty Simpson)

05. "Still Bubblinä"

06. "What A Nigga to Do"

07. "True Story"

STREAM @ EGOTRIPLAND 

[Compilation] RON ESTILL - "Made in Detroit"

To those who know me it is certainly no secret that next to New York, the Motor City Detroit is my favorite place when it comes to knocking out slamming music. Of course J Dilla continues to be one of my all time favorites as his many sounds simply were out of this world, but even after his tragic passing the hp-hop scene has continued thriving with countless superb producers and spitters. Many of the city's finest was given a platform to evolve through Jay Dee and has continued growing following his passing over to the other side. I'm talking cats like T3, eLzhi and the Slum Village crew, mega talented soul singer Dwéle, rough voiced hardcore spitter Guilty Simpson, my man Phat Kat, Taa'rach, Beej, the always underrated Karieem Riggins, Frank Nitty and his partner Dankery Harv, Finale, Big Tone and many others. Then you got the producers who keeps the sound of Motown hip-hop alive and proving that the sound of the city are iller than most. Black Milk especially, but you also got NameTag, Apollo Brown and Bronze Nazareth from the Michigan area that's all definitely doing their thing. With all of these talented cats repping the "D" it's not at all a stretch to say that Jay Dee definitely were the true Godfather of Detroit hip-hop.

Of course, there were also local musicians that inspired James Yancey a great deal - most importantly his mentor and teacher, Amp Fiddler, the talented multi-instrumentalist/singer who used to play with George Clinton and Funkadelic. Another important person in Jay Dee's career that mostly figured in the shadows were Ronald "Ron E." Estill, a Detroit resident who was an early manager of Slum Village as well as for Yancey's close friend Dwele. Estill is also a producer, specializing in deep soul remixes with a hip-hop touch and listening to his music there's no question that he was heavily influencced by Jay Dee's production style - it's very possible that they both inspired each other. They at times appeared with one remix of their own each on the same 12" (such as Lucy Pearl's "Without You") and a few songs that have been credited to Dilla in the internet age are actually Estill's work (LSK's "Hate Or Love" and Jamiroquai's "Black Capricorn Day" especially). An interesting fact is that Ron "E" Estill was the first producer to have an original James Yancey verse on his beat, with his remix of Tami Heart's "If It Wasn't For You". So while Estill is far from prolific when it comes to releasing music, the few remixes and songs he has released are pretty much all interesting stuff that should be heard by every fan of that true Detroit soul/hip-hop sound. Much of the songs found here are co-productions between Estill and Dwele, while the final cut by T-Love is actually something he did together with Dilla himself. As far as I know this is about every production released under the name Ronald "Ron E." Estill (he did drop a 12" or two under the name Soulfingerz in the early '90s, but those were more in the vein of house music). If you're into the more soulful late '90s excursions of James Yancey and Dwele I think you will be pleasantly suprised by how terrific these tracks are, so press play, kick off your shoes and lay back but don't forget to TURN IT UP!!!

01. Bahamadia - "One-4-Teen"
02. New Sector Movements - "The Sun" [Dwele's Motor City Remix]
03. Luct Pearl - "Without You" [Aphrodisiac Mix] (Ft. Phat Kat)
04. T-Love - "Swing Mandidly"
05. Tami Heart - "If It Wasn't For You" [Detroit Demolition Mix] (Ft. Slum Village)
06. Dwele - "Money Don't Mean A Thing"
07. Bahamadia - "Pep Talk"
08. New Sector Movements - "The Sun" [Dwelogy Remix]
09. Jamiroquai - "Black Capricorn Day" [Slum Village Remix]
10. LSK - "Hate Or Love" [Caffe Latte remix] (Ft. Slum Village)
11. T-Love - "Long Way Back" [co-produced by Jay Dee]

RON ESTILL - "MADE IN DETROIT"

[EP] IRON BRAYDZ - "Verbal sWARdz"

"Verbal sWARdz" is a 10 track mini album slash EP by North London emcee and producer Iron Braydz. This is no doubt some nice hardcore hip-hop right here, and it's especially impressive considering that Iron Braydz not only provides the lyrical premise but is also behind the majority of the beats. Another main plus is that the project features guest verses from no lesser legends than Prince Po, Sean Price and Phat Kat. Bang your head to this!

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