THE UN - "The UNderstanding"

Oh shit, it's not every day a brand "new" (or rather unheard) track from the hardcore hip-hop quartet The U.N. The group consisted of high school friends Roc Marciano, Dino Brave, Mic Raw and Laku and after being "discovered" by Pete Rock who helped to put them on and get them exposure by both featuring them on his "PeteStrumentals" album as well as releaseing their two joints "Cake" and "Nothin' Lesser". The Hip Hop world took notice and they were managed and backed up by legends like Q-Tip, Alchemist, Pete Rock, Large Professor, Oddisee and in 2004 they signed the first Hip Hop deal on Carson Daly's (of MTV fame's) new independent label - imagine that. Either way the record stands as one of the finest hardcore hip-hop albums of its era, and any unreleased music from it is highly appreciated. 

Now Scott Free who used to be an intern at LOUD Records back in its heyday and worked on classics like "The Infamous..." and was also an exec on "U N Or U Out" has unleashed an unmixed and unmastered joint that didnd't make the album called "The Understanding". But we take what we can get right, and this is a dope joint so turn this mother up LOUD!! Produced by Rob "Reef" Twerlow.

[Album] J-FORCE Presents "Cadillac Respect"

When people think about The Future Flavas show they obviously  gonna think about the nr. #1 DJ:s Marley Marl and Pete Rock, and probably all of the incredible exclusive remixes and on-the-air songs that was played on air almost weekly. The Future Flavas remixes always stood for high quality, but the fact is that it wasn't Marley and Pete that was responsible for all these goodies though they often get that credit in the internet generation. Of course both of them put in a lot of work and created some still unreleased classics, but they also had lesser known but incredibly skilled beat wizards up there with them that was also responsible for some terrific remixes and exclusives. One of these guys were J-Force, who was down with Marley Marl for a long time, and released two now very rare self-released 12":s between 1995 and 1996 with "Bullseye" and "For All Thoze". Since then he has scored music for a lot of hip-hop films such as the "Beef" series, "Rock The Bells" and Bling" among others.

With his long brown hair, he looked almost more like a punk rock kid than a highly talented boom bap musician but looks can definitely deceive as both his work on Future Flavaz and his own records was more than proof off. Following him leaving Future Flavaz he kind of faded into the shadows, but as of last year the producing spitter has dug deep into his archives, releasing some previously unreleased solo tracks on a self-released 12" and even more exciting a 22 track remix compilation called "Cadillac Respect". It's the latter that I'm going to focus this post on, as it is an incredible listen that features several of his rare Future Flavas remixes that has never been released anywhere else, a long with some other exclusive mixes that is sure as hell going to make you respect this kid and his SP1200. There's also a few cuts featuring J. Force showing off his rhyme skills, and once again he's no joke on the microphone either, The remixes include revisits of classics by Kool G Rap, Inspectah Deck / Pete Rock / Kurupt, AZ, Nas, Ghostface, Nas/Prodigy, Black Moon, The UN, Mic Geronimo and more.

You can order a copy of "Cadillac Respect" a long with a T-Shirt @ Cadillac Respect.com where you can also read a whole lot more about J-Force, his past and his future endeavour. Below you can also stream the entire project for free, either via DatPiff or J-Force's official site mentioned above. You can also download the entire project for free via Hulkshare. Don't miss out on this sickness!

The UN - "Time For Some Action" [2004]

The UN's much too slept-on album "U N Or U Out" is finally starting to give its proper credit due to Roc Marciano's imressive solo ccareer. The 2004 album has been out-of-print for yeats (luckily I managed to pick up a cop when it was still avalanle. Beside the '04 debut, they also dropped he strong mixtae "World Domination" and Roc's street album "Strength Or Honor". Hopefuly we will eventually get properly mastered versions fóf those tapes as well, as Fat Beats has reissued the original debut album in a beautful digipck with two hard knocking bonus tracks. Now the quartet and Fat Beats have unearthed a previousy unreleased banger called "Tiime For Some Action" for the same that's truly the deifnition of a slammig hardcore hip-hop cut. I'm not sure where this will end up; perhaps a 7" single, but eiter way TURN IT UP!!

SONNIE CARSON Ft. Bravo of The UN, Ransom & Paul Caine - "Cipher" [prod. by BUCKWILD]

New York up-and-comer Sonnie Carson spitter recently returned to the scene with his second official mixtape, "Most Likely to Succeed" over productions from the likes of Buckwild, Da Beatminerz, Best Kept Secret, Heatmakerz, Reefa and D/R Period - together creating a 16 track street album well worth listening to. Just as the free tape dropped (the the post below for the full thing), Carson is also releasing the official music video for "Cipher", a collaboration with fellow members Bravo, Paul Caine and of course several joints by the one and only Buckwild who supplies his magic on no less than !six! tracks. Guests. Joining Carlson on the microphone is Bravo of The UN, Ransom and Paul Caine on "Cipher", the firs official single complete with a music video which you can see up top, Styles P, Freeway, Latf, and Avery Storm. f you missed out on this when it first dropped back in April, make sure to grab that banger and peep the official video for the posse cut "Cipher" up top... Enjoy y'all!

[Album] THE UN - "U N Or U Out" (ReIssue)

In 2005 Roc Marciano, Dino Brave, Mic Raw and Laku released their one and only album as The UN, the brilliant hardcore set "U N Or U Out". Although I was lucky enough to get ahold of a copy when it first dropped, it quickly went out of print and if it's one 2000s album to deserve being in print it's this one. With the gritty street realism provided by Marciano, Dino Brave and the rest and hard hitting pure hip-hop beats courtesy of Oddisee, Pete Rock, Large Pro, and Mahogany, there's really not many albums that's as unbelivably dope as this one. Luckily for those of you who missed it while it was still in print, Fat Beats have reissued the album on both CD, cassette and vinyl as well as digital @ iTunes. In addition to the original 14 tracks this version includes two equally fat joints recorded around the same time. "UN Da House" appeared on the "World Domination" mixtape but the other bonus track "For Da Love" is entirely new to my ears and an absolutely stunning track. Fat Beats have uploaded the entire album as a free stream for your listening pleasure below. Spotted @ Collectors Item (peace Brandon).

THE UN - "UN OR U OUT"

Damn, remember when you first heard The UN on Pete Rock's "PeteStrumentals" project - the grimey beats coupled with the hungry street rhymes of Roc Marciano, Dino Brave, Laku and Mic Raw? I was for one was totally blown away by the sheer power of this quartet - I head Roc Marciano on "The Heist" with Busta, Rae & Ghost but I didn't really connect the two. Later on I bought their 2005 debut album on CD "UN Or U Out" which picked up right where "Cake" and "Nothin' Lesser" had left off... With production from Pete Rock, Large Professor, Oddisee, Mahogany and overseen by Q-Tip and Alchemist, the LP was the eptiome of an underground classic and proved at a time when a large chunk of the culture was getting heavily watered down that masterpieces was still being made.

Sadly enough, a lot of heads still don't know about this superb release, believing that Roc Marciano's debut was "Marcberg", which might have something to do with the album being out of print for a long time and the original vinyl copies only being released as promos. Indeed it did feet a bit rushed and left some questions unanswered - for example the LP version of "The Art" faded out after about 1:30, while the original, full song appeared on the terrific "World Domination" mixtape which was released around the same time. However, the good folks at Fat Beats is doing a proper re-release of the original "UN Or U Out" which will be available on both 2xLP and cassette starting April 15. Two bonus tracks from the original sessions that was not featured on the original album will be included in this new version. Robbie @ UNKUT uploaded the previously unreleased "For The Luv" a while back, and now it has become apparent that the second bonus track is the excellent "UN House" which appeared on Roc Marciano's slept-on debut mixtape/street album "Strength & Honor". Stream it below and pre-order the album @ Fat Beats (2xLP, CD, cassettte). As a bonus I also uploaded the complete version of "The Art" which I described above, a dope jam produced by Mic Raw, mixed by Pete Rock and egineered by Jamie Staub. I hope the re-release it restores this version as the short edit was most likely a mistake... TURN IT UP!!

ROC MARCIANO / DJ BRANS - "Do The Honors" [Remix]

Presented by Effisciencz, Roc Marciano and producer DJ Brans have teamed up for a six track EP (including instrumentals) made up of brand new Brans remixes of Roc tracks. The digital release features DJ Brans take on three somewhat rarer Roc Marcy cuts ("Do The Honors", "Warm Henessy", "Keep It Movin'"), plus instrumentals of all tracks. The EP is available from iTunes now, but heads can listen to the first single right now - "Do The Honors" featuring Dino Brave and Lost Occupants. Bang it hard!

[Unearhed] THE U.N. - "Lost '99 demo track"

Most of the times, it'll  takes a truly brilliant brilliant true school hip-hop site like the always trustworthy Unkut.com to dig up and upload some of the most intersting hardcore hip-hop out there. Not only did Robbie and the good folks at UNKUT post a full, previously unreleased late-'90s song, by the entire  four man crew formerly known as The UN. Recorded around the same time as their underground classic "U N Or U Out".(2003), but in the end the four man crew and their A&R:s Schott Free, and Bob Adler decided to delete these tracks from the final retail album -This is more because it didn't really fit in with the vibe of the album than this lost cut being of poor quality. but that sure as hell don't mean that they are not just as immaculate records as the rest of . On in other words, though it might not be the materpiece that 85% of the retail album was made up of, it's a very welcome leak with its agressively pounding rhythm section, low-key soul and early stand out verses from Roc Marcy, Dino Brave, Mic Raw and Laku. This was premiered @ Frozen File Radio in the last few days, and Robbie of Unkut keeps stayng on top by uploading the entire song to his site's Bandcamp Page. So all props to Frozen File Radio and Robbie.

 

[Album] The UN - "World Domination"

As we continue to honor Roc Marciano and his soon-to-be-released "Reloaded" album, we move on from his days with Flipmode Squad and Busta Rhymes to the hardcore shit he dropped as part of the incredible The UN crew. Hailing from Long Island, the four man group consisted of Dino Brave, Laku, Mike Raw, and Roc. Together they made their recording debut on Pete Rock's "PeteStrumentals" project, recorded in 2000 and released the following year. Their two contributions to the album were some of the finest hip-hop music you were bound to hear that year; "Cake" and "Nothin' Lesser" showed a hungry crew of street lyricists whose hunger and agressive microphone tactics brought out the best in master Pete Rock. After experimenting with several other groups and artists, it seemed that Pete finally had found the perfect act to back 100%. Though he never produced an entire album with The UN, he played a major role in getting their music out there as well as developing them into full blown artists; check out this classic apperance with Pete and UN on KissFM back in 2001, promoting "PeteStrumentals".

It would take until 2004 before the debut album "U N Or U Out" finally hit the streets, but it was worth every minute of the long wait. Filled with grimey rhymes directed at the streets, the hunger and rawness originally heard on the Pete Rock LP sure hadn't been lost in the wait; if anything each of the members had sharpened their lyrical tactics and created a tight chemistry that made the four's words bounce off each other like one mind with four voices. But as any hip-hop head will recognize, superb lyrics ain't worth all that much if the beats ain't hitting. Fortunately that was far from a problem; the dark, hard-hitting production offered by Pete Rock, Large Professor, Oddisee, Mahogany, and Roc Marciano and Mic Raw themeselves, was the perfect soundbed for the group and all connected with each other to create a real consistent album. "U N Or U Out" is a true underground classic, and though it's out-of-print by now, I always recommend anyone to be sure to pick it up if you ever find it - you won't regret it!

A couple of years before the official album dropped, a somewhat mysterious mixtape called "World Domination" started circulating. This 21-track mix-CD featured several of the stand out songs that would later appear on the LP, the tracks from "PeteStrumentals", "Money" that was released on 12" in '03, alternative versions, and cuts and freestyles exclusive to the release. The mix/street album/compilation pretty much stands on it's own as an album, although some of the tracks don't sound fully mastered, and points to "U N Or U Out" probably being recorded several years before it was actually released in 2004. There's some absolute certified heat on here that never made the LP, like The Alchemist produced "Dominant", the Pete Rock laced "Long Time Coming", "It's Over", and the full version of "The Art". I think adding the hottest joints on this would have made the already fantastic debut even more powerful. An obvious must hear for any fan of Roc Marciano and The U.N., make sure to check out "World Domination" below, turn it the fuck up, and enjoy!

01. "Intro"
02. "Ain't No Thang"
03. "UN House"
04. "Cake"
05. "The Art" [* Full Length]
06. "The Don"
07. "Avenue"
08. "Nothin' Lesser"
09. "Get Yo Bitch"
10. "Dominant"
11. "What They Want"
12. "Hardcore (Revisited)"
13. "Long Time Coming"
14. "Dino Brave Interlude"
15. "It's Over"
16. "Money"
17. "Just Like A Star Remix" (Ft. Vinia Mojica)
18. "Pop Tarts"
19. "Shakedown"
20. "Golden Grail"
21. "Grid Iron Pro"

THE UN - "WORLD DOMINATION"