[Article / Comp] Timbo King Pt. 1

I'm sure that the expanded amount of articles and posts related to Wu-Tang Clan and its affiliates haven't passed the avid The Lost Tapes reader by unnoticed. Since I don't get paid for maintaining this site and publishing articles I merely write about what captures my interest at the moment, and lately I've been on somewhat of a Wu-Tang trip so you can look forward (if that's how you see it) to a few more Wu related compilations and articles in the near future. However my intention is not to dwell on the A-list cast of the that mythical Clan but some of the unsung heroes within their circle. First out is a post and compilation dedicated to Timbo King, one of the original Killa Beez and leader of the superb Royal Fam which often acted as a one man army rather than a hip hop group on wax. Hailing from Bushwick, Brookltn, 'Bo King has a deep and commanding voice with well-researched lyrics put into street laguage that naturally grabs the listeners attention. A natural wordsmith with something to say - a breed of MC's that there's far to few of today. Hence, when he's placed on a solid beat on a posse cut (as he often was back in the late 1990s, early 2000s  alongside his Wu bretheren) he would not seldom come out the most domineering lyricist on the track, amid some some pretty damn steep competition. 

Just like Prince Rakeem and The Genius before him, Timbo King was one of only two future Killa Bee affiliates (the other being young Shyheim) who was able to secure a record contract and release projects on the strength of his own skills and charmisa alone rather than by association as many later affiliates would get on. This speaks much of Timbo's single-minded determination to break into the industry no matter what. As was often the case in 1992 and 1993 groups often produced themeselves with groups or duos almost always including a DJ/producer. This lead to 'Bo King hooking up with a neighborhood friend and produer/DJ who went by Spark 950 (M. Moore), and started recording whenever they had a chance. The result was a bunch of demo tapes, which they started shopping around to different labels. One such label was Uptown Records whose R&B/Rap department was run by André Harris and  the young Sean Puffy Commbs. At the time they were working on putting together the soundtrack to the Doctor Dre and Ed Lover comedy vehicle "Who's The Man?!" and was looking for a mixture of new and talented artists mixed with some better known ones. It was here BIG's first single "Party & Bullshit" made its first apperance, but it also featured a blazing Pete Rock & CL Smooth cut (with the impeccable Grover Washington Jr. on sax), new tracks by Erick Sermon, Jodeci, Mary J. Blige, JuJu Banton, House Of Pain and 3rd Eye. So the lone Spark 950 and Timbo King track, "Who's The Man" was clearly in good company.

A move and placement like that a long with a solid demo tape generated some buzz in the industry, and the group's contract was eventually bought up and distributed by Street Life Records, a division of Scotti Bros Records who had at different points in times signed acts like James Brown, Weird "Al" Yankovic, pop star Leif Garrett and so on. All this was of course in the '70s and '80s. But no matter what, the duo of Timbo King and Spark 950 got a little budget, some studio time and a one record contract with chance for reneweal if the record did well. With hindsight it did not do well at all, and this can likely be chalked up to several reasons. Spark 950 was not a bad producer at all, but he was in no way groundbraking in any sense of the word. It was very typical 1993 standard Hip Hop flair. Add to that that Timbo King, while still having an ill voice and some neatly structured bars, had yet to find his own style and/or niche. I think it is quite comparable to Prince Rakeem's debut EP, "Ooh We Love You Rakeem", as you get the impression that the executives from Street Life Recocrds was in the guys ear teling them they needed a song with this theme or a song with that theme. Something that never works. Last but not least, it's a minor problem but the label kind of shadily passed this off as an 11-track album when there is infact only six songs - all good enough to nod your head to, but none of them good enough to remember. Check out the first Spark 950 & Timbo King, "Hello It's Me" as a bonus cut on the compilaion presented below.


You can draw some further parallels between The Genius and Prince Rakeem's defeat at the hand of record labels which led them to forming the Wu-Tang Clan to Timbo King's own pah. A true artist knows in his heart that he can and will make it, and never doubting himself he want back to his Brooklyn, Bushwick stomping grounds, assembled some of his rhyming and musical friends to form the Royal Fam - a group that he would be the defacto leader of. One of those members were Bushwick's Dreddy Kruger who had already appeared on Gravediggaz' first album and kept in contact with the Wu while also introudcing them to his crew of producer Y-Kim the Ill Figure, legendary reagger singer Mikey Jarrett's son of the same name, Stoneface and of course Timbo King. Togeher these artists would form the Royal Fam, one of the first Wu-Tang offshoots - this was back when the Wu wouldn't fuck with you unless you were really talented and could create albums of your own, at the same time RZA, Divine, Power and Ghost were also be on hand to help out their new under-regimes. Shyheim was already a factor before the Wu and as you can see by his first album, his main producer and guests on there were RNS and the GP Wu clique, so the real Wu-Tang Killa Beez to be introduced first was to be Sunz Of Man, Killarmy (hence the posse cut "Soldiers Of Darkness) and Royal Fam. Remember these were the days when anything with a Wu logo on meant BUYER BEWARE - HIGH QUALIYTY!

Royal Fam had their own main producer in Y-Kim The Ill-Figure who was complemented by Q-Base (a.k.a. Arabian Knight) and Lynx #6; 4th Disciple was more or less a semi-official member of Killarmy and Sunz Of Man originally had Supreme (though their final album would be dominated by The Wu-Elementz). The same went for another cat that was signed at the time, called Darkim Be Allah (who produced "12 Jewelz" for Gravediggaz and had the single "Bronx War Stories" with AllahWise on "The Swarm"). But as they were all under the Wu-Tang umbrella they started to notice that they were not always first priority, remember this was the same time that "Wu-Tang Forever" was being recorded. RZA set up and signed them to Razor Sharp/Wu-Tang Records under Priority and there were even ads for Sunz Of Man's "Nothing New Under The Sun" 2xLP in 1996 in magazines like The Source, but nothing happened.

Royal Fam got to drop what I for years have considered to be one of the absolute best double-A side 12" single reelased in the mid-'90s (whcih is of course saying A LOT). The main track, "Something Gots To Give" (with a video directed by GZA, see above) is a direct response to the way he experienced the record industry and how easy they take advantage of you unless you are on your toes, something that 'Bo King definitely wouldn't repeat after his failed dealings with Spark 950. Over a truly rugged beat, that captures the harder and most minimalist Wu-Tang flavor nicely with thumping yet crisp drum beat, an omnipresent horns and atmospheric keyboards. But it's really Timbo's vocals that are the instrument that really sets this apart - the agression combined with the witty lines makes every single bar memorable or quotable. The B-side was once again produced by Y-Kim, and following its predecessors theme it bears the title "I Declare War", and its just as dope. The beat is a bit more on high-energy, with dark, brooding piano, horns and that way only Hip Hop producers can manipulate real hard, repetitive drums. Both of these songs were a war chant, without a dobut, and would set things up for the Fam's official debut album to be released in 1996 or at the very latest 1997. I you look at the single mentioned above, the sticker right at the top of it says "The legend born from "The Black Castle".

Sunz Of Man was able to release two singles on Wu-Tang/Priority ("Soldiers Of Darkness"/"No Love Without Hate" and "Bloody Choices" before things came to a halt, and despite the aforementioend ads and a more or less completed album that would turn heads in 1996 (check it out for yourself) they decided to take matters in to their own hands. Led by Razah the group felt enough was enough and took manners into their own hands, contacting businesswoman Cathy Jones and owner of Red Ant Entertainment. The material for what is basically their second album was of course tied up at Wu-Tang / Priority since they owned the masters but for a huge amount of money RZA and Jones came to an agreement that "The Last Shall Be First" could be released as a joint venture if Red Ant payed for all the Wu-Tang artists and producers as guest artists. As Razah puts it, "Wu-Tang Records was distributed by Priority then.  None of [the] other Wu groups or subsidiary groups that ever came out on their own like Sunz of Man and that’s because I pulled off that deal with Red Ant Records. I got [us] signed to Red Ant, got RZA paid back with all he spent to build up Sunz of Man’s career.  Then certain members got paid to be featured on that album" (source). It was a done deal, and so the album went out in stores to great reviews and sells. 

Out of the three original Killa Beez group it seems only Killarmy has really been treated fair, having released tree albums between 1997 and 2001, all overseen and executively producer The RZA (who often even appeared in their videos). But then again 9th Prince is RZA's lil' brother and I guess blood is thicker than water then.... Royal Fam and Timbo surely didn't have the same luck - though they were still working on their "Black Castle" in '98 or early '99 the final blow came when their masters (mostly finished or close to finished  songs but not mixed, etc.) was stolen from the studio they were using along with Darkim Be Allah's album "Truth Or Dare". Darkim's album did never turn up anywhere (I will be making a post on this extremely underrated emcee soon as well), but what looked like some type of semi-official label calling themeselves Wu-International released those masters to the public in at least Europe, under the title "Yesetrday, Today iz Tomorrow". Looking and soundingvery much like an official release, with producer credits and even thank yous if i remember right. Wu International also released identical versions to Shyheim's "Manchild", a vinyl version of "Golden Arms Redemption" (U-God), and RZA & Big Kap's Wu mixtape CD. Perhaps the strangest thing is that these (or at least the Royal Fam CD since that's the only one I have) was distributed by the well-established and official PIAS [Play It Again Sam]. Although it was only released in Europe, it was hardly your standard bootleg - I saw it in Tower Records in London and several legit record stores in Sweden at the time of its release and never suspected there was anything odd about it (rememember we didn't have the net like that back then).

Reading interviews with Timbo King on why he didn't like that being out there, other than the fact that of course it was stolen material, was that much of the material was not finished and definitely not mixed and he compained about how fans got inferior versions of what the Royal Fam actually can and intended to do. Still I got to give it up to Timbo and Royal Fam, since I first heard it as a kid I loved it and I still bump it and get goosebumps. To me that's the definition of an extremely dope album, damn near close to a masterpiece. It's excellently sequenced, it features the right amount of emcees with Timbo King, the most talented clearly taking center stage. The beats, the guest features and production from the likes of Y-Kim, Lynx #6, John The Baptist, RZA (albeit they reused "The Legacy", its such a good track I can live with that as the epic album opener it is). Every single song on here is marvelous; it is short - only 12 tracks, with one having already been out 18 months, but as far as Wu-Tang releases go it is a whole lot better than whatever Wu affiliates drop these days (and yes that include Bronze Nazareth and the Wisemen). The thing is that had they been able to complete it there probably would be more songs on there, maybe some crazy interludes and what not and as it stands now it's pretty close to a classic - so maybe it really would have been a classic.

After that fiasco (although it did put Royal Fam's name even more on the map as any European believed it be an official release), Timbo King spent a lot of time building up his brand further by appearing on loads of dope records as a guest artist; both with his Wu-Tang brethren like on GZA's "Beneath The Surace" and RZA's "In Stereo", but also by international artists like Soldafada and IAM (see above for the former while the latter is includedin in the comp). I have put together some of these gems here, trying to find a nice balance between songs that represent for those who are relatively new to Timbo but I also want to give those who are very well familiar with him some harder to find stuff as well. I obviously haven't included anything from "Yesterday, Today iz Tomorrow" or the second failed attempt to release "Black Castle" in 2005 via BabyGrande. But one thing is fore sure, an emcee this talented needs to be heard...

 So without further a due, here he is 'BO KING, ROYAL FAM in a huge amount of various settings! And I have to say, as much as I'm familiar with 'Bo King through "Yesterday, Today....", "Black Castle", and all of his apperances on Clan albums this compilation really came out in-fucking-credible. Proof that Timbo King will put his soul in whatver he jumps on, which is quite rare. Of course in 2010 Timbo King finally got his due, hooking up with Bronze Nazareth, Lil' Fame, RZA, Hell Razah, William Cooper, Killah Priest, Junior Reid, and more. With songs like "Bar Exam", "The Autobiography of Timothy Drayton" and "Thinking Cap" the proof was in the pudding that The King still gor his crown though I personally revisit "Yesterday, Today..." and the "Black Castle" advance more but either way there's no question that Timbo is one of the most talented Wu affiliates and it's a shame the trials and tribulations that he had to endure in the industry. Be sure to support the cause and purchase Timbo King's long-awaited solo debut album, "´From Babylon to Timbuk2" @ UGHH.

01. "Righteous Talk"

02. "Braveheart" (solo for United Kingdom)
03 "United Kings" (Ft. United Kingdom)

04. "La Saga" (w. IAM, Dreddy Kruger & Podigal Sunn)

05. "To All The Killas" (w. Krumb Snatcha)

06. "In Here" (w. GURU as Bald Head Slick, Killah Priest & Black Jesus)

07. "Armored Truck" (Ft. Masta Killa)

08. "Black & White" (w. RA The Rugged Man)

09. "FIRE" (w. Royal Fam)

10. "Walk The Dogs" (w. Royal Fam & LA The Darkman)

11. "Destroy The Scenery" (w. United Kingdom)

12. "So High (G-12)" (w. RZA)

13. "Digi-Electronics" (w. Bobby Digital, Timbo King, Doc Doom, FreeMurda & Shyheim)

14. "Revenge" (w. Cappadonna & Free Murda)

15. "To Be An Expert (Flame Throwerz)" (w. J-Love Ft. Sunz Of Man & Timbo King)

16. "Soul in the Hole" (w. Timbo King, Dreddy Kruger, Shyheim & Tekitha)

17. "Outro" (Ft. LA The Darkman) 

18, "Hello It's Me" (Timbo King & Spark 950) [Bonus] 

TIMBO KING - "STRAIGHT ROYALTY"

[Stream] DOM PACHINO / BRONZE NAZ - "War Poetry"

Bronze Nazareth can be quite hit or miss to me, I know he's considered the second coming of RZA which I Think is just nuts but there's definitely no denying that he often can Cook up very dope beats and when the emcee is right magic can happen - especially as he is steadily getting better. His full-length collaborations with Willie The Kid ("Living Daylights"), Canibus ("Time Flies...Life Dies") and now Killarmy's Dom Pachino with "War Poetry".

 

Killarmy has always been a very interesting group to me, but to be honest I never cared at all for them lyrically save for Killa Sin, Dom Pachino a.k.a. PR Terrorist and the ocassional Shogun Assasson verse but those members apperances together with the immaculate 4th Disciple productions have allowed them to come out with several classic tracks and even incredible front-to-back albums. And as I stated Dom Pachino is one of the few emcees out the crew that I Think can hold down a solo album by himself so you can bet I was hyped for this when the first singles and info broke. Now the album is here and it does not dissapoint - what with guest apperances from Killa Sin (possibly the last we'll ever hear from him), Prodigal Sunn, Leatha Fase, Shyheim, Timbo King, Sav Killz, Pop Da Brown Hornet, Shogun Assasson, C-Rayz Walz, Termanology and even a bonus production by 4th Disciple himself... And a scorching Cilvaringz diss track in "Haunted Dreams". For any fans of Wu-Tang, Bronze Nazareth, Killarmy, this is an obvious must hear. Unfortunately the small amount of limited CD runs is already gone so the album is only available in digital format, which you can stream in its entirety over at Dom's Bandcamp so be sure to give it a go and support the real! BANG BANG!

 

Timbo King - "God's Image"

Timbo King, the lead emcee from Royal Fam and one of the illest Wu-Tang Killa Beez, is back with another single. The smooth groove "God's Image" is produced by WRDOZE (yeah me neither), mixed by Chris Conway, and features the brilliant jab at Christ Bearer "I'm not that Killa Bee that cut off his bee sting".

[EP] TIMBO KING / KRIMEWAVE - "Street Scholars"

I've always been a huge fan of Timbo King, the front man of Royal Fam and one of the most prominent Wu-Tang Killa Beez since day 1, so when UK producer Krimewave revealed a few years back that he and 'Bo King had recorded an entire album I was of course flabbergasted. This was long before 2011:s "From Babylon to Timbuk2" hit stores, but unfortunately a lot of things had come into the picture making it hard to release the collaboration LP. But like they say, those who wait for something good never wait too long, and now a three track single from Krimewave and Timbo King's work together is here. Timbo spits as much knowledge as usual, with that unmistakable voice and cadence and Krimewave have given him a lot of heat to work with. I'm real glad to finally be able to hear this, and I hope this ends up being just s a preview to the actual LP (which if I recall correctly is supposed to be called "Burried Treasures"). You can stream all three tracks below, but fantastic news is that this is actually available as a limited 12" release so grab 'em while you can! From London to Brooklyn baby...

THE KRAFTSMEN (Timbo King / Soulstreet / Adikson)

This kind of came out of nowhere, but as a huge fan of Timbo King (Royal Fam / Wu-Tang Killa Beez) I'll be sure to keep my eyes and ears open for more music from these guys. Calling themeselves The Kraftsmen, this newly formed group is a trio consisting of 'Bo King and French emcees Soulstreet and Adikson. Roughly two months ago they released their self-titled debut EP on iTunes, which you can pick up here. Out of the six songs featured on the extended play, three have been made available by The Kraftsmen themeselves and included in this post. Real ill shit and it's alwas great to hear hip-hop crossing barriers. Thanks to Art Vanderlay for the heads up!

"97 Majesty Promo #3" (Ft. Killa Sin, Timbo King & Killah Priest)

My man Jammin stays on the Wu-Tang related news like a hawk, and he's damn incredible at that. It turns out that three of the foremost Killa Beez have joined forces for an EP release that they have been working on for several months in the quiet. The reason we haven't heard it yet, 'Bo King explains:

"W've had some of these songs ready for almost a year now, but there are certain forces out there keeping us from releasing them. Eventually, you will see a single or EP released both digitally and in a limited vinyl run. This is for all the Wu-Tang fans worldwide. The ones who have been waiting all too long to hear "that sound". We've got one of the master purveyors of that sound on here - a nice little surprise - as well as another special guest and what may be the last Killa Sin verse recorded before they took him away from us again."

'Bo King, Killah Priest and Killa Sin have aways been amongst my absolute favorites Wu reated artists, and one of the few members of the gang who always stayed true to themeselves when it came to quality. Further good news is that the trio plans to release not only their new EP in a digital format, but also a limited pressing... Well you got my money! I'm not entirely sure about the title, but the one minute promo is called "'97 Majesty Promo #3" so maybe "'97 Majesty" is the title, considering they clearly want to give something back to the fans who have followed them since those times. We'll just have to wait and see, and of course The Lost Tapes will keep you updated!

Project Manzu Ft. Timbo King - "Russian Lifts"

Project Manzu is an italian duo made up of Daimaijn a.k.a. Q8 and Divine Souljah a.k.a. Shock One. As long time Wu-Tang heads they made their dream come true when they hooked up with Bronze Nazareth to produce and present their self-titled debut album which is out now. Besides fat Bronze tracks the album is strapped with guest apperances from a load of legendary Wu affiliates such as Darkim Be Allah, Blue Raspberry, Prodigal Sunn, Napoleon of Wu-Syndicate, 12 O'Clock and many more. "Russian Life" which you see above is the second single to drop from the album and features a straight sick Timbo King verse to introduce listeners to the sound of "Project Manzu". Check out the tracklist and artwork below; to support head over to iTunes or grab a CD from ChamberMusik. Shouts to IronSheik for the info!

01. Knowing Project Manzu Intro
02. International Player (Ft. Solomon Childs and Bronze Nazareth)
03. Lord’s Praises Due (Ft. Blue Raspberry and Kevlaar 7)
04. Fourth Avenue
05. Bronzeman Interlude
06. Great Love /Ft. Prodigal Sunn, Napoleon and Shaka Amazulu The 7th)
07. Russian Lifts (Ft. Timbo King)
08. Grime Bagz (Ft. 12 O’Clock)
09. The Nick Brain Show [Interlude]
10: Diamond Dogs ($ aka Cash Rule Remix)
11. The Quiet and the Storm (Ft. Darkim Be Allah)
12. Manzu Outro

Planet Asia / Timbo King / Hell Razah

Hell Razah, Timbo King and Planet Asia joins up for this Thorotracks produced single called "Flash Backs". The song is one of many dope tracks that will appear on DJ J-Ronin's and DJ Snip's "All Elements", hosted by M.O.P. Check out J-Ronin's word on the project which drops next week.

"All Elements vol.12 is finally done, physical copies will be dropping next tuesday along with a digital download link on bandcamp. As per usual over a dozen records were done exclusively for this mixtape with M.O.P., Sha Stimuli, Cappadonna, Rock of Heltah Skeltah, Hell Razah, Planet Asia, Math Hoffa, Timbo King, Serious Jones, Cortez, Illa Ghee, Ruste Juxx, Sav Killz, DNA, Hollow Da Don, Nutso and more!

For the first time i will have a digtal download link for sale before i release a free version. You can preorder the mixtape here http://jronin.bandcamp.com/ Support All Elements and all the work we put in! Once the sales reach a decent amount i will drop a free download link." - DJ J-Ronin

 PLANET ASIA / TIMBO KING / HELL RAZAH - "FLASH BACK"

[VIDEO] Timbo King - "The Autobiography"

After more than fifteen years in the recording industry, Timothy Drayton, better known to the hip-hop community as Timbo King has had his fair share of up's and down's in the game to say the least. Fans have been fiending for a 'Bo King full-length since at least 1995  but things didn't turn out in his favor until earlier this year when he finally got to release his official Nature Sounds debut "From Babylon to Timbuk2"earlier this year. The album showed that the emcee was still as ill as ever and featured several crazy beats by the likes of Bronze Nazareth and many others. One of my favorites was the Lil' Fame produced "The Autobiography of Timothy Drayton" which was a straight up incredible record. I'm glad to announce that he decided to record a video for the track so check it out above and if you haven't picked up the album yet, head over to UGHH to order the 2xLP set or CD edition.

VIDEO: Timbo King / S-N-W / Royce Da '59"

Several clever and interesting music videos to banging songs of the year has been released to the net over the last 24 hour. As usual, instead of making individual posts for every  joint in these type of cases, I merged them all into this bigger post. As some people have complained about the small size of the videos on the site, which is a problem I've tried to fix but I haven't gotten there yet, you can just double click on the video which will open a new window and then pause the video in the window with The Lost Tapes still in it.

Let's kick things off with this absolutely hilarious concept video for Timbo King & R.A. The Rugged Man's brilliant "Higher Ranking". The track is the second single from 'Bo King's equally brilliant "From Babylon to Timbuk2" which I hold as one of the best albums of the year so far, review coming very soon. The CD was released yesterday while the limited edition vinyl edition drops one week later. You can order/pre-order either from, for example, UGHH. Please support real hip-hop while it's still alive and kicking!

Another mad funny concept to me is executed on the third video, which happens to be for the title track, from Pete Rock & Smif-N-Wessun's "Monumental" LP. The trio takes to the streets of London to hijack one of those red double deckers, with the passengers riding along and nodding their heads to Pete Rock's thumping beat and the trio's banging vocals. If you've missed out on it before, check out my review of "Monumental" and once again, please support this album if you're feeling it. 

Last out of our video viewing session for today is the visuals for Royce Da 5'9"s latest album, "Success is Certain" which is in stores now. "Writer's Block" is a sick track which has Royce spitting hard with Eminem providing the hook. An interesting part about the actual viddeo is that it works as kind-of a double feature; about halfway through the beat switches to the DJ Premier remix of the joint. That track only appears on the digital iTunes deluxe edition of the album, but you can download the CDQ of the remix below. You can buy the CD, a version of the album on CD or the LP edition on Amazon.

ROYCE DA 5'9" - "WRITER'S BLOCK" [DJ PREMIER RMX] 

Timbo King / R.A. The Rugged Man

A full length album from Royal Fam frontman Timbo King has been pushed back and shelved over and over again, going on about 15 years by now. The wait is finally over for both Timbo and his fans as "From Babylon to Timbuk2" will be released via Nature Sounds on August 30. I believe the LP will be absolute nuts as Timbo King always been a standout emcee to me, and the new single below proves he's still as sharp as ever. The track, which is called "High Ranking" also features a crazy R.A. The Rugged Man verse and the beat is nothing but certified Bronze Nazareth heat. Props to Etze. TURN IT UP!!

Edit: Thanks to The_Silencer, you can also check out a rip of Timbo King up at the Halftime Radio Show promoting the upcoming album. Download/stream here. 

TIMBO KING - "HIGH RANKING" (Ft. R.A. The Rugged Man)

Timbo King & William Cooper - "From Babylon to Timbuktu"

The first official video from Timbo King's long awaited debut album is here, and it's actually the title track they decided to drop first. The song features another Black Market Militia member, William Cooper, who's debut last year was pretty damn serious and it's actually the first time these two work together since the Black Market LP.

"From Babylon to Timbuktu" will be released via Nature Sounds on August 16th and feature the likes of RZA, R.A. The Rugged Man, Jr. Reid and Killah Priest with about half the album being produced by Bronze Nazareth. Additional beats will be supplied by Lil' Fame and Vinny Idol amongst others. Definitely another summer album well worth checking for. You can read more about Timbo's thoughts on the making of the album in this interview @ Wu-International.

Shelved Classics: Royal Fam's "Black Castle"

Sometimes a real jewel of a hip hop album goes unreleased for days, months and years while its reputation as a shelved classic grows to almost mythical proportions in the underground. Such is the case with Royal Fam’s debut album, “Black Castle” which has had two different release dates on two different labels, with nearly ten years apart! That Timbo King and his talented crew still was trying to get the LP out to the fans a decade after completion speaks volumes on how slamming this album was and still is. Between 1997 and 1999 the majority of the talent of the extended Wu-Tang family tree released albums that pretty much all holds up today. Releases by Shyheim (“The Lost Generation”), Sunz Of Man (“The Last Shall Be First”), Killah Priest (“Heavy Mental”), Cappadonna (“The Pillage”) were all successful LPs that followed the Wu-Tang tradition while still maintaining integrity and musical personality. It’s a damn travesty that Royal Fam didn’t get the chance to get their album out properly during this time, it would definitely be held in the same regard as the ones mentioned above. There was however one release by the Fam around this time, called “Yesterday, Today iz Tomorrow”, and corny titles aside this CD featured a lot of heat and was on constant rotation for me back in ’99. It was soon revealed that the album was a bootleg released without any permission from the involved artists. Timbo King tells a story of how a tape of that music was stolen from an office @ Wu-Tang Records and that the songs were unmixed and yet to be mastered. Some of the songs were unfinished but most likely these were tracks recorded for “Black Castle” – an official tracklist of what would be included on the album has never been released.

If you’re still unfamiliar with the group, Timbo King is the lead emcee whose distinct flow and well written lyrics has made him a favorite amongst Wu-Tang Clan heads. Mighty Jarett brought the reagge flavor to the crew and performs a mean toast. Royal Fam also consists of two additional rappers; Dark Denim and Sha Recka and while not an official part of the group their in-house producer Y-Kim could be considered something of an honorary member. 

Timbo King had actually released an EP with a producer calling himself Spark 950 back in 1994, “United We Slam” which didn’t do too well commercially and did little noise overall. This would inject the emcee with a large dose of animosity against the way the record industry works, an experience similar to that of RZA and GZA/Genius. He used the bad experience as fuel and inspiration for the 12” single “Sumthin’ Gotz Ta Give”/“I Declare War” which was released on Capitol Records and was to be the lead single from the upcoming Royal Fam LP on the same label. “I came out as Royal Fam, but you heard just me, I was the first artist to come out with an imprint group, but as an artist, so I did that and at that same time these artists that were around me were developing to become artists.” The minimalistic and raw Y-Kim production with its low-key horns and piano samples with Timbo King’s aggressive delivery and on point lyrics made hip-hop heads all over take notice. The sound showed influences from groups like Wu-Tang Clan and Cypress Hill but there’s no question that it was an original record which proved Royal Fam was on the rise and someone to watch out for.

The songs recorded for the album on Capitol Records in the mid-‘90s followed the same structure. The criminally underrated Y-Kim The Ill Figure supplied banger after banger of stripped down, hardcore production with beats often featuring two distinct, almost separate, parts combined. On top of this we got lyrics dealing with shady A&Rs and how to avoid getting fucked by the record industry, 5% terminology, battle rap and even crime narratives – pretty much all the things you’d expect from a quality Killa Beez release. One main difference was however that Dark Denim, Sha Recka and Mighty Jarett was being heard on several songs, although Timbo King definitely dominated and rightfully so considering his skills. According to him the album got caught up in label politics, with Capitol not so willing to clear many of the main samples that made the album what it was. “The samples affected the main songs on the album that I wanted to put out as singles and the ones I wanted to really push. I am like damn! I like that song, I can’t just change it, we tried to change the sample and it wasn't the same shit, we can’t replace it like that, I'm like well fuck it then”, Timbo recently told Wu-International. 

Eventually Capitol pulled out of the deal but since they had paid the studio time, engineers and whatever they demanded 2.0 points of sales if Royal Fam was to release the album through another label. This was a deal that unfortunately would make it extremely hard for the crew to find a willing distributor of the album for a decade to come. It was first in 2005 that independent label, Nature Sounds, picked it up and prepared it for release. How much of the album that was to be the same as the 1996 version, or if many of the tracks were recorded around 2005, is still unknown since no definite tracklist has been made available. However, the label released a promotional copy of the album, featuring 12 tracks and tagged as Timbo King Presents the Royal Fam. This advance included “Sumthin’ Gotz Ta Give”, “I Declare War” from the single as well as a few tracks that had previously appeared on the “Yesterday, Today…” bootleg. This indicates that it was indeed the original mid-‘90s album that Nature Sounds was to release in full. Also by judging from the sound, I would guess that all the songs on the sampler was recorded somewhere between 1995 and 2000. The main problem was again that the tracks clearly wasn’t professionally mixed down and mastered yet. But although the sound wasn’t all it should have been, the material of musical quality on the disc spoke for itself. Filled with soundscapes constructed around dark, paranoid and claustrophobic sample-based production, the LP sounds like something related to “Temples of Boom” and “Tical”. Timbo King has quotables on every track and verses like the ones on “I Declare War” and “Musical Chairs” sounds just as powerful today as when they first was heard. The presence of Dark Denim, Mighty Jarrett and Sha Recka as well as guests like Hell Razah, Prodigal Sunn and True Master makes it feel like a Family affair of greatness.

As you can guess, Nature Sounds too shelved the album eventually and an official release of the album is getting less and less likely with every day. At least we got the advance copy of it which I am of course sharing with y’all in case you don’t have it since before – it’s well worth your time. The first 12 tracks presented here are the actual promo CD with the proper sequencing with a running time of about 40 minutes; Timbo King is coming with his first official solo album this year, “From Babylon to Timbuktu” with productions by Bronze Nazareth, Lil' Fame, and an apperance by RZA amongst others so be prepared because I know it will be a banger for sure. Head over to Wu-International to read the full interview with the man himself in promo of that album, great interview well worth reading and a little something to listen to while you're listening to "Black Castle". Enjoy!


ROYAL FAM - "BLACK CASTLE"

01. "Intro"

02. "Blame Us"

03. "Rules 101"

04. "Invitation Only"

05. "All The Kings Men"

06. "What You Think"

07. "Black Castle"

08. "I Declare War"

09. "Once Upon A Crime"

10. "Army Brigade" (Ft., True Master)

11. "Somethin' Gutz Ta Give"

12. "Musical Chairs" (Ft. Prodigal Sunn"