The FIRM - What's the verict?

The Firm album had a lot of things working against it at the time of its release. For one thing Hip Hop was just moving into the shiny suit era where popping cristal and living "the good life" was on constantly being flashed. Now granted a mafioso rap record inspired by Martin Scorse and "Scarface" could definitely get away with spending large money on champagne, fine cuisine and poppin' tags. but it was the shiny suit type beats that didn't work at all. Luckily for every "Firm All Stars" or "Fuck Somebody Else" there as a "Firm Fiasco" or a "Desperados". Secondly these were all New York cats, and some of the hottest cats on the streets at that particular moment at that, yet it was released and co-executive produced by Dr. Dre. This is not a knock on Dr. Dre but we all know that he was in between signture sounds from between his Death Row days and what would become his Aftermath/"2001" sound. That's not to say that Dre didn't deliver bangers but this was a point where everything he touched didn't turn to gold. There's excellent Dr. Dre productions on The Firm album, whcih in fact was the first Aftermath LP, such as "Phone Tap", "Firm Fiasco" and "Untouchable" and these is the type of records we wanted an entire The Firm album to sound like - nothng but street shit. Unfortunately that's only about 50% of what we ended up getting.

The other half of the production team and the co-execs were The Trackmaster who had a long standing relationhip with both Nas, AZ and Foxy Brown at this point but would also go on to manage Nature for his debut album on Colombia in 1999. Granted we can't lay the blame on The Good Doctor's doorstep, neither can we lay it at the extended Trackmasters family (Poke, Tone, L.E.S., Curt Gowdy and Dave Atkinson). Because both teams made great music for the project, and both teams made some equally weak music for the projet as well. If anything I think both the pros and cons should be shared equally between all the major players involved (Dre and his production team, The Trackmasters and their production team, Nas, AZ, Foxy and Nature).

What bugs me is that this could've been a true street classic that would be remembered to this day as a great follow-up to "It Was Written", but it just wasn't to be. Let's start with the negatives and build from there - while AZ absolutely murdered all of his verses, Nature did a good job and Foxy was being Foxy, Nas was occassionally phoning it in but to be fair he did have some excellent verses along the way. Second all the skits beside the intro and maybe one more could easily have found its way to the trash can. Biggie started the stupid sex skit on an Hip Hop album, but seriously who the hell want to listen to AZ or Foxy Brown fuck on record? Nature was dope on this LP so I'm not even going to mention the Cormega connection or what could have been as a negative. What I will mention is the several songs that were either delted from the final tracklist or appeared on B-sides or mixtapes and that could have made the LP a whole lot stronger. But we will get to all that later.

The album had the mafiosos concept set up all the way back with "Affirmative Action" ('It Was Written') and "La Familia" ('Ill Na Na') and the album starts of brilliantly in this fashion with the intro, "Firm Fiasco", the excellent "Phone Tap" and "Executive Decisions". This is quickly then derailed with sugar coated BS like "Firm Family", "Firm All Stars" and "Fuck Somebody Else". However for the first four songs we are on our way to a classic album, Dr. Dre really did his thing on "Phone Tap" and "Firm Fiasco" mainly working together with Chris "Glove" Taylor wo's been around since 'The Chronic' days. The drum programming is straight slamming, the guitar melodies and the occassional electric piano chords and female vocalizations make both "Phone Tap" and "Firm Fiasco" nothing short of Dre classics. And while "Firm Fiasco" is a great introduction to the crew by Foxy, Nas and AZ (god damn, did AZ not murder that verse) but it's "Phone Tap" that is the lyrical masterpiece with Nas and AZ going back and forth over a tapped phone, with the two trying to talk through the static without incriminating themeselves. Dr. Dre plays the phone-tapping fed on the hook here,

"Executive Decisions" is the exact type of shit this album should've sounded more like as it's similiar i vibe and style to both "Affirmative Action" and "La Familia". Nas has a sick opening verse and the hook is straight up crack over those lovely strings but it might just be Nature who shines the brightest here. That is until you hear AZ's unbelivable flow that is though. All in all a monster of a record and at this point people had all the expectations in the world that this LP would be solid as hell.

So then we get to "Firm Family", a Dre produced collaboration between Nature and Dre. This isn't actually a bad record, but it's a Dr. Dre record, complete with the West Coast vibe and live instrumenttion by Sean Cruse (guitar), Kamara Kambon (keys), Jerry Moore (flute), Mike Elizondo (bass) and a summer-type cookout vibe interpolation of Sexy Mama by The Moments (1973). Both Nature and Dre does a good job but once again this should never have been on The Firm record. We needed beats like the three preceeding joints, "Affirmative Action" or "East Coast / West Coast Killaz". Oh well, at least it's a decent summer jam.

Well The Trackmasters sure ain't going to be worse for wear in producing something godawful that have absolutely no business on the album. Unlike "Firm Family" which was actually a tight joint on its own, "Firm All Stars" is The Trackmasters getting jiggy with it and though Nas is on the hook the verses comes courtesy of Foxy Brown and her little brother Pretty Boy. They had joints like "Time" and "State Vs. Sosa" and they thought this wa the way to go? What the actual fuck!

"Fuck Somebody Else", another Dre production, another Foxy Brown solo song. I don't know what the hell these guys were thinking here becasuse this is just wack. It's of course an interpolation of "You're Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else" by the Jones Girls from 1979. This ain't no Firm shit!

"Hardcore" is once again Poke and Tone getting jiggy with it while Esco and Foxy is going back and forth. While the beats are a little to radio friendly circa '97 for my liking I can dig this as Nas and Foxy got bars on here. And speaking of bars the next joint is really an interlude produced by Dr. Dre and Mel-Man called "Untouchable" featuring a verse Nas ghostwrote for Hose of The Bravehearts. Why the fuck didn't thiey give this the song full treatment, it's that ill.

"Five Minutes to Flush" is Nature solo song, and a concept song at that. As Dre was constantly doing around this time he made interpolations of classics (sort of like Puffy but way better) and here he and Glove is remaking "Five Minutes of Funk" into "Five Minutes to Flush". Basically the Feds are at Nature's door and he better make rid of that drugs he got stashed ASAP. I fuck with this cut, it got that slamming Dre funk, the Roger Troutman talkbox, and an excellent take by Nature. But should it have been on this album, that's the question?

"Desperados" on the other hand is vintage Firm shit, produce by Curt Gowdy, Poke and Tone who's guitar driven beat is instantly rewind worthy. The only fault here is that this joint was originally 6 minutes long as proven by the original leak on a DJ Clue tape. On this album version Nas and Foxy Brown's verses are nowhere to be found and as excellent as Canibus' verse is I'm not sure who actually took it between him, AZ and Nature. Now if we can only get perfect CDQ/NO DJ FLAC version of the original version.

Now we have reached the most commercil record on an album that already has too many of them. Even the producers Poke and Tone kind of dissed this record (in fact L.E.S. produced it while Dr. Dre mixed it and added some live instrumentation). The idea was to come out the gate with a commercil single but you had fucking Nas, AZ and Dr. Dre, what you needed was street singles and a a street album. What's funny is that the remix known as the "World Famous" remix and appeared on some versions of the 12" single was so much better on all levels.

Noreaga appears on "I'm Leaving" together with Nature, and brings a lot of that "War Report" style while Poke and Tone does an excellent job with the guitar heavy production and heavy drum programming. Nature's final verse is some heavy shit for sure. AZ and Haf-A-Mill did a lot of heavy records together and "Throw Your Guns" surely does not dissapoint as the album closer in any way shape or form. Drum programming and bass line is knocking and the guitar sample and the occassional cuts makes for an excellent album closer.

But god damn, is this album frustrting or what? It features probably 30 minutes of really dope music with excellent lyrics, strong beats by some of the best producers in the game, coool concepts, but the remaining 25 minutes is hardly what i would think anyone would wanted from a Firm album. And when you take into account that there's at least 20 minutes of unreleased material that never made the final cut it really tells you how dope this LP could have been. Download "Time" produced by Dr. Dre, and featuring Nas, AZ and Nature below as well as the World Famous remix of "Firm All Stars", featuring Mary J. Blige on the hook! 


Download @ ZippyShare
01. "Love is Love" (AZ / Nature)
02. "Affirmative Action Remix" (Nas/Cormega/Az/Foxy Brown)
03. "Firm Biz Remix" (The Firm)
04. "Time" (The Firm / Nas / AZ / Nature)

D.I.T.C. Still going STRONG

The entire legendary D.I.T.C. posse and the extended Diggin' in the Crates posse gang, has stayed busy from 1988 to 2018 to say the least. Bursting on to the scene with Jazzy Jay and his label, super DJ Diamond D and MC Rob in '88 when they made noise with the single "I'm Not Playin'" which was also the name of the Ultimate Force LP that unfortunately got shelved until 2007  While the album wasn't officially released for almost 10 years it sure as hell made waves and started the D.I.T.C. brand as Jazzy Jay's studio in The Bronx became the go-to-studio for the producers and emcees in the Bronx Area that Jazzy saw potential in. within a couple of years, the Diggin' in the Crates brand was established, building on Lord Finesse's classic "Funky Technician" and Showbiz & AG's "Soul Clap" EP. Diamond, 'Ness, Showbiz & AG was in a couple of years expanded to a full fledged crew including super-talented Big L and OC as well as, produced Bucwild and Fat Joe Da Gangsta. Not to mention semi-related affiliates like Party Arty, D-Flow, AG's brother Wally World, to name a f ew.

D.I.T.C. is probably the one crew that's on the level of Wu-Tang Clan in continuing to release solid projects amd through their The DITCEnt.com Shop you can still grab both free digital albums and physical  vinyl and CD:s. A couple of years back we got the excellent "Mugshot Music" trilogy from Showbiz & AG, "The Diam Piece" by Diamond D,  Lord Finesse's instrumental series and so much more. In other words few crews still goes as hard as the Diggin' in the Crates crew and much of the music is free so don't sleep. Only recently OC dropped the digital but limited "Same Moon, Same Sun" LP via the DITC Store. That project doesn't seem to be available anymore but don't cry over spilled milk because the lyrical phonemona that is Omar Credle has already struck gold again with yet another LP. This one, entitled "A New Dawn", which now be pre-ordered from the site so don't sleep on its February 23 release date. There's both vinyl pressings and CD:s  to grab so hurry up and buy!

As if this wasn't enough Showbiz is also releasinga new project through the site, this one called "A Room Therapy" and officially drops and should actually be out now (although the webstre says Pre-order). The CD goes for 12.99 while LP heads will be forced to pay the somewhat hefty sum of ... About the project it says that it features prodcution by Show, Motif Alumni (who has really shown and prove over the last ew years or so), OC, AG, Tashane Bars, Tashane (R.I.P.), A-Bless, Majestic Gage and Jay Nortey. At the moment there's actually a free digitalal download on the DITCEnt.com page so as they say "Hurry up and buy". The same goes for Show & AG's very overlooked 2017 project "Take It Back" EP which i still upp for free digital download, physical copies and if you want to show at least a little support you can get the LP version rather than the free EP version for only a minimum dollar. D.I.T.C. always move with the times while staying true to their roots!

Yo, and since it's Lord Finesse's birhtday today I think it's only right i'll hit you up with a gem or two of his that's might ne all that well know. Check it out:

[Article/Review] RZA, Hollywood & Banks N Steelz

THE INTRODUCTION - How did we get at this point?
RZA and his Wu-Tang Clan brethren were one of the main reasons I feel in love with Hip Hop and also an imporant part in what made me so interested in sample based music. I've written extensively about the Wu and The RZA on these forums throughout these years, and as I made clear in my rceet artcle on "Bobby Digital: In Stereo", there's to my mind never been as talented Hip Hop producer around. He totally threw out the rule book and said "fuck it, if it sounds good to my ears it will sound good to others". Loops that didn't fully connect, sounds of rusty chain being dragged throughout entire songs, loops played backwards and accentuated by a scratch, and often extremely simple piano lines (which wss a main feature of "Return to the 36 Chambers"; ODB's debut). Even Pete Rock has gone on record saying that he was flabbergasted that he was able to make stuff like this come out as dope, but he couldn't other than recognize his genius. RZA was always a DJ and went entirelty by ear, if a number of elements might work, if it souded good once he put it together (many producers like True Master has likeed his production style and layering of samples to a house of carts - if one card/sample falls, everything is blown). There's a saying that if it's not broke, don't fix it - but few producers has moved so far from his original style so that he has alienated a large majority of his old fans.

The first big change happened in the early days of recording "Wu-Tang Forever". When visiting a music store to buy 10 000 USD worth of samplers, computer software and production tools, he had a sort of "epiphany" if you will. The store clerk, or music demonstrator or whatever, recognized RZA and being one of those obvious hip-hop haters, and even worse a disgrunled wannabee musician that couldn't work with music other than selling the materal to real musicians. Recognizing RZA he not only attacked this man whose music was praised by millions of people, he went as far as saying that The Abbot wasn't even a real musician by any stretch of the word. As RZA grew up on the Stax, Motown and classic Soul of the '70s he probably had long wanted to play an instrument and compose in the same way as masterminds like Al Green. This was the day that the seed that gradually started to change Wu-Tang's music was gradually beginning to change. Diggs started reading up and studying western music theory which of course is a truly great and important mathematical sysem, though it somewhat doesn't conform with the sound of sample based Hip-Hop. As RZA was still on his old path (putting together sounds like a DJ, by ear, at his point) I'm sure that part of his immersion in this musical theory originally gave him some amazing insights that allowed him to do some absolutely marvelous ish by conforming to two worlds. The first beat he applied his newfound knowledge on was the Wu-Tang Clan single "Triumph" and many other songs on "Wu-Tang Forever", and then "Bobby Digital (In Stereo)". The problem was that the unpredictability of a RZA sample slowly started to diminish more and more throughout the years, and that had been one of the main things that really was his niche.

To say that RZA learning and understanding western music theory and striving to learn instruments like piano and guitar single handledly destroyed RZA's legacy as the greatest hip hop producer of time is nothing short of plain bullshit. It was more weapons at his disposal but you could sometime tell he so despearetely felt he wated to be an accepted "real" musician that he forgot his origins and like him and his Wu brothers (and many others) often has said - "you can't know your future unless you know where you came from"). There's amazing RZA productins where he succesfully meshes the western musical traditions, symphonies orchestras, his knack for cinematic scoring (which has always been evident in his music since the mid-'90s) with raw rhyming. Some of the best examples of more recent songs are "Fatal" and "Thirsty" from the "Blade Trinity" soundtrack and the absolutely mindblowing "Chambers Of Fear" (see above). And he was still giving artists like Ghost ("Run", "Kunta Fly Shit", 2004), Mehtod Man (five tracks on "4:21", 2006) and Masta Killa (three tracks for "No Said Date", 2004) that vintage Wu sound. Not to mention something super gritty like the "Brutality" single for Sunz Of Man member Prodigal Sunn that was released in 2005 - or how about the more recent joints he gave Game and Talib Kweli, respectively.

I could easily make a compilation of newish RZA beats that still bangs HARD as hell to show you that he can bring that back when he wants to. But I'm not going to act like RZA is the producer he once was neither. Whenever The Abbot drops a really hot beat that make you throw on the stink face is getting rarer and rarer. For me the last RZA produced albums that I really and truly fell in love with from fron-to-back was "8 Diagrams" (yep, I said it - amazing album right there, and I'm going to write a separate article on that one soon enough ro expand my thoughts on why I think its one of the best albums of 2007) and the "Afro Samurai" soundtrack(s) (mainly the first one, though the second one was about 50/50 on the bangers scale - so combining them as I have suggested before makes for a damn fine album). "A Better Tomorrow" was not a bad album but it wasn't what we as Wu fans wanted to hear, but whereas its group predecessor had a whole lot of character, was experimental in nature and carreid a somber mood throughout this album sounded somewhat run-of-the-mill.

THE REVIEW (5/10)

And now there's this collaboration with guitarist, singer and instrumentalist Paul Banks of alternative rock band Interpul. An unexpted collaboration if I ever heard of one. I have a hard time imagine there's many people who are both Interpol and Wu-Tag fans and though I only heard the album one time, I really don't have any urge to play it again. The juxtapoisition of these two musical styles sound rather forced, yet it's its own thing and i don't think it will really satisfy either Wu fans or Interpol fans. RZA's verses sound to self-conscious as he feel the need to say something profound but ofen falling flat. Some of the beats have interesting aspects but then they are co-producitions that are musically world aparts. I kind of like the first single "Giant" and there's music that can be repated here but overall it's the most dissapointing album The Abbot has ever been apart of. Of course he's not going go back to Gravediggaz days but it's quite clear he didn't give two fucks about his oriignal fans her - instead it seems he was aiming for recognition by the white indie press and fans, which is just said consiering that this is the guy whose music that everyone from Hollywood actors, to politicanss to the junkie on the corner loved. But the music they love him for is already there and was made between 1992 and 2006 (some would say 1998 but I think it's idiotic to claim RZA hasn't doe much marvelous music since then, albeit less frequetly). 

"Anything But Words" isn't something anyone but RZA and Paul Baks themeselves would want to hear, and this is coming from someone who has always defeneded and embraced (most of) The Abbot's musical changes and challenges. Will we ever see a classic RZA produced album again ? At this point and time, it seems unlikely but he has suprised us before. These days it seems that the best RZA helmed tracks apepars on the various soundtrack he's working on. "The Man With The Iron Fist" was actually a very dope album and though he didn't really produce the majority of them, he was the de-facto leader and mastemrind behind "Chamber Music" and "Legendary Weapons" - a collection of Clan members, Killa Beez and underground New York emcees entangled in rhyming sessions on a given topic, set to the live rendition of typical hip hop beats  y The Reveleations. All very solid albums, and despite what some might ´say, there's still hope for future Wu bangers, but  remember it's not 1995 anumore.

[Comp] RZA as BOBBY DIGITAL - "Pre-In Stereo"

Following up my article on the merits of RZA's 1998 solo debut "In Stereo" on GeeStreet/V2, I decided to put together a compilation highlighting the transforation of Bobby Steels to Bobby Digital on wax as we was able to hear it. As I mentioned in the article, although it might have sounded like that to many of us at the time, the stripped down sound of RZA's digitized orchestra wasn't born out of thin ear but was something The Abbot was slowly perfecting deep down in his basement studios, only letting out small pieces at a time for heads to show up before letting the whole album touch down in late '98, following up Method Man's "Tical 2000: Judgement Day" and Cappadonna's "The Pillage". To me it's very close to a personal classic and a stronger LP than either of the aforementioned projects - it is also the only solo album by RZA that I think really shows how dope he really is as an artist. The close-to-sample free sonic enviroment created through a multiplex of keyboards and synthesizers that could come close to the sound of a 19 piece orchestra. A brilliant mix of the digital and the analog, and to top it all off it was a well put together concept album - telling the story of the superhero Bobby Digital and his struggles in the Americna ghetto. As "Wu-Tang Forever" and songs like "Sunshower" pointed our RZA was preparing an intense project full of wisdom and knowledge with lyrics touching on politics, 5% and Nation of Islam teachings, the art of war, and spirituality. This album was to be titled "The Cure" and has today taken on almost mythical proportions as the rapping producer realized he wasn't in the right mindstate to proudce such an important lyrical masterpiece. Instead he created the persona of Bobby Digital, mixing his own hectic upbring in the '70s and '80s with blaxploatation flicks and comic books in the creation of his very own superhero. In the masked character of Bobby Digital he was able to indulge in full misoginy, weapon fetishes, violence, drugs, and over the top movie scenarios.

85 percent of the LP was produced by RZA hismelf, with the exception of Inspectah Decks excellent, mystic Portishead sampling "Kiss Of A Black Widow" and the interlude "Airwaves" which really is RZA's verse stricty lifted from the Wake Up Show Anthem '99 twelve inch - the linear notes mistakenly credit King Tech as the prodcuer of "Love Jones" which is most likely wrong. RZA got a special, kind of ruff and rugged voice so he sure needs several guests and not too long a running time to create a poewerful vibe that never let the listener lose interest - and "In Stereo" is a front-to-back materpiece as long as you lose the four bonus tracks at the end. 


Not couning the music on "Wu-Tang Forever" (where he first started using the digitial orchestra) there is at least 10 songs that is increasingly Bobby Digital joints, starting with the Hide-Out Remix to Method Man's "The Riddler" from 1996 and ending with "Cakes" by Bobby Digital and Kool  Rap. Grab it below for a nice bite size of Bobby Digi Digi..

BOBBY DIGITAL - "STEREO OR MONO - ITS B.O.B.B.Y." (1998)

01. "Belly Of The Beast"
02."The Chase"
03. "The Riddler" [Bobby's Hide-Out Mix] (w. Method Man)
04. "Nurmeg" (w. Ghostface Killah)
05. "Windpipe" (w. Ol' DIrty Bastard & Ghostface Killah)
06. "Project Talk" (Ft. Beretta 9) [Interlude]
07. "Terrorist" [Director's Cut] (Ft. Black Knights & Killarmy)
08.  "And Justice For All" (w. Method Man & Killarmy)
09. "Shaolin (6eme Chaundron)" (w. Arsenik)
10. "Cakes" (Ft Kool G Rap)
11. "Do You Hear The Bells" [So Called Freestyle]
12. "Bobby Digital Audio Interview: 'In Stereo Bonus Disc'"

BOBBY DIGITAL - "IN STEREO OR MONO.... It's B.o.B.B.Y." ('98)

[Slept On Classics / EP Comp] LL COOL J - "14 Shots To The Dome"

LL Cool J has had a pretty strange career and these days he's almost all absolte (although I was one of the few who actually found a lot to like on "Exit 13"), but his early work from 1985 to 1995 brought him up to legendary status and that can never be taken away from him. From his incredible debut "Radio" which revolutionized the way Hip Hop was supposed to sound with its minimalist production (reduced by Rick Rubin), the young LL's sure shot flow and cocky lyrics delivered with that unmistakable voice and flow - man that was something else. "BAD" was another good album, but it didn't quite pack the punch of his debut although it featured several cuts that was on the same level as the debut. The rauncy lyrics was still there, and having switched producers to the L.A. Posse which featured the extremely talented and severely underrated DJ Bobcat, a long wwith Dwayne Simmons and sometimes DJ Pooh the album featured an unmistakable raw sound best exemplified on the title track, the fun rock anthem meets DJ extravaganza "Go Cut Greator Go", the storytelling (although basic) on "The Bristol Hotel" and "My Rhyme Ain't Done" and the powerhouse performance of "Ahh, Let's Get Ill". This was LL's true breakthrough album and the main reason was both it's strenghts and biggest failure - "I Need Love". A sugar sweet love serenade, not much more hardcore than anything from Michael Boltons catalouge it had girls going crazy but alienated many of his street fans that came up on "Rock The Bells", "I Can't Live Without My Radio" and "I Need A Beat". The success of "I Need Love" would be a blessing and a curse if I ever saw  one - it gave LL's first real hit single, and it made him realize that he should go after the ladies more with these sugar sweet hip-hop ballads. On the other hand, I respect it because it was a niche that hadn't been done to that extreme before and it was imporant in thoe days that each big rapper had a gimmick or niche of his or their own.

The follow-up "Walking With A Panther" was as misguided as can be on so many levels, and it showed a clear disconnect on what LL thought his fans wanted from him and what society in large wanted from an Hip Hop emcee at that time. The cover sported him with a black panther, clearly trying to casch in on the Black Power movement label mates like Public Enemy was fully immersed in. The problem was that except for a couple of Bomb Squad productions the album was filled with braggadocious rhymes and songs aimed for the ladies. And on top of that he cut the two best tracks from the LP - the Rick Rubin produced "Going Back To Cali", "Jack The Ripper" and the classic LL "Crime Stories" (they all turned up on the cassette only). With this LP people were definitely counting out Uncle LL, but as the artist he was he wasn't let one wack album halt his career. Instead he got with the hottest producers of day; fellow Queens/Juice Crew superstar Marley Marl and produced one of the best comeback albums hip-hop has ever seen in "Mama Said Knock You Out" - it featured "Around The Way Girl", but that was more New Jack Swing than sugary ballad and otherwise it was filled with hardcore Hip Hop joints, impeccable lyricism, funky beats, and one of the most powerful Hip Hop singles ever recorded - the title track, produced by Bobcat and Marley Marl. This was a triumphant return if I ever saw one!

But how do you follow up such greatness? LL continued working with Marley Marl and Bobcat (as well as relative newcomer QDIII), and right from the first track - "This Is How I'm Comin'" with it's powerhouse knockout of a beat, pounding bassline and agressive flow it was clear that this was an attempt to create "Mama Said..." the sequel. To my ears it certainly works, I absolutely love that record to death. There were some suspect cuts like "Pink Cookies In A Plastic Bag Gettin' Crushed By Buildings" (you'd have to look for a more hamfisted metaphor - the remix by Easy Mo Bee which was used by Easy Mo Bee was straght fire though), "Stand By Your Man" and "Back Seat Of My Jeep". The main criticms of the album at the time was that critics and some fans felt that LL was overly influenced by Treach of Naughty By Nature and tried to become somewhat of a thug rapper. To me this was never a problem, at all, LL is a actually a good actor and when he rhymes stuff like "Saber tooth, the truth/ Ha-coot, spit the juice!/ And let the hot ass lead loose and let it fly/ Betty bye bye if you're ready to die" I don't feel he's more inauthentic than the vast majority of these studio gangsters out here everywhere. And he got the flow and beats to back it up - matter of fact, flow wise and some of the production is even heavier than it's masterpiece of a predecessor.

I'm writing this post to give the album the credit I think it really deserves as it has been put down so much. I can imagine alot of people in this day and age have considered buying it, looked at the reviews and felt that it wasn't for them. But tracks like the [uncredited] K-DEF productions "Funkadeli Relic", "Straight From Queens" and the Lords Of The Underground assissted "No Frontin' Allowed" stands among LL's most fierce productions of all time and I can't see how any LL fan can dismiss these bangers out of hand like that. Not to mention the album closer "Crossroads" - a continatuion of the final track of "Mama Said..." ("The Power Of God") but with LL going much deeper showing that he's far from a a one- or two trick pony, and all set over one of Bobat's most ambitious productions of all time. Here's what he had to say about its making - "One of the greatest records that LL and I have ever done is called “Crossroads” and it’s on that album. I used a full harmonic orchestra on that record in New York. We used 105 tracks on this song. This song is the most complex and unbelievable masterpiece I have ever created ... Go back and listen to that. I personally know that it would have taken LL’s career to the next level because you know you can only stay at a street level or mainstream level for so long and then it’s over with. You’ve got to go somewhere else with your sound and that song I believe would have taken him to that next level." (Source) It's the perfect album closer to an already intense albums that showed more range from LL than perhaps any other album he's done either since and when LL stopped working with DJ Bobcat and Marley Marl he only had one truly great album left in him ("Mr. Smith" - though I know that's debatable to some). The only true missteps of the album is that they couldn't include K-DEF's absolutely mindblowing creation for the album "Year Of The Hip Hop" and the oriiginal Dr. Butcher version of "Soul Survivor"... Oh well, you can't win them all!

If you are or used to be a fan of LL and had heard a lot about bad things about this, or just dismissed it out of hand on its original release be sure to give it another chance because to my mind this and "Mama Said Knock You Out" are sister albums and perhaps LL's three finest albums along with "Radio". One thing's for sure, he pumped out true quality classics for a 10 year period then had some quality albums and singles throughout the years so no matter how much BS he continues to release at this point he will always be a legend in my mind. Below you'll find a selection of five songs that are either remixes of songs on the album (the three first songs), one song that didnä't make the final cut because of sample clearance issues and a 1993 remix he did as a favor to Mary J. Blige feauring a short LL verse which I added as a bonus to this EP comp. Enjoy!

01. "Pink Cookies" [Easy Mo Bee Remix]
02. "Stand By Your Man" [Hip Hop Remix 1]
03. "Stand By Your Man " [Hiip Hop Remix 2]
04. "Year Of The Hip Hop"
05. "Mary Jnae (All Night Long Remix)"  [*]

LL COOL J - "5 MORE SHOTS TO YOUR DOME" (1993)

[Revisited] RAKIM - "The Seventh Seal" (2009)

Damn, a few years ago I stumbled across an extremely rare Rakim track by some DJ that had uploaded it to YouTube that was absolutely bonkers but I forgot to post it for y'all and know I can't find it anymore. I'm gonna get my detective on, but in the meantime I want to get on some throwback shit while discussing his LP "The Seventh Seal". Said album is a good LP in my book, the rhymes are definitely there and it features personal future classic like "Walk These Streets", "Still in Love", "Dedicated" (say what you want about that No Doubt sample, that shit was heartfelt as hell), "Workin' For You" (whew), "Holy Are You" (oh my god) and "Man Above". Then there were the good (and in a few cases even great) but not outstanding masterpieces like "Documentary Of A Gangsta", "Won't Be Long", "Satisfaction Guaranteed", "Put It All To Music", and so on. The only joint I felt was outright wack juice was the cringe worthy rock influenced "How To Emcee" with kicked off the album nontheless and I'm sure gave a lot of heads a bad taste right from jump.

Now don't get me wrong, "The Seventh Seal" is a solid album and it's a lot better album than many claim it to be, but after a eight year hiatus following a somewhat overrated album called "The Msater" (yet it's underrated in many circles as well) I had definitely hoped for more although at the time I tried to tell myself it was a better album than it really was. It needed more bangers, it needed more New York grit, and in many cases it needed better beats. Lyrically it was all there and as Rakim, along with a very select few others (Nas, KRS-One, Ghostface) are able to keep your interest over a mediocre beat it's a worthy addition to his discography and I sure it's not his last. He did some dope records on Aftermath that has subsequently leaked but as he has explained the chemistry with Dre wasn't there so that's understandable, though I would liked for him to include "After You Die" and "Welcome to the Hood" on the album, as well as the four studio tracks that appeared only a few months before on that Live & Unreleased CD.

It became even more apparent that Ra had lost some of his impeccable ear to the streets when it was revealed that "What's Wrong", his collaboration on Marco Polo's "Newport Authority 2" was actually a scrapped joint from "The Seventh Seal". Like WTF, along with "Holy Are You" and perhaps "Still In Love", that would have been the real boom bap banger the album was in such a despeare need for. Add to that not only that but that also a slamming, hard grooving posse cut laced by Ty Fyffe called "Euphoria" was scrapped from the album in favor of being some Mp3 exclusive it just left a sour taste in my mouth. I know you have heard these joints before, but consider this tracklist for "The Seventh Seal" and tell me it's not would have made for a stronger album. Ra definitely need a good executive producer these days, and to tell you the truth he has needed one since he and Eric B. split up. And that is not to say that he's not still the God MC and has put out PLENTY of hot wax throughout the years but as far as albums goes his legacy would benefit from one classic disc. Check this tracklist brothers and tell me this wouldn't be a lot closer to an album fitting of this great of the greats legacy? Considering that the album has been out for so long I took the libery of uploading this version, if Ra or any from his camp feel this is a violation I will take it down immediatly, and either way it won't be up for long - I just want to give a chance for my beloved readers to get a chance to what in my opinion could have been. Feel free too comment! To me this is a much, much better balance of Ra's spiritual side which he conveys great on many of these songs, but strays to far away from his cassic styles when it comes to balancing the smoother joints with the boom bap his fans have come to expect. Please comment after listening - all songs on this was done and most likely at one point considered for "The Seventh Seal". Also having Nick Wiz, the ultra unterrated producer and long time Ra collaborator, produe just over half the tracks gives this exclusive Lost Tapes version a more coherrent feel to my ears. What do you think?

01. "What's Wrong" [prod. by Marco Polo] [*]
02. "Walk The Streets" (Ft. Maino)
03. "Documentary Of A Gangsta" (Ft. YQ)
04. "Man Above" (Ft. Tracey Horton)
05. "Hip Hop" [prod. by Nick Wiz] [*]
06. "Love For Sale" [prod. by Nick Wiz] [*]
07. "Holy Are You" [prod. by Nick Wiz]
08. "Working For You"
09. "Word On The Street" [prod. by Nick Wiz] [*]
10. "Message in The Song" (Ft. Destiny Griffin)
11. "Love For Sale" [prod. by Nick Wiz] [*]
12. "Euphoria" (Ft. Busta Rhymes, Jadakiss, Styles P & C. Chanel) [*]
13. "Psychic Love" [prod. by Nick Wiz]
14. "Still in Love" [prod. by Nick Wiz]
15. "Dedicated" [prod. by Nick Wiz]

RAKIM - "The Seventh Seal" [c7 update]

[Article] The Celebration Of Mediocricity

As many of you, my loyal and trusted readers, know for the last year or so The Lost Tapes have gone from a site with multiple updates daily to somethimes only 10 updates a month. I intend to get back on track with some more dope compilations and such (like the recent Freddie Gibbs one that I think came off realy well). The reason is that I've been totally immersed in the musical world of jazz and it's many offshot styles - many people think jazz and they think some lame big band BS but that's about as accurate as thinking that all hip-hop is equivalent to trap music. So one of the reasons for my lack of interest (add to that a new full-time employment) is the hundreds of incredible Hard Bop, jazz-rock, BeBop, Modal records and funk jazz albums that I've purchased over the last couple of years. 

But the more important reason, and which I think it's fitting to discuss in an article of this type, is the total watering down of Hip Hop as an artform over the last few years. There's so many times I've seen a Trap video or something remotely popular like a Rick Ross song getting heavy airplay and bringin in the big numbers and being absolutely disgusted by what I call the celebration of mediocricity (a term that I've borrowed from the great Mtume as you can see above). An estimated 90% of all aspects of commercial Hip Hop today features laughable excuses for musicians, whether we're talking about the "producer" or "the rapper". There's no virtuosity in putting together one of those beats, and there sure as hell ain't no virtuosity or skill involved in putting together half-assed rhymes celebrating the killings of young black men through direct violence or through the spreading and selling of hard drugs that ultimately destroy the nation and keep the people, especially black and poor, down. At the same time the music video has become a parody of what started out as rappers wanting to flaunt a little after growing up with nothing. Today you see a ridiciolous amount of flashing money stacks, expensive bracelets, watches, the pouring of expensive champagne and what not. It's like these peoples lives and talents are so empty that their only hope is that their blind followers might catch the sparkle of that blood diamond and want to achieve the same level of "success". Capitalism at it's finest right there. The main problem with this is that it has created a generation of a so called music scene where the majority of artists are not in it for any love of art or anything even appraoching it. They are in it for the money and the fame, and it's translates to their unimaginative wack tracks. Plain and simple. The celebration of mediocricity, indeed.

But this is an old argument and I know that most of you who read this site agrees, but there's another problem at hand which I think might upset a few more people reading this. Hip Hop, the genre as a whole, has become stagnated. Reading the above paragraphs about the commercial wackness I know many will automatically say "but you're just looking at the wrong place, there's tons of underground rappers killing it right now". Indeed, there's plenty of underground and not-so-underground rappers putting out pretty decent music at this time. They got their dope little beats, spit some cool darts, but more often than not it lacks any true originality. And this is a huge problem. Without naming names there are so many groups around today that I might listen to their new stuff and be like "yeah, this is cool, these cats can flow". But what it comes down to is that I've heard it all before, and done much better too. Back in the '80s and '90s, the real greats had their own styles, their own lane of creativity that were distinctly theirs. That is largely missing today; so many try to recreate the boom bap vibe and flows to give the fans that stuff they've been craving for years, but I've heard the beats done better if at least not just as good on projects before. Projects that is much dearer to my heart and who I'd much rather revisit. The same goes for the emcees - a lot of new(ish) MC's are nice with the wordplay and flows, but who can you name that has the instant recognizabilty and charisma of a 2Pac, a KRS-One, a BIG, a Ghostface, a Jeru The Damaja, a Posdnos, and so on, and so on. It's like why listen to the next best thing?

The most important aspect of this is that for any music to continue to thrive and stay relevant it needs to elevate, and continue to improve and change. The past is already there, and with albums like "The Chronic", "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..."; "Illmatic", "ATLiens", "Soul Food", "The War Report", "The Diary", and so on. that classic style has already been perfected. Many of the original artists are still churning out good music, but to me they have more nostalgic value than having me truly blown away in the manner i was when Ghost came back resurrected like Jesus with "Supreme Clientele" in 2000. But as I've said before there's plenty of perfectly good Hip Hop out there but if we don't get more creative artists who care as much about the art and virtuosity of creating an impeccable product we're in for some big trouble. I loved Hip Hop since the first time I heard it - never in my life had I so identified with a culture and a music that truly spoke to my soul. And throwing on "Word... Life" I still get that feeling so Hip Hop music will be a huge part of my life for as long as I live. I just hope there will continue to be many more great albums released over the years. Luckily there's been at least a handful this decade. But there's very few albums from this decade which has that effect on me. 

Was Nas prophesizing when he boldly stated that Hip Hop was dead in 2006? No, I don't believe so - I can only hope that this is the genre's weakest moment before a proper turnaround takes place where eventually real, young artist will come back to the forefront. For me the two most important artist working in the Hip Hop field today, and this might be blasphemous to many of y'all, is Kendrick Lamar and KanYe West. Kendrick Lamar proved with "G.O.O.D. Kid, Madd City" that he was not only a virtuos technical emcee (and that is something else, if an emcee isn't among the best in some respect - why the fuck would I chose to listen to him?) that could compete with the best of the old school cats we so cherish, and he had modern music on there, he had boom bap music on there, but it was all seamless, and the way he told a story had the listener on the edge of his seat. All in all, it was fine art. And then came, "To Pimp A Butterfly" which not only avoided the sophomore jinx, it absolutely crushed it - trust me when I say that this album will be held in the same regard as many of the other classics mentioned previously in this post. From start to finish there's nothing that shouldn't be on there, it's extremely well thought-out from start to finish, from lyrical concepts (much of it very complex, requiring several listens), to flows, theatricals, excellent beats, and a very fresh originality in the music. We've heard combinations of live instrumentations and samples before, but never like this. "Butterfly" is like "There's A Riot Going On" for 2015. Lamar is a true artist, not just an emcee, but someone who cares about the art of Hip Hop, someone willing to push boundaries and elevate the state of the music and as I said that is exactly what we need.

But what about Kanye West then? Does he truly qualify as a groundbreaking artist in the same vein? In my opinion, yes he definitely does. He has a tendency to dissapear so far up his own ass all too often the last couple of years, which puts his musical output in an unfair light (both "Yeezus" and "The Life Of Pablo" had some horrible decisions). But what makes him so powerful as an artist is that he is truly passionate about his music and cherish it as art, not as a museum piece but as somehting living and breathing that represents a time and a place. And just like Lamar he dares to experiment like crazy which shows an unflinching willingness to go beyond his comort zone to try to find new expressions..This is an imporant feature of all genius musicians - had Prince, Sly Stone or Miles Davis been afraid of what the critics might think of him, they would not have revolutionezed the music world as many times as they did. To me Kanye's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp A Butterfly" is for the reasons stated above, as well as their pure musical bliss, extremely important albums that should be seen as a template for artists for the sake of the elevation of Hip Hop. 

Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying we need records that sound like those two particular albums - I'm actually saying the opposite, we need more artists with unique styles but the common denominator need to be to expand on a stagnant genre. I'm equally impressed by Roc Marciano's "Reloaded" album and Freddie Gibbs "Pinata" LP with Madlib if we're talking about this decade (for my top 5, throw in eiher Nas' "Life is Good" or MF Grimm & Drasar's "Good Morning Vietnam" trilogy as well). But those albums as well had something that was far from the celebration of mediocricity I've been ranting about. Both Gibbs and Marciano (as are Nas and Grimm) are naturally born artists (coupled with years of training in writing and spitting) and their voices and subject matters are extremely captivating while their respective albums are cinematic and creative to the max. Add to that that they are full bodies of work, well thought out from start to finnish and present the listener on a journey inside the mind of the respective artist. 

The album is unfortunately somewhat of a dying trend in this iTunes microwave fast food consumer music world which is a shame. A single can of course be a banger but a single in the context of an excellent album that builds on it is something else entirely. And I don't fuck with the whole mixtape thing at all anymore. That's another thing that perhaps more than anything has enhanced the celebration of mediocricity. What I mean by that is that it has allowed artist to constantly put out three or four good songs mixed with all types of weak stuff that would have been better left on an harddrive. It needs to be a real special favorite of mine to even consider listening to a mixtape in this day and age for me. What happened to the classic EP? 5 tracks of the absolute best an artist had to offer, no filler, just straight heat. And for the record, I will always love Hip Hop and only wish to see it thrive and continue to grow but these are problems that I feel the need to discuss - pleace comment. Over and out!

[Comp/Article] THE LIFE & TIMES OF PHIFE DAWG

With the tragic passing of one of hip-hop's legendary punchline kings and rhyming sports enthusiasts music fans all over the world has been grieving since the news of Malik Taylor's passing hit the internet last week. Taylor was a man of many names, but to most people he was known as Phife Dawg from the group that perhaps was THE epitome of '90s Hip Hop, A Tribe Called Quest. I can't think of any other MC that elevated himself from a rather mediocre spitter (in my honest opinon) on "People's Instinctive Travels..." to a quick, witted, well flowing, and unique wordsmith in just a little over a year. But that is exactly what Phife did in time for "The Low End Theory" (1991) where he played a significant role and would be the beginning of Tribe including stand-out tracks featuring Phife as the sole emcee (these include one of my all time favorite songs in "8 Million Stories"). For a jazz fanatic such myself I'd have to say that A Tribe Called Quest probably came closer than any other hip-hop group or artist (including other worthy players such as GURU, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Digable Planets and Buckshot LeFonque) in actually chanelling the esthetics and spirits of jazz and seemingly effortlessly transcribing it into a Hip Hop language. Phife and Q-Tip often used their distinct voices in the same way an alto sax player like Cannonball and a tenor player like 'Trane either built tension in "dueling" each other or built on each other solos/verses. Not to mention the call-and-response nature of so many of their classic hooks, a main staple of american black music dating all the way back to the plantation field and becoming an important part of both jazz and blues ... And that's just in speaking about the vocal part of the group's legacy. Tribe truly introduced the power of the low end to Hip Hop, with their heavy use of the acoustic bass (or stand up bass if you will) to fantastic effect... not to mention their heavy reliance on the Fender Rhodes electric piano which instantly recognizable sound had helped define jazz since the late '60s and been especially important in soul jazz and early jazz fusion - two subgenres that would become extremely important as sample sources in Hip Hop over the coming years. But it was Tribe (and a few others like Showbiz and DJ Premier) who really started that trend. Hell they even got Ron Carter to play on "The Low End Theory"!

While some people unflinchingly give too much, sometimes all, credit to Q-Tip alone for Tribe's success story I would go as far as call that straight up blasphemous. I don't buy that for a second. Q-Tip was of course the defacto leader but his claim that he produced all of those records solely by himself I feel are strongly revisionist history - check out a track like "La Schmoove" by Fu Schnickens or the amazing remixes for BDP's "We In There" and that Ice Cube joint that Ali Shaheed produced all by himself. Or why not go back to the HHC interview with the whole group that ran around the time of "Midnight Mauraders" where both Ali and Tip was asked and answered the question what they used when producing their music. And it's a safe bet that up and until "Beats, Rhymes & Life", Phife had suggestions for additions to the music as well - that's just how it works within a group. The whole thing about Tribe could never have come from any single man of the crew, but was the result of thee great, yet different minds came together. In their 10 years as a functioning, working unit this powerhouse trio released five albums - four of them being extremely good, while their last album showed a group struggling to keep it together which is not to say that it doesn't have it's selection of bangers. Although it probably never would have happened either way it is now certain that that final Tribe reunion album will definitely never happen now, and that is a sad confirmation.

But I do hope that Phife recorded enough material and was close enough to finalizing his sophomore solo album which he constantly mentioned in interviews over the last years. The first single, the DJ Rasta Root produced "Dear Dilla" was both a heartfelt dedication to a fallen comrade and an incredibly dope track that spoke to any true hip hop conniseours. As most fans are likely to have whipped out their Tribe albums during the past week, I have a feeling people are still sleeping on Phife's original 1999 debut "Ventilation: Da LP". Released in the same year as Q-Tip's "Amplified", it's easy to see why Tribe didnt have a chance of continuinig post "The Love Movement" at the same time as the differences between the albums sheds light on why the latter album lacked a coherrent sound. While Q-Tip was obviously interested in going a more commercial route, with a stripped down sound without the lush Fender Rhodes sounds and sample heavy jazz esthetic mentioned above, Phife kept it as real as his love for The Knicks for his project. Interestingly enough Jay Dee played a major role in the production of both LP:s (creating four songs for "Ventilation" and its singles) but Phife would complement his work with slamming cuts by Pete Rock (including the criminally overlooked "Melody Adonis", a boom bap manifesto which also featured a Beatminer on the turntables), Hi-Tek, Supa Dave West, Fred Wreck and least succesfully Rick Rock. While it's not a perfect album by far, it is still well worth several listens and was ample proof that Phife could do it on his own although it in a way did show that he sounded best in a grou setting. The same can be said about Q-Tip and "Amplified", and Shaheed's subsequent Lucy Pearl LP the following year. What all three projects truly proved was that each member of A Tribe Called Quest were dope on their own but when they came together as a unit that they truly made miracles happen. Don't forget that!

Though Phife Dawg was quiet the last few years, barely even making guest appearnces (save for some excellent contributions to Slum Village's last two albums and a banger for producer Oh No), he had already left his mark on hip-hop as a culture, on hip-hop as a music form, and on hip-hop as an art form. I hope more people will start to realize how integreal he truly was to A Tribe Called Quest, a group that is often held in the highest of high esteem and often top countdowns of the genre's greatest groups of all time. So while we continue to bump Phife Dawg's music over the coming weeks, let us bump "Ventilation: Da LP" and its B-sides, let us bump Tribe's "People's Instinctive Travels...", "Low End Theory", "Midnight Mauraders", "Beats, Rhymes & Life" and let us bump "The Love Movement". But why should we stop there?!

For your listneing pleasure and in honor of Malik Taylor, also known as The Funky Diabetic and The 5 Foot Assassin, I have put together a compilation of some of his work not appearing on either of the albums mentioned above. It also excludes remixes unless it feature a unique verse by Tha Dawg, such as on the "Stressed Out" single version. Included are tracks ranging from his breakout year, 1991, and up until his final single - the previously mentioned "Dear Dilla", which takes on another dimension of sadness now thaat he himself faced a somewhat similiar fate at a way too early age. Included are production work and additional vocals by musicians such as Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Q-Tip, Consequence, Chi-Ali, Black Sheep, De La Soul, Diamond D, Pete Rock, Chip Fu, Whitey Don, Oh No, J Dilla and Slum Village but there's no question that this is Phife's show all the way. Included are also most of the rare underground 12" EP:s he released throughout the years. YOU'RE ON POINT PHIFE!! REST IN POWER!!

01. "Ya Heard Me"? [prod. by Dilla] [1998]
02. "If Men Are Dogs" (1997)
03. "Brooklyn / Queens AllStars" (1997)
04. "Pains & Strife" (w. Diamond D & Pete Rock) [1997]
05. "Scheming" (w. Slum Village & Posdnous) [prod. Dilla] (2010)
06. "Push It Along" (w. Slum Village) [prod. by Dilla] (2013)
07. "Miscallenous" [DJ Hi-Tek's Luv Boat Mix] (1999)
08. "La Schmoove" (w. Phife & Ali Shaheed) [1992]
09. "Let The Horns Blow" (w. Chi-Ali, Black Sheep & Dove)
10. "Artical" [Original Posse Mix] (w. Whitey Don & Chip-Fu) [1992]
11. "Game Day" (Ft. Rodney Hampton) [prod. by Dilla] (1996]
12. "Diggy Diaect" (w. Hawkeye) [prod. by DJ Rasta Root] [2003]
13. "U Know U Want It" (w. Charlie & Rose) [prod. DJ Rasta Root] (2003]
14. "Who Got The Funk" (w. Scientists Of Sound) [prod. by Q-Tip] (1995)
15. "Dues N Don'ts" (w. Jesse James) [prod. by Oh No] [2008]
16. "Thought U Wuz Nice" [prod. by J Dilla] [1996]
17. "Dear Dilla" (The Closing Statement) [prod. Rasta Root] [2012]

BONUS TRACK
18. "Stressed Out" [Baby Phife's Version] [prod. by The Ummah] [1996]

PHIFE DAWG - "CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MALIK TAYLOR" 
[mirror link]

[EP] KENDRICK LAMAR - "Untitled / Unmastered"

I often say that Kendrick Lamar and Kanye are the only two "mainstream" artists in Hip Hop (as in guys who is actually selling records) that are really doing something new and exciting, creating something that might very well be remembered and held in high esteem 20 years from now. Kendrick's "Good Kidd, M.A.A.D. City" was absolutely brilliant, but it was "To Pimp a Butterfly" that really made me realize that he is one of the leadig voices of our generation. Every single verse was so well written and delivered with a lot of heart, the beats was masterfully crafted and added on exceptionally by the great LA jazz artists of the day like Robert Glasper, Thundercat, Terrance Martin and Kamasi Washington. And it all had a strong message, but Kendrick was clever enough to hide his politics well enough to fool the media machine, securing air time and big label promotion. But enough of "To Pimp A Butterfly" (let me add that it was also the best album released in 2015 before we move on).

Since then Lamar has promoted the album at shows large arenas, and in small TV studio settings like those on The Colbert Report and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Beisdes the intense material from the album a lot of these concerts containted one or two unreleased bangers that fans quickly took to the internet to beg for proper studio versions of these powerful jams. Even NBA star Lebron James tweeted to Top Dawg Entertainment CEO pleading for the tracks to be released just a week or two ago. Sometimes prayers, hundreds of Twitter fans and an NBA star can make shit happen because just yetserday Kendrick, out of nowehere, dropped a free EP containing the tracks from those performances as well as some other goodies for us all to enjoy. It's not "Butterfly" but I'll gladly take it. Featuring 8 songs all of them are untitled and are only labeled by the date they were either conceived or completed and the title of the project is "Untitled / Unmastered" which speaks for itself. 

However the meaning might be a bit deeper as TDE's CEO Punch says that Kendrick was inspired by Prince and his "Black Abum" when putting the record together - "as far as untitled me and Kendrick always talked about doing a sort of "Black Album", like how Prince did back in the day. There was no album cover, no song titles, no anything - just tracks he threw out [...] To me it just means freedom" (Source: Billboard). You can stream the full mini alubm at Spotify below (which I'm not a big fan of) or you can head over to iTunes and purchase a high quality copy for your listening plesaure.over at iTunes whhere it's availabe now.

01. untitled 01.08.19.2014 [prod. by Hit-Boy & DJ Spinz]
02. untitled 02.06.23.2014 [prod. by Yung Exclusive & Cardiak]
03. untitled 03.05.28.2014 (Ft. Thundercat, Bilal, Terrace Martin & Anna Wise [prod. by Da Internz]
04. untitled 04.08.14.2014 (Ft. Jay Rock & SZA) [prod. by Bizzness Boi & Nard&B)
05. untitled 05.09.21.2014 (Ft. Anna Wise, Punch & Jay Rock) [prod. by Nard&B)
06. untitled.06.06.30.2014 (Ft. Cee-Lo) [prod. by Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge] (!!!)
07. untitled 07 2014-2016 [prod. by Frank Dukes, Caro, Yung Exclusive, Swizz Beats & Egypt Dean)
08. untitled 08 09.06.2014 [prod. by DJ Khalil]

[Article] J DILLA's "The Diary" FINALLY Coming!

What can I say but wow?! J Dilla's "The Diary" (previously known as "Pay Jay") will finally see the light of the day! This has been among my most anticipated album for YEARS by now and all the teasing from MCA, Stones Throw and most recently RappCats about releasing this has been an ongoing drama since 2002. There has of course been a slew of posthumous releases since the great producer and rappers tragic passing of Lupus related illness - some have been brilliant ("The Shining" and "Jay $tay Paid"), some pretty damn good ("Lost Tapes, Reels & More" and "Dillatronic") and some weaker ones ("Rebirth Of Detroit", "King Of The Beats" and a bunch of mixtapes with various emcees going at it over Dilla beats). The huge difference between those albums (except for "The Shining" which was close to completed by the time of Yancey's death) and "The Diary" is that this is actually an album that Dilla put together and intended for release during his lifetime. As such it is the final true project the world will ever hear from J Dilla and as such I am grateful for the fact that it is being handled with the respect it deserves. 

"The Diary" was supposed to be the follow up to Jay Dee's first solo album after leaving Slum Village; "Welcome 2 Detroit" on BBE. After successes of producing Gold selling records by the likes of Busta Rhymes, Pharcyde, Common, De La Soul and Erykah Badu, MCA Records decided to sign J Dilla for an album contract. His only term was that they would also have to sign his friends Frank-N-Dank and release an album by them, fully produced by Yancey ("48 Hours"). As if that wasn't controversial enough, considering nobody outside of Detroit had ever heard of F-N-D at the time, the album Dilla was putting together for MCA would have him rhyming over beats by other producers. Grabbing Pete Rock, Kanye West, Wajeed, House Shoes, Hi-Tek, Nottz, Madlib, Supa Dave West, Bink!, Karriem Riggins and ?uestlove he set out to record the album simultaneously with "48 Hours" doing pre-production work at his home studio before doing the final sessions over at Studio A, Dearborn Heights in Michigan. As usual Todd Fairall was the engineer of the projects.

Perhaps not too suprisingly MCA didn't really know what to do with either album and when they were swallowed up by Geffen Records in late 2002 a lot of artists were dropped from the label - as was both Dilla and Frank-N-Dank with both albums getting shelved. A semi-official bootleg of the Frank-N-Dank album quickly hit online stores and some retailers but "Pay Jay"/"The Diary" was left as a mythical curiousity, save for the classic single "Fuck The Police" which became a favorite in many DJ's arsenal at the time. Soon after this unfortunate debacle Dilla left Detroit behind and moved to Sunny Los Angeles and Stones Throw Records. As former Stones Throw A&R Eothen "Egon" Alapatt tells it the album never completely left the great producers mind and around his last year he still wanted it to be put out to the world in the way it was supposed to be heard. All the beats and rhymes were finished though there was a lot of legalities surrounding the project (different labels, lots of different producers, guest artists, etc.) that made it hard to release. There were also some minor tweaking to be done on the LP before it could be presented as complete - for example the song "Gangsta Boogie" was supposed to feature Snoop Dogg and Kokane, but they had never managed to get the Snoop verse in time. This was problematic due to the fact that Dilla even shouted out the songs guest artist in his verse.

Then in 2008 an unathorized bootleg leaked to the internet featuring 10 songs of the project (and an alternative mix of one of the tracks). The "Pay Jay" bootleg was clearly unfinished, unmixed and unmastered, yet many fans uses this form of the album when dismissing any part of the project they didn't like. This is plain stupidity in my mind, considering that the sound quality is shit, the sequence is out of order, it is incomplete and wasn't even mixed properly. This became even more evident when RappCats started releasing EP:s of songs from the album to get the necessary funds to complete and release the album - not only did it show us that several songs featured completely different beats but the tracks that were musically the same (like "Diamonds") sounded miles better when properly mastered and mixed. In other words, no matter how many times you've heard that bootleg, you haven't REALLY heard the album as it is supposed to be heard yet. One thing I do find both intriguing and a bit irritating however is that the leaked unathorized copy had a song called "We Fucked Up" featuring Frank-N-Dank that was produced by KanYe West before "The College Dropout" made him a star. On the Pay Jay EP and upcoming album release this song has been replaced by a Dilla produced remix (or a premix?) renamed "The Anthem". To my ears the Kanye version clearly sounds like the original mix that the verses and chorus were recorded to which makes me wonder if the decision to exclude it has more to do with politics than any artistic choice on Dilla's behalf. Could it be that Kanye didn't want such an early beat to be presented on a new release? It all seems strange considering that West has voiced his admiration of Jay Dee many times before (most recently in the excellent Stones Throw documentary "My Vinyl WEighs A Ton").

Now it's February 2016 and the album is FINALLY getting a proper release, through a joint venture between Pay Jay, Inc. and the Nas owned Mass Appeal label. The album will be available on both vinyl, CD and digital and features a total of fourteen tracks (with an additional two short and untitled tracks attched to the iTunes version). Included are all the original songs from the leak (save for "We F'd Up"), the majority of tracks from the three 12" EP:s released between 2012 and 2014 and the previously unreleased "The Introduction" (listen above) and the aforementioned "Gangsta Boogie" featuring Kokane and Snoop Dogg. April 15 is the official release date so be sure to keep an eye on Rappcats.com for the latest news and information about the project.
01. "The Introduction" [prod. by House Shoes; add prod. by Dilla]
02. "The Anthem" (Ft. Frank & Dank) [prod. by Dilla]
03. "Fight Club" (Ft. Nottz & Boogieman) [prod. Wajeed]
04. "The Shining Pt. 1 (Diamonds)" [prod. by Nottz]
05. "The Shining Pt. 2 (Ice)" [prod. by Madlib]
06. "Trucks" [prod. by Dilla]
07. "Gangsta Boogie" (Ft. Snoop Dogg & Kokane) [prod. by Hi-Tek]
08. "Drive Me Wild" (Ft. Questlove, James Poyser & Pino) [prod. by Karriem Riggins]
09. "Give Them What They Want" [prod. by Dilla]
10. "The Creep (The O)" [prod. by Hi-Tek]
11. "The Ex" (Ft. Bilal) [prod. by Pete Rock]
12. "So Far" [prod. by Supa Dave West]
13. "Fuck The Police" [prod. by Dilla]
14. "The Diary" [prod. by Bink!]

[Article] Overlooked Madlib Records Pt. 1

Most fans of that ruff, rugged and raw hip-hop that would scare MTV and radio programmers should be well aware of the greatness of Otis Jackson, Jr., or Madlib as he's most commonly referred to in these circles. Few other artists, producers, instrumentalists or whatever even comes close to Madlib's insane work ethics and output during a lifetime, but Mr. Lib has more or less dedicated his entire life to music - listening to it, sampling it, remixing it, and playing it. His output as both a producer and as a mixtape DJ Jackson Jr.'s output is so varied that one can get a decent music education just by immersing yourself in to the vastness of his catalouge. You need lots of time, an open mind, and a broad music taste and a warped sense of humor to really dig a large chunk of his catalouge. While I have loved 'Lib's stuff since the first time I heard him, it wasn't until the last year or two that I truly immersed myself into his discography real heavily - somewhat of a side effect of being a full-time job seeker. With this post I wanted to put the spotlight on a bunch of incredible Madlib releases in hopes that it can work as a guide for newcomers to Madlib's music that just don't know where to start... So let's get it on, shall we?

QUASIMOTO - "Further Adventures Of Lord Quas" (2005)

While 1999's "The Unseen" are generally the Quasimoto album that comes up when discussing Madlib's best output, to me the 2005 follow-up "Further Adventures Of Lord Quas" combines the same type of raw jazz and funk sample material, neckbreaking beats and the helium infused vocals of 'Lib's wicked alter ego Lord Quas that made the debut such an original and joyous event. But "Further Adventures..." ups the ante a whole lot by being way more free form than anything Madlib had attempted up to this point. The album plays out like watching some weird '70s blaxploatation movie while listening to a Madlib beat tape on acid. There's not much solid songs in the usual sense to hold onto here - the dopest beat will appear long enough for a Lord Quas verse only to fade out into vocal samples from movies of decades past. While such a format might be too jarring for some, it can be extremely rewarding if you're willing to go along for the ride. Hip hop is one music form that really needs someone that dares to push its boundaries, playing with its form and what is acceptable, so let's hope Madlib continues banging out albums as strange as this.

SOUND DIRECTIONS - "Funky Sides Of Life" (2005)

As a jazz fan I always liked the fact that Madlib holds the genre sacred and releases his own LP:s within it, thus putting on people to the wonderful world of jazz. However I could never truly get into his albums as Yesterdays New Quintet and the likes. They are far from being bad music but compared to the true greats of the genre they could never hold my attention as a listener. Sound Directions is a different case however. The big difference here is that Jackson Jr. works more as an arranger and producer than neccesarily playing and overdubbing every single instrument by himself. Sound Directions specializes in the fusion field of jazz, meaning that it's improvisational music played with electric instruments over a funk beat. As such the music of Sound Direction is closer to the instrumental hip-hop music on the Beat Konducta projects, which is further exemplified by the choice of material the group plays on their debut album "The Funky Side Of Life". The majority of the 11 tracks covered on the LP are '60s and '70s compositions that have become staples in hip-hop sampling, such as David Axelrod's "A Divine Light". The heavily groove based music is constantly funky and Madlib brings a beat aesthetic to the arrangements which makes this the perfect middle ground between his jazz and hip hop projects. Could possibly be the most overlooked album in Jackson's entire ouvre - whether you like Yesterdays New Quintet or not, seek this one out!

MADLIB / GUILTY SIMPSON - "Before The Verdict" (2010) 

The first installment of "Medicine Show" was somewhere in between a remix album and a mixtape. Madlib and Detroit's grim voiced Guilty Simpson had since long announced a collaborative project called "OJ Simpson" and "Before The Verdict" served as the appetizer before the main course. The majority of the 17 tracks found here are remixes of songs from 2008:s "Ode to the Ghetto" but if one were to go into this without prior knowledge of its background it almost does play out like a properly constructed album. It's interesting to know that these two went into the "OJ Simpson" collaboration with the plans to record an alternative version of the "Ode..." album, in essence a remix project with a few new tracks added on. Most of the verses were re-recorded by Guilty over new Madlib beats, giving the songs a much sharper vibe than your usual remix album. The beats 'Lib tailors to Guilty's hard-as-nails voice and hardcore street lyrics are some of the dirtiest of his entire career. Murky bass lines takes center stage while muddled guitar and keyboard riffs are burried in the mix, creating imagery of menacing streets where the violence is never far away. One thing I did notice about this album is that is by no means headphones music, you need to really blast this shit out loud through some good speakers to get the desired effect.

DECLAIME - "IllMindMuzik" EP (1999)

Along with Madlib and his younger brother Oh No and producer Kan Kick, Dudey Perkins is one of the original peeps around the Lootpack and Crate Diggas Palace. I always found Perkins to be a very interesting character as it was evident early on that he was on a different vibe than the other members of his crew. Perkins was more on the spiritual tip, preaching the power of nature and the herb as a medicine and packing his music with uplifting messages. Is also one of Madlib's main collaborators, having released two very funky albums of Soul singing under his own name, but it was his powerful "IllMindMuzik" EP that first made heads take notice. Released as his rapping alter-ego Declaime this 25 minutes short album shows the peak of Madlib's early style which was somewhat more grounded than it would become, yet his dusty chops and fusion of a wider range of musical styles than most producers had already established a trademark sound. With additional sonic input from Kutmasta Kurt and vocal support by Dilated Peoples and Lootpack this is one of the most interesting yet little known early Madlib releases.

STAY TUNED FOR PART 2