[Album] SADAT X - "Agua"

When the world first heard The Brand Nubians 1990 debut album "One For All", notorious for being praised with the much hyped five mics rating in The Source, few would think that Derreck X would be the artist out of that trio to have the highest profile and largest catalouge in a few years. In fact "One For All" treated Lord Jamar and Derreck X as Grand Puba's back up band, and didn't even appear on half of the album. But sometimes the tables turn, through hard work and dedication Sadat X (as he soon after changed his name to) crafted a unique style with an unmistakable voice with lyrics that often dealt with personal feelings and surviving in a world where friends and lovers often turn out to be willing to stab you in the back when you least expect it. The only problem was that he might have started to put quantity over quality a little too much in the last ten years or so.

It's been a long time since I've been really excited about an X album, though I did like his "Love, Hell or Right" album from 2013. Now the New York artist is back with "Agua" sporting a pretty damn impressive cast list of guest producers and emcee partners. How about Pete Rock, Diamond D, Da Beatminerz, Nick Wiz, DJ Scratch, Easy Mo Bee, Fokis, Dub Sonata and Will Tell? What about Lord Jamar, Dres, Edo G, A-F-R-O, Rahzel, Cella Dwellas' UG, Milano, Shabaam Sahdeeq, RA The Rugged Man, and Wordsmith? That's a lot of features and producers and as I haven't had the time to listen yet I'm not sure how cohessive the X-Man has managed to make it sound but one thing's for sure, there's bound to be several real bangers on here to cherish. Probably more than any Sadat X albums in ten years or so. Released on Tommy Boy, the album is available for purchase in both physical and digital form now, and can also be streamed and purchased (both digital and on CD) in full via X's official Bandcamp. One thing though, the last I heard from Sadat X was that he's working on a full-length album entirely produced by Diamond D, and as usual we get one track to show for it. Well, I for one hope it's still coming. But what the hell, with Pete Rock, Da Beatminerz and Nick Wiz I sure as hell can complain. I also wasn't a fan of Will Tell on some earlier X albums, but the single/video "Murder Soundtrack" (above) with AFRO and Rahzel has convinced me has stepped his game up big time. You can also cop the physical from UGHH where you can also see the credits for each track. TURN IT UP!

[Comp] LORD JAMAR - "ON THE DEVIL'S COUCH"

I remember first hearing Brand Nubian's sophomore album "In God We Trust" and being blown away by the beats and rhymes - matter of fact this was my first introduction to Brand Nubian. Sure as a white guy, it took some critical thinking to truly get past some of the more outrageous things said, but once I understood that it's not all a matter of black and white (though it of course plays a big part), I started understand the incredible chemistry, production and lyrical onslaught that these two guys possessed. At the time the group only consisted of Lord Jamar and Sadat X with DJ Sincere, as Alamo and Grand Puba had fled after the group's other members felt they were underepresented on their classic debut "One For All" - which they definitely were; while Puba was on 14 out of 16 songs, the other two members where on about half of that. "One For All" was like a Grand Puba album guest starring two of his protogés on a bunch of tracks - ultimately, Jamar and Derric X (as we called then) received one solo track each, but out of the 16 songs on the CD edition, no less than 7 of them were Grand Puba solo joints in all but name. 

While the entire group all were heavily indoctrined in 5% ideology Puba had always been the fun-loving, laid back super slick rhymer, Derric X was the introspective MC who touched upon the perils of his and people in his personal lives, while Lord Jamar was the most political outspoken (and remains so to this day). So when Grand Puba went, many people thought the group would just fizzle out. Hell no, was the response of the remaining memebers, creating an album almost as a revenge to show that they could do it with or without the veteran Masters Of Ceremony almuni. The first hting they needed were a good producer, as Grand Puba had produced nearly all of the debut, with a few notable exceptions - three tracks was laced by Dante Ross' production team the SD50's and Dante was still with them as managerss by the time of "In God We Trust") and the song "Ragtime" was produced by Skeff Anselm, a regular alumni at Jazzy J's infamous studio where countless Hip Hop classics were created back in those day. Oh and Dave Hall produced that horrible New Jack Swing track "Try To Do Me". Speaking on the creation of the album with Unkut.com, Jamar told a no-names-given story of how it was decided that one of the producers who had worked briefly on the first record. In Jamar's word this producer kind of looked down on these two young artists, and demanded an incredible high price for each beat which would totally fuck up the budget. The producer wasn't called out by name, but it's pretty easy to figure out that it was Skeff Anslem considering that Dante Ross and SD50's was sitll involved in the making of the later albums (although in a background capacity). 

Instead Lord Jamar picked up a dusty SP1200, and a long with the record collection between the trio and their families, asked Dante Ross and some of the engineers to show him the ropes (although it's clear that he took a keen interest in the process already on the first album). The result was a much less polished album, one with all the roughness and grittiness of someone relatively new to production, but you couldn't deny the talent as Lord Jamar clearly had an ear for hot samples and the result was a much darker and more militant album than the first one. "In God We Trust" is a straight-up militant hardcore album, from the accoustic bass heavy boom bap opening of "Allah U Akbar" to the Diamond D produced Rocky sampling all-time classic "Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down" (i'm personally a huge fan of the album version while many dismiss it in favor of the single remix): and this was reflected in both the lyrics and production. Whereas "One For All" had plenty of 5% idelology it was balanced out with some fun tracks and some less-serious party anthems, whereas "In God We Trust" was Sadat X and Lord Jamar getting straight up in your face with their beliefs over earth shattering beats. It was an unexpected success amongst true heads for sure.

In 1994 the trio (with DJ Science) released the critically (severely) misunderstood "Everything is Everything" which to my ears is even better - a dividing album that is in some circles cited as the worst Brand Nubian album of all time, and in some circles as the absolute illest. To me it's closer to the latter; save for a song by Buckwild, Lord Jamar again handles all the beat making and it's now evident that he really got a grip of how to really produce sick records. The material and mixing is slicker, and there's a brilliant strangeness in the sample choices from unexpected sources such as The Average White Band, Simply Red and The Fuzz along with more typical sample stapes of the time like Lou Donaldson, George Benson and Luther Ingram.Not to mention the Simply Red sampling/covered single "Holdin' On", which has caught some hate but which I always loved. The group reuinted with Puba and released "The Foundation" in 1998 (a very good album but not as coherrent as the predecessors, despite having D.I.T.C. and DJ Premier on board), and later a forgettable LP called "Fire in the Hole". Oh and don't forget to check out his one and only solo album, "The 5% Album", featuring guest and production from Preservation, Bronze Nazareth and several Wu-Tang Clan alumni.

I've been wanting to make a compilation of Lord Jamar material and the main reason is that these youngings don't know how dope this guy really. They know him from fucking DJ Vlad's BS gossip interviews that NEVER focuses on music (doens't matter who he's talking to) - it's like the TMZ of Hip Hop - and guess what Vlad is on record saying stuff that Nas only has one good album, not any songs that could rival "New York State Of Mind", and that the best hip-hop single in the last 10 years or so happens to be "Lollipop" by Lil' Wayne. So for the sake of Hip Hop, a compilation like this is much needed to give Lord Jamar his proper credit.  The album focus mostly on Jamar's excellent prodction work throughout the late '90s for acts like Shabazz The Disciple, dead prez, Red Foxx and UGK, intersperesed with some fine guest apperances. The compilation is bookended by two of my favorite Jamar focused joints on "Everything...", something I rarely do but these two tracks are just too good and as I know a lot of people are hesitant to give this even a chance I think it works well in the context. "Return Of The Dread" is a perfect opener as it's a Jamar solo tracks and discusses beats that's pancake fat - how could you go wrong with  that. The final song, "Claimin' I'm A Criminal" is not only one of the Nu's best songs but one of the more heartfelt hip-hop joints of all time... So withour further due, download, press play, and enjoy "The Devil & His Couch" and turn that militant shit way up brothers and trusted readers.

01. Brand Nubian - "Return Of The Dread"
02. Daddy Dogg Ft. Dead Prez - "Bluesanova" [Dead Prez Remix]
03. Artifacts Ft. Lord Finesse & Lord Jamar - "Collaborations Of Mics"
04. Shabazz The Disciple - "Prelude to Pestilence" (Interlude)
05. Shabazz The Disciple - "Street Parables" (Ft. Lord Jamar)
06. Dead Prez - "Propaganda"
07. Kool G Rap Ft. Lord Jamar & Talib Kweli - "Oz Thme 2000"
08. Sadat X Ft. Brand Nubian - "The Lump Lump" [Nubian Mix]
09. Shabazz The Disciple - "The Link..." (Interlude)
10. Shabazz The Disciple - "Organized Rhyme Pt. II"
11. Red Foxx - "What The Girls Want" [Raggamuffin Hip Hop Mix]
11. UGK Ft. Keith Murray & Lord Jamar - "Live Wires Connect"
13. Brand Nubian - "Lick Dem Muthafuckas" [OG Mix]
14. Dead Prez - "The Pistol"
15. Lord Jamar - "The Sun"
16. Brand Nubian - "Claimin' Im A Criminal"

All tracks produced by Lord Jamar except:
03 prod. by Lord Finesse, 07 prod. by Domingo, 08 prod. by Buckwild

LORD JAMAR - "ON THE DEVIL'S COUCH"

ONYX Ft. Sadat X, Nature, Steele, Ali Vegas - "The Tunnel" [Big Kap Remix]

Though not being the biggest fan of Snowgoons despite everybody seeming to jump on their bandwagon they obviously produce some heat from time to time. "The Tunnel" with Cormega and Papoose from Onyx's 'Goons' laced "#WakeDaFuckUp!" was definitely such an instance. Now the album is being revisited with a few additional remixes tacked on to the end, perhaps in preparation for the rumoured M.O.P./Goons/Onyx collaboration and the illest of the bunch is the Big Kap Tribute remix to "The Tunnel" (both the song and the legendary club). Although it would have been cool to get new verses by 'Mega and Pap' as well, Sadat X, Nature, Steele and Ali Vegas represent well on this cut. 

"#WakeDaFuckUp: Reloaded" is available via Bandcamp and features the original 14 songs along with four additional remixes, including "Dirty Chops" featuring Chris Rivers and 100 Mad's Remix of "TurnDaFuckUp" which is now a posse cut featuring SickFlo, Sicknature and Snake The Rapper. Enjoy Big Kap's Tunnel tribute below and pre-order your digital copy of the album @ Bandcamp

GRAND PUBA - "The More Things Change"

Missed this when it dropped back in January but new Grand Puba Maxwell is usually a good thing. This is the title track from Grand Puba's upcoming fifth solo album which will be released through BabyGrande Records sometime this spring. Purchase "The More Things Change" @ iTunes.

GRAND PUBA - "The More Things That Change"

Hell yes! I'm always up for new music by Grand Puba, the man behind one of the illest hip-hop albums ever recorded ("Reel to Reel", duh). This is a lyricist and a true veteran here, and listening to his new single "The More Things That Change" it's evident he hasn't lost a step. Now signed to BabyGrande, this is the title song of his new album, produced by PhD, which drops this spring. So be on the lookout, 'cus I know I will. Buy the single @ iTunes.

HELL RAZAH - "Gates Of Hell" / "Patriot Act: The Mixtape"

This was actually released a couple of weeks back but I haven't gotten around to listen to it until now and totally forgot to post about it. Strictly a digital release, Hell Razah's latest album is entitled "Gates of Hell" and packs a mean punch of fourteen tracks of straight, uncut dope. There's a lot of vintage soul samples, bumping rhythm tracks, high pitched vocal hooks, and a whole lot of knowledge delivered in Razah's usual clear cut vocab. With a guest apperance by Sadat X on "Contribution X" a long with strong cuts such as "Falling Down", "Dead Poets", "Godflesh" (the single streaming above) and "The Crucifixion" this is a suprisingly strong album that I strongly recommended. Clocking it at just over thirty minutes, it's a short but powerful listen filled with clever rhymes with an important message.  I wonder whether this is newly recorded music or if this was recorded before Razah's medical problems. Either way he sounds on fire all the way through - on first listen I'd say this is one of his strongest projects yet, most definitely. Unfortunately no stream is available, but it's definitely worth the purchase from iTunes.

01. "Spiritualized" [Intro]

02. "Ghost of Malcolm X"

03. "Dead Poets"

04. "Godflesh"

05. "Cold Wind" [Interlude]

06. "Section 8"

07. "Falling Down"

08. "Unconditional Love"

09. "Angel Of Death"

10. "Purple Haze"

11. "Lamb Of God"

12. "Halos [Remix]"

13. "The Crucifixion"

14. "Gates Of Hell" [Outro]

For those who might have missed it Heaven Razah also recently dropped a free mixtape in anticipation of "Gates Of Hell". Called "Patriot Act" the DJ Fiyaa hosted mix is made up of sixteen hard hitting tracks that are mostly either previously unreleased or brand new. Big up to Razah for keeping real music alive. Tune in, turn it on and TURN IT UP!!

Download Mixtape | Free Mixtapes Powered by DatPiff.com

SADAT X - "What Up Kid"

While Sadat X has released a string of solo albums that aren't exactly masterpieces, each of his albums always continues at the very least a handful of gems (there's of course some real dope LP:s in his catalouges as well, such as "Wild Cowboys", "Experience and Education", the entire Brand Nubian catalouge, etc., and I actually really enjoyed the majority of "Love, Hell or Right"). He has been working on his "Never Left" album for quite some time, which so far has resulted in the slamming single/video for "On Fire" featuring Cormega, and a few other singles. You can stream/purchase the four singles released so far as well as pre-order the album for its January 25, 2015 release @ Loyalty Digital's Bandcamp. This includes the just released "What Up Kid", produced by Matt Velez. The tracklist also reveals guest features from Black Rob, King Tee, Dres of Black Sheep, Craig, Skyzoo and more. I'm hopeful!

[Album] SILENT SOMEONE - "I Have Company"

I'm a big fan of Silent Someone's 2012 album "Change" and its powerful grooves of laid back jazz and hard rhythms. Now the Bronx producer is back with his new project, "I Have Company", featuring a host of talented emcees from the States going in over Silent's raw hip-hop, complete with funk and jazz influences. Artists getting busy over these tracks include Akbar, Shaz Illyork, El Da Sensei, King Magnetic, John Robinson, Tame One, Emskee, Sadat X, and many more. Dave Dar appears on the single "El Greco" which you can see the new music video for up top. Released on Peasant Podium Music back in March of this year, you can stream the entire album for free or purchase the digital copy @ their Bandcamp page (also embeded below). Seems to be a digital release only for now, but well worth checking out.

[Demo] DIAMOND x SADAT X x KAMARI are The OMEN

Diamond D and Sadat X has an absolutely terrific track record dating back to their early beginnings at Jazzy Jay Studios that has lasted until to today. These guys many collaborations is definitely something I should make one of my Lost Tapes compilation on, but until then I thought I'd dig up this quite interesting demo project for a group called The Omen that was recorded in the early '00s. The trio consisted of Sadat X, female emcee Kamari and Diamond D on beats and rhymes. I remember hearing this some years ago and wasn't all that impressed by the majority of the tracks, but as time has passed I came to realize there's without a doubt some proper heat as well. 

The Omen was a very short lived group; in 2002 they released two double-A side singles on Fat Beats and Up Above Records; "Do It Now" / "Get On Up" and "It's Our World" / "Half Steppin'". "It's Our World" also appeared as an exclusive joint on DJ Rhettmatic's 2004 compilation album "Exclusive Collection". While neither Sadat X or Diamond has been outspoken about the project in interviews, my guess is that they were working on a full-length album that was close to being wrapped but when the 12" singles failed to make any noice, they put the project on the shelf where it has stayed. Luckily, at least this close to 30 minutes long demo tape leaked to the internet, giving fans a taste of what we could have expected from this LP if it had ever materialized. Of course, it's a far cry from the stronger material by the main artists and producer but it's an interesting listen for D.I.T.C. and Brand Nubian conniseours nontheless. At least half the songs bang pretty hard, and the final Godzilla sampling hardthumping banger of a monster really will get heads nodding with its on point lyrics and dark, beautiful production. Same goes for "Put It Down", the funky old school flirt "Just Can't Fuck With It Us", and so on. All songs from the 12":s are included beside the "It's Our World" joint, despite it being one of their strongest collabos if you ask me,

Who Kamari is I have absolutely no clue, since she seemed to completely dissapeared from the recording scene after The Omen failure. Most of the tracks appear in full, while some of the songs cuts off after about three minutes. There's also no track titles given for anything, but interestingly enough the first song (which might very well be the tapes strongest) is an extended version of "Put It Down" that also made it to Diamond's mixtape-type album "Grown Man Talk" in 2003 (that version cuts out Kamari's verse though).Like I said these demo never came with track titles but based that at least three of the single songs appear here, plus the "Put it Down" joint I tried to put down a tracklist below, using the hook for the titles on the remaining songs. Last but not least, thanks to YouTube's Classic Hip-Hop Visuals HD for the upload. Enjoy!

01. "Put It Down"

02. "Get On Up"

03. *unknown*

04. "What's The Fuss?"

05. "What The Fuck You Want?"

06. "Do It Now" 

07, "Half Steppin'"

08. "You Don't Want It"

CAPONE N NOREAGA / SADAT X - "Bringing the Gods Back"

While I have a kind of ambivalent relationship to CNN, as I feel that their debut album is one of the finest hardcore hip-hop LP:s ever crated. and "The Reuion" was pretty dope too. Since then it's been up and down, I did ike "War Report 2" quite a bit, but its been a real long time snce we had a masterpiece from the camp, whether group or solo effort. That don't mean that they occassionaly pump out heavy bangers ona semi-regular basis; the latest being a new single featuring none other than the always incredible Sadat X who gives a memorable performance on ¨Bringing the God Back". Rumour says that this will appear on a new CNN album to drop in 2015, we'll see what happens with that but it's an exciting thought. Stay tuned!'

CORMEGA Ft. INSPECTAH DECK / ROCK MARCIANO / SADAT X / LORD JAMAR - "Industry - Deluxe Remix"

Cormega and Large Professor once again rounds up some of the greatest emcees of all time for a remix of "Industry". They actually revealed the line-up for this remix around the time for the release of "Mega Philosophy" in an interview with XXL (very good read), so I've been eagerly awaiting this banger and it does not dissapoint. If you still haven't grabbed 'Mega's latest it's not too late to support the movement - grab @ iTunes, UGHH or HHV. Also the vinyl edition is being repressed and will be available for purchase again on October 17.

LORD JAMAR - "The 5% Documentary"

Judging by forum posts and user comments on well visited hip-hop sites, Lord Jamar is today mostly seen by younger listeners as some old, angry commentator on the culture, making videos on non-entities like Macklemore and Iggy Azaela. While I agree that the amount of time and energy Jamar puts into raging about such issues doesn't put him in the best of light, but it hardly overshadows his musical career. He has of course been an important part of hip-hop culture since the late '80s as part of one of the best bands of all time - Brand Nubian. It was however first in 2006 that he debuted as a solo artist with the release of "The 5% Album"; an album that I get the impression a lot of people are still sleeping hard on. Striving to enlighten listeners on the spiritual beliefs and culture of the Nation of Islam, or the 5% Nation, as originally thought by Clarrence X, the project is a concept LP that's filled with heavy jewels and headbanging throwback beats. Fans of Brand Nubian's earlier work will definitely feel this one, and to me it's a lot stronger than their final LP, 2004:s "Fire in the Hole". Lord Jamar has a strong, deep voice with a lot of authority in it, and he delivers his lines with a crystal clarity that commands listeners to really take what he's saying into consideration. That is not to say that it's a perfect album by any stretch as there's some beats that just fall flat, and over close to 70 minutes things can get a bit repetitious on the lyrical side as well.

However when it is good, it's usually great, especially when the production is handled by Preservation or Lord Jamar himself who both provides the album with a majestic feel through deep, dark soul samples and thumping boom bap beats. The guest emcees are all members of the 5% nation, and includes Wu-Tang members such as RZA, Raekwon, Prodigal Sunn, Popa Wu, and both remaining Brand Nubian members Grand Puba and Sadat X. Stand-outs include the hypnotic "Deep Space" with RZA, the deeply soulful ghetto story "The Corner, The Streets" with Puba, the Shaolin soul of "Same Ol' Girl", and the LP closer "Greatest Story Never Told" where Jamar truly gets to shine as a lyrical storyteller. Another interesting joint is "Young Godz", where Jamar passes the torch to the next generation as the sons of GZA, Jamar and Ol' Dirty Bastard gets busy on the mic (a similiar track appeared on Masta Killa's second album); even the production is handled by Young Justice (GZA's son) and it ain't no joke. A nice touch is that the CD edition comes packaged with a 90 page book documenting the history of The NOI and Clarrence X / The Father Allah. If you want to learn about the meaning of the 5% nation while hearing some heavy hip-hop music, definitely check out "The 5% Album" if you're not familiar with it already. Made as a promotional documentary about the making and meaning of the album, Babygrande released "The 5% Documentary" which you can view above split into two parts. You can purchase the 2xLP set, CD and stream the entire album officially here.

[Comp] SADAT X - "The 5% Cowboy"

I remember having a discussion with a certain Charles Jones  on how he considered Sadat X's "Wild Cowboys" an extremely dissapointing album. Needless to say I had no clue what he was on; to me The X-Man's 1996 debut is an extremely impressive full-length album. Coming off three excellent LP:s by Brand Nubian - "One For All", "In God We Trust" and the frustratingly underrated "Everything is Everything". With his '96 solo debut Sadat got the chance to write about more personal topics like domestic problems, the feeling of being locked up, create thematic songs about the misrepresentation by the media, ghetto stories, and weed and alcohol. Another thing that set it apart from the Brand Nu group albums were found when glancing over the production credits - wereas previously Sadat almost exlusively had been heard rhyming on chunky beats by Lord Jamar and funky headnodders from Grand Puba, here he went for a plethora of sounds from some of the most talented, young beat makers of the day.

On "Wild Cowboys" Doddy X got to flex his lyrical muscles and unmistakable voice over production work by D.I.T.C. aumnis Diamond D, Buckwild, Showbiz and DJ Ogee. In adition he also scored beats from Money Bo$$'s (who collectively appears on "Game's Sober") producer Minnesota, Da Beatminerz, Pete Rock, Dante Ross, and Ali Malek. With a production line-up like this in the mid-'90s and hosted by the unique and truly great Sadat X, I for the life of me can't understand why the LP wasn't that well-received when it first dropped (3 mics in The Source; 3 stars in Rolling Stones and the same for AllMusic). I mean what the hell, this is hardly no average album, it's close to a mid-'90s classic to me and there's not a single song I would skip - and with apperances from Deda/Pete Rock ("Escape From New York"), Grand Puba, Roc Raida, and The Black Cowboys posse consisting of Shawn Black, Kool Chuck and Tec.

As is so often the case with almost any album, there are tracks that was recorded for the album but never made the final cut. In 1996 X released a rare promo 12" featuring a song called "East Coast" on the A-side, produced by Buckwild, while the B-side came strapped with vocal and instrumental versions of an original alternate version of "Wild Cowboys", produced by DJ Ogee. Both songs are included in this new Lost Tapes compilation which focus on Sadat X singles, soundtrack joints, B-sides and guest features from the era. As the project is designed as a sort of prequel to his solo debut I have choosen to focus exclusively on songs betweeen 1994 and 1996, and as a sort of jumping off point I decided to go against the non-album track rules and include Sadat's first solo song "Alladat"; the hardcore joint that Buckwild produced for Brand Nubian's "Everything is Everyhing" in 1994 (while Jamar got "Return of the Dread" as a solo jam on that album). So get ready for an hour of Derrick X that will hopefully inspire you to dust off, or even cop "Wild Cowboys" if you don't have it already. Sadat's in effect!

Last but definitely not least - A huge thank you goes out to my man Fritz who managed to hook me up with an original VLS rip of "East Coat" / " "Wild Cowboys: OG" which I've been searching for forever. On top of that, much props to everybody who originally ripped any of these tracks which I couldn't rip by mself, sometimes because I don't own the original records. Thanks guys! No matter what this sounds like a very sick prequel to "Wild Cowboys" and you can easily hear it as a stepping stone from a group member to a forefront solo artist, and the results is damn fine.

                                                                                                                               

 01. Sadat X - "East Coast" (1996) [prod. Buckwild]

02. Sadat X - "Alladat" (1994) [prod. Buckwild]

03. Sadat X / Lord Jamar / Grand Puba - "The Lump Lump" (1996) [prod. Buckwild]

04. Grand Puba / Sadat X - "I Like It Remix" (1995) [prod. Buckwild]

05. OGC / Sadat X / Black Shawn - "Wild Cowboys in Bucktown" (1996) [Ogee]

06. Kurious / Sadat X / Mike Gee - "A Mansion & A Yach" (1994)

07. DJ Honda / Sadat X / Grand Puba / Wakeem - "Talk From NY" (1995)

08. Omniscience / Sadat X - "Touch It - Remix #2" (1995) [Fanatic]

09. Sadat X / Akinyele - "Loud Hangover" (1995) [prod. Funkmaster Flex]
10. R.A. The Rugged Man / Sadat X - "50,000 Heads" (1995) [Dirtman]

11. Sadat X / Grand Puba - "The Next Spot" (1996) [Dante Ross]

12. Sadat X / Fat Joe - "Stay Away From The Nasty Hoes" (1996) [Diamond D]

13. Frankie Cutlass / Redman / Sadat X / June Lover -  "You, You,  You" (1996)

14. House Of Pain / Sadat X - "Heart Full of Sorrow" (1995) [DJ Lethal]

15. Grand Puba / Sadat X - "Play It Cool" (1995) [Minnesota]

16. Lord Finesse / Sadat X / Grand Puba / Large Professor - "Actual Facts" (1995) [Jesse West]

SADAT X - "THE 5% COWBOY"

THE REGIMENT Ft. Sadat X & El Da Sesei - "Raise Up"

Damn, there's just a whole lot of ill shit droping today, but I promise y'all this is the last one for today but this NEED to get the attention of as many people as possible. Detroit grou The Regiment is another powerhouse underground duo signed to HiPNOTT Records that three years ago delivered their last album "The Panic Button". In 2014 they are preparing a follow-u and the first single "Raise Up" sounds very promising, especially considering the contributions from The X-Man and the Sensei. Stay tuned for more information on the new album!

[EP] KOOLADE Ft. MASTA ACE & CRAIG G - "The Juice Crew EP"

Croatian producer Koolade is best known for producing Masta Ace's fantastic "Beautiful" from his "A Long Hot Summer" LP. Now the two has teamed up again a long with Stricklin and Craig G for a three track EP that Koolade has given the title "Juice Crew Special". It was released about a month ago but I totally missed out on its original release and I'm sure I'm not the only one. This is definitely some smooth shit, with two versions of the Masta Ace/Stricklin' joint "Love Crazy" that was recorded some time ago. The Craig G joint "From The Soul" was originally recorded in 2011 but none of these records has seen a release previously. All instruments, production and artwork by Koolade, and you can stream the entire thing below.

Also in case you missed it, Koolade also released a powerful single with two other legendary New York emcees in Diamond D and Sadat X called "The Natural" back in February. In case you slept on that when it dropped definitely be sure to check it out below and support it @ iTunes.

[comp] SKEFF ANSELM - "And Skeff He Gets Props Too"

My homie Mal Moe a.k.a. M-Credible came to me with a great idea of me doing a compilation of Skeff Anselm's material, and though he's definitely very dope I knew much of his material was hard to come by but I also know that Mal has been helping me out a lot and have a great ear for these sort of things so I was at least gonna try. It took me some time tracking down everything but in the end I managed to find pretty much everything he ever did, which isn't much but pretty much all very dope. The end result is a 15 track compilation I hope y'all enjoy as much as I do and help fans understand just how dope Anselm was at one point.

Younger readers might not have a clue about Skeff Anselm is because he held such a low profile, but he was an engineer, mixer, producer and remix artist from the Boogie Down Bronx, originally working under Jazzy Jay on his UNI label. Among his earliest recording work for the label as an engineer was for Grand Puba's original group Masters Of Ceremony on the single "Sexy", the entirety of Don Barron's debut album and the single "I'm Not Playing" and parts of the unreleased album by The Ultimate Force (Diamond D/MC Rob) which was supposed to follow but was eventually shelved (until it finally saw the release a couple of years ago: and thank god for that!. As a producer his first project was the full-length album for hip-hop trio Nu-Sounds  "Mackin'". It was in its entirety produced by Anslem in conjunction with group member DJ Fashion (credited as Rohan Robotham) while emcees Craig Burrus and RMR handled vocals. Without Burns and Anslem the group reformed, adding rapper Broadway, as Strictly Roots a few years later and released "Begs No Friends" to little noise, but that's another story. Check the YouTube video below to stream the complete album!

Anslem undoubtedly is most known for his excellent work on A Tribe Called Quest's most classic albums "The Low End Theory" and "Midnight Mauraders", where he laced such timeless pieces as "Showbusiness" and "8 Million Stories". He also worked with Brand Nubian on their equally classic debut album "One For All" where he was credited for the Lord Jamar solo "Ragtime" and some engineering, mixing. However I have a feeling that he did some uncredited co-production work on there as the 12" single for "All For One / Concerto in X Minor" clearly states him as co-producer of all songs on the release, including the remixes (check it out for yourself). After production on D-Nice's second album (including two versions of the Naughty By Nature collaboration), MC Serch's solo debut, and a joint on Heavy D. & The Boyz popular "Blue Funk" album, he started remixing and producing more low-key records for what was more or less one hit wonders (Yall So Stupid, Blakkheart, Akiko, B'Zar Behavior. Jamalski). In 1996 he produced his final high-profile record in the form of the De La Soul/Mos Def collaboration "Big Brother Beat". Two years later he reappeared for the final time (to my knowledge) co-producing a joint called "The Street Mix" by some no name kid group called Mag 7 - I have not included it on the compilation but you can check out the video for it right here.

So what really happened with Skeff Anselm and why did he leave the music biz behind. He definitely had a slamming sound and much of what he produced or remixes is considered classic today. One reason that he might have been quite hard to work with, something that I learned from two interviews (although remember that there's of course two sides of every story). First Diamond D said the following in an interview when answering the question how it was working with Skeff (who's credited for engineering work on both "I'm Not Playing" and "Stunts, Blunts & Hip-Hop") - "Working with Skeff was cool, but he kinda always looked down on me" (Platform 8470 Magazine: Interview with Diamond). Then there's an interview Lord Jamar about the making of their second Puba-less album "In God We Trust" and the decision to record it themeselves. This is what Lord Jamar had to say on the topic - "This guy did some production on the first album. He's still my man so I don't want to bring his name up. He did a song on the first album and was always cool with us. He thought that he was going to be the producer and he was going to try to exploit us. He did a beat and the price was crazy higher than it should have been. For that price of one beat, we could buy equipment and make all our beats at home... I know for a fact that my beats are hotter than this dude" (MVRemix: Lord Jamar). Now remember that the only outside producers on "One For All" was Stimulated Dummies, who of course includes Dante Ross who in fact worked on both "In God We Trust" and "Everything is Everything". Beside Skeff and Dante Ross the only other producer is Dave "Jam" Hall and I think we can all be assured that's not who he's talking about. This is not to spread gossip, and if you know anything please let me know and I'll be glad to fix it, I'm just interested in how it come that a talented producer and engineer basically dissapears from a promising career. With that said, let's get on with the compilation, some classic, and some quite rare or at least obscure, early to mid-'90s bangers to please your ears. TURN IT UP, ENJOY and NOD YOUR HEAD!

01. Intelligent Hoodlum - "Mad Brothas Know His Name" (Remix) [1992, 12" EP]

02. Brand Nubian - "Concerto in X Minor" (Remix) (1990, "All For One" 12")

03. MC Serch - "Hits The Head" (1992, "Return of the Product" LP)

04. A Tribe Called Quest - "Check The Rhime" [Skeff's Mix] [1991, 12" EP]

05. D-Nice Ft. Treach - "To Tha Rescue" [Skeff's Mix] (1991, "Time to Flow" 12")

06. B'Zar Behavior - "Behavior The Sickness" (1995, "Street Jazz LP", 12" sampler]

07. Heavy D & The Boyz - "Talk is Cheap" [1992, "Talk is Cheap" LP]

08. Brand Nubian - All For One" (Trap Mix) [1990, "All For One" 12"]

09. D-Nice - "No No No" [1991, "To Tha Rescue" LP]

10. Jamalski - "African Border" [Skeffington Mix] [1993, "African Border" 12"]

11. Yall So Stupid - "Van Full Of Pakistans" (Skeff Main) [1993, "Van Full..." 12"]

12. Brand Nubian - "Ragtime" [1990, "One For All" LP]

13. De La Soul Ft. Mos Def - "Big Brother Beat" [1996, "Stakes is High" LP]

14. A Tribe Called Quest - "8 Million Stores" [1993, "Midnight Mauraders LP]

15. Blakkheart - "Fire" [1994, State Of Emergency Vol. 1, Compilation]

SKEFF ANSELM - "...AND SKEFF HE GET PROPS TOO"

JOHN ROBINSON & PVD Ft. Sadat X & ID 4 Windz

I first became aware of John Robinson through his album produced by MF DOOM which straight up blew my socks off, a phenomenon that was furthered through his collaboration with producers Lewis Parker and Kyo Itachi in 2011 and 2013, respectively. Now the highly talented wordsmith is back with another project, this time produced by jazz/fusion/hip-hop composer/drummer/producer PVD whose work with 8tW1 on "Lux DeVille" and recent solo album "Technicolor in Hi-Fi" both were very interesting records. The new album is titled "Modern Vintage" and is set for a June 17 release via Brick Records. The first single "Off The Wall" and now "Two Man Mob" featuring Sadat X and ID 4 Windz is definitely promising good thing so stay tuned...

[Video] SUBSTANCE ABUSE / SADAT X - "Three Sheets to the Wind"

Substance Abuse drops the visuals for the Sadat X collaboration "Three Sheets to the Wind", a very nicely smooth and laid-back jam. This one's lifted from Substance Abuse's very DOPE "Background Music" which features a host of legendary guest emcees.

ZION I Feat. Sadat X, Opio, Mr. Lif, Kev Choice, Deuce Eclipse - "Get Urs"

The duo of Zion I can be very interesting but I can't say that I feel they deliver every time. For example, they just dropped their new free EP "Libations" which features six tracks of varying quality. However the posse cut "Get Yours" featuring the crazy line-up of Sadat X, Opio, Mr. Lif, Kev Choice and Deuce Eclipse is definitely a banger. Check out the track below or stream/download the entire EP @ Zion I's Bandcamp. On the other hand their earlier "The Masters Of Ceremony" is a lot stronger and well worth a listen!

DJ KOSS & AG Ft. SADAT X - "Natural High"

DJ Koss, who you might remember from his semi-recent work with El Da Sensei and Craig G amongst others, is teaming up with the always on point AG for an entire EP to be released soon. Entitled "Natural High", the eight songs EP both stands alone and as the third installment in Koss' "Whut Up Kid?!" project. The title track sees AG team up with Sadat X over a laid-back, thumping beat that has the emcees reminiscing on their come-up. Press play, check out the tracklist below and head over to Deejay Koss @ Soundcloud for loads of more dope ish (for one I strongly recommend the "Stay Focused" mix)!

01. "Natural High" (Ft. Sadat X)

02. "Where It All Began"

03. "Above The Rest"

04. "Supernatural"

05. "Get It Baby"

06. "Live It Up"

07. "So Alive"

08. "Natural High" [DJ Doom Remix] (Ft. Sadat X)

09. "Supernatural" [Instrumental]

10. "Supernatural" [Acapella]