NAS & The National Symphony Orchestra - "Illmatic"

This premiered a while ago but I haven't had the time to post this yet, but let me tell you that you're doing yourself a huge disservice if you sleep on this. NAS was invited to be a part of the PBS' show "Great Concerts" back in 2014 - a program/concert series that link up legendary artists from different genres to perform their masterwork backed up by a full sympony orchestra, in this case the National Symphony Orchestra usually heard at the Kennedy Center. PBS sponsors the concert and also broadcasts it and for this installment they got what I believe is the first Hip Hop artist to be a part of the program - and of course it was Nasty Nas and his delivery of the timeles "Illmatic" album. Sometimes a full-orchestra and the heat of the moment sucks away all of the magic that made the original gritty piece what it was - not so here. Interspersed with small interview segments and vocal clips between most of the songs the acutal music proves why "Illmatic" has stood the test of time and should be considered by everyone as just as important as albums like Sly & The Famiily Stones' "There's A Riot Going On", Beatles' "Revolver", "OK Computer" by Radiohead, "It Takes A Nation..." by Public Enemy, and David Bowie's "Low" to name a few.

Here Nas, dapperly suited, standing in front of a huge orchestra, also backed up by what's more aking to a jazz quartet and a DJ, put further notice that he still is the greatest and that his debut still holds up as Hip Hop's crowning achivement. Hearing a live rendition of the LP with a huge instrumental barrage is further proof of that. Be sure to watch this while It's still available. Unfortunately PBS will only let you watch it if you're in the US but luckily anonymous YouTube user LonnieMac has supplied the rest of us with a HQ rip of the entire 52 minutes set. Don't sleep, this is Hip Hop history in the making!

WU-TANG CLAN - Pre-"36 Chambers" Interview + Freestyles

Lurking the Wu-Tang Corp. forums (whcih is close to dead right now but there's still somee good heads representing) member Soob found and posted an absolutely excellent radio interview predating the release of "36 Chambers". Recorded and sent out through the airwaves on March 1, 1993 this is an absolute must hear for any hardcore Wu fans (and you know I'm one of them, as I know many of my readers are). Of course the real props for this shining gem goes to YouTube's Wu-Tang Messiah number #1, Mister Hezakayah who has uploaded the full 25 minutes segment on to the Tube for free streaming and enjoynment for heads all over the world. Hosted by legendary DJ's and hosts DJ Ritz and Steve Wildman this is like an extended skit from the "Enter The Wu-Tang" LP, with Ghostface, Raekwon, Method Man and U-God holding it down together with Ce Style and Kamal Bee of Total Pack. This been up for a few months but I and many with me has been sleeping so in the words of Sunz Of Man and Killarmy - Wake The Fuck Up!! As some interesting bonus footage check out this very rare clip from Prnce Rakeem doing a short freestyle for Music Video Box in 1990, now that's a Lost Tape. Again tahnks to Hezakaya, you're definitely the man!

DJ Mark The 45 King on producing "Hard Knock Life"

I remember back in 1998 I was all about underground hip-hop, no exception, and Jigga Man was kind of a no no. However hearing "Hard Knock Life" playing everywhere that year I could impossibly deny that it was a mad flavorful record that was impossible not to nod your head to. It was commercial but it was pure hip hop music. To this day it is one of my favorite Jay-Z records (I later came around and own all Jigga's LP:s up and until "American Gangster"), and Marcy's finest and the legendary DJ Mark The 45 King was for sure a match made in heaven. I love how the Flavor Unit veteran keeps a low profile only to once in a while pop up and deliver some of the best selling hip-hop records of its time (we all know the equally brilliant "Stan" by Eminem). Why the hell more major artists isn't contacting The 45 King is simply beyond me, but I guess they rather fuck with Lex Luger or Wundagirl. The clip is a segment that originally aired on Swedish Television and unfortunately lacks subtitles - but as the video is based around interview segments with Jay-Z, DJ Mark The 45 King and Kid Capri the majority of its length is in English, so press play and enjoy  y'all!

[Classic Clips] GHOSTFACE / FRANK DUKES - "Purified Thoughts" (OG)

As I just posted my review and album stream of Ghostface Killah and BadBadNotGood's new album "Sour Soul", which is entirely produced by Frank Dukes, I wanted to bring it back to the essence of Dukes and GFK. From their first collaborations on Ghost's "Apollo Kids" album they have been responsible for plenty of bangers together, including "Different Time Zone", "Rivers Of Blood" and "Six Directions Of Boxing". But in fact it all started in 2010 when a young, unknown and striving producer named Frank Dukes put in work and tried every way to put his name out there, including entering the Red Bull Big Tune competition. Right then and there he not only got his name out, but as he won the entire competition he got a chance to record with one of his favorite emcees - Ghostface Killah. The resulting track was "Purified Thoughts", a song that was originally recorded as a solo song by GFK, but would end up in remixed form on Ghost's 2012 album "Apollo Kids", adding verses from Killah Priest and GZA/Genius. The full original version that was originally recorded at the Red Bull studios has never been leaked in full but you can hear a good chunk of it in the video above, so just press play up top, and for the album version click here.

[Classic Clips] SMUT PEDDLERS - Promo Reel

Back when Rawkus was still the place to be at, Cage and the duo known as The High & Mighty formed Smut Peddlers and recorded "Porn Again" for the label. This album always held a special spot in my crates, to me it's by far the illest stuff Cage ever recorded and DJ Mighty Mi constructed some absolutely raw and nasty boom bap beats here that makes me realize just how underrated he is as both a DJ and a producer. With guest features from Kool G Rap, Kool Keith and most importantly BEETLEJUICE. the album is an all around dope experience that might just be one of the last truly great Rawkus releases. The eight minutes long promo video sees Cage, Mr. Eon and Mighty Mi break down the meaning behind the group, its origins, its goals, mixed with live footage and in-studio footage (including parts of the recording of "Talk Like Sex Pt. II" with G Rap), and brings back a lot of memories to anyone familiar with the LP. THAT SMUT!!

[CLASSIC CLIPS] '92 Showbiz & AG Interview

It's been a long, long time since I posted any Classic Clips on The Lost Tapes, but with "Preloaded" and "Still Diggin' Vol. 1" getting plenty of plays the last few weeks and seeing this, I had to revisit the concept. There's certainly not many Show & A interviews from the "Runaway Slave" era, which to me is one of the 5-10 best hip-hop albums ever released. There's lots of interesting stuff revealed in this BET interview, such as Show being the man behind most of the song concepts back then, their take on the difference between rap music and hip-hop music and much more (including a great quote by Show right at the end). In other words this shit is pure GOLD, so make sure to press play all y'all D.I. heads.

Classic Clips: KRS-One @ '97 Poetry Slam

The greatest MC of all time, imo, was invitied to perform on Russel Simmon's Def Jam Poetry Slam in 1997. Backed up by legendary beatboxer Doug E. Fresh, the metaphysicial teacher performs one of his vast amount of verses that I hold amongst his abosulte best; this accapella was used as the intro to his great '97 album "I Got Next" under the title of "2nd Quarter: Free Throws". If you're not familiar with the law of attraction and metaphysical teachings, which by now has in realitybeen proven by the science known as quantum physics, you will absolutely not understand the absolute brilliance of this verse. I've heard so many people dismiss KRS-One as a preachy fuck but fail to realise that he's actually one of the most knowledgeable and important artists of our generation.

Even though this is not a live video and appears in this exact form on "I Got Next", I still want to add it as a bonus considering the two tracks are strongly conneected to eachother. In this brilliant freestyle Kris touches on how the new testament can be read as all astrology and still make 100% sense; ever wondered wy most dogmatic churches regards the teachings of astronology as heresy and abomination towards the teachings to Christ and God himself? He also touches on how we are moving in to a new time epok, Aquarius, something that is makint it's presence known even toay and many believe the height of this willtake place on December 21, 2012. 

Bring on the comments folk, do you think me, Kris, Hell Razah, David Wilcock, Greg Braden and all those quantum and metaphysicians nutcase or do you want to go higher?

Classic Clips: A Tour @ The Hansome Boy Modeling School

"So... How's Your Girl?", the wonderfully twisted first collaborative album by fashion industry moguls Nathaniel Merriweather (Dan The Automator) and Chest Rockwell (Prince Paul) as Handsome Boy Modeling School still gets spins from me every now and then. It's as weird as you would imagine an album by Prince Paul and Dan The Automator back in the late 1990s and despite the guest apperances coming from everyone from DJ Shadow to Sean Lennon, from Brand Nubian to Alec Empire, the end result is a front-to-back banger tailor made for hip-hop connoisseurs. In short, if you haven't heard the LP and tends to like hip-hop that defies clichés, you should consider sending 60$ to the institute of Handsome Boy Modeling School yourself. It might just happen to be the best 60$ you ever spent.

The video above was made and released in promo for the album back in '99 and is a hilarious watch that encapsulates the theme of "So... How's Your Girl" well. Besides the expected tour through the school's principles by the founders themeselves, you'll see cameos from El-Producto and Razhel amongst others. Below is a bonus clip from the original episode of the series that inspired the project in the first place, 'Get A Life' featuring Chris Elliot, set to the tones of "Look At This Face (Oh My God, They're Gorgeous)". As a second bonus, I added the H.B.M.S. remix of The Beastie Boys' "Negotiation Limerick File", released in 1998. It's an interesting track as it's one of the few times Automator and Paul worked together outside of their two full-lengths together.

BEASTIE BOYS - "NEGOTIATION LIMERICK FILE" [H.B.M.S. MAKEOVER]

Classic Clips - All-star performance @ Arsenio Hall

Arsenio Hall was one-of-a-kind late night talkshow; he was black, he was a hip-hop head which led to the Arsenio Hall Show more or less was a hip_hop show with a little comedy of course. Hall interviewed loads of legends for as long as the program ran and at the end of the show there was a performance of a song by a rap group that was hot at the moment. In 1994 the show was canceled but Hall and the program director made sure to go out with a bang. Rather than have one artist performing a song, they got Pete Rock as the DJ who played a never before heard or released banging beat and the guests ran like a who's-who in hip-hop at the time.

Over Pete's slamming heater of a beat and occasional scratches the stage was filled to the limit with hip-hop legends kicking about 8 bars each. GURU, CL Smooth, Ol' Dirty Bastard, A Tribe Called Quest, Method Man, MC Lyte, Fu-Schnickens, Jo Jo, Naughty By Nature, Das EFX, GZA/Genius, KRS-One and his ragga protogé Mad Lion.

The banging Soul Brother production was forgotten for years until 2008 when The LOX asked Pete to dig it up from the archives and let them rhyme over it for their record "It's Like That". Said and done, The LOX take on the updated beat was released as a D-Block track (featuring Snipe) in '08. I added a link to that joint as well for good measure. Enjoy both these, I know you will.

THE LOX - "IT'S LIKE THAT"

Classic Clips - DJ Muggs @ DMC '89

Classic Clips is a new entry in the book of The Lost Tapes which I will try to update every once in a while. The idea is to, rather than just linking to a music video, post rare, vintage moments that represents the hip-hop culture and some of its most legendary artists. The clips will be at the very least ten years old in time. I was originally gonna kick things off with a different clip but as I stumbled across this awesome video yesterday, I decided it was perfect for this section.

The clip features an entire set of DJ Muggs, or Grandmixer Muggs as he was known then, performance from the DMC Championship Finals back in 1989 (that's the biggest DJ competition there is for those who is not initiated). Back then Muggs was of course part of the 7A3 trio and Cypress Hill/Soul Assassins was still in incubation. He's displaying some heavy skills on the tables here for sure, although the beat juggling might not be up to par with todays best turntablists. It makes me wonder why he doesn't incorporate more cuts on his records these days however. Last but not least I wanna give a big shout to the YouTube user Asn0910 for uploading this incredible lesson in hip-hop history!