If you follow Hip Hop news you and especially The Star Chamber you know that he's driving a campaign against Afrika Bambaata based on the multiple ocassions on child molestations that has come to light and there's no doubt in my mind that Bam should be punished for this, and that his legacy will forever be tarnished. However, KRS-One was asked about his thoughts about this on N.O.R.E.'s recent podcast, and though his comments was hardly well thought out or well put together, it has been twisted to say that he meant that he is down with pedophilia and child abuse. What he did say was that as far as Hip-Hop goes, you can never change the legacy of hip-hop - whether or not the allegations turn out to be true, Afrika Bambaata has been such an integral part of the culture that no matter what his legacy will stand firm. His choice of wording was very poor and his comments was in very poor taste, but for the hip-hop community to turn his back on KRS for a stupid comment doesn't sit welll with me. He is one of the innovators, oen of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time and his discography is timeless. Now the P.K. mafia is digging up classic BDP joints like "13 & Good", taken from the 5/5 concept album "Sex & Violence" (which to this day still holds up as one of my three favorite KRS/BDP albums OF ALL TIME).
So far from boycotting KRS I'm hooking you up with a rare VHS of Boogie Down Productions performing in NYC in 1990, featuring D-Nice, Ms. Melodie, Kid Capri, Harmony and even the late Heavy D. The interview segments are interspersed with dialouge, interviews and clips of the crew hanging around. This was released in 1991 on VHS tape and is a true historial document. I believe that this is the video portion of the same concert that made up the "Live Hardcore Worldwide" LP but I am not entirely certain since it been years I listened to that LP (not a favorite of mine at all as live hip-hop albums, as opposed to jazz, are a drag unless the name of the group happens to be The Roots). All praises due to uploader Alan-Proctor Thompson.
Not too long ago I had a period where I went back and played both of The Notorious BIG's two albums religiously, and this month now marks the 20 year anniversary of that first classic LP. At this time I also collected most of his rarer demos, freestyles and guest apperances. Unlike 2Pac, his one time ally and contemporary, Wallace left us with only a small scattering of finished recordings to pick up when he tragically left us in '97. Instead of paying respect to the man's legacy by compiling and releasing the original music he recorded in his lifetime, the vultures at Bad Boy instead have opted to remix and completely alter his unreleased music. As it stands now BIG's musical legacy consists of two excellent solo albums ("Ready to Die" and "Life After Death"), the executive producing and career launching of Junior M.A.F.I.A. with "Conspiracy" and Lil' Kim with "Hardcore". Add to that something like an additional 40 loose tracks, studio freestyles and guest apperances left for us fans to compile and share. Despite the small output very few Hip Hop artists can be considered more influential and inspirational to both his own generation and todays up and comers - and that in itself is a damn impressive feat. BIG will always be remembered as one of the true greats, a musical giant who twenty years ago made waves with the release of his debut album. It's safe to say that "Ready to Die" has stood the test of time and should have a given place in the top albums list of any true hip-hop conniseour.
The internet is of course swarming with various tributes and articles in honor of the ocassion. For my own contribution I have put together a compilation of non-album tracks that I feel reaches a very high level of quality. As always I've tried making this compilation form a coherrent listen that focuses on a specific time or style. The goal here was to create something like a companion piece to "Ready to Die". That means that I'm limiting the inclusion of songs to material recorded between 1993 and 1995 (the time in which between "R.T.D." was recorded and final single with B-side released). Additionally, I wanted to focus on BIG's lyrical skills and writing genius, given as much space as possible to solo tracks. In the end I maybe used a little too many posse cuts and such as I originally intended to only use 10 songs, but one thing's for sure - there's no half-assed material on here. Below you'll find the tracklist, download link and a little info on each song, it's producer, origin and relevance for the compilation... TURN IT UP!!!
01. "The Wickedest: Freestyle Intro"
This exclusive freestyle makes for a perfect intro and the epitome of Biggie's style post-"Ready to Die". Recorded by DJ Mister Cee (who of course was an integral part of Big's career) as an exclusive for his "The Best Of The Notorious B.I.G.", released in 1995.
02. "Party & Bullshit"
It felt natural to kick things off with "Party & Bullshit", seeing how this hardcore party starter was both BIG's first single ever and was left off his debut album. This also marks the first time Biggie worked with Easy Mo Bee, who would become one of the most important players in crafting the Notorious sound. The song were also featured on the original soundtrack to the 1993 flick "Who's The Man?".
03. "Dead Wrong"
Another early collaboration with Easy Mo Bee who's hard hitting boom bap shit in com"bination with the dusted flow of BIG stands as a superb representation of everything great about the early '90s East Coast bap. An Eminem remix of course turned up on '99:s posthumous "Born Again", but the version for the real heads is this one, recorded during the early Uptown sessions for "R.T.D." in '93. This clear rip from a DJ Craig G tape was borrowed from NahRight's excellent BIG article.
04. "Come On Motherfuckers" (Ft. Sadat X)
"Come On" is another cut that was cleaned up and modernized by The Hitmen for "Born Again" but the original, superior version sees BIG rocking hard as hell over a dusty Lord Finesse break, complete with intense horn stabs. Sadat X and Biggie Smalls definitely makes for a very interesting combination, and this '93 joint (another recording from the Uptown sessions) is about as tough as they come yet was left to the mixtape circuit until just a few years ago.
05. "Dreams (Just Playing)"
"Dreams" is nothing short of classic BIG as he invites listeners into his nasty dreams of all the R&B singers he'd like to fuck. And it's done with more wit and charisma than most emcees at their best moments too. Built around a crazy addictive guitar loop, "Dreams" was produced by the underrated Rashad Smith of Tumblin' Dice, this was included as a bonus track on the 2004 remaster of "Ready to Die". It's first apperance dates as far back as 1993 when DJ Doo Wop put it on his "Spring One" tape, which indicates that it might have been recorded for BIG's Uptown debut.
06. "One More Chance/Stay With Me" [Hip Hop Mix]
The smooth video version of "One More Chance" (see above) is definitely one of Biggie's most famous songs, though it bears little resemblance to the version that appeared on the album. The 12" single included two remixes of the song - the famous Faith Evans version which was about as R&B as BIG would ever get and this one labeled The Hip Hop Mix. Using the same verses as the video mix but adding a differet hook by Total, Biggie's sexual themed flows sounds perfect over the pounding drums, guitar stabs and scratches - once again produced by Rashad Smith / Tumblin' Dice. An interesting fact is that this version of the song replaces the original Bluez Brothas version on the clean version of "R.T.D.".
07. "Runnin' From The Police" (Ft. 2Pac, Stretch, EDI, Khadafi & Buju Banton)
"Runnin' From The Police" have always been one considered as of the strongest songs in both BIG's and 'Pac's respective catalouges if you ask me. There's so many quotables in here that it's not even funny, and hearing 'Pac, BIG and Stretch all on one track is truly powerful, and Easy Mo Bee did a masterful job in creating the backing track. This classic was originally recorded around 1994 in a 2Pac session for inclusion on his "Thug Life Volume 1" album, even appearing on a rare promo cassette of the project. The song was ultimately replaced by "Stay True" and it would take another year before fans got the chance to hear "Runnin'" on the compilation album "One Million Strong".
08. "Real Niggaz"
"Real Niggaz" is another huge record with a West Coast connecction, as it's common knowledge that Biggie had a lot of love for LA and the music the city produced in the early to mid-'90s. It's unbelivable this was never given more exposure because not only does Biggie sound phenomenal over these Death Row tracks like "Deep Cover", his verses here displays the same type of top notch storytelling that he would perfect on future masterpieces like "Somebody's Gotta Die". This was originally heard as a two part piece on a DJ Clue tape back in '95 before Mister Cee collected all verses for his incredible "The Best Of Notorious B.I.G." tape.
09. "Jam Session" (Ft. Heavy D & Troo Kula)
One of a couple of collaborations between Biggie and Heavy D, produced by Jesse West who really brings the funk on here with an affective heavy bass melody and slick guitar. Heavy D and BIG made a few songs together (all featured on this compilation), and there's no denying that there's a lot of chemistry to be found here. Something that not everybody knows is that the duo even had plans on developing a clothing line for men with a larger build called BIG & Heavy. "Jam Session" also features Troo Kula (at the time a member of Jesse West's group 3rd Eye) and is lifted from the otherwise forgettable compilation album "NBA Jam Session".
10. "Let's Get It On" (Ft. 2Pac, Grand Puba & Heavy D)
This somewhat forgotten posse cut features some of the greatest emcees of the '90s (Grand Puba, 2Pac, BIG, Heavy D) getting it on over a relatively smooth headnodder that packs influences from the New Jack swing era. Taken from the album of the same name by DJ Eddie F. and The Untouchables, a crew of DJ:s and producers from the Mt. Vernon area which originally mentored and included Pete Rock (who didn't have anything to do with this joint however).
11. "Watchu Want?"
"Watchu Want" was a late deletion from "Ready to Die" and is another one of the Easy Mo Bee/BIG recordings from the earlier recording sessions of the LP before Puffy was dropped from Uptown and took Wallace with him. This is a very powerful cut, with Biggie at his most hardcore and I still have a hard time deciding whether or not I would have prefered it to have been left on the LP. I have a (possibly false?) memory of reading somewhere that Biggie really wanted to keep this one but Puff insisted that the quota for rugged hardcore jams had been filled.
12. "Who's The Man?" (Ft. King Just & Todd1)
The 45 King has produced some of my all time favorite records and hearing him produce for BIG is pure bliss. Unfortunately Wallace only kicks one verse here but that's a verse that makes the tracks inclusion on this compilation an absolute definite and leaves little question to who the man in this case is (King Just comes correct though). I guess the reason this isn't remembered for the great battle record it is, is because it came out on a very forgotten album called "Back Up Off Me!", the only LP released under the names of Doctor Dre and Ed Lover.
13. "A Buncha Niggas" (Ft. Heavy D, Guru, Busta Rhymes, 3rd Eye & Rob-O) The Heavy D & The Boys albums from the early '90s always had a ton of underground gems on them and "Blue Funk" might just be the illest. As far as posse cut goes this one has one of the more jaw dropping line-ups - Heavy D, Guru, Busta Rhymes, Rob-O from InI, 3rd Eye (Jesse West also produced this banger) and of course The Notorious B.I.G.
14. "Who Shot Ya"
"Who Shot Ya" marks the first time BIG worked with Nashiem Myrick who would come to be a major contributor to the sound of "Life After Death", making this something of a transitional record. An interesting fact is that the song originally was incepted as an interlude for Mary J. Blige's excellent '95 LP "My Life". Word is that the content was a little too violent for an R&B album and in the end the interlude verse were recorded by Keith Murray. Being label mates and old friends, Puff and BIG secured the beat and put it on as the B-side of the "Big Poppa" single, causing all kinds of controversy. You can check out the original demo version with both Murray and BIG, liberated by DJ S&S and uploaded by NahRight. NOTORIOUS BIG - "THE ANNIVERSARY"
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!
Say what you will about Mister Cee and his personal live, you can't despite that he's an extremely talented emcee who's always kept his ear to the street. Yesterday marked two years since the untimely passing of one of hip-hop's true innovators in Heavy D; I'm not gonna front and say that I enjoyed all of Heavy's music but his connections with some of the true hip-hop greats like his cousin Pete Rock, Marley Marl, DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee and so forth really brought much of his music to classic status. I can't believe it's almost been two years since Heavy passed, bu still, life goes on and his music will live forever. Enter Mister Cee who has made a name for himself for creating some of the finest "Best Of" mixtapes and DJ-sets the world has ever seen, and make sure to give his Heavy D themed new mix a thorough chance. The one hour tribute mix was originally played on Hot '97s Throwback @ Noon yesterday and now people from all over the world have a chance to hear this terrific mix. Mister Cee does an impressive mix of classic Heavy D. & The Boyz jams, lesser known tracks, guest features and tracks from Heavy's solo albums (remember that amazing Jay Dee/Q-Tip assisted "Listen"?). Just press play below (or grab the free download), enjoy and make sure to never forget about the Heavster.
A few days ago I reported on the sad and way-to-soon passing of rap legend Heavy D (Dwight Arrington Myers) and now that the realization really has sunk in, the tributes are starting to come. Busta Rhymes released a track called "When I'm Gone" (which was supposedly a tribute to the man but more sounded like Busta shamelessly self-promoting his own legacy with lines like "You don't have to wait til' I'm gone to celebrate me..." amongst other inappropriate lines), Statik Selektah conceived a nice blend of Heavy D's "Nothing But Love" over Pete & CL's classic "T.R.O.Y." which was a fitting tribute considering the latter was a dedication to Heavy D & The Boyz late dancer T-Roy.
But the most interesting and worthy tribute to the big man so far in my opinion is DJ Premier's fourty-five minutes set on the wheels of steel in honor of the man and his music. Lots of choice cuts on here, skillfully mixed and plenty of raw turntablism which makes this a winner. If you're not too familiar with Heavy's work since befor, this is a great way to start as Preem focuses on the choice cuts only. Spotted @ DJPB where you can also choose to stream the entire session (click the DJPB link) if that's what you prefer.
