Bomb The Bass - Megablast (Original Rap Version)

After many attempts at locating this particular version I finally had the good fortune of stumbling across it and I do mean stumbling. The recent bombardment of mix tapes with unknown or 'random' rap cuts have made me in to a bit of a wreck trying to track down certain records that I never knew existed, which admittedly is a lot easier nowadays what with the internet and all, but also actually owning quite a few that were featured is a surprise and also makes me glad I don't have to shell out silly money to get them. I'm referring in particular to the excellent 'Crown Jewels' series of mixes by King Aroe and the Sound Makers, volume 2 containing this excellent version of a reasonably popular record from the late eighties. It came free with a copy of the Record Mirror and on the back of the sleeve states, 'unavailable elsewhere' although I was told just yesterday by an online acquaintance that this was on the LP which made me feel slightly miffed but I only paid 99p so who could grumble at that? There's loads of these on discogs and they're all incredibly cheap, some starting at 75p and I only went for the 99p one because of the very reasonable p&p the seller was asking for. There's 3 other tracks on it too, all pretty ordinary and not worthy of a mention here but I ripped the whole thing anyway for the completists among us. All hail Michael Viner and his Incredible Bongo Band.

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Yo! Documented

First off I've got to say thanks to Warz over at the StyleWarriorzRevenge blog for digging this up.  For anyone who missed it, VH1 showed a documentary about Yo! MTV Raps a couple of weeks back.  Now don't let yourself be put off by the previous efforts that have feebly attempted to reflect on this iconic show, this is the real deal.  Firstly it was an hour long show (the minimum needed to do any kind of justice to a 7 year programme that hosted 100's of artists).  Ed and Dre are back reflecting on the highs and lows and some of the back stage drama that went on (like Chuck D being mad at Flava Flav for dropping crack on the stage during a live performance!).

If, like me, you had an episode of Yo! as part of your daily routine then this is essential viewing.  A copy of this documentary briefly appeared on DailyMotion for about a day, but it was quickly removed, so watch this pronto in case the same thing happens again!

The full episode is embedded after the jump

Mike Check

Update - If you haven't seen the first episode of Yo! (or maybe you've not seen it for a long time), then you can get it here in one of my previous posts.

My God!

Pace Won and Mr. Green have just leaked a new track, entitled My GOD, from their long awaited forthcoming album The Only Number That Matters is Won which follows up their 2008 LP The Only Colour That Matters is Green.  The new album has been talked about for the best part of a year and feels long overdue, but it's now got a release date of September 4th 2012.  The album features collaborations from Snoop Dogg, Masta Ace and Lee Scratch Perry.

These guys are the perfect blend.  Green's retro sounding beats perfectly compliment Pace's authentic, old school, rhyme style, yet neither sound outdated.  The end product is real, conscious hip hop that's reminiscent of how things used to be, but still contemporary enough to be fresh, new and innovative.  If you need more proof, see my previous post which contains two of their best pieces of recent work.

In the meantime check out their new track which represents what we can expect more of when the album drops.

Mike Check

Golden Era History

Large Pro breaks down his classic records

I think the title says it all.  Extra P tells Complex.com the stories behind some of his classic joints whilst this month sees him release his latest LP Professor @ Large.  Essential reading:

http://www.complex.com/music/2012/05/large-professor-tells-all-the-stories-behind-his-classic-records-part-i/#gallery

Nas - The Making of It Was Written

Complex.com has produced a number of gems this month.  As well as the Large Pro stories, they've also produced something that is long overdue, a proper look at Nas' 2nd LP It Was Written.  His debut LP Illmatic has been analysed, dissected and digested to the point where there is nothing new left to say, but his 2nd LP is largely ignored.  As Complex rightly point out, it's his best selling LP to date and there was so much riding on it.  How the hell do you follow up Illmatic?  It could have easily been a flop and signalled the end of Nas' career, but it didn't, so how was this achieved:

http://www.complex.com/music/2012/05/the-making-of-nas-it-was-written/

Free Ice-T albums

The OG rapper has offered to share two of his lesser known albums for free. 

The first is an album that was originally recorded in 2004 when he was part of the SMG collective which consisted of Smoothe Da Hustler, Trigger Tha Gambler and the Ice man himself.  However this album was never released worldwide and therefore it is relatively unheard.

The second album is more recent and is released under his Twitter moniker, Final Level. 

To obtain your free copies, go to his bandcamp page and select to 'buy' the album.  Then enter 'zero' in the price box.

Peace
Mike Check