Silver Anniversary Series - 1986 - The Wrap Up (Part I)

As 2011 draws to a close, so does my series of reviews focusing on records and artists from 1986.  Instead, I'll soon be focusing on 1987, which was another hugely important year in hip hop's evolution.  Anyway, let's get back to 1986 whilst there is still time to review it.

When I came up with the concept for this series, I did some homework to make sure that there was plenty of significant and meaningful material to review, and I was surprised by just how much history there was that was either being forgotten or had passed many of us by (myself included).  I drew up a hit list of the main artists I thought should be mentioned, and I'd hoped to do many more articles in this series than my time has permitted me to do (but that's the life of an ageing b-boy juggling work, family, blogging etc). 

One of the biggest difficulties has been verifying my facts.  I've got a pretty good memory and my knowledge of the old school and golden era is pretty good, but being certain that something was released in a particular year, or on a certain label all needs verifying when 25 years have passed me by.  It's surprising just how many records were released in one year, and then rereleased on a different label the following year (maybe only a couple of months apart), especially when comparing US and European releases.  Many of the artists from this era don't appear on wikipedia, there aren't any Amazon reviews etc, so it's taken some considerable time to pull this stuff together. 

So here I am at the end of the year with a short list of artists that I'd hoped to shine a spotlight on, but never got the time to.  It seems a shame to let them fall by the wayside, so what I'm going to do is give a brief summary of each of these as they all deserve recognition for their work and contribution to the evolution of hip hop music and culture.

As there's so much to cover, I've decide to split this edition into 3 parts.  The first two will focus on the artists and the music, and part 3 will be a little Christmas bonus (download) for you in keeping with this series. 

Ice-T

First up is the Ice Man.  1986 was a key year in Ice-T's career, it's when everything started to take shape and ultimately in 1987 he would sign with Sire records who he would release his debut album with.  But in '86, it was his 12" single Dog N The Wax that was

MC Serch Interview

In my previous post I looked back at Non Phixion's Legacy 12" and I referenced an interview that the P Brothers did with MC Serch back in 2003 and I promised to share it with you. 

Now this interview is a real banger, it's like no other interview that you've read before.  Normally an interview is conducted for a specific purpose, usually to promote an artists new album, to clear up some pointless beef, or to drum up interest in their new protege blah, blah, blah.  There is almost always a motive for the artist to do the interview.
What makes this different, is that Serch pretty much did the interview to satisfy the persistant requests of the P Brothers, who are hip hop purists and whose only interest is to better understand Serch, some of his history and to get to the truth behind all of the gossip and rumours.

Serch said it himself, that this would be the last interview he does of this kind, and I can see why.  He bares his soul here and openly and honestly answers all of the questions put to him.  You really get the feeling as you read through it that he's laying some demons to rest.  He talks in detail about the formation of 3rd Bass, their success and their later demise, and what the real issues were.  He explains the trip to LA where he and Pete were nearly killed by gang members over the MC Hammer diss, and then his behind the scenes work executive producing Nas' first two albums and O.C.s classic, Word, Life.  Oh, and he clears up some of the Non Phixion story too!

It's a two part interview, and it's quite long, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  The depth and scope of this interview is what makes it so brilliant.  I hope you appreciate this as much as I did.

Shout out to the P Brothers too, I love you guys.

PART 1 - http://pressrewind.wordpress.com/2007/06/01/def-jam-3rd-bass-hammers-gas-face-mc-serch-in-grandslam-part-1-2003/
PART 2 - http://pressrewind.wordpress.com/2007/06/05/3rd-bass-split-nas-oc-non-phixion-mc-serch-interview-part-2-in-grandslam-2003/

Non Phixion - Legacy 12" (1996)

It still amazes me to this day that Non Phixion ever managed to get their material published.  They had significant interest being shown from several major labels, were then signed to Geffen, then signed to Matador, Matador then committed to producing an album and yet 5 years later they had virtually nothing to show for it! 

To the groups members, it must have seemed like the whole industry was against them.  Despite them having the backing of some industry heavyweights like MC Serch and Rick Rubin along with proven sales from their early single releases, it just didn't seem like it was ever going to happen for them.
Still, perseverance pays off, and so does setting up your own label (Uncle Howie Records) as this was the eventual remedy to the Non Phixion headache.

Going back to 1996 before most of their troubles started, when MC Serch was helping to get Non Phixion a major signing.  Their debut 12" entitled Legacy was released independently on the Fat Beats label and sold around 20,000 copies. 

It's an interesting release, because as it was 6 years before their debut  LP was released, it understandably has a completely different sound.  It was produced by Serch under his Serchlite Music company, whereas their later productions would come from either Necro or Non Phixion themselves.  However, it still maintains that trademark Non Phixion style.
MC Serch makes an unexpected appearance too, and somehow manages to sound a bit different without completely flipping his style, but it works quite well.

The B side is a different matter though.  The track is called No Tomorrow and is produced by Necro.  It's not the usual Necro style that we've become familiar with, instead this sounds much like most of the mainstream NY productions of that time.  The style of the chorus is also very typical of that era and overall the track reminds me of numerous east coast melodies from the mid 90's. 

It's definitely worth checking this out  If nothing else, it's good to feel some more of that mid 90's east coast flavour.

For those historians out there who like to know all the minuscule details of an artist or their history etc, you'll be pleased to know that the P Brothers conducted an explicit, honest and unique interview with MC Serch back in 2003 which he claimed would be his last interview of that kind.  He really went to town on setting the record straight. 
During the 2nd part of the interview, Serch explains much of the background to setting up Non Phixion and openly discusses the later fallout between him and Ill Bill.  It's a riveting read as it also uncovers lots of great history that hasn't previously been told about 3rd Bass, Nas, OC, Wild Pitch records etc.  But it's too much to cover here, so I'll get it uploaded in the next week or two!

Download The Full 12" (Hotfile 32mb)
http://hotfile.com/dl/120619834/015aabb/Non_Phixion_-_Legacy.rar.html