You got a little girl?

Peep Nas' new video for his single Daughters.  It's good to see Nas back doing more conscious tracks, and I'm sure that all of you Dad's with teenage daughters will certainly see Nas' perspective on this one. 

What is Rap SM?

If you liked my recent Pharcyde post then you might also like this live concert from Oakland's Souls of Mischief. 
The gig was filmed at an event in Helsinki, Finland called Rap SM.  I don't know anything about this event, but it's billed as a 'Freestyle Battle' [if any of our Finnish readers want to expand on this, please feel free to update us in the comments section].  Having looked at the Rap SM website, it seems like an event for Finnish emcees to battle each other, and each year they get a major US underground artist to perform at the event.  The last two years have seen Elzhi and Wildchild perform, but in 2009 it was the turn of the Hieroglyphic affiliates.

All to often, the footage of your favourite rapper in concert turns out to be a grainy, muffled, dimly lit and filmed from the back of the stage on a mobile phone type of affair, which is more than a little disappointing (whoever thought we wanted to see the back of an artist?).  And I'm not talking about the crap you find on YouTube filmed by paying fans, this stuff is frequently padding out full price retail DVD's!
So footage like we have here, with clear audio and visuals (where you can actually distinguish the faces of each emcee) feels like a real treat, especially when it's for a group that these days receives a minimal amount of exposure.  Read more after the jump...

A Kiss Goodbye

With the recent closure of New York’s 98.7 Kiss FM it seems like a good point in time to reminisce about it’s heyday, and there’s probably no better way to do it than to listen to one of the stations legendary DJ’s/pioneers, Koooooool DJ Red Alert.

This recording is labelled as being from 1988, but any knowledgeable listener will know that this can’t be right. Red Alert plays tracks like: De La Soul’s Plug Tunin, several BDP tracks from the By All Means Necessary LP, Biz Markie’s Vapours etc, all of which were released in the fall of 1990. Therefore I’d say this is most likely a show from late 1990.

As you would expect from Red Alert in this era, he plays a good selection of east coast rap including JVC Force, Jungle Brothers, Chill Rob G, BDP, EPMD, Doug E. Fresh, P.E, B.D.K and more.  He's also joined by DJ Sammy B from the Jungle Brothers who shares the mixing boards.

One of the great things about this rip is that it’s of exceptional quality as there’s no hiss like many cassette rips have. It runs for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, so you get two sides of what a standard TDK D90 cassette would’ve recorded (old school heads know what I mean)!  It's also a great reminder of the era when you could happily listen to the radio for several hours without wishing there was a fast forward button to skip the numerous adverts, the bullshit rap or the DJ's verbal drivel.  This is just back to back quality hip hop.

All that’s left to say is - R.I.P. 98.7 Kiss FM.

Mike Check.


If using RSS, you might not see the embedded audio player.
Alternatively, download the mp3 file: https://hotfile.com/dl/156220807/f0357dd/Red_Alert.mp3.html

Show and A got the Flava!



Bronx heavyweights Showbiz & A.G. return with a new release and are back on top of their game. You may remember that back in November I spoke about their highly anticipated new LP Mugshot Music and shared some of the leaked tracks. Well the LP is still in production and scheduled for a late summer release, so to keep fans happy and to fill the interim gap they have released a free taster album called Pre Loaded.

Unlike most pre releases, this is a full length, top quality album. It’s not a mixtape, there are no DJ’s hollering all over the tunes, and its 15 tracks long. Okay, I acknowledge that most of the tracks are only 2-3 minutes long, but I’d rather it be that way than having some well known DJ shamelessly doing self promotion with an annoying voiceover.

And if you’re a die hard Show & A.G. fan that really can’t miss anything they release…. well, you can purchase a deluxe version from iTunes or Amazon. So what do you get for your extra bucks ($8.99)?  Just three more short tracks!
I’m not sure on the marketing strategy here; surely a free EP would have given listeners a greater incentive to part with their hard earned dough for the full length album. But I’ve only been buying records for 30 years, so what would I know!

Anyway, go and check out the latest offering from one of hip hop’s greatest duos, I’m sure you’ll be glad you did.

Free download: http://www.sendspace.com/file/emzn23

Mike Check.

Where have you been?

Regular followers are probably thinking that I forgot to compile my usual monthly round up of interesting discoveries that I've found on my many journey's through the information super highway.  Well the truth is, that recently I've just not found very much that has been worth sharing with you. 

With so many blogs and websites taking time out to regroup after the megaupload situation, new and interesting content has been temporarily scarce.  The good news is, that things seem to be picking up a little, and this month there are some real gems for you.  Let's hope this trend continues, but in the mean time here's my blogwatch for April:

Trophies

It’s not too often that I find myself being both excited and nostalgic - at the same time - about new music. But this week’s new release of O.C. and Apollo Brown’s new LP Trophies has done just that. I started hearing the hype about it a month or two back, and the early tracks they leaked to promote it had my ears open, but I still had my reservations as to whether this could really live up to all the hype.

Well I’m pleased to say that it’s better than I expected. Apollo Brown has successfully crafted 16 tracks that perfectly compliment O.C.’s style and flow. Many of the tracks sound like they could be unused beats from the vaults of early 90’s producers like Pete Rock, DJ Premier or Buckwild etc

O.C. is back at his best, allowing his cadence to effortlessly intertwine with Apollo’s beats. The end result is a stellar album from start to finish. And if you don’t believe me, you can check out the whole album here (which contains a couple of free download tracks). If you like it, please support the artist and head over to their bandcamp page and buy a copy (it's only $9.99). It’s also been pressed on wax for all those vinyl heads out there.

Check the album after the jump, along with the trailer for Ice-T's new documentary, a critical review of Rza's Bobby Digital and a Tupac resurection!!!

Da Teacha

For those tuning in expecting one of my legendary uninformative posts on the great KRS - One, don't worry it's still in the pipeline. Although much like the Siberian conduit that provides Europe with its gas lifeline, Mofo's keep trying to blow it up, to keep the 'people' from what they need!

Whilst at school I am sure i was no different to any of you in that there were two words that were simply guaranteed to make my day. No not a mate breathlessly shouting 'saw breast' Grow up. I mean 'supply teacher'. Oh yes. All the adrenalin and excitement of Christmas Eve, but with unrestricted access to an arsenal of stationary based weaponry, and thirty cohorts screaming for a first hand view of an adult taking their first tentative steps towards a nervous breakdown, with binge/purge variant. Mr. Boone walked in tall, but he left with a tipex montage of abuse on his black leather jacket. As he left in tears i know was not alone in thinking 'he looks like an underpaid and ugly extra from Grease' because Raj, bless him, (he manages a bank now!) shouted 'you look like you're in Grease you twat'. You knew when you'd taught Class A. Looking back it was quite prophetic that we were called that, as two of my class mates subsequently went on to spend time at Her Majesty's Pleasure for selling a powdery range of merchandise to promote our forms name! Bless them.

Anyhow enough of my unnecessary reminiscing, lets get to the matter at hand. Quite simply if our academic here had strolled into our form, i suspect it would have been a different story. The Blizzard well and truly blows itself out.

Please check out the link below if you're intrigued.

To all the teachers out there, i sincerely apologise for much of Class A's conduct, we knew not what we did. Well, certainly when challenged about it later.

This post is dedicated, though i appreciate the material is hardly appropriate, to my wonderful Grandfather who passed away age 93 recently. He was my best friend and i miss him dearly. He wouldn't have approved of tipexing teachers, but always made me laugh. Goodbye Grandad.

The Teacha

Who shot Biggie Smalls, if we don’t get them they gonna get us all.

That Dead Prez lyric may no longer hold true, as Biggie’s killer (apparently) can’t get us all. According to this interview with Greg Kading, a former L.A.P.D. detective who spent 3 years heading the investigation into the murder of the Notorious B.I.G., he says that he knows who killed Biggie. And what’s more he names them, along with Tupac’s killer, and many of the conspirators. But what’s most intriguing is his certainty that neither of these cases will ever be formally solved, and he explains why.

The sceptics and conspiracy theorist’s will no doubt cast shadows of doubt over these claims (and any others), but given that Greg Kading is one of the few people who has spoken to all sides involved and seen all the evidence, his story is compelling and cannot be ignored.

See what you think:
http://www.complex.com/music/2012/03/interview-former-lapd-detective-says-he-knows-who-killed-the-notorious-big/page/1

Mike Check

The Family Tree

Wherever you grew up in the world and whichever era you grew up in, it’s likely that alongside listening to hip hop, you probably also read a comic or two (apologies to our female readers who may not have connected with comics like most of us boys do).  Our love of comics continues into adulthood as we’re the generation that’s now watching the Iron Man, X Men and Batman movies etc.

But when was the last time you actually picked up a traditional comic? For me, it was about 6 months ago when I was rooting around in my loft. I opened a box which I thought contained an item I was looking for, but instead it had some old comics in it. This was a pleasant surprise and I was momentarily distracted as I pulled a couple of editions out and thumbed through them, reminiscing of old times.
I soon remembered that I was in my loft for a purpose and within a few minutes the comics were returned to deep storage and I was back searching for what I’d originally gone up there for.
This kind of summarises my love of comics. It was once there but it has been filed, almost indefinitely, to make space for other things. Until now…..

What is Cydeways?

Well, there's a clue in the title.  Yup, you probably guessed it, The Pharcyde are cydeways, and it's a pretty good way of describing their musical style.  As it happens, I own very little of the Pharcyde's catalogue, but there's no denying that they are one of the most original hip hop groups ever to hit the industry.

The Pharcyde are often cited as one of 'the greats' and their debut LP Bizarre Ride to the Pharcyde is an agreed classic, but too often it is forgotten that The Pharcyde's creativity doesn't stop with their music.  Their music videos have been consistently innovative since day one, and if they don't opt for a zany concept, they do something with the visuals to keep an otherwise simple video very intriguing.

Chromosomal Beatdown

This interview isn't new, but its always good to hear from Dr Octogon (or any of his other aliases).  It's just what you'd expect from the Ultramags hardest working emcee, Kool Keith, it really is some off the wall ish!!!  His digressions about the future of the human race and the increasing number of ugly people is interesting whilst at the same time classic Kool Keith.  Enjoy it, but don't take it too seriously, we're not all going to end up ugly.

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/interviews/id.1229/title.kool-keith-chromosomal-beatdown

Mike Check