What do you ask god?

It's been an interesting month on the internet.  Aside the drama around Tim Dog's supposedly fake death, and the passing of one half of Kris Kross, there's also been some retro goodness.  Here we go....

The Microphone Master

The Red Bull Music Academy has been consistently representing good hip hop for a few years now, but now they bring us nearly 2 hours of discussion with hip hop's greatest emcee.  I don't think I need say any more, let Ra do the talking.

NYC Live Throw Down: 1979-1985

Just take another look at that image!  26 hours!!!  Props to Janka-man for sharing this.  It turned up on one of the best websites there is for finding obscure and out of print records.  I'd never seen it before, so I'm assuming many of you won't have either.  Here's the description:

Over 1 full day (33 live performances) of vintage and official live throwdowns, spanning from 1979 to 1985.  New York City's original school together in one complete set.  This collector's set includes one data DVD containing 3.5 GB of high quality (320 Bit Rate) mp3's.  Each show is ID'd and sequenced, resulting in convenient use and enjoyment, as opposed to each show being one thirty to ninety minute-long continuous track.  

No collection is complete without the infamous Kool Moe Dee / Busy Bee scuffle, or the notorious routines of the Force MCs, Treacherous Three, and Cold Crush 4 MCs.  The list of essentials on this disc is endless. Includes a 24 page full color booklet of vintage NYC show flyers and artwork.

If you're an old schooler with a passion for this type of stuff, then download, buy some food supplies and lock yourself in a room for a couple of days whilst you reminisce.  All the links and a detailed track listing can be found here:

http://1994hiphop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/nyc-live-throw-down-1979-1985-2007-dvd.html

G.U.R.U.

Last month was the 3rd anniversary of Guru's death.  Somehow this tribute track from Marco Polo, Talib Kweli and DJ Premier completely passed me by, which is a shame, because it's pretty nice.  See what you think.

Would You Like a Demo of ESP?

Nope, I'm not offering to read your mind, or bend a spoon.  I'm talking about the demo tape of Tha Alkaholiks when they went under their previous name, the Educated Street Poets or ESP.  I've previously covered this demo (and 29 others) here, but the tracks were embedded and were not available for download, whereas this downloadable version contains all 6 tracks.  Props to Warlord for sharing this rarity.

http://www.fileswap.com/dl/OuO8V1ygRV/Tha_Alkaholiks_aka_E.S.P._Demo.rar.html

More of the God MC

Producer Dominic Owen has released the 3rd instalment of his unreleased Rakim tracks.  This time round we're blessed with Get Visual (which eventually made it onto Rakim's debut LP The 18th Letter under the title When I'm Flowing).
For me, this is an interesting piece of history that adds another layer to this track.  As you can see from the Soundcloud title, Dominic produced this track in 1995, but the LP wasn't released until 1997!  This version is far superior to the album cut, but then I've always hated the LP version.  Why?  Because there is another (bootleg) version that ranks as one of my all time favourite Rakim tracks.  Both versions are presented here, you decide which is better, but don't waste your time with the LP version.

It's A Demo

I'm often found digging around in the bowels of the internet trying to find rare and elusive stuff that I've failed to obtain over the years, and sometimes I find things that I didn't even know existed until I stumbled upon them.  It's much like crate digging, but I'm not restricted to vinyl, I'm not seeking any holy grails and I'm not in dusty old record shops inducing frequent fits of sneezing!  Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking crate diggers.  I've happily spent many months of my life in those dusty old dungeons, but that was the old days, I'm mostly digital now. And besides, there isn't a high street store or online retailer that sells that old TV clip, concert footage or demo tape that I'm looking for, so alternative methods must be adopted.

While researching hip hop archaeology via the power of the internet, I usually wind up on some defunct blog page that once shared a rare gem, but the download link is now dead.  This sets me off on a wild goose chase to find that item elsewhere.  Successfully finding what I want is currently about 50/50 (it was higher before the demise of Megaupload!).

There is one minor problem with this hobby and the techniques I employ.  Just like a crate digger, you tend to overlook the main retailers.  This rarely concerns me, but every once in a while I find that hidden gem sitting somewhere fairly obvious and easy to find, which brings me to this post.

I was recently digging around when by fluke I came across a gem of an article on the Complex.com website.  Now maybe in the week this was published I was heavily dozing or on holiday or something, but whatever the reason was, I completely missed it.  What surprises me most though, is that something this good wasn't blogged or tweeted much more widely [if someone tells me it was, then I'll have to admit to being in a self induced coma!]. 

So what is this little gem that I'm banging on about..... well, it's only 30 demo tapes from some of the biggest and most influential artists in the rap game!!!  Each of these tapes has been digitised for your listening pleasure and most of them are essential listening. 

Demo-lition

 

Yesterday there was a lot of buzz around the web about this awesome mixtape from Rock Steady DJ, JS-1. It’s 3 hours of demo’s from major artists, most of which were big in the 1990’s. Don’t get me wrong, the line up looks stellar and there are quite a few that I’m eager to hear, but when you take a minute to consider some of these joints, I’m not convinced they are all true demo’s.

For example, we know from many different stories how Eric B & Rakim’s early material came to be, and there certainly wasn’t a Rakim demo tape kicking around. So what I think we really have here is a collection of tracks that are either cuts that didn’t make the album, unused remixes, or early versions before they were fully mixed down etc, with a few demos thrown in for good measure.

Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t make the mix any less interesting (in fact it probably makes it better as demo tapes can, understandably, sound very amateurish), but it’s good to keep things in perspective. I’ve included the full track list after the jump, along with the download link.

And if hearing a demo from your favourite golden era artist is your kind of thing, keep an eye out over the next few weeks as I’ll be posting 30 more demo tracks, and this time they will be the proper original demo tapes!

Mike Check.

Blogwatch - December 2011

Although 2012 is now here, I've taken the usual look back over the last month of 2011 and pulled together some of the highlights from around the internets various sites and blogs etc.  Although the Xmas and New Year parties have now finished, I've decided to lay on a retrospective buffet of hip hop for you to feast upon, there's plenty more after the jump:

Public Enemy in Concert

The boys over at the T.R.O.Y. blog have found this great recording of P.E. live in concert.  Although it's a recent concert, they showcase many of their hits from over the decades.  Why not digest nearly 2 hours of truly classic hip hop?

Blogwatch - July 2011

Apologies for the brief hiatus, it's that time of the year where holidays get in the way of blogging :)  Still, it's better get something late than not at all, so here goes.

July was yet another month of blogging goodness, with lots of rare rap vitamins and golden era minerals for your consumption.  As usual, I've scoured the blogging fields to find the best organic produce and then I freshly picked it for that perfect flavour.  Enjoy!

Rare Mixtapes
DJ Manifest has recently started a blog to share his vast collection of mixtapes.  There's some pretty rare, and old, stuff on there (Kid Capri, Ron G, Lord Finesse etc) and a promise of plenty more to come, so instead of me listing it here, why not go and check him out for yourself. 
http://onestopmusicplace.blogspot.com/

From Mambo to Hip Hop
My man Battlechasers has found a copy of the film "From Mambo to Hip Hop" which in his own words is a "Documentary on the creative adoption of Cuban rhythms to create the New York salsa sound, which laid the foundations for Funk and Hip-Hop."  Its directed by Henry Chalfont (Style Wars & Spray Can Art).
http://pieandears.blogspot.com/2011/07/from-mambo-to-hip-hop-documentary-film.html

Pacewon & Mr Green
It's always nice to discover new releases that are worth sharing with others, and this new video from Pacewon is no exception.  Props again to Battlechasers for digging this one up.
http://pieandears.blogspot.com/2011/07/pacewon-and-mr-green-ever-since-2011.html
Also, if you didn't catch Pacewon's last single Can you hear me (A tribute to the people of Tunisia) then you need to catch that too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYGfxOP9dQs

Non Phixion Promo Tape
Philaflava over at T.R.O.Y Blog has shared this Non Phixion sampler tape.  It is essentially their debut album that they produced for Geffen but was never released.  The track listing is kind of strange as it contains old tracks like legacy (their debut 12", see my earlier post) and then Black Helicopters which didn't come out until their 2nd LP.  It's also got gems like 14 Years of Rap feat. The Arsonists and They Got which weren't on either of the albums.
http://www.thetroyblog.com/2011/07/06/non-phixion-the-past-the-present-and-the-future-is-now/

Fat Boys Documentary
This is a great watch for any old skool fan.  A 40 minute documentary on the Fat Boys that charts their beginnings, their rise and ultimately their
Commentary comes from many legends including their producer Kurtis Blow and band members Prince Markie D and (a very slim!) Kool Rock Ski.
http://pieandears.blogspot.com/2011/07/fat-boysthe-true-story-great-watch.html

The Conspiracy is back!
If you weren't a listener previously, then I strongly recommend you check out Mr Montana's show on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio.  The latest episode has interviews with: DJ premier talking about the early Gang Starr days, Canibus talking about his new album Lyrical Law, MOP, and much more. 
Conspiracy Worldwide Radio is dedicated to conscious underground artists with a so you won't find any of that mainstream bullshit we all run a mile from!  And the best bit.... if you can't check the show when it's live, the podcasts can be downloaded from the site or via iTunes.  So, what's your excuse for not checking them out?
www.conspiracyworldwide.podomatic.com

R.A. The Rugged Man - Rare Promo DVD

This is a nice little rarity to share with you.  In fact it's so rare I can't tell you that much about it!  As it's a promo DVD it's not going to be listed or reviewed on any credible music related website or online store, and I can't seem to find any further info in any forums either.  So it's left to me to give you the low down on what to expect from it.
 
From what I can tell it was produced in early 2004 to promote his Die Rugged Man Die LP.  The first music video on this promo is for the hidden track at the end of his album called I Should'a Never.  Although this video can be seen on YouTube it has been censored due to the explicit content.  This DVD has the fully uncensored version which besides the female nudity, it also has scenes of R.A. removing his brain with a fork and various other provocative and suggestive imagery.

In many respects this is just what you'd expect from an R.A. video, his style and comedic approach are as prominent here as they ever have been.  However, this is from a time that isn't too far after his Crustified Dibbs era and so his rhyming style is the old, and less impressive, technique.  Whereas his latest reinvention with his verb flipping, tongue tieing, machine gun lyrics (as displayed here in one of my earlier posts) is definitively unique to R.A. and puts him firmly at the top of his game.

We're then blessed with a great little interview with Bobbito (of Stretch & Bobbito fame) where he talks about their history on the radio and his early beginings etc.  But this is followed by a series of bizarre film reviews with his girlfriend (he was writting movie reviews at that time).  R.A. showcases numerous retro B movies from his collection which all seems a bit pointless until he explains the title of his unreleased 1994 debut LP when he went under the Crustified Dibbs persona. 

There is also a trailer for what he describes as his own (soon to be released) movie called The Landlord Stretcher, but its actually a video for the rare track American Lowlife.

For a promo DVD it's very nice.  Promo's DVD's usually consist of one (two if you're lucky) full length music videos to promote a single or album.  But this is much better as it's running time is 42 minutes long! 
This isn't the kind of video that you'll watch time and time again, but if you're a collector of music videos, particularly the rarer stuff, then this is worth having purely for the uncencorsed version of I Should'a Never which I've not seen anywhere else (until now!).

Download (Hotfile 2x 350mb)
http://hotfile.com/dl/119787500/e7e4e5b/RA_the_Rugged_Man_-_Promo_DVDrip.part1.rar.html
http://hotfile.com/dl/119787344/996c24c/RA_the_Rugged_Man_-_Promo_DVDrip.part2.rar.html