Proto Bass Jumpin

Krush 2 "Ghetto Jump"
(1986, Sunnyview) @ 320

The Ghetto Style DJs had security guys in the group and the PacJam was our headquarters. There were sometimes a dozen of us. I was never a great rapper but I got into talking to the crowd and they'd talk back. We started doing a dance called the "Ghetto Jump" that I did during parties and concerts using a heavy bass dance beat. It was the origin of the Miami Bass sound. So a record producer gets this guy to do the song and I was credited on the record as the originator of the song. But I never got a penny from the producer. I decided that I'd forgo the royalties if the guy (I can't even remember the shits name) would play the PacJam for free. I figured I'd get a few bills out of the record one way or the other. But the motherfucker wouldn't do it. So I said that if that motherfucker could do a record of my shit and make money then so could I.

-Luke, from As Nasty As They Wanna Be (1992, Barricade)

Til The Cup Iz M-T

Various Artists
Memphiz Undaground Hustlaz: Vol. 1
(1995, Alkatraz Productionz)
from cassette to 320 mp3

Al Kapone, he's one of the only niggas in Memphis you can go talk to, no matter who you have beef with, you can have beef with one of his best friends. Al Kapone, he the only nigga you can just really go talk to and work shit out. And he one of the hardest niggas in Memphis plus one of the coolest niggas in Memphis to fuck with.

-Skinny Pimp (Murderdog Vol 8 #2)

And here Memphiz's hardest, coolest mediator presents a great compilation of local talent that is solid thru and thru.

My personal favorites are the Project Playaz "Real Hustlaz Everywhere" and 1st Degree & GK's "Ghetto Pimpin". For some reason the cassette version excludes the hidden track present on the CD version. Maybe cassettes are a more difficult place to hide things.

Are You Ready?

Unheated Beats: Sounds from the Center of the Sun

Mystik@l & Ouk@st
"Neck Uv Da Woods (inst.)"
[prod. by Earthtone III]
(1999, J!ve)

A way-too buried junt from Earthtone3 at their creative peak. So many great beats' strength comes from their economy of space. Some left between beats for each hit to tug without ripping anything wide open, some left on top to be filled by a thick layer or two of rapping. Ideally, straight and sparse enough for versatile use as a DJ tool, individual enough that every clip signifies.

This track is the opposite of that - topped-off past full, spilling over, a little bit careless. Double time 808 bass & hihats compete with loud rides, enough synths for a whole John Carpenter movie and the inexpert wah-wah that really gives this its MacGuyver feel.

This track is really one of my all time favorites. I'm familiar with it as one of the hidden tracks on Mystikal's Let's Get Ready which doesn't get the credit it deserves as a great rap full-length. Still, the 3 hidden tracks there are better than any of the listed ones.

I found this in the Amoeba clearance bins recently in single promo form. I never knew it was from The Woods soundtrack and I still don't know anything about this Jay D / Slum Village rmx.

Blog While U Dog

A collection of mag ad scans circa Y2K [Part 1]

I didn't just include those by artists who are T&G favorites, though I tried (but didn't always succeed) to pass over pages that weren't visually interesting.

Glad to see that www.thegreatestrapshow.com does not currently exist. This means that Alaska's Drinks Own Urine/Columbine-Worship rap scene will remain a mystery, something always preferred to a disappointment (not that I had high hopes anyways).

Hopefully these ads can still function as something more than just Y2K nostalgia as one or two of you actually discover a records worth searching for.

Stay tuned for round 2.

Fired Up

Fiend f/ BG & Soulja Slim
"Fired Up" (2004, No Label)

Soundtrack presence casts such an ugly shadow on rap singles. Which is probably why I didn't actually listen to this 12" until 3 years after purchasing it. I definitely listened to the David Banner A-side but must have lost confidence quickly. But I've seen this movie more than twice and I definitely don't remember this song's inclusion.

The production has a real original feel even if it does feel a little too much like a very colorful Volkswagon commercial. Its equal parts gamelan, Bang On a Can-style post minimalism and that triumphant Archie Eversole sound. Who produced this??

Really, I don't know any unreleased record that deserves daylight more than the BG & Slim collabo. This may be as close as that came in the physical world.

Nascent NOLA 12s: Nuthin Nice

MC J Ro J "Ain't Nuthin Nice"
(1988, Enoja) @ 320 kbps

One more piece in the J Roget puzzle. This 12 doesn't capture the same timeless New Orleans vibe as the "Let's Jump" single, but its still a varied and interesting document. There seems to be a correlation between the music on his records and the oufit he wears on the front but I've haven't quite figured what it is. How similar is the production on Mia X's "Mommie Dearest"? Does it sound more like this or the Westbank tracks we're familiar with? Please yall, if anyone's holding that one don't hold out.

Funny dated samples and references: "Sometimes, I feel like a nut", "Homie don't play that", Snap!'s "I've Got the Power".

Scratches by DJ KLC (& DJ Treble) and that makes this the earliest record to feature Craig Lawson I know of (his wikipedia page claims he was "active" since 87). And though this is tangential I like this anglefire bio:

KLC is a sleepy-eyed B-Boy turned producer. He comes with the "Michael Meyer" beats, that are eerie and wicked. He's also the one who usually produces the rowdy Soldier songs. They say that, to get him to produce a hit beat, the keyword is, "food". He can produce well on a full stomach than on an empty one. Also, the beat to the rowdy anthem, "Bout It, Bout It" was an accident gone right. After KLC's one year old daughter Crashan, started messing with his equipment, he realized the beat she added was what he was looking for. He also raps, which he made his debut act on Mia X's, "Mama's Family" off, Unladylike.

Nascent M-Town 12s: Motherfuck the Cops

Men of the Hour
Cop's Aint Shit 2 Me / Psycho
(1991, Bazooka) @ 320 kbps

Noz already streamed this shit, but I've giving it out fully and including the instrumentals too because I really like this release and not just as a historical document but as music.

And maybe being a guitarist makes me more sympathetic to the instrument's rap inclusion. I also love the orchestra hit synth sounds in both tracks because they sound so dated but their arrangement makes it hard. A much rawer sound than the contemporary Radical T features.

Instrumentalwise, "Psycho" works well as a stand-alone. The crowd sounds, drums & samples, no-reservations funk wah guitar and whispered "psycho" all combine to make a really unexpected music.

Animal Life in the Great Swamp

Swamp click S/T
(1996, Big Easy Records)
from cassette to 320 mp3

Here are the current internet CD prices for this album: Amazon - $132.94, New. $57.97 Used. Ebay - $39.99. On cassette a month ago it cost 4 dollars at Peaches (thanks 2 IV).

I think that the presence of an animal in a Pen & Pixel cover really drives up the demand from internet bidders and this cover has 4 of them. And it might be the most varied, though the dog/vulture combo of 8ball's "Lost" comes close.

The double dog is the iconic standard (Backyard 196 "Wicked Wayz", Big Swiss "The Inaugaration), outdone (thru opposite extremes) by the bloody disc biting beast on Mersonary Kilaz "Blood Thirsty" and the very many mutts of Big Pokey's "Hardest Pit in the Litter". The white tiger is a personal favorite of mine (and one I've put to use in my own ripping off) but one that toes the line and no one need mention the Big Bear of CMP covers at this point. Not that they haven't once brought me joy.

I wouldn't want to not mention the race horse in flight on Criminal Elament's "Hit Em Where It Hurt". And someone explain to me what the geodesic dome on the back of SC's swamp jeep is for.

I can only hope that available downloading drives down the price of releases like this. No one should have to pay more than $20 for a release that is not that good, not that rare and not at all historically significant, alligators or no alligators.

There is shit on here I like. Three quarters thru, things starts picking up with a short swamp instrumental. Then a moment of self-reflection: "Yo B, we ain't got no hype shit on dis album dawg", after which things stay better.

I really like the noodling instrumental behind the "Shoutz Out", I wish it was a proper track.