Mick Boogie + NVME + DUCK DOWN Presents: SURVIVAL KIT

Survival Kit is an ode to KRS-ONE & BUCKSHOT's incredibly rich history of music. Their classic hits have been reinterpreted by today's artists to watch:

Track Listing:
1) Survival Kit (Intro) by DJ Sherazta
2) Gotcha Opin Original (RMX) - Tanya Morgan (produced by NVME)
3) South Bronx (RMX) - Cause, The Kid Daytona & Chaundon (produced by NVME)
4) Buck Em Down (RMX) - Christian Rich (produced by NVME)
5) Sound Of Da Police (RMX) - Diz Gibran & Shawn Chrystopher (Produced by ILL TAL)
6) Shit Iz Real (RMX) - Ruste Juxx (produced by NVME)
7) Step Into Our World (RMX) - Team Facelift & Jade (produced by ABADDON)
8) Talk Shit (RMX) - Torae & Skyzoo (produced by NVME)
9) MC's Act Like They Don't Know - Sha Stimuli, Promise, J.A.M.E.S. Watts, Fashawn (produced by NVME)
10) I Got Cha Opin 09 - Kardinal Offishall & Buckshot (produced by Havoc of Mobb Deep)
11) Past Present Future - KRS-ONE, Buckshot, Melanie Fiona & Naledge of Kidz In The Hall (produced by 9th Wonder)

Free Download (DuckDown.Com)

KRS-One & Buckshot - Survival Skills @Amazon.com

Enta Da Stage Vs. Midnight Marauders

Recently at the forum, Jaz (of CDRS fame) devised a poll that asks respondents to choose between two of 1993's landmark albums, Black Moon's Enta Da Stage and A Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders. I was initially fearful that the discussion would devolve into a battle of ad-hominem attacks and unsubstantiated claims, with one camp singing the praises of dark griminess and the other championing meander positivity. Both albums are lauded by cultish fan followings and bolstered by the nearly universal acclaim of established critics.

Marauders is the more widely known, and thus more celebrated album. It is also the more polished production effort and few would disagree that it sounds sophisticated and modern to this day. Enta Da Stage is rougher and almost comically dark in tone. This is not to say that Tribe doesn't flirt with characteristic early '90s dark griminess -- Midnight is pretty much the sonic and lyrical blueprint for much of Mobb Deep's early career, as I argue here. But let's be real - Enta Da Stage's lyrics are full of brooding menace, while Tribe's rhymes run the gamut from optimistic to mystic to downright silly.

There's little doubt in my mind that both groups were fans of each other's work. It is well known that Q-Tip went beat digging with Evil Dee and Mr. Walt during this time. Phife identifies Black Moon as one of his favorite rap crews in the Marauders liner notes. Enta Da Stage sounds very much like The Low End Theory's more thugged out kid brother. Even Buckshot's typically melodic and laid back styles seem to be influenced by the Q-Tip's talky flow; his more aggressive performances (and those of Five Foot Accelerator) remind one at times of Phife's simplistic but effective technique. Both albums are filled with jazz samples that are stripped down to their most essential groove, in some cases beyond recognition.

Can one of these albums be said to be inherently superior to the other? It's a tough call and the thread in question has proven to be somewhat contentious. What's your opinion? Let us know in the comments section here or over at the forums.

For the record, I listen to Marauders more these days, but who can front on "Slave" or "Niguz Talk Shit"?

-- Thun

Boot Camp Click - Duck Down Sampler VLS (1996)

Here we have a rare promotional Duck Down Sampler vinyl from 1996. If you are familiar with the Headz Ain't Ready VLS, no instrumentals were featured for the main track. Well, the sampler starts off with a dub instrumental of Headz Ain't Ready(Original Buckshot Mix). I know some of you are already saying "why didn't they just put the full instrumental without any vocals", well I don't know. The next track is Let Tha Brainz Blo (Babee Pall's Dolla Cab Lab Mix) by Heltah Skeltah. I don't know if this is supposed to be a Baby Paul remix but it sounds identical to the album version on Nocturnal; maybe it was released before the album? The B-Side wins again on this 12": Boot Camp Click - Niggaz Ain't Ready (Dirty F*cking Mix). While the original Headz Ain't Ready 12" version isn't censored, instead of saying "Headz" on the chorus, it now says "Niggaz". I believe that it is a super rare version that can only be found on this sampler which hasn't been ripped on the blogsphere until now. Enjoy!

A1 - Boot Camp Click - Headz Ain't Ready (Original Headz Instrumental)
A2 - Heltah Skeltah - Let Tha Brainz Blo (Babee Pall's Dolla Cab Lab Mix)
B1 - Boot Camp Click - Niggaz Ain't Ready (Dirty F*cking Mix)

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-- Thomas V

Hot 97 Radio Freestyle Pt.4 (1996)

Here's volume 7 of the Hot 97 Wildstyle Freestyle Allstars Vinyl Series. Dope freestyles of the golden era from Wyclef, Rampage, Chubb Rock, & Buckshot over classic hip hop beats live on New York radio.

A1. Wyclef & The Refugee Camp - Freestyle
B1. Rampage The Last Boy Scout - Freestyle
B2. Chubb Rock - Freestyle
B3. Buckshot (of Black Moon) - Freestyle

Ripped exclusively by dirt_dog for The T.R.O.Y. Blog

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-- Thomas V

The Samples Compilation 1

The point of these Sample Compilations I'm doing here is to bring you dope hip hop joints that sampled equally or, in some cases, even doper old records. I hope you all give these a thorough listen and enjoy.

We're gonna spark this one off with a 70's soundtrack cut by Herbie Hancock that is a great suspenseful, evil, dark alley sounding cut that has more samples than an Isaac Hayes record. You'll hear the rugged as all hell bass line sample for J-Force's Bullseye come in at one point and the smooth, happier sounding Edo. G 304's sample come in a little later. Then, we move right in to one of my favorite covers of "Light My Fire", by Brian Augers, The Trinity and Julie Driscoll. On this, you will notice two classic samples that this song will lead into. Somewhere towards the beginning to middle, you'll hear both parts of the classic Organized cut about females cheating with females, "Why". Then, near the very end of the song, the sample for the infamous Ice Cube dis track by Common, "The Bitch In Yoo". Great stuff already. Well, it only gets better.

Next up, we have a song that took me years to track down. Easy Moe Bee played it in a couple of his sample sets live on the radio in the mid 90's, but I could never figure out what it was. Well, I finally accidentally discovered it when copping the original break record for the Artifacts,"Wrong Side Of The Tracks". It was 9th Creation's "Rule Of Mind", which is just a dope funk soul track in it's own right. This track contains the samples for Black Moon's "Slave" and Ill Advised's "Kwestions". Two more bangers, without a doubt.

Next up is a song that I like but you might think is cheesy as Chuck E. "Star Of The Story" by Heatwave.

This was also sampled by ATCQ, but I went with Smiff N Wessun's "Nothing Move But The Money" for this. This was recorded right after the Da Shinin' sessions or maybe even during, and I consider this the last real Smiff N Wessun track. We close this out with an ill jazz track by the extremely ill organization called Catalyst. You'll hear the samples for the last two underground classics, "Leflaur Leflaur Eshkoshka" and the Triflict's "Don't Make Me Try".

1. Herbie Hancock - Party People

2. J-Force - Bullseye

3. Showbiz & Ag - Ain't No Fun

4. Edo.G - 304's

5. Brian Auger,The Trinity And Julie Driscoll - Light My Fire

6. Organized Konfusion - Why

7. Common - The Bitch In Yoo (version with 3rd verse)

8. 9th Creation - Rule Of Mind

9. Ill Advised - Kwestions

10. Black Moon - Slave

11. Heatwave - Star Of The Story

12. Smiff N Wessun - Nothing Move But The Money

13. Catalyst - Uzuri

14. Triflicts - Don't Make Me Try

15. Heltah Skeltah,OGC - Leflaur Leflaur Eshkoshka

Enjoy!

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DO NOT SLEEP ON THE LINKS IN THIS POST. THERE IS AN ABUNDANCE OF TREATS LINKED UP!!

--Verge