Superegular & The Stoupe Produced EPs of the '90s.

It’s time for some more literal Phila flava. Before Stoupe the Enemy of the Mankind began to work almost exclusively for members of Jedi Mind Tricks and Army of the Pharaohs (with exceptions for artists like Canibus, Guru and Reks) he was starting out with groups like Soulcraft, Doublespeek and Neso in the mid to late nineties.

“…I had a very brief career as an MC. Stoupe and I had a group called Doublespeek with another friend. We put out one 12” in 1996 just before the birth of Superegular. I think it went copper? I never saw the final SoundScan numbers on that one.” ~ Ryan Donahue (in a Baby Grande Interview)

This is that one 12”, which, if you can find, will now likely cost you a couple bills. But now thanks to the Illest EPs thread (among other places), you can hear it right here:



Doublespeek – Trial By Stone EP (192 CBR) (1996 on Onesoul Productions)





A1 - Trial By Stone ft. Arch Leon & Yan (Produced by Stoupe)

A2 - Trial By Stone (Remix) ft. Arch Leon & Yan (Produced by Stoupe)

A3 - Trial By Stone (Instrumental) (Produced by Stoupe)

B1 - Remind Body ft. Arch Leon & Yan (Produced by Stoupe)

B2 - Remind Body (Instrumental) (Produced by Stoupe)

B3 - Black China ft. Arch Leon, Jay Block & Yan (Produced by Stoupe)



As forum member kimani said: “...this EP is very good, give it a listen if you haven't, regardless of whether or not you like Stoupe or Jedi Mind Tricks.”



And (thanks to Kevin Beacham) this is yet another T.R.O.Y. exclusive, one of the earlier Superegular releases:



Neso – The Move / Mad Coolout / The Balance 12” / VLS (256 / 320 CBR) (1997 on Superegular Recordings)

(Picture courtesy of Kevin Beacham, click for big.)

A1 - The Move (Produced by Stoupe)

A2 - The Move (Instrumental) (Produced by Stoupe)

A3 - The Move (Remix) (Produced by Stoupe)

B1 - Mad Coolout ft. Teniweti, Arch Leon, Jack Block, Kaosm, Oddball & Qan (Produced by Stoupe)

B2 - Mad Coolout (Instrumental) (Produced by Stoupe)

B3 - The Move (Remix Instrumental) (Produced by Stoupe)

B4 - The Balance ft. Karesh (Produced by Stoupe)



Two other early Stoupe produced releases, a ’96 single / EP also by Neso called Subject to Change and ‘94’s Common Thread EP by Soulcraft still haven’t surfaced online (at least not yet).



But then of course there's the most well known Stoupe produced EP from the '90s and that's Jedi Mind Trick's first release, The Amber Probe EP:



Jedi Mind Tricks – The Amber Probe EP (192 CBR) (1996 on Superegular Recordings)





A1 - Neva Antiquated (Produced by Stoupe)

A2 - Neva Antiquated (Instrumental) (Produced by Stoupe)

A3 - Communion: The Crop Circle Thesis ft. The Lost Children of Babylon (Produced by Stoupe)

B1 - Neva Antiquated (Dark Jedi Remix) (Produced by Stoupe)

B2 - Neva Antiquated (Dark Jedi Remix Instrumental) (Produced by Stoupe)

B3 - Books of Blood: The Coming of Tan ft. El Eloh (Produced by Stoupe)



Thanks to both Ho1ogramz and kimani for posting / reupping Doublespeek links, to the Kaknado blog for providing a working link to the Amber Probe EP and as always, mad props to Kevin Beacham, this time around for scanning the one sheet and ripping / upping the original links to Neso's The Move 12" in this crazy thread, which contains a lot of freestyles, demos and assorted rarities (if you didn't already know).



-- The Big Sleep

StillTown Presents Chicago: Only Cold Winds Blow

A new memeber of Philaflava forum, StillTown, made this compilation for his own blog, but also decided to share with Philaflava community. Thank you StillTown.
Recently, we here at T.R.O.Y. supplied you with awesome summer compilations, so just in case it was too much heat for you, we thought it would be nice to cool you off a little bit with this one.

Soon after this compilation dropped, Kevin Beacham who also ran Time Travel radio program on WNUR 83.9 in Chicago, gave us information that Distortionists and Example are from Texas.
But never mind for that, cause this don't give this compilation a lower vaule.
Also thanks to Kevin Beacham for providing some of this tracks exclusively from his collection, which you can check in this thread.
Enjoy!

StillTown Presents Chicago: Only Cold Winds Blow (2010)



01. Sudden Def - Def's Penalty
02. Tung Twista - Suicide (Original)
03. Immortal Griffen & Freeloadaz - Freeloadaz Freebasin' Non-Stop
04. Rubberoom - Synapse Gap
05. E.C. Illa - On Ill
06. Whatnoxic - Contortin'
07. Distortionists - Geographics
08. Off Da Wall - One After Another
09. Stedy Serv - You Know the Time
10. Epicentral - Compare & Contrast
11. Spalaney's - Universal Language
12. All Natural - This Is How It Should Be Done
13. East of the Rock - Galaxy Rays
14. Example - Recollect

DOWNLOAD

--Markshot

K Funk Presents: Hiss-Story Vol.1-- DJ Nikoless

01. Intro - Hiss Is For You

02. Madlib - My Style Is Different... ‘95

03. The Distortionists - Retaliation ‘96

04. Kemest - One For Dah Mental ‘95

05. Stedy Serv - Lyrical Graffiti ‘99

06. Interlude: (All Natural-50 Years) ‘96

07. Definite Vacation 4 Suckas - Perfection ‘97

08. Dirte & Ope-Ski (T.S.P) - I’m Only 19 ‘99

09. PRZM & Illogic - Poisonous (How We Do) ??

10. Headshots - Look Into Our Wilderness ‘97

11. Kool Keith - You Know The Game ‘95*

12. The LO’s ft. Erick Sermon - New Haven Connect ‘95

13. Raw Elements - Blauw! ‘97

14. Of Mexican Descent - 242 ‘94

15. K Borne - The Qwest [JEL Remix] ‘97

16. Funkytown Pros - Fake Ass Hip Hoppas ‘95

17. Brain Leakage - Brain Leakage ‘92

18. S.P.O - Puttin’ Heads To Bed ‘92

19. Savage Intellect - Technique Of Fury ‘90

20. Interlude: Incredible Bongo Band - Apache ‘73

21. Masai Bey - The Untitled ‘93

22. Interlude: (Jurassic 5-Jurass Finish First Outro) ‘00

23. Interlude: HISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

24. Interlude: (Giant Panda-Diggin In The Tapes) ‘05

25. Bonus Cut: Paten Locke - Auto Reverse ‘09

Download here.

Wow. This is what happens when you have a demo fiend like K Funk, and an acclaimed radio show host/dj like Kevin Beacham, on the same forum. Exclusive demo mixtape anybody?! I can absolutely co-sign that this is a great listen all the way through and will be looked back on as a classic mixtape to many people.

Personally, I love demos and this should not fall short of any of your expectations if you feel the same. Everything is in the best available quality. No radio rips or skips or pops anywhere in sight.

*In case you were wondering, this Kool Keith cut was actually released on that Unreleased Sex Style Archives in 2009. You can cop that here.

Kev Beacham would like to shout out the following:

Alyssa Nikole, Tina & all her family, Quincy, Mom & Dad, Tif, Chris, Mikey (stay strong!),

Tif, Leon, Messiah, Ari, The Gashs, The Beachams, The Current & Redef Radio Listeners,

K Funk, Philaflava, Boogs (for the Dilla quote), J Pratt, Surge Hands Of Time, Aaron Low

Budget, RSE, IPR, all the artists who have sent me demos over the years and everyone

who listens and enjoys!

-Thanx For The Vocal Samples: U.T.F.O, Slick Rick, James Brown, Whodini, Ultimate Choice,

GMF & Furious 5, T La Rock, King T, Cella Dwellas, Ultra Sonic Man (Spider-Man), Nonce,

D.O.C, Ronnie G, Just Ice, Ugly Duckling, Danny Michel, KRS One, Sir Mix A lot, Super

Lover Cee, Large Professor (Main Source), De La Soul, 4Ever Fresh, J Live, Public Enemy,

J Zone, Notorious B.I.G, BDP, King Sun, Chill Rob G, ?? (J Dilla) & Black By Demand

K Funk would like to send shout outs to:

Kevin Beacham, schenectadyfan, soopacee, Jaz, Verge, The Big Sleep, Philaflava,

Ed Catto & The Freestyle Professors fam, DJ Prime Time of Finsta Bundy, DJ Mike Nice,

DJ JS-1 and for everyone else who is still holdin' it down!

--Verge

Akbar - Non-Album Tracks

Akbar is seriously one of the most slept-on MCs in the history of hip hop, and easily one of my all-time favorite Chicago MCs. My first exposure to Ak was on a DJ PNS mixtape titled Chicago Rocks Volume 2. Ever since then, I always held him in a high regard, and I was constantly on the lookout for new material. I'd eventually track down his debut 12" with the Mental Giants, but it wouldn't come cheap.

Now, you're probably saying to yourself - how in the hell does this Akbar guy have three volumes worth of non-album tracks? Fortunately, I tuned in for the DJ 3rd Rail show one Sunday night back in early 2000, and to my surprise, Akbar was in the building. He was promoting his forthcoming album "Big Bang Boogie", and since he and DJ 3rd Rail were homies, he basically did a two hour live concert on the air, and it was fucking insane. I tuned in just in time, as I was able to record the entire thing. Make sure to check the audio samples.

I also got an ill Time Travel freestyle from the homie Kevin Beacham. Check out his myspace page for the ill Chicago rarities.

Akbar - Non-Album Tracks Volume 1
1. Mental Giants - Akbar's Groove
2. Mental Giants - Cheeba Creepas
3. Mental Giants - Bronx 'n Back
4. Mental Giants - Hustler's Hymn
5. Mental Giants - Uptown Drifter
6. Mental Giants & Jamalski - No Murder
7. Mental Giants & Jamalski - Poom Poom (Remix)
8. Mental Giants & Jamalski - Thought So
9. Akbar - Battle Cry (Original Mix)
10. Akbar - Battle Cry
11. Akbar, Juice, Common, etc - Cryogenic
http://www.mediafire.com/?l041mttmzeq

Akbar - Non-Album Tracks Volume 2
1. Time Travel Freestyle 7/25/96
2. Lif Concert Freestyle Segment #1
3. Lif Concert Freestyle Segment #2
4. Lif Concert Freestyle Segment #3
5. Lif Concert Freestyle Segment #4
6. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #1
7. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #2
8. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #3
9. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #4
10. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #5
11. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #6
12. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #7
http://www.mediafire.com/?zzgwjzhjwgm

Akbar - Non-Album Tracks Volume 3
1. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #8
2. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #9
3. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #10
4. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #11
5. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #12
6. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #13
7. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #14
8. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #15
9. DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #16
http://www.mediafire.com/?z2gtmm4jmnz

Preview:

Mental Giants - Akbar's Groove


Mental Giants - Cheeba Creepas


Mental Giants - Bronx 'n Back


Mental Giants - Hustler's Hymn


Mental Giants & Jamalski - Thought So


Akbar - Battle Cry (Original Mix)


Time Travel Freestyle 7/25/96


DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #1


DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #2 (Battle Cry)


DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #7 (Bigger Dey Come/Freestyle)


DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #12


DJ 3rd Rail Live 2000 Segment #13 (Cheeba Creepas)


Props to dirt dog for the cover.

--Roy Johnson

DJ PNS - Chicago Rocks Vol.1

In 1996, DJ PNS dropped the first of classic mixtape series "Chicago Rocks". It is known for strictly featuring Chicago emcees. The Molemen had dropped a few highly-influential mixtapes but the "Chicago Rocks" series was, without question, their finest contribution to the mixtape market. It featured Molemen affliates as usual like E.C. Illa, Vakill, Ang 13 then you have up & coming artists such as Rubberoom, Stony Island, D2 Tha Es, Fully G, Tha Chamba... It also features known names such as Common Sense, Tung Twista, No I.D. & Dug Infinite, and Crucial Conflict. The "Chicago Rocks" series would follow with two more volumes that you will get in a few days. Now, take you time and listen to this Chi-Town piece of history.

Side 1

Side 2


Mad Shoutouts to Kevin Beacham(flyer+tracklist) & Roy Johnson for helping me out on the post!

-- Thomas V

Big L Rarities & Press Kits

The Redefinition Of Time Travel w/ Kevin Beacham: Big L Rarities & Press Kits

Usually I do something to focus on the Redefinition Radio shows, but with the anniversary of Big L’s death today, I wanted to dedicate this offering to him.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/6rlpk8
TRACKS: Timez Is Hard, I Shoulda Used A Rubba, & School Daze.

Here’s the three rare joints taken off his debut album from the original promo tape (scans included). I also included all of his press kit stuff I had which includes: original Columbia bio, original Columbia press photo, Rawkus bio, 2 Rawkus press photos, & a few press releases.

Big L was a good dude. I won’t go far as to say we were “friends” or anything like that, but we crossed paths a few times and talked about Hip Hop, lyrics, and things of the sort.

My first meeting with him was somewhat of a humbling experience. It was in the Summer of ‘94 and I was on one of my regular trips to New York to take in the scene, buy new music and check out Rock Steady Anniversary. It was me and my man Zeke. We were staying in Harlem at Grav’s Mom’s place (at the time Zeke and Grav were a group called Indigenous Theory). There was this late night chicken shack not too far from his spot so it was a nightly adventure to walk up there any time past midnight.

On one of the first nights, we are at the spot in a long line and something must have got me excited or whatever cause I was “preaching” about the state of Mcing or something like that. It started out as just a convo between Zeke and I but as it went on and we noticed people starting to take interest it got more elevated. There was one guy in particular about 4 or 5 people back really checking us out and listening in. On our way out, he was like “You MC?”. I was like, “Yeah, since 1980, but now I’m more focused on the business side of things and journalism...my man Zeke is an MC.”. He’s like, “Yeah, I rhyme too. I got a deal with Columbia and I’ll be dropping soon”. Being that in New York everyone rhymes and got a deal I didn’t think much of it and sort of blew him off with a “Oh word. What’s the name? I’ll check for you....”. He’s like “L”
and we give pounds and say peace.

I walk outside and something just hit me with an interest to know where we were so I look up and it’s the cross streets of Lenox and 133rd (or something like that). Then my rap computer brain kicked in and I was like “Hold up...”. I go back inside and I’m like “Big L???”. His face lit up a bit and he’s like “Yeah. You heard of me?”. At this time, he only had the verses on “Represent” and the “Yes You MayRemix”...”Devil’s Son” promos might have just started leaking out.

I was like, “Yeah man. You killed it on those guest appearance joints”. I apologize for blowing him off but tell him why and he knows the deal on the “everyone raps and got a deal in New York steez” so we are all good. We talk a bit. I tell him about my promotions company in Chicago and that I’ll have his back out there when he drops so we exchange numbers and say peace.

A little less than a year later, Notorious B.I.G had a Platinum party in Chicago (at Club Drink I think...) and it’s a star-studded affair; Puffy is there, Lorenzo Tate is chilling at the bar, still hot off his Menace To Society rep, and so on. It’s not really my kind of scene but I’m trying to network for my upcoming magazine (Caught In the Middle) and my promotions company (Rage Promotions). I’m just chilling and out of nowhere Big L steps up and is like “What’s Up”. I'm can't remember why he was there in Chicago, but it was unexpected. We kick it for a bit and catch up on what’s going on with his project and whatever. While we are talking Puffy comes by to say what’s up to Big L and someone asks to snap a flick. I’ve seen the flick but never got my hands on it. I imagine that picture is somewhere with the caption, “Puffy, Big L and unknown friend”...ha.

Anyway, L and I stayed in contact for about another year or so, off n on thru phone calls. Then I hit a stressful point in life and was sort of unreachable for a while and in that time I lost contact with a lot of people (mostly artists) who I was talking to on the regular. In any event, Big L was killing it with every release and I continued to love and support his music on my Time Travel radio show and by word of mouth.

When I heard about his death I was in the middle of my first break from the radio show since ‘95 cause I never missed a show for any reason, but I was getting real frustrated with things so I was thinking about quitting the show. When I found out about Big L getting shot it hit me. I just thought about the senseless murder, the loss of a great artist, the loss of good person, and also how you can stop contact with people thinking you’ll hit them up “whenever” because you got time...though that’s not always true and we shouldn’t take those things for granted. I came back to show the next week to do a dedication to Big L. I stayed on the air strong until 2002 and I moved to MPLS.

R.I.P Big L (May 30, 1974 - February 15, 1999).

Also, this week on Time Travel Radio:

1)All Natural-Liquid Paper (Ghostface diss....) ‘95
2)No Pity Committee/M.A.T.s Crew feat Twista-The Padded Room ‘94
3)D2ThaS-Doomsday ‘92
4)Kwest The Madd Ladd, Rhymefest, Vakill Time Travel Freestyle 7-4-96
5)Twista-Suicide '94

--Kevin Beacham

The Redefinition Of Time Travel #3 w/ Kevin Beacham

The Redefinition Of Time Travel #3: Rap Randomness...

CJ Moore (Black By Demand/Biggamen)
CJ Moore is one of those names in Hip Hop that anyone who actively read album credits in the ‘80s and ‘90s will more than likely recognize. However, most people don’t realize his full contribution or influence in Hip Hop.

Representing Queens, he first got some national recognition in ‘88/’89 with his crew Black By Demand on Tommy Boy. They only released two singles, but both were pure quality material. CJ handled the production and vocal duties for the crew with his man Cut Professor working the wheels.

One of the first things that sticks out about all their tracks is the creative production. The tracks all use familiar elements; “Can’t Get Enough” (Kool & The Gang), “All Rappers Give Up” (Zapp), “Dearly Beloved” (Prince with a nice use of the “Apache” drums), & “In The Mist Of Funk” (Kool & The Gang and Parliament). It’s not about the samples used, it’s the way he flips them that displays his true gift. Perhaps the best example is “In The Mist Of Funk”. Bits and pieces of “Flashlight” are looped for great effect and enhanced with a ensemble of skillfully and tastefully placed teaser cut and scratch segments that are seemingly randomly yet mathematically placed thru out the entire track (think: Jazz horn player “freestyling” a variety of notes to a beat non-stop for 4 minutes). It recently occurred to me that this song might be the start of people using scratching as a production element in this way thru out a whole song...if not the first certainly one of the best, which makes it stand out.

Lyrically CJ has a great voice and raps with lots of style, in terms of content and delivery. With these four strong songs on their resume and a deal with one of the powerhouse labels of the day leaves you wondering why there wasn’t more material. One of the reasons was CJ’s other gift, which is behind the boards. He is one of the most gifted engineers and mixers in the business and thru out the years worked an endless amount of projects and gave them a professional touch. At some point his in-studio “demand” was so high and lucrative that it became difficult to focus on CJ the artist. However, with the rise of the home studio and the rapid decline of the big studio sessions, things have changed.

CJ has just made his official return to the forefront with a new crew “Biggamen” (CJ Moore and Milz). The new single, “Welcome” revisits the scratch technique of “In The Mist Of Funk”. The track, lyrically and musically, has a Hip Hop Club feel with some throwback elements, which is also evident in the upcoming album title, “Serious Beat-Down”. CJ’s style is less complex but still witty and boastful with lines like, “Put rap on my back, carry it bicoastal”. The CJ story is real interesting and I recently did an interview with him about his whole career that I will be publishing soon.
Biggamen - Welcome: http://www.sendspace.com/file/xknifu
Black By Demand Folder: http://www.sendspace.com/file/vx47nb
Connect: http://www.myspace.com/cjmoore1

The Majors
The Majors is a crew out of Denmark consisting of DJ Static & Nat Ill (who have been killing it on stages and tracks for years), DJ Noize (battle champ), J-Spliff, & Negash Ali. I haven’t heard the album but if the 3 songs I have are any indication then it’s gotta be pretty incredible.

On“Suckers Never Play Me” J-Spliff describes the state of radio perfectly with “Yapping in my ear all day long, I’m getting stupidier every time you play a song”. My favorite of the batch is “City Hall Cipher Pt 2”, the three MCs just pass the mic around and drop gems. Nat Ill’s flow is the most swift and complex but Negash Ali consistently delivers the most memorable performance with lines like, “When I should be at the mosque, I’m at the tailor, I’m something between a boss an a failure” and “Why’s you so cynical, your mind is so minuscule, I would get rid of you for principal…”.

On all the tracks the cutting is top notch, as expected, with lots of classic quotes and vocal restructuring. I just peeped the myspace page and saw a plug that the Negash Ali solo joint drops 2-3-09.
City Hall Cipher Pt 2: http://www.sendspace.com/file/3mxfwy
Connect: http://www.myspace.com/majorsdk
Connect: http://www.myspace.com/negashali

Peep this week's Redef Radio show for more joints:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/programs/redefinition_radio/

Also, peep the new batch of rarities on Time Travel:
http://www.myspace.com/timetravelradio

-Kevin Beacham

The Redefinition Of Time Travel #2 w/ Kevin Beacham

The Redefinition Of Time Travel #2: A Kool G Rap classic

Kool G Rap “I Declare War”
By now, if you are a internet savvy ‘80s Hip Hop fiend, you are probably aware about the Juice Crew EP of unreleased gems that just dropped [all Produced By Marley Marl]. I don’t know if there is info out there on the year this was done but I’d say early ’88 based on the style, some of the references, and I’m guessing that sped up “Terrorist” scratch in the intro is from “Juice Crew All Stars” (’87).

The third verse is definitely the best and where he flexes the style that originally made him recognized as one of the greats. It’s essentially a battle rap challenging anyone in the industry with lines like, “Point out any rapper and I’ll diss em” or “I got a track for every rapper on the map”.

The line that left the biggest impression on me was his “I’m Kool G Rap, you can call me G. I’m not scared of any K, any J, or any D”. Immediately when I heard that I thought of it as a challenge to others with “Cool” names, particularly “Cool J” and “Kool D” (who had a record on Wildpitch in ’88). I haven’t been able to figure who the Kool K is…maybe Kool Keith? (I’m probably reaching there). Of course this is all speculation but it seems logical by using those particular letters that he is being specific, that could be one of the reasons why the song was never released, who knows. I put the job on some other blogger to interview Kool G Rap about that….ha
I Declare War: http://www.sendspace.com/file/y6jcxk

Peep this week's Redef Radio show for more joints:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/programs/redefinition_radio/

Also, this week on Time Travel:
1)Stony Island-Basement Seasoning ‘93
2)East Of The Rock-Mr Producer ‘94
3)Ang 13-No Contest ‘95
4)AZ and Amar Freestyle ‘95
5)Presence-Time Travel Freestyle ‘’99
6)Da Great Deity Dah-Time Travel Promo ’97?

Peep the joints and in-depth artist/song descriptions here:
http://www.myspace.com/timetravelradio

-Kevin Beacham

The Redefinition Of Time Travel w/ Kevin Beacham

REDEFINITION RADIO: The Present and Future

I started off the year with a month long theme which is Phase 3 in what has been an ongoing epic experience that I’ve dubbed “Cut Short Careers”

Phase One-One Album Only (Nov ‘07): This was a five week special covering a lot of ground and a lot of underground favorites who only dropped one album (and maybe a few singles or appearances); Hard Knocks, C.P.O, Breeze, Diamond Shell, Cannibal Ox, Kurious, Mad Kap, Da King & I, Future Sound, Funkytown Pros, and the list goes on and on...
Listen Here.

Phase Two-Singles and Appearances Only 1986-1992 [No Albums] (Jan ‘08): Some of these artists are simply too mind-blowing to never had a full length (Latee, Freshco & Miz, & Sir Ibu) ... others are some favorites of mine: His Majesti, 4Ever Fresh, Too Poetic, Crush Nation, Castle D, The Brothers (Kickin Live Productions), and so on and on....
Listen Here.

Phase Three-Singles and Appearances only 1993-2002 [No Album] (Jan ‘09): The bulk of this time is in that incredible indie explosion of the Mid and Late 90s (mainly thanx to Wu-Tang for making the self-financed 12" the new “demo”). Dredknotz, Ten Thieves, Rugged Brood, Natural Elements, Street Smartz, Spoon Of Iodine, DV Alias Khrist, Tony Bones, J Treds, K Borne, IG Off & Hazardous, Vooodu!, etc...
Listen Here.

Phase Four-Guest Appearances Only (No Album, No Single), stay tuned.

As for the immediate future for Redefinition Radio, I’ve collected a nice stack of new music while being focused on this last theme so starting next week I’ll start dropping some of that: Czar, Yadi Supreme, K the I, P.O.S, Custodian Of Records, Myka 9, Labtekwon...

CHECK OUT TIME TRAVEL RADIO FLASHBACKS: The Past

This Week: White Collar Criminals-“Time Travel Promo”, Rubber Room & Spalaney’s-Time Travel Freestyle 6-22-95, Spalaney’s-“Simple Fact”, Tony Baines-Time Travel Freestyle 12-29-96, Children Of Reality, JP Schmedrick-“Insect Invasion."

As an added bonus for peeping the TROY blog: http://www.sendspace.com/file/ktysow

-D/L Contains
1)Rubber Room-Peepin Tom (early unreleased track on the freaky porn tip...ha)
2)JP Schmedrick (Immortal Griffen & Tony Baines)-No Offense Playa (limited tape release 97)
3)Spalaney’s-Universal Langurage (from the “Talent Fest” Compilation ‘95)

Re-Up link here

--Kevin Beacham

Guest Blogger w/Kevin Beacham

This is a personal request from Blockhead and Aesop but I figured I post it up here for everyone to check out. These are the recordings I have from Shakespeare The One Man Riot.

Here’s what’s in the file: http://www.sendspace.com/file/k4leja

1)Live In The Car Freestyles Thru a Hand Held Recorder:
This takes place in a parked car inZion, IL in ‘86. It’s Shakespeare (then known as Doc Rock), this thug rapper named Lil P, J.G. (A guy around the way who claimed he was part of the official Stet Posse...he even had the jacket), and LA (my partner in a crew called Wildstyle). The highlight here is Shakespeare and Lil P getting into a friendly battle that nearly turns to a knife fight...pretty classic stuff...ha.

2)Freestyle Session 11-27-87:
This takes place at DJ Captain 2 Fresh’s house (who is on the turntables) and has His Majesti (Shakespeare and Drew Rock who later became Cyco and formed Insane Poetry), JG, and Wildstyle (featuring a 17 year old me as MC Coolie). By now His Majesti had their record deal on Egyptian Empire and where just visiting Shakespeare’s family back home and called me up to drop verses. This was my first time seeing the Roland 808 in person and it blew my mind and I had to get one! (Finally did like 3 years later). Shakespeare is clearly the star here, he kills it constantly. I broke it up into three tracks since it’s pretty long (a whole side of a tape pretty much and that’s the edited down version...ha).

3)His Majesti 12" (Egyptian Empire ‘88):
This was a 3 song single that was supposed to lead to an album that never dropped. All three cuts are fresh. They had an ill style..real raw...some boom bap mixed with the abstract. “Armed and Dangerous”, MMOB Chronicles” and “Slow And Ill”.

4)Rodney O & Joe Cooley-Roll Call (Hip Hop Mafia):
This is from the ‘91 album “Get Ready To Roll”. Both Rodney O and His Majesti left Egyptian Empire and ended went to Nastymix (well, Insane Poetry was on Nastymix, Shakespeare was just down and I believe there was talk of doing a project with him later. They both had the same management, Darkhorse Management). Shakespeare leads it off with the best verse on the track

5)Insane Poetry-Stalkin’ With The Nightbreed (Grim Reality LP ‘91):
This is the posse cut on the album that also has KMC. Shakespeare is in rare form with classic lines like “Bending Ni***s” like a paper back book” and my personal favorite, “Cut a body so small one bag can hold 3 men”....what?!?! ha.

6)Shakespeare and The Lumberjacks-Preacher’s Daughter (Scotti Brothers ‘93): Shakespeare got this deal in ‘93 and by now he was still cynical but not as dark. I’m really curious to see how this album would have came out. We never heard more than one single because; 1)Scotti Bros apparently had no idea how to market rap (they also have an unreleased Craig G album from this era) and 2)Shakespeare had some sort of experience that led to him becoming a born again Christian. He eventually became a preacher!! He still makes music in a group with his wife called Mista and Mrs Taylor and do a lot of youth ministry related programs. I haven’t talked to him in a few years though.

For those that care, to give a touch more history, I went to High School (North Chicago) with Shakespeare. When I first moved to the area every time someone find out that I Mced they would say, ‘You have to meet Doc Rock’. Finally his brother arranged the meeting after school by the library. This is in ‘86 I kicked my lil rhyme with some harmonizing and playful battle rhymes...something real “cute”....ha. He then proceeded to kick one of the hardest rhymes I ever heard in my life! He was right up there with LL, TLA Rock, etc.... to me. The only thing I remember him saying was something like, "My rhymes are so fresh they cleanse the air like Lysol!". That night I went home and wrote my best rhyme I ever had and when we ciphered again he was impressed and we would cipher semi-regularly. He graduated that year and went to LA to “make it as a rapper”. I remember the last day of school they let him rap on the school intercom....ha. Anyway, he went to LA with no real plan, not even a place to stay and just....started rapping I guess. Eventually he changed his name to Shakespear, hooked up with Drew and formed His Majesti and got signed to Egyptian Empire. Along the way he had a battle with The World Class Wreckin’ Cru because they had an MC named Shakespeare (after Cli-N-Tel left) and they supposedly battled for the name....

I’ve been trying for years to get more of the His Majesti demos because I know they had some more. They may have even finished the album. I know they had tracks like “Paisley Straight Jacket” (that may have been the album title to), “Lone Ranger With A 13" Clip”, etc... they were on some next level illness....ha

All In all, Shakespeare was a big influence and inspiration to me from his talent and the way he went out and just followed his dream. He also has one of the illest voices! I’m also rather confident that he is one of, if not “the” true pioneer of that Dark Style of hip hop that became known as Horrorcore”. You can hear it in his ‘87 freestyles with lines like, “People say I’m possessed just because I have a guillotine engraved on my chest” or referring to himself as the “two legged butcher knife”...ha. Anyway, enjoy the music and my rambling on... :)

Check me out @ http://www.myspace.com/djnikoless

Gauge's 6-track demo

The homie Kevin Beacham of Time Travel Radio fame has been doing God's work this past week in T.R.O.Y. dropping gem after gem.

This one comes from Gauge aka The Mental Murderah and his 6-track demo tape from '95.

Some of you may remember Gauge's single "Cranium" featuring fellow Brooklynites The Cella Dwellas, but what some of you may not know is that Gauge was also managed by T-Dot rapper Maestro Fresh Wes who gave Kevin this demo for to review it for "Caught In The Middle."

[Click to enlarge]

[Click tape to download]

1. Cranium (demo version)
2. Past Tense
3. Keep Your Compliments
4. Mind Over Matter
5. Miss You Man
6. Caught Up

Bio:

Growing up in the same neighborhood as Hip-Hop mainstays like Special Ed, Busta Rhymes, and The Cella Dwellas, Gauge learned his trade from legendary schoolyard battles. In 1990, Gauge, alongside fellow Brooklynite, Lord Have Mercy (now in Flipmode Squad), released the now-rare single "Order In The Court" from their group B.A.S.S. (Brothers About Sight and Sound). Gauge dropped the single "Cranium" b/w "Breathless" on Maestro Records which was extremely successful. In early 2000, Gauge stepped out with his third single, "Insane" b/w "Bring It To Me" feat. Special Ed and Phantasm from The Cella Dwellas. In 2001, he was working on his untitled album, which never saw the light of day. That EP featured production from Ge-ology, DJ Spinna, Nick Wiz, Ayatollah and SELF.

Be sure to check Kev out @ http://www.myspace.com/djnikoless
And don't forget to peep all Kev's amazing contributions on T.R.O.Y too!

--Philaflava