Bringing you volume 8 from my Philadelphia series today. Like the previous ones, this edition has some relatively obscure and very dope cuts. Starting things off strong is 'East Wild West' by Rahsheed. I scored this single for about 3 bucks from a local shop. Favorites are probably numbers 3-5, but the rest are bangers too. I cheated a little bit with the Pittsburgh tracks, hope you like them.
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VO6YHTBV
01 (3:23) Rahsheed - East Wild West 1998 02 (2:49) Chief Kamachi - No Me Now 2006 03 (3:24) Tainted Mindz - Any Time Any Place 1994 04 (4:16) Lux - Street Gangsta 1994 05 (3:33) Cipha - Scared To Death 1994 06 (5:12) Krown Rulers - Would You Be My Nigga 1996 07 (4:23) The Goats - Tv Cops 1992 08 (4:07) Chops (Of The Mountain Brothers) - U Aint Got No Wings Up In Here 2003 09 (4:54) The Mountain Brothers - Fluids 1998 10 (3:17) Jedi Mind Tricks - The Winds Of War 1997 11 (3:40) Pete Philly - Self-Expression Ft. Cee Major 2002 12 (4:41) Dept. Of Rec. - Thinking Outside The Box 2001 13 (4:46) Choked Out - Grabahold (Pittsburgh 1997) 14 (3:04) Lu Chipa - Toxic Seeds 1998 15 (3:30) Black Opz - The Difference 1997 16 (4:17) Munk Wit Da Funk - Shadows 1995 17 (3:23) Mel Man - Wreck Shop (Pittsburgh 1993) 18 (1:58) Indikator - Damage (Mixtape Edit) 1994 19 (3:30) Too Deff Connection - Take A Fall 1992 20 (3:31) L. R.o.c.k. - Outstanding 1990
One note, I know Lu Cipha is from Pennsylvania but I'm not sure which city. If anyone out there can tell me I'd love to know. Give this collection a spin, it's got some replay value.
The group Trinity is compromised of emcees AG, Sadat X and turntablist DJ Jab. Check out these videos and be on the look out for the new album dropping on Fat Beats Records very soon. Just how many collabo albums is AG apart of this year? --Philaflava
George and Gwen put out "The Rub" back in 1975, on the album "Together". It still sounds perfectly fresh today! Listen as the funk makes you bop your head...
George and Gwen Mc Crae - THE RUB
How many producers out there have heard this and thought, "shit, I shoulda flipped it".
Well, it's well known that no one owns no loops, so, go ahead and compete with the best:
11 volumes deep and we're not stopping anytime soon. Next month we'll be bringing you the Best of Sounds Like The 90s, then regroup for the new year. We're always accepting mp3 and your suggestions to help create these compilations. No more wasting your time, just download this! -Philaflava
Sounds Like The 90s (Volume 11)
01. Juice Crew - Mr. Magic Tribute 02. Cormega - Define Yourself feat. Tragedy Khadafi & Havoc 03. Jay Electronica - Suckas 04. Saigon - Say Yes Pt. 2 05. Beanie Sigel - What You Talkin' Bout 06. Remarkable Mayor - Doomz Day 07. O.C. - Life (Roc Raida Tribue) 08. Senor Kaos - 20 Years High & Rising (Homage To De La Soul) feat. Von Pea & Homeboy Sandman 09. Fashawn - Samsonite Man feat. Blu 10. Sene - WhyBother? 11. People Under The Stairs - DQMOT (Thes One Remix) 12. Del The Funky Homosapien & Tame One - Flashback 13. Cormega - Live And Learn (prod. Pete Rock) 14. Curren$y - On My Way 15. Godamus Rhyme - Mass Appeal feat. Mr. S.O.S. 16. Masta Ace & Edo G - Pass The Mic feat. KRS-One 17. (Bonus Track) Mr. Chop - T.R.O.Y.
Some people use candles on cakes to determine their age. Other do the math = this year minus year born. I use Stetsasonic's "In Full Gear". I was only 12 years old when my mind was flipped inside out after being exposed to this majestic album.
This was the record that brought me into the hiphop mindstate that I would never leave again. This is how they should all be: full of clever rhymes, impressive sound, deep layered production and riding on an impressive varying show of musical/hiphop styles in one album.
"Freedom or Death" continues to be my personal motto. Daddy-O says "If I gotta die to be free, well then I guess it gotta be, 'cause I aint never been a sucka see", leaving you no gray area at all in the philosophical arena where second-guessers lose their heads to fully convinced gladiators. These political stands are what made the golden era of hiphop an educational tool that has never been equaled by later generations.
Strong arm beats and lyrics are all over the album, thanks to Delite and Daddy O's unwavering lyrics. "We're The Band" (sampling the same music that BDP would later use for "Blackman In Effect") defines what they are over the sound of a hardcore marching beat. Prince Paul on the production and turntables. Frukwan dropping science on the mic. Wise spitting on the mics, sometimes with beatboxing, at other times with rhymes. Some of the wisest lyrics though, come from MC Delite, who already sounded like an elder on the tracks. DBC was the keyboardist/drummer/DJ. Bobby Simmons has something to do there.. but I don't think he was around for In Full Gear. Anyone wanna school me on him? I just know he has a shitty ass myspace.
To complete the band, we have the ringleader, no doubt; Daddy-O. His gruff voice mixed with his raging lyrics make up the poisonous darts he throws out in every verse on every track of this album. Even when he says "I tape the daytime soaps on the VCR", you come out convinced that daytime soaps are straight gangster. If not, you'll give him his respect after you remember what he spit a few lines before:
"And though I'm not a politician I know all my rights I had a fight with a cop just last night Address my girl 'my dear', been shootin guns for years And I never been a sucker givin in to my peers"
"Stet Troop 88" has Wise on the beatbox mixed with some perfect uppercut-punch-strong programmed beats. "Float On" is just a soft love song, coming equipped with all the rappers horoscope signs and some silly ass whispering. "Pen and Paper" is just a dope hiphop track, an ode to writing your lyrics over a kick ass bassed-beat, and a climaxing simple-but-so-well-placed wicky-wicky scratch. "This is it Y'all" rolls into your ears like that all hiphop tracks should. A perfect beat. A perfect horny stab. A perfect drum roll. Three MC's rolling over the beat like airplane wheels over tarmacs. To lighten the atmosphere, interludes come in and add comedy, "Extensions" would be a perfect track for Chris Rock's latest documentary "Good Hair". "Sally", a song about an ugly but loveable girl. The album just goes all over the place from utilizing heavy metal riffs, ("It's In My Song"), to some deep dubb Miami Bass (with the obvious title "Miami Bass", but actually talking more about), some of you may not need to be reminded how big that bass sound was in the late 80's. Daddy-O had to bring at least one trade mark dancehall track, this one called "ODad".
Music for the Stetfully Insane
The one track that probably get's skipped by a lot of people, just happens to be my all time favorite Prince Paul production (and my funny ass ringtone that gets ALOT of attention when I'm at the bank). "Music for the Stetfully Insane" is an interlude consisting of a fat, real sounding drum loop scratched over a Funkadelic's "Atmosphere", a lengthy Bernie Worrellathon keyboard solo track. Side note: Interesting how 15 years later Paul would work with Bernie Worrel in their monumental album "Baby Elephant".
This album was all about that open-minded theme that so many late 80's records boasted with pride.
But the song that I haven't mentioned yet was the one that would change hiphop single-handedly. "Talking All That Jazz" was an impressive 4 minutes and 49 seconds pièce de résistance that would put Stetsasonic in a whole new plateau. The song talked about the importance of sampling in hiphop, to respect the original artist, help make them relevant to a new generation.
You see, you misunderstood A sample is a tactic A portion of my method, a tool In fact it's only of importance when I make it a priority
Sadly only one year later De La Soul would be taken to court and lose a legal battle over the use of a sample. Biz Markie would lose his battle too. Too many songs have been shelved due to lack of sample clearance. In this respect, the old school will always have that one edge over anything newer. They had way more creativity with samples before the law abiding record industry fucked up the sample-game.
It's borderline insane that this track, that was so historic and iconic in it's prime, usually gets more play on European dancefloors than anywhere else. Let's make up for lost time then, and bump it now, and bump it loud: "TALKING ALL THAT JAZZ"
Back in the day, maybe sometime in 1994(not positive), I remember listening to Stretch and Bobbito one night when the following occurred:
Stretch or Bob announced that they had received a certain demo in the mail. They played the first verse of said demo, check it out-
Lo Down - Mask Of The Phantom
Well, this verse sounded a little too familiar to the record breaking duo. It rang such a resounding bell because it was the same exact verse Tame One had kicked in a freestyle on their show in the past. They just happened to have that freestyle on hand and immediately played it after that demo. Peep it-
Tame One Freestyle
Yep. Same exact verse. I guess if this happened now a days, it wouldn't mean anything. But we all know that biting, especially straight lyric jacking, was not cool back then. And it still isn't, in our book, right?
I don't remember what exactly ensued after this was exposed, but I don't remember ever seeing many records by the Lo Down crew. It's a shame, too, they had some pretty good beats. Shouldn't have bit.
Download includes full Lo Down song and full Artifacts freestyle.
Thanks to Mad Human at the T.R.O.Y. forum for uploading the Lo Down EP in our definitive Ill EPs thread. Over a 100 EPs and counting, join in and add on.
Thanks to Roy Johnson for the Artifacts freestyle. I'm pretty sure that's who posted it. If not, claim your props in the comments.
