Poland Street Is Watching

Cozmik Law - Loot 'A Getcha (Coast Ta Coast Bust That Dial Mix)
(From On Da Brink album; 1997)


Another song ya host Bloggy Brackins discovered via BigSleep's Bay Area Jazz-Rap compilations. A worthy entry into the For The Love Of Money canon which began properly in 1984 with its first great use Step Off by Melle Mel & The Furious Five. This mix of Loot 'A Getcha is some charmingly naive Bay Area backpack-Rap which is aimed at the dancefloor. Granted, it's a dancefloor which is 85% male, but a dancefloor is still a dancefloor innit. If the 12" containing this song had ever made it to the U.K, it would have gone gold in Mr Bongo.

10 songs which went platinum in Mr Bongo:
J-Live - Braggin' Writes (1996)
Missin' Linx - M.I.A (1998)
Jurassic 5 - Jayou (1997)
Mad Skillz - Ghostwriter (2000)
Non Phixion - Refuse To Lose (1998)
Mos Def - Universal Magnetic (1997)
Ugly Duckling - Fresh Mode (1999)
D.I.T.C - Day One (1997)
Dilated Peoples - Work The Angles (1998)
Bumpy Knuckles - Part Of My Life (1999)

Ladeez First

Monaleo - We On Dat
(From We On Dat single; 2025)


A good example of why Rap songs with choruses are invariably better than Rap songs without. A chorus so catchy it sounds like summat kidz have been singing in the playground for the last 50 years. Best Monaleo song since the We Not Humping remix or wot?

Sunday Funday

LARussell & Lil' Jon - Having Like This
(From Having Like This sngle; 2025)


Lil' Jon beats X NorCal rappers is always the proverbial Good Combination™... well, apart from that one posthumous Mac Dre song which was too XXXtra Jonish for my liking. Anyhoo, props to Jon for getting LARussell to commit to a solo song which lasts longer than 2 minutes. This song sounds like it could have come out at any point between 2002 and 2006 which is exactly what it needs to sound like. The future is the past now!

Unrelated: when's the last time I watched the Clipse's $2 Bill MTV concert from 2002? At a guess it was around 2005 before I accidentally taped over it with an episode of Reno 911. Cot damn, Kelis has never looked fitter than her cameo in that concert. If you don't think Kelis was top 5 dead or alive in this clip then ur probably gay, m8.

Clipse ft. Pharrell & Kelis - When The Last Time (live)
(From MTV's $2 Bill concert; 2002)

"You know, it's not like i'm some modern Punk, dickhead!"

Dilligentz ft. The Pack & Go Dav - Punk Rock (remix)
(From Fresh Impression mixtape; 2007)


I feel like Johnny F**kface the Punk Rock beezy because I never knew this song had a video. As for the song itself, it's proof that the L.A Jerk sound was just an offshoot of what NorCal rappers like The Pack and Dilligentz were already doing.

Still A Blogga

Young Bleed ft. Cold 187um - Welcome 2 Da Trap
(From YouTube; 2025)


Because every year needs one certified choon which is an Eazy-E homage. And I'll be damned if Still Talkin' doesn't sound damn good being Country-Rap Tuneified by Baton Rouge's greatest exponent of Swamp-Blues Rap + one of Eazy's old Ruthless Records buddies.

The only rapper who has ever recorded a homage to my own Eazy-E jam of choice is... Bones lolz. Blk ppl, you gotta do better.

Crimson Gig

Seiji Oda ft. Young Bari - Mobby Miyazaki
(From HUMAN+NATURE album; 2025)


Here at The Martorialist we're pleased this one now has a video. On a universal level, it's the missing link between Studio Ton and Studio Ghibli. On a personal level, it inspired me to check out Young Bari's music from his HBK Gang Uncle era where I discovered I Rep That Blocka. Most of Seiji's anime references are over my head, but that's ok - I like when rappers talk in code about crazy shit which don't make no sense to me. Peace out, it's the Boy Boy Young Mess & The Heron!

Generic list post: June 2025

Kylie Minogue - Confide In Me
(From Confide In Me album; 1994)


Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when I discovered that Kylie Minogue went all Portishead in 1994 with this moody choon. In fact, I like this song so much it makes me forgive Ms. Minogue for half-arsing the Neighbours finale in 2022. Australia is hotter than Tha Block™, but the Sheilas hearts are colder than Antarctica.

Chill E.B - Let's Roll (1990)
3 Shades of Rhythm - Focus On The Witness (1991)
3 Shades of Rhythm - Reflections (1992)
Bored Stiff - Peaceful Rotation '92 (1995)
Mack Lew ft. Marq Dogg & Dangerous Dame - The Groom (1996)
Z-Man - Night Owl (1998)
Gift of Gab - Rhyme Like A Nut! (1999)
Bski aka B-Ski Rocks - Coast 2 Coast (1999)
Young Bari - I Rep That Blocka (2011)
Lil' M.U. - Top Of Cars (2025)
BunnaB - Ice Cream Girl (2025)
BunnaB - Mad Again (2025)
504icygrl - Work (2025)
Slick Rick - So You're Having My Baby (2025)
Slick Rick ft. Giggs - Stress (2025)
Aesop Rock - Send Help (2025)
Homeboy Sandman - Sound & Fury (2025)
Never On Sunday - Urban Rains (1992)
Real Lies - Shulgin (2025)
The Guy - Blaze or Die (2025)
The Guy - I'm The Guy (2025)

Bonus bloggin: 1nce again I'm gonna use my monthly wrap-up post to keep track of the best movies and TV shows I've been watching. * indicates rewatches dunnit.

Movies I watched and liked:
Brief Encounter (1945)
Before Sunrise (1995) *
Idiot Box (1996) *

TV shows I watched and liked:
Neighbours (new episodes) (2025)
Belgium vs. Wales (2025)
England U21s vs. Germany U21s (2025)

Other stuff: did I mention that BigSleep dropped a killer set of compilations on his blog?; Party Sparty also killed it with his post about The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

My Mind Spray 19.5

I listened to some of those new Clipse songs and they're exactly as I expected: Pusha T doing that irritating overwrought voice and overselling his every coke-bore punchline. Euurrgh. That guy was only ever any good when his USP was sounding nonchalant over Neptunes beats from 1999 to 2006.

Frankly, I'd rather have a new Fam-Lay single that's as good as Clap Clap or Money Makin' Trick than a new Clipse album. Fam-Lay could easily make a Numbers On The Board, but Pusha T could never make a Da Beeper Record or a Beach Cruiser.

Sum shit which annoys me: the version of Spoonie Gee's Spoonin' Rap on Tuff City Records' best of Spoonie compilation Godfather Of Hip Hop is the B-side version rather than the proper A-side version. I guess Sugar Hill Records own the rights to the A-side from when they licensed it for the Rap... Rap... Rap compilation EP in 1980?

In no particular order of preference, my favourite 2025 Rap songs by da ladeez: Top Of Cars by Lil' M.U; Move Pt 2 by Mello Buckzz & Monaleo; Mad Again by BunnaB; Text by OnlyHeaven; Work by 504icygrl; and I Am by Supahbadd. Honourable mention to Feeling Dis by Myaap, Vae Vanilla & 3200 Tre which dropped in December 2024.

Putcha hands up if you yourself also fuxwit that Jomo song by Jim Jones. Here we are in 2025 and Jones' current biggest single is a Statik Selektah production. It's a funny old world innit?

Oi KanYe Pest, I got a punchline for datazz if you ever decide to remake Slow Jamz: got a white skin friend look like C. Thomas Howell, got a dark skin friend look like C. Thomas Howell.