Wednesday 10 March 2010

The odyssey to find Mello-T



For nigh on a decade now I've searched for info about Mello-T from the Gang$ta-Rap episode of Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends (Louis fact # 1: his favourite rap album is Efil4zaggin) to no avail. If the episode where Mello imparted profound musings like "it seem like when a woman got a pistol to her head, it seem like she seem to listen better" on Louis wasn't enough, Louis's excellent Weird Weekends postscript tome The Call Of The Weird where he visited Mello and various other characters from the Weird Weekend shows like April and the Prussian Blue twins 4 or 5 years later and found Mello now in a perpetual state of personality flux inbetween Elijah Muhammad and Suga Free (Louis fact # 2 : he turned down Crooked Lettaz era David Banner in 1999 to interview Mello-T instead) only managed to further whet my appetite.

But a name like Mello-T is relatively Google-proof and just brought up that Greg Nice associated rapper Mellow-T who made Keep It Real back in 1993 and a DC DJ with the same name, so I was shit outta luck until I happened to come across this video on Youtube a couple of weeks back:



And, whaddaya know, it's a Warren Comission report of trivia about the man who can bust off six shots at a tin can and not come close to hitting it once. Where do we begin? Well, Mello generally went by the moniker of the Godfatha/Godfather Mello-T which brought up his not accessed since 2007 Myspace page where he instructs world weary damsels to contact him if they're sick of the hussle and bussle of the 9-to-5 in trademark Necro styled caps lock text:

DON'T NATURE DO IT FOR DA PAPER.

IF YOU DA BITCH MAKIN DEM GO DOWN THEN CONTACT HOLLYHOOD ENTERTAINMENT SEND US A MESSAGE WITH PICTURES AND LETS GET DAT MONEY HONEY IF YOU BELIEVE CHEDDA MAKE LIFE BETTA TIRED OF DOIN IT FOR DA MINIMUM READY TO GET DA MAXIMUM GET AT ME.

LOOKING FOR DANCERS/MODELS FOR VIDEOS, COMMERCIALS, AND TOURS, VIP PARTIES IF YOU MAKE EM GO DOOOWWWNNNNNN ..




More importantly, Mello mentions his music starting with his old group Wildliffe Society. A mint copy of the first EP with the songs Nuthin' But A Come-Up (Move, Muhfucker, Move) and Bald Headed Ho's Suck Dick was available on Discogs for the suRprisingly cheap price of $13.99 before I snapped it up. interestingly Discogs lists a couple of other early Wildliffe Society records including a 1991 debut 12" called (Throw Up The) Peace Sign from when they were a Brand Nubian rip-off act, and a later 1993 4 track EP which the excellent title of Ho's Ho's Ain't Nothin' But Ho's.

But all roads to Wildliffe Society lead to their national debut in 1995 when they signed to - and this is a bizarre pairing of the Corey Haim laying pipe to Posh Spice back in the 90s calibre - Blunt Records the then home to various grimey Q.B dunnies like Mic Geronimo, Royal Flush and Ja Rule's first group Ca$h Money Click, and released their debut album Jacktown (601) and its main single:

Wildliffe Society - Jacktown



Wildliffe Society - So Much Pain



Kind of a Country-Rap meets early Bone Thugs meets The Diary-era 'Face ambiance goin' on here, no? Very feelin' the opening seconds of So Much Pain which sound like the intro effects on videos on the Blastro.com site.

Of more interest to fans of the Weird Weekends episode are Mello's next group Children Of The Cornbread, which he was in the process of recording the debut album for in the show. His 'yatch Sunshine is even featured on there. Anyhoo, this beat should be instantly recognisable for any Louis & Mello-T fans (or, um, anybody who watched the first video up top):

Children Of The Cornbread - Mello-T & The BNJ

And you sit there waiting for him to break into the rap about not wantin' to be a balla no mo' or even adlibs from Louis (Louis fact # 3 : he's written for HipHopConnection), but they never come as this is little more than the prerequisite album shout-out track where Mello and his mate, the suspectly nom-de-plumed Big Nosed Jew, shoot the shit back and forth. It's an entertaining shout-out, mind, with Mello reminding us that "conversation don't rule the nation, paper participation what we lookin' fo'" and even saluting Bigalow and Reese, who were the two hefty lads who helped Louis come up with his radio freestyle battle rhymes.

But the centrepiece to the album is the title track, which is some off-kilter Country-funk with a tube and a bunch of the Cornbread weed carriers. Vaguelly reminiscent of Crooked Lettaz or early Banner if he'd have let a bunch of his mates on a song with him:

Children Of The Cornbread - Rather Be Hated Than Loved



And there the trail goes lukewarm. His Myspace is linked to the Myspace page of his company HollyHood Entertainment who put out an album called Chevys And Impalas by someone called Ice Cold (unfortunately not the Ice Cold from N*ggaz With Hats in Fear Of A Black Hat) a couple of years back. I 'unno, maybe i'm just too easily pleased by any generic southern-rap with a link to Mello-T, but the Ice Cold shit on his Myspace sounds pretty good, especially Chevys & Impalas and Top Of The Line Playa. So, what next? I might procure a copy of the Ice Cold CD and I'm gonna try and track down a copy of the Ho's Ho's Ain't Nothin' But Ho's EP, but until any more concrete info on Mello comes to fruition (that's "Mello-T" from the "Louis Theroux Weird Weekends" episode should he be vanity-Googling and find this page. If so, then hit me up for an interview, Mello) then it's back to searching out albums on the wall of the Pen & Pixel studio wall when Louis visits:

32 comments:

hugowittorf said...

Wow I loved this post. Great work finding out what you have found out.
I never did more than a single google search after first seeing the Louis Thervoux youtube clip, obviously I as you didn't find anything on Mello T.

I always thought his "i don't wanna be a baller no more" is somewhat sounding like something Money Waters or a mellow Young Bleed would do, meaning very pleasent music. Thanks for all the this post, the music, the video and the info.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Good call on the Young Bleed comparison.

brad said...

wow.

you need to track down the guy in the flatcap from the thai bride episode of louis next.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Or even better, the unstable ginger bloke with the moustache from that episode.

I damn near wet myself everytime i watch the scene where he gives the Thai chick the candle as a present.

Conroy said...

That thai bride episode is probably top 3 louis material, along with the black supremacy episode and possibly jimmy saville.

Louis tells that unstable character not to touch the thai women but he just can't help himself.

Had totaly forgotten about the gangster rap edition, need to re-view some of these

step one said...

great post!

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

"She doesn't mind, Louis".

Ginger Falklands veterans with "anger issues" and Thai chix really isn't a good combo.

Anonymous said...

the bottle of drank/lean @ 7:22 in the wild wayne freestyle is awesome. wayne gettin tore back on air

Matthew said...

great post! I think I'm going to have to get up on a lot more Louis Theroux now.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Highly recommend the Thai bride, wrestling and porn episodes of Louis.

Mr Bozack said...

Bloke in the Al Sharpton one who thinks everyone's black is class - "Beethoven?" "Black", "Shakespeare?" "Black", "Columbus?" "Hm..he was white..".

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Lest we forget that other honourable negro according to the Soul Sonic Force resembling Israelites :

"He looks like a white man, but he dances like a black man and sings like a blackman...Tom Jones"

naomi said...

i just finished watching the rap episode. i just searched for mello t well actually, i searched for sunshine to see if her album ever came out. did it?

Adam said...

I was trying to do the same thing and your work allowed me to follow the trail somewhere really quite bizarre. Check this out:

myspace.com/frankmccune

It's a joint album, The Godfather Mello-T and Dr. Frank McCune (A real middle aged health professional), and you know what, It's not as bad as you might think, especially "interlude 1"

boi-dan said...

I was given that Cornbread.. CD when he was in Columbia, SC for whatever reason back in the early 2000's. He wound up buying a Cadillac from my neighbor's car shop.

He also made a brief appearance in the DVD: "Dirty States of America".

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

I'll keep an eye out for that dvd, Boi-Dan.

Adam - thanks for the info. Pity i can't find a download link to it or it's not for sale on the Amazon mp3 store.

Naomi, I've never found any trace of its existence, but Sunshine is on the Children Of The Cornbread cd and credited on the tracklisting for the cd with Dr Frank McCune Adam mentioned.

JC said...

Hi this is the Godfather Mello-t's manager... email me at info@imcallc.com and I'll connect you with him... some of his material is available at http://shopcrownmic.com... He has a new album comming out this year... Thanks..

norm said...

Did he ever release the track "i don't wanna be a baller no more", that sounded dope.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Unfortunately not, no.

Anonymous said...

anyone know where i can view this episode on the net.

Anonymous said...

anyone know where i can view this episode on the net.

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Right here.

Tag said...

Just watched Louis & Gangsta Rap from way back and was searching to see if Mello T ever made it. This post filled in all of the gaps and made me cry laughing twice. Great work.

James said...

Found his new album here, Mississippi Legend!

http://www.amazon.com/mp3-downloads/dp/B005D5XCIY

IMUN said...

HERE IS HIS FACEBOOK PAGE!!!!!

https://www.facebook.com/godfathermellot

Unknown said...

That my daddy yall talking about his real name is Christopher smith and he in Mississippi with 2 girls me Malaya smith and oldest girl Kristen smith... Talkin about him like yall know him... You don't. My daddy stop doing music cuz he chose to be a father to my 19 years old sister and now he a father to a 13 year old... Me. He if you want more information about his music go to my email malayasmith2@gmail.com

Werner von Wallenrod said...

Just rewatching that LT episode on Youtube, the Pen & Pixel part blew my mind when I first saw it. Well, so this time I decided to do some googling... great post! Had no idea this guy was from Wildlife Society; I still have the "Jacktown" cassette single (it got a really good review in The Source even).

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Thx!

dannibircha said...

youve not been looking very good --- https://twitter.com/godfathermellot

hes active on twitter - your welcome

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

This post was made 9 years ago, before his Twitter account even existed.

Anonymous said...

Very well done thanks for sharing this!

Anonymous said...

Children of tha bread.fan