Has there ever been a larger disparity between how a Rapper looks and sounds than with the case of Lakim Shabazz? Surveying the lil' fella here you'd imagine he'd be blessed with the voice of Wayne circa True Story, but dook had a thick New Jersey inflection that was the ideal counterpart to the horn-driven beats that were the bread & butter of Mark The 45 King and Louie "Louie Louie" Vega between 1988 and 1991. In addition to his 2 great albums, Lakim had a wealth of other cuts spread out across 12" singles, 45 King releases and Flavor Unit compilations, so here's a couple of favourites :
(From Master Of The Game LP; 1988)
Lakim Shabazz - Your Arms Too Short To Box With God
(From Black Is Back 12"; 1989)
While Tuff City Records big cheese Aaron Fuchs may have been too stingy to allow the majority of his artists to shoot videos throughout the 80s, once Yo! MTV Raps had firmly established itself as a national catwalk for Rappers, he really pushed the boat out for the first video from Lakim's sophomore album The Lost Tribe Of Shabazz in 1990. Like, I'm imagining he literally pushed the Tuff City dinghy out to sea with Lakim, his DJ and their mate who owned a video camera in it until they eventually washed up on the shores of Egypt 7 months later so 'kim could pose in front of pyramids dressed like Sabu for the album's title track :
(From The Lost Of Shabazz LP; 1990)
I'm not tryna call the great Aaron Fuchs a parsimonious bastard here, but I'll bet Lakim's still in the red with Tuff City for his crew's plane tickets home from Egypt.
YOUR ARMS TOO SHORT TO BOX WITH THE BIRD IF YOU DON'T FUCK WITH SHABAZZ
ReplyDeleteI never knew "Your Arms Too Short To Box With God" was a song!
ReplyDeleteNot only a song, but a top 5 non-album cut B. side of all time too.
ReplyDelete