Generic list post: august 2015

Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when AmeriKKKa stayed doin' AZNs dirty.

Tim Trees - Bank Roll (2000)
Play N Skillz ft. Krayzie Bone & Adina Howard - Freaks (2005)
HD of Bearfaced - Payday (2010)
Lil' Chris - Days Go Bye (2015)
K Camp - Comfortable (2015)
Hardini - I'm Bick (2015)
A-Wax - EverLasting Money (2015)
Migos - Gangsta Rap (2015)
Gunplay - White Bitch (2015)
Travis Porter ft. Bandit Gang Marco - Blue Flame (2015)
Mouse On Tha Track - Grass Greener (2015)
Chinx - How To Get Rich (2015)
Kokane ft. Too $hort - Luvin' A Pimp (2015)
Mr. Serv-On ft. Young Bleed - Tank Music (2015)
Krishane ft. Shaggy - Money Can't Buy No Love (2015)
Shift K3Y - Beep Beep (2015)
Ronnie Hazelhurst - Are You Being Served? (Movie Version) (1977)

Other notables: Husalah's Champion was the best thing on that RobLo compilation; Step Step by DJ Quik & Danny Boy wasn't as good as it shoulda been; gonna need the no-DJ MP3 of Sick Wid It by Octavious, B-Legit & Nef The Pharaoh before I decide if I can fully commit to it or not; really like Planet Apes off Songs In The Key Of Price but it makes me sad how there's a touch of late-Big Pun Orsonwellesin1985itis to Sean's vox.

Horns are horny

(No Lakim Shabazz.)

Shift K3Y - Beep Beep
(From Off The Record EP; 2015)


Who'd have ever thunk a cheeky Nando's Loughborough uni freshers don (™2Shin) like the Touch kid would casually transform himself into the best singing-auteur since The-Dream? Dane Bowers with more bangers seemed like a position he could occupy with ease, but a U.K Terius Nash? I didn't see that comin' like dogshit on a dark night.

Xenophobia with that lean

That feeling when you hate Drake's Worst Behavior yet you love tracks which feature brazen jackings of the Worst Behavior flow like So Bad by Caskey and Been A Long Time by A-Wax...

A-Wax - Been A Long Time
(From EverLasting Money album; 2015)


A-Wax's new album then; not as good as Pullin' Strings but much better than Everybody Loves Me Chapter 2. Whittle the track list down to EverLasting Money, Tried As An Adult, Smoke Alone, Never Saw It, Been A Long Time, Jokes On Me, Coulda Been, + I'll Be Fine and, et voilà, you're left with a nice-not-nice EP of A-Wax runnin' through the Pitts' with his woe.

Hunnid Nights doesn't really fit in with the Downcast For The Count ambiance of my trimmed down version but S/O to Erk Tha Jerk for his "took my new bitch out to dinner at a steakhouse, saw my old bitch in the bushes like a stakeout" couplet on there.

I was on the roads when Madonna made Crazy For You

There I was snuggled up to read Pitchfork's best 200 songs of the 80s list when inspiration struck: wouldn't it be way more fun to inflict my taste on the internet with a vanity list of my own favourite 80s singles than sift through a glorified advert for Apple full of blurbs by corny indie fux like Ian Cohen? Look, I don't rate that boy, bare wasteman, bare pagan boy, I'll come to your publication and I'll fuck shit up - I'm Alexis Petridis when he single-handedly sank Select magazine.

Got a couple of codes and lines to obey on this post: one song per artist and nothing by serial-pederast Michael Jackson. Say what you want about South Park Mexican, but at least he didn't bum a pre-teen Corey Feldman and then pay him off to keep schtum.


Favourite rap singles of the 80s:

Spoonie Gee - Love Rap (1980)
Treacherous Three - The Body Rock (1980)
Blondie - Rapture (1980)
Melle Mel & Duke Bootee - The Message (1982)
Trouble Funk - Pump Me Up (1982)
The Fearless Four - Rockin' It (1982)
Jimmy Spicer - Money (Dollar Bill Y'all) (1983)
Davy DMX - One For The Treble (1983)
Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde - Gettin' Money (1983)
Jonzun Crew - Space Is The Place (1983)
Rammellzee vs. K-Rob - Beat Bop (1983)
Newcleus - Jam On It (1984)
Herbie Hancock ft. Grand Mixer D.ST - Rockit (1984)
World's Famous Supreme Team - Hey D.J (1984)
Cold Crush Brothers - Fresh, Fly, Wild, And Bold (1984)
Schoolly D - Saturday Night (1986)
Egyptian Lover - Freak-A-Holic (1986)
Roxanne Shanté ft. Biz Markie - The Def Fresh Crew (1986)
2 Live Crew - We Want Some Pussy (1986)
Salt-N-Pepa - Push It (1986)
Just Ice - Cold Gettin' Dumb (1987)
Eazy-E - The Boyz-N-The Hood (1987)
Cool C - Juice Crew Dis (1987)
LL Cool J - Go Cut Creator Go (1987)
Slick Rick - Children's Story (1988)
Too $hort - City Of Dope (1988)
Eric B. & Rakim - Follow The Leader (1988)
Ice-T - High Rollers (1988)
M.C La Kim aka Lakim Shabazz - We Got The Funk (1988)
EPMD - You Gots To Chill (1988)
N.W.A - Straight Outta Compton (1988)
Public Enemy - Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos (1988)
MC Lyte - Paper Thin (1988)
The 45 King - The 900 Number (1989)
Tone Loc - Wild Thing (1989)
Nice & Smooth - Early To Rise (1989)
Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - Road To The Riches (1989)
Mac Dre - Young Black Brotha (1989)
De La Soul ft. Native Tongues - Buddy (1989)
Beastie Boys - Hey Ladies (1989)
Favourite non-rap singles of the 80s:

Motorhead - Ace Of Spades (1980)
Mavis John - Use My Body (1980)
Roger Troutman - So Ruff So Tuff (1980)
Siouxsie & The Banshees - Happy House (1980)
Vanity 6 - Nasty Girl (1982)
Musical Youth - Pass The Dutchie (1982)
ABC - Poison Arrow (1982)
Patrice Rushen - Forget Me Nots (1982)
Bananarama & Fun Boy Three - Really Sayin' Somethin' (1982)
ESG - Dance (1982)
Blancmange - Living On The Ceiling (1982)
Cybotron - Clear (1983)
The RAH Band - Messages From The Stars (1983)
Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart (1983)
Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized (1983)
Prince & The Revolution - When Doves Cry (1984)
Harold Faltermeyer - Axel F (1984)
Black Flag - Slip It In (1984)
Philip Bailey & Phil Collins - Easy Lover (1984)
Nu Shooz - I Can't Wait (1984)
Dennis Edwards ft. Siedah Garrett - Don't Look Any Further (1984)
Madonna - Into The Groove (1985)
Robert Tepper - No Easy Way Out (1985)
Cherelle ft. Alexander O'Neal - Saturday Love (1985)
Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) (1985)
Virgo - Free Yourself (1986)
Peter Gabriel - Big Time (1986)
Janet Jackson - What Have You Done For Me Lately (1986)
Cameo - Candy (1986)
Tim Capello - I Still Believe (1987)
Frankie Knuckles ft. Jamie Principle - Baby Wants To Ride (1987)
Bomb Da Bass - Beat Dis (1987)
Terence Trent D'Arby - Sign Your Name (1987)
Guns N' Roses - It's So Easy (1987)
Bobby Brown - My Perogative (1988)
Danzig - Twist Of Cain (1988)
The Reynolds Girls - I'd Rather Jack (1989)
Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus (1989)
Soul II Soul - Back to Life (However Do You Want Me) (1989)
808 State - Pacific (1989)
Favourite B-sides of the 80s which should have been A-sides:

Billy Joel - Careless Talk (1983)
Run D.M.C - Sucker MC's (1983)
Whodini - Five Minutes Of Funk (1984)
Doug E. Fresh & MC Ricky D - La Di Da Di (1985)
Mr. Fingers - Can You Feel It? (1986)
Phuture - Your Only Friend (1987)
Audio Two - Top Billin' (1987)
Ultramagnetic MC's - Kool Keith Housing Things (1988)
Positive K ft. King Of Chill - Step Up Front (3 Heineken Technique) (1988)
Jungle Brothers - J. Beez Comin' Through (Bonus Beats) (1989)

Favourite album cuts of the 80s which should have been singles:

Kraftwerk - It's More Fun To Compute (1981)
Bad Brains - I (1982)
Sade - Cherry Pie (1984)
Boogie Down Productions - Remix For P Is Free (1987)
Big Daddy Kane ft. Biz Markie - Just Rhymin' With Biz (1988)
Stezo - Girl Trouble (1989)
3rd Bass - Monte Hall (1989)
Ghetto Boys - Gangster Of Love (1989)
Tuff Crew - Behold The Detonator (1989)
Special Ed - Taxing (1989)

Lil' Chris - Trappin' & Rappin' EP

Lil' Chris asked me if I wanted to debut his new EP on my blog, I told him straight up like Mac Dre: yessiree Bob; I'm not Lil' Flip but I Can Do Dat, I'm tryna see your shit go pop like J.T Money's Who Dat? Find the EP below and check out Feel The Breeze with Cago Leek, a Bop redux of Big Pimpin' that's gotta be the first good thing to bear any kind of Jay-Z influence since Max B re-christened himself as Biggaveli.



If, however, a mechanical means of emotional escape is what tickles your fancy then check out Days Go Bye, a track which combines the previously disparate auras of of Ray J playing piano for The Money Team, Bob Hoskins' acceptance of his own mortality in The Long Good Friday, and Twista's medley on Yo! MTV Raps into two & a half minutes of reflective polyphonic west side Chicago rap. Don't fear the reaper, but always look out for Benny Blanco.

Lil' Chris - Days Go Bye
(From Trappin' & Rappin' EP; 2015)

Yo ho ho and a bottle of Alizé

Ain't gon' lie, I'd never caught wind of Tim Trees' Baltimore classic Band Roll until I read that Shipley Nonstop piece about Tate Kobang's remake of it earlier this week. Shit is like Baltimore's own hard-nosed equivalent of Top Billin' and one of those songs that makes me wonder how if I've been lived without it for all these years. Thus I can't be mad at the Tate Kobang remake even if it doesn't particularly float my boat beyond the notion of a 2015 rapper using Lil' Slim's flow on a song which now has Lyor Cohen moolah behind it.

"My necklace got me a nickname: Treasure Chest
Stay on the job, stay writin', never rest
Money in the bank, collectin' interest
We step in the club, we make 'em undress
My life was tragic, I lived in the trenches
I pay with plastic, American Express"

Tim Trees - Bank Roll
(From Dalton Vol... 1 album; 2000)


Just noticed the retail MP3 of Tate Kobang's remake dropped on friday and, much like Trap Queen, Lyor has once again fucked up the official version of a bubbling regional single by having its rapper spit an awkward 16 on there which sounds as if it belongs an entirely different song. Between this and the existence of Post Malone, the Cohen family can suck a big fat dick in 2015.

Swag To The Future

Travis Porter & Bandit Gang Marco over Mr.2-17 production is the rap equivalent of a fourth Back To The Future movie where Marty & his dad George inadvertently bump into each other in the past again and then accidentally travel forward through the space-time continuum to the hospital where Marty's missus is giving birth to his son. Betcha you'll find that Quez has already started disappearing from the Make It Rain and Wobble videos as the universe struggles to comprehend 3 generations of Atlanta Swag-Rap on the same song and attempts to course-correct itself.

Travis Porter ft. Bandit Gang Marco - Blue Flame
(From SAQ mixtape; 2015)


Ayo Tough Love - your song with Ginuwine is cool but Mr.2-17 already has the best Pony interpolation of 2015.

Does the Compton OST turn out the lights from I Need A Doctor?

"EEEEEEWWWWWWWWW!"

Still can't muster up the enthusiasm to check Compton out. Should I listen to it just to the erase the memory of Dre's last single being an Eminem studio scrap with Skylar Grey or should I just stick with the handful of new Warren G & Nate Dogg songs?

Get Grip Good

Bummed to hear the sad news about Grip Plyaz's battle with cancer and spiraling medical bills. There's a host of ALT-lanta rappers nowadays that owe their whole shticks and careers to Grip who need to chip in some money right now, yet they're all missing the key ingredient which make his music such a blast: that it's made by a disgracefully funny bastard who legitimately did grow up bumping Dungeon Family and D4L in equal measure.

At his best, Grip is one of Atlanta's finest purveyors of minimalist-rap on some La Mont YoungBloodZ type shit. To try and draw attention to his current situation, I put together a best of Grip Plyaz playlist for Audiomack which showcases his sheer commitment to bad taste, his ability to say so much with so few words, and his distinctive knack for making barely-there tracks knock like Black Market. You can donate to the Get Grip Good fund HERE and bump the playlist below:


No Died (In Yo' Pussy) because that was always a better concept than a song, IMHO.

A recent-ish jams 4 u compilation part 3

Like the Evil Dead movies and them fit sisters from The Corrs, all good things come in threes. Consequently, here's the third compilation of 2015 songs I'm feelin'. Doesn't matter if you're ridin' Mercedes, mono scooter or mass transit 'cause these songs will fanute your commute.

1. Vic Spencer & TREE - Once (2015)
2. Kap G - Andelay (2015)
3. RJ - If It Ain't Ace (2015)
4. King Los ft. R. Kelly - Glory To The Lord (2015)
5. Hardini - I'm Bick (2015)
6. DonMonique - Pilates (Kendall, Kylie, Miley) (2015)
7. Psycho Les ft. Royal Flush, Tragedy Khadafi & Illa Ghee - Thunder Bells (2015)
8. Mouse On Tha Track - Grass Greener (2015)
9. Warren G ft. Nate Dogg - My House (2015)
10. A-Wax - Never Saw It (2015)
11. A-Wax - EverLasting Money (2015)

~~~> DOWNLOAD IT HERE <~~~
(BTW, you can find the first installment here, and the second installment here.)

Born To Audiomack 2

Already explained that the 'mack is mah spot so I've decided to upload some of my compilations for everyone's streamable pleasure. Naturally, had to start with the best of Lil' Chris from earlier this year to cook your data plans like some muhfuckin' french fries:

Just sayin', bruv: the dance edition

Hot Takes on me like Morten Harket, dance moves on me like John Sergeant.

If you're planning on writing a thinkpiece about YouTube dance stars like Kemo, Meechie or 1UP Society and you fail to acknowledge that Fresh Squad are pioneers of the artform, then you should have your earnings frozen until you've learned their entire Crank Dat routine:


Until I hear it out in the wild at a Westwood party then IHeartMemphis' Hit The Quan is one of those dance records that I prefer as a YouTube collection of its best Vine clips rather than as a song:


In 25 years time, rap historians are gonna treat the videos of Mr. Hit Dat Hoe and TReal Lee bustin' moves in Prince Rick's neighbourhood with the same reverence that they treat those Style Wars scenes where the Rock Steady Crew snap on Frosty Freeze's mother and breakdance in the park to Busy Bee & A.J's "D.J Bust a Nut, in your face and in your butt" live routine:


(BTW, Bugati Bieber & co's "I can still smell her perfume" dance moves in the Confident video are a total rip-off of TReal Lee & Mr. Hit Dat Hoe's "you smell somethin' stanky? Yeah I be the shit, bitch" dance moves from the above video. If I'm lyin' may every dancing dog from Britain's Got Talent die tonight. How 'bout that?)

One M, two M, three M, four

Mouse On Tha Track - Bag Full Of Money
(From No Commercials mixtape; 2015)


When Mouse goes minimal he really knows how to make a molehill bump like a mountain. Bag Full Of Money here needs a promo featuring Mouse & his daughter Prestyn throwin' shapes like they did in the Get It Back video in front of a green screen juxtaposition of Boosie countin' money pon road and the proto-#problematic Ted Dibiase sketch where he cheats a black kid out of $500. Everybody's got a price BAHAHAHA!

Martorial elegance # 81

For doz that care, here's a new slice of D-Lo-core by the Come Thru guy, backed with a video where he flamboasts around his neighbourhood in a Fred Perry shellsuit. 'Ere yah Hardini, you looked a bit too turnt in this video - calm down, calm down, lah.

Hardini - I'm Bick
(From YouTube; 2015)


Jamming this inspired me to revisit D-Lo's Tonite Show album. Forgot just how strong the Blaaaat Tremendo was on U Already Kno Doe and No Squares.

Why didn't God take Simon Price instead of Sean Price?

Heltah Skeltah - Fuck Dat Rapper
(From Rock's Shell Shock mixtape; 2008)


2015: the year rap officially overtook wrestling as the world's most dangerous profession. At the rate things are going, bulletproof motherfuckers like AZie, 50 Cent and Suge Knight are gonna be the only people left in the rap industry when the clock ticks down to midnight on december 31st.

Paying tribute to Ruck Burner today the best way possible: by making a playlist of the album Monkey Barz could have been if only the real Pricey had included all his best 12" tracks and deep cuts from 2002 - 2005. R.I.P - hope dude is livin' it up in rap Heaven, swapping Brooklyn groupie anecdotes with Biggie and spending the money he ripped off from embarrassing Rhode Island whigga-rappers on MySpace.

Sean Price - Monkey Barz 2.0

1. Peep My Words
2. Rising To The Top (O.G version) (ft. Agallah)
3. One Two Y'All
4. Onion Head (ft. Tek)
5. Don't Say Shit To Ruck
6. Tel E Mundo (ft. Agallah)
7. Heartburn
8. 60 Bar Dash
9. Shake Down (ft. Starang Wondah & Steele)
10. Mad Mann
11. Brokest Rapper You Know
12. Boom Bye Yeah
13. Spliff-n-Wessun (ft. Rustee Juxx)
14. Jail Shit (ft. Rock)
15. I Shot Tha
16. Slap Boxing (ft. Rustee Juxx & Rock)
17. Monkey Barz

Saturday a RobLo day

It's a nice gesture how HD of Bearfaced is in the practice of shooting videos for selected highlights from his back catalogue. The stans get visuals for their favourite deep cuts featuring HD peering through drawn blinds with a pistol in his hand, while the more fairweather fans like ya boy discover RobLo productions that we've been sleepin' on for half a decade.

HD of Bearfaced - Payday
(From Extortion Muzic mixtape; 2010/YouTube; 2015)



Related note: there's a new Mob Figaz compilation that's produced by Rob-Lo from top to bottom. Not listened to the full thing yet but it contains a Husalah solo track that sounds like a Heatmakerz sanitary towel commercial.

Yo, this letter on my Oakland A's hat, ain't for Athletic - it stands for A-Wax

Similarly, the P tattoo on A-Wax's throat is not a tribute to his hometown of Pittsburg, but a statement of intent in just how Persistent and Petty he can be when reigniting his long-standing beef with Husalah. This motherfucker is only printing up t-shirts featuring the paperwork which allegedly proves Husalah snitched on A-Wax's friends from Pittsburg to get a shorter prison sentence:

Funk Yunioshi A Rhyme

Another notable entry in the "You 38 And You Still Rappin'?" canon of great 2015 songs by ageing L.A rappers alongside Warren G & Nate Dogg's My House, Snoop's R U A Freak, and Skip Skip by Tha Dogg Pound, Kokane & Snoop:

Kokane ft. Too $hort - Luvin' A Pimp
(From YouTube; 2015)


The less said about Kokane's AZN impersonation after he claims he has "a Cambodian chick with sideways pussy", the better. Nonetheless, I betcha this song slaps harder than anything on that new Dr. Dre compilation thingymebob.

Generic list post: the Gunplay album that coulda/shoulda been

Gunplay - White Bitch
(From Living Legend album; 2015)


White Bitch here got me so open I did a volte-face and decided to give Gunplay's Living Legend album a couple of spins in the vain hope that it isn't the disappointment all reports suggest. As I expected/feared it's the 2015 equivalent of T La Rock's Lyrical King (From The Boogie Down Bronx) album: a weirdly tepid debut LP from a prodigiously talented rapper, unfortunately dated by the fact it's arrived two years too late.

A pity, but not a problem when he recorded so many good song between 2011 - 2013 that you can collate your very own fantasy Gunplay long player which-should-have-been. The ideal Gunplay album should have gone by its original title of Medellin, it should have been released at the beginning of 2013, it should not have featured Rawse in any capacity, it should have been 14 songs deep, and it should have ran like a lil' somethin' like this:

Gunplay - Medellin (The Album That Could Have Been):

1. Take This (2012)
2. Mask On (2011)
3. Fuck Shit In My Life (ft. Triple C's) (2012)
4. Bogota (2012)
5. No Arm And Hammer (2011)
6. Rollin' (ft. Waka Flocka Flame) (2011)
7. Skrate Up Menace (2011)
8. Low Life (ft. Triple C's) (2012)
9. Food Chain (2012)
10. M1 (2012)
11. Naan N*gga remix (ft. Sam Sneak, Trina & Tip Drilla) (2012)
12. Drop Da Tint (2013)
13. Jump Out (2012)
14. Bible On The Dash (2012)

Born to Audiomack

JD can keep McDonalds, the 'mack is mah spot right now. Thus, I uploaded Nef The Pharaoh's hometown anthem Bitch I'm From Vallejo for all those rectangular rap fans who act like a song doesn't exist if it can't be found on Audiomack.

Nef The Pharaoh - Bitch I'm From Vallejo
(From #RichBy25Two mixtape; 2014)



In related Bay-watch news, Westwood finally played Big Tymin' on his show; alas, it was the Ty Dolla $ign & YG remix and he didn't even mention Nef. Oakland stays gettin' baller-blocked by industry squares, even by those quadrilateral DJ's with soft edges like Tim who was playing Yike In It and Panoramic back in late 2013 when most other DJ's were still deciding whether to add College Drop to their playlists.

R.I.P Rowdy Roddy Piper

At least he went out on a high mere weeks after the Rachel Dolezal They Live GIF.