Generic list post: September 2022

Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when Queen Elizabeth II went back to the essence. Yo, pull ya skirt down, Britain - old people die everyday, b. Personally, I've disliked the British royal famalam ever since I got picked to play Prince Charles in my infant school's Christmas play. Same ears?

Jamie Jupitor - Future Computer (2016)
Nef The Pharoah - Old Enough (2022)
Nef The Pharoah - Tattooed (2022)
Seiji Oda - City Pop 001 (2022)
Seiji Oda - What It Feel Like (2022)
Homeboy Sandman - Satellite (2022)
Cash Cobain & Chow Lee - Just Blick It (2022)
The Chats - 6L GTR (2022)
The Chats - Ticket Inspector (2022)
Disasterpeace - Dork (2022)

Other notables: there's a New York Drill song which samples Level & Mouse's I Bet U Won't lol; and speaking of New York Drill songs, I quite like the spazziness of Sha Ek's Too Oppy.

Other reading: peep my Mac Dre & Khayree best of 1996 to 1998 playlist and Chicken-N-Kalinka's Cell Block Records playlist. Over on The Spartorialist, King Kos dropped a list of his 101 favourite British movies of all time and I had a go at my own list in his comments.

PS: If you combine my 101 favourite Rap songs of the 90s with my 101 favourite non-Rap singles of the 90s then you have a list that's a billion times better than Pitchfork's best 250 songs of the 90s list. Obviously I haven't actually read Pitchfork's list because the committee of frumpy music critics who collate Pitchfork lists mostly have terrible taste in everything and can't be trusted. Plus, 95% of American music critics are clueless about dance music from their own country let alone the rest of the world. As the old saying goes, 9/10 Pitchfork contributors probably think Juan Atkins is some guy who plays 'soccer' for Real Madrid.

If we sacrifice Tina Malone to a volcano can we get Coolio back?

Nu Skool - I Wanna Know What Makes You Dance
(From Los Angeles Extreme - Force Groove Vol. 1 compilation EP; 1988)


A post title for the Britz there. Pour out a little orange soda for Coolio who me and the lads celebrated and considered earlier this year. Coolio was a charismatic personality when he first appeared at the arse-end of L.A's Electro era on tracks like Nu Skool's I Wanna Know What Makes You Dance, and he lived long enough to see Fantastic Voyage used in a British TV advert for Air BNBs. That's the thing about Coolio - he was a true multimedia star in Britain who was embraced by everyone from the streetz to the studentz. Someone get Elton John on the phone and get him to redo Candle In The Wind for Mr. Too Hot himself.

Coolio - Fantastic Voyage
(From It Takes A Thief album; 1994)


Top 10 California Livin' single of all time no IMHO necessary.

On yer bike

"I'm just tryna make my city pop
Diamonds dance like City-Pop
No wait - diamonds dance, do the diddy bop
She with the spiritual but she bad like Unalaq
Spirits drawing inspiration tryna copy, call 'em DoodleBob
Get drawn like cartoons
Get drawn like guns in saloons
Big water on me, bitch, I'm a lagoon
Stop talkin' like you bout it, just wolfin' to me boy, I been here for many moons"

Seiji Oda - City Pop 001
(From City Pop 001 single; 2022)


In this life it's a lotta lunar cycles, two wheels on a bike, it's one on a unicycle. File this alongside Ezale's Day Ones and P-Lo's Boomerang in the canon of music videos by AZN Bay Area rappers on bicycles. Seiji San finally goes full Japanese City-Pop to make the town pop. A little birdy tells me this shit samples Cindy's Watashitachi o Shinjite Ite.

True story: Seiji's Perfect Timing inspired me to watch Spirited Away. I'm not an Anime guy, but that's a weird and wonderful movie I could watch once a year when I need a dose of wholesome fantasy.

Feet of Fury

"When I walk around my hood I see
Broken hopes
Smoking dope
Eyes looking comatose
People on line for a okey doke
Joy, art
Beauty manifesting out the madness, it's a blessing just to take part"

Homeboy Sandman - Satellite
(From Sandman's forthcoming album; 2022)

HomeboySandman · Satellite

As with Stroll, Sandman turns New York rappers inability to make car music from a shortcoming into a strength. Some "I walk around and observe the whole scenery then nonchalantly tell you what it mean to me" type shit. Call it poundin' pavements-core.

PS: pour out a little liquor of your choosing for the voice of the north Stu Allan. His Bus Dis radio show was slightly before my time/outside my orbit, but when an acquaintance hooked me up with some tapes in the mid 90s Stu's sets skooled me on the likes of Tuff Crew, MC EZ & Troup, JVC Force etc. Plus, I love the quirks of his taste where he (rightly) treated DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince with the same reverence as Boogie Down Productions.

My Homeboy's Ute

One of music's greatest strengths is transforming the mundane into the magical. Other people's cars are even less interesting than other people's children, so when some random bloke in the pub starts yacking to me about his motor he has precisely 40 seconds to talk before I glaze over with boredom and tell him that I need to go for a piss. But when someone records a song about their car it invariably turns out to be a thrilling audio loveletter which has me hanging off every word. Rap music is the king of car-talk songs, but other genres have been known to work their magic too - like my favourite single from The Chats' new album.

The Chats - 6L GTR
(From Get F**ked album; 2022)


For the past couple of years The Chats have scratched my same itch as Sum 41 in the early 2000s: a gobshite Punk band armed with choonz, riffs, and very entertaining music videos (both bands even have scrawny ginger singers!) Fortunately, The Chats are Australian rather than Canadian so there's no chance of them growing up to become a Lidl Velvet Revolver like Sum 41 did. Personally, I wouldn't be caught dead listening to a modern Punk band from Britain, America, Europe or Japan because the only people who can credibly make Punk music in 2022 are Australian zoomer grubs who look like they could be James Gribble's gang from Round The Twist season one.

Bonus beats: Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's Who Stole My Car? has gotta be the most "it was the moment I feared" type song after The Moment I Feared itself.

Something In The Way

Cash Cobain & Chow Lee - Just Blick It
(From 2 Slizzy 2 Sexy (Deluxe) album; 2022)

CHOW LEE · CASH COBAIN & CHOW LEE - JUST BLICK IT

On one hand, this is the first Cash Cobain & Chow Lee song to catch my ear. On the other hand, it'd be way better without the Auto-Tune because it just sounds like Chicago-Bop with samples rather than a new amalgamation of Rap and Club music dunnit? The Auto-Tune also obscures Max B's influence here because the words and how they're delivered is some classic priapic Biggavelz porno muzik innit? Anyhoo, good song but not quite good enough to make it into my top 5 Club-Rap songs of 2022 so far. Quinary of Quality playlist time again:

1. 2Rare - Oochie Coochie
2. Asian Doll ft. Bandmanrill - Get Jumped
3. D4M $loan - Swiper
4. Kenzo B - Bump It
5. Cookiee Kawaii - Is U Mad?

Born To Audiomack: Mac Dre & Khayree 1996 to 1998 Sure Slaps

Mac Dre was all that and for most of the 90s his producer Khayree had his back. After Dre was released from a 4 year stint in prison in 1996, him and Khayree got back 2 their mission of recording great Rap music together. Alas, they fell out over money in 1998 having only released a handful of their tracks together during this period. Over the years Khayree has dropped all their unreleased songs from this era on various compilations, so here's a plalist of their best 1996 to 1998 songs. The proverbial Good Combination of thoughtful Dre and thorough Dre, all backed by peak Khayree production. Honk at a hutch with some conscious mob music from the Crestside.

~~ Mac Dre & Khayree - 1996 to 1998 Sure Slaps ~~
1. True To The Game (Interlude)
2. My Folks
3. Back 2 My Mission
4. Pawns In The Game
5. How I Got Tis Name
6. And What Is Ya Name
7. Shoulda Been Mo
8. Mac Who? (ft. Mac Mall)
9. Feeling Like That N*gga
10. Livin' That Life



True story: Mac Dre and Pimp C are the only rappers who can use cock as a euphemism for coochie and not have me shouting "PAUSE!"

Chop shop

"18 with a baby, I wasn’t old enough
I made my family eat they words, I had to show 'em somethin'”

Nef The Pharoah - Old Enough
(From Old Enough; 2022)


Whoa na. For O.G members of #NefHive, Old Enough is the grown-up Come Pick Me Up - an introspective victory lap of a song. Nef The Pharoah is very hit and miss, but when he's on form he's a billion times better than all those dullard Yaseo The Ruler-core rappers who've been popular up Northern California the past couple of years. Here's proof in the form of a playlist: Nef's top five slaps from 2020 to 2022.



A moment of silence for Nef's dreadlocks. He chopped 'em off and now he looks like a goon from a J-Diggs video.

Breihan's Got A Baby

Y@k Ballz - HomePiss
(From HomePiss EP; 2000)


While it's easy to dismiss Y@k Ballz as the Brendan Soderberg to Tom Breihan's Cage, I'd argue that HomePiss is a better Cage song than anything Cage ever recorded as a solo artist. No shotz @ Agent Orange - everything is peace like the 70s or when I'm on ecstasy, I just find Y@k's flow on HomePiss more H20 to my ear. First time I heard this shit it was playing in a record shop and I was like "whoa, this new Cage song is the dog's bollocks!" Asked the fella behind the counter about it and he was like "nah, this is Cage's protégé Y@k Ballz and he's some crazy black kid." Imagine my surprise when Hip Hop Connection magazine interviewed Y@k a few months later and it was revealed that he looked like Sue Perkins modelling for Zoo York (no K.Fanat.)

P.L.O Style (no Method Man)

P-Lo ft. Larry June - Good
(From STUNNA album; 2022)


California livin' it up or wot? Alas, Good turned out to be the highlight of P-Lo's new album. I ain't even mad though because P-Lo's 2020/2021 run of singles turned my crib into a club throughout the U.K's various lockdowns. That said, it's a bit odd P didn't put Going Off on the new album because that shit is his Slap-Supremo G.O.A.T song IMHO. File this shit under 'tracks which should come with brake pads.'

P-Lo - Going Off
(From Going Off single; 2021)


California rappers seem to love football: we've seen Snoop wearing a Celtic jersey, Husalah posing with Robbie Keane, J.Stalin rhyming about David Beckham, Kendrick Lamar pledging allegiance to Spurs, Mack 10 at L.A Galaxy games, and Tyler The Creator in a Juventus shirt. But P-Lo is the only one walking around Cali with a Roberto Baggio rat tail. That's amore foreal foreal.

Jupitor Ascending

If you're a real Egyptian Lover fan you'll know that him & his buddy Gerald Bo Brown recorded a song called Computer Power under the alias of Jamie Jupitor in 1985. But what you might not know is that they dropped another Jamie Jupitor song in 2016... and it bumps! True story: if you'd played this track to ancient Egyptians they'd think they were being attacked by the Martian tripod machines from War Of The Worlds.

Jamie Jupitor - Future Computer
(From The Bass Academy Vol.2 12" single; 2016)


Not a lotta people realise this, but Electro type shit is some of the best music to drive to. The clue was there in the track titles all along - from Autobahn to Night Drive (Thru Babylon).

Seiji says RELAX

Seiji Oda - Enjoi (Goro)
(From YouTube; 2022)


A little slice of Monday mindfulness from the Gas God of Gentle Giggin': musical Chai tea to soundtrack a spot of Tai-Chi. Not sure about Seiji's new "I've just discovered Indie Rock"-era Cage hairdoo tho - my man best hope he doesn't bump into Vast Aire looking like that. Anyhoo, Enjoi (Goro) and What It Feel Like are two sides of the same Chi like Penrod "Penry" Pooch and Hong Kong Phooey.

Seiji Oda - What It Feel Like
(From YouTube; 2022)


Bonus beats: Cyborg is Seiji's best R&Hyphy song and best music video IMHO. You've got all these ham & egger new NorCal rappers mean muggin' with their m8s in sausage-fest Rap videos, and here comes Seiji Oda with only a toy robot and an ice cream cone for company. Legendary costume change too: from ninja to Nump in 3 seconds flat.

Seiji Oda - Cyborg
(From Cyborg single; 2021)

Wholesome Of Mischief

Ugly Duckling - Fresh Mode
(From Fresh Mode EP; 1999)


How I learned to stop worrying and love this song: forget how annoying Ugly Duckling's fans were and enjoy the song for its wholesome backpack-and-forth between Andy Cooper & Dizzy Dustin. It's silly to let other people ruin an artist for you, but Ugly Duckling's fanboys tended to be 4 Elements fundamentalists or "I don't usually listen to Rap BUT..." guys, so that's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it. A pity, though, because I coulda used Fresh Mode as a Nice & Squeaky-Clean detox from songs like Freddie Foxxx's Part Of My Life and Juvenile's U Understand back in 1999.

Mind you, I was absolutely right to hate Everybody C'mon back in '99. If that song were a person then it'd be Wicked22.