Monday, 11 March 2024

Breihan's Got A Baby (Part 2)

Y@k Ballz - T.C.K
(From demo tape; 1999/Mondee's Where My Dogs At? compilation CD-R; 2001)




Top three Rap songs I've finally found CDQ versions of in recent years: Heavy Rain by The Jacka, Do The Crew by Jay Tee & Mac Dre, and T.C.K by Y@k Ballz. The latter is some super duty Transylvanian-toothed indie-Rap which doubles as a tribute to Y@k's graffiti crew True City Killahz. A cult-classic from Bobbito & Lord Sear's C.M Famalam radio show, it's Y@k's second best song after HomePiss innit. And so kiddies, the story goes that Bobbito decided T.C.K wouldn't be included on Y@k's debut EP on Fondle Em Records due to the rogue n-bomb he dropped. Seems plausible because you definitely shouldn't be dropping n-bombs on wax if you're a half Persian white lad who looks like a lesbian modelling for Zoo York (before commie-caps became the backpacker's hat of choice, there were peaked-beanies.) I'm always sure like the coral reef that T.C.K and Flossin' woulda sounded perfect back-to-back on side B of that first Y@k Ballz EP.

My own 1990s graffiti crew weren't so much True City Killahz as Toy Town Goonies. Here's an ELS dub ya boi painted in a hospital carpark's subway back in 1998 as homage to my Grandma Elsie. This shit woulda looked more James Flames if I'd used Montana spray-paint and a fat cap nozzle, but it was done with watery British spray-paint stolen from the auto shop in Kwik Save. Picture me spendin' money on posh spray paint and fancy nozzles when there were Screwball 12"s and Devin The Dude CDs to buy.
Mind you, I used to gladly spend money on graffiti magazines back when Tower Records was the muhf**kin' spot in Birmingham. Graphotism Magazine was my fave periodical, but the only shit I ever ordered from their store was Kool Keith's Sex Style cassette and a handful of early Kid Capri mixtapes. Call me Nat Robinson because my first priority was always music. Yo, I just dropped a jewel on 'em, my man Dave told me to go Puba Maxwell on 'em.

13 comments:

  1. The 4 elementz alive and well in post brexit UK.

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  2. The 4 elements:

    1. Mac Dre deep cuts
    2. The life and times of Will High
    3. Rap-inspired clobber faux-pas
    4. British graffiti up to 1999

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  3. Is Yak Ballz still a thing? Seems like he dropped off the face of the earth in the early 00s.

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  4. According to Wikipedia he's now vice president of "Media & Strategic Development" at Warner Brothers.

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    1. Interesting bit of a shift from underground rap records, vintage Ralph Lauren, & vandalism.

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  5. He looks a lot less like Sue Perkins now.

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  6. He's certainly done better than Cage according to Wiki:

    In 2015, Palko suffered a brain injury in a road accident and was affected by amnesia for two years. He returned to music by touring with the Insane Clown Posse

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  7. RIP Bo$$ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrMBKcbVqRI

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  8. https://www.linkedin.com/in/yashar-zadeh-870126109?challengeId=AQEkLCQwGRtJcwAAAY4xgRqc5NLZ9nHLHvyy_ogqWp8HSMtXhbdgCULqy4nTOnWx7r1JS0cmG_c71IemSbAXl5B2UqEbUnyOgQ&submissionId=fe5b6a24-e0f2-bb17-50d3-9051f4aaba38&challengeSource=AgFXFhmgeTRDyAAAAY4xgW3TRvwSpf6dWEc9ZaigSSbgbGIcsCBWUXCLjJv1o3M&challegeType=AgFQBoCiprVvrAAAAY4xgW3WTsTIPcMdBB7HW_Q6vzDY3jICcGN5TNs&memberId=AgHlvyj3B9aMnwAAAY4xgW3a43aUbRZYZXLomFm1DICbN7I&recognizeDevice=AgHmagpNhIV2gAAAAY4xgW3d2MB2Qg7lBlC7pzuxiU8NLk7-CZov

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  9. 👀

    Fooook. Burn one for Bo$$ 😢

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  10. i saw the greatest minds of my generarion quit rapping to make linkedin pages </3

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  11. I wonder if Jakki Tha Motamouth is on there?

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