Craic Your Body

Andwella - Hold On To Your Mind
(From World's End album; 1970)

delirious music · Hold On To Your Mind - Andwella

Psychedelic rockers from Northern Ireland invented House music in 1970. Listen to the opening piano on this song for the proof. Like Curtis McClain nearly sang on Marshall Jefferson's Move Your Body, gotta have Hop House all night long! Anyhoo, these fellas were a big influence on Thin Lizzy, apparently.

Bonus 1970 beats:

Ennio Morricone - Svolta Definitiva
(From Città violenta soundtrack; 1970)

delirious music · Svolta Definitiva - Ennio Morricone

Charlie motherf*ckin' Bronson always brought the best out of The Vividest Composer. Seriously - who'd have ever thunk that The Maestro™ could compose a song that sounds like The Stooges jamming with The Mohawks? Alas, ya host can neither confirm nor deny whether the movie lives up to the soundtrack

Birds can do Baton Rouge Brawl Music™ too (part 2)

"My aunty name is Kita, my other aunty Rita
They both 'bout that cheddar, they be on that Velveeta"

GetEmTree - Intro
(From YouTube; 2020)


Talk about a bird's eye view. Best way to describe GetEmTree's brand of henchwoman Baton Rouge Brawl Music: Webbie without a willy or tomboy with a Tommy drum gun? Doz that kept both eyes shut previously should also peep Opp Watching.

"I just got a call from my dawg, he comin' home
I just dropped some fondue on his books and on the phone
F*ck 12, free my n*gga right or wrong
Bitch, 'cause all I speak is facts in every song"

GetEmTree - Opp Watching
(From YouTube; 2020)


**Edit** Peep Johnny Rap's epic 230 song and rising modern Baton Rouge playlist.

Loyal T

"No, I don't think that you dumb
But I know what I woulda done
And I don't f*ck with no n*gga that blocked me from feedin' my son"

Mic Terror - Ride
(From The Rona album; 2020)

Mic Terror · Ride

Dramatic piano banger alert! A song about some real shit which gets real specific about one of Mic T's ex-m8s at the end of verse one. Nowadays I don't give a f*ck about gossip unless it's a stock tip, but the aforementioned part of the song is a heartfelt explanation of why Mic no longer fuxwit his longtime producer Mano. Song hits hard because it's a universal concept with a dash of anecdotal personal context.

Bonus Treated Crew beats: there's a buncha Mic Terror, Gzus Piece/White Gzus songs I wish had blown up, and then there's Hollywood Holt's best song. Sometimes the obvious corny sample is the absolutely correct sample.

"But we be killin' shows like haters kills hoes
Got me throwin' out flows just like blowin' my nose"

Hollywood Holt & Million $ Mano - The Show
(From the internet; 2011)

Colin Ofloy · Hollywood Holt & Million $ Mano - The Show

Late pass like it's 1999

Sire Sensai - 1999
(From Verbally Diseased ft. The Clinic's Operation Contamination album; 1999)


Via Tha Barber's YouTube. If one of Jiggs & Cheeks had a solo song on Twista's first Legit Ballaz group album then it'd probably sound like this. It's all spaghetti, tho, because Sire Sensai was #actually makin' music years before Jiggs & Cheeks or Legit Ballaz.

Bonus beats: best video Tha Barber ever put me onto is obvs the main single from Twista's second Legit Ballaz group album. The video is Chicago's answer to the Flava In Ya Ear remix, while the song itself is the ultimate in Midwesternplayalisticjiggyshit. Watch for Twista's proto-"DATAZZ!" face at 3 seconds in.

Twista & Legit Ballaz ft. Johnny P - Ball Wit Us
(From Legit Ballin: New Testament 2k Street Scriptures - Volume 2 compilation; 2001)

What happened to Piece? (Part 2)

Mic Terror ft. Gzus Piece & Bruus - Forever Gangster
(From The Rona album; 2020)


This now has a video. Good thing it does too because it's the obvious single on Mic T's new album, and I need to rectify a slight mistake from first time round: it starts as a space-age Return Of The G and ends as the return of Big Moe from the grave and ends as the return of Jodeci. Everybody played they position like Mourinho's Porto team.

Bonus beats: every single needs a B-side so I nominate One Day as the flipside to Forever Gangster. Don't even mind the faint use of Auto-Tune on this one because it's got that classique Greg Nice echo to it.

Mic Terror ft. Bruus - One Day
(From The Rona album; 2020)

Mic Terror · One Day ft. BRUUS

Generic list post: Neptunes edition

Before The Chad & The Virgin, there was The Chad & The Pharrell. Neptunes productions are a hot topic right now so lemme add my tuppence. Top 20 fave Neptunes produced Rap songs. No repeat artists and no order of preference. You know the Neptunes were 5 star general producers of their era when they've got me enjoying early noughties Jay-Z in 2020.

Fam-Lay - Skrung Owt (2005)
N.O.R.E - Nothin' (2002)
Ma$e ft. Puff Daddy - Lookin' At Me (1998)
Slim Thug - Like A Boss (2004)
Mystikal ft. Pharrell - Shake Ya Ass (2000)
The Clipse - Grindin' (2002)
Birdman ft. The Clipse - What Happened To That Boy? (2003)
Fabolous - Young'n (Holla Back) (2001)
Ludacris - Southern Hospitality (2000)
Busta Rhymes - As I Come Back (2001)
Philly's Most Wanted - Suckas (2001)
ODB ft. Kelis - Got Your Money (1999)
N*E*R*D ft. Lee Harvey & Vita - Lapdance (2001)
Snoop Dogg ft. Pharrell - Drop It Like It's Hot (2004)
Jadakiss - Knock Yourself Out (2001)
Foxy Brown ft. Pharrell - Magnetic (2003)
Rosco P. Coldchain ft. Pharrell - Delinquent (2003)
Nelly - Hot In Herre (2002)
Black Rob - Business As Usual (2003)
Jay-Z - LA-LA-LA (2003)
Bonus beats: anyone down for a game of favourite fake-Neptunes productions?

Loon ft. Kelis - How You Want That? (2003)
Yukmouth - Stuntastic (2003)
Clinton Sparks ft. Black Rob - Knock 'Em Out (2005)
Jim Jones ft. Max B & Mel Matrix - Sour Diesel (2006)
Curren$y - Scared Of Monstas (2009)

Paddy and Mick walk into a pub...

"It just don't look like this
If you livin' carefree then you probably don't look like us
Damn, n*gga, let me cook right quick"

Mick Jenkins - Carefree
(From The Circus EP; 2020)


Need an investigation into how a Mick Jenkins single produced by Black Milk has ended up a semi-hit in the U.K. Granted, it's a legit jam about a topic that's become even more horribly pertinent as 2020 unfolds, but who'd have thunk such a song would become Big In Britain™? Personally, I'm diggin' this shit because its hazy late night vibe is the exact opposite of what I'd expect a Mick Jenkins & Black Milk collaboration would sound like.

The first Chicago Rap song to be bigger in the U.K than the U.S since Vic Mensa's Hip-House song. AKA the only Vic Mensa song where his inherent corniness could blossom into something listenable.

Jam On It

Billy Jam's HipHopSlam YouTube page has got more gems than a sunken ship. Best of all, there's the time Mac Dre & Khayree turned up at Billy's KUSF radio show in 1991 and performed an acoustic version of Times R Gettin' Crazy with Dre in Furly Guthrie mode and Khayree pulling strings (no A-Wax.) Forget drumless boom-bap, it's all about drumless mob-slap:


Billy's also uploaded a handful of electronic press kits Noo Trybe Records sent out in 1994 to promote The Bounce Squad, Diezzle Don & Tha Govenor, and The Luniz. The latter's epk is somewhat infamous because it's where they first dissed Too $hort:


Billy later broke the news to Too $hort during an interview with the Dangerous Crew and was the first to glean a response from $hort before the beef went to record:


There's a Black Artists Against Drugs PSA by Public Enemy with Chuck D in the Minor Threat t-shirt Glen E. Friedman gave him and the hilarious spectacle of Flava Flav warning da kidz not to get high:


There's even rare videos like this sweet lil' single from O.G TRU member Chilee Powdah:

Chilee Powdah - Way Too Real
(From Way Too Real album; 1996)


Lots of other good stuff on there and very active recently, so one to keep an eye on.

Strictly Business

You, a square: wow, Gunplay naming himself Don Logan after Ben Kingsley's character in Sexy Beast was a true World's Colliding moment.

Me, a connoisseur: son, Wiz Khalifa made a song that, from its title to its sample, was a homage to a specific scene in Danny Dyer's one good movie The Business.


Wiz Khalifa - The Kid Frankie
(From Kush & Orange Juice mixtape; 2010)

LeyssonL4 · Kid Frankie Wiz Khalifa

Much like Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, The Business is a Mockney crime movie that's loathable in theory but stupidly enjoyable in reality. A good chunk of its appeal comes from the lead actor's clobber, but that's true of many a movie innit? Do The Right Thing has The Shoes™, The Business has The Shorts™.

Hands up if The Kid Frankie is your fave single from Kush & Orange Juice.

Now keep 'em there if it's your fave Wiz single full stop.

Generic list post: August 2020

Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when Instagram continues to be the only good social media site. Well, except for when it insists on showing me pix of Dipset's Gym Bore Jones.

B. Fats - Woppit (video) (1986)
Captain G. Whiz - Red Alert promo (1987)
P-Lo - Get Me Lit (2020)
Mac J - No Fucc Shit (2020)
Mac J - OldSkoo (2020)
Mic Terror ft. Gzus Piece & Bruus - Forever Gangster (2020)
Sada Baby - Whole Lotta Choppas (2020)
Aretha Daye ft. MC Chan - No More (Making Love) (1991)
Ennio Morricone - Svolta Definitiva (1970)
Archers Of Loaf - Cruel Reminder (2020)

Other notables: of course Nas was the weakest link on his Firm reunion song; Mulatto's revamp of Gucci Mane's Freaky Gurl wasn't freaky enough for my liking; watched a few episodes of Unsung this month - Whodini, EPMD, Ice-T, Bone Thugs, E-40, and Nate Dogg.

What happened to Piece?

Mic Terror ft. Gzus Piece & Bruus - Forever Gangster
(From The Rona album; 2020)

Mic Terror · Forever Gangster ft. Gzus Piece

First Mic Tre and Gzy-P link-up in a while. It starts as a space-age Return Of The G and ends as the return of Big Moe from the grave. The only Rap song of 2020 to namecheck Parker Lewis or wot? Dicks up for Miss Musso!


Lewis Parker missed a trick by not droppin' an album called Lewis Parker Can't Lose.

Who stole the Soul?

The Family Stand - Ghetto Heaven (Soul II Soul remix)
(From Chain album; 1990)


It's understandable that Americans never give any kudos to Soul II Soul for fusing R&B and Hip-Hop in song form because it screws up the narrative that Puff Daddy & Mary J. Blige pioneered the practice in 1992. Unfortunately, this means that Americans then end up writing their own artists outta history - artists like The Family Stand who scored an international hit with Soul II Soul's remix of Ghetto Heaven two years before Mary's debut with Real Love.

Not that the British are much better, mind. Very few folk in my country acknowledge that Soul II Soul's remix of Ghetto Heaven was the obvious blueprint for Massive Attack & Shara Nelson's Unfinished Sympathy, and now Massive Attack are somehow considered more important than Soul II Soul. Unfinished Sympathy is a legit classic, but there's an important rule every British citizen must adhere to: we only credit Bristol when we're talkin' Portishead or Sara & Keren from Bananarama.

LOL Frequency Oscillation

Lads & very occasional lass, tell your children this was Mark Bell & Gez Varley of LFO. Bonus points to American Anglophiles down with the BBC who tell their children this was Joey Beltram & Edmundo Perez of Second Phase.

True story or no story part 5

"Runnin' to that bag, I'm exhausted
Lookin' for my brain, I think I lost it
Plug threw a pack, I Randy Mossed it
Rollers hit the lights, you know I tossed it"

Mac J - OldSkoo
(From YouTube; 2020)


Mac J's 2020 run of slappers continues with his new single here. Very much enjoying the cut of Mac's jib right now - "bitch, you ain't a thot, you's a bopper/I should put her on a song she got knockers."

Sada Bacon

"They wanna see me do my dance
In these $1000 pants
Don't disrespect me and my mans"

Sada Baby - Whole Lotta Choppas
(From the internet; 2020)

Sada Baby · Whole Lotta Choppas

File this under 'Detroit bass music that accidentally sounds like Laurent Garnier's French rave classique Crispy Bacon.'

Laurent Garnier - Crispy Bacon
(From 30 album; 1997)


Mi amor, merci, oui oui, bon bons and all that good stuff to the Northern headz who remember that Crispy Bacon was a far bigger CHOON in't late 90s than any of the singles from Daft Punk's first album.

Hate what they watchin', don't got an option

"Everywhere I go, got a rocket
Freak up in Stockton she say I'm obnoxious"

P-Lo - Get Me Lit
(From the internet; 2020)


Fave Shmobby Brackins slap since Same Squad . Double the fun with Get Me Lit - this shit never fails to make me shake a leg and never fails to make my rear view mirror shake. F*ck yer cosmic vibrations, gimme physical vibrations I can see.

Generic list post: 2020 late pass (so far)

You'd think I'm joinin' Time Team the way I'm tryna find treasures from the past. 20 old songs which have become new favourites in 2020.

Ennio Morricone - Svolta Definitiva (1970)
The Flys - Love And A Molotov Cocktail (1977)
Smiley Culture - Roots Reality (1985)
Tailor Made - Fast Lane (instrumental) (1985)
Dangerous Dame - My Name Is Dame (1989)
Intelligent Hoodlum - The Rebel Returns (1989/2019)
Monie Love - Don't Funk Wid The Mo (1990)
Ghetto Mafia - In Decatur (1998)
Field Mob - At The Park (2006)
Husalah - Slap N Da Trunk (2006)
Juiceboxxx - Like A Maniac (2015)
79rs Gang - Drama (2015)
Donae'o - Marimba (2017)
Mac J & Bris - Forgot About Me (2018)
Cavalier - Go Brooklyn (2018)
Flo Milli - Beef FloMix (2019)
Pronto Spazzout - Jiggy Music (2019)
Casanova - Jail Call (2019)
S1mba ft. DTG - Rover (2019)
Ain't gon' lie, there's actually 19 songs in this list. Pick me a 20th with a non-2020 song you've discovered in 2020.

One 4 The Britz: Who dat?

Aretha Daye ft. ????? - No More (Making Love)
(From No More (Making Love) single; 1991)

BackInTheDay! · Aretha Daye - No More (Making Love)

File this under 'old-wave British BBQ music that's forever fresh.' My country failed itself when Aretha Daye's only single didn't become one of the biggest street soul hits of the 90's. Anybody have a Scooby Doo who the uncredited guest rapper is? His verse is undeniably corny but very necessary for its big Dance Energy energy.

Reasons why I love YouTube part whatever

"Do The Smurf, do The Wop, Baseball Bat
Rooftop like we bringing '88 back"
(Nas on Made You Look)


Another entry in the canon of 80s Rap songs I never knew had videos: Woppit by B. Fats. Song deets: a 1986 Teddy Riley production that is thee definitive ode to the dance known as The Wop. A strong case could be made that this video is thee definitive footage of The Wop in action. Best dance in NYC history or wot? As Uncle Murda nearly said, anybody can do it.

B. Fats - Woppit
(From Woppit 12" single; 1986)

PMP · Woppit

True story or no story part 4

"It ain't too many n*ggas like me, these n*ggas is shiesty
They headed to the top and ain't even invite me
If you ain't talkin' money can't even excite me
My aim on point, hit the check off a Nike"

Mac J - No Fucc Shit
(From YouTube; 2020)


What I'm diggin' about these recent Mac J solo slaps is that he's making Siccness.net music when so many NorCal rappers are making Thizzler.com music right now. Might even go as far as saying that these recent Mac J solo slaps are the sorta music I wish A-Wax was making right now.

(No shotz @ Thizzler itself; all shotz @ the hoards of SOB X RBE clones currently clogging up Thizzler.)

Martorial elegance: Do The Fila part 2

Before Brooklyn loved POLO, they loved Fila. Fila kicks, Fila socks, Fila tees, Fila baseball caps, Fila bucket hats, Fila headbands, and Fila tracksuits.

Code Money Anthony, put ya Filas on! 16 or 17 year old AZ circa 1988. Pic's got me wishing there was a lost 1989 teenage AZ song over some Hitman Howie Tee production. After all, Howie's beats worked wonders for another Brooklyn teenager in 1989.

Special Ed - I Got It Made
(From Youngest In Charge album; 1989)


Special Ed had a frog, a dog with a solid gold bone, and the first Rap video to feature a buncha POLO gear.

Previously: Do The Fila.

It's a heavy tale like Melville's book about the whale

The Jacka - Aspen
(From AP.9 Presents: The Mob Movement; 2007/The Street Album; 2008)


Here is somethin' I just can't understand: why did Jacka & his team leave Aspen off Tear Gas? When an artist has a single that's as capital A anthemic as Aspen you don't relegate that shit to the sidepiece street album mixtape, you throw that shit on the official album as one of the big opening tracks. Ideally, Rule The World would have been the regal Tear Gas intro with Aspen as the blockbuster opening track thereafter - works a treat musically and conceptually since the last line of Rule The World is "my n*ggas be jumpin' snow cliffs without the ski's." Amirite? Yes, I am:

Generic list post: July 2020

Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when DMX didn't even play his G.O.A.T solo song during his soundclash with Snoop. Ain't gon' lie, I loathe those Verzuz battles as a concept: music reduced to a sport for DJ Vlad, Joe Buddens, and Rap Twitter to have opinionz about. The absolute last people that rappers/producers should be encouraging are the dullards who spend all day on Twitter ranking Jay-Z and KanYe West albums.

Dangerous Dame - My Name Is Dame (1989)
Dangerous Dame - OAKtown (1989)
Mac J & Bris - Forgot About Me (2018)
Mac J - Free Bris (2020)
Flo Milli - Pussycat Doll (2020)
Flo Milli - Weak (2020)
Icyjay - Balla (2020)
S1mba ft. DTG - Rover (2019)
SAULT - Stop Dem (2020)
Dua Lipa - Good In Bed (2020)
Other notables: Mick Jenkins having a U.K hit with a song produced by Black Milk is something I didn't see coming; Sleepy Hallow & Sheff G's Molly is shameful Chicago cosplay but I secretly kinda dig it; Duke Deuce & Mulatto's KIRK is a booty-chatter banger but ain't a patch on his last mixtape's deep cuts; most embarrassing song I heard this month was either Drake's new U.K Drill karaoke and Fabolous' Afrobeats song; are Gassed Up Lighties the Mel & Kim of U.K Drill?

4 albums from high school

If a vanity challenge goes down on the 'net, I want in. Bit unfair for us Brits to whittle this particular challenge down to a quartet of albums when high school lasts for half a decade in the U.K, but this is a accurate reflection of my first four years of secondary education. Let's party like it's 1988 to 1992!

I can't think of any British albums which were the shit to me during high school. I can, however, think of a shitload of British singles which ruled my high school years. Official faves:

Bomb The Bass - Megablast (1988)
Soul II Soul - Back To Life (However Do You Want Me) (1989)
Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus (1989)
Silver Bullet - 20 Seconds To Comply (1989)
Monie Love ft. True Image - It's A Shame (1990)
Adamski ft. Seal - Killer (1990)
808 State - In Yer Face (1991)
Caveman - I'm Ready (1991)
Stereo MC's - Connected (radio edit) (1992)
SL2 - On A Ragga Tip (1992)
London Posse - How's Life In London? (1993)

There's no point in playin' this parlour game if you're gonna pretend you were too cool for high school. Me, I was too young and dumb to appreciate some of the G.O.A.T British dance singles which dropped during my high school years even though they were chart hits: 808 State's Pacific 707 and A Guy Called Gerald's Voodoo Ray in 1989, LFO's LFO in 1990, and Future Sound Of London's Papua New Guinea in 1991.

True story or no story: late pass!

"Every time I needed help n*ggas forgot about me
I ran into some chicken and forgot about it
N*ggas hatin' you can't even get no gwop around 'em
Cut 'em short 'cause you'll never see the top around 'em"

Mac J & Bris - Forgot About Me
(From YouTube; 2018/Big Headed album; 2019)


I like Adios but I love Forgot About Me. Can't fathom why Sacramento didn't embrace Forgot About Me like San Francisco embraced Lil' Yase & Yatta's Get It In. Different city, but same energy.

Bonus beats: True story or no story reprise.

Song, Why Isn't You Here?

"Bitch, I ain't never had no home trainin'
I run up in my job yellin' F*CK YOU, PAY ME!"

Flo Milli - White Girl Mia
(From Soundcloud; 2018)

Flo Milli · White Girl Mia

Why didn't Flo Milli just include White Girl Mia on her debut EP rather than use a snippet of it for the intro? Song is peak hoodrat Angelica from Rugrats Brat-Rap in the Flo Milli canon. Really doe, twelve songs isn't an EP - it's an LP masquerading as an EP because major labels are terrified of classifying anything as an album in case it flops. If the label are all up in the game with the rules twisted then they shoulda just maximised this opportunity and included My Attitude, Eat It Up, and Iconic anyway for the full Flo Milli Shit™ experience.

Thankfully the generic Auto-Tune fuckery and cameos from hacks like Tyga and Gunna I feared didn't materialize on this LP-in-EP's-clothing. In fact, the most radio-friendly song on here might be the highlight of the new tracks. Don't cha wish all Rap radio had character like Flo Milli?

"He love my aura, when he with you he be bored
If he call I press ignore, I'm overseas in Bora Bora"

Flo Milli - Pussycat Doll
(From Ho, Why Is You Here? EP; 2020)

Flo Milli · Pussycat Doll