Not so main Source

This was the first review which had Young Marty questioning whether The Source's ratings could be trusted. Reggie Dennis' glowing review and the 3.5 mic rating rating were out-of-sync like a dubbed VHS smut movie, and I had the album before I read the review so I already knew it was far better than a 3.5 mic rating. The bit which puzzles me most nowadays is Dennis' claim that Melle Mel wrote Straight Up N*gga. The flow kinda does sound like it contains Mel-titudes, but I've never seen any actual evidence that he wrote it. You'd think that Melle Muscles would have got some sort of official writing credit by now, right? After all, Prince Whipper Whip from Grandwizard Theodore & The Fantastic Five has a co-writer credit on Fried Chicken and that's just an interlude innit.

Ice-T - Fried Chicken
(From O.G. Original Gangster album; 1991)

Heaven is a place in New Orleans

OnlyHeaven - No Lie
(From YouTube; 2025)


I missed this one by OnlyHeaven AKA 5th Ward Breezie. This lass genuinely has one of my favourite voices in Rap right now: the New Orleans equivalent of that bird who does the inner-monologue hypewoman ad libs on Slim Thug's Like A Boss. Crazy visionz, BOOM: Ya Boy Big Choo is never gonna drop his remake of Dolamite's Hustlas, so OnlyHeaven should revamp it instead. Oi Johnny The Boxxx, have a word in her ear again plz.

What about our relationship?

The Plugz - Reel Ten
(From Repo Man soundtrack album; 1984)

From heartbreaking to heartwarming or wot? I was at a cremation a couple of weeks ago and got to thinking what songs I'd want played at my own funeral. Reel Ten by The Plugz has gotta be the ultimate valedictory track and it seems great minds think alike. It's a total no brainer because Reel Ten was literally precision-designed to soundtrack a cosmic ride at the end of Repo Man. A piece of music which could only ever be recorded for that specific Alex Cox movie: hauntingly beautiful Chicano Surf-Punk Morricone-core to "peace-out" to.


Never forget the Repo Man incidental music by The Plugz which wasn't on the soundtrack album tho. The petition to get it released starts here!

Generic list post: February 2026

Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when the first N.W.A remake of 2026 popped up. Some things really are eternal like E. 1999.

Bavgate ft. LJ - Keep It Gangsta (2005)
Mac Dre & J-Diggs ft. Dubee - Casual (2007)
Homeboy Sandman - Look Alive (2025)
Casual - Hard Drive Music (2026)
BunnaB - Mind Right (2026)
Mexikodro - Loser (2026)
Jill Scott - Pressha (2026)

Bonus bloggin: 1nce again I'm gonna use my monthly wrap-up post to keep track of the best movies and TV shows I've been watching. * indicates rewatches dunnit.

Movies I watched and liked:
Sherlock Jr. (1924)
The Last Man On Earth (1964)
Harold and Maude (1971) *
The Fly (1986) *
EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2026)

TV shows I watched and liked:
Small Prophets (series one) (2026)
Arsenal vs. Sunderland (2026)
Tottenham Hotspur vs. Arsenal (2026)
Match Of The Day 1 and 2 (new episodes) (2026)

Before I exit stage left pursued by Big Bear, peep the 3 Audiomack playlists I made this month: Eric B. & Rakim's 2nd album reduced and rearranged; the best of Bavgate and some personal favourite Mac Dre deep cuts.

Stop Being Greedy

Casual - Hard Drive Music
(From Black Magic album; 2026)


Sum shit I didn't see comin' in 2026: Casual having a semi-viral moment with a song where he implores rappers to stop being stingey bastards by hoarding unreleased music on their hard drives. My man. This is Reality-Rap, we really go through it! Some anti-Scrooge Rap which sounds like a Scooby Doo ghost train.

On the album cover, Casual bizarrely looks like Diamond D dressed as a member of Suicidal Tendencies in the 1980s. All Casual wanted was a Pep Love, just one Pep Love and Del wouldn't give it to him!!!

Born To Audiomack: Dre cuts

Mac Dre - Dre Cuts
1. Mac Dre - Mac Dre's The Name (1989)
2. Jay Tee & Mac Dre - Do The Crew (1990)
3. Mac Dre ft. Coolio - California Livin' (EP mix) (1991)
4. Mac Dre & Khayree - Times R Gettin' Crazy (acoustic) (1991)
5. Mac Dre, Coolio & Ray Luv - Wake Up In Da Morning (1994/2001)
6. Dubee & Mac Dre - You Ain't My Dog (2001)
7. Mac Dre - Outrages (2001)
8. Mac Dre - Doin' What I Do (2001)
9. Mac Dre - Shitonaman (2002)
10. Mac Dre - Don't Hate Tha Playa (2004)
11. Mac Dre ft. Zion I - We'll Roll You (2007)
12. Mac Dre & J-Diggs ft. Dubee - Casual (2007)




Listen, you wouldn't wanna miss this. I'm droppin' playlists like gifts at Christmas. I wrapped this playlist up like Christmas night, these songs all shine like Christmas lights. She neva heard Mac Dre deep cuts like these, had her all on her knees like "can I have some more please?" Baby, I got exactly what you need, peep Dre's post-prison sure slaps produced by Khayree. She admirin' the way I compile, the way I blog with style, and how my dad-jokes always make her smile. She neva seen no bloggers from England, white bois makin' big noise in Rap like that Anthrax band.

Bonus Bay Area beats: the Best of Bavgate playlist.

Mostly Tha Beat

Young Bari ft. BossLife Big Spence - That's A Playa
(From On The Radar YouTube channel; 2026)


A pleasant surprise to see one of the best NorCal Rap singles right now on a big platform like On The Radar. What a pity that it's a mimed performance with Bari & Spence looking like Milli Vanilli. This performance has big replay value for me tho because Bari & Spence have got the song's producer Pay$ean up in the video looking awkward but happy to be there. More rappers should give their producers a moment in the spotlight. Without the beats these rappin' arse MFs would be slam poetry battle rappers - a fate more embarrassing than being a stand-up comedian.

That "BAWSE! TALK! WALK! BABY!" bridge near the end before the final chorus comes in is a true Slap-Magnifico moment for me. Very rare double-whammy in a modern day Rap song.

Born To Audiomack: Follow My Lead

Eric B. & Rakim - Follow The Leader (Martorialist re-edit)
1. No Competition (1988)
2. The R (1988)
3. Musical Massacre (1988)
4. To The Listeners (1988)
5. Just A Beat (1988)
6. Follow The Leader (1988)
7. Microphone Fiend (1988)
8. Lyrics Of Fury (1988)




Back in the 90s when I got a CD player with a programming function, one of the first albums I re-sequenced to my satisfaction was Eric B. & Rakim's Follow The Leader. Haven't you ever heard of an unofficial tracklist murderer? This was a death penalty that I'm servin' up. Follow The Leader has the greatest opening 3 song run in the history of Rap music which means that the album's other highlights tend to be get forgotten. So, what I did was whittle the album down to 8 songs, reorder the tracklist so it starts with the 4 killer songs from the latter half of the album and ends with the aforementioned greatest opening 3 song run in the history of Rap music. Betwixt both sets of songs is the instrumental Just A Beat which functions as a breather/bridge between Rakim raining down his magic. And there we have it, Follow The Leader reduced and rearranged into a sequence which makes far more sense to me as an album. This version of the album is official Martorialist canon because I put it on one side of a 90 minute cassette tape which lived rent free in my Walkman for most of the 90s.

If I were feelin' adventurous, I might end the album with Eric B. Never Scared. By adventurous I obviously mean masochistic.