"Look, if you only had one shot or one opportunity..."

LARussell & P-Lo ft. Malachi - Who Else You Know
(From Majorly Independent EP; 2024)


LARussell & P-Lo ft. Malachi - Damn
(From Majorly Independent EP; 2024)


Here at The Martorialist we're lovin' these rolling shot one take videos LARussell & P-Lo have been shooting for their EP. Just like the Yankin' clip, these two videos capture the songs' essence and energy in a way that's effortless like Boiling Point and not laboured like Birdman. There's far too many jump-cuts in most Rap videos and it's surely Jean-Luc Godard's fault innit? All these clips for the EP were clearly shot in one day because the background cast of friends, famalam and fans are all wearing the same clothes in each clip. According to old timers from the Bronx "peace, love, unity and having fun" are the principles of Hip-Hop kulcha and these videos deliver all four in oodles. I dunno if I'd ever check for Malachi as a solo artiste, but he's a joy on these guest spots poppin' up and showin' out with excitable puppy dog teenage energy. Result: maximum Thizz Khalifa levelz achieved.

Also a big fan of the clip for What We Doin', particularly the bit when Richie Rich slides into frame in a root beer coloured old school motor to deliver his cameo. Now that's an entrance.

But still, everything's real in the Mansfield

Goretex ft. Necro - DopeSick
(From Necro's Brutality Part 1 compilation; 2003)


Dome blown in the comforts of my own home: the sample on Goretex & Necro's DopeSick comes from some Keith Mansfield KPM stock music famed for its regular use in the Australian women's prison TV serial Prisoner: Cell Block H. Damn, son - worlds are colliding like the time Mark B sampled some KPM stock music used in the Are You Being Served? movie for Can't Be Stop by Missin' Linx. Turns out Keith Mansfield's shit has been sampled fairly frequently throughout the years, although his most sinister compositions Underlying Menace is hitherto untouched. That track is also famed for its regular use in Prisoner: Cell Block H - there was a war going on inside Wentworth Prison no woman was safe from, and whenever that music appeared some nefarious shit was about to go down.

Really shoulda included DopeSick in my legit choonz by tragically unhip New York rappers playlist. Alas, Goretex and Necro fell out in the mid 2000s which resulted in Necro going on a message board rant where he called Goretex "A ROBOTIC RETARD WITH VIRUSES (LEPROSY) THAT NO SPYWARE CAN CURE!" Never forgive action or wot?

Black Is Back

"I don't argue with my bitch, we just agree to disagree
You ain't never seen a n***a do this shit to dis degree"

Eatem - Set It Off
(From the internet; 2024)


Eatem has spent the past year bouncing in and out of prison, but he's back with a "allow me to reintroduce myself" type track. Much like Lil' Ricefield's Him Burton, this is one of those rare all bars/no chorus tracks I can fuxwit because it's a (re)intro which still has structure even though it lacks a chorus. Plus, the beat is that old robotic, futuristic Galvatron shit that's left a doo doo stain on my brain the size of Unicron. Don't get me twisted like an Arabian gymnast tho - apart from the 1986 movie, everything about the entire Transformers franchise sucked.

* Really doe, it's time for Eatem & Day Day Sustaaa to stop sittin' around like puddings and shoot a video for their battle-of-the-sexes song Get Somebody Else To Do It.

* Plz believe my Eatem's Greatest Pressure playlist is still available for yer listening pleasure.

'Mande Effect

Getting It Back: The Cymande Story (trailer)
(the BFI's YouTube page; 2024)


Been waiting to see the Cymande documentary since a trailer for it first appeared a couple of years back, so shit was on like Donkey Kong when my local cinema screened it last night. Never did I ever imagine I'd see the Biz Markie puppet on a British cinema screen, but that's exactly what happened when the documentary featured clips from Master Ace's Me & The Biz video. I never quite realised how unsuccessful they were in the U.K at the time, nor how popular they briefly were in America - my mans supported Al Green on tour playing to thousands of people every night, were the first British group to headline Harlem's Apollo theatre, and The Message was a legit Billboard 100 hit. Fancy that eh?

Cymande's Dove is one of those songs which has me thinking "how did ANYBODY ever come up with this?" and "how did NOBODY ever come up with this before?" at the SAME DAMN TIME! Moreover, I can't believe nobody flipped that sample until Diamond D cooked up The Score for The Fugees in 1996. Part of me wishes Diamond had given that beat to somebody else, but that somebody else probably would have been wack-arse Fat Joe. Sometimes you've gotta say "c'est Fu-Gee-La vie" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

We live in a world where nobody has ever uploaded Cymande's Soul Train appearance to YouTube, but there are multiple uploads of David Bowie's performance of his woeful Golden Years single on Soul Train. Motherf**kers are all up in the game with their priorities missin'.

Late pass!

Hard Rock Soul Movement - Double Def Fresh
(From 12" single; 1986)


What dis? A 1986 British Electro track by future Kiss FM DJ duo Max LX & Dave VJ designed for Covent Garden body-poppers which got a second wind during the 1988/1989 Summer Of Love and became a favourite of Acid House Ravers. Makes sense because you can totally imagine this gettin' played next to sum shit like Voodoo Ray, right? Morgan Khan must not have been a fan of this track because he never included it on any of his Street Sounds Electro compilations. But the likes of A Guy Called Gerald, LFO and Autechre were all big fans of this track and it shows in their early music.

A pack of Jammy Dodgers goes to any non-Brits who can identify where the "I'm afraid it's not fresh" vocal sample comes from. Don't be cheating by Googling it tho!

Russell Athletic

LARussell & P-Lo - Lil' Lad (Unimpressed)
(From Majorly Independent EP; 2024)


No shotz, just factz: this LARussell & P-Lo EP with the former on the raps & the latter on the beats is a better 2024 HBK Gang release than the #actual 2024 HBK Gang release by Kool John & P-Lo. You already know Yankin' with D-Lo is my shit, and this is another choon of choice. When LARussell says "man, this shit be makin' me feel like Turf Talk, oh my God!" in the opening seconds, it sets the tone for what type of Dumb Knock™ this one is.

Follow The (Imperious) Leader

Rappers, dump your bespoke Jesus-piece medallions and cop yourself a vintage 1978 Battlestar Galactica official merchandise pendent of Imperious Leader. Late 70s kids turning up to infant school with that thing around their necks must have felt like Slick Rick in 1988. The pendents were never released in the U.K, but we did get Mattel's Imperious Leader action figure after Battlestar Galactica mania hit Britain in the early 1980s. File it under 'action figures which looked like Colonel Gaddafi meets Purple Aki.'

In 1990 Mattel released the first ever The Simpsons figures including a Bart Simpson & skateboard figure which was the blueprint for Gucci Mane's amazing Bart Simpson chain. If Jeezy had his wits about him he'd have responded by getting a chain made modelled on Mattel's Nelson Muntz & trashcan figure, but with Bart's legs sticking out of the trashcan. Crazy visionz, BOOM:

Yeah, in the past year I've become one of those sad late 40-something blokes who use vintage toy figures as objet d'art ornaments for my desk and shelves. Holla @ ya host if you wanna sell me a Baron Greenback bully figure for around the £20 mark.

Rumour has it your kitty burnin', girl, that's a Hellcat

LARussell & P-Lo ft. D-Lo & Malachi - Yankin'
(From Majorly Independent EP; 2024)


... and speakin' of P-Lo, he produced LARussell's new single which I fuxwit. We got subtle but effective use of the Sonic Boom thud-reverbos; we got three rappers & one producer with chemistry galore in the single-take video; we got a chorus which shouts out Messy Marv and The Jacka; and we got a finger-snappin' riddim. Unfortunately, we also got LARussell wearing Nu-Metal lookin' ass trousers which are even worse than the JNCO lookin' ass jeans LL Cool J wore in the Saturday Night Special video. When did Rappers become the most swagless dressers on the planet? What happened to the world?

HBacK

Kool John & P-Lo - Tip Toe
(From Moovie 2: The Yequel album; 2024)


Ezale and Seiji Oda both have AZNthems out, so it's only right P-Lo steps in the arena. Peep him & Kool John goin' back and forth like centre court @ Wimbledon on this latest single. I hate tennis, but you catch my drift, yeah? HBK on their EPMD. That video intro tho - shit's got me feelin' like Roy Keane when he rang Robbie Savage.

P-Lo is a good example of Mouse On Tha Track syndrome: wherein the crew's producer guy figures out his own lane as a rapper, and then outlasts everyone else in the crew with his auteur songwriter/producer talent.

Twinkle twinkle, little slap (part 2)

"'Cause even when you lightweight slap, I go dumb
We gon' do it big like FE-FI-FO-FUM
They be jackin' slang wonderin' where it came from
And we all got game so each-one-teach-one
We all different"

Seiji Oda - A Gentle Gigg
(From A Gentle Gigg EP; 2024)


File this under 'a song which slaps so much more serenely for me now it has a video.' Very pleased to hear Seiji actually rapping again because he lost me last year with all the wishy-washy Auto-Tune sangy shit. True story: he got the phrase Gentle Gigg General from little old me.

Generic list post: June 2024

Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when Euro 2024 has been the dullest football tournament of my lifetime. Only highlights thus far have been Scotland being absolutely hopeless, and the Turkey versus Georgia game. The countdown begins NOW on England getting knocked out on penalties tonight. PS: peep my top 10 Baton Rouge rap songs of the 2020s so far IMHO playlist.

Thirstin Howl III ft. Sadat X - I Can't Dance (2010)
Rack-Lo - What's A Lo-Life To Me (2013)
Young Bleed - Above Hell (2022)
AMB EZ ft. Nasty Nell - Birthday (video mix) (2024)
Lebra Jolie ft. DJ Chose- FTN (2024)
The Dogg Pound ft. Stresmatic & SoulCat - Favorite Color Blue (2024)
Pooh The WriteR - Bestie (2024)
Keith Mansfield - Underlying Menace (1978)
John Scott - Cold Sweat (1978)

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:
Mickey One (1965)
The Warriors (original version) (1979) *
After Hours (1985) *
Return Of The Living Dead (1985)
A Quiet Place (2018)
Robot Dreams (2024) *

TV shows I watched and liked:
Prisoner: Cell Block H (episodes 103 to 114) (1980)
Neighbours (new episodes) (2024)
Inside No.9 (series 9 episodes 5 and 6) (2024)
Peacock (series 2) (2024)
Doctor Who (Dot and Bubble episode) (2024)
Doctor Who (The Legend of Ruby Sunday episode) (2024)
Turkey versus Georgia (Euro 2024 match) (2024)

Everlasting Ass

Lebra Jolie ft. DJ Chose - FTN
(From FTN single; 2024)


Ya host ain't from Houston, but he know where the Texarse. Lebra Jolie's What Kinda is one of my favourite songs of the past few years, but I'd mentally filed her away as a One Song Wonder™ and never bothered to check for her again. Now I'm slangin' humble pie & St. Ides in the same sentence because her new single is some Misandry Bass music for the Roxanne's Revenge-core canon. If Martorialist Radio existed, I'd start every summer 2024 show with this song and Move by Mello Buckzz. Great video too: it's basically streamable p0rnography but without the adverts for webcam girls and penis enlargers. Three thumbs up, one's not a thumb tho...

Late pass!

"A Lo-Life always plottin'
A Lo-Life always scheme
A Lo-Life after the American dream"

Rack-Lo - What's A Lo-Life To Me
(From Polo Classics mixtape; 2013)


I love a beatjack which puts a fresh twist on the song from whence it came. Peep Lo-Life O.G Rack-Lo having his wicked way with a Gang Starr classic and flipping & bouncing Code of The Streets into Code of A Thief. Fave Rack-Lo song I've heard since his 2000 single Spit In Ya Face.

PS: sincere R.I.P to Shifty Shellshock from the Butterfly band Crazy Town. I'm gonna hazard a guess that 80% of this blog's readership have dated at least 1 girl who was/is obsessed with that song. I hope Heaven got a hairdressers where he can keep his tips frosted.

Met her uptown dykin', aiiight then

"She know I'm gay, I know she not, but she accept me
We never f**ked except for once in a wet dream
She told me take another shot, I bought the next three
And if she do cheat I bet her n*gga don't expect me"

Pooh The WriteR - Bestie
(From Bestie single; 2024)


Regional sassy-tomboy Rap which uses the subject of friendship to explore lesbo-erotic fantasies? M8, I'm all over this shit like Fat Joe's 1999 Grammy Awards suit. Ironic because the song's beat is a beautiful use of negative space like Darlene's 1988 swimsuit. Pooh's rude as f**k, and if it's up, this song is goin' down. Fave thing to come outta Louisville, Kentucky since M.I.A Rap internet legend Rey.

Ain't no tellin' what the bitch will do, I was all on her face like barbecue

I'm not happy unless I'm fiendin' for an Ezale song which only exists in snippet form, so this shit is Marty Python's latest holy grail. I'm still having a blast with Fun and Do It All Night, but good things come in threes like a certain John Landis movie. What's the odds on this actually dropping in 2024?

Bonus beats: Mac God Dbo's A Whole Brick is my pick for NorCal rando slap-tremendo of 2024 thus far. Will I ever like another song by that guy? Who knows, but I really like that song tho.

My Mind Spray 15

Apparently there's a pre-Concentration Camp Young Bleed song called Much Love which was Bleed's first song to get radio play in Baton Rouge, and which uses a sample of You Can't Run Away by The Bar-Kays. Alas, it doesn't appear to have ever been uploaded to the internet, but someone out there must have it on a manky old cassette tape.

On the plus side, searching for the Bleed song online sent me down a rabbit hole where I discovered that Level recorded a remake of MC Nero Baby's Baton Rouge classic I Gotta Lotta Respect.

Mello Buckzz kinda looks like a different person in all her music videos. Rap equivalent of Zarana from The Dreadnoks or wot?

Back in 1996 Busta's Woo-Hah!! really made my day. Here in 2024 that song still kills shit like O.J. One of the greatest debut Rap singles of all time with a video that's the Citizen Kane of Rap-Hands.

Gutted to see that the music channels on British Freeview TV are all closing at the end of June. I'm a big fan of channel-surfing between Kiss TV and Kerrang TV before bed, and flipping between songs like GloRilla's Yeah Glo!, Willow's Transparent Soul, Benzz's Je M'appelle, Turnstile's New Heart Design, and Tinashe's Nasty is an enjoyable way to wind down the evening.

Beers, Steers, and Rears

AMB EZ ft. Nasty Nell - Birthday (video mix)
(From YouTube; 2024)


Plz believe I'm always down for some prime booty-chatter Bounce music, even if it does hail from Texas. In fact, this shit is what I wish Big Choo's recent single sounded like. Peep that Lacoste shirt & shorts co-ord Nasty Nell is decked out in - a 2024 take on Jamel Shabazz tenniscore or wot?

Born To Audiomack: top 10 Baton Rouge rap songs of the 2020s so far IMHO

1. Mouse On Tha Track - Big Blossom (2022)
2. Day Day Sustaaa - B.A.N.P (2022)
3. Eatem - Go Get Yo F**kin' Brotha (2021)
4. Young Bleed - Dat' Water (2022)
5. Level ft. Mouse On Tha Track - I Don't Miss (2022)
6. Spitta - Power Ranger (2022)
7. 38 Dezzie ft. Mouse On Tha Track - On My Shit (2021)
8. Boosie - Big Unc (2022)
9. GetEmTree - Look Stupid (2020)
10. Phat Baby - Proper Play (FWS) (2022)


I made a playlist of my top 10 Baton Rouge rap songs of the 2020s so far with a 1 song per rapper rule and an #actual order of preference. Conclusions I've drawn: Mouse is still THE man, Baton Rouge has the 'ardest female rappers, 2022 was a good year, NBA YoungBoy's music is no fa me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

R.I.P Brother Marquis (Rest In Pussy, natch)

Smoke Shag one for Brother Marquis AKA the first rapper to sag his jeans AKA the 2 Live Crew member with the illest rap voice. I hope Heaven got a beach full of birds in bikinis for Marquis & his fellow dearly-departed 2 Live Crew member Fresh Kid Ice. In tribute, allow me to reintroduce 2 Live Crew's 1990 performance of Face Down, Ass Up on the Phil Donahue show.


A great clip, but it's my second favourite 2 Live Crew video on YouTube. The first is this performance of We Want Some Pussy from the infamous 1990 Florida club show where half the group were later arrested for breaking obscenity laws. Rap music has come a looooong way, baby!

Generic list post: May 2024

Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when I found a TV gem I was hitherto unaware of: Vincent Gallo being interviewed by Johnny Vaughan on British television circa 1999. Bleeped for cursing and slander but still classic Prince Vince. Makes for an ideal double-bill with his appearance on the U.K show Movietalk.

Black Jesus & Snypa - G Notes (1997)
DaBanggaz314 - Run Up Get Dun Up (2009)
38 Dezzie ft. Mouse On Tha Track - On My Shit (2021)
Mello Buckzz - Move (2023)
GloRilla - Yeah Glo! (2024)
Ezale - Fun (2024)
Coyote - Devils Contract (2024)
Common & Pete Rock - Wise Up (2024)
Sexyy Red - She's Back (2024)
Myaap & Yonaa - Choppa Sound (2024)

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:
The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)
Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975) *
Restless Natives (1985) *
The Truman Show (1998) *
Freeway II: Confessions Of A Trick Baby (1999)
Love Lies Bleeding (2024)
Challengers (2024)

TV shows I watched and liked:
Prisoner: Cell Block H (episodes 89 to 103) (1980)
Neighbours (new episodes) (2024)
Dead Set (all 5 episodes) (2008)
Inside No.9 (series 9 episodes 1 to 4) (2024)
Doctor Who (Space Babies episode) (2024)
Doctor Who (73 Yards episode) (2024)
Match Of The Day 1 and 2 (new episodes) (2024)

It's the Dezzie Dez

The only 38 Dezzie songs I'd heard previously were pointless beatjacks of Baton Rouge classics so I'd never bothered to investigate him any further. Then David Drake sent me Dezzie's latest single My Shirt saying it's Martorialist-friendly. He's right because that shit sounds like Young Ready if he'd signed to Trill ENT in 2008 and recorded more music with Mouse in the vein of 1 Rubber. But there's a plot-twist: it turns out there's a 38 Dezzie & Mouse song from 2021 which is so Martorialist-friendly that it coulda been my bezzy m8 for the past 3 years. How u luh dat?

38 Dezzie ft. Mouse On Tha Track - On My Shit
(From On My Shit single; 2021)

Born To Audiomack: D.O.OM Entertainment Top 5 Choonz

D.O.O.M Entertainment was a Yonkers record label which dropped a string of 12" singles and a compilation album between 1996 and 1998. Their roster included rappers you've probably never heard of like Phil Blunts and Black Jesus, and they also released killer deep cuts by rappers you've probably heard of like Sporty Thievz and Genovese. Here's a Quinary Of Quality playlist featuring the label's 5 best choonz as according to me. True story: On The Attack is my G.O.A.T minor Tunnel Banger™ which shoulda been a major Tunnel Banger™. Pity about that one #problematic line tho eh?

D.O.O.M Entertainment Top 5 Choonz:
1. Phil Blunts - On The Attack (1996)
2. Sporty Thievz - Ya Don't Stop (1998)
3. Genovese - Decisions (1998)
4. Black Jesus & Snypa - G Notes (1997)
5. Phil Blunts ft. Black Jesus - They Don't Really Love Us (1997)


* The Sporty Thievz song has vanished from Bandcamp, isn't on YouTube, and has never been on any official DSPs so it's currently a MARTORIALIST EXCLUSIVE!! Find the MP3 here.

* G Notes and They Don't Really Love Us are two of the most "you can check CNN for The War Report"-core songs you'll ever hear.

Common People

"Like the prize in a race, that boy hold the metal
From the scars on his face, I can tell he know the ghetto
Where we both tryna get to, it ain't coincidental
His is on the streets, mines is over instrumentals
The Lord said my mental to be more than sentimental
The ventricles that I vent through are temples of what I been through"

Common & Pete Rock - Wise Up
(From Wise Up single; 2024)


Oh, so that's why Rio Ferdinand's beard has gone grey - Common nicked his Just For Men dye. When I say this sounds like a lost Common song released on 12" by an indie record label between 1998 and 2001, plz believe I mean that as the highest compliment. Common spittin' lines like "my man ain't from Dallas but he know where the tecs is" over a Pete Rock beat that's built on the bones of The Bridge is exactly what I didn't know I needed in 2024.

Headz - what's yer favourite Rap song built on the bones of The Bridge? I'm a Star Is Born by Bloodshed & Cam'Ron man, meself.

Conversation With A Devil

Regular readers will remember 3 Lokos as one of my favourite songs of 2023: Cholo hard-rock Rap with Shaq comin' delivering multis like a Holland & Barrett 3-for-1 offer. Been hoping Coyote would drop another joint I could use as a B-side and their new single Devils Contract goes together with 3 Lokos like The Show goes together with La Di Da Di. What we have here is some conceptual back-and-forth shit which takes its cues from Murder Was The Case and Guilty Conscience. Dead @ the Devil saying he represents some Soccer players via a hologram of David Beckham. Bit harsh, although Argentina's very own "El Cholo" Diego Simeone would agree.

Coyote - Devils Contract
(From Devils Contract single; 2024)


File this under 'Rap videos which feature a more convincing Devil than the final episode of Dallas.'

Mello Music Group

"Drunk off Taylor's Port might teleport myself into some coochie"

Mello Buckzz - Move
(From Soundcloud; 2023/YouTube; 2024)


Juke them, hoes. Here's a Chicago Drill & Bass booty-chatter booty-clapper with a video that's even more lesbo-erotic than Love Lies Bleeding, albeit minus the gross toe-sucking. Two thumbs up (the butt.)

I do my routes more efficiently because I'm a beautiful and gorgeous delivery driver

Ezale - Fun
(From Fun single; 2024)


Why did the Funktown rapper switch careers from Ice Cream Man to FedEx Man? Because he didn't wanna work sundaes. Eh, I got 99 problems, but flakey jokes ain't 1.

Ezale's back like next year puttin' the fun into function musik with a single he originally teased two years ago. Naturally, it's another ToNHTe Show-core slap from Jac Dre AKA the missing link between Jackie Chain and Mac Dre. When that vocal sample hits I'm pullin' Thizz Faces like I just smelt my own piss after eatin' asparagus. I'm always moaning that Ezale doesn't drop enough music, but all 5 of his comeback singles have been hot like Kampot Pepper Crab, and I'll always prefer rappers who drop a hot single and then dip to rappers who stink the Rap landscape up releasing 337 brainfart freestyle tracks every 365 days. When I say Ezale is the Rap equivalent of Drexl from True Romance I ain't just talkin' about their shared penchant for dreadlocks and droppin' n-bombs, boiiiiii - I'm talkin' their maximum impact via minimum appearance-time.

Skinny blogger swag, yeah I be on my T.I.

"Talkin' about you sell dope, you 'bout to hop in Lambos
You live with yo' momma, and she live with yo' grandma
Spent yo' last on the ruger, now you ain't got no ammo
Now when my soljas catch ya you gon' think they wearin' camo"

Foxx - Shut Up
(From Foxx Mayweather mixtape; 2012)


I'm all up in your Best Rap Dis Songs Of All Time Spotify playlist editing it to include Foxx's Shut Up. This shit was directed at Mista and Young Ready, but the specifics of the beef aren't important: it's just a funny slice of Louisiana tuba-step with zingers which have ricocheted & reverberated around my brain for the last 12 years. "Shootin' with yo' eyes closed hopin' you don't hit shit/Oh you a hitman, but in jail you hit dicks!"

The same mixtape Shut Up comes from also contains I Wonder. One of the ultimate Baton Rouge barbiturate-ballads. War inside in my head Blues-Rap for brothers with suicidal tendencies like Rocky George.

Teeth what a relief

GloRilla - Yeah Glo!
(From Ehhthang Ehhthang album; 2024)


M8, this song has grown on me like toe hair. I went from thinking 'this shit is cool' to thinking 'this shit is as good as FNF (Let's Go).' Most importantly it conclusively proves that GloRilla has broken Rap's cosmetic dentistry curse wherein a rapper gets their teeth fixed and their music forever takes a dramatic dip in quality thereafter (see: Nas, Gucci Mane, King Louie, Young Thug etc.) Knuck if you buck the Curse! Ain't gonna lie, I was completely oblivious to the Run Up Get Dun Up song it interpolates until now. Some of you muhf*ckers will probably front that you had it in your 2009 year end list which has now conveniently vanished from the internet, but I can smell a lie like a fart in a phone booth. This is the best Crime Mob song Crime Mob never recorded.

DaBanggaz314 - Run Up Get Dun Up
(From Run Up Get Dun Up single; 2009)

TrulyJos · Banggaz - Run Up Get Dun Up,

Bonus beats: the only rapper whose music #actually improved when they got their teeth fixed was Consequence. Rock N Roll is a personal indie-era classic/ya host's favourite random Dilla production, but there's no doubt Con's music got better after his oversized dentures transformed him into Terry Turkey Teeth in the mid 2000s.

It's ecstatic up north

Yeah, America invented House music, but Britain gave that shit wings and made it fly. Here's inarguable proof via a 55 second live clip filmed at Liverpool's infamous Quadrant Park club circa 1991. What Liverpool lacked in having its own equivalent of 808 State or A Guy Called Gerald, the city made up for by knowing how to party. Someone in the YouTube comments reckons that this clip is "quite simply the best clubbing video on the entire internet!" Me, I'd crank the hyperbole-o-meter up even further: in the 4.5 billion years Earth has existed there has never been a better example of man & music in absolute euphoric synergy than when that beat drops at the 24 seconds mark.


Every 90s British Rave club had one freakishly tall shirtless bloke who was a dead-ringer for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Generic list post: April 2024

Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when I came across a Sid The Sexist ceramic ornament. Sidney meditates in a room with 1000 candles lit listening to some B.I.G shit. Speaking of Bad Boy Records rappers, celebrate G. Dep's release from prison with my G. Deep Cuts playlist.

G. Dep - Dollar Bill (1998)
Binary Star - Masters Of The Universe (2000)
YG - Knocka (2024)
Brotha Hung Lynch - Da Siccness (2024)
Tommy Richman - Million Dollar Baby (2024)
Pete & Bas - Mr Worldwide (2023)
Nine & Dex - Pecan Pie (2024)
Flo & Eddie - Keep It Warm (1976)
Vincent Gallo - Her Smell Theme (1985)
Alfonso de Vilallonga - Dog & Tin At The Beach (2024)

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:
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)
Patterns (1956)
Do The Right Thing (1989)*
X (2022)
Robot Dreams (2024)*
Late Night With The Devil (2024)*
You'll Never Find Me (2024)

TV shows I watched and liked:
Prisoner: Cell Block H (episodes 68 to 89) (1980)
Neighbours (new episodes) (2024)
Men Up (2024)
Mammals (episodes 1 to 5) (2024)
Match Of The Day 1 and 2 (new episodes) (2024)

Revenge Of The Jerk

YG - Knocka
(From Knocka single; 2024)


First time I've checked a new YG single since Swag in 2020 and he's only gone and dropped some fresh extratellestrial il grande Jerk redux shit which is right up my Grove Street. Initially thought that synth stab thingy is the It's Like That synth stab thingy, but now I think it's Raised Like This synth stab thingy. Whether It's Like That or Raised Like This, this is still a new YG single I can jam alongside a classic Ezale single. Two thumbs up like Run & D.M.C's heads.

OJ was a hero/villain to most, but he was always just Detective Nordberg to me

"Car trunk fulla cocaine
And that pistol in my lap go bang
I can never lack, no way
F*ck the police, I'm OJ"

Mic Terror - OJ Simpson
(From No Lives Matter album; 2021)


I was slightly disappointed that Mic Terror didn't capitalise on OJ Simpson's death by belatedly shooting a video for the best song from his No Lives Matter album. It's always said that the L.A police's pursuit of OJ Simpson was the most leisurely car chase of all time, so it makes sense that Mic T's ode to The Juice™ would be some prime "drive slow, homie" music. Big fan of the casual contempt for Fivio Foreign on this shit. That lad was part of my favourite New York Drill song to date, but he's a vacuous empty vessel, and N.Y Drill is novelty Rap even if it does offer up a few choonz every now and then.

My Mind Spray 14.5

Top 5 Rap interview lie of all time: Cage claiming he accidentally bit a prostitute's clitoris off via HHC magazine in the late 90s. All the more impressive given that late 90s Cage looked the sorta fella who thought a clitoris was some bloke who played for the Brazilian football team at the 1994 World Cup (hold ya head, Roberto Baggio.)

I hate when someone on eBay is selling a CD I want but they've taken a photo of the disc data side down on their mucky arse carpet. Who raised these melon-farming savages? I'd rather pay more and buy the CD from another seller than risk the CD turning up covered in dust and cat hair.

Let's piss off the purists: as far as 2024 old man-Rap goes, Brotha Lynch Hung's new single is vastly superior to Nas & DJ Premier's new single. Hung's single is a sleek evolution of his vintage sound, while the Nas & Primo song is so stodgy it's audio high cholesterol.

Rap beefs nowadays are just #content for Joe Budden, DJ Vlad, Akademiks, Adam22 and other such terrible gossip-mongering nonces to yap about. Still, if it stops Budden from actually releasing his Godawful music then long may his shitty podcast continue to flourish. How was it even possible to ruin the Pump It Up beat? Let some zombie-voiced wifebeater rhyme ONNNNNNN it, that's how.

Late pass!

G. Dep - Dollar Bill
(From DJ Ashknuckles' The Underground Railroad Part 1 mixtape; 1998)


Discovered via Instagram, a kinda proto-wavy pre-Bad Boy G. Dep deep cut. Apparently Black Rob was a big fan of this track and it lead to their link-up. One of those boutique reissue labels needs to drop a CD EP of all Dep's pre-Bad Boy jams; alas boutique reissue labels with good taste don't grow on trees like palm leaves. So, for now, you can catch this song where it currently makes the most sense - in my G. Dep deep cuts playlist, natch.

One very much 4 the Britz: grandads, we love you

Nine & Dex - Pecan Pie
(From Pecan Pie single; 2024)


Oh ok, so these are the two lads who ghostwrite and produce for the Road-Rap pensioners Pete & Bas (apparently they're their grandads.) Since the faces been revealed, game got real indeed: mans go back-and-forth like Neville & Carragher. Much like Giggs' Monsta Man, this is that old robotic futuristic Jet Set Willy crazy shit. 90% of British Rap is only good when it embraces the fact that it is, essentially, novelty music. LD and Youngs Teflon could never!

Pete & Bas - Mr Worldwide
(From Mr Worldwide single; 2023)

Generic list post: New York's alright...

Party Sparty whipped up a list of his favourite songs recorded for movies set in Noo Yawk. Great topic, lemme rock it: 20 Martorialist faves from N.Y.C movies/movie soundtracks which aren't on the Spartorialist's list. Very annoying that so many of the best soundtrack-exclusive Rap songs of the 90s were for movies based in California, but I guess that's the universe course-correcting New York bias or sumfink.

Krzysztof Komeda - Dream (1968)
Edwin Starr - Easin' In (1973)
Badder Than Evil - Hot Wheels (The Chase) (1973)
Curtis Mayfield - Do Do Wap Is Strong In Here (1977)
Keith Emerson - The Chase (1981)
John Lurie - The Lamposts Are Mine (1984)
Melle Mel & The Furious Five - Beat Street Breakdown (1984)
Arthur Baker - Breaker's Revenge (1984)
Madonna - Into The Groove (1985)
Beastie Boys - Desperado (1988)
Grand Puba - Fat Rat (1991)
Biggie Smalls - Party & Bullshit (1993)
Crooklyn Dodgers '95 - Return Of The Crooklyn Dodgers (1995)
Mobb Deep ft. Big Noyd & Rakim - Hoodlum (1997)
Vincent Gallo - Lonely Boy (1998)
Clint Mansell - Summer Overture (2000)
Harry Gregson-Williams - First Call (2002)
50 Cent ft. Young Buck - I'll Whip Ya Head Boy (2005)
Tony Yayo - Fake Love (2005)
Julian DeMarre & Heiko Male - Moe At Work (2019)

Related: if you've ever wanted a wordless animated bromance between a dog & a robot set in 1980s New York which features a breakdancing scene set to T La Rock's Breakdown then Robot Dreams is the movie 4 u. Best bittersweet buddy comedy flick since Brian & Charles, and the freedom of animation means they've been able to recreate 80s New York in a way no live action movie ever could. My fave movie of 2024 so far.

Born To Audiomack: G. Dep deep cuts

G. Dep - G. Deep Cuts
1. How (1995)
2. Blak N*gga (1996)
3. Automatic (1996)
4. Head Over Wheels (1996)
5. Blow More Spots (1996)
6. Dollar Bill (1998)
7. Everyday remix (ft. Faith Evans) (2001)
8. Gametime (2009)


Throw ya hands in the freakin' air and keep 'em there, G. Dep just got outta the box that's square. Celebrate the Deputy's release from prison with this playlist of G. Deep Cuts where he makes the gutter sound butta. Truthfully, this used to be my best of G. Dep playlist from 2015, but all the songs from his Bad Boy Records album have long since been DMCA-ed into oblivion and these seven songs are what's left. Regardless, this is still a playlist so hot it'll make you scream like you struck gold, that's cold.

**EDIT** added Dollar Bill which I've just discovered.

Generic list post: March 2024

Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when the "Madvillainy is #actually MF DOOM's masterpiece" brigade were out in full force again. I like Madvillainy, but never in a month of Black Sundays is it on a par with Operation Doomsday let alone better than it. Youse lot are some literal wrong 'uns.

Warren G - Dope Beat (1999)
Saigon - Favorite Thingz (extended) (2006)
Daya1k ft. Kiki Tha Prize - Good (2024)
Sexyy Red - Get It Sexyy (2024)
Level ft. Mouse On Tha Track - To Da Beat (2024)
AyooLii - Dumpin' Out A Zip (2024)
Rogue Unit - Good To U (Rogue Unit mix) (1995)

Bonus beats: sung the praises of T.C.K by Y@k Ballz and included it in this little playlist of legit jams by tragically unhip New York rappers. Put together a top 5 Level & Mouse On Tha Track singles playlist too.

Bonus bloggin': I'm gonna blatantly bite take a page outta Party Sparty's blog and use these monthly wrap-up posts to keep track of the best movies and TV shows I've been watching.

Movies I watched and liked:
Sherlock Holmes: Terror By Night (1933)
Offerings (1989)
Late Night With The Devil (2024)
Immaculate (2024)
Robot Dreams (2024)

TV shows I watched and liked:
Prisoner: Cell Block H (episodes 45 to 68) (1980)
Neighbours (new episodes) (2024)
Wanted (series 3) (2018)
Mandy (series 3) (2024)
How To With John Wilson (series 3) (2023)
Match Of The Day 1 and 2 (new episodes) (2024)

The worst TV show I saw this month (and possibly all year) was Michael Owen & Howard Webb's Sky Sports show, which was on in the pub a couple of weeks back when there was no football on TV that night. The two most charmless men in sports broadcasting, a field which also contains such titanic c**ts as Garth Crooks, Glenn Hoddle and Mark Goldbridge. Never have I more wanted Vladimir Putin to launch a drone attack on a TV studio.

Born To Audiomack: The Tragically Unhip

Tragically Unhip New Yorkers
1. Homeboy Sandman ft. J-Live & Kurious - Enough (2014)
2. Maino - Rumors (2005)
3. Blaq Poet - Bang Dis! (2005)
4. Y@k Ballz - T.C.K (2001)
5. Necro - Rugged Shit (1999)
6. Consequence - Alphabet Boys (2010)
7. Uncle Murda - Anybody Can Get It (2008)
8. Sen City - Cloud Surfin' (2014)


Continuing my one man quest to get Y@k Ballz's T.C.K and Maino's Rumors recognised & realised as 5 Star General classics, here's a playlist of eight legit choonz by New York rappers who are deemed tragically unhip. You ain't gonna score no cool points with any of these songs, but I swear you'll have more fun listening to this playlist than you'll have listening to the latest factory-farmed Alchemist EP with one of Earl Sweatshirt's trendy m8s ;)

Things To Do In Denver When You're Daya

"Yeah, my tank on E and my phone on 3
Drive slow, bitch, I got this pack on me
Got your n*gga droppin' all these racks on me
And I'll make your n*gga spend his rent stack on me"

Daya1k ft. Kiki Tha Prize - Good
(From YouTube; 2024)


Denver got slaps too, huh? Shit talk real big, hook real big, beat real regionally ambiguous, Daya1k's outfit real cosy. There's summat so incredibly sexy about a lass in a sweatsuit and a beanie.

My Mind Spray 14

None of Duke Deuce's singles from the past twelve months have quite hit for me, and I'm gonna attribute this to him developing a penchant for Doc Marten boots. When rappers start dressing like crusty punx, a part of their musical mojo vanishes forever.

More than any other genre, Rap songs are messages in bottles from the eras they were created, and the details wot date them are a strength not a weakness.

A.I is a wasted technology until somebody uses it to create a 1980s-set video for Ice-T's Soul On Ice. Best closing song on an 80s Rap album IMHO.

No spoilerz, but that new horror movie Late Night With The Devil really missed a trick by not using Andre Nickatina's Conversation With A Devil as its end credits music.

Speaking of movies, here's a rare picture of the Scottish darts player Peter Wright visiting the set of Ghostbusters II in 1989. Left to right: Ernie Hudson, Peter Wright, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis.

Warren 3

"Unbelievable how time just flies
Right before your eyes, but you don't recognize"

Warren G - Do You See
(From Regulate... G Funk Era album; 1994)


It's 1994, teenage Marty has just copped Warren G's debut album, and Regulate + Do You See are such a killer opening combination that I spend a couple of days constantly rewinding both songs and don't even listen to the rest of the album until the third day. Actual factz, shit really went down like that. Do You See went on to be the album's third single, and it's such a lush Slick Rick-ified slice of G-Funk with a streak of sad boi sentimentality at its core that it's now my favourite single from the album - no mean feat when the two preceeding singles were Regulate and This D.J.. Come to think of it, The Chronic's third single Let Me Ride is top billin' for me too. Maybe three was the magic number for Warren and his stepbrother Dr. Dre?

Three Warren G bonus thoughts:

* I've never heard Warren's third album. Stay tuned for the n-x-e-t episode when I check it out.

* Warren's remix of Slick Rick's Behind Bars has gotta be a top 3 remix which made the original version completely irrelevant.

* Warren & Nate Dogg's 2015 single My House remains a great example of L.A "you 43 and you still rappin'?"-core.

Berserker back!

AyooLii - Dumpin' Out A Zip
(From Dumpin' Out A Zip single; 2024)


I just had an epiphany and realised that the AyooLii songs I fuxwit are kinda like Milwaukeee's equivalent of peak 70th Street Carlos. The boi Carlos made Berserker-Bounce, while AyooLii makes Berserker-Bass. This particular song is Certified Fatter's first keeper since On My Daddy IMHO. No shotz @ AyooLii's backyard, but he is not a horticulturist of the Mouse On Tha Track caliber.

Completely unrelated: I had a dream where Jim Jones remade Kim Gordon's slam poetry fake-Trap song. Don't ask me why my dreams are concocting Jim & Kim fusions because I haven't listened to any Jones in months and I dislike the Gordon song. But in the unlikely event that Jim & Kim ever do collaborate then here's the perfect song title for them: My Friend Goonies.

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.

Levelling Up

Level ft. Mouse On Tha Track - To Da Beat
(From Unsupervised 2 album; 2024)


How you Lev that? A couple of Martorialist readers have recommended me Level & Mouse's latest track. Took me a while to warm to it but now I'm all over this shit like an Our Legacy shirt on a skinny bloke's body (f**k that brand and their boxy fitting clobber!) It sounds like a new Level & Mouse single should sound like without sounding like any of the previous Level & Mouse singles. But don't take my word for it, here's proof via a Level & Mouse Quinary Of Quality™ playlist. Music to dance the pain away the Baton Rouge way.

Level & Mouse On Tha Track top 5 singles
1. Get It Back (2013)
2. I Bet U Won't (2015)
3. #DFWT remix (ft. Boosie) (2018)
4. I Don't Miss (2022)
5. MC Hammer (2014)

Good Morning, Vietnam

Saigon - Favorite Thingz (extended)
(From bonus track on Welcome To Saigon mixtape; 2006)


Sum shit I found out during my recent reacquaintance with Saigon's 2001 to 2007 catalogue: there's an extended version of Favorite Thingz with a second verse and no bellowing by Kay Slay & Whoo Kid. A legitimate mixtape/street DVD classic from an era that's now a literal lifetime ago. I might mock Saigon for his delusions of graNYdeur, but that lad knew how to write a song with a chorus which is bulletproof like Batfink's wings. He was no Max B, but he was no Maino either.

Noo Yawkers, plz forgive me for taking Maino's name in vain. I'm allowed to talk shit because I'm Earth's biggest fan of Rumors and Role Model.

Generic list post: February 2024

Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when Vince Staples' TV show sounds even less appealing to me than Vince Staples' music. One of the most shameless trend-hoppers of the past decade who somehow gets a pass because ppl think he's funny on Twitter. A true One Song Wonder, Staples is just a Tumblr-Rap Tyga for dry-tasted randos who only listen to Album Orientated Artistes™.

Big Moe ft. Mike Wilson - Leave Drank Alone (2003)
Saigon - Stocking Cap (video) (2004/2024)
Homeboy Sandman - $ (video) (2022/2024)
AyooLii ft. Myaap - On My Daddy (2023)
Ezale - Do It All Night (2024)
Mac God Dbo - A Whole Brick (2024)
Haircut 100 - Nobody's Fool (1982)
Sharon Forrester - Love Inside (1994)

Other notables: got nostalgic for 1990 by reminiscing over Pete Rock & CL Smooth and Faith No More; Johnboxxx dropped a post about his fave party breaks choonz; Party Sparty dropped a list of his fave Riz Ortolani movie scores.

Moe B

Big Moe ft. Mike Wilson - Leave Drank Alone
(From Moe World album; 2003)


Is Leave Drank Alone Rap's most uplifting and wholesome song about addiction? Rest In peace Big Moe, I wish you hadn't filled your albums with verses from your m8s because them songs where you went sing-sang for self are a missing link between Nate Dogg and Max B. In fact, Just A Dog (Club) is a key song in the proto-Wavy canon innit?

Big Moe - Just A Dog (Club)
(From Moe World album; 2003)

Mobby-Dick (part 3)

"I can't listen to the law, I'm disobedient
'Cause shakin' 5.0 gettin' tedious
I'm a pro, bitch, this ain't intermediate
'Cause MDMA was the ingredient"

Ezale - Do It All Night
(From Do It All Night single; 2024)


We talked Ezale's new single when the visualiser clip dropped, but that shit is gettin' another post because the Pot Pot of The Pillionaire's Boys Club's songs always pop hardest with proper videos. We got son lookin' wired, we got wenches lookin' sultry, and we got posters of The Mack and the 2Pac, E-40 & Boots Riley picture on the walls. For the life of me tho, I can't work out which James Belushi flick is playing on the TV? Movie guys, pick up the slap-phone and dial M for Martorialist.

Eleven years on, somebody needs to convince Ezale to record a 5 Minutes Of Funktown sequel. Crazy visionz, BOOM: these are the 5 beats it'd jack:

Whodini - Magic's Wand (1982)
Vicky D - This Beat Is Mine (1981)
Dru Down - Pimp Of The Year (1993)
Ago - Stop Your Life (1982)
Digital Underground ft. 2Pac - Same Song (1991)

Fun fact: when you search for Ago's Stop Your Life on YouTube it takes you to a special suicide prevention page. Here at The Martorialist we say DON'T DO IT like Big Fun.

Smack That

Saigon - Come Again
(From Warning Shots mixtape; 2004/Smack DVD vol. 6; 2005)


Saigon recently shooting a video for his 2004 mixtape classic Stocking Cap has got me listening to his old shit like it's new again. Come Again was a personal favourite back then but I never knew there was a Smack DVD video for it with Tru Life playing Puffy and hogging up the entire frame. For better or worse, Smack DVD was a key pioneer of no budget Rap videos featuring goonz waving guns at the camera. Another personal favourite-turnt-actual classic old Saigon song which got blessed with a Smack DVD video was The Letter P featuring Kool G. Rap. Most pre-eminent usage of the alphabet's 16th letter since 2Pac's If I Die 2nite or wot? Very legendary street DVD era Rap moment where G. Rap rolls the Range Rover's window down to reveal his mug.

Saigon ft. Kool G. Rap - The Letter P
(From Abandoned Nation mixtape; 2005/Smack DVD vol. 10; 2006)


Sum shit that's vanished from the internet: Tru Life's Jim Jones dis freestyle where he said "summer in Miami, hidin' from Gangster Lou/tight shirts with the motorcycle jeans, that ain't what gangsters do!"

100 grand on my Haircut, yeah life sux

Haircut 100 - Nobody's Fool
(From Nobody's Fool single; 1982)


The old saying goes that you should Save Your Best For Last™ and that's exactly what Haircut 100 did with their O.G line-up's final single. An ode to lost love with a bassline str8 outta the Bernard Edwards songbook, Nobody's Fool is a key choon in the canon of 1980s British prawn cocktail-pop, the sub-genre which blessed us with such classics as The Bitterest Pill by The Jam, Save It For Later by The Beat, Tunnel Of Love by Fun Boy Three, Careless Whisper by George Michael and too many Style Council singles to hyperlink. Keep your eyes peeled for a soon-to-be famous blonde bird as the video's love interest.

Dry-eared randos dismiss Haircut 100 as some naff cracka shit because they're blind to the factz, baby: Haircut 100's drummer was a black bloke who hailed from Memphis and whose brother was a member of The Bar-Kays, and their debut single Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets World) is the first British pop single to feature a rapped bridge. More importantly, Haircut 100 scored themselves a Larry Levan fave at N.Y.C's Paradise Garage with Ski Club Of Great Britain. The best 1972 Kool & The Gang song not recorded by 1972 Kool & The Gang or wot?

Haircut 100 - Ski Club Of Great Britain
(From B-side of Fantastic Day single; 1982)


Best Haircut 100 album track? I'm a Lemon Firebrigade man, meself.

Get In Where You Fit In

Saigon - Stocking Cap
(From Warning Shots mixtape; 2004/YouTube; 2024)


A pleasant surprise, like seeing shaved p*ssy in front of ya eyes: Saigon releasing a 20th anniversary video for one of the highlights of his Warning Shots mixtape. It's a pity Saigon developed a misguided "I AM NEW YORK'S SAVIOUR" martyr complex because he was a good rapper who misunderstood his position in the game: my man thought he was the rebirth of Nas for the Roc-A-Fella era when he was #actually the reboot of Intelligent Hoodlum for the 50 Cent era. Apparently he's gonna drop videos for a few of his early choonz, which means I might finally get the Diduntdidunt video I've been craving for the past 21 years.

Cool to see some Vaughn Bodē character graffiti in a 2024 Rap video. If you did graffiti at some point between 1989 and 1999 then you & your crew definitely painted a Bodē character once or twice.

Mobby-Dick (part 2)

"I'm percin', swervin', da rollas is lurkin'
They find the drugs on me then fa sho it's curtains
I'm poppin', choppin', don't plan on stoppin'
Tryna see if her patnas is down with this mobbin'"

Ezale - Do It All Night
(From Do It All Night single; 2024)


You KNOW ya host Captain ACAB has been in pursuit of this killa whale of a song. In fact, you could say that these Ezale comeback singles are the Martorialist equivalent of "Event Rap". Do It All Night is a refreak of a Click classique which Ezale has had his wicked way with in the Drug Funnie stylee. It's inevitable he'll drop a deuce at some point, but, for now, all 4 of Ezale's comeback singles are thee shit: Raised Like This, Ironic, Hotel Motel and this one. A mere visualiser, this clip is still far more creative and watchable than yer average modern day Rap video innit?

They Reminisce Over YO!

Pete Rock & CL Smooth - The Creator
(From All Souled Out EP; 1991)


First time ya boi ever heard Pete Rock & CL Smooth was when I caught The Creator video on YO! MTV Raps in 1991. It hit all my same pleasure-zones as Chubb Rock's Treat 'Em Right and Digital Underground & 2Pac's Same Song, and proved certain high school m8s wrong who now thought Rave singles like Altern 8's Activ 8 (Come With Me) were the most fun you could find in music. Imagine my surprise when I picked up a copy of Pete & CL's All Souled Out EP a month or later only to find out that CL Smooth was the rapper & Pete Rock was the producer/DJ who had one solo track on their EP. And why wouldn't Young Marty be surprised? I had no idea Pete was a New York radio DJ, and The Creator video presented Pete upfront as the rapper and CL playing the background as the DJ (CL even performed the scratch-solo in the video!) Picture me okie-doked like those folks who thought Grandmaster Flash was the main rapper in The Furious Five.

Listening to the Pete Rock songs Grand Puba wrote like The Creator and the Pete Rock productions Grand Puba guested on like Don't Curse and Skinz, the same question always ricochets and reverberates around my brain: why did Puba not bag himself some Pete Rock beats for his Reel To Reel album? The answer was Puba's combination of arrogance and stinginess: according to Dante Ross, Puba wanted to do it himself, as cheaply as possible. Oh well, at least we got Pete's song-saving remix of Puba's Issues a decade later in 2002.

Did fellow Gen X old headz also used to record songs off YO! MTV Raps from VHS onto cassette tape? There wasn't a national Rap radio show in Britain until Westwood moved to the BBC in 1994 so the only Rap I could tape off the radio were the big top 40 hits. Nor could ya boi afford to splosh out on two song imported 12" singles because I was still in high school and EPs + albums were far better value for my pocket money. Shit was far from ideal but how else was I gonna jam Dre & Snoop's Deep Cover and Ultramagnetic's Poppa Large remix on my walkman or boombox? An echoey VHS-to-cassette recording of the video mix of Check It Out by Puba & Mary was the early 1990s equivalent of a tinny 128 kbps MP3 ripped from Soundcloud.