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.

Trim Up North (no David Platt)

Lady Ice - Up North
(From Up North single; 2022)


It's up north, Jim, but not as Black Rob knew it. God bless Rap music and its constant ability to surprise me - never would have expected that a Mancunian Drill version of Lady Leshurr would be something I'd enjoy, but Up North is right up my road. Maybe Lady Ice will do an EP with Berner like that Tunde breh from Manchester? Surprisingly, the Mancs seem to love NorCal Rap - that Jordan cracka says Mozzy is his favourite rapper ever.

Things done changed when Mancunian birds now support Citeh rather than United. Some things never change though, like my United supporter m8s Tomo and Hughesy who are once again "too busy to keep track of the football" this season.

If we sacrifice Purple Aki to a volcano can we get Black Rob back?

Black Rob - Up North (This is What it Is)
(From Game Tested, Streets Approved album; 2011)


This month is starting to feel like a new Final Destination movie where the Grim Reaper is on the hunt for everyone who appeared on 24 Hours To Live. F*ck White Cop, R.I.P Black Rob. Readers from the dayz of wayback will remember that I was a big B.R fan and why wouldn't I be? Rob was one of Harlem's vividest authors with an eye for detail and an ear for good old fashioned songwriting. Alongside Biggie, he was the only Bad Boy Records rapper to parlay Puffy's factory farm system into a couple of good albums; Rob also had an enviable stash of officially unreleased music dating back to 1991 when he recorded his first demo with Dan The Automator - still one of the unlikeliest rapper/producer pairings ever or wot? In and out of prison up until he hit the age of 40, a tiny crumb of solace can be taken from B.R spending his last decade on Earth as a free man who could transform a 2011 graduation party into The Tunnel circa 2000.


PS: the upload of my Black Rob deep cuts compilation is still live. I'd throw it up on Audiomack as a playlist but songs from the Bad Boy catalogue tend to get nuked by the DMCA within hours.