My Mind Spray 18.5

I'm starting my own offshoot of the Conservative Rap Coalition for those of us who aren't stuck in a Boom-Bap rut but also aren't interested in Playboi Carti and his disciples. For my fellow peeps who don't think Godfather Don's comeback album is the only good release of the past 5 years, but who've never heard a Destroy Lonely song in our lives. Do you enjoy the music of Spoonie Gee and Seiji Oda? Then come join. There's rules, guidelines and codes we obey tho: you must be able to name 3 songs by YZ, 3 songs by Young Bleed and 3 songs by Yuno Miles.

Mac Dre & Khayree performing an acoustic version of Times R Gettin' Crazy on Billy Jam's radio show in 1991 was the original Splash Bakery.

I very rarely check for those teen-gangbanger Stockton rappers, but EBK Jaaybo's F**k Everybody (Free Maxx) piqued my interest. The song is some grandiose Mob-Drill which is probably supposed to be a sequel to Boogieman, but I prefer it as a NorCal spin off of Treal Lee & Prince Rick's Dallas classic Walk Around The Club (F**k Everybody).

Kids and casuals don't even realise that the video for Craig Mack's Makin' Moves With Puff was the inspiration for Suge Knight's infamous Source Awards speech. TBF, Knight did have a point.

Wear your funkiest pattern, grab your hat and come get crazy with me if you agree with me that the Q-Tip remix of Craig Mack's Get Down is better than the Flava In Ya Ear remix. Shout out to British TV show The Word who had Mack perform the Get Down remix live in 1995 where he did the 3rd verse from the original mix in the place of Q-Tip's cameo.

Born To Audiomack: the best non-Bad Boy Craig Mack jams

~~ The best non-Bad Boy Craig Mack jams ~~

1. MC EZ & Troup - Just Rhymin' (1988)
2. MC EZ & Troup - Get Retarded (1988)
3. Craig Mack - Style (1997)
4. Craig Mack - Please Listen To My Demo (1999)
5. Craig Mack - The Wooden Horse (1999)
6. Craig Mack - Mack Come Thru (2000)
7. Craig Mack - Straight In Ya Mouf (2003)



Poor old Craig Mack. He's viewed as a Couple Of Hits Wonder even though he was a consistently good singles artist who had a blackbelt in Rap Hands. Ever since he first came out as MC EZ in 1988 he had an unfortunate habit of jinxing himself on record with lyrics promising future career endeavours which never materialised. But that's what gives Mack's music a bittersweet edge which never fails to pull my heart strings like guitars down in Spain. Mack's career deserved better but he was Mr. Reverse Words I Manifest who couldn't stop hexing himself on wax. Me, I prefer Mack's remake of Please Listen To My Demo to the EPMD original; Erick & Parrish kept it philosophical like the Greek man Plato, but Mack made it spiritual/educational like the German word Bildungsroman. So, here's a seven song playlist of Mack's best non-Bad Boy legit jams which would have included Jockin' My Style if Audiomack hadn't cockblocked it. Damn, I miss dem dayz when you could upload anything and everything to Audiomack.

I remember some video where Stezo played an unreleased 2000s song featuring Mack which actually sounded like some fat Funk flav for the ages. Can Dooley-O plz release that shit ASAP? R.I.P to Mack and Stezo, natch.

My Mind Spray 5.5

Just listened to Rio Da Yung OG's Speak Da Truth and was reminded that he has a tendency to ruin perfectly good songs with one awful line about sex. It's time to acknowledge that Rio's sex rhymes are as nauseating as J. Cole's sex rhymes.

People always talk about Craig Mack jinxing himself when he said "you won't be around next year" on the Flava In Ya Ear remix. But real #MackHive headz know that he'd been jinxing himself ever since he first debuted as MC EZ in 1988 with the "yo, lemme make another hype single and then I'ma tear it up on the album" line from Just Rhymin'.

Every Bay Area Rap fan has a specific track they most associate with DJ Fresh's production tag. Mine isn't the first song I heard with Fresh's tag or even my favourite Fresh production ever. For some reason it's Keak Da Sneak's Maxi Pads.

People say you can separate the art from the artist and still appreciate KanYe Pest's music. I say KanYe Pest is the only producer in Rap history who has ever made a Slick Rick sample sound unlistenable.

Haven't encountered anyone IRL or URL talking about Ka's 2 latest albums, so I presume everybody's grown politely tired of his no-bap sound? More cowbell or go home.

Late pass: He's The DJ, I'm The Vicar

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - The Reverend
(From And In This Corner... album; 1989)


This song could be a TEMPUR mattress the way I've slept on it. As far as late 80s jams built around vocal samples go, The Reverend belongs in the top 3 alongside LL Cool J's The Doo Wop and Nice & Smooth's Dope On A Rope. Plus, with that Mary Mary drum break it had the potential to be a Running Man classic. So why isn't this shit heralded as one of the best Jeff & Will album cuts? It's a mystery, Father Brown.

Random-Rap spods tend to be terrible cheerleaders for the Golden-Era because they'll turn their noses up at a killer Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince album track but spunk themselves silly over some mediocre obscure 12" by a 5th rate MC Shan clone. That's why 95% of vinyl purist blokes make useless music guides, and if you disagree then you can see deez.

PS: MC EZ & Troup's Get Retarded is disqualified from the late 80s jams built around vocal samples canon because it's Craig Mack doing the Zoom, Zoom, Zooming himself.

It was all a dream, I first heard Get Retarded on Ego Trip's The Big Playback CD

MC EZ & Troup - Get Retarded
(From Just Rhymin'/Get Retarded 12" single; 1988)

MC EZ · Get Retarded

What if Get Retarded was the A-side of Craig Mack's one 12" as MC EZ and it became a big golden-era hit, consequently changing Mack's whole career trajectory? Crazy visionz, check it out, BOOM: Fresh Records then had MC EZ & Troup record an album in 1989 and the duo begin rollin' with RUSH management alongside fellow Fresh roster groups EPMD and Nice & Smooth. Thus, EZ & Troup follow EPMD and Nice & Smooth over to Def Jam when Fresh Records folds in 1990 where they release another couple of successful albums in the following years. Fate conspires that Mack still records Flava In Ya Ear, Get Down etc, but they're MC EZ songs on Def Jam songs rather than Craig Mack songs on Bad Boy - ergo, the Flava In Ya Ear remix features Redman in Biggie's place and Making Moves With Puff is now titled Making Moves With Russ.

In this parallel trajectory, Puffy still signs another former Fresh Records roster member who's spent the early 90's in Rap's wilderness - Stezo who has now rebranded as Stephen Williams. Hmmm not sure that woulda worked out for Bad Boy tbqh.