Craic Mack

Has a rapper ever suffered a more embarrassing identity crisis than Everlast? The fella went from slangin' pizza pies to drinkin' Guinness pints to singin' like Chris Rea to rebranding himself as Necro & Ill Bill's Uncle Doughie. When his Whitey Ford Sings The Blues album dropped and the videos for What It's Like and Ends were in rotation on MTV I was equally amused and appalled by the sight of him in a cowboy hat strumming an acoustic guitar. The cracka who made Syndication, that's what I called E'. But now he's wearin' a Stetson hat like Paul C. Revisiting What It's Like and Ends decades on minus the videos, I'm gonna have to slang humble pie and hyperbole in the same sentence: both songs are #actually killer choonz which are so obvious prototypes for Bubba Sparxxx's Deliverance. Ends is THE jam 4 me: an ode to lost souls who've been crushed by the 'Murican Dream with a nifty interpolation of a Whodini classic.

Everlast - Ends
(From Whitey Ford Sings The Blues album; 1998)

Everlast · Ends

Another thing Whitey Ford Sings The Blues shares with Bubba's Deliverance is that it features a bonus track which is so good, it should have been the album's street single. Deliverance has Disappear, Whitey Ford Sings The Blues has Next Man. Like Ends, it's another song which is an ode to lost souls who've been crushed by the 'Murican Dream, but instead of sounding like some proto-Deliverance shit, it's delivered in the style of Sporty Thievz. No lie, this shit sounds like it coulda/shoulda had a fish-eye lens Hype Williams video.

Everlast - Next Man
(From Whitey Ford Sings The Blues album; 1998)

Everlast · Next Man (Bonus Track)

Sporty Spicez

Sporty Thievz - Dogz
(From The Lost Cinema Pt 1 album; late 90s/2021)


Highlight of that recent album of unreleased Sporty Thievz songs imho. Chauvinism as an artform with a dash of equal opportunity hating from da ladeez. Definitely feel like The Culcha™ was robbed of this song being the follow up single Cheapskate, though they'd have to get their Nutty Professor on to come up with a clean edit. Also a huge pity Hot Pursuit got shelved because it's some Sporty & The Bandit type shit which lives up to the Street Cinema title of their debut album.

Sporty Thievz - Hot Pursuit
(From The Lost Cinema Pt 1 album; late 90s/2021)


Bonus beats: there's a few other deep gems on King Kirk's Bandcamp for #SportyThievzHive. Any Rap song with the Le Pamplemousse bass break is automatically a 4/5 banger.

Sporty Thievz - Ya Don't Stop
(From Diehard Sampler '98 "Lost In Yonkers" compilation; 1998)

#SportyThievzHive

"Yo, I'm tryin' to be swollen, but right now I ain't holdin'
Hit the lah, told them everything I own is stolen
Picture that like Brando gave up half he saved up
Play the cut when dollar eye signs tricks is raised up
I'm the cheapest, and thats the only way I'm gonna keep this
Slice I wanna heat this, girls is trying to eat this
They think we should date, but still won't appreciate
Neither help with the rate, or you order a decent plate"

Sporty Thievz - Cheapskate (You Ain't Gettin' Nada)
(From Street Cinema album; 1998)


Like Ultimate Force's I'm Not Playing, this is another single from the official Martorialist canon that ya host never knew was blessed with a video until recently. If you've never made a playlist with Cheapskate next to Horse And Carriage then your Jiggy-era expert credentials are small like Einer Bankz' guitar.

File this one under ‘underrated Ski beatz’ innit.