Reasons why I happen to prefer Suga Free to post-Ultramagnetic Kool Keith : Street Gospel is a marginally better 1997 album than Sex Style, and what Keith could only achieve via the aid of a plastic wig that year in the Plastic World video, Sug' managed au naturel in the On My Way promo.
"Wait, ‘what do you see?’ said the blind man who heard the deaf man say he saw Suga Free drop the bomb and it went BOOYAH!"
Suga Free - On My Way
Always wondered if there was any truth to the rumour that DJ Quik didn't receive any production royalties from Street Gospel because Suga Free brokered a deal with him beforehand which would allow Quik to swagger-jack Sug's lavish blue shirt steez for the cover of Rhythm-Al-Ism a year later in 1998 without flaunting the ‘Thou Shalt Not Buy A Shirt Similar To One Your Boy Has’ rule all bros deep must observe?
So, as we dip-da to the '010 and we tip-toe to the '011, I guarantee any song I'm likely to hear tonight out on NYE won't make me wanna get my Ralph Macchio at 0:40 - 0:43 of the scene in the Okinawa fifties rock 'n' roll club in The Karate Kid 2 on like Robert Bacon's geetar-work on Quik's We Still Party from Rhythm-Al-Ism does, nor will anything I'm sure to hear tonight get me as open as the "BURN!"s on its hook do. Happy new year anyway, godbodies.
Yes, it was the first rap album where its rapper was overshadowed by its maestro d.j/producer; yes, all the best tracks from it came out as singles as they did with Livin' Proof; no, unlike Livin' Proof it doesn't have any killer album tracks like Inna Citi Life and Serious Rap Shit which made owning the tape essential; and, no, don't even hazard to suggest that MC Tee's rapping was a poor counterpart to Mantronix's production on the Mantronix debut LP you feculent little infidel.
And this is precisely why Jazzy Jeff will always get my nod over Cash Money as Philly's preeminent dj because Jeff and Will complimented each other as a dj & rapper duo, they were deft songwriters who accidently pioneered horrorcore with Nightmare On My Street and emo-rap with Parents Just Don't Understand, Summertime is still unequaled as far as homages to Rakim go, and Jeff was the unmitigated victor of the who-made-the-best-cut-up-track-with-Trouble-Funk's-Pump-Me-Up-as-its-basis? competition the 2 Philadelphia scratch-masters held because Cash Money's Scratchin' To The Funk is too drawn out for an instrumental scratch track at nearly 10 minutes in length, while Jeff's Pump Me Up from Will's Willenium album is far more sensibly timed at 4 minutes and features Will on hypeman duty before he reverts back to the Fresh Prince for a verse at the end.
Will Smith ft. D.J Jazzy Jeff - Pump Me Up
Cash Money never appearing as a reoccuring character in one of the best sitcoms of my youth alongside a cast which included a dime like Karyn Parsons is also worthy of consideration in this discussion, but perhaps the most important factor in Jeff surpassing Cash Money as the dj caliph of Philly is that their Biz + Rick subsuming posse cut So Fresh helped make the conservative throwback-rap aesthetic pushed by Jurrasic 5 and Ugly Duckling at the arse-end of the 90s obsolete, and for that reason we should all be beholden to Jeffrey :
Will Smith ft. Jazzy Jeff, Biz Markie & Slick Rick - So Fresh
HL asked me if I'd like to contribute an entry in his monumental countdown of the best rap songs of 2010 and offered me a handful of choices, I said I wouldn't mind writing an appraisal for Flying Iron by Curren$y & Fiend, so here it is as his 3rd favourite song of 2010.
Because it'd be ill-mannered of me to bid you adieu with nothing but a link, here's the first song those 2 chums dropped together a couple of years back during Curren$y's mixtape run.
Curren$y ft. Fiend - Coupes And Leers
Fiend's verse sounds like it was recorded in C-Murder's jailcell toilet bowl.
Bonus "we did it, Blogosphere, we did it!!!" action :
#YouKnowYou'veMadeIt when : your stats reveal that your posts are getting linked on the Dissensus.com forum.
I only skimmed through 3 pages of the board's token hip hop thread my 2010 singles/other random songs post was linked in, but therein lay everything one could possibly hope from a Dissensus thread about teh rap muzik : an impassioned back-and-forth about not enjoying rappers who are materialistic/sexist/homophobic, a discussion about which is Nas's best album, and a comparison between Lil' Wayne and Bob Dylan. Marvelous work by all involved, and thanks to whoever linked my post for showing love and recognising that Baserock Babies by Beeda Weeda was one of '010's most neglected jams.
Favourite Xmas song ever? Christmas (Please Come Home) by Darlene Love, Christmas In Hollis by Run Dmc, Santa Claus Goes Straight To The Ghetto by Snoop & Death Row, Soulful Chrismas by James Brown, Fuck Christmas by FEAR, and High Fo' Xmas by Master P & the West Coast Bad Boyz are the Yuletide anthems of choice here in chez Martorialist, but that Jim Jones A Dipset Christmas album from a few years back offered them hot competition in the form of the above heartwarming little ditty by Byrd Gang comrades Stack Bundles and Mel Matrix, which captures the spirit of Noel more naturally than that shitty, contrived new KanYe + Dipset 2.0 + about 26 other people's Christmas In Harlem joint.
Yo, what sorta Christmas was this anyway when the BBC didn't even screen the Porridge Xmas movie this morning and I had to miss both Scrooged and The Grinch on tv this afternoon due to family commitments? Thankfully Youtube is here to help plug such a gaping abyss with the Santa Claws episode of Round The Twist tonight :
I'm still waiting for Paul Mittelman to reply to my email asking if Pete Twist's trademark denim jacket with the sewn on black leather sleeves was the prototype for that kinda vile Stüssy/Neighborhood/Levi's collaboration effort in the 2nd Boneyards collection this year.
Ayo 2Shin : can't deny I'm a smidgen disappointed that the Block Beattaz didn't go ham with their Ministry Of Sound compilation so your boy Jackie Chain could fulfill his destiny by rhyming over Salt Water by Chicane, the K-Klass remix of Naughty Girl by Holly Vallance, For An Angel by Paul Van Dyk, and Fuck On Cocaine by Lisa Lashes on his Who Da Mane album. Your peoples can now finally put the humiliation of Jin losing a rap battle to Esoteric, everybody hating Jonathan Ke Quan in Indiana Jones & The Temple Of Doom, and Burt Kwouk shamelessly coonin' in Last Of The Summer Wine firmly behind y'all because you now have a non-martial arts performing entertainer you can de facto be proud of.
I 'unno why they didn't put Diamonds And Cadillacs on the album, though, since it's the closest song Jackie has to a hit, and I'm also rueing their missed oppurtunity in not utilising Cam's "not from Houston, but you can call me lil' flip" line from the Never Scared remix for a hook, but, weirdly, there are a few subtle allusions to Cameron Giles on there : Mack A Bitch features the same sample as Losing Weight part 2, and on Cuz It Feel Good he not only rhymes over the same O'Jays sample as Real N*ggas but he employes the services of that Chinky Brown R&B diva from Harlem too. Homage or coincidence?
I digress, because Rollin' is simultaneously a paragon of the Block Beattaz sound and the "European housewife-rap" aesthetic Timbaland once spoke of creating, Bankroll has been an earworm since I downloaded it off DirtyGloveBastard last week, Livin' It Up is an equatorial antidote to the current Brass Monkey climate outside, This Is Not Enough affirms that there's still life in t.A.T.u 8 years since anyone last rubbed one out to the brunette, and Off Top is almost like a Huntsville take on Waka's Grove St. Party, which is the highest praise your humble author can think of at this moment in time :
But the more he drops Ecstasy, the more he gazes all doe-eyed at Peedi as he dreams of squeezing on his arse.
Beanie gettin' his Marv-O on with Peedi that time.
Beanie's Public Enemy # 1 mixtape with Green Lantern was the coldest east coast mixtape of 2005, but in the wake of its popularity the S.P 2 : The Movie 'tape he released with Clinton Sparks that year got left at the prom without a date like Brian Krakow in that episode of My So Called Life where he dumped the fat chick from Clueless he was supposed to be taking to the school's World Hapiness Dance to go with Angela but then got ditched by her when they arrived.
Besides the usual Clinton Sparks mixtape blends like Beanie's verse from Tales Of A Hustler part 2 and an exclusive T.I verse over the top of Biggie's Dead Wrong, S.P 2 had some peachy examples of Beanie rappin' over the sort of classic breaks/golden-era instrumentals which he and the other paramount members of State Property have always sounded more than adroit over, so here's the best 3 of 'em from the 'tape :
Beanie Sigel ft. Styles P - Same 45
Remember that scene in Carlito's Way where Fat Man Saso asks Carlito why he has so much contempt for Benny Blanco when they're essentially both the same person at different stages of the game? That's how I felt when Styles was dissing Beanie during the Lox vs. State Prop beef back in 2001 and 2002. The likelihood ratio of Clinton just throwing any old Styles P verse he had in his vault on Same 45 is fairly strong since neither rapper acknowledge each other's presence in the song, but these 2 over The Bridge Is Over could only conclude positively, and hey, at least it's a great Styles verse which isn't invalidated by some abominable Swizz produced monstrosity which sounds like a Disney theme park underneath it. Btw, how come nobody ever let me know that Barrel Brothers had a video?
Beanie Sigel ft. Peedi Crakk - Philly
In the era of "I only listen to Biggie, 2pac, and Jay, yo!" being the stock response from the lion's share of rappers regarding their listening habits, it was always refreshing that State Prop' not only paid homage to old classics from their own city by Schoolly D, Tuff Crew, and Cool C, but they were total gangsta-rap nerds who were equallly as comfortable referencing Scarface and Big Mike, Ice-T and Tha Dogg Pound, or B.D.P and Raekwon. And so Philly finds a couple of seasoned breakbeats and a perma-whistle (possible Bill Alfonso tribute??? After all, ECW was a Philadelphia institution) used to excellent effect as a backdrop for the always dexterous Peedi to act as the warm-up man on the first verse before Beanie comes along to take MC Ren's rereoccurring "broomstick up the butt" maxim to it's logical anatomically correct conclusion.
Beanie Sigel - The Realest freestyle
In lieu of Beanie never having rapped on the Do The James instrumental, him bragging about how his yellow rocks in his watch look like frozen piss over the same James Brown Blues And Pants sample used in Superlover Cee & Cassanova Rud's classic here is the next best thing, although it's far too short at just over a minute in length. Other golden-era tracks I wanna hear Beanie and the State Prop' crew rap over : I'm Not Playing by Ultimate Force, 5th Ward by Raheem, and Another Execution by Above The Law.
Pity the song with Cam on the 'tape was just a blend and the few other actual songs they did together were so disappointing, besides The Roc (Just Fire) where Bleek' verse loomed larger and stole the show, because at least one of their collaborations should've been the most graphically rotten ig'nant anthem of the last decade.
Gibbs is a rather dour character who induces mental soundwaves of the most workmanlike of Goodie Mob-biting rappers such as the fucking CunninLynguists in me, so hearing him rhyme over old NY beats earlier this year it compelled me to immediately dismiss any southern blog-friendly rap with samples made famous by 90s east coast rap songs thereafter. As I've mentioned before, this is a practice which totally quells the whole function of southern-rap and why I listen to it, ergo it took precisely 5 seconds of $tarlito/All $tar's What Was I Thinking? during my initial skim of his Renaissance Gangster mixtape project with Burn One to decide that it needed promptly sending to the recycle bin due to the song adopting same David Porter loop as GZA's Duel Of The Iron Mic and that was the end of the story until a friend who discovered the tape himself recently had it jamming. I was wrong : man, this is great and irritating Wu-Tang fanboy fagz may need to hit the red x in the top right hand corner before continuing with this post because I kinda prefer how Burn One's looped the sample with those 4 extra piano notes adding so much more to the beat as they drift off into nowhere with 'lito's mumbled non-sequiturs.
$tarlito - What Was I Thinking?
The irony of $tarlito's song title isn't lost on me, and with it comes a lesson for your author on making brash resolutions based around trite kneejerk reactions, although Gibbs still needs to accept some of the blame for being such a personality vacuum and rapping over unmodified instrumentals of Milkbone songs just because Jay-Z once freestyled over them. Taking such matters on a song-by-song basis nowadays also means I can enjoy Life Insurance from $tarlito's new $tarlito's Way 3 streetalbummixtapethingy even though it uses the same sample that Lord Finesse hooked up on Akinyele's Love My Bitch back in 2001 :
$tarlito - Life Insurance
Akinyele ft. one of his stripper weed carriers - Love My Bitch
I can't imagine Burn One has ever heard Akinyele's Anakonda album on Koch which Love My Bitch comes from because it sold roughly the same amount as that album Treacherous 3 released in the 90s, but I guess all these producer/dj/digger guys must buy their records from the same people or something? Anybody identify where the sample comes from?
"All those... moments... will be lost in time... like tears in the rain..."
The quasi-romantic gloominess of liquid precipitation falling from the sky onto the rundown streets of the Bay below due to atmospheric temperatures has been a motif for some of the most melancholy songs by the Mob Figaz since Hustlin' In The Rain in 1999, right up to Hustle In The Rain from the latest Devilz Rejectz album this year, taking in the likes of the Mob's Rain 2 from the Best Of The Mob Figaz compilation and Storm by Jacka & Cormega from Tear Gas amongst others inbetween, but here at The Martorialist we look at Jacka's unreleased pearl Heavy Rain as the chef d'oeuvre of downpour-related moments by the crew.
The Jacka - Heavy Rain
Heavy Rain made its debut on Jacka's Myspace page before someone ripped and uploaded it to Imeem (R.I.P - I'd wager a few unnoted mixtape songs were forever wiped from the 'net when News Corp procured that site via Myspsce and then immediately shut it down) before inevitably finding its way to Youtube, but it's never officially arisen anywhere else since despite Jacka being one of the few modern rappers whose intense workrate manifests itself into actual cd releases which can be bought in stores rather than, for lack of a better term, 'nettapes. I guess such an antiquated m.o to releasing music in the digital age affords a traditionalist like Jacka the right to his very own Deja Vu or Captain Caveman style unreleased lost classic, and I'd never really picked up on Jacka's Slick Rick influence until his interview with Davey on the Southern Hospitality site where he talked about The Ruler being the rapper he looked up to most as a kid, but the way his buttery voice is impervious to the slightest quiver in octave when he goes from an almost double-time flow into sing-songy harmonising is pure Ricky D. To those of y'all still unfamiliar with Jacka, perhaps the best description of him would be to imagine a rapper whose architectural plan is to combine Mac Dre and Slick Rick into one unit. I mean, it sounds a more enticing description than the standard "he's like a Bay version of Cormega, but without all the punch-ins", dunnit?
Thanks to Thomas for finally hookin' me up with an mp3 of this a couple of months back. One of you dudes from northern Cali' who read this blog should tell Jack' he needs to put a CDQ version of this out the next time you see him live.
