Generic list post: July 2017

Obligatory wrap-up post of those songs I've played most during the month when it woz Nigel wot sunk it.

Biz Markie - Off The Top Of My Head (1990)
Berner ft. Cait Da Lee - Berner (2007)
Husalah ft. The Jacka - 100 Rounds In The K (2007)
Lil' Wayne - Dinnertime (2008/2017)
YG - Fuck It Up (2017)
Yung Cat - OG Stack A Dollar (2017)
Allstar Lee - Fresh Prince Of Brick Mile (2017)
Wamdue Kids - Hypnotize (1995)

Other notables: Keydo Foolfunk's Woodstock is a rare example of good Sunz of Mane-rap in an ever-expanding sea of generic trap shit about whippin' da work in kitchens; Try Sumthin' is OMB Peezy's first song of 2017 that I'm lukewarm on, mainly because I only enjoy Yhung T.O as a hooksmith; as I said in June, A-Wax really needs to lay off the Auto-Tune and hop off Atlanta's dick; I didn't listen to any other new rap this month ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

PS: contrary to public perception, YG's Fuck It Up is a sequel to his 2009 Jerk song of the same name rather than the Kamaiyah song of the same name he appeared on last year. Very much down for She A Model 2k17 next.

Even when I'm bloggin', I'm bein' sincere

According to Instagram, tomorrow marks the 30th anniversary of LL Cool J's Bigger and Deffer album; that's 3 entire decades since LL redefined 'ardcore 'ip 'op with I'm Bad, recorded the first great rap ballad with I Need Love, and reanimated Chuck Berry's back catalogue with Go Cut Creator Go. The latter song was the only one of the album's three singles not to have been blessed with ill visualz, but who needs a video when you've got LL's barnstorming performance of it on Saturday Night Live where DJ Bobcat bodied DJ Cut Creator on his own tribute song?


Attention Soundcloud rappers in Metallica t-shirts: you ain't allowed to refer to yourselves as Rockstars if your air-guitar skillz ain't up to par with Uncle L.

For doz about to Do Wop, we salute you.

Scientific goin' beserk like Red Alert

From '86-'88, Def Jam had me on the shelf and wouldn't release any of my music. I went to @kooldjredalert's house in Harlem with #TheRulersBack cassette and asked him to play it on his show. That same evening he spinned it on 98.7 Kiss and the rest was history. The song had the streets on fire and Def Jam quickly had a release date for #TheGreatAdventuresOfSlickRick.

A post shared by Slick Rick The Ruler (@therulernyc) on Jul 24, 2017 at 11:39am PDT

It woz DJ Red Alert wot won it for MC Ricky D.

Generic list post: We Collated The Remix

Remember dem days when rap remixes weren't just superfluous throwaways featuring guest verses from French Montana and Rick Ross? If not, here's the 50 best rap remixes of all time as according to ya host (in no particular order, mind.). All of these remixes are either significantly better than whence they came or significantly different enough from the original to exist as their own entity. None of them were remixed by CJ Wackintosh.

Slick Rick ft. Warren G - Behind Bars (Dum Ditty Dum Mix) (1994)
Ice Cube ft. Das EFX - Check Yo' Self (Remix) (1992)
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Murder Was The Case (Remix) (1994)
KMD ft. MF Grimm - What A N*gga Know (Remix) (1993)
MF DOOM - Dead Bent (LP version) (1999)
UGK - Pocket Full Of Stones (Port Arthur Mix) (1993)
Twista & Legit Ballaz - Tattoo (Remix) (2002)
B.D.P - Remix for "P" Is Free (1987)
Egyptian Lover - Kinky Nation (Kingdom Kum 808 Mix) (2016)
Ultramagnetic MC's - Poppa Large (East Coast Mix) (1991)
Luniz ft. Dru Down etc - I Got 5 On It (Bay Ballas Remix) (1995)
LL Cool J - Jingling Baby (Remixed But Still Jingling) (1990)
OutKast ft. Slick Rick - Da Art Of Storytellin' (Remix) (1998)
AZ ft. Jermaine Dupri - Rock Me (Hey AZ So So Def Remix) (1998)
The Firm ft. Half-A-Mill - Firm Biz (World's Famous Remix) (1997)
HD Of Bearfaced - 40 Glock USA (Remix) (2012)
Craig Mack ft. LL Cool J etc - Flava In Ya Ear (Remix) (1994)
Notorious B.I.G - One More Chance/Stay With Me (1995)
Lil' Kim ft. Lil ' Cease - Crush On You (Remix) (1996)
Bad Boy & Lil' Kim - It's All About the Benjamins (1997)
G-Dep ft. Faith Evans - Everyday (Remix) (2001)
Grand Puba - Issues (Pete Rock Remix) (2002)
Positive K ft. King Of Chill - Step Up Front (3 Heineken Technique) (1988)
Juvenile ft. Wacko & Skip - Nolia Clap (Remix) (2004)
C-Nile ft. Juvenile & Skip - U Know Me (Remix) (2004)
Special Ed - Freaky Flow (DJ Premier Remix) (1996)
M.O.P - Handle Ur Bizness (DJ Premier Remix) (1998)
Mike Jones ft. Slim Thug & Paul Wall - Still Tippin' (2004)
Black Moon - I Got Cha Opin (Beatminerz Remix) (1994)
Mac Dre - Get Stupid (Remix) (2004)
Andre Nickatina & Mac Dre - Cadillac Girl (Remix) (2008)
Lord Finesse ft. Big L - Yes You May (Remix) (1992)
Showbiz & AG - Next Level (DJ Premier Remix) (1995)
Foxx ft. Lil' Boosie & Webbie - Wipe Me Down (Remix) (2007)
Mouse On Tha Track ft. Trill Fam - Turn The Beat Up (2010)
Public Enemy - Shut 'Em Down (Pete Rock Remix) (1991)
Fam-Lay ft. Lil' Flip & Kelis - Rock N' Roll (Remix) (2003)
Mobb Deep ft. Lil' Kim - Quiet Storm (Remix) (1999)
Big K.R.I.T ft. Killa Kyleon & Curren$y - Moon & Stars (Remix) (2010)
ATCQ ft. Kid Hood & LONS - Scenario (Remix) (1992)
Busta Rhymes ft. ODB - Woo-Hah!! Got You All In Check (Remix) (1996)
Jacka ft. Cormega & Rydah J. Clyde - Barney (More Crime Remix) (2005)
Jim Jones ft. A-Mafia - The 'Jects (Remix) (2003)
Max B - Blow Me A Dub (Remix) (2009)
Organized Konfusion ft. Large Professor - Stress (Remix) (1994)
Lil' Chris ft. Tiffini - Bad Lil' Chick (Remix) (2015)
Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo - On The Run (Al Capone Remix) (1993)
Intelligent Hoodlum - Grand Groove (Bonus Mix) (1993)
WNC Whop Bezzy ft. Boosie - U Know I Ain't Scared (Remix) (2016)
Ras Kass - Soul On Ice (Diamond D Remix) (1996)

Planned on turning this one into a YouTube playlist meself until I remembered that the Tattoo remix can only be found on Vimeo. F*ck Atlantic Records for having it removed from the 'Tube, and f*ck them again for only having the clean edit on all digi-stores/streaming services.

On West McNichols born and raised, Lane & Fair Block is where I spent most of my days

Allstar Lee - Fresh Prince Of Brick Mile
(From Fresh Prince Of Brick Mile single; 2017)


Via Tha Barber. File this under ‘song concepts you wish Peedi Crakk had flipped and turned upside down.’ Nonetheless, even that snarky bastard Geoffrey the butler couldn't fault the execution from everyone involved in this one.

What's up with Michigan rappers and the Fresh Prince Of Bel Air then? Remember when Willie The Kid made a song outta Willie The Smith tinkling his wine glass?

R.I.P to Chester Bennington

Loved Maximo Park, me, m8.

But, seriously, Breaking The Habit was a legit jam. It's not a coincidence that the only good Linkin Park song was the one which Mike Shinoda didn't rap on.

Smokin' like runnin' hot water, better yet like runnin' hot lava

Lil' Wayne - Dinnertime
(From Tha Carter 3 sessions; 2008/2017)


T-Pain & Lil' Wayne - Listen To Me
(From T-Wayne sessions; 2009/2017)


Let's talk about how unreleased Wayne songs from 2008/2009 are some of the hottest shit of 2017.

Juan For All, Aux For One

Aux 88 - Electrotechno
(From Electrotechno EP; 1996)


On one hand, it could be argued that Aux 88 were sorta like a Jurassic 5 of Motor City Electro: retro-fetishists plundering a sound that had long since passed into history. On the other hand, Detroit Electro was a sound which withered and died far too quickly in the '80s, leaving relatively few records for the headz who wanted to transform their Ford Fiestas into Cosmic Cars. Thus, the Aux lads' music felt very necessary when I first heard songs like Electrotechno, I Need To Freak and the Take Control remix of Electronic Warfare during their live set at Manchester's Bugged Out club night during the summer of 1996. They performed for a full hour in their trademark Michelin Man bubblegooses on a molten-hot night, and you've gotta respect any group who'll sweat out half their body weight just to maintain their look onstage.

Ironically, Aux 88 ended up being a decade too futuristic for their own good: they came to the UK during Gazza's gymnastics of Euro 1996 when they'd have been far better suited to Peter Crouch's robot-dancing of the 2006 world cup.