Filed under: 1992, Main Source, Video, Yo! MTV Raps | Tags: Fakin the Funk, Main Source, Neek the Exotic
Just stumbled upon this yesterday on Youtube, Main Source ft. Neek the Exotic with a live performance of Fakin’ The Funk on Yo! MTV Raps! Great energy going on here, this one brings back memories… Check out Ed Lover dissing wack MCs towards the end of the track, even Gerardo gets it (anybody remember Rrrrico Suave? I f’n hated it!):
Filed under: 1992, Bushwick Bill, Geto Boys, Reviews, Video | Tags: 5th Ward, Bushwick Bill, Geto Boys, Little Big Man
Bushwick Bill – Little Big Man
Year: 1992
Back in the 90s, on my journeys through the record stores, I wasn’t only searching for vinyl and CDs, I was looking for info, too. Not the easiest of tasks, with rap music being generally overlooked, and the internet as we know it today wasn’t invented yet. So, it was all about the printed word back then. World of Music (WOM, a now closed music chainstore here in Berlin) had a magazine shelf with all the goodies, Rap Pages, The Source, etc. Prices were ridiculous, so I had to skip through the pages right there in the store, like an information-thief if you will.
From one of those instances I remember reading that Bushwick Bill’s solo debut only got 2.5 of the legendary 5 mics. Well, I didn’t expect it to get a high rating, but what bothered me were the harsh words of the reviewer. Feces, that’s what he basically called the album. I was a little dissapointed to read that, because for me, it lived up to all the expectations I had when I found out he’s gonna release a solo. I think that was when I saw Ever So Clear on MTV, and it blew my mind. I didn’t rest until I had the album in my hands after that. And from that day, each mixtape that I listened to in my walkman contained at least 3 Bushwick-songs.
The title track, Little Big Man, was the perfect introduction to an hour of heavy funk-riffs and bloody carnage. Sometimes represented by his alter ego Chuckie (the murderous puppet from Child’s Play), Bill kicked his no-holds-barred, evil lyrics on tracks like Call Me Crazy, Skitso and Chuckwick (a reprise to the Chuckie-track contained on the Geto Boys “We Can’t Be Stopped”-album). Listening to the record right now, I still have to say that the beats James Smith and John Bido provided just fit him perfectly. The tracks just got that 90s, 5th Ward Texas vibe going on, really funky beats with disturbing lyrical content.
There was one thing the man from The Source and I agreed upon, though. The standout track on this album is Ever So Clear, the deep, self-reflecting story of how Bushwick Bill lost his eye. Most of the other tracks were too misogynistic and violent for the magazine, with the whole psychopathic killer image that the reviewer thought was dated.
For me, this remains the best solo effort from a Geto Boy since Mr. Scarface Is Back. I listened to that album many times, I still do, and I still think it’s great. I is not a 60 minute murder spree, sometimes Bill even brings positive vibes to the table (like on Letter To The KKK, also acknowledged by The Source).
In the same issue (October 1992), Willie D’s “Goin’ Out Lika Soldier” only got 2.5 mics as well. To each his own, I guess. Me, I put the magazine back on the shelf, went home, and probably listened to some Geto Boys.
Mobstyle – Game of Death
Year: 1992
This one is about as real as it gets. Mobstyle was formed by Azie (AZ) Faison, a real life drug dealer. As a matter of fact, the New York drug trade in the 80’s was practically run by him and his friends, Alpo Martinez and Rich Porter. Not to be confused with Brooklyn’s own AZ (who got his name from Faison), Azie is originally from Harlem. He left the drug game in 1987, after being shot 7 times, and formed Mobstyle in 1989 (I got these facts from the wikipedia entry, short but nevertheless an interesting read). So much for the history, if you want to know more, there’s an very interesting interview from FEDS magazine here. You could also go and watch the movie “Paid in Full” or the documentary “Game Over“, all based on the lives of Faison, Porter and Martinez.
The first Mobstyle Album, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” was released in 1991, this one, “Game of Death”, a year later. It delivers New York gangsta rap at its finest, mostly slow tunes with a threatening vibe. But don’t get me wrong, this is a very versatile album. You got a song “For the Honeys”, and there are some spoken-word “skits” (hard to call’em that, one is about 5 minutes long) with some real talk from AZ himself about drugs (“Crack the Mack”) and AIDS (“No Answer”) over deep soul loops. Beatwise, they even threw some electric guitars in the mix here and there (culminating in “Streetwise”, which makes me think of Ice T in his Body Count days).
Given the background and all, you know that these sad stories about life and death are authentic tales from the cold and dark streets of NY. My favorite tracks are “Rougher” and the first one, “Rollin Ten Deep”, the nine-minute intro track.
Mostly written and produced by AZ himself, this album gets constant rotation since I got it in the mid-90’s. Try to find a copy and read up on the background information to gain some insights into an era that influenced at least one of your favorite rappers, whoever that may be.
I don’t know about any videos from “Game of Death”, only one I could find was “Mob Style” from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, have a look:
Filed under: 1992, Big Mello, Rap, Reviews | Tags: 5th Ward, Big Mello, music, Rap
Bone Hard Productions starring Big Mello – Bone Hard Zaggin
Year: 1992
I wasn’t familiar with Big Mello when I bought this album. To tell you the truth, I probably bought it because the cover appealed to me: it looked like a straight up action movie poster. Plus there was the Rap-A-Lot records Logo on the back, so I gave it a shot, and I wasn’t dissapointed. This record got it all: women, party, cars and tons of guns. Just what I expected when I saw that cover art.
“Mac’s drive ‘Lac’s” must have been one of the most mellowed-out tracks I had ever heard till ‘92 when this came out. I was going “MAC’S DRIVE LAYAYAC’S” for days. “Symptoms of a Crook” featured the same Mandrill-sample as “By the Time I Get To Arizona” by Public Enemy, one of my favorite tracks of all time, so I had to like this one too. On “I Don’t Trust’Em” Mello’s DJ Harvee Luv shows off some lyrical talent when he tells us “I don’t trust a funky bitch as far as I can throw her monkey ass”, good hookline too, so that got on my favorite list fast as well, plus The Convicts and Icey Hott made a guest appearance on this track. They were also featured on the last song of the album (if you don’t count the shout-out track “Bone Hard Thanks”), “Straight From The Clarke”, the motherfucking Hiram Clarke that is, another funky banger.
A great record from the early 90s, and another rapper that died too soon. Big Mello lives on through his classic albums, this being the first of them. R.I.P.
Filed under: 1992, Kid Frost, Rap, Reviews, Video | Tags: Kid Frost, music, Rap
Kid Frost – East Side Story
Year: 1992
I bought this album on vacation in the US when it was released in 1992, and to this day I listen to it on a regular basis. This record got the whole westcoast vibe to it – as far as I can tell, not even being from the US and having spend about 5 days in cali – but just listen to this album and you’ll understand what I mean.
The title track got Kid Frost doin’ what he does best, tellin’ a story in his mellow, laid-back kinda voice, and you can almost see the palmtrees, watch the lowriders cruisin’ into the sunset and taste the smog-laden air while hearing the helicopter hoverin’ above the whole scene. Track #3, “The Volo” just makes me wanna kick back and grab a cerveza. “I Got Pulled Over” has an unsuspected guest appearance by MC Eiht and ALT aka Another Latin Timebomb (both not mentioned on the backcover), while the production is handled by none other than Mr. Mixx of the 2 Live Crew. Another favorite, the slow “Ain’t No Sunshine” turns Bill Withers’ love song into a dark prison ballad, while “Another Firme Rola” with its uptempo beat an precise Ice Cube vocal-cuts gets the adrenaline pumping.
This is one of those records that lets you travel back in time when you give it a listen, that early 90s feel comes up almost instantly “East Side Story” starts pumping out of your speakers.
Here’s the video for “Ain’t No Sunshine” for you to enjoy.
