Filed under: 1991, Comptons Most Wanted, Rap, Reviews, Video | Tags: CMW, Compton, Comptons Most Wanted, Eiht, Straight Checkn'Em
Comptons Most Wanted – Straight CheckN ‘Em
Year: 1991
Does anybody else miss the time when Rap tracks contained cuts and scratches? I do. Just one of the many reasons to get a hold of this Album by CMW. There’s cutting and scratching on almost every track courtesy of DJ Mike T. There are a million different reason to own this album, though. “Growin’ Up In Tha Hood” is one. The groups most successful song to date, due to the fact that it was featured on the Boyz-N-Tha-Hood Motion Picture Soundtrack. I was introduced to this track via Yo! MTV Raps, and I rewinded my copy of the videotape so many times it’s a miracle it didn’t break, now that’s what I call quality. Not only the tape, but the track as well. One of my all-time favorites.
Before I continue, here’s “Growin Up In The Hood“, so everybody knows what’s up.
… dope.
But everything else is classic CMW-material as well. The first Part of the “Def Wish”-Saga”, or “Compton’s Lynchin’”, the latter being very laid back beatwise, while MC Eiht is killin’ fools lyrically. “Driveby Miss Daisy” tells about innocent bystanders getting killed, carried by a heavy drumloop and a piano with Mike T mixing Scarface-quotes and terrifying screams like a true madman.
Compton’s Most Wanted are living legends, and my list of all-time favorites includes more than just one of their tracks, so this won’t be the last time you heard about Eiht’s crew on this blog.
Filed under: 1994, Rap, Reviews, Video, Volume 10 | Tags: Project Blowed, Volume 10
Volume 10 – Hip-Hopera
Year: 1994
“Hip Hopera”, released on RCA Records/Immortal records, is one of the most underrated albums from the west coast, period. I took notice of Volume 10 through his affiliation with Freestyle Fellowship (he was featured on the track “Heavyweights” on “Innercity Griots”), and “Pistol Grip Pump” was kind of a hit back then, so I bought the CD. Money well spent, my friends.
Volume 10 used to battle and freestyle at the “Project Blowed” open mic sessions where regulars included Aceyalone, Myka Nine, Jurassic 5, Abstract Rude and Ellay Khule (founders of the PB Collective), but also rappers like Kurupt.
The mixture of these names can be used as a hint to describe the versatility of Volume 10’s style: skill-laden writtens and freestyles (see Track 3 “A Real Freestyle), hardcore lyrical content with a gangster finish . You can’t put this album into just one category, there is too much going on here. “Pistol Grip Pump” for instance is an uptempo gangster rap tune, typical 90s west coast sound at its best pumping out the speakers. On the other hand, tracks like “Where’s the Sniper” or the tribute “Harderthanally’all” must be heard, or better yet felt – through change of voice and delivery Volume 10 creates an emotional, dark scenery of loss and pain (the only other rapper capable of doing so without sounding corny is Ghostface, can’t think of any others right now). But then, there’s always “Sunbeams” for a positive vibe, or the title track “Hip-Hopera” that makes any Rap-fans heart beat faster with joy, the rugged boom-bap-beat lets your head nod automatically while Volume 10 just goes wild and murders the track.
Nothing much left to say, get this album if you can, it is a goldmine of skills with tracks to keep bumpin’ all summer.
Pistol Grip Pump (one of Chuck D’s favorite tracks of that year as stated in an interview with german Hip Hop Show “Wordcup”):
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:
N.W.A – 100 Miles and Runnin’
Year: 1990
This 5-Track EP was released in 1990 on Ruthless Records. 5 Tracks? That’s all? Yes, it is, and guess what, the last track isn’t even a song, but a commercial for the groups follow-up album Efil4zaggin. So, just 4 tracks then, does this mean this is a let-down? Well, let me put it this way, to call this EP a let-down would be downright… what’s the word I’m lookin for? Blasphemous. Yes. Downright blasphemous. This EP carries some of the best N.W.A material ever released, with the title track ranking in my N.W.A Top 3 of all time.
If you don’t know that track (and you SHOULD know it), then stop reading now, scroll down to the video, skip forward to 1:20 and watch. The most action-packed rap video you have ever seen.
What else we got on here? “Just Don’t bite It”, you guessed it, is a little advice for the ladies what not to do.
“Sa Prize (Part 2)” picks up where “Fuck Tha Police” left off, minus Ice Cube, who had already left the group at that point (there are some hints on this record showing that the rest of N.W.A wasn’t exactly happy with that decision). Don’t be fooled by the title, this one is as controversial as the original, with the police gettin ambushed even before the track itself starts.
“Real Niggaz” is an aggressive tune; MC Ren lets you know you’re in for a rough ride when he kicks it off with “you should have covered your motherfuckin’ head like an ostrich… with your ass up high so I can kick the motherfucker”. Gold.
In a time where you buy an album containing 16 tracks and liking maybe three, four of them, I prefer a record like this one. 4 banger tracks out of 4 (commercials don’t count). Time to put my running shoes on now, I’ll leave you with a gem I stumbled upon on youtube, the Yo!MTV Raps Making of 100 Miles and Runnin’ (well, more of an introduction of the video given by the group), hosted by Fab 5 Freddy. The video itself starts at around 1:20, enjoy!
Filed under: 1994, Hard 2 Obtain, Rap, Reviews, Video | Tags: golden era, Hard 2 Obtain, music, Rap
Hard 2 Obtain – Ism & Blues
Year: 1994
So, some day in 1994, I sat in my chair, chillin, watching Yo! MTV Raps, hoping for some new joints to come on. That’s how I found out about Hard 2 Obtain, basically. Fab 5 Freddy played the Video for “L.I. Groove”, the bassline kicked in, and I was hooked before the the first snare. Great Melvin Sparks sample, I could not get that one out of my ear for months. Even today I catch myself once in a while singing or humming along an imaginery L.I.Groove playing in the background.
This track alone justified buying the album. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any other good tracks on “Ism & Blues”; as a matter of fact, it is the opposite: every song on this album holds its own, all hits, no misses. Be it “Ghetto Diamond”, “Babble On” or “Bust Me Down”, you got superb MCs (guest feature by The Artifacts) over heavy eastcoast beats courtesy of SD50 aka Stimulated Dummies Production. I showed this album to a lot of people, because it’s one of those records that almost nobody knows about whereas everybody should know about it, at least every rap listener. It’s a real gem. A record I would play to my future son to say “That is what rap was like back in the day.”
So, enough talk, enjoy the video for “L.I. Groove“, and we at it again, and we at it again, and we at it again…
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.
Filed under: 1990, Geto Boys, Rap, Reviews, Video | Tags: 5th Ward, Geto Boys, music, Rap
The Geto Boys – The Geto Boys
Year: 1990
Let’s start with the Geto Boys, consisting of Scarface, Bushwick Bill, Willie D, and, back then, DJ Ready Red. Hailin’ from Houston, Texas, their self-titled album released in 1990 on Rick Rubins Def-American-Records remains a true classic. With its extremely violent lyrical content, it shits on every pseudo-horrorcore rap album released today. The only album I own where the “Parental Advisory”-Sticker didn’t seem to be enough, so they printed another, larger disclaimer on the cover, to warn the people what an disgustingly foul album they’re about to purchase.
The first track “Fuck’Em” sets the pace perfectly, and 15 minutes into this record a sensitive listener would have to seek therapy. The not-so-sensitive listener (like me) instead is entertained by 3,8″ Bushwick Bill tellin’ us about body size, and how it ain’t shit when your dick is big enough. Or all band members talkin about their sexual preferences in an explicit manner over a nice Steve Miller Band sample (“Gangster of Love”). Hell, they even threw some necrophilia in there (“Mind of a Lunatic”).
Every track on this is a banger. This an angry, brutal album, not for the faint of heart. That goes for a lot of releases back then, but this record stands out. There’s some really sick shit goin’ on here. Oh, and the movie “Scarface” gets sampled frequently. Can’t go wrong with that one.
Here’s the video for Do it like a G.O., track #8 on this fine record. Note that it is heavily edited (changed lyrics like they did back then, otherwise it would’ve been all censor beeps), it’s like a different song if you hear the original; nevertheless, great song, great video, and a great album, enjoy!
