A Dose of That Obscure Shit: The Skitzofreniks.

For me the hey-day of indie hip hop was the era that spanned from 1995 to 2001 (separate from, yet slightly overlapping, an era of dope rap coming from major labels 1988-1996, basically the years that the "true school" tries to imitate). There was so much dope music coming out that you didn't have time to get into it all at once. In hindsight we can see that the buzz was so fresh and the mainstream just beginning to stale that the promise of day was a cruel mirage. There were so many hyped cats who everyone thought was dope, yet no group of artists has balkanized fans (Cage Vs. Boston, Company Flow splitting and the members taking dorkiness to two different extremes, the rise and fall of Rawkus and subsequently their artists... I could go on for days) more than ever today because their newest material pales in comparison to their earliest releases and everyone is an MC now.

At the time NYC was blowing up college radio stations with staples like Natural Element, Lace da Booms, Hillfigguz, Company Flow, and a host of others. During that same period Boston's underground was experiencing a quasi-renaissance of its own. I don't care who you like now, you thought 7L and Esoteric were the shit when they first came out. "Def Rhymes" was that shit and you know how they freaked that Transformer sample on one of their other 12's. What they lacked in charisma they made up with in the form of clever battle raps and dope production. Then there was the births of Mr. Lif and Akrobatik, two guys who built by way of doing shows at the Middle East together. You know you loved that joint "The Fat Shit." Ego G. was making a comeback. Krumb Snatcha was killing it. And yoooo, did anyone catch an 18 year-old Virtuoso going toe to toe with Wyclef Jean and hold his own with the God... you know, back when we still respected Wyclef at all. Boston was certainly giving New York competition.

As the scene developed it became an entity unto itself and within that entity there existed a flourishing rap scene with its own roll players in the same way that NYC did.

One of the finest releases of the Boston resurgence was by a crew known as the Skitzofreniks and what makes their album so special is that is really embodies everything that the spirit of '98 and what the Boston scene was all about.

The Skitzofreniks, Charlie Bawls and Eddie Bones, were repping Cambridge and while the locale was hardly a hotbed for urban unrest and government-subsidized oppression, the hip hop they made was dope. They released a cd-r called On My Own Sh!t and it was stupid fresh. In my estimation one of the best posse cuts in the history of rap came in the form of "The Skitzofrenik State." Eddie Bones (E-B, kinda pronounced like "we-be" but without the "w" sound), the group's producer, crafted a dope beat with a horn sample and scratched in Redman and Xzibit for the hook. The line-up was Esoteric, REKS, Charlie Bawls, and Virtuoso batted clean-up. Eso set it off nicely and at the time people weren't so concerned with his lack of cadence, but Charlie upped the ante with lines like:

Men hate this- too sick/
Word-bond? Like glue-sticks/
You drop two-hits, and disapear like the Fu-Schnik's/
My crew spits... heat, so we burnin' ya'll foes/
With flows that's so fat they rock maternity clothes/

Unfortunately for Charlie his nice verse, and his exemplary use of the studio punch-in, Virtuoso was up next and he fucking killed it, his first bar is breathless:

Face the thunder-gun cartel/
Make your lungs, tongue, and heart swell/
On beat breaks, my speech makes, the sun run from my dark spells/
Use my fingers of fire to spark L's/
You'll sleep with the fishes/
So the only way to snitch is/
to listen to the stories carps tell/
Militant pit-bull, split skulls/
when I bomb shells, through seven verses that split heaven and part hell/
Checkmark sells- records your lady wants/
Face-up, Miguel, known as human dictionary no need to spell/
Check it: Virtuoso- Hurts your flow, hoe, with the Skitzofreniks, slipped the dentist the mickey to ufck up your teeth/
You're slow mind is bovine, I cut up your beef/
SHUT UP, YOU'RE WEAK/
Get your head bucked to the beat/
Make your skull look like a deflated basketball/
rappers shawled, wrapped up around your cadaver and buy your casket at the mall/
Virtuoso, I'm the master of the dojo/
So I let you wack cats ride on my tracks like Hobos/

Hmm? Is there a subliminal dis in there? Is the beat Virt's dojo? Who are the hobos meandering aimlessly along the track? No one has said anything but tell me why right after this joint came out Virtuoso was dropped from Army of the Pharaohs, a group Esoteric (who is on this track) is in? Virtuoso later stopped claiming Rebel Alliance and started up his own label. Who knows what the real deal is but I think this is dope none the less. Regardless, Virt beasted the fucking track, I mean bodied it to the nth degree, and he sounded like the second coming of Big Pun.

The EP also spawned an introduction to another Boston MC who, to my knowledge, is still unknown outside of the Boston scene. K-No Supreme's claim to fame is that his name was next to Cages on The Porn Theater Ushers first EP, and Cage's name took up the most space on the cover. This bit of trivia aside, K-No provided some serious heat on the Skitzofreniks EP. His first verse was on "Sicilians," which incidentally was also remixed by Mister Jason of the Porn Theatre Ushers (surprise, surprise), and his second verse is from "You Want Some More?," which comes over a very smooth, yet dope, sample-based beat courtesy of Eddie Bones (who also dropped one of his two verses on the album on this track).

The only information I can provide on K-No Supreme is that he is (or was) a member of a Boston outfit known as "Falsehood" and they had some demos played on the radio but nothing officially or unofficially released outside of his appearances on this album and Sloppy Seconds. Peep the first part of his verse from "You Want Some More?" below:

I crack a Becks and check my messages from ex's/
Soundin' all sad, just be glad that I met'chez and sexed yez/
Left your dresses in wetter texturz/
Even let'chez in my lectrures and protected yez/
Like some empresses, I'm set with this/
Put no emphasis and you'll become one of my extras/
When I direct this, through these pornographic lenses/
I bust one sentence and the sex is endless/
Get this on the guest-list of your next slumber party/
And I'll bring the cock and jet to numb your bodies/
So if you're thinkin' the same, come get a drink with James/
And get that pink claimed, permanent with ink-stains/

Despite the awkward look of these lyrics K-no's grace on the track comes from his voice and his accent. He has the old-school bravado of Slick Rick when he raps about women and he commands the track with his presence. As he spits a bar one can fully comprehend the tongue as a paintbrush, lovingly finishing each line with the crisp freshness of a seasoned player. In an era of compound rhyming, K-No was one of the few rappers I heard who could come off dope with over-syllabicating his verses.

K-No also freaked the "Sicilians" joint and while he maintains the same austerity on the track as he did on "You Want Some More" he flips his rhyme style completely differently and uses the a compound-syllable rhyme-scheme that comes of crazy dope.

Enough of the guests. What about the Skitzofrenik's own MC, Charlie Bawls? It's obvious they guy as punchlines like his brethren but this album has some of the finest technical writing in recent memory. What many people see as a flaw in Bawls' repertoire is that he rhymes about what every other rapper rhymes about: girls, being tougher than other men, having more money than other (wacker) rappers, and how disheartening the rap business can be. To others who cry on the e-shoulders of other hip hop lovers and evoke calls of ubi sunt this album is a return to the spirit of 88. Simple beats and heartfelt rhymes with rappers who stuck to what they were good at: that's what the Skitz provide and the end result is solid. There is an early 90's playfulness underlying all of the songs regardless of the late-90's industry bullshit themes.

Within two years of this release came the Skitz LP, which I never got a chance to hear. To my knowledge Charlie Bawls recently got married, which requires more income than selling cd-rs at free shows can generate, and he doesn't fuck with rap music anymore. Ironically, Bawls may have prophesized his own fate on the track "Job Hunting" where he raps:

"Listen, Mr. Rapper-Man, you better find a back of plan/
Or your Dapper-Dan ass can go back to slangin' crack again/
When rap began, it was a way to relieve stress/
By any means ness', now it's a way to achive checks/
If your teams blessed, you get the chance to rock/
But you better keep your tunes hot or it's back on the block/"

Tis' a shame, this EP is dope... listen to half of it for yourself:

http://rapidshare.de/files/8312922/Skitzofreniks-_On_My_Own_SH_T_EP_Sampler.rar.html

If anyone reading this can hook me up with some K-No Supreme material, solo or with Falsehood, that'd be dope and you'll be well compensated. I don't care about the format either, I still fuck with tapes and Real Audio if need be.

Today very little is left of this scene. The heroes we had in 1996 and 1997 in Boston and New York are now hostile toward each other. Esoteric tries to hard to be Jay Z, Akrobatik isn't as relavent as he should be, Lif left Boston and works for Eso's nemesis. Sadly, it also seems like the Skitz are no longer putting out music. So sad considering all the promise shown on this release.

Also, I could use the Skitz LP that they put out as well so if anyone can hook me up let me know. Hit me at mustafagoodprose at gmail dot com and we'll work something out.

Necro Production + CLASSIC WU SHIT = THAT ILL SHIT

That's that next shit... and this is the best blend series I've heard in a while. There is no crew in the histoy of hip hop more deserving of respect than the Wu Tang Clan and right now there is no producer doing like Necro.

A lot of these are just a minute long but some of these are full songs... hearing GZA rip the "CIA is Trying to Kill Me" beat is insane! Killah Priest over "Refuse to Lose?" FORGET ABOUT IT!

This isn't bullshit like the Jay-Z/Necro mash-ups... this is done nicely.

Tracklisting:
Meth - Repect Mine (Dead Body Disposal)
Raekwon - Repect Mine (Your All Fuckin Dying)
Cream Team - It's Not A Game (Hoe Blow)
Cappadonna - Slag Editorial (Poetry In The Streets)
Cream Team - Cream Team (I Shot Reagan)
Inspectah Deck - Cross My Heart (Black Helicopters)
Inspectah Deck - Deadly Venom (You're Dead)
Gza - Fame (Urban Guerillas)
Gza - Fame (Cia is Tryin' to Kill Me)
Wu Tang Clan - Mystery of the Chessboxin' (Overkill)
U God - Bizzare (Death Smiles At Murder)
Sunz Of Man - We Can't Be Touched (Organize)
Odb - Brooklyn Zoo (Its Us)
Inspectah Deck - Hes A Rebel (Chasin The Dragon)
Killa Sin - Have Mercy (Im Sik Of You)
Killer Priest and Ras Kass - Whut Part Of The Game Is This (Refuse To Lose)
Shabazz - Brooklyn Bullshit (They Got)

http://rapidshare.de/files/8196655/Omnious_Presents_Wu_Blends_Vol.4__Psycological_Edition__Bootleg.rar.html

It's Tommy Tee, bitch, and oh how the mighy have fallen!

There is something that needs to be said for Scandinavian’s and their contribution to art. My favorite Scandinavian artist is Henrik Ibsen but we can't forget Hans Christian Anderson or Annee Olofsson.

As far as hip hop is concerned Scandinavia has two major contributors to the world of English-Speaking Hip Hop: Kashal-Tee and Tommy Tee. Kash is known as Sweeden's best MC and even though English is his second language he flips clever lyrics with the ease of a native speaker. Unfortunately for us Kash as sorta fallen off the face of the Earth. For the time being the only Scandavian product that is accessible to American indulgence is Tommy Tee, beatsmith supreme.

I first heard of Tommy Tee in 1997 when he put out what I consider to be one of the greatest compilations of all time: Bonds, Beats, and Beliefs. The bonds that he speaks about reflect the interconnectedness of hip hoppers world wide and to that end Tommy Tee blended Europe's finest MCs with some of the most respect rap veterans hailing from the birthplace of hip hop: the great Western Satan, America.

Beats? Look no further. The sound of the late 90s NYC indie scene has never been better replicated or refined. If this album were to drop tomorrow it would easily be hailed as a throwback to better times (even though 2005 has been solid).

Beliefs? Perhaps Talib Kweli summed it up best on the track Day by Day:

Call up the travel agency, book a flight to the end of time/
when the wicked get refined, the righteous kick a rhyme livin divine/
Rewind, to the present state of mind right now/
where beef will have you dead like the first man to catch Mad Cow/
Life is full of too much trifeness to chill and be enjoyin/
I be in the inner city like asbestos and lead poison/
My memories within the cannon of history/
Ready aim spit-fire my artillery, in the faces of cats who grillin me/
(Yo what you lookin at?) Quick to touch up cats who ain't feelin me/
with the ability, to plug you in, like auxiliary/
Livin digitally, the only condition is critically/
You still the man physically but I'm sunnin you spiritually/
Consider me far from average, lyrical rites of passage/
Rhymes comin out my cabbage, cold light up a savage/
Take you back to baby carriage, yo, for what it's worth/
Drop a master verse before they cleaned up the afterbirth/

We, or the oppressed masses that participate in hip hop, believe that we can overcome. There is a lot of pain in the world- from the inner cities to the suburbs and even down to the microbes in your food. Struggle is universal and as hip hop has risen to prominence it has become the voice of that struggle.

The compilation opens up with a sample from The Greatest himself, Muhammad Ali. He talks about how he is the greatest and that a lot of people think he needs to lose and how they think it will be good for him. The small contingent of violins swoon all at once as the track moves from Ali to Tee's scratches, to the voice of Father Blanco. This into segues nicely into "International Connects," featuring El da Sensei and Mike Zoot. I read somewhere that this was El's first trip to the studio after the Artifacts broke up but I can't be 100% sure. The song is dope, a nice head nodder. Track three is our first real introduction to Tee's crew of European MC's and how nice they really are with the song "The Reply," featuring Diaz, N-Light-N, Opaque, The Warlocks, and Father Blanco. While quite dope in it's own right the real highlight of the European MCs is "The Conjunction" featuring Holland’s mysterious "Zombi Squad."

The Zombi Squad, in 1997, was made up of two producer/dj's who's names I forget this very moment and two MC's, Sherlock and Shockwave. Wait, I think the producer/dj's were Fat Pat and DJ Freeze, maybe? The Zombi Squad put out a few albums in Europe and sold them hand to hand at shows, maybe a few hundred copied of each exist but this was all done at a time when no one was making rap music in Europe outside of some adventurous guys from the UK. They never had a real album with a single, they were more like a band that just traveled and gave out CDs from time to time. Anyway, the strongest link in the group was Shockwave and as a rapper he sounds like he was supposed to be a member of Bucktown's Finest, the Boot Camp Clik. With his Jamaican accent and European lust for hip hop, Shockwave drops a ferocious verse on "The Connection." Sherlock is standard fare for European MCs trying to rip the mic in English but don't sleep on this crew. I know Shockwave left the clique in 2000 over differences with the crew and did put out a 12' under his own imprint later that year though we have heard nothing from the crew or Shockwave since (save for Shocks appearance on Tee's next compilation, a track with N-Light-N called "Medallions").

My personal favorite track on this album comes courtesy of F.T., aka FUCK THAT and P-Dap and it's called "Blood Rush." The sample Tee came up with is ridiculous and fun at the same time and we all know how F.T. gets down. A lot of people aren't familiar with P-Dap but his voice and flow are both solid and he compliment's F.T. quite well.

More European talent can be heard on the track "Aerodynamics," which features N-Light-N and Tech Rock. The beat is really fast-paced and proves the title of the song right. The MC's kill the track too, very dope all around.

What I like most about this album is the selection of guests on it. Some might complain that there are a lot, and there are, but Tee picked some great guests with solid credibility:

Wordsworth
Craig G. (incorrectly credited as Graig G... STREADS! HOLLA!)
A.L. (All Lyrics, very dope... only seems to work with overseas producers like DJ Honda and Tommy Tee though... anyone with more information on this guy needs to holla at me).
F.T.
Mike Zoot
Talib Kweli
Skam (worked with Eminem)
Shawn J Period (who raps on here, doesn't provide the beat... cool none the less)

That's only a handful, maybe half...

I am going to stop this review here, there are 20 songs on the CD and 21 on the vinyl version of the album and for me to go into detail about how dope each song is (and I could because the album is that dope) would take me quite a while and I'd rather you listen to the album for yourselves.

Standout tracks: Blood Rush, The Conjunction, Day by Day, Crown Holders, Takin' Ova (European Version and American Version).... fuck it... there are only two weak tracks on here.

Sadly I must say that Tommy Tee's sound is now dedicated to copying the gimmicky sounds of current American mainstream production. His second compilation was cool and had some strong guests but you could tell the sound was evolving in the wrong direction but it wasn't bad at all... just different. I thought Tommy Tee would be coming back around when I caught his video for "Jesheim," which I think was a Diaz track and the video is super dope... brings back the dusty sounds of Showbiz and Buckwild from 1996... but uh, it ain't like that now.

And without further adieu, for your listening pleasure:

Tommy Tee: Beat, Bonds, and Beliefs, 1997- http://s45.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1WR74H491ISII2ZBZ6IRVNAFKH

And some of the newer shit from Tee Productions that I am not a fan of but some of you might enjoy:

Tommy Tee, AG, and Party Artie- Employee of the Year: http://www.teeproductions.com/music/ag_employee.mp3

Decent shit, I guess... Artie comes especially nice though.

In the spirit of Puff Daddy, Tommy Tee is signing bullshit R&B acts and having them sing over his older hits likes it's ill or something:

http://www.teeproductions.com/music/noora_friend.mp3

WACK! VERY WACK!

And: Ken and Tshwa- Jalla Jalla (Holla, Holla? Maybe?)

http://www.teeproductions.com/music/ken_tshawe_jalla.mp3

*Stomach Turns*

First some new shit, and then some rare shit... this isn't the hip hop update for the week, just some stuff to hold you over for a few days until I come up with another one of my trademark investigative reports...

As I traveled the internet I cme across this joint on the Cormega board:


























http://www.filefactory.com/get/f.php?f=f02471987526d1545f93c1a4

You see this mixtape? You need it, shit is suuuper fresh. Minus Nine deserves a lot of props for this. The track list is on the cover. New ish from Large Professor, La the Darkman, Capone, Imam Thug, Royce da 5'9, and all kinds of QB rappers. Blends featuring Game, Big Pun, and Big L... all well done. Big Pun sounds dope over the "Tower of Babble" beat. It reminds me of the first time I heard the song "You Ain't a Killer," and I won't lie... that shit AFFECTED ME SOMETHING SERIOUS. I rewound that tape so much I warped it. Be sure to peep the Illa Ghee joint on there, that beat is seriously sick!

So enjoy that shit, it's dope and the people I have put on to this shit have all slept. Fuck you faggots for sleeping, you might as well be dead.

Ok, so how about some rare shit?

Cyn Roc- Gimmie the Fame
http://s55.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3W23EUDC5L7ML0T0ANA9VN9UA3

Who is Cyn Rock? Cyn Rock is signed to Uncle Howie Records and this song is from his demo tape. Heartfelt rhymes with the gritty NYC sound... gotta love it.

Taskforce- Unknown Song (Seige Remix)
http://s55.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1WRFBMUWEFYGO0LTLRXK0MOD3L

Now I will be the first to say that my knowledge of UK hip hop begins and ends with Slick Rick. In 2002 or 2003 I heard this song for the first time, I was just getting back from England and this guy I met while digging for records hit me off with a mix cd he made of UK hip hop. This was the first song on it and it's labeled "Taskforce- Unknown Song (Seige Remix). That is honestly all I know. But, being that I have been reading all about these Taskforce cats on messageboards and seeing some of their records (only a few years old) being bought and sold for exorbitant prices on eBay I figured I'd throw this shit up for you people. Who knows, maybe I am leaking something exclusive, maybe I'm not... but this shit is re-dic-you-lus. The lyrics are top-notch and the beat is something heavy for real.

Did anyone here know that Chester P Hackenbush, the MC on this song, roasted Common Sense in a street battle in 1999? Common got all pissy and mad and resorted to racist jokes about white people holding him down, which is odd considering that isn't real or tangible in the UK context... maybe if it was an American MC he was sparring with but who knows... either way legend has it that this guy beat Common pretty badly.

And because I was so impressed with this song I feel it needs to be shared with all of you:

Tone Space and Joey Numbaz
http://s55.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1M1XETLHZ9HD2026DZHR7IW7S5

This really reminds me of the days when A Butta would call up WKCR and drop rhymes over the phone. The thoughts were loosely connected but the lyrics and syllables were wound so tightly around each other the listener couldn't help but be entranced by the cadence, flow, and vocal paterns. Peace to my man Tone Space. This ain't new either, it's like two weeks old.

"These ain't no dancin' classes/
Bastard bash a man with glasses/
Man with hands disast'rous that'll leave you splicing camera flashes/"

Joey Numbaz ain't no slouch either, peep how he ends his verse:

Get all the tables turnin/
Spray you out a gray Suburban/
Leave you laced for certain/
Paper earnin' makes you late for merkin'/
I take a jerk and make his nervous system late for work/
And make the hurtin' greatest murders from the Cain and Able verses/
Leave an angel cursed and make his halo burst/

I don't know about you but a man such as myself was like





This isn't for everyone but it reminds me of some 1997-1998 syllable flipping verses from the glory days of college radio.

Aight people, I hope that's enough to hold you over until later in the week. I am making big plans for the next update, got some slept on shit from 1998 that should give you AIDS and kill you because you deserve it.

-MGP

Shouts to California Growers pt. 2...

First and foremost I want to say thanks to all the growers in California. This week has been especially good for reasons I can only atribute to your craft.

If you don't know what the deal is, Cali's Trainwreck is rediculous. Two hits and it's like "Peace, God" because you're done like that. That Mango is killer, your Purple is the best I've had- better than anything from Amsterdam (then again they use your genetics).

I don't care what you have to pay to get it, this is something you should all do at least once in your life.

Anyway, aside from my gratuitous words to the growers I would like to review and rate these strains for you.

Trainwreck: Quite frankly I don't think I've smelled anything quite like it. Potent; sweet and sour on the nose at once. Opening the bag lights up a room. Nostrils quiver to flare, eyebrows raise in realization... this is that weed that has become your archetype for weed, the Platonic Form of everything you want weed to be... and it's right there.

Purple: Best haze I've ever had in a long time. Some of the classic NYC Purple beats this but this high lasts a bit longer whilst being similiarly weaker.

Mango: Outdoor strain suited for blunts. I rolled up my first L of this last weekend with a friend. I was maybe a 2.5 gram L because anything less is just wreaks of "white trash." Now my man is like 6'5, 250 lbs and I am 5'7, 199 lbs and this L killed us both. We went for a drive with my man's new album and we had to pull over and chill because neither of us belonged behind the wheel. That shit krept up on us after like 30-45 minutes and we were done. We had to go eat and sober up. It wasn't anything two hours at the Chinese Buffet couldn't fix... we did it up big, Did's big, tits and all. I think we ran into Rakim there, but I can't be sure. Some rapper guy. That Tupac guy isn't dead is he? Mighta been him.

Speaking of that fat piece of shit, and being on the subject of weed and all... if anyone here has ever had to wait on an untimely delivery man with your herb then you will know what I am talking about. This guy was like an hour late and I had people coming over later so I signed online to kill some time. That boy Galvy threw his number up and told cats to holla at him so I called up and pretended to have poor self esteem and said my name was Dids and that I was depressed that my order of 4 pizzas and 6 strombollis was running late and in desperation I had resorted to eating globs of my own snot as my dissapointment triggered regression. Continuing in the spirit of Freud I also elaborated about bathing in a woman's shit and how the thought consumed me some times.

Surprisingly Galv played along and did whatever he could to boost my self-esteem. "Nah playa, it ain't like that. You gotta do it like this homie..." and he would tell me it was all about my attitude and to be like "I ain't conceited, I'm convinced." To this day I am convinced that Galv felt he was doing a nice thing as he offered his kind, yet hillarious, words of encouragement. He probably thougt he would go to bed feeling like a good human being even if those hoes he ordered didn't show up.

As he tried to help me I hung up on the hard-working n*gga too, like *click*. Fuck that guy, right? I got four pizzas to eat and like a half-dozen strombolis... fuck a Galvatron.

I called back like 15 minutes later and told him that I fell down getting the door when the food came and that I was now stuffing my face as quickly as I could. I would eat all of this food in ten minutes or I would die trying, whatever came first. After I calmed down I asked him what he thought of certain people on the board and which braods he would bone. I then asked him about more notorious posters like Employee and the Bay Area guys... which was funny because we had jokes on them boys... and then I asked about FuckYou.

For whatever reason he didn't say anything, he just laughed. Maybe he was too scared to say anything and it being reproduced for the world to hear. Me, being Dids, said "Fuck that asshole. I hate that guy. Insensitive prick." Galv started laughing a bit harder.

"Don't you hate how he throws the word 'nigga' around?"

No, he didn't. It was quite funny, really, considering what the white establishment thinks about my former use of the word, bitches.

Anyway, I came clean and told him it was his man FuckYou and Galv turned out to be a cool dude. Go read his blog if you can, that guy's a riot.

So, having fun at Dids' expence was a riot, having someone think he was a suicidal fat fuck who liked to eat shit was my Reginald Denny brick. I only told one other person of the exchange but since I was talking about weed and Dids on a blog that Galv contributes too I figured I would connect all of the dots for you. Damn I'm high, and I'm at work. I teach retards and shit.

That's it for today. Another music update is coming this weekend with some of that rare shit for you.

-MGP

Evolution of DBD

When the world first heard about DBD the year was 1998. There were rumors about Jeru, Monch, and OC forming a super-group, Canibus and Killah Priest were mentioning Chino XL and Ras Kass for the Horsemen project (and Chino was eventually dropped in favor of Kurupt), and Company Flow was going to form a team with their affiliates to create the Indelible MCs. At the very same time a legend from an earlier stoa was taking his stab at a super-group, albeit in relative terms. PMD and longtime associate Agallah were going to team up with two guys who were complete unknowns. One was supposedly dope and the other rapper, who was supposedly nasty, the next Sticky Fingers some said, to form DBD. PMD was a known legend, Agallah was an up-and-coming producer, and these other two guys were supposedly dope and one even nastier: a lot of the tape traders were going nuts over this.

The first material to be heard came via hiphopsite.com, when it was a juggernought of underground information. They leaked the audio of the crew's first single, "Feel This," which was produced by KRS-ONE's brother: NYC production stalwart Kenny Parker. The sample was an infectious piano sample that was distorted to the point that it could be easily mistaken for a rouge guitar riff. PMD did his thing, Agallah came with some great battle raps ("Come to the battle with no strings and I'll still lace you" was my shiiiit!) and one of the newcomers brought an old-school-style devastation to the mic with his verse.

Unfortunatly someone else was on the track, that Sticky Fingaz sound-alike, and his verse stole the show. I listened to the file so many times I had his verse memorized:

You wanna battle me? Let's enter into the cipher of madness/
Which will decipher- which writer, between me and you, is the baddest/
I come gatted and strapped with only a tongue spitting phattness/
Three bitches in one rub? I'LL FUCK 'EM ALL AND PULL A HAT TRICK/
My matrix: two-parts sacred, one part hatred hatred/
Encased in bars: police, stay in your basement/
You can do all your raps on your digi or dat/
In the studio with Coolio or Suge on your back/
I put my karaoke cassette, and it's all that, black/
And it'll take a piss on your track without hiss in the back/
I'm a lyrical genius, I'm meanest, contagious like a penis/
I'm beefin' with Pluto so that Mars and Venus stay between us/
Mustafa was my daddy, ??? was my bother/
Satan was my sister, but Holy Mary was my mother/

Yeah, some parts don't make sense, especially that part about Venus staying between him and Pluto when she stays between him and the sun, but overall the energy on the track was hard to beat and the effort was all there. Kenny Parker's production was perfect for this kind of project and I was soon hyped for an album.

Well, two years passed and there was nothing. one member of DBD, I don't know who, actually went to a message board and registered the name "DBD Management Group." He posted two Real Audio files and said "Which track should go on our next 12'" I loaded the two files and guess what I heard? Two new DBD tracks and they were even more gutter than the first one.

That Sticky Fingaz sound-alike was tearing into these beats something serious too. I didn't have any way to record these songs and I missed out on keeping a record of DBD's existence and getting myself an exclusive to trade because I knew that there would probably be no 12' release. The first single was pressed ("Feel This," mentioned above) and for whatever reason only the first 100 or so promos were sent out and the rest were destroyed. So, what was this all about? This is all kind strange considering one of raps most legendary figures had his hand in this group.

Well, fast forward six months. The new DJ Honda album was released in Japan and tape traders started getting bootlegs in America early. The CD got a proper release two years later but in the meantime there was the Japanese version of the CD which had a PMD track, called "Know What I'm Sayin'" and featuring the Rawkotiks. When the track opens PMD calls it "...some DBD shit." This time the line up was PMD, Agallah, and two other guys. Well, these two other guys were not on the first DBD track at all, so there was obviously a line-up change at some point and maybe this is why their first record was destroyed. But, these guys certainly don't sound like the Rawkotiks and considering I own two 12's by them and heard them on two other DJ Honda albums, I am fairly certain it is not them and it is a typographical error.

At this point I felt that maybe the other two tracks leaked online were actually done by the former group members, being spiteful? Clearly PMD and Agallah were DBD and they shouted the DBD name a number of times on the record, even in the chorus.

This song is especially hard, one of my favorite Honda beats and continues with the same energy shown on "Feel This."

I had a lot of questions about the song but whatever, the new DBD line-up was even crazier. This song, with magnificent production from DJ Honda, banged the moment the needle hit the groove. The lyrics were top notch, peep this verse from, which even has a subliminal dis to Erick Sermon by one of the MCs:

We never lose sleep/
when niggaz act like the wanna do be/
Betta bring a Army or two/
Cause I body a whole lot of your crew/
Guns'll greet you like "How do ya do?"/
Lift you right the fuck up, up outta ya shoes/
Yo, I just might splatter you dudes for lookin' at me wrong/
"FUCK RAP!"/
Just make that the hook of every other song/
Long kiss goodnight, throw the Cris on ice/
Show me the thongs and my dick get right.
Fuck your fists, let your pistols fight- that's how I learned it/
Sellin' rocks of crystal-white, that's how I earned it/
Standin' on the block on night, we on some other shit/
Now we stepped it up a bit and you hustle for the love of it/
We in it for the chips... the whips and chains/
So when we fuck a bitch we get the whips and chains/
You think just cuz it's rap money shit gon' change?/
Nah, we just spend it like we flip coaine/
Yo it's rhyme time, you got me on a fine line/
and when I find mine/
rappaz be runnin like they in a combine/
4-3s and shit/
While I lay back, laugh, smoke trees and shit/
Desert Es a bitch, and niggaz don't want none of that/
Soon as I make a move, real quick the gun'll clap/
Beat shit, we run it back and niggaz is wonderin' how/
Chase 'em with the real gat and still runnin' 'em down/
Never shoot sideways I aim like police/
Two hands, one eye closed, with bent knees/
Hit you, but you missed me- now how that sound?/
Dipped jewels in a Bentley, I'ma try that out/
You chose to go against me? Why act found?/
Many rappers without the E need to buy that vowl... mutha fucka/

This song bangs for sure and you can peep the audio here:

http://rapidshare.de/files/7540368/dj_honda-08-know_what_i_mean_ft._parrish_smith_rawcotiks-rev.mp3.html

Well, the summer of 2003 comes around and PMD drop this third solo album. Take a guess what song is on it? "Know What I Mean," and this time Agallah's verse was taken off and two different rappers were added. The chorus was not changed so I guess this might be the latest DBD line-up.

This is the "updated version" for PMD's album:

http://rapidshare.de/files/7540583/06_Know_What_I_Mean.wma.html

So, where is Agallah? Aside from PMD he was the only real name of note on the group. Well, as everyone knows he runs with the Dipset Byrd Gang now. Good for him, get money. But, after working with PMD for more than a decade Dipset and Agallah doesn't make a whole lot of sense on paper. What went wrong with PMD and Agallah? I don't know but this says a whole lot:

thaFormula.com - How did you get started in production Ag?

Agallah The Don Bishop - I started production through my man Bobby Crawford in 1994. I started fucking with the MPC and mass production around 1994. Everything just started picking up from there. I was a drummer in music school when I was in class, so I knew about the drums and shit. But I always wanted to spit though, because that was my love. So I just wanted to try to build myself up as a producer and a rapper. I never was serious about the production until after I started rappin'. I came out with a single in 95' which was a commercial single off of Elektra. After that I dropped a joint with Mr. Cheeks of the Lost Boyz. Then I just started doing mad shit for other people like PMD, Das Efx, EPMD. I was doing beats and I was rhymin'. When I did a beat for Busta, that was when people started checkin' for me. Premier came at me for production for Teflon, Tony Touch came at me for Peacemaker, Onyx got at me, and others. The Agallah history goes way back. But I was a young dude back then and I was getting taken advantage of, seeing that I was mad young. I had to learn the business the hard way and that's why it never popped off like it should have. But now shit has changed, being that I am doing things with Juelz, Jim Jones, Sheist, Cam, and others. So it is basically time to shine.

and later in the same interview:

thaFormula.com - After that you kind of disappeared for a minute. What happened?

Agallah The Don Bishop - Well I was dealing with alot of things at that time. My moms passed away and I just had some real personal problems going on. I had to cut ties with alot of cats that were trying to put false dreams in my head. But later the word got out that a nigga was raw in New York. You had alot of niggaz that was doing beats and alot that was rapping. But you didn't have alot that was rappin' and producin' for a long time.

You can read the entire interview at : http://www.thaformula.com/agallah_purple_city.htm

Sounds like a shot to PMD in my opinion. Ike Eyes, a rapper who rolls with Agallah said this is another interview:

What did you start making music with Ag?

I met him when Ag was starting to pop with the production and we were like "oh shit, this nigga's popping." I wasn't even trying to stress him on the beats right away. We were just chilling, smoking and shit. I put a home studio together with a rusty 4-track and a fucked-up beat machine and we started making music, and we started fucking with PMD, so we had a little short-lived group thing with PMD but niggas got their own agendas and shit. I'm a soldier but I'm ready for the war. Nigga you gotta put your all into me because I'm gonna give you my all. So that was just a short-lived little thing and then I went back to the streets hard trying to get that money.

You can read the rest of that interview at : http://www.hiphopgame.com/index2.php3?page=ikeeyes

Anyway, I copped the PMD album in the summer of 2003 and in 2004 I was offered the chance to get a hold of DBD's unreleased album. This is grimy and has a lot of hiss, maybe a third generation CD rip from a cassette tape. Agallah is all over the album and so is PMD, so are the original two members from the first 12' and so are a lot of unnamed cats who eventually ended up rolling with Parrish for his 2003 album on Solid Records. Guru, Lil' Dap, and Nocturnal all make appearances on this album as well. Now, I won't be sharing the entire album with people but I did find an mp3 of the crew's first single "Feel This" and I uploaded it for the first 25 visitors of my blog today:

http://s44.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2QEW9V1QL12R30KI0SXEYUV8EI

I have also been told that there are two more full DBD albums floating around out there. If anyone has more information on who was in this group at what time and who is in it now the information would be greatly appreciated.

On the whole I wish that some incarnation for this album came out before 2000 or 2001, the time would have been just right for it. The crew had status (PMD), dark production (Agallah, who did most of the beats on the album), crazy battle raps, lots of gun talk, and an old school feel to the album as Agallah was given some instrumental tracks to exhibit his beat-making abilities on it.

I will put it out there that I do trade this album with people. If you have anything that is just as rare hit me with a line at mustafagoodprose@gmail.com and we'll talk.

Hello, it’s the god Mustafa Goodprose up in this bitch with my first entry on the PF blog. A lot of you may know me but I am sure that most of you don’t. For those of you in the minority:
In 1982, some time in the autumn, scientists took DNA from the shroud of Turin and cloned Yeshua of Nazareth, thereby creating me. There is no specific date of birth, more an estimate of my date of manufacturing, for when those men in starched lab coats brought their vision of perfection to fruition.
All joking aside, there is not much I like to tell people about myself. But, if you have an insatiable thirst for information about me I will provide some basic information.
I was born in Atlantic City to two homo sapiens of differing gender sometime in 1982. I have a criminal record, but I never got coal in my stocking as a kid so make of that what you will. I don't have a job and don't plan on getting one until the price of coke comes down. Thanks to your daughter and her flexible man-pleaser I make more than enough money to donate to charity. I couldn't tell you what corner I have her working tonight so don't bother asking me either. Fuck off, die, etc.
I teach the youth, I work out, I have a girlfriend you I love more than anything, and I collect rare hip hop records. Most of you can tell by the name that I like to write and I am in the process of putting out my first novel and writing a second. I am also toying with the idea of writing an encyclopedic manuscript listing the obscure 12’ releases by NYC rappers and giving information on the groups from the mid-90’s.

This is my picture:








Last night I typed up a little album review for my first blog post. I went to fact-check a few things from it and I came up with some information that negates a minor detail that I left in the review. I don’t think it should be that big of a deal though and the true informations have been provided at the tail-end of this entry. It’s quite minor and I blame Sha-Key’s father for all of this.

I am going to start this blog off with some information on a rather obscure gem from 1994:

Sha-Key
A Head Nadda’s Journey to Adidi Skizm
Imagio Records, 1994
Promo Only?

I honestly know very little about Sha-Key but from the looks of it on the album he appears to be somewhat of a hardcore rock and roll n*gga. A quick glance of the album cover reveals over-sized jean shorts of some funky red hue, Doc Martin boots, and the obligatory flannel button-up lumberjack shirt over what looks like some kind of band t-shirt.

In 1997 I was collecting all of the Non Phixion/Necro material that I could find. At the time I think there were five 12-inch records between them and 30+ radio appearances. I was in Philly playing the now-infamous “Gay bashing” freestyle for a friend and all of the sudden he started rapping along to Bill’s rhyme.

“You have this already?”

“Nah, that Bill nigga was on this album.”

Yeah, he thought Bill was black. Whatever.
My man went to his CD rack and pulled out the Sha-Key album and bumped the fast-forward key to track six, oddly titled “Doompassaga.” Ill Bill had the second verse and it was identical to the verse he dropped on WKCR for what was later dubbed “Gay bashing and Violence” by those who ran in the tape trading circles.

I grabbed the CD and studied it. I knew Bill and Necro were once former rockers and by the looks of Sha-Key so was he. Maybe Bill knew him from the Injustice days? The choruses on this album are chanted much like a rock song would be. In another picture he looks like a black Kurt Cobain with the flannel, tucked in shirt, and red Chuck Taylors. The only thing missing is a chain wallet.

Most of you reading this are most likely not fans of Non Phixion the way I am, but the Sha-Key album is also home to some of the first appearances on record by Rhazel the Godfather of Noyze and Djinji Brown, both of whom would find acclaim and notoriety many years later. While Rahzel is looked upon as a noisemaking novelty, Djinji Brown has been embraced by the VH1 crowd and by coffee shop hipsters/faggots. Brown produced two tracks on the album (“Bicoastal Holdup” and “The Story”) and he was the only person to craft beats on this album other than a cat named “E.Blaize.” E. Blaize to my knowledge is still making noise with the Anti-Pop Consortium, a group I never followed and I think broke up. Whatever, they were probably geeks.

Unfortunately, I can't say that this is that great of a rap album but it is cool to hear Rahzel, Ill Bill, and Djinji Brown all on the same CD when they were all unknown. Don't get it twisted, I find this shit to be highly experimental for 1994 and it seems like Sha-Key was more concerned with expanding the sound of music rather than the sound of rap, if you can follow that. The more I listen to this album the more I separate it from hip hop and rap and just regard it as music, which can be either a compliment or an insult depending on what Sha's aims were. Like I said though, it isn't bad... just not great. What’s makes it important is that two stalwarts of the underground scene (Ill Bill and E.Blaize) and two minor celebrities (Rahzel and Djinji Brown) all contributed to the same album and most people don’t know or don’t care. Other than Djinji Brown’s work with Public Enemy, all of the artist I mentioned were just starting their music careers and the chances of all of them being on the same album more than a decade ago are slim, yet quite real.

For those of you who are fans of Ill Bill and have heard the song "Doompasaga," a guy who raps under the name "High Priest" is also featured and does the third verse. In the pages of the album insert Sha-Key shouts out a lot of well-known hip hop figures who helped him to where he currently was in music the music business (The Roots, Ill Bill, Organized Konfusion, and oddly enough Freestyle Fellowship) so it is obvious the guy had some respect from some really dope cats in 1994.For those of you who don't know I leaked the “Doompasaga” joint to the net myself a couple of years ago. Not many people outside of the hardcore Necro/Non Phixion niggas are hip to this track but since Ill Bill seems to be the only one out of that camp that appeals to many different tastes in hip hop I have provided a link to the “Doompasaga” file:

http://rapidshare.de/files/6578460/Doompasaga_ft._Ill_Bill.wma.html

If any of you are interested in getting a hold of this album I should let you know that it isn't too hard to find. I don't think it ever saw an official release because the two copies that I have owned were both promo copies with holes punched through the barcodes and a little caption on the cover that reads "Not For Sale NFS-1." The label, Imago, didn't release much else in rap (they had a shitload of rock music, like Henry Rollins) to my knowledge but they were distributed via BMG which basically implies that this was a major-label deal for Sha-Key.







Errata:

A useful bit of information popped up this morning and I have come to find out that Sha-Key is actually of the XX gender persuasion. Honestly, that bitch sounded like a nigga on this album, fuckin’ looked like one too. This thing calls itself Hanifah, she does stand-up comedy now, and works with Saul Williams as well. Go fucking figure! Word is that she is also a dyke, peep the link courtesy of a Google search:

http://www.queerculturalcenter.org/Pages/Qfestival03/Hanifa.html

Now I know why she doesn’t fuck with Ill Bill and Necro anymore.

If any of you people want to substitute the personal pronoun “hers” where I typed “his” feel free but right now I just don’t feel like changing anything.

Oh, and none of you really can’t blame me for this misconception:

Sha-Key in 1994:








Inside of Album Cover:















I assume this is a childhood photo of Hanifa/Sha-Key/Would-Be Random Nigga.

Sha-Key in 200?:






For the record she sounds like a man on her debut album.

Hanifa, if you are reading this please let us know who did your gender reassignment procedure and if you made enough off of this album to pay off the bills accumulated from the surgery, I hear that shit is kinda expensive. Drop me a line and let me know how you are and what your bra-size is, I have a friend in the [URL=http://philaflava.com/forum/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=673]Bay Area[/URL] who might want to meet up with you if you ever go on tour out there. If you’re truly queer I am sure you have heard his music because I can’t think of a single straight person who is a fan.

-Mustafa, bitch.

PS.

This blog was written two weeks before it was posted. Since then I've stopped using the word "nigga." So, those of you who got your sister's panties in a bunch... chiiiillll... I'll body you in the streets regardless.