Although I'm not exactly a big fan of Lil Kim, this track grew on me as a result of rinsing DJ Rectangle's excellent 'Deadly Needles' mixtape back in 97.
I got hold of the 12" you see below and was dismayed to find that it was missing Jay Z's cameo, and so wasn't the version included on Kim's 'Hardcore' album. Instead there were 2 mixes, one of which I assume to be the 'original' (edit: see update below) which makes use of the awesome Love Unlimited Orchestra sample also used by Real Live and Jemini around the same time, and one labelled 'remix' with the same beat as the album version. The real talking point is the lyrics that didnt make the cut on the album...
The track features Kim taking a few shots at Faith Evans and 2Pac and must have been (like most/all of her songs) written by Biggie. You can hear his cadence and humour all over it...
"Uh, who shot ya?
Who knows how they got ya?
Fed up...wet up
Maybe next time your punk ass will Keep Ya Head Up!"
I'm not sure but would guess that the lyrics were removed from the official release due to Pac having died just before it came out. Its a bit of an under-the-radar track and well worth a listen. If you're a stubborn boom-bap dinosaur who wouldn't dream of checking for Lil Kim, its all ok because its produced by Stretch Armstrong.
Thanks to Addicted 2 Retail for having a decent Kim photo I could use!
UPDATE 16/12/11: Theres a bit more info on this in the comments section from Stretch. After asking a few more questions (via Twitter) it appears he pressed up 500-1000 copies of the 12" himself.
Mike Nice has also put me up on a demo version of this track with Biggie doing a hook to the tune of 'Sweet Dreams' by Eurythmics. This was scrapped after Nas came out with 'Street Dreams' although apparently Kim's track was made first. Also, I've re-upped the files as the album version was corrupted and I've re-titled the 'original' as 'Stretch Armstrong mix'.
good post!!
ReplyDeletethanks man. I wasnt sure whether to drop it because a) I didnt know if it was something that was widely available and b) would anyone who looks at this blog want a Lil Kim tune?!
ReplyDeleteIts a good track though, which is the main thing
if my memory serves me correct the version with her talkin bout pac n faith was on a clue mixtape. maybe shootout 96?
ReplyDeleteyeah, Id have thought it wouldve done the rounds on a few tapes in NYC.
ReplyDeleteGood shit. About to check this out now.
ReplyDeletedidnt expect this to be one of the more popular posts Ive done in some time.
ReplyDeletePersonally im not too sure about odd 'phazing' effect on the chorus of the original but that Love Unlimited ssample always works.
Thanks for this man, lookin forward to this.
ReplyDeleteHardcores a great album imo, Im not much of a fan of Kim (was never a fan of most female rappers really either til recently). I kinda look at the album like the idea of rappers being characters, cos its pretty much just Biggie with a different voice and an obsession with cunnilinguis.
the flow/lyrics kind of reminds me of the album version (the best version) of 'One More Chance' - I was going to get into that in the post but was too tired to articulate it properly. Listen to em back to back and you might see what I mean.
ReplyDeleteYeah actually I hear it too, he stretches out syllables in a really similar way "thrillaaa"
ReplyDeleteThe original One More Chance was always one of my favourite album cuts.
yo, so that "original version" is actually just a remix/blend that stretch armstrong did for his Back2Back mixtape, hence the phazing.
ReplyDeleteoh really? thanks for clearing that up man! hope you're good.
ReplyDeleteThat's right Mike. This was just something that was a little more gully than the album version (of which there several versions floating around) for the Back2Back Mix that DJ Ev and I did. For the record, though, Kim DID write this song with some editing by BIG. Jay was hired to replace the Kim's verse where she was popping a lot of sh*t, and as a result, Puffy said the verse had to go. Remember, Atlantic, Kim's label, needed to be on Puffy's good side because the Junior MAFIA deal wouldn't have made much sense without the ability to get clearance for BIG from Bad Boy.
ReplyDeleteBig up Stretch, thanks for the inside info!
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe diss was pretty smart, too bad he passed way, I would've loved to see the continuation of this fight...
ReplyDeleteI never knew about this. By the way it's... "Who knows how BUT they got ya?"
ReplyDeleteI thought so! I knew it had to be another version because I remember preferring the version that didn't have Jay Z on it! It seemed like there was a missing verse. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnyone still have this? Maybe a re-up?
ReplyDelete