Ghostface & Cappadonna - Choice FM freestyle (1996)

Quick Ghostface and Cappadonna freestyle going in over the Hell On Earth instrumental on 279's Friday Night Flavas back in October '96.
This would've been around the time Ironman dropped as they also hit Westwood's show during their visit to London.

"I don't feel no MC like I feel MC D..."

So said Rodney P. MC D is a vet of the UK rap scene and as Silent Eclipse he scored a major label deal with 4th & Broadway back in the mid 90s which resulted in the Psychological Enslavement album that dropped in 95. Like a lot of rappers caught up in the red tape of such deals, he went quiet for a bit before re-emerging and making appearances on various projects in the early 00s.

Although the Silent Eclipse material was quite political and "conscious" (like an English Dead Prez or Paris), he was probably amongst the first artists to have that element of what eventually became known as "road rap" and is definitely highly regarded amongst those that know but his contribution is somewhat overlooked these days.

What we have here are 2 radio sessions from July 1993. The first is something I played loads back in the day but only had in poor quality until now. Taken from Max & Dave's show and over the beat for Make Room by Tha Alkaholiks, D kicks a tale of police harassment that would later appear on the Silent Eclipse album as the track Policing As A Tool. Dope stuff.



The second joint is something I hadn't heard before. More lyrics that would later appear on the Silent Eclipse LP, this time on the title track. This one was for DJ 279.

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Big up Eddie for the box of tapes he sent over last week. Not full shows unfortunately but looks like there is going to be some gems on them.

Also: MC D on the Radio 1 Rap Show, 26th November 1999

DJ 279 on Choice FM 12.05.95

The Number Man doing it up with the new releases on Choice FM's Friday Night Flavas from May '95. Quality is a tad muddy but listenable. This one includes that unreleased Bomdigi remix I posted recently. Shout to Diablo for the tape.

DJ 279 on Choice FM 25.06.04 with Swiss, Asher D & Cassius Henry

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It was nice to come across this Friday Night Flavas show from 2004 where 279 hosts one of his round table freestyle sessions with So Solid's Asher D and Swiss alongside Ammo and Young Pro (who I haven't heard of but were presumably up and coming at the time) and singer Cassius Henry. They take turns going in over new and old rap beats for the best part of an hour. It's good, the only place you'll hear members of So Solid Crew rapping over Iced Down Medallions, and a useful time stamp of where certain artists in the UK were before road rap and UK drill became a thing. It wasn't all boom-bap head-nod backpack business over here. On a slightly related note, don't get me started on Complex letting their work experience lad loose on an article where the extent of the research was checking his own iTunes history. Just let it be known that UK artists like Rodney P & Bionic, Mr 45, Skeme & Big P, MD7, Fallacy and Terra Firma have been talking that road talk since the 90s.

I should also add that what made finding this tape a particularly nice surprise was that I was never a fan of So Solid Crew in their heyday (although I do know the lyrics to 21 Seconds inside out - it was unavoidable when it dropped). However, one of the crew's DJ/producers Swiss turned MC and dropped a decent solo effort in 2005, which included the single Cry and as it was on more of straight up rap tip, was more my kind of thing. I liked UK Garage but when the MCs appeared that was it for me, and as much as I wanted to like grime at first but in it's early days the majority of raps and beats were just too basic and raw (ok, rubbish) in comparison to where hip hop was at the time.

DJ 279 on Choice FM with Black Moon (1994)

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279's Friday Nite Flavas on Choice FM from October 1994, with Black Moon and the Bootcamp Click in the studio for an interview followed by a freestyle. There's also a couple of tracks off Rampage's shelved debut album as well as stuff by Method Man, OC, Keith Murray, Bas Blasta and Lords Of The Underground ('Tic Toc' is really quite rubbish although the acapella did end up being sampled on 3 or 4 decent jungle tunes so it wasn't a complete waste of vinyl). I've left a few adverts in and cut out the ones for local businesses and warnings of the dangers of ecstasy and, erm, measles. After some deliberation I left in the 2 tracks by winners of a spoken word/poetry/rap competition. The first one at 1:13:00 is hilariously bad so it seemed a shame for it to be consigned to the recycle bin. There is a danger it might get stuck in your head though. The second track is 100 times better by default but god knows what the rest of the entries were like.

DJ 279 on Choice FM (2004)

Some 2004 Friday Night Flavas for you, with a few Wu Tang members on the phone and tunes by Jadakiss, Masta Ace, Masta Killa and Lloyd Banks, as well as 'Cry' by Swiss which must be the best So Solid Crew related track by some distance.

Liking this Love Unlimited sampling track 15 minutes in. Thought I recognised the rapper but turns out it's someone I've never heard of.

DJ 279 - Friday Night Flava on Choice FM (1993)

DJ 279 has been holding it down on the radio since the early 90s. Unfortunately while Westwood was broadcasting nationally and Kiss FM covered London and the surrounding counties, picking up Choice FM was pretty much impossible if you were off the tube map. As a result, tapes of The Numberman's Friday Night Flava shows are harder to come by than those of his competition (I've been asking around for a while now). Fortunately that man Mr Lawson has come through with a show from June 1993



Hopefully some more tapes will surface soon. If you want to check out more in the meantime, check Big Ted's blog for some audio of Nas on the show in 1994.