Radio 1 Rap Show 12.11.99 with JT Money

As far as 90s shows went, it was kind of unusual for Tim to have guests from outside of the East Coast. Off the back of the success of No Limit and Cash Money in the US, other rappers from the South started getting some attention and depending on who they signed with, had the opportunity to venture overseas to do a bit of promo work. I'm guessing that when JT Money inked his deal he didn't envisage rocking Huddersfield Uni but apparently this actually happened, although I'm told his London gig didn't so without eye witnesses who knows. Either way, he's up at the Beeb for this show and Tim is pretty amped (about 8/10 I'd say). I lost track of the amount of times he says "dirty south" but it's a lot. Part two has a lengthy Noreaga freestyle (taken from a previous show) and JT's DJ gets in the mix towards the end.

Don't Sleep #4: 2 Live Crew ft JT Money 'Fuck A Gang' (1990)

It's hard to believe in 2014, but once a upon a time rappers - and not just the corny ones - made records that were specifically against drugs, drug dealing, gangs and violence. It's fair to say that the last place you'd expect you'd expect to find such a track would be on a 2 Live Crew album (which is essentially what Luke's 'Banned In The USA' LP is). Obviously the Crew's main themes were sex, with a bit of partying chucked in before having a bit more sex while Mr Mixx finished the latest volume of the Megamix to close out the album.
I get the impression alot of people might've passed on this LP back in the day but for a 13 year old me and my mates at school though, tracks like Face Down Ass Up and Strip Club were golden. There is some great rap on there that isn't aimed squarely at a juvenile sense of humour; Man Not A Myth, To Luke From The Posse and I Ain't Bullshittin part 2 were all in contention for this post but I went with Fuck A Gang. There's no outright dis on it but given it dropped at the height of NWA's popularity, and Luke would get into some beef with Dre and Snoop a couple of years later, maybe he was taking a shot at them here. Great song either way.



Check Don't Sleep #1, 2 & 3