Lord Tariq freestyle (1993)

 

This is taken from a Rell Love tape that Westwood played back in summer '93, with Tariq going off over Funky Child and the G Thang remix beats, and it's sufficiently rowdy. LT was definitely killing it on the mixtapes back then and I like to think that he could've dropped a great album in 93/94 with a half decent label behind him, although maybe that raw mixtape energy with familiar beats is part of the appeal. Guess we'll never know but it's a shame he doesn't have more official material from this period.

DJ Triple C mixtape (1992)

First thing to say about this is the quality isn't the best, although once again it's been improved by the Random Rap Radio Remastering Service. It's got that slightly muddy and distorted feel in places that definitely gives off that whole 'rumbling out of a boom box in Camden Market on a Saturday afternoon' feeling from way back in the day.
If it was your standard tape from say, '95 (you know the ones with Wu, Biggie, Nas, Mobb etc) I probably wouldn't have posted it but it's from '92, when the scene wasn't as saturated, and it's also by Triple C who isn't a DJ you come across too often. More importantly it contains some Unreleased Heat ™. At the start of side 2 Triple C announces he's just been in the studio with Lord Tariq, Minnesota and DJ Scratch and then drops the exclusive. There's also someone rhyming on the track by the name of Pete Lova which we can safely assume is Peter Gunz. Now Deja Vu is still 5 years off at this point but Tariq and Gunz would end up releasing a couple of singles as part of Gunrunners (**obscure + expensive indie vinyl claxon**) before Minnesota and Tariq found some success with Money Boss Players, so this demo track is very much the foundation of that whole crew. If you don't have time to check the whole tape I posted the song on Soundcloud.

The rest of the tape is solid. Of course it is, it's 1992...

tracklist

Pete Rock & CL Smooth - Straighten It Out

Kenny Dope - Axxis

Fu-Schnickens - True Fu-Schnick

Wreckx N Effect - Rump Shaker

Mary J Blige - Real Love (remix)

Grand Puba - 360 (What Goes Around) (remix)

A TEEM - Yeah

House Of Pain - Jump Around (Pete Rock remix)

Redman - Blow Your Mind

EPMD - Cummin Atcha

LOTUG - Psycho (instrumental)

Diamond D - Freestyle (Yo Thats That Shit)

MC Serch - Back To The Grill Again

Triple C, Lord Tariq, Pete Lova & Minnesota - unreleased track

Take 6 - Spread Love (45 King remix)

Yo Yo - Black Pearl

Mary J Blige - Reminisce

Gang Starr - BYS

EPMD - Nobodys Safe Chump

Diamond D - Best Kept Secret

A Tribe Called Quest - Hot Sex

Zhigge - Born Black

LOTUG - Check It

Das EFX - Straight Out The Sewer

EPMD - Can't Hear Nothin But The Music

Eric B & Rakim - What's Going On

Prince Ikey C - Smoked We Out

The discovery of this was made all the more satisfying by it turning up unannounced on a cassette that was labelled as a Radio 1 Rap Show from '99 (cheers G&L!)

the post with no name (aka 'random treats')

Been a while since I last posted. No real reason for the break other than that I dropped a lot of hotness in May and thought I'd best give you time to catch up. Nothing worse than having a load of newly downloaded music and not having time to get through it all before the next gem appears.
Theres no specific theme to this post other than to offer up a few things from my hardrive that you might not have come across before, but at the same time probably dont warrant their own post. Enjoy...

Jay Z 'Feelin It' (Rosco's ride-out blend)
I found this on Soundcloud. Uses the 'It Was A Good Day' instrumental. Nice.

Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz 'Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)' Bay Area mix
Promo only business to keep the regional DJs sweet. This has the same beat but the chorus shouts out towns and cities in The Bay rather than NYC.

The Firm 'Freestyle'
Think I got this off the 'Firm Biz' CD single. Uses the Alkaholiks 'Hip Hop Drunkies' beat.

Mobb Deep 'True Lies'
I'm guessing this is from around 1997ish. Not 100% but I dont think it ever saw an official release. If it did and any of you have a better quality version than the bootleg vinyl rip I've posted here then hook me up!

Dirty Harry 'All Star Killers' (1998)

Another strange 12". I can't find it listed on Discogs but this is - I think - a blend put together mixtape king Dirty Harry, although it could well pass for an original track. Despite the big name line up I dont recognise the verses from any other songs and they flow together nicely. It opens with a sample from 'Menace II Society' and features Big Pun, DMX, Method Man, Fat Joe, Cam'ron, Noreaga, Lord Tariq and Peter Gunz.

DOWNLOAD

Doo Wop, Akinyele, Fat Joe, Lord Tariq & Pretty Boy Floyd 'Gotta Go Down' (1995)

OK, so I didn't just drop a 4 figure sum on the Hip Hop collector's Holy Grail, but £3 did just get me a bootleg 12" that includes the b-side which did the rounds on the mixtapes back in the day...