CL Smooth - Future Flavas freestyle on Hot 97 (1995)

A brief appearance from CL Smooth on the first Future Flavas show hosted by Pete Rock and Marley Marl. CL drops a verse from Carmel City over the Brooklyn Zoo instrumental. Short and sweet, but good enough to warrant uploading.

Pete Rock & CL Smooth and Leaders Of The New School on Kiss FM (1992)

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Not one of my own tapes but I found it buried deep in the depths of Soundcloud and thought it deserved to be bought back to life, and this blog is the perfect home for such a thing.
LONS alongside Pete Rock and CL perform on Richie Rich's Rap Academy on London's Kiss FM back in May '92. If you want a good example of how record labels handled hip hop in the UK back then, Elektra had both groups performing at different venues in town on the same night. Top work there lads.

As you would expect from anything involving a young Busta Rhymes, this a lively affair with them hyping each other up and ad libbing all over the place. Classic material.

it's the links baby, it's the links...

I haven't had time to do anything blog related recently so here's some things that have appeared online elsewhere that may be relevant to your interests...

DJ Yoda presents Make Mixtapes Great Again

DJ Filthy Rich - Loungin Volume 1

Pete Rock & Marley Marl - Future Flavas on Hot 97 (1997)

Slum Village on the Radio 1 Rap Show (May 2000)

Clark Kent in the mix on WBLS (April '92)

oh, and here's a video for Sugarbear's 'Dont Scandalize Mine' 

Black Rob - Future Flavas freestyle (1998)

Always happy to come across a Black Rob freestyle I haven't heard before and that's exactly what happened on my drive to work this morning when he popped up in the middle of a Future Flavas show from 1998. Shout out to DJ Diablo for hooking me up with this and a bunch of other FF shows.

Radio 1 Rap Show 15.12.01 with Nas, Pete Rock & Inspectah Deck

Big episode of New York Live here, with Tim and Marley hosting Nas just as Stillmatic was about to drop and the beef with Jay Z was in full swing. Pete Rock shows up for a quick interview in part 2, followed by Inspectah Deck and U God repping the Wu ahead of the release of Iron Flag.



Iron Flag seems like the most maligned or even somewhat forgotten Wu album but Rules, In The Hood and Uzi (Pinky Ring) are all solid Wu bangers. Don't sleep.

Posted a couple of other tapes on the Westwood Archives page recently

Radio 1 Rap Show 15th July 2000

24th September 1999 w/ The Madd Rapper

24th September 1999 with Rodney P, Skitz & Riddla

Also, you can now check out my man Rio T holding it down on TooHot radio, Saturday mornings 12-2pm, rocking strictly clean versions for the Rap Dads.

Marley Marl & Pete Rock - Future Flavas on Hot 97 (1996)

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Another one out of Tobes' stash. Future Flavas tapes are relatively scarce and always full of heat, in this case Real Live, Group Home, Heltah Skeltah, Sadat X amongst others.

I don't usually do tracklists as I listen to most things while I'm driving and can't write stuff down. This tape had the info on the inlay card which made things easier...

Large Professor & Pete Rock - The Rap World
Real Live ft Lord Tariq, Ghostface, Cappadonna & Killa Sin - Real Live Shit (remix)
Alley High - Voo Doo
The Roots - Clones
Bahamadia - 3 The Hardway
INI - Centre Of Attention
Group Home - Suspended In Time (remix)
Heltah Skeltah - Understand
Sadat X - Stages, Cameras, Lights
De La Soul ft Mos Def - Big Brother Beat
Mad Skillz - The Jam
Tragedy, Mobb Deep & CNN - LA, LA (remix)

Pete Rock & CL Smooth live at The Jazz Cafe (2004)

Pete Rock & CL performing live at London's Jazz Cafe in 2004 for one of the first of what would be many reunion shows. I think this did the rounds online at the time as it was broadcast on 1Xtra (which is the source of this tape rip) and it also appeared on a promo CD, but for those of you who didn't catch it then, here it is...

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I saw them perform in London in 2010 and it was a good show, although maybe I was the only one to notice that there was a few awkward points when they performed the ladies records like Lots Of Lovin, Take You There and Appreciate to an audience that was 95% male. I guess that's the perennial dilemma of the golden era rapper.

INI 'Fakin Jax' Frankenstein remix (1996)

As promised, here's the Frankenstein remix of INI's 'Fakin Jax' that appears on the flip of the Method Man remix below (shout to ego trip for spreading the word on that one)...



Always thought that the mid 90s INI material was a bit of a step sideways for Pete Rock after his streak of classic and genre defining productions in the years previous, It's solid enough head nod boom bap and maybe he just wanted to take a step back from the sort of high profile artists he'd been working with (its worth remembering that although he's held up as an icon of Real Hip Hop by the purists, he made a ton of money remixing the likes of Johnny Gill and Alexander O'Neal). He definitely fell a few steps behind the likes of Premier for a while.The fact the INI album got shelved probably didn't help matters but you can't help thinking he might have ended up working with more A listers if he'd taken a different path after the split with CL Smooth. Wonder if anyone has mentioned to him that it'd be a nice idea to release all his Future Flavas remixes in some of format?

I'll be back but for now just google...

Its a BDP reference. No posts recently due the house move now being in full effect. 20 years ago, almost to the week, I bought my first set of turntables - some Gemini belt drives. Today is the first time since then I haven't had them or my vinyl (or any CDs for that matter) in the house. Having lots of records is all well and good until it comes time to move, and then it's just a total bastard. Especially when you live on the 3rd floor with 5 flights of stairs and no lift. It's hard not to feel envious of the people who have all their music on a harddrive, or the types that just use iTunes and Spotify and occasionally buy a compilation from the supermarket.

Anyway, rant over. I feel like I may have posted something similar before but the point remains relevant. This is going to be one of those placeholder type posts where I put you up on them thangs I've discovered on my online travels. No one really sends me their mixes to post anymore. Feel free to do that if you've got something you want to share. Some decent artwork and being able to actually mix helps btw, although I'm fully aware I never have art for my own mixes. So...

Random Rap Radio continues to be a source of things you never heard before (for..for..never heard before...) like this Pete Rock & Marley Marl Future Flavas mixtape sampler for MCA Records from 1999

Remember The Supafriendz? They were Mad Skillz' crew back in the day. Bad Cop just put together this 'best of' mix featuring posse cuts, solo joints and radio freestyles. Check Supafriendz - Da Supa Mixtape

DJ Semtex shared a couple of old Bootcamp Click freestyles following the sad news about Sean Price (RIP).

DJ MK dropped his 'Watever Mixtape Vol 1' last week.

I recommend checking Big Ted's weekly show on Mi-Soul for new and classic Hip Hop.

Mark 563 has posted his dope 'Whats Real' mixtape from 2005 on Mixcloud, featuring all sorts of mid 90s classics.

If you want something to read while you're listening to these, the homie Stan Ipcus recently hooked up another one of his excellent Mixtape Memories pieces, this time interviewing Craig G.

That should keep you going for now. Have fun and enjoy whats left of the summer.

Edit - just realised that 4 of the 6 people linked above used to work in record shops in London. Weird. Shout out to Mr Bongo, Liberty Grooves, Handspun/Deal Real and HMV Oxford Street!

One other thing. I really wanted to like Compton and aside from the presence of Kendrick Lamar and Eminem the tracklist showed some promise. I can't remember the last time I was that pleased to receive a new release in my inbox, but on hearing it I thought the majority of it was rubbish with one or two songs being tolerable at best. The first track after the intro is particularly terrible. Comments I've read online - and there are many - suggest I'm very much in the minority but then as a general rule, comments online suggest most people are stupid. So there. There's a new Warren G EP out with previously unheard Nate Dogg vocals. I suggest you seek that out instead,

Props Over Here

There's been a lot of good things appearing on line recently. Shout out to everyone putting in work and making the effort..

10 classic DJ Clue mixtapes from 1995 courtesy of the ever reliable Stan Ipcus

Judging by the beats used on the freestyles he's been dropping recently, seems like Fabolous has been checking some of his old Clue tapes as well. He even roped in the man to add a few shouts and adlibs for him. The freestyles are decent and you have to admire Fab for dressing like he's in his early 20s even though he's pushing 40.

Great interview with Diamond D on The Combat Jack Show. If you don't have time for the full 90 minutes at least skip to 1 hour 6 mins for his less than complimentary thoughts on The Fugees

Great (if a bit too short) documentary on the golden era of New York radio in the 80s

which leads nicely into these tape rips I found on Soundcloud (download limits are maxed out but you can still stream 'em)

Pete Rock & Marley Marl - Future Flavas on Hot 97, 1995

Funkmaster Flex - Street Jams on Hot 97, 1993

finally, I haven't heard it in it's entirety yet but the new Alchemist & Oh No album is out now and worth investigating. Judging by the track list there's a bit of something for everyone on there.

That should keep you busy for the time being...

Don't Sleep #2 Soul Supreme ft T Max, AG & Pete Rock 'Queen' (2003)

"For all the girls who said 'A, you smoke too much', shut up baby and roll that Dutch..."

This is one of those tracks I've never really tired of. I first heard it on a Tony Touch mix in the summer of 2003. A couple of weeks later I took my first trip to NYC and despite asking for it in every shop, I came up short. I think I eventually picked it up in Mr Bongo (it  have been my last purchase in there). Anyway, as you may have noticed by now, my tastes have a tendency to lean towards the soulful side of things so I'm a big fan of the sped-up soul sample trend of the early/mid 00s. This ticks all the right boxes with 3 solid verses from AG, Pete Rock and T Max and a nice long outro for the DJs among us to mix out of...

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Turns out there's a video for it, although it looks like Pete Rock was busy that day



Previously: Don't Sleep # 1 - Melody 'Cool Chillin' (1989)

Pete Rock - In Control on WBLS (1989)

One of out the pile Tobes gave me nearly a year ago that had slipped through the net. 90 minutes of the Chocolate Boy Wonder on the legendary In Control show from 1989. There's no talking on this so the In Control jingles and one 'Pete Rock' drop towards the end are the only hints as to who is on the tables.

download at the hip hop radio archive

tracklist

Special Ed - I Got It Made

Powerule - Smooth

EPMD - The Big Payback

BDP - The Blueprint

Chubb Rock - Nothing Can Stop Us Now

Heavy D & The Boyz - Here We Go Again

Public Enemy - B Side Wins Again

Kwame - The Rhythm

Special Ed - I'm The Magnificent

James Brown - Funky Drummer

YZ & G.Rock - I'm In The Party

BDP - Ghetto Music

Heavy D & The Boyz - Somebody For Me

Nice & Smooth - Early To Rise

Chubb Rock - What A Difference

Stezo - It's My Turn

Main Source - Atom

unknown - unknown

EPMD - So Wat Cha Sayin

Soul II Soul - Back To Life

Funkmaster Flex & Pete Rock on Hot 97 (1994)

This was on the flipside of the Pete Rock tape I posted the other day (which fully warrants your attention btw). This time we find PR on the 1's & 2's on Flex's 'Street Jams' show in early 1994.

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Some great tunes on this as you'd expect but the highlight might be Flavor Flav calling the studio around the 32 minute mark.

Marley Marl & Pete Rock on WBLS (29.07.89)

Soul Brother #1 in the mix uninterrupted for 40 mins on Marley's 'In Control' show on WBLS back in 1989. Master Ace, Kool G Rap, Chubb Rock, Queen Latifah and YZ all feature...

Pete Rock & CL Smooth live in London (2010)

Great show. Shout to Big Ted, Sarah Love, Jehst, Jazz T, Micall Parkinsun, DJ Matman, Mr Sheen and everyone else in attendance!

Pete Rock & The UN on Kiss FM (2001)

Pete Rock & The UN being interviewed by Big Ted on London's Kiss FM whilst they were in town promoting the 'Petestrumentals' album back in 2001.

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This is a pretty interesting interview, especially where Ted quizzes Pete on certain rappers he has/hasn't worked with, plus theres the mandatory freestyle session at the end, although its worth hearing for the Nas impressions alone!

Shout out to Mr Lawson for sending this one over.

You can catch Big Ted every friday at midnight on Colourful Radio

Funkmaster Flex 'Street Jams' on Hot 97 (1994)

This is from the flipside of the tape that the Theodore mix below is taken from. Could possibly even be from the same night. Flex does his thing with some Freddie Foxxx, Jeru, Nas and Wu Tang...

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He also drops LL's elusive 'Year Of The Hip Hop', which K Def was meant to be blessing us with a few months ago but has yet to appear.

BONUS!
Flex (or one of his interns) recently uploaded a 1994 Street Jams show with Pete Rock in the mix. You can get that HERE. Hopefully he'll make this a regular thing.

"Time to get wreck with The Creator..."

Info & tickets HERE

Red Cafe 'Heart & Soul Of New York City' (2009)

This Pete Rock produced track was one of my favourites of 2009 but I only discovered this video for it last night. I got the impression that the song was kind of slept on and seeing as its 9/11 and all I thought I'd post it up for all the NY heads that check the blog.

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Even if you dont usually check for Red Cafe I'd still highly recommend this - great song, great video!

Lord Finesse & Cormega - Future Flavas freestyle

I've just set myself up a Soundcloud account, and while I was searching through endless pages of homemade remixes and sub-par mash-ups I came across this short Finesse and Cormega freestyle from Marley Marl and Pete Rock's Hot 97 show. The Funky Man kills it...