Mad Skillz vs Supernatural battle (1993)

Lots going on here: Puffy on the judging panel, Stretch Armstrong in the front row, first draft Loud Records logo in the background. 1993 flows and fashions are in full effect with Supernatural sounding like Sticky Fingaz and host Dr Dre rocking the XXXL Karl Kani. Make sure you read Skillz' breakdown of the video in the comments section (its the first one).

File under: when battling was how a rapper made a name for himself and got a deal rather than a bunch of dudes calling each other gay in a room comprised of 98 % men.

Dr Dre's current situation is really sad. Pretty much everyone I know who came up listening to rap in the 90s checked for Yo! MTV Raps and seeing him chilling behind the 1210s every week cracking jokes was definitely one of the things that made me want to get a set of decks.
I didn't have much opportunity to see people DJ back then so Dre, Delbert Wilkins and Christian Slater in Pump Up The Volume were my first sources of inspiration.

Skillz - Hot 97 freestyle (2003)

This is one of those things I played to death back in the day but had forgotten about it in recent years. (Mad) Skillz on Kay Slay's Drama Hour, going all out with the punchlines over 50's 'In Da Club' beat. There's a good chance you might have heard this before but its old enough and dope enough to warrant posting. Rap twitter would have gone nuts if it was around when this first dropped.

"I was sick when Jermaine was pop locking for Whodini"

He reworked some of the lyrics used on this into an actual track in 2010 but it's not anywhere near as good. As for In Da Club, it's strange to think that it was probably the last big selling rap 12". The first time I heard it was when Westwood played it in early 2003 (possibly the same show I first heard Dipset Anthem on aswell), and he followed it with Fabolous, Paul Cain & Joe Budden's take on the track, which I still enjoy. If anyone has an untagged CDQ of this get in touch. I need that.

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,

Skillz - Rawkus promo EP (2002)

The career of (Mad) Skillz has been a strange one. After a promising debut in '95 he got lost in the shuffle in the late 90s, only to re-emerge at a time when fellow Virginians Timbaland and Pharrell were running the clubs and radio. Collaborations followed and Skillz bagged himself a deal with Rawkus, yet somehow despite having the 2 biggest producers in the game on board, he failed to blow. Rawkus disappeared not long after and aside from a couple of 12"s, all that was left to show for it were the tracks on this promo EP. A mix of freestyles over Neptunes beats and some original tracks.

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Some of them eventually got an official release a few years later on Skillz' 'Confessions Of A Ghostwriter' album but the moment had passed and he's since carved out a career with his regular end of year 'Rap Up' and touring as Jazzy Jeff's hypeman. So in comparison to alot of his 90s indie contempories he ain't done too bad I suppose.
I've got a few other loose Skillz freestyles from this era that I can zip up if anyone wants 'em.

I'll try and get back to posting more frequently but can't make any promises. I'm off up t'radio in a bit for tonight's Infinite Hip Hop Show,  9-11pm on Kane FM. Special guest mix by Jorun Bombay. Tune in if you can.

Jazzy Jeff live at The Do-Over (2011)

Up until now it had completely slipped my mind to start checking The Do-Over site for any uploads from their parties this summer. Here's Jazzy Jeff doing his thing, with Skillz on hype man duties...

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Mad Skillz freestyle (1996)

Mad Skillz and N-Tense freestyling over 'Still Shining' on Max LX & Dave VJ's Kiss FM Rap Show back in 1996.

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Shout out to cratedigga who sent me over the full interview which you can get HERE

Jazzy Jeff & Skillz live @ The Do Over (2010)

Here's a great Jazzy Jeff live set from The Do-Over in LA this past weekend. Skillz handles hypeman duties as Jeff runs through a dope selection of Funk, Soul, Disco and Hip Hop.

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The Do-Over is probably at the top of my list of 'parties I'd love to play at' right now, especially as this place is never gonna re-open.