An appreciation of the Nuthin But A G Thang video

I put The Chronic on for the first time in a while recently. The first thing I thought off during the intro was that I had about the half the tracks off the album recorded off Westwood before buying the tape and eventually playing it so often that the print wore off on both sides.The second thing was how great the videos for the singles were. Dre Day tends to get the plaudits for lampooning it's targets, but I think Nuthin But A G Thang could well be the greatest synergy between rap audio and video ever. It captures the vibe of the track perfectly. The simplicity of 2 rappers going back and forth over a smooth-ass loop accompanied by what's presented to us as a typical day in their life: driving about, getting high and partying. No limo to a strobe filled nightclub VIP section, no fish eye lenses, celebrity cameos, speedboats or Scorsese rip offs going on here. Strictly car share, barbecue and beers.

For those of us outside of California (specifically 14 year old white kids in the UK), the visuals helped us make sense of the music we were obessesed by, and gave the music added authenticity which back then could be the difference between sink or swim for a rapper's career.  Boyz N The Hood had come out the year before, and there'd been videos like Ice Cube's Steady Mobbin but somehow the G Thang video took all the key ingredients, squeezed them into just under 5 minutes, and had the song of the year as the soundtrack.

I think it was Stetsasonic's Daddy O who observed that G Thang was a really brave lead single, given how against the grain it was when it came out, by taking it back to the old school (It's like this and like that and like this...'  is about as late-70s-park-jam a hook as you'll find)
Pretty ironic given that the parties involved came to represent everything the Real Hip Hop brigade would come to hate, but that's rap music for you.

With all that in mind, I thought I'd break down my favourite rap video of all time. DJ Charmaine Champagne: your time...

the one where Tim gets shot

As you may remember, Big Tim got shot back in '99*. The full story behind it was never made public but general consensus seems to be that some gangster types wanted to do some business with him (promoting a show, running security or whatever) and didn't react well when he refused. As a result he couldn't present his show the following weekend so Funkmaster Flex steps up and covers for 3 hours, albeit with no talking just music. The voice you hear before the show starts is Pete Tong, who presumably had just explained what had happened in his very best Simon Bates voice. This is still the BBC after all and their DJs don't get shot every day.

Flex gets busy dropping Nas, Ruff Ryders, Mobb Deep, Redman, Missy, Biggie, Jay Z as well as throwing on 50's 'How To Rob' (which is still great) and some GZA, Beatnuts, High & Mighty, Flipmode Squad and Sir Menelik's dope '7XL' featuring Pubes and Derek. Oh, and Mobb Deep and Kool G Rap 'The Realest' which I've been bumping a lot recently.

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*The Guardian article says Tim was 30 at the time of the shooting. Suffice to say, that's not entirely correct. He must've been at least 40 in '99.

Radio 1 Rap Show 22.01.00 with Common, Marley Marl & Cipha Sounds (2000)

New York Live with Tim and Marley. Common is in the house doing some promo for Like Water For Chocolate and he drops a freestyle over Jay's 'So Ghetto'. Cipha Sounds puts in some sterling work on the tables and lets his crew get on the mic.

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.

Radio 1 Rap Show 05.01.96

No guests on this 90 minute tape from a Friday night 22 years ago, but the playlist makes up for that

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Intro

Mobb Deep - Still Shinin

Big Noyd ft Prodigy - Recognize And Realize

Blazhay Blazhay ft Smooth da Hustler, Trigga & La The Darkman - Danger pt II

Bounty Killer ft Jeru The Damaja - Suicide Murder (remix)

Redman - Freestyle (over How Many Mics)

2Pac ft Dr Dre - California Love

Goodie Mob - Cell Therapy

Luniz ft Shock G, Dru Down, E40, Spice 1 & Richie Rich - I Got 5 On It (remix)

Lord Finesse - Flip Da Style

Smooth Da Hustler ft Trigga - Fuck Whatcha Heard

Wu Tang - Winter Warz

Chill Rob G - Let Me Know Something

Greg Nice - Set It Off

Nas - '94 Freestyle (Capital Rap Show)

Special Ed - Freaky Flow (DJ Premier remix)

Mic Geronimo - The Natural (Clark Kent's Ghetto Mix)

OC - What I Represent

Lord Finesse - Game Plan

Bobby J on the phone

DJ Filthy Rich - 90's Reggae-Hip Hop Vol.2 (2018)

Filthy Rich is back with Volume 2 of his Reggae Hip Hop mixtape...

"For those of you who aren't familiar with the 1st volume, I had an idea to create a series of mixes containing 90’s dancehall reggae artists over 90’s hip hop beats. Everything from popular hits to obscure white label-only remixes, including my own custom blends of 90’s reggae acapellas over hiphop instrumentals from that time period. What began as a casual one-off “best of” type mix, evolved into a multi-volume obsession. I even learned to produce my own party breaks just for this project.
The first 40 mins of this mix starts with an uptempo, early 90's boom-bap feel.  The next 50 mins segues into mid-tempo, mid-90's vibes. I've decided to keep the track list under wraps for now. Reason being, I always found it more fun to not know what's next. There was a certain thrill when I heard a dope track, but couldn't identify it.  In this age of digital playlists where everything is meticulously labeled, I felt I'd try to bring back some of the mystique of the mixTAPE era.  Some of my favourite mixtapes that I bought back in the 90's had no track list at all...I had to figure it out for myself.  I appreciate those tapes that much more because of it.  
For those of you who absolutely MUST have a track list, I'll eventually type one up and put it out.....but I'll let this mix marinate with you for a bit. 
Feel free to contact me with your feedback....I'd love to know what people think, and I'm open to suggestions for the next volume. I gotta large up my old friend Masia One for blessin' me with the cover art.The old 90's Reggae party poster style fits the vibe of this mix perfectly"



You can find Volume 1 here and make sure you check his Audiomack page for some dope blends

Biz Markie on Dutchmastaz Radio (1998)

Biz is in the house for this edition of the long running Dutch radio show. While I was searching for a bit more info I came across this mixcloud page with a bunch of other shows, including this one which is where I took the date from. Original tape courtesy of OG Tobes .

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DJ Grazhoppa - Old School Is New School

Actual old school too, not Juicy and Shook Ones. Not even South Bronx and The Bridge. Belgian DJ Grazzhoppa cuts up 90 minutes of what's mainly the Ultimate Breaks & Beats series with some electro and other bits thrown in. Guessing this is from between 96-99ish.

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Radio 1 Rap Show 25.02.00 with Cipha Sounds & Noreaga

Good show this one. Cipha Sounds co-hosting with Tim for 3 hours, with a mix of golden era stuff and new joints. Lots of good tunes plus there's a phone interview with Noreaga (I still call him that because NORE looks weird when it's typed out) in the second half.