Funkmaster Flex - Hot 97 Street Jams 28.07.95 with Method Man & Redman

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This is what was going down in NYC 23 years ago today. Flex hosts his Friday night Street Jam show alongside Big Dennis, with Meth & Red passing through the studio and dropping the obligatory freestyle. Everything you'd expect Flex to be playing is in here: Lost Boyz, AZ, Wu Tang and Mary J, plus Mobb Deep, Kool G Rap and a nice indie joint right at the end that I hadn't heard before. Even the commercial break has some heat, with Biggie rapping over the Dogg Pound's New York New York beat for St Ides and a Tower Records ad for Only Built For Cuban Linx. There's also this...

"...I hit you with that Luniz joint...hmm, verdict is still out...I Got 5 On It. In New York we put 20 on it"

Flex showcasing his astute A&R skills there. It's not quite as bad as Mr Magic's opinions on Public Enemy, BDP and the Beastie Boys but it does show how tough it was for rappers from other regions to get play on the East Coast. Interestingly he plays the Weedless mix, which despite owing it on vinyl I have never played and initially thought it was some rare demo or promo.

Anyone know what the track at 1 hr 34 mins is?

I recently found out that I haven't been receiving email notifications to approve comments and discovered 20+ from the last few months pending approval. Not sure what happened there but if you didn't get a response that's why. Thanks to Krisch for bringing it to my attention. Unfortunately there are plenty of people that think spamming blog comments sections is still a worthwhile endeavour (I really can't see how) so I need to keep the blocker in place.

The Firm - Phone Tap (remix)

I had no idea this existed until today when I caught it on this Stretch Armstrong show from 1998.
I wouldn't say it's better than the original but it's not bad, and I'm surprised it hasn't crossed my path at some point in the last 20 years. Anyone know if this made it onto any kind of vinyl or CD, official or otherwise?

Mr Magic & Marley Marl on WBLS (1986)

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Big fun in the big town with Super Rockin Mr Magic and Marley Marl playing Eric B & Rakim, Run DMC, Fat Boys, LL and UTFO amongst others. This is a recording that was re-broadcast on Dave Pearce's show on Radio London, so in that respect it's a something of a precursor to the Rap Exchange that Westwood would host with Marley and then Flex years later.

Dave mentions having details of tickets for UK Fresh which was 19th July '86 so I guess this must be from a month or 2 before that.

DJ Filthy Rich - 90s Canadian Hip Hop Volume 2

Filthy Rich just dropped Volume 2 of this Canadian Hip Hop mix.

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Tracklist
National Anthem - O Canada [Filthy Rich blend]
Maestro Fresh Wes - Let Your Backbone Slide ALT MIX [Filthy Rich blend]
Split Personality - Try and Stop Us 
B Kool - Gotta Get Over
UBAD - The Legacy
Thrust - Emcee 
Redlife - The Night's Young
Choclair - 21 Years
Choclair ft Marvel & Solitair - Conversations
Thrust - Rage (Didn't Have To Go)
UBAD ft Nas-T-Howie - Rugged and Nasty
Nefarius - Pondering
Bishop Brigante - Kipling 2 Kennedy
Mathematik ft Bahamadia - Following Goals
Thrust - Do You Understand (Scam RMX)
Saukrates ft Common - Play Dis (Soxx Soul Mix)
Dan E O - Dear Hip Hop RMX [Filthy Rich blend]
Saukrates - Paperchase [Filthy Rich blend]
K-OS ft AZ - Rise Like The Sun RMX [Filthy Rich Crossborder ReFix]
Kardinal Offishall ft Saukrates - On Wit Da Show (OG Version)
Sekou Toure - Almighty God
Dan E O - Mic Surgery (Originally unreleased)
Rascalz - Blind Wid Da Science
Maestro - Pushin Wiggz Back
Frankenstein - The Rain Is Gone
Ghetto Concept - Much Love
Sic Sense (ft Dub-Ill & Boom) - Hill Topics
Diamond X (aka Diemen X aka The D.X.) - What I See
Brass Tacks - Icebreaker Classic (Original Serious Mix)
Citizen Kane ft Mathematik - Elements Of Mind (Black Rain RMX)

You can check Volume 1 here if you slept first time around

Biz Markie - Live at The Que Club (May 1994)

The Diabolical one on the tables at NYC's Q Club in May '94. Loving hearing the crowd singalong to Ain't No Fun when Biz cuts the volume...

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Thanks again to Diablo for this one.

Funkmaster Flex on Hot 97 (17.12.95)

Always nice to hear a bit of Flex rocking on the radio, and being that it's from 1995 means the selection is suitably on point.

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Not really sure what to make of the recent beef with Kid Capri but 2 men in their 50s shouldn't really be arguing online (about what appears to be nothing) and screen-shotting each others text messages. It's a shame really as I've heard Flex give the Kiiiiiid his props numerous times over the years. As an example, here's an interview with the pair from November '98 that was broadcast on the Radio 1 Rap Exchange.

Capital Rap Show 11.02.94 with Snoop Dogg, Daz & Kurupt

I was amped to find this tape of Snoop, Daz & Kurupt on Westwood's show from February '94, as I had it back in the day and played it to death to the point where I could pretty much recite the live calls word for word (turns out I still can). This was also the only place I had the dope remix of N!ggaz Don't Give A Fuck which wouldn't appear in better quality until a few years ago. Once I had uploaded the freestyle for one of the first posts on this blog back in 2009, I sold the cassette to some dude in Germany who then stuck in on a CDR and tried selling it , with what I assume was limited success. Diablo's recording ended before the freestyle finished so I replaced it with the high quality copy straight from the DAT that Westwood himself shared a couple of years back,

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Tracklist

Wu Tang Clan - CREAM

Wu Tang Clan - Method Man (remix)

UMCs - Hit The Track

MOP - How About Some Hardcore

Heavy D ft Tru Kula & Notorious BIG - Jam Session

Slick Rick - Behind Bars

Casual & Souls Of Mischief - ?

Cash Crew ft Ses 1- Bring It On

Dogg Pound - N!ggaz Don't Give A Fuck (remix)

Snoop Dogg - Lodi Dodi

Snoop  Dogg  - interview

Dr Dre ft Snoop Dogg - Deep Cover

Snoop Dogg - interview

Snoop Dogg - Murder Was The Case

Gang Starr - Speak Ya Clout

live calls

Snoop Dogg - Serial Killa

live calls

Snoop, Daz & Kurupt - Freestyle