DJ 279 on Choice FM 25.06.04 with Swiss, Asher D & Cassius Henry

DOWNLOAD

It was nice to come across this Friday Night Flavas show from 2004 where 279 hosts one of his round table freestyle sessions with So Solid's Asher D and Swiss alongside Ammo and Young Pro (who I haven't heard of but were presumably up and coming at the time) and singer Cassius Henry. They take turns going in over new and old rap beats for the best part of an hour. It's good, the only place you'll hear members of So Solid Crew rapping over Iced Down Medallions, and a useful time stamp of where certain artists in the UK were before road rap and UK drill became a thing. It wasn't all boom-bap head-nod backpack business over here. On a slightly related note, don't get me started on Complex letting their work experience lad loose on an article where the extent of the research was checking his own iTunes history. Just let it be known that UK artists like Rodney P & Bionic, Mr 45, Skeme & Big P, MD7, Fallacy and Terra Firma have been talking that road talk since the 90s.

I should also add that what made finding this tape a particularly nice surprise was that I was never a fan of So Solid Crew in their heyday (although I do know the lyrics to 21 Seconds inside out - it was unavoidable when it dropped). However, one of the crew's DJ/producers Swiss turned MC and dropped a decent solo effort in 2005, which included the single Cry and as it was on more of straight up rap tip, was more my kind of thing. I liked UK Garage but when the MCs appeared that was it for me, and as much as I wanted to like grime at first but in it's early days the majority of raps and beats were just too basic and raw (ok, rubbish) in comparison to where hip hop was at the time.

Radio 1 Rap Show 22.08.97 with Jay Z & Busta Rhymes

Jay, Dame Dash and Busta (accompanied by Spliff Star, Rampage and DJ Scratch) on this '97 show while they were all in town to perform on Westwood's stage at the Notting Hill Carnival.

DJ Clue - Triple Platinum (1997)

DOWNLOAD

Some great stuff on this Clue tape from '97: freestyles by The LOX, Cam'ron & Mase, McGruff & Big L, Black Rob and Prodigy & Big Noyd, plus the dirty version of the Firm Biz remix and a lot of Bad Boy and Jay Z related things. Full tracklist is here.

I came across this one whilst tidying up my hard drive . It wasn't one of my own rips so it hadn't made it's way onto the blog. I actually copped this from SOUL's now dormant site which was a great source of tapes for a long time but unfortunately most of the download links are now dead. Speaking of which, I've had a few requests recently to re-up some of the other Clue tapes I posted but haven't had time. The Mixcloud links are still good though so hopefully that'll do for now.

Down(load) By Law

A couple of weeks ago I dropped that big ass zipfile of random 90s joints that you might've forgotten about, should play more often, or not heard before. It was pretty popular so here's the early 00s edition.
It took a bit of thinking about it because whereas during the 90s I feel like we were mostly all on the same page (or at least aware of the majority of releases), by the time Y2K hit things were about more than NY and LA and people were finding their listening niches and picking sides. Going through my folders from 2000-2003 there's the established A-list artists you'd expect, alongside underground indie joints (both backpack and more thugged out), and artists from all over the US, plus the UK too as that was doing quite nicely at the time. I was definitely a lot more open minded back then, possibly as a result of being in my early 20s and generally being  less cynical about things but also because I worked in a Virgin Megastore so I had plenty of time to investigate any release that looked interesting. That's how Blackalicious ended up on here, as Blazing Arrow was one of the few rap albums I could play in store to disrupt the playlist of Sophie Ellis Bextor, Wheatus and Robbie Williams. It was also a time of hitting up the bargain bins in various 2nd hand record shops and picking up anything that looked like it might be something. Discogs and the "vinyl revival" have pretty much killed that experience off for good unfortunately

Anyway, here's the selection....

DOWNLOAD

Casual - I Got Ta Get Down

D Block - 2 Gunz Up

Da Ranjahz ft Ras Kass & Bilal - Da Dopest

DJ Quik ft Pharaohe Monch - Murda 1 Case

Ghostface Killah - Cherchez La Ghost (Heartbeat remix)

Bars & Hooks ft Prodigy - Mind Blowin'

Cappadonna ft Raekwon - Love Is The Message

Blackalicious - First In Flight

Grand Agent - Every 5 Minutes

Just Ice & Big Daddy Kane - Just Rhymin With Kane

Big Scoob - Brooklyn Flava

Run DMC ft Nas & Prodigy - Queens Day

Declaime - Caliwayz (remix)

The Game & Obie Trice - Growin Up In The Hood

Scarface ft Jay Z - Get Out

Pitch Black ft Foxy Brown - Got It Locked

Guru ft Timbo King, Killah Priest & Black Jesus - In Here

Perverted Monks - Desperado

Willmatic - Surround Surveillance

Soul Supreme ft AG, T Max & Pete Rock - Queen (Hip Hop)

I was going to do a brief write up on each track but that's a bit much. If there's anything you want to know just ask..

The photo was taken in a shop that I found one of the above records in. It's a complete health and fire hazard that makes NYC's The Thing look like Ikea and I can't believe it hasn't been closed down but an hour or so of awkward physical contortions and inhaling all manner of nastiness yielded a result or two so, y'know, appreciate that.

It's not Epic it's Rocafella!

Live from Sylvia's in Harlem, Westwood hosts Cam, Juelz and Jim who drop a freestyle over The Roc (Just Fire) and What Happened To That Boy and Cam does his lyrics from Down & Out (2 years before that came out). Keith Murray is also in the building alongside 50 Grand for some more freestyle action.

On a related note, another Radio 1 Rap Show from the year before threw up this oddity on the Top 10 At Ten. It's a remix of Oh Boy, that despite being dismissed by Just Blaze* as a "fake DJ trickery attempt", is actually pretty decent and definitely better than the official 'Oh Girl' remix. I've no idea where the Cam verse came from if it wasn't done for this track but he's accompanied by 2 other dudes who despite sounding like State Property, appear to go by Frank Mueller and TD (Ted Dibiase?). Can't find any info on  them or this version so if anyone can help out please do.



*my DMs are hotter than yours

Shyne & Black Rob - Hot 97 freestyle (2000)

This has been sitting on my hard drive for ages and I've no idea where I got it from* but it made me realise that I miss the days of finding Hot 97 freestyles online and on mixtapes. Hearing BR do his verse from Let's Get It over the Keep It Thoro beat is a highlight. Full 30 mins above, freestyle (with DL link) below...

DOWNLOAD

*think it was off the Grime & Lime forum when that was briefly popping last year. Forget who posted it but as a significant amount of bits shared on there originated from this very site I don't feel too bad. Thanks anyway.

Blogspot like we bringin' 2008 back

You a slave to a draft in my Macbook. Just realised I haven't posted this year so far and I'm already into what will probably be the last couple of months of this site - I'm trying to wrap it up at 1000 posts and/or the ten (ten!) year anniversary -  so here's a random bunch of 90s tracks that I've discovered or rediscovered over the last however long, plus a few long time faves that I feel should get more shine. It's like an extended Don't Sleep but somewhat restricted by what's on YouTube. Having realised how much stuff isn't on there I might make that my next project.

Geto Boys - Homie Don't Play That (1991)

ESP - Give Me The Night (1991)
WC And The Maad Circle - Dress Code (1991)
The Elite - Nympho Klepto (1992)

Da Lench Mob ft Ice Cube - All On My Nut Sac (1992)

Black Rob - The Smoothness (1992)

Poison Clan - Action (Mike Fresh Nasty Mix) (1992)

Domino - Long Beach Thang (1993)

Ice Dog - Stick Up Boyz (1993)

Extra Prolific - Go Back To School (1994)

Kirk - Uptown Style (Laidback Bounce mix) (1994)

Shadez Of Lingo - Mad Flavaz (Dallas Austin remix) (1994)

Down N Dirty Tribe - Inna Cipher (1995)

Ill Al Skratch - Don't Shut Down On A Player (1995)

MOP - '95 Live Freestyle (1995)

SOP - Styles  (1995)

Big Noyd - Usual Suspects (Stretch Armstrong Remix) (1996)

Real Live - Money & Shows (1996)

Colored Section - Bomb MC (1997)

Duo ft DMX - 3 Stories (1997)

McGruff ft Mase - Harlem World (1997)

MC Eiht ft Daz - Hit The Floor (1997)

Redman - Pick It Up (Warren G remix) (1997)

Teflon ft MOP - The Rawness  (1997)

Doo Wop ft Don Blaq - The Things I Do (1998)

Flipmode Squad - Run For Cover (1998)

Kasino ft The LOX - Men Of Respect (1998)

Blahzay Blahzay - Federal Reserve Notes (1999)

DJ Clue ft The LOX, Cam'ron, Nature & Fabolous - Fantastic Four Pt.2  (1999)

Goodie Mob - Get Rich To This  (1999)

DOWNLOAD