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Powerule basically had three stages in their career. 1) Their major label period, where Interscope picked up their indie single "Revenge" and put their album Volume 1 in every shopping mall in the country. 2) Their raw 90s indie era, where they were putting underground 12"s on labels like Hydra and Stretch Armstrong's Dolo. And 3) their recent internet-era comeback, which includes their second full-length album and a 7" through Red Line and Fat Beats. Except for the fact that most groups don't have the tenacity to hang in there that long and go through each stage, it's a pretty typical, predictable story. I don't mean that in a bad way, just that we've seen this path taken so often; if you were to fabricate a backstory of a hoax rap group, this is exactly how it would go. Except there's one curious anomaly that doesn't make sense in the narrative.
"Brick In a Wall" is a 1990 single that came out on Revenge Records. That's the same label as their 1989 indie debut, "Smooth." When Interscope signed them, they included "Smooth" on that album, made a video for it and everything. Then they put out the first single they recorded for Interscope, "That's the Way It Is" in 1991, which of course is also on the album, as is their next one. But for some reason, that one single right in the middle, isn't. It's not on any album, it's an outlier 12"/ cassingle-only single, with an equally exclusive B-side. Why?
I suppose because of the sample? This song is easily best known for being heavily based on a Pink Floyd sample, "Another Brick In the Wall." Me being a purely Hip-Hop guy, I grew up with this single, completely unfamiliar with the source. I recognized the "Big Beat" drums, but had no idea about the Pink Floyd. I mean, I did notice it was making heavy-handed use of some kind of rock sample. Besides the looped guitar riff, they even sample vocal chorus for the hook, which sounds like some distorted bunch of kids mumbling "[something something something] brick in tha wall!" It didn't exactly sound like something Powerule orchestrated themselves.
So it makes sense that Interscope just couldn't clear the sample. Except, then, why didn't they use the B-side? I wouldn't think it's any kind of conflict with Revenge Records, since "Smooth" was on Revenge, too, and they grabbed that up no problem. Oh well, guess we'll never really know. Either way, I'm not mad at having some exclusive bonus songs from their Interscope era that they felt were strong enough to be a single.
That said, it might only be a single for the novelty. I don't care about the Pink Floyd connection, but a lot of people seem to. Personally, I don't think this is half as dope as "Smooth" was. Still, a classic break beat turns it into something more credible than just a rap version of a rock song. Ax provides a nice scratch breakdown in the middle of the song, and Prince knows how to capitalize on the mood of the instrumental. But the rhymes include a lot of trite and easy platitudes, like "There's plenty of ways to get paid, so pursue it. Just do it. (Get into it!) Be somethin', somebody, yo, anybody. It's better than nobody. Find yourself or you might take a fall and be another... brick in the wall." His heart's in the right place, but he sounds like he's biting Ms. C. "Rappin" Pittman, The Rappin School Teacher: "in the school of cool, the first thing to learn is somethin' that brings me great concern. This lesson can bring you tons of wealth. Lesson number one is to love yourself. Some of you say 'I love myself' and this just might be true; but you can't just say it, you have to prove it, by doin' the best you can do." I also don't know why they title the song "Brick In a Wall," when both Powerule and Pink Floyd are clearly saying "the wall," which makes more sense metaphorically.
The B-side is actually sample-reliant as well. "Let the Years Roll" is a nostalgic look back at how Powerule came up in their early days, "let's step back further in the Price Power's path, take a long look deep inside the hour glass. 'Cause years back, I wasn't down in videos, or even thinking of going to the studio." It's got a decidedly funkier track with big looped horns, and each hook consists of the DJ playing a medley of classic breaks and samples. "Brick" is always going to get the most attention, but I think "Years" holds up as the better song.
The cassingle pictured above just features the two songs in a cool picture cover. The 12" has the same cover but also includes instrumentals and acapellas for both cuts. There are definitely singles in their catalog that I prefer (the Erick Sermon-produced "Rock Ya Knot Quick" is a killer). But this one's not rare or expensive at all, so if you're a Powerule fan, there's no reason not to have it in your collection.
