A Pair Of Wu-Tang Promos

You know a group's captured the popular imagination when even their snippet tapes sell for good money on the collectors' market. Of course, it helps immensely when they have ill exclusives or really cool art design. And to that end, I've dug two classic Wu-Tang cassettes from out of my box.

First up is the legendary "silver tape." That name's a little misleading, since the tape itself isn't actually silver, like the purple tape was genuinely made of purple plastic. I guess this name's more short-hand, referring to the shiny silver case it comes in, with nothing but the Wu logo on the front and back, no indication of what songs or what's on it. And that's true of the cassette itself, too, which is all solid black with just a silver "W" on it. It definitely makes you feel like you've got your hands on some super secret, mysterious Wu contraband; and this is from back in 1997, before there had been any lesser, lower tier material from the Clan, so anything you saw had to be amazing.

Unfortunately, the content doesn't quite live up to all of that. It's basically a Wu-Tang Forever promo, with snippets from their then yet to be released second album. But it's not just a collection of clips of songs you've already got in full on the album now, that actually makes up a small fraction of the tape. The majority consists of interview snippets with each of the various members talking about their history. They talk about how they came up with the title 36 Chambers, why they kept their faces covered on their earliest covers, how they slip serious content into their songs, etc. ODB starts out by saying, "give me a kiss" and talks about his drinking and adding "Ossirus" to his name. I wouldn't say it's something you should bust your kneecaps out running to track down, but its a pretty cool collectors item for the serious fans.

Then the other one dates back even farther. It's Raekwon the Chef's Latest and Greatest Hits from 1995, where he's boldly putting out a "greatest hits" even before his first album. It's essentially an expanded version of his "Criminology" single, I guess, as it has both the A- and B-sides to that, plus his previous, debut single "Heaven and Hell." It's also got some of his most famous moments from 36 Chambers, including "C.R.E.A.M." and the remix of "Can It Be All So Simple," which actually wound up being Cuban Linx. And finally it's got his classic Mobb Deep appearance, "Eye For an Eye." And why am I getting excited and bothering to list out all of these snippets song by song? Because they're actually not snippets, but the full songs. So this was a pretty nice little pick-up back in the day.

But the best part, and the reason why you might continue to care about this in 2015 is that it also has an exclusive freestyle. It's pretty substantial, almost the length of a full song, and has him spitting over Channel Live's dark "Mad Izm" instrumental, constantly being rubbed and scratched by an uncredited DJ. And he gets pretty sick, though that's largely because he slips pretty quickly into his verse from "Guillotine." Of course, this came out before Cuban Linx, so it was brand new here, and either way he sounds great over Krs's killer beat.

So yeah, just a couple things to keep an eye out for next time you're shopping for the Wu fan who has everything. I think I'd rather get one of these than one of these Wu-Tang Clan American flag watches, anyway.  :/

Something Else By T-La Rock

(Youtube version is here.)

Back To the 6th Floor

Hey, the new Roots Forward record landed on my door today. It's been a little while since we heard from them; I think their last record was that Schoolly D repress a couple years ago. But they're back, and this new single's pretty cool. This time they're bringing us 6th Floor, one of those rugged mid 90s Wu-Tang affiliate groups from before anyone from that camp started doing corny stuff. They just dropped one single back in 1995 on the indie Brooklyn label Kick Live Records. It's one of those records that's hard to find and goes for a lot when you do find it, 'cause you know, Wu collectors are dogged, especially when the material's really dope.

So, the single's called "Project Logic," and Roots Forward's new 7" is a repress of that old Kick Live A-side. It's a great, subtle track with a perfect bassline and drum combo. Two MCs pass the mic back and forth for a little extra energy, but they sound pretty similar, so it's hard to always tell which one is rapping at any given moment. Although maybe part of that is just that we haven't had the chance to get to know them like we did other Wu groups who continued putting out albums until we were all intimately familiar with their styles and idiosyncrasies. At any rate, these dudes are pretty nice. It's all just your basic freestyle rhymes about their own flows, but I don't think we'd really want a crew like this getting too spacey or conceptual anyway. And they've got consistently smart, multiple rhymes that are a pleasure to listen to, putting them ahead of several other Wu affiliates. It is from '95, so there are some cheesy punchlines like "smoother than Ex-Lax," that we wouldn't suffer nowadays, but they at least kind of add to the nostalgic throw back vibe of this release.

The track's produced by Wu fam Supreme... I'm honestly not sure if he was actually a member of 6th Floor or just did this record for them. But either way, if he's behind it, you know it's sick. You remember that early EP by Shabazz the Disciple and Supreme Kourt? He's that guy; and he also did some of the earliest and best Sunz of Man material (alongside everything 4th Disciple produced). It's atmospheric, dark and minimalistic, with just a little quiet cutting of Grand Daddy IU's "Pick Up the Pace" for a hook. It's one of those joints I feel pretty confident any hip-hop head will like.

Now, the original 12" on Kick It Live had two songs. "Project Logic," the one featured here, is the stronger of the two; but both were good. This 7" only has the one song. It's the best one, but still... hardcore enthusiasts are going to still want to track down the original for both tracks. But that's not to say that this 7" is of no value to the serious collector who's already got the original 12". Why?

Well, the old 12" had the main versions and Radio Edits (which, pffft, goodbye. Nobody cares about radio edits except radio DJs. Won't be missing them). But the B-side to this 7" is the previously unreleased Instrumental version. That's not available anywhere else. Granted, instrumentals probably only really appeal to a select segment of the audience, too. But for them, this should be a real treat. And for the rest of us, hey, it's at least a little cool to have it as an exclusive.

And this is a pretty nice looking project, too. It's just a 7" and yeah we all prefer 12"s; but it's pressed on a really cool looking blue vinyl and has a stickered outer cover. Like most of their records, this one's limited to 300 copies. Oh, and lest I forget one of the most important aspects, the sound quality's excellent. I don't have the original 12" to compare it to, but it's definitely much better than what's been floating around online all this time. These have been remastered from the original recordings; you can tell they didn't just rip the old 12" or anything.

So I really recommend this one for anyone who doesn't want to spend months hunting down the OG and then paying triple digits for it. Don't get me wrong, I've been that guy and I will be again. Ha ha But for most of us, the chance to own a hot, slept on 90s Wu-banger on wax for less than $10 US (finally, an exchange rate we benefit from!) is a deal worth doin'. You can cop it direct from Roots Forward here. It's good to see 'em back.

Back To Beverly Hills

(Youtube version is here.)

The First Virginia Hip-Hop Record?

Is this the first Virginia hip-hop record? That's what I've read about it online, and it seems to check out. It certainly comes long before any of the famous VA Hip-Hop acts we all know like Tha Supafriendz or Missy Elliot, and even before the oldest ones I've heard of, like the Too Def Crew. But then again, I'm assuming that's true based on the dates on discogs. I'm not exactly sure where they got them from, as there's no date on the label, and no other records by the same company have dates on their labels either. But assuming these dates are correct, then yes, M.C. Rockwale's "Cooley Tee" from Style Records and Tapes seems to be Virginia's first hip-hop single, released in 1986.

Happily, it's also a pretty good record; so it's worth looking into whether it's the first or not. The Cooley-Tee of the title is Rockwale's DJ, and he does some nice, old school scratching on the record. It starts out with Rockwale doing a corny London accent acting as a Cooley-Tee fan who's come to America to find him, but once he starts actually rapping, he's pretty good. I mean, it's very old school, so if mid-80s rap isn't your bag, this won't convince you with lines like, "hip-hop is hot, Liberace's not, so when you're hot you're hot and when you're not you're not!" But vocally he comes off well, very LL-inspired, over some well-programmed percussion and a funky bassline. And honestly, for 1986 and somebody who's coming out of a state that never made any hip-hop records before, Tee's scratching is pretty impressive. It's nice that he changes the samples he's cutting throughout the song rather than just making a consistent hook. "Cooley-Tee" actually holds up pretty well, and I'm disappointed they didn't seem to follow it up with any more records.

The record is produced by Grandaddy, who released his own record on the same label under the amended spelling Grand'Daddy. Again, there's no date on the label, and the catalog numbers aren't a huge help... would Style 1001 have come out before or after Style 112? I mean, presumably after, or else Grand'Daddy actually released the first Virginian hip-hop record. And that would be a shame because this record sucks.

The A-side is "Grand'Daddy's Party," and he doesn't quite rap on it. It's a dance record, for sure, with some rock & roll style saxophone and a girl singing the hook. Grand'Daddy just kinda talks for a while, without rhyming or a strict rhythm, about how great his party is. Then Grand'Daddy comes in for his part, just basically talking about how great his party is... he's kind of like Luke in that regard. He even leads a shout & call section, shouting, "New York, are you holdin'? (Yeah!), Chicago are you controllin'? (Yeah!)." I was going to say he definitely doesn't rap, but after a couple listens I realized his talking bit does actually rhyme. He also says everything twice, which is a little annoying.

But if you want to say that it's not rap-y enough to qualify as a hip-hop record to even be a contender for first if it does precede MC Rockwale, let me tell you about the B-side. It's called "Rap, Grand'Daddy, Rap," and he definitely does rap on this one. He's got presumably the same girls singing the chorus, and his rap is still pretty close to generic talking, but there is a more definite rap rhythm. His verses are as simple as, "Grand'Daddy is my name, rappin' is my claim to fame. You heard the rest, now listen to the best" with a flow like a clean Blowfly with a smoother voice. He tells a little story which makes it sound like he thinks Hollywood is in New York, because he flat out says, "I went to New York to make it good; gonna make my debut in Hollywood." This could almost be featured in my Wack Attack video series, but the B-side is actually listenable and kinda fun. The girls singing the hook are good, and once again there's a lot of saxophone. Maybe he's playing it himself and that sax is his real forte. Anyway, it sure is a strange reveal as the man behind MC Rockwale & Cooley-Tee.

I'd only recommend the Grand'Daddy record as a lark, but the Rockwale record's really pretty good. It's just the one song, with an Instrumental and shortened Radio Mix on the B-side, but it's worth picking up cheap, or if you're an aficionado of Virginian hip-hop history. This is Rockwale's only record, but apparently he's still in Virginia, now working as a dancer/ instructor under the name Pop-A-Dok. You can check out his website here, and he also does Michael Jackson impersonations. Pretty fun.

The Great Peso Is Back

Maybe you remember a couple years ago, I talked about a new record by an old school guy named Chain 3, which featured The Great Peso of The Fearless Four. Now, Peso had done a couple things since those disco-era Fearless Four records... he had that single with Mr. Nasty and a couple 12"s on Tuff City. But that stuff petered out by the late 80s. And he did come back for the Fearless reunion album in 1994 [note to self: blog about that one of these days, too], but it's basically been an awfully long time since we'd heard from the man musically. But thanks to a reader named Matt, I've just found out he's actually been pretty active on that front.

This is a self-titled album by Peso simply going under the initials TGP. There's no date on it, but I'm guessing just from the sound it might be a couple years old, and it's on a label called Lake City Records. There are no guests and it's entirely produced by TGP and Karon S. Graham, who I think has done some of Mobb Deep's recent songs.

And there's no doubt this TGP is the same guy, by the way; he has his real name in the writing credits and even refers to himself as The Great Peso on one or two songs. He's now coming out of the Lake Champlain area of New York, I gather, because one of his songs is "Lake Champlain Anthem." It's an interesting little album. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say, the interesting thing about the album is that it's uninteresting. If you didn't know TGP stood for The Great Peso, you'd probably write this album off as completely generic.

It's not terrible, Peso still sounds good on the mic, and there are a couple of attempts to add a little something extra to the production to be more creative. But with titles like "Hot Girl," "I Like the Way U Dance" and "It's Alright," everything just sort of feels like an attempt not to draw any attention to itself. Perhaps that explains the TGP thing, too; like he's flying under Hip-Hop's radar. I mean, I can't imagine why he or anyone would want to do that when releasing music, but nothing here stands out. At least it doesn't stand out as bad either; but it's probably mostly a case of the production really not suiting the MC. I'd really only recommend this for serious old school fans who feel they have to hear it when someone like Peso comes back with a new album. You know, like me.

Perhaps a little more interesting to a broader audience is his even newer, 2015 music. He's linked up with a local, up and coming hip-hop collective called The Plattsburgh Home Team. They've just released a new CD called the Summer Sampler 2015, which predictably features all their members on solo tracks and collaborative cuts. A couple of their songs are interesting... Two MCs named Zyon Soulsmyth and Phonix Dark have a cool, atmospheric KA-like joint, and there's a 21 MC posse cut where they loop up the soundtrack to Dario Argento's Deep Red.

But yeah, The Great Peso has a song on here called "My Universe." It's got a fun chipmunk soul loop, and admittedly half of the appeal is just hearing an old school legend back on the mic doing contemporary music; but it's pretty cool. And he turns up again towards the end of the album on "Weekend Cypher," which isn't really a proper song so much as a bunch of Home Team members live. It's a high energy performance, and Peso comes in with a great old school freestyle at the end that's the highlight of the whole CD.

You can cop the Sampler CD for just $5 here, or just casually listen to the tracks 'cause it's a bandcamp. I don't know where you could find the full TGP album without getting hooked up by someone who's met him personally. But now ya know it's out there, so if you're that hardcore Fearless Four fan, put it on your want list and happy huntin'.

Wack Attack #5! Louie Louie 4 with a Special, Surprise Guest!

(Youtube version is here.)