So This Is What Public Enemy Meant...?

"As I ventured into the courtyard, followed by fifty-two brothers
Bruised, battered, and scarred, but hard.
Going out with a bang, ready to bang out;
But power from the sky: from the tower shots rang out.
A high number in dose, yes, and some came close;
Figure I trigger my steel, stand and hold my post.
This is what I mean: an anti-nigger machine;
If I come out alive, then they won't come clean."

That's just a small portion of Chuck D's powerful and dramatic verses from his classic, "Black Steel In the Hour of Chaos." It's a compelling, darkly cinematic narrative with a shocking but strong message. On their next album, Fear Of a Black Planet, Public Enemy expounded on one of that song's most explosive concepts with the song "Anti-Nigger Machine," a personal account of a rally he attended for another black victim of a police shooting.

And then in 1991, a rap group called ANM put out a record on Joey Boy Records.

And, no, ANM doesn't stand for Aimlessly Nonfunctional Magnifications, or any other silly combination the Backronym Generator might come up with.They make it explicitly clear on their album that it does indeed stand for Anti-Nigger Machine, and even sample "Black Steel..." on several songs. Of course, it changes the mean pretty drastically when they identify themselves as the ANM. To Public Enemy, it was a grave and pretty specific accusation directed at the US legal system, identifying our police, courts, prisons and even our military as working with frightening efficiency against one particular race of our people. So what does it mean when you say you are the ANM?

Well, thankfully it doesn't mean that Joey Boy uncovered some depressing neo-nazi skinhead rap group and decided they could be the next Miami bass novelty hit. In fact, despite the label they're on, ANM are actually from Houston, Texas, and have a bit of a genuine legacy. ANM are basically a trio: MCs Jameen and Brother Alquarr, plus a DJ named Mixmaster B. They stand in solidarity with Chuck D's messages, even claiming that he'll vouch for them: "word to life, you know I'm right, just ask Chuck."

Now, as you can see, their album, Let the Message Rize, has one of those covers with like 50 dudes on it (okay, eight), even though there only seem to be three members. And, no, I don't know who most of those guys are, though I'm pretty sure one of them is Lil Troy, years before he started putting out gangsta rap albums on Short Stop Records. Apparently, this was one of the first groups he ever produced. And if you need more legacy than that, Jameen went on to change his name to Mike D and join DJ Screw's Screwed Up Click. So ANM isn't some random rap nobodies act; they're still selling records to this day.

And so yeah, this album is dope. Production-wise, it doesn't have the PE vibe you'd expect. It's lots of very familiar, funky samples. Pretty much every groove here had been used on several hip-hop albums already, and are pretty obvious choices, but hey, they still sound good. Sorta like a later Rodney O & Joe Cooley album. And yeah, that means songs like "Trigger Happy Cop" (which was also the single, by the way), is actually set to "Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll." So it really lacks the power of, say, "Arrest the President," it's more like... well, the sort of stuff you'd expect from Joey Boy in 1991. Bouncy, fun. Some of the samples are a little too big and heavy-handed, like the use of "Superstition" on the title track, but it always sounds pretty good, if a little corny. Except for "Cold Sweat" though, which is essentially Let the Message Rize's "Something 2 Dance 2," it's all heavy, message-oriented vocals. "Mind Trap" is an early hip-hop track about clinical depression. "Criminal Background" is about how dangerous a man becomes when he has nothing left to lose. That's a strange dichotomy.

The weakness of the album is unfortunately the MCs skills. These guys are young and I daresay still learning to rap a bit.  Don't get me wrong, the subject matter they choose is great, but the handling of it sometimes feels like a student project. The rhymes are pretty basic with some awkward structure, leading to basic, contrived lines like, "it's your life I will take," "people ride me like I don't have a prerogative; but who are you to say the way I'm not to live," or "my ass is what you're kissin', G." Like, try this on for size:

"Drug beats, but not the drugs you can get high on.
Hip-hoppers know what I'm sayin', so news reporters try on.
'Cause I can do the wild thing, but not the thing you're thinking of.
Your ears are to the speaker, glued to hear me sink a
Brother with the quickness."

So, 1991, "Wild Thing" is a Tone Loc reference. But he's saying he can't do the kind of wild thing Tone was talking about (which was sex, of course)? I'm sure it's not what he meant, but it sounds like he's saying he's impotent, but it's okay because he can really rock a mic. I mean, they have good voices and their flow is simple but fine. And they have got a couple freestyle songs, like "President" and "Junky That," where they sound a little less stilted. It might be tempting to just give them a pass, but being able to put words together in a slick or interesting way is pretty much what being a rapper is supposed to be all about. Plus, you can't really let them slide when they try to seriously deliver punchlines like, "yo, put an egg in your shoe, and just beat it."

The secret weapon of this album, on the other hand, is this Mix Master B. He's just getting hype all over this record. There's one or two songs with no scratching, but most of them utilize him a lot. He's regularly cutting up the group's name from "Black Steel...," in fact that's how the album opens; and it sounds great. And him cutting up a key line from "Fuck the Police" is absolutely the best part of "Trigger Happy Cop."

Overall, it's a pretty enjoyable listen for anyone on an old school kick, because its flaws will mix right in with its qualities for them. But more objectively, this is a listenable but weak album. This should've probably been their demo that paved the way to them releasing their more mature official debut album. It's a lot better than a lot of stuff, though; so it's kind of a shame ANM didn't hang in there. Well, of course, Jameen and Lil Troy did, which I guess proves my point. But I think I'd prefer their music if they stayed on the ANM path than where they wound up heading. If nothing else, it's an interesting album, which is more than you can say for most stuff coming out today.

More Than an LL Knock-Off: Jewel T

(Youtube version is here.)

The Lonely Hearts Preservation Society

Have you ever put off listening to something for a long time because you were afraid it was going to disappoint you? I hope so, because I don't want to be the only dummy who's committed so much time not to not listening to an album they wound up really digging. The album in question today is Lonely Hearts Club by Neila, an extremely limited cassette-only album.

This is described in the liner notes as "a rough four track epilogue as my four track is slowly deteriorating and losing function, as do relationships," adding, "your instructions are to listen to this tape, burn it, and start over. life is too short." Well, I'm not burning mine! I'm squirreling it away along with all my art treasures. It's dated as 1999-2005, because that's the lifespan of her four track recorder, but then she still used it to make this last tape? I know she talked about recording this album in 2010 and... I don't know.

What I do know is that it's really good. It's a full-length album of ten songs, and the theme of lonely hearts and broken relationships definitely runs through it all. It's definitely got a funky, low-fi feel, where static-y snippets from movies and television clumsily drop in to introduce layered hip-hop tracks, where Neila alternates between traditional raps and her sing-songy style, which she sometimes uses for hooks and sometimes entire songs. The last song on side 1 even cuts off before its over because the tape runs out - now that's a classic 4-track hip-hop move, like those old Sacred Hoop tapes.

Production duties are shared by three guys: Vango, Sakari and Messiaz, plus I'm guessing the uncredited songs are produced by Neila herself. They've all got a knack for supporting Neila's vocal and writing style, so that plus the the unifying melancholy vibe makes this actually one of Neila's more uniformly satisfying albums. The songs are distinct, mind you; but you still want to take it all as one giant, inseparable listen, just absorbing Neila's raw sometimes artistically codified, and other times openly straight-forward self expression. But I can't think of many hip-hop albums that feel so nakedly like the artist poured their entire heart into it. And as O.C. famously said, "the more emotion I put into it, the harder I rock."

"Things are crashing down;
I'm swimming upstream.
Only enough left,
To fill one more dream.
Let's hide away,
Let's shout and scream.
Let's realize
That we can't say what we mean."

Just like I was hesitant to listen to this when I first got it, I've been hesitant to blog about it, but for a different reason. It's super limited and several years old now, and basically impossible to find. It was initially limited to 77 copies, and I was lucky enough to get a special copy, personally, making mine #79/77. It's a cool red, hand-numbered cassette with fold-out artwork by Neila herself. I don't want to frustrate people by dangling them an impossible to obtain album in front of them, but I also don't think it needs to be burned for us to start over. So I'll keep it alive in writing here and who knows? Maybe it'll get fancy a digipack repress when the next generation of fans comes knocking for more Neila music.

What Was Glasshouse Entertainment? Learn Along With Werner, part 8

Man, I would never have believed, that in 2015/16, I'd still be discovering Father MC records I'd never heard of before. But here we are. Granted, this is really more of a guest spot than a Father MC record proper. But still, I'm excited! This record is called, erm, "Glass On 'Em" by some guys named Suicide?

I've actually heard of these guys before, though I wasn't sure they were the same until I read the label credits and saw that the song was written by Splack 'Em and Shorty Pimp. Remember, Father moved to Florida in the late 90s, which is why he was on Luke Records for a minute. So it makes sense that these guys would have some corny Miami-style names. Suicide had an album in 1998 called Suicidal Days. It got on my radar because a couple of their tracks had production by Southern heavy-hitters Mike Fresh and DJ Spin, and Society even did their art design. They had a single called "Off the Chain." All of this was before "Glass On 'Em."

Suicide was originally a 3-man crew, and here's where things get a little confusing. So yeah, on their first album, it's three guys Earnest Jackson Jr. a.k.a. Mr. Shorty Pimp, Matthew Houston a.k.a. Splack 'Em and Rodrick Clayton a.k.a. Mr. Houston. That's right, there's a guy in the group whose rap name is Mr. Houston and a guy in the group whose real name is Mr. Houston, but they're different guys. You might be thinking, Werner, you've clearly just got it wrong, but here's how it's written on one of their own records:

Why isn't Matthew Houston Mr. Houston??

So, okay, it was three guys. But apparently things went South. On this song, "Glass On 'Em," which came out in '99, they make a couple references to their past, saying, "some of y'all people know us from the past. We was 'Off the Chain,' now we on Glass." That's referencing Glasshouse Entertainment, the label they apparently at least thought they were on. It's credited on the label here, but this is also clearly another Echo International/ Dancefloor Distribution 12" from NJ, which makes sense, as Father MC apparently has some major ties to them and has put out a couple records on them. They also say, "'the Chain' popped, and now we on the Glass, I was mad at my past, but now we're countin' cash." So I guess the whole deal with their original label went South, Mr. Houston split from the group, and now their Glasshouse was their new movement. But it only lasted for this one song, which wound up getting released by Echo, so I guess that bird didn't fly.

Suicide did do more in 2000. They had a single called "Big Doe," again just the two of them. They had a remix featuring Luke himself, and even advertised a second album, also to be titled Big Doe. But that didn't seem to materialize, and I think that was the end for them.

But how is THIS record? It's okay. The production isn't a Miami bass dance kinda track, it's more of an east coast half hardcore half club (think the kind of club music NY was making in 2000). It's produced by some guys called The Landmark Entertainment Committee, which doesn't sound too promising, but it's actually a decent, well-made track. And I've actually come across these Landmark cats before on one of those unreleased Verb tracks. Nothing exceptional or anything you'd want to run out and buy, but it's respectable. There's a little extra drum line which kicks in once in a while that I kinda like.

And lyrically, it's all over the place. Sometimes they're catching you up in their career like I was talking about before. Sometimes they're rapping about being in a strip club ("I got my lappy lappy; now I'm happy happy"), and mostly they're just rapping about having money ("now that I can buy a Jag, now that I can buy a crib"). What glass means in this song kinda shifts around... obviously at some point it's their label, but mostly I think it's just an alternative term for bling to them. But then the hook goes, "we finally got the glass on 'em, ah-ah-ah-ass on 'em, finally got the glass on 'em, do 'em how we want 'em!" Also at one point one of them says, "drunk as hell, you should've seen me off the glass." So you know, I guess them flipping the word around in different ways is part of the fun they're having, but they don't take it far enough to really get you into the spirit of the thing. You don't even realize that's what they're doing until you sit down like I did and say, okay, these lyrics are all over the place, what are they actually saying?

And what about Father MC? Yes, he's on here alright - courtesy of Pay Per View Records, which is the first and only time I've heard of them* - and not just doing glorified hype-man duties or anything. He kicks the third and final verse, and it's all about... kicking his guest verse, "spittin' on this bullshit like it was my own shit. Do I have to flip shit and get on some old rip shit? ...Spittin' sixteen on yo' shit, makin' yo' shit my shit. Two thou' millieni shit, real raw shit, lose ya deal shit." Hey, maybe that's why Suicide's Glasshouse thing fell through. Father's guest verse made 'em lose their deal. Ha. Nah, looking here and here, it looks like the label had its own troubles. Anyway, Father's verse is okay. He's somewhat energetic, always feeling like there's a killer punchline just around the corner that never comes. Instead it's a collection of lines that are just alright. Again, like the beat, none of these three MCs spit anything you'd want to run out and buy. Unless you're like me, a fan just excited to find another record by either Father or Suicide, and then you order it off the internet immediately as a birthday present for yourself.  XD

So, it's just the one song, which comes in at just under four minutes. You've got the Street Mix and an edited Radio Mix on side A, and then a Dub Mix and Instrumental on B. At the end of the day, it's just another on that long list of obscure odditities that Echo slipped out under the radar. Maybe nothing amazing, but endlessly compelling to sift through and discover.


*They also misspell the word "courtesy."

2005 Rapped Up

(Youtube version is here.)

Tragedy's Infamous Cop Killer Song Finally Discovered and Released!

Wow, this is a major one, folks! Two of hip-hop's leading limited vinyl labels, Heavy Jewelz and Diggers With Gratitude have joined forces to release one of the most important recoveries of lost vintage material to date. Hopefully you remember a couple years ago, when DWG released the first Black Rage EP, a collection of three original demo mixes of songs from Tragedy's second album. It had the unheard remixes on side A, and released versions on side B. That was pretty damn cool, but Black Rage Demos Part 2 is an even bigger deal. This EP doesn't need to be padded out with tracks we already have, because it's six (technically eight, but two are instrumental skits) track collection of the rest of the unreleased Black Rage project, including completely unheard songs, including his infamous "cop killer" song "Bullet."

Most of us are already familiar with the legend of the song, though you've probably never heard it. The whole "Cop Killer" controversy had just happened over Body Count's song, and Tragedy was on the same label, Warner Bros, as The Intelligent Hoodlum. Well, technically he was on A&M, but Time Warner owned A&M Records along with a bunch of other labels. Warner was running scared and had Tragedy pull a song called "Bullet" off his upcoming album, Black Rage, which was eventually retitled Saga Of a Hoodlum (he didn't even get to keep the album title), because it also had reference to cop killing.

There's a pretty good article from the September 3, 1992 issue of The Chicago Tribune which interviews both Trag and A&M president Al Cafaro. Trag said, "I was approached with an option by the president of the record label: 'If you want to put it out as is, you can take it to another record label.' ...I don`t want the song to be misunderstood, but I will admit that the song is a cop-killing song. However, it is a reaction to cops killing... It was like, 'Yo, this is a touchy subject right now, but we're going with it.' That was the vibe at first. But as the Ice-T situation escalated, the label felt more responsible to the label than to the song." Cafaro added, "When I heard the song, I was taken aback... This song really stepped over the line... The conclusion I reached was that I couldn't stand behind [the song]. I couldn't in good faith release this, and then, if called upon, stand behind it and defend it." There's plenty more in the article, including more from both of them, plus details of other artists' songs that got removed from their albums for referencing cop killing, too. So go ahead and read the whole thing here.

And now that we get to finally hear it, yeah, it's not just a song that references cop killing, it is a full on ode to it. It opens up with the chorus, "shoot a cop, gonna shoot a cop dead! (Buck buck!) Kill a cop, put a bullet in his head!" And none of the verses soften that message. Interestingly, it's got some extra samples on the hook, but the instrumental is essentially Master Ace's "Music Man." Now I'm not one to cheer on hate speech, but I do like my artistic expression undiluted and uncensored, and there's no question that this song and the other tracks on this EP would've made for a hotter, more compelling Black Rage album than the Saga Of a Hoodlum LP (which was still quite good) we got.

And just what else is on here? Well, let's start small, with the two skits, "Intro" and "Fuck George Bush." The first is a funky, little breakbeat and the second is based on a vocal sample loop saying exactly what you think. Then there's an alternate version of "Underground," a song which did make the Saga Of a Hoodlum cut. This version isn't very different, with the same vocals and the same samples flipped the same way. The "here we go" chorus is different, though, and it doesn't have the scratching on the hook. I guess the main difference is that it has a less sleigh-bell heavy drum pattern, which I do prefer; but ultimately it's too similar to the album version to be very exciting. These are just nice little extras to have, I'd say.

Now let's get to the more exciting stuff. "Black Rage" is the title track that never was, and there are no production credits, but it's got that funky early 90s Marley Marl feel, but a little rougher, in tone with the song's clear concept. And "Rebel To Amerikkka" takes it even further. I don't think I can put it any better than the press sheet that calls it, "a worthy (and considerably angrier) successor to 'Arrest the President'." That's true both lyrically, where he aggressively goes after Bush, and instrumentally, which is frantic but tough. These songs are great; it never ceases to blow my mind how much great music artists and labels have just shelved and forgotten about.

I should pause to point out here, though, that this song and "Bullet" also feature uncredited guest verses. I'd love to find out who this is. I do have a guess, but I wouldn't say I feel very certain... could it be Scram? I don't know much about Scram, but he seemed to be a DJ for Trag around this time. He gets shouted out at the end of "Posse (Shoot 'Em Up)," and I was googling around trying to find any info on him, but only found out that RapGenius seems to think it's a reference to Scram Jones, a producer Trag would work with in his later Khadafi years. I may not know much about Scram, but I do know that's wrong. First of all, SJ has done some good stuff, but I'm fairly certain he's too young to have been around back then. But also, primarily, he's a white guy. Here, go look at some photos on his website. Now look at this photo, clearly labeled, of Trag and Scram from the inside of the In Control Volume 2 cassette [right]. That's a different dude. And Scram does get name checked on this EP (particularly the "Black Rage" song). So that's my guess. But who knows? It could be anybody without a distinctive enough voice to rule out. He comes off well on this EP anyway.

So what else is there? There's "Adolescents At War," which has a nice slow funk feel to it. And all these songs, combined with the first Black Rage EP, apparently represent the entire unreleased Black Rage album now (after all, some of it WAS released as Saga). The fact that every song on here is highly socio-politically charged is really powerful and honestly, if Black Rage had come out as originally intended, I think it would've make much bigger waves. But at least we finally get to hear it now.

And that's not quite everything. The last song I don't believe was ever intended for Black Rage, but it's from the same period, and definitely fits in conceptually with the rest of this material. It's an unreleased remix of "America Eats the Young," Trag's song from Marley's second album. Interestingly, it's a lot smoother. I don't think it's as effective as the screechy, high energy track that did get released was, but this is a cool alternative. This mix also doesn't have Chuck D's back-up vocals, which is fine, since it was always disappointing he never kicked a verse on the original anyway. Instead, they have a chorus of children repeating the mantra, "America eats the young," on the hook.

This EP is limited to 300 copies, and as of this writing is still available from DWG's Fresh Pressings store. As pictured above, it comes in a sticker cover and with DWG's traditional press sheet. Now, 150 of them are pressed on traditional black wax. But if you copped it as part of a bundle with DWG's other new release, Jae Supreme's Life Work EP, which includes the vinyl debut (FINALLY!!) of Nas's demo track "Villain," then you got one of the 150 blue/green translucent vinyl copies, which is now sold out. But the black is still available, so don't sleep. Releases like these don't come around too often.

A Visit From the Sugarplum Gang

(Happy holidays, everybody!

The Youtube version is here.)