The Ultimate Underrated Shake G

A blind buy turns up aces, inspiring me to go back and review a totally slept on rapper's career.(Youtube version is here.)

Another Phat Tape For Your Backpack

Alright, I'm still in a 90s throwback frame of mind. But how can I get even more 90s than Y'all So Stupid? I had to do some serious digging in my crates cardboard boxes, but I believe I've found it. This is the 4-song cassette-only 1998 debut of Sev Statik* called Tha Pointman EP on Tunnel Rat Records. Sev Statik is a Christian rapper, but - whoa! Wait! Where ya goin'? Hang on, I was going to say yeah, he's a Christian rapper, and he does definitely drop references to being saved and refers you to specific bible verses ("don't let the index attack/ check Romans 3:23 before you do that") But his ethos - at least on this EP; I'm not going to try and speak for his whole career - is more focused on real, underground Hip-Hop, or "preserv[ing] Hip-Hop's true essence" as he writes in the liner notes. In other words, you can totally nerd out on the 90s backpacker vibe without having a vested interest in any particular religion.

This EP opens with a fantastic loop that can go head to head with the best samples dug up by any of your favorite 90s producers, on a song called "Speak Life." By the way, there's also a song called "Speak Life" on Sev's first full-length CD, 2002's SpeakLife. But that's actually a totally different song, both lyrically and instrumentally. He references that song in this one, though ("and Romans 3:23 is still in effect"), so really, you could consider that one "Speak Life part 2." It's not bad, the beat's cool but not as hot, and that version's got a sung hook which is thankfully absent on the original, which you should seek out instead.

Production-wise, "Speak Life" is the song you're going to rewind again and again, but if you're here for 90's underground hip-hop, then "Linguistic Weaponry" is going the song you're going to home in on. I mean, you can tell just from the title. "Hip-hop brought me through back spins, graffiti pens and record bins." And like all truly great, nostalgic 90s rap, it doesn't age so gracefully. Lyrics that impressed me as a young man back then now have me cocking my head and poking at the weak spots. Punchlines like "coming strapped like a brassiere" are pretty creaky, and you could make a drinking game out of all the times he pats himself on the back for being a white rapper with skills:

"I got Five Percenters saying, yo, that devil's no joke!" 

"Some say, due to my exterior, it's not in me to serve the lord or speaking life is not in my nature... got 5% of y'all believing all caucasoid MCs are deceiving you."

"When the next man says, yo, you rhyme good for bein' white,"

"Go on home, son, tell your mom who ripped it. Don't be ashamed to tell her this Anglo Saxon did it."

...In fact, the whole song "Rebuild" has a hook that goes, "white lies, under these blue skies, blurring my vision. I keep it ill and rebuild." And I think the "white lies" he's referring to are meant to be of the "white guys can't rap" variety.

But there's actually some strong, compelling writing as he tackles major social issues and soul searches, "like OJ, white people lookin' for a lynchin', all angry and shook, now there's something wrong with the justice system? While this man's life seems not fair at all, now you know what it means to say free Mumia Abu Jamal." And he sounds good even when he's just spitting freestyles. There's a low-fi quality to his sound which is probably 100% due to the circumstances of recording his earliest homemade songs, but it only adds to the atmosphere of a nice, underground rap tape with crispy drums and crackly samples.

And Sev Statik is still doing it to this day.  I've heard a little of his subsequent work, but I'll be honest, I haven't followed his whole career to really address it thoroughly. Apparently he fronts a rap rock band called Goldtooth? Yeah, I don't need to hear all that. But I'll still hang onto this tape. Even if he was a little young lyrically and even if times haven't been the kindest to the the ultra-earnest backpacker era, it still sounds good to me. So keep an eye out for this one in the wild; I think you'll find it's worth picking up if you see one. And if you're a collector of this period, man, it's gold.


*I was googling around, and some sources say this is actually his second EP. If that's true, the first one must be some super rare "had to have copped it off him personally" kind of release. But more likely, since they call his supposed previous EP Speak Life, and "Speak Life" is the first song on this EP, I think they might just be referring to this same tape.

A Pair Of Great, Stupid Records

(Youtube version is here.)

MC Skat Cat and the College Boyz

(Youtube version is here.)

Big Scoob Vs. Superman

(Youtube version is here.)

Phife's Strongest Solo Joint

A Tribe Called Quest's last album, The Love Moment, dropped in 1998, and Phife Dawg's first solo record was out in 1999.  Nobody reading this blog needs me to tell them about "Check the Rhime" or "Can I Kick It?" And most of you can probably quote "Buggin' Out" better than I can. But I've been reading through all these mainstream articles and retrospectives, and haven't found one yet that even mentions he had a solo career. Maybe because it wasn't covered in the documentary; or maybe nobody wants to touch it because it wasn't nearly so well received, and we all want to remember him at his best right now.

And that's more than fair. Certainly, the dynamic between Phife and Q-Tip was a key factor in Tribe's success, which is why none of their solo endeavors were going to touch the success of Low End Theory or Midnight Marauders. But I've got a Phife solo record here that I've always liked, that's definitely not so well known as the classics that are getting bumped up to front pages of Youtube this week. If anybody actually discovers a new song they feel at this point, that'd be pretty great.

So, this 12" is all about the A-side, but I'm going to talk about the B-side first. It's called "Miscellaneous," and it's third single from his 1999 album, Ventilation, da LP. Supa Dave produced it, and I usually like his work, from his unreleased single with Invincible to some of the best work on Kool G Rap's last album. But this is exactly the kind of early 2000's, generic bloop-bloop beat that I felt ruined Phife's solo album. It's not really his fault, that was the latest thing at the time, and there was something effective in boiling down a hip-hop instrumental to its barest minimum the first time somebody did it. But after that, it was just weak, easy and boring.

But you can't release a two year-old song without putting something new on it. And that turned out to be a brand new Luv Boat Mix by Hi Tek. No, thankfully, it doesn't use the theme song from The Love Boat. This isn't Hi-Tech; this is Hi Tek, the Ohio guy from Reflections Eternal and all that. This has a much more natural, substantive feel, thanks to Tek essentially just looping up a fresh old soul record, original vocals, big hand claps and all. And suddenly, even Phife's rhymes, which are unchanged from the original mix, sound so much better. It's essentially just a series of light-hearted similes and punchlines, which I guess is why the song's called "Miscellaneous." Listening to the hook, "The Joint" would've been a much more natural association. "Rock to the joint, roll to the joint, smoke to the joint, get crunked to the joint. Spike Lee to the joint, get wrecked on the joint," with multiple variations.

But anyway, it doesn't matter, because it sounds great. It's simple, but it's funky. "shorties sayin' my name like Destiny's Child," "love the night life like Sonny loves Cher." It's never particularly clever, but it's got all of Phife's charm. It's like Biz Markie's "I watched Star Wars just to see Yoda" verses; just bringing that care free B-boy freestyle vibe like he did on the Tribe albums, anchoring Tip's jazzy explorations to hip-hop's foundation. And it just sounds enjoyable. They're simple, easy to memorize lines that you want to rap along to the funky beat, couched in a couple silly little stories about meeting different girls at a party. One's from the South and is kind of a playful reference to the rise of Southern hip-hop, and one turns out to be an infamous character from some other records: "wanted to give me a hickey, but something's kinda tricky. Looked at the broad, oh shit, it couldn't be! The J to the A to the N to the E! You don't understand, ask EPMD. Thinkin' to myself, goddammit, why me? Thinkin' to myself, goddammit, why me?"

This record re-captures his essence the way his whole solo career should've. This is what we wanted to find when Tribe broke up. But it came kinda late and so it got overlooked. So this is definitely a 12" worth revisiting now. It's got a picture cover and includes Clean, Dirty and Instrumental versions of both versions of the song: the album version and the hot, exclusive remix.

R.I.P. Phife Dawg.

The Other Side of Whirlwind D

Whirlwind D is back with, actually, only his second album. He's been steadily releasing vinyl singles and building a pretty full catalog, especially if you factor in the Solid 'N' Mind 12"s, it feels like this must be around his fourth album. But no, this is the sophomore LP. And I think we find him coming into a more confident veteran sensibility. There's more of a feeling that instead of just doing the best hip-hop that he can and throwing it together to make an album (which is in itself a pretty great way to make an record, mind you), he's got a more refined cohesion to the material. There's a lot of variety on this album, which I'll certainly get into, but it feels more like everything was carefully selected and designed to form an album with a purposeful mood, rather than just being "here's what I got!"

The elements I always look for on any of D's projects are happily here again. First and foremost, that means some really slick scratching my some clearly skilled DJs. Basically every song has some really hot scratches that could almost carry the beats by themselves on an purely instrumental album. Sir Beans OBE, Jabba the Kut, Mr. Fantastic, Miracle, and DJ Tones all put in great work on this LP. Seriously, not a single song doesn't have a turntablist cut loose on it; I love it.

Another element you can always count on D for is some solid production. It's all top quality craftsmanship here. Anytime I see Mr. Fantastic's name in the liner notes, I know not to worry. And he pops up a lot here. There's not a lot of guest MCs, though. D takes most of that weight on his own shoulders. He has one duet with Oxygen of Sputnik Brown, and he's got a posse cut with his crew. But most of Other Side consists of more personal, conceptual material with D on his own, and I raises to that level with more natural, nuanced rhymes and definitely an uptick in creative imagery from his last album.

Like, the title cut has a really dark, slow beat. It's by Specifik, but it's almost feels like one of those crazy tracks Vooodu would make for Ras Kass when he wanted to get really serious. It's about the ills of the world as viewed through the lens of our looming mortality. So yeah, it's painting all these dark pictures, but on the other hand it's kind of a traditional message joint. In fact, Whirlwind D is now officially the first rapper I've heard use the word "transphobic" in a song.

Then "Hate Makes Hate" puts a cool aggressive spin on message songs. Not quite 2 Black 2 Strong, but getting there.  heh  Don't get the wrong idea, though. It's not a big preachy album; Other Side is full of all kinds of stuff. D pairs up with a live guitarist, both going hard to create a rock/rap song a la the 80s' "The D.O.C. and the Doctor," "S&M" or "Beautiful But Deadly."  It's called "7 Eyed Monster," which is a clear metaphor for anger, but going hard about rage is pretty much the ideal subject for this kinda song. It's cool even that he tackled this type of song, plus the cuts at the end amp the tone up perfectly; but I'm glad he only did one like this. These rock 'n' rap songs are fun once in a while, but you wouldn't want a whole album of "Rock De La Stet"s. One and done, get back to the real hip-hop instrumentals. Actually, there is one more song with that guitarist, but it's got a totally different, non-rock vibe.

You've also got a more traditional hip-hop-referencing track called "Pioneers," and a trippy one called "Avenger of Death." Conceptually, I can't even figure out who the titular avenger is supposed to be, but it's really about the grim, nighttime crime scene he describes anyway. And I like how D opens with that kind of classical hip-hop clever wordplay into his lyrics, but not for a punchline fueled battle rap. Instead he's using it for this moody crime piece. More like this please! But I think my favorite cut might be just the a light-hearted one he saves for the end. A few rappers have done that turn-your-closing-shout-outs-into-an-actual-rap-song before, but have any ever made it a posse cut? The mic is passed over an upbeat jazzy track with a deep groovy bassline, horn stabs and, of course, finishing with more tight scratching.

As you can see above, Other Side comes in an attractive color picture cover and also includes one of those old school inserts, like you used to see a lot in the day, with credits and thanks on the other reverse. This album includes his last single, "B-Line Business," but not the B-side, "Battle Tip 2015," leaving that exclusive to the 7". And everything else here is all new. If you haven't heard any of his material yet, I'm not sure I'd start out with this album... maybe the WD40 EP would be a better introduction. And then come back to this album later to hear the interesting direction he's taken since then. But if you've been following him all along, you're definitely going to be pleased and will want to jump on this right away.