Finsta Bundy's Unreleased LP CD

Back in 2012, we took a look at The Unreleased Album EP by Finsta Bundy on Chopped Herring Records.  Like it's title helpfully suggests, Chopped Herring had pressed up Finsta Bundy's an EP's worth of tracks, recorded from 1996-1999, that were intended to be released back in the day as their full-length album debut. That was dope and I still recommend it, but now something interesting has appeared in Chopped Herring's catalog: a CD (unusual enough for CH) from Finsta Bundy called Bushwick To Shin-Juku. It doesn't have one of their usual substantive descriptions on their site, so what the heck is it? Just a brand new Finsta album?

Nope. Scanning over the track-listing, I was seeing a lot of familiar song titles. But it still took me a minute to fully put together what the project was: an extended version of The Unreleased Album EP.

Yeah, every song from that EP is on this CD (and in the same sequence). The title track "Bushwick To Shin-Juku," you may recall, was the opening number on the EP. So, okay, cool for the CD heads, I guess, who don't buy vinyl, but nothing of interest for the more serious fans who already have the EP, right?

No again! The EP had eight songs; the CD has thirteen songs. What else is on here? Actually some interesting and kinda neat stuff that even owners of the vinyl EP might want to take a closer look at.

The other five songs:

Activate - This is a fairly famous Finsta song from his 1999 Neva Say Neva mixtape.  You may remember me being fairly excited about it receiving its full-length (not blended into a mixtape) vinyl debut on Sergent Record's 2012 repress of "Finsta Baby" as a bonus track. That was dope, but if you missed it, here it is again.

For the Money featuring Greg Nice - This is an Evil Dee-produced cut that Sergent put on their 2014 reissue of their 2012 repress of "Finsta Baby." Yeah, they issued that same 12" twice, with the only difference being that bonus track. Really weird and kinda wack; I don't know why they did that. But if you didn't get that "Gorilla Deluxe Edition," here's your second shot at this song.

Sunnyside (Rough Version) - Of course "Sunnyside" is one of Finsta's most famous 12" singles, from 1993. But this Rough Version is an older mix from Chopped Herring's own vinyl The Demos 1993-1994 EP. I really don't know why they doubled up on that one here. In fact, I'm really curious what the thinking was behind this inclusion, but okay.

You're Nobody (Bonus) - It was cool to see "For the Money" on here for those who didn't want to double-dip on Sergent's "Finsta Baby," but now we're really getting to the good stuff. This is a song Finsta made for DJ Evil Dee Broadcasting Live mixtape in 2014, but has never been released otherwise. So this is our first chance to get it "unmixed." The hook's a little weak, but once they get to the actual verses, they sound great over a really cool track. I'm not sure why these last two songs are listed as Bonus tracks but not the three before it, but whatever, I'm happy.

Killa Kid Times (Remix - Bonus) - This is actually Finsta's contribution to DJ Bazooka Joe's 2012 compilation album on Dope Folks Records, The Slang Parade. So that was already released unmixed on CD and vinyl (it's on Volume 1), but cool to see here if you didn't already cop that, right? No, it's even better, because this is a Finsta-produced remix with a totally different instrumental than on Joe's album, and it's only available here. I actually like this one better, in part because it doesn't have the hokey skit introduction, but also because it's got a cooler, smoother, more atmospheric beat.

So yeah, even if you have the EP, you might want to pick up the CD. It's got a couple nice little exclusive odds and ends. It's not as 'must have' as a lot of Chopped Herring releases, but it's also not a limited edition, sells for the standard price of a CD, and so there's no pressure to jump on it immediately. Kinda neat.

Fat Girls, You Know They're Down By Law

You've heard of The Fat Boys, but what about their female counterpart?

(Youtube version is here.)

Setting Afrika Bambaataa's Record Straight

Let's not diminish what he did… on either end of the spectrum.

(Youtube version is here.)

Hip-Hop's First Opera!

They called it a "rappera"…

(Youtube version is here.)

No, The Other Shug & Dap

In 1994, Gangstarr was really getting their Gangstarr Foundation acts out there with features and record deals. Big Shug and Group Home, which consisted of Melachi and Dap, were just putting out their first records and building a big buzz. And right at that same time, probably out of oblivious ignorance, but possibly in a deliberate and shameless attempt to mislead the public and score some easy sales, Giant Records put out their brand new hip-hop group Shug & Dap. Either way, it was a bad decision, because everybody's initial excitement over seeing a Shug & Dap tape appearing in their local music store's Rap section immediately deflated seeing it was some unknown girl group with a borrowed name. At least they put their pictures on the cover so we found out on the spot rather than after we paid for it and brought it home.

But who actually were the other Shug & Dap? They only put out this one single, "Anotha Man," on Giant Records in 1994. The back cover promises this is from their forthcoming album, First High, but that never happened.  This single is it.

Well, Shug & Dap were an R&B/ hip-hop combo act. Shug, on the left, sang; and Dap rapped (you can tell just by their hairstyles). And on this song - which, again, was their only song - that left Dap with very little to do. Because they didn't go with the one-raps-while-the-other-sings-the-hook formula, but the burgeoning style of the day: a full-on R&B song with a little, token rap verse at the end. So this is practically a Shug solo project with a guest spot by Dap.

And it's not bad but it's pretty boring, to be honest. Shug's a good singer but she doesn't exactly blast us out of our seats with this low key number. The music isn't particularly sample based, there's a lot of bass and keyboards that don't manage any particular catchy riffs. There's also a "Creepin'" remix, which has some really dated G-funk/ Troutman slide whistle effects added to the mix. Organized Noize did the remix, which is interesting, but doesn't actually make it any better.

Conceptually, the song's about how they cheated on their man, but want him to take them back because the guy they slept with was "just anotha man." There's sort of a weird disconnect between the verses (both sung and rapped) and the chorus. The bulk of the lyrics are regretful and apologetic, full of lines like, "I didn't know what I was doin'," "I know I blame myself, but what can I do now?" "I was wrong and now you're gone, and without you in my life, I just can't go on," and even "my body lost control, and oh no! Got caught up in the ho stroll." But the hook is all, "just anotha man, a quick hit. Just anotha man, didn't mean..."

Now, first of all, we could look at the logic in making your big lead single a song where you have the cut out a key section of the chorus. It's one thing to quickly splice out a quick curse or two from a rapid-fire rap verse, but the last word in a short and repetitive R&B song? Who thought this should be the single. But moving past that, you know, there's like two songs here. Either a sappy, "I'm so sorry, take me back" love song or a sassy, "I'm gonna turn the tables on conventional sexism by treating men like the sex objects!" Either one works, but here it feels like they just couldn't decide. It actually might've been a fun, if trite, opportunity to give Shug & Dap more distinct identities by having Shug be sad and sorry and then Dap give it the female playa spin at the end. But nope, they're both sorry until except on the hook.

I doubt that hurt them too much, though, since I'm probably the first person, including the song's producers, to actually listen and think about the lyrics. And like I said, First High never came out and the group quietly dissolved. But Shug(the singing one)'s career actually kept on. She became known as The Truth Hurts (not to be confused with and signed with Dr. Dre. Remember that R&B song with Rakim that everybody - including Rakim - was going to lead up to a Dre produced Rakim album? Well, it didn't work out for him, but she actually got her Aftermath album, including a couple more singles with guest rappers.

You'd think she would've squeezed Dap into that line-up somewhere for a quick cameo. Or at least gotten her onto her 2004 independent sophomore album, but nope. I guess the book is closed tight on that partnership. So I don't know what happened to Dap. She's not down with Truth anymore and she's not a member of the Gangstarr Foundation; that's all I know.

Ice Cube and Chuck D Go Back To Hell

Run DMC go full new jack swing and Ice Cube and Chuck D show up on the B-side? Why does nobody talk about this wild record?

(Youtube version is here.)

The Made Men's Unreleased Film: The Soundtrack

So, you guys remember The Made Men, right? Originally from Boston, there was a big group called The Almighty RSO that put out records in the 80s and early 90s. And they had a weed carrier group called The Wise Guys/ Legion of Doom. Then they streamlined the crew to just the top three guys - two from RSO and one from Wise Guys - to make the late 90s outfit The Made Men? And of course the head guy was Benzino, who became co-owner of The Source Magazine for a long time, had that major beef with Eminem and now runs Hip Hop Weekly.

They've got a pretty rotten rep... I won't get into all the drama about editorial staffs quitting and criminal arrests, because that would take a book, and all that info's out there if you want to find it. But actually, these guys go way back, all the way to The TDS Mob and The Body Rock Crew (from Boston Goes Def), and RSO was putting out records as far back as 1986. And good stuff, too. People don't like to say that, because they made a lot of enemies and kinda played themselves out. But even into the 90s, they had joints. Remember "Hellbound?" I used to play that tape all the time in high school. That was dope, right? Somebody let me know, 'cause I'm kind of scared to dig out my old copy and find out it's corny and embarrassing now, but I remember that being a tough record.

But here's something I bet you didn't know. At the height of The Made Men using The Source - when they had multiple full page ads in every issue, Source Awards in their pockets and their reviews rewritten late at night - there was going to me a Made Men movie. Here's a big spread [right] they ran in a summer 1998 issue, advertising it as "THE FIRST FULL HIP-HOP ACTION FILM OF THE DECADE." I don't know how far along the movie actually got - did they hire a director? Were any non-Wise Guys actors case? Was any footage actually shot? - but ads for it ran for a couple of issues before quietly disappearing. But some people were at least somewhat seriously invested in this... I've got an unreleased Made Men single, "music from the forthcoming movie Made Men!"

This is from 1998 on Surrender Records, which was Benzino's own label that put out a whole bunch of Wise Guys and Hangmen 3 (Benzino's production crew) records. It's a Made Men song called "W.G. For Life." You might've actually heard it, because it later wound up on the sole Made Men album, Classic Limited Edition, under the expanded title "Wise Guys for Life" a year later.

It's not a bad song. It features Wise Guys member Man Terror and is produced by L.E.S. and The Trackmasterz, who just loop a solid but recycled sample and let the guys ride the funky bassline. Omniscence had already rocked it a lot better on "My Main Man," and guys like Rahsheed and Tracy Lee had already used the sample to make instrumentals that sounded exactly alike already, so it was hardly a ground-breaking song. Recycling popular beats was really one of RSO/ Made Men's weak points, 'cause they did that all the time. But hey, it still sounds good.

Lyrically, they play it super safe, saying nothing interesting but riding the beat acceptably with all the expected cliches about "dime-piece women," "sipping Perrier" and "gunplay while wearing Gore-Tex," yadda yadda. Cool Gsus's verse is alright, though: "we're from the city where we don't squash beef." But the other guys totally phone it in. There's also a girl singing a lazy chorus near the end. It's very generic. Still quite listenable, Man Terror's grimier voice helps keep things from getting too boring, but you wouldn't go out of your way to buy a copy.

A movie did come out in 1999 called Made Men, starring James Belushi and Timothy Dalton. I'm sure there was no connection, but the fact that it beat them to the punch with that title may've helped put the group's film to bed. But man, I can't help wondering what the Made Men's movie would've been like. Would we have gotten to see them "go to war in silk pajamas?" Oh man, internet, please tell me somebody's sitting on an unreleased workprint. Youtube needs that on its servers right away!