Ruthless

I'm gonna save all the bullshit on this post, everyone knows how and who started this label. Everyone knows the shit that went on with Cube, Dre and the D.O.C. and everyone knows that Eazy's right hand man was Jerry Heller who has been continuously dissed for being a white Jew. Well, Jerry has recently wrote a book called 'Ruthless' where apparently he talks alotta shit about what happened back in the early Ruthless days or at least what he wants people to believe happened. After Eazy passed away in '95 he left his label to his widdow Tomica Wright who has pretty much driven the label down the drain. Ruthless was running solid for two or three years after Eazy's death but since then relied pretty much solely on Bone Thugs N' Harmony with allmost no new blood signing to the label. In 2002 Ruthless released the 'Impact Of A Legend' Eazy E album which was flawless with nice features and crazy production, mainly due to Rhythm D. Anyway, this post is about the music itself and not the political shit that went on. In Ruthless' golden era they released some of the dopest albums ever like the D.O.C.'s 'No One Can Do It Better', Penthouse Players Clique's 'Paid The Cost' the Above The Law classics and obviously the N.W.A.'s etc.

Ruthless also had a bunch of lesser known artists signed like Pistol, Tab & Da Villon, H.W.A., Menajahtwa, Yomo & Maulkie, Jimmy Z, Brownside, Blood Of Abraham as well as some more known artists like JJ Fad, Kokane, Frost and Atban Klan who were unknown at the time but are now a huge pop group known as the Black Eyed Peas, infact on Eazy's '92 E.P. '5150 Home 4 Tha Sick', Black Eyed Peas Will I Am has a dope verse on 'Merry Muthafuckin X-Mas'.

Out of those groups some are pretty wack while others are heavily under rated, Penthouse Players for example released 'Paid The Cost' in '92, every single track has crazy production and and skilled flows. They were only signed by Eazy because he didn't sign their friend DJ Quik when he had the chance, something Eazy always regreted so he took the Clique, Quik did some work on the album and also features on a track with Eazy. The Penthouse Players who consisted of Playa Hamm and Tweed Cadillac also featured on the Tresspass soundtrack with 'Im A Playa'. Tweed Cadilac later joined the Mackadelics and released 'Exposed To The Game' in '96 while Playa Hamm released his solo 'Layin Hands' in 2001. Disapointing considering the quality of 'Paid The Cost'.

I always thought that Sureno Chicano rappers Brownside released a couple of twelves on Ruthless, although apparently Toker from the group went to high school with Eazy so I guess it's not that strange. The other two members of the group are Wicked and the late Danger who was killed in a drive by in South Central in 1997. Toker as well as having a group member pass away also lost his brother and sister and is currently serving a 25 to life sentence. The group only released the tracks 'Gang Related' and 'Eastside Drama' on Ruthless but did drop a couple of albums later. One of my favourite tracks is 'Vatos In The Varrio' which is a 'Boyz N Tha Hood' cover.

I Don't know how Frost found himself on Ruthless but he did drop two pretty dope albums on the label, the first being 'Smile Now, Die Later' and the second being 'When Hell A Freezes Over'. Frost has had a real diverse all over the place career, starting out in the early 80's in a crew with Ice T dropping the classic 'Terminator' to releasing an album on Virgin, joining Latin Alliance with Mellow Man Ace and A.L.T. to going back solo, Ruthless, Thump and just the other month he was named Vice President of the Music Division of Goldmark Industries. No one can deny he's been in the game for a while.


Pamona's Above The Law were one of the first groups signed to Eazy's label and released 'Livin Like Hustlers' in 1990 consisting of KMG the Illustrator, Go Mack, DJ Total K-Oss and Cold 187um l.k.a. Big Hutch. They then released the 'Vocally Pimpin' EP which was pretty much just remixes before Go Mack and Lay Law left the group. This left the rest to release 'Black Mafia Life' in '92 that pretty much started off G Funk although Dr Dre got the credit for it because his 'Chronic' album that came out later that year got way more hype, this was why the 'Dont Bite The Phunk' Dre diss track was made on Kokanes 'Fumk Upon A Rhyme' album. A.T.L. also released 'Uncle Sams Curse' on Ruthless but after Eazy's death they left and released 'Time Will Reveal' on Tommy Boy, Legends and Forever. Cold 187um has also released a couple of solo albums under the name of Big Hutch as well as production for Ruthless and then Death Row. Big Hutch and DJ K-Oss were both released from prison this year on two seperate drug sentences.

MC Ren after a start in NWA then doing a side project with the late DJ Train on CPO had a successful solo career and signed to Paris' Guerilla Funk Records a couple of years ago. He was set to record a new album under the name Darth Ren but has decided to quit rapping for some reason and had the very little matterial he did record for Guerilla Funk released on the G.F.R. compilation 'Hard Truth Soldiers' that came out earlier this year.
N.W.A. was obviously the main brand name behind Ruthless Records, The group that started out with a line up that didn't include MC Ren but the D.O.C. and the Arabian Prince who was one of the critters in the comedy group Bobby Jimmy And The Critters, he got replaced in the group and started a solo career releasing 'Brother Arab' and 'Wheres My Bythches'. Macola that was the distributor for Ruthless got bought out by Priority and N.W.A. and Ruthless Records pretty much took over west coast hip hop for a couple of years. This post could go on forever and in about six different directions but thats about all I could be bothered touching on. Rest In Peace Eazy.

MP3's:
Eazy E - 24 Hours To Live
MC Ren - Final Frontier
Above The Law - Black Superman
Kokane - Shit, Goddamm
Penthouse Players Clique ft DJ Quik, Eazy E, AMG - Trust No Bitch
>>DOWNLOAD<<

Review: Blaze - Colton Grundy: Tha Undying

Artist: Blaze
Album: Colton Grundy: Tha Undying
Year: 2004
Label: Psychopathic Records

Blaze Ya Dead Homie comes straight out of Detroit, Michigan, and is a member of Insane Clown Posse's Psychopathic Records camp. Now, I'm well aware that the ICP and their whole label aren't viewed with alot of respect by a large portion of people in the hip hop world, but I'm not one to base my judgements on popular opinion. To me, once you get past all their marketing gimmicks, Psychopathic Records have released some quality albums in the past, 'Colton Grundy' being another one to add to the list. Blaze started out in the hip hop game by being one half of the '2 Krazy Devils' along with Skrapz, they later changed their name to 'The Sleepwalkaz' however neither project was a huge success. After these attempts, Blaze then hooked up with Twiztid and were working on a project, but this was cut short due to Twiztid gaining the attention of Violent J who then decided to sign them to Psychopathic. This move also turned out beneficial for Blaze, as it opened the door for he himself to get a contract with the label. After dropping a self titled EP and the '1 Less G N Da Hood' album, Blaze unleashed 'Colton Grundy: Tha Undying' onto the world. Before you listen to this album it is important to understand that 'Blaze Ya Dead Homie' is like a character in a movie, and although this gets rid of any realism, it is original and you have to take it for what it is.

The album starts off with a short and fairly repetetive track, 'Bump This Shhh', before Blaze launches into 'The Touch of Death'. The beat, produced by R.O.C., hits hard and with Blaze's booming delivery, it ensures that although this track is short it is still sick. Next up comes the track which was chosen to feature on soundtrack for the Eidos Interactive video game '25 to Life', 'Shotgun', which features ABK and the creator of Acid Rap, Esham. This track was well produced by Lavel and has a simple but effective hook, and although each of the rappers hold their own in this track, I personally think Esham dominates. 'Etched Out' is another short track that is worthy of repeated listens, by this point you would be well aware the Blaze isn't a lyrical genius, but his original flow combined with some quality production is enough to earn my respect.

'If I Fall' which features Madrox, above all it is a track about struggling and perceverence, but it also features Blaze dropping some gangsta rhymes, which is typical of rappers out of the murder mitten. This is followed by Blaze showing his romantic side on 'Hey You', with lines such as "The bitch kinda smelt like fish'n'chips, but boy did she have a set of dick suckin' lips " you can tell that this guy has a way with words. 'Out Tha Gate' fails to grab me but it is followed by the straight gangsta 'Stick Ya Hands Up', which features ABK and is one of the album's more impressive tracks, especially because of the quality hook. This is followed by 'Further From The Truth', which is a slower paced track on the horror rap tip that has both an eery hook and beat.



In 'Dayz In My Neighborhood' Blaze offers some of his observations about the modern hip hop game, dissing studio gangstas, along with people gaining fame for getting shot and rappers who get bitches singing on all of their hooks. Blaze looks back in retrospect at a time when the industry was in a far better state than it is now, long before every rapper thought he could act and before commercialization became such a major issue in hip hop. 'Roll It Up' is a short track about Blaze going to the club and to be honest I don't rate it very highly at all, but thankfully the quality goes up a few notches with 'Mr Dead Folx'. Blaze begins by returning to his fake gangsta dissing ways, Violent J then drops by to drop some horror raps in his distinctive tone.

Blaze is again joined by ABK on 'Too Many Bitches', with the funky hook being care of Flint's legendary MC Breed. Although Blaze is lacking a bit in this track, ABK drops what is probably the best verse I've heard him rip. 'Time Line' is the chronological story of Blaze's fictional character, you can't knock the creativity behind the track and Blaze holds down the rapping side of things well, although I can definitely see people being disillusioned about listening to a fictional story about a former gangsta turned zombie. The final track on this album, 'Climbing', features Violent J, Madrox, Monoxide and Esham, and is rapped over a soothing beat produced by Fritz The Cat that escalates in intensity around the hook. Although it is probably has alot to do with me being a big Esham fan, but I think he steals the show again in this track with his smoothe delivery.

All in all this album is worth checking out if you have an open mind, but I would stay well away from it if you don't like thinking outside of the square. Personally, the gimmick of a dead rapper isn't really that easy to take, but this is made up for with Blaze's distinctive delivery and some great production and features, and to be fair a great number of the tracks don't have gimmicks attached to them at all. More people will hate this album than love it, but people who respect diversity and originality will find a great deal of positives to draw from it.



MP3's:
Blaze Ft ABK, Esham - Shotgun
Blaze Ft Violent J - Mr Dead Folx
>> DOWNLOAD <<

Rating: 3 Daytons out of 5

R.I.P. Skanbino Mob

Rest In Peace:
Bone Skanless & Young Kee
(Skanbino Mob)

Bone Skanless
Real Name: Deion J.L Smith
Hailing From: Saginaw, Michigan
Born: Unknown
Died: 28 July 2006
Cause Of Death: Shot multiple times during a Friday night cruise.

Young Kee
Real Name: Marcus Mosley
Hailing From: Flint, Michigan
Born: Unknown
Died: 31 July 2006
Cause Of Death: Shot and dumped on his Aunts front porch.

I first read this in last months issue of XXL, and couldn't believe that both members of one group could get murdered in the space of 72 hours of each other. I've only been into Skanbino Mob for about 3 or 4 years when I was lent the 'Playin For Keeps' album, if you haven't heard these guys they are straight quality from start to finish. Bone Skanless (formerly known as That Nigga Bone) was the first one killed and apparently on two weeks earlier attended the funeral of his neice. After she was killed but before her funeral shots were fired at his home and a female friend was injured. In 2002 Bone Skanless was aquitted of a 2001 murder of a Flint man and in 2004 was charged with armed robbery and home invasion, he was sentenced to jail after pleading guilty on weapon charges. With a couple of days his partner was also murdered and dumped on his Aunts porch. Thats some real fucked up shit right there.

(Article From XXL Nov 06, Click To Enlarge)

MP3's:
Skanbino Mob - Front & Back Doe
Skanbino Mob - Representin
>> DOWNLOAD <<

A Cut Above The Rest

Kool Herc, Flash, Bambataa, Theodore etc started it, Grand Mixer DST showed it to the world with Herbie Hancock on 'Vibe Alive' and then B Boys and B Girls perfected it. One of the worst things to happen to hip hop over the past 15 years is the slow fade out to a 'real' DJ cutting up samples and breaks. Obviously the copyright infringement laws that forced musicians to clear samples damaged the quality of alot of breaks but is no excuse for DJs not scratching throughout tracks anymore.

The DJ used to be at the forefront of the group and with groups like 'Jazzy Jeff And The Fresh Prince', 'Gregory D & DJ Mannie Fresh' and 'Cash Money & Marvelous' the DJ's name is in the groups title. Somewhere along the line the DJ faded out almost completely and even if a group had a 'DJ' as Joe Cooley said, they have become stage props standing behing turntables looking the part, moving the record back and forth but with no sound coming out the speakers. The emcee that started out as nothing more than a hype man at block parties for the DJ has now become the face to hip hop with breakers and DJ's used as background props for the cameras with a bit of graf behind used to make it look more 'street'. This forced up and coming DJ's sick of the mainstream market, drum machines and record CEO's to go back to basics and create Turntableism.

To me the golden era of hip hop was the late 80's and early 90's where groups like Philly's Tuff Crew had DJ Too Tuff terrorizing the decks, Low Profile had DMC Champion DJ Aladdin, Hijack had DJ Undercover and Surpreme, Cash Money showed off his DMC title on the cover of his album with Marvelous, Schoolley hade Code Money, LL had Cut Creator, UTFO's Mix Master Ice cut up the Flatbush crews tracks, the 2 Live Crew was getting bass'd and scratched out by Mr Mixx and amongst dozens of others, Joe Cooley was putting in for Rodney O and General Jeff.

Back then alot of tracks not only had DJ's scratching up breaks, but some tracks ended with a minute or two of the DJ showing off their skills. Some albums even dedicated an entire track to their DJ. To be fair not all groups ditched their DJ, infact in the Beastie Boys case they replaced an average DJ Hurricane for the incredible Mix Master Mike from the Invisibl Scratch Piklz and the I.C.P., although I'm not much of a fan, have kept it real on the decks. The Mixtape craze that has blown up over recent years has let DJ's use uncleared samples, remix underground artists over commercial beats and bring back the scratch that has almost been nonexistant over recent years. Every now and then I hear a new track that has a real DJ cutting shit up and it lets you know that you can take the DJ's name off the cover, replace him with a computer, stop pressing most new albums on wax, but you can't get rid of bedroom DJ's that are honing their skills waiting to resurface from the underground!!

Respect to Kool Herc, GM Flash, Bambataa and all the legends. To all the golden era DJ's, Joe Cooley, Aladdin, Miz, Cash Money, Surpreme, Undercover, Cut Creator, Mix Master Ice, Code Money, Punish, Poison Ivey, Evil E, Too Tuff, Mr Mixx, Derek B, Swift, Pam the Funkstress, Xtra Large, Icey Hott, Muggs, Mannie Fresh, DJ Slip, Unkown, BattleCat, Mix Master Mike, all the dope DJ's I forgot and all the turntablists world wide. The selected few tracks I put up are DJ cuts from various artists some are just the DJ cutting it up others are propper tracks with verses. There are so many I missed out on like Ice T 'Pimp Behind The Wheels', Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince 'The Magnificent Jazzy Jeff', 'T.D.S. Scratch Reaction' by the T.D.S. Mob, a 'Mega Mixx' by Mr Mixx off of a 2 Live album etc etc. Although these are some of my favourites, I had to put the Soopa Villainz track up from 2005 to show that these tracks still do happen, just not very often. I hope you enjoy them


REST IN PEACE
JAM MASTER JAY, DJ SCREW, DJ TRAIN, MIX MASTER SPADE

MP3's:
UTFO - I'm The Master
Soopa Villainz - Mr Club
Tuff Crew - My Part Of Town
LL Cool J - Go Cut Creator Go
Rodney O Joe Cooley - DJ Nightmare
Low Profile - Aladdin's On A Rampage
DJ Cash Money & Marvelous - Ugly People Be Quiet (REMIX)
>>DOWNLOAD<<

Dope Shit From The Chi

Chicago hip hop is a bit strange to me, you'd think that it would be bigger than it is considering that it has produced both dope underground artists like the South Park Coalition's Point Blank (who grew up there before moving to Texas) and His Majesti (long disbanded with Cyco and DJ Streek forming Insane Poetry in LA), as well as a good balance of more known artists like Twista, Common and of course Kanye West. To be honest I'd love to learn a whole lot more about Chicago hip hop and other artists from there because most of the underground artists and groups that I have heard from there are dope.

O.C.U. are a good example of some dope older underground Chicago hip hop. O.C.U. are a group from the Southside of Chicago that consists of Homicidal MC, Impact, Murder 1, Sudden Death and DJ Tragic. O.C.U. (Organized Crime Unit) play on the whole Mafia gimmick, as you can see just by looking at the cover. The group came out with 'Stronger Than The Mafia' in '91 which was a follow on from their debut E.P. 'Penetentiary Bound' on Kapone Records. The EP had some different versions of tracks that later featured on the album that were actually a little bit better. There are alot of quality tracks on both the EP and the full length album, but I've decided to chuck up 'Proud To Be A Gangster' as it sums up the groups style and mentality pretty well.


This next track is by a group called Tha Chamba which is made up of Toxic, Chainsaw and DJ Riot One. The dopely titled album, 'Makin Illa Noize' is pretty crazy but I wouldn't have a clue about them other than what's in the artwork and on the disc, which is all impressive. This '95 album is on Coroner Records and distributed by the classic Ichiban company. The track for download is 'Hardcore Kru', it's a quality track and a good representation of the rest of the album. Unfortunately thats where I'm gonna have to leave it with this album, as I know nothing else.

Do Or Die consists of the three members, Belo, Nard and AK-47, they were a pretty sick group who were definately worthy of carrying the legendary Rap-A-Lot Records label printed on the back of their albums, that was until 2000 when they released the wack 'Victory' album. I know people who say I'm too hard on that album, but to me it's absolute shit and an embaressment to Lil' J's empire. However, that is 'Victory'. 1998's 'Headz Or Tailz' and 1996's 'Picture This' are completely different. The track I put up for download is 'Shut Em Down' from the latter, a track produced by The Legendary Traxster. The album has a couple of tracks featuring Tung Twista (now known as just Twista) who back in the early 90's found himself in the Guiness Book Of World Records for being the fastest timed rapper on the mic, he may no longer hold the record but his flow still can't be fucked with.

Next up is another group who were a part of the Rap-A-Lot Records family, Snypaz, consisting of 2/4, Chilla, R-O-B, and Sic Wic. Hailing from Westside Chicago, the group originally came out as the Westside Connection, but before dropping an album Cube, WC and Mack 10 used the title, probably a complete coincidence but this is Ice Cube we're talking about, so who knows? Anyway, the group then decided to dub themselves as Snypaz and went on to release some locally released product and then the 1997 EP 'My Life as a Snypa'. The group then dropped 'Livin' In The Scope' in 2000 and later 'Snypaz' in 2002, both on Rap-A-Lot. The track I've put up for download is the short but sick 'Kamakazi' which is off of their 2000 album and is produced by Mike Dean.

Last up are a group who sound nothing like any of the aforementioned artists, this group in question being Los Marijuanos. I first became aware of this group thanks to SPM's 'Latin Throne' DVD's and I soon ordered one of their albums. Pony Boy takes care of the majority of rhyming duties for the group, while still managing to incorporate some singing into the album here and there. As the group's name suggests, they primarily make weed tracks, although they do branch out on tracks such as 'Brown Pride' and 'Watch Yo Back', the latter of which you can download below. I can't speak on the group too much as I've only heard their 'Puro Pleito/Pure Drama' album, but from that album alone I can definately say that they make some dope music. The only other group from Chi Town that I can think of that sound anything like these guys would be Kinto Sol (who've worked with Los Marijuanos) and I highly reccomend those guys if you haven't heard them already.

^ Click To Enlarge ^
Article From: Rap Pages (December '92)

If you're interested in the Chicago hip hop scene then here is a quality site you should check out, they do miss out on a few artists however it is pretty comprehensive.

MP3's:
O.C.U. - Proud To Be A Gangster
Tha Chamba - Hardcore Kru
Do Or Die - Shut Em Down
Snypaz - Kamakazi
Los Marijuanos - Watch Yo Back
>> DOWNLOAD <<

Committing War Rhymes

First up, I'm not into politics, I've never chained myself to a tree to save a rain forest, and I've never joined a anti-war protest. That being said, most politicians can suckadick, making the rich richer, the poor poorer, filling their pockets with money that should be spent on public shit and of course sending millions of soldiers to fight a war that shouldn't be fought. I'm sure George Bush, Tony Blair and John Howard's sons and daughters aren't enlisted in any defence force.

On this post I've chucked up some war tracks by several rappers with their own way of hitting the subject, Paris comes from the point of view of a young African American student that gets tricked into enlisting into the army and then goes on a so called 'peace keeping mission' slaughtering innocent people in the track 'AWOL' from his 2003 'Sonic Jihad' which is one of the best albums to come out this millenium. Richmond CA's C.I.N. member B-Dub a.k.a. B-Double (one of the most under rated emcees with his fast double timed raps) has a track called 'We Commend You' on his 'World War I Mixxtape' where he takes an approach I've never heard before, giving shout outs to all the soldiers that risk their lives in war, and he tries to relate them to the war he's living in, the concrete jungle war in his ghetto, trying to stay alive.

There's a few other tracks I put up and I know there is a few more that don't come to mind right now and I'm sure there's a heap more that I don't even know about.
This post is dedicated to the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld.
Peace.



MP3's:
B Dubb - We Commend You
Bushwick Bill - Fuck A War
Paris - AWOL
Esham - No War
Shock G, Paris, Sway - Time For Peace
>>DOWNLOAD<<

R.I.P. Fat Tone

Rest In Peace:

Fat Tone

Real Name: Anthony Watkins
Hailing From: Kansas City
Born: Unknown
Died: May 24 2005
Cause Of Death: Shot several times, found dead in a car in Las Vegas.

This one's a bit of a touchy topic, as yet no one has been found guilty of either the murder of Mac Dre or Fat Tone (or pretty much any rapper found murdered for that matter). Although it is speculated by alot of people that Fat Tone was responsible for Mac Dre's murder, however he had an alibi for the time of Dre's death, which happened in Kansas City after a show. The real investigation however was going on in the bay by Mac Dre's friends, and it is rumoured that bay rapper Mac Minister went to Vegas for a Snoop concert and got in contact with Tone and promised to take him to Snoop's people to help hook up a record deal. Instead Tone was shot and killed and later found in a car at a housing projects site. The feuds between the different rappers go back a long way with Mac Dre and E-40 having problems years ago about some girl, E-40 also had beef with Mac Dre's friend, Mac Minister who got into a fight with 40 at the televised Source awards in Pasadena about 6 or 7 years ago, and E-40 was friends with Fat Tone. I'm not sure what any of that means but there was alot of beef between rappers from Kansas City and the Bay, and at the end of the day two rappers, and God knows who else, have lost their lives over some shit that went on. I guess who killed who, and who did what will stay on the street with only those who need to know, knowing. R.I.P to Dre and Tone.

MP3's:
Fat Tone Ft E-40, Nate Dogg, Butch Cassidy - Money Rules
Fat Tone - Night And Day
>> DOWNLOAD <<

Criminal Nation Vinyl Rips

These guys that came out of Tacoma, Washington back in the very late 80's under the name Americas Most Wanted. They changed their name to Criminal Nation after hearing about another crew from Oakland with the name A.M.W. (Americas Most Wanted) half way through recording their can't be fucked with Nastymix album 'Release The Pressure' from 1990. Although the cover appears that Criminal Nation are a massive crew they are actually just a two man crew, the emcee, MC Deff and DJ E (Eugenius who also produces their shit) although they are in a posse called D.C.P. (Def City Posse) with rappers like D-Rob, Clee Bone and D-Wiz amongst others.



In '92 Criminal Nation came back to release their second album, 'Trouble In The Hood' also on Nastmix which isn't a shadow of their debut. MC Deff went to Canada for a while but got caught up in some drama that saw him escape from the border and return to the states to release three albums under the name 'Wojack' but unfortunately nothing compares to the 'Release The Pressure' days. In 2000 the members of the D.C.P. took the name 'Criminal Nation' to release an album called 'Ressurection' but without MC Deff something doesn't seem quite right with it. Although all those D.C.P. rappers have got skills too.

As I mentioned on the Sir Mix-A-Lot Vinyl Rips post, Nastymix were always known for their unreleased tracks on twelves or a remix that actually sounds different from the album version. These are all dope quality tracks.



Criminal Nation MP3's:
(Unreleased Album Tracks)
Niggaz From The Ghetto ft The D.C.P.
Homicide
Release The Pressure Remix
Rap Criminal
>>DOWNLOAD<<

Review: Shock G - Fear of a Mixed Planet

Artist: Shock G
Album: Fear of a Mixed Planet
Year: 2004
Label: 33rd Street Records

Digital Underground are legends in their own right and the groups forefront MC, Shock G and his famed alter-ego Humpty Hump are icons of the industry. Hailing from Oakland, a mecca of gangsta rap, Digital Underground's music has always looked on the lighter side of life and the group that unleashed 2Pac onto the world are well known for not taking things too seriously. With numerous releases under his belt already, Shock G dropped his solo album 'Fear Of A Mixed Planet' on 33rd Street Records in 2004.


The tone of the album is set from the get-go with 'Keep It Beautiful' which showcases Shock G rapping over a laid back and calming beat. In this track Shock G urges listeners to keep it beautiful and improve the world with compassion, a standout line from this track is on the topic of 2Pac; "His special special gift was his love side, so many wanna be Pac but only cop the thug side". 'Cherry Flava'd Email' featuring 5th Element, Ant Dog, Clev MC and Delina Dream maintains the album's laid back pace before the harder hitting beat of 'Weesom Hustlas' greets the listeners ears. Shock is joined on this track by Digital Underground and Raw Fusion rapper Money B and Shock himself also raps using his Humpty Hump persona. The fourth track on the album, 'Cinnamon Waves', brings the tempo right back down and features Q Bert on the turntables and Ray Luv of Young Black Brotha Records fame dropping some rhymes.


The feel of the album changes quite a bit with the following tracks, the first of which is titled 'Holmedown Up' and features Yukmouth (Luniz/Regime) along with Java, Clev MC and 5th Element. The bouncy 'Lets Go' follows on with the upbeat feel of the album and then listeners are greeted with the short but impressive 'My Opinion' featuring Knumskull of The Luniz. Knumskull drops various lines about what's on his mind that could easily offend people before the voice of reason Shock G comes into the track with his reply. Shock then raps about racism on 'Who's Clean' where he successfully manages to show listeners how stupid racism is by using various examples, a few lines in this track are pretty left of field. The pace of the album then goes down a notch with the laid back title track which doesn't actually have any rapping.



'Gotchoo' again features Shock rapping about racism, which is not real surprising considering the title of the album. Next up comes the strange 'Rime in the Mochanut' where the last word of every line leads into the next line, it kind of reminds me of something out of the Austin Powers movies. 'Perfect Life' features the talented group Element and also appears on the Element's album 'elementmusic.com'. Both Element and Shock G do their part in making this track one of the best on the album, I was fortunate enough to see Element and Digital Underground together live in Adelaide and there is no doubt that the groups compliment each other well. 'We're All Killaz' plays host to some more off the wall Shock G lyrics, for example: "People into Jesus wear crosses around they neck, people into Pac floss tech's, I'm into my man from the Green Mile I declare, so around my neck I wear an electric chair".


Coming to the end of the album and the slower 'Baby You Okay?' is followed by the much more energetic 'Sunshine Rime' featuring Mo on the mic and Delina Dream on the hook. Clev MC who appeared as a kid on the 'Sons of the P' album then gets a 1 minute and 33 second self titled solo track before the final track on the album 'Your Sun Iz A Pimp'. This track is fairly tranquil and features Q Bert on turntables and also has K-Lien rapping alongside Shock G and his famous character Humpty Hump also drops by.


All in all this is a great funky album to chuck on when you feel you need to relax, for me this is a personal favourite when ever I need focus on something but need music in the background. The album isn't Shock's or Digital Underground's finest release however I still think it is a must have for anyone who has ever taken an interest into their music. Unfortunately for the music industry, Gregory E. Jacobs, better known as Shock G, announced his retirement from the hip hop game in mid 2005 stating various reasons for his decision. I'm not sure what his current situation is, all I know is that he is a legend of the hip hop community and a breath of fresh air in a business where everything is taken so seriously.




MP3's:
Shock G ft. Element - Perfect Life
Shock G ft. Knumskull - My Opinion

>> DOWNLOAD <<

Rating:3 and a half Daytons out of 5

Days Of Way Back

Rodney O & Joe Cooley along with their old silent member, General Jeff are no secret to any old west coast hip hop fan. Rodney O dropped his first record in 1986 when he paired up with Joe Cooley for the first time and was produced by the legendary Egyptian Lover. Their styles fit together perfectly and kept working together. In 1988 Rodney O & Joe Cooley went to the East where Joe Cooley entered the New Music Seminar, The final ended up being between Joe Cooley and Philly's Cash Money, apparently Cooley killed Money and lost by a single point, the crowd booed the fuck out of the judges but Joe didn't leave with the prize.

Rodney O, Joe Cooley and General Jeff returned to the west to release their debut album, 'Me & Joe' on Egyptian Empire Records', the album was a hit and the next year released 'Three The Hard Way' on Atlantic followed by 'Get Ready To Roll' on Nastymix, Jeff left just after this album which left the duo by themselves to release their first '92 album 'Fuck New York' a title aimed at dissing New York for not playing hot west coast records and also for the 'Fuck Compton' diss by Tim Dog. No doubt Joe was also still pissed about losing that battle with Cash Money in '88. Their second album of '92 saw Rodney O & Joe replace the General with Pookie Duke for their new record under their new name 'Tha Hitmen' called 'Here Come Tha Hitmen'. Rodney O released a solo in '97 called 'What You Gotta Say' thats not too bad but they came back in '98 together with 'The Final Chapter' but unfortunately this wasn't quite on the same level as their last albums and their 2000 album 'Veterenz Day' was worse still. They recently dropped a 'Presents' album called 'Summer Heat' that has a crazy Rodney O & Joe Cooley track on it featuring Young Maylay (of GTA San Andreas fame) called 'Ride, Swerve, Slide' that is back to their best, I'd love to hear another album come out with that early 90's gangsta funk style too, an Insane Poetry feature would also be good.



Somewhere along there they released the rarely mentioned E.P. titled 'Days Of Way Back', unfortunately the cover, like most of their albums doesn't have year printed on it but I'm pretty confident it came out in '93. This has 6 of their early tracks including the 1986 'Your Chance To Rock' debut track on it. We never post up full albums on this blog although this once I'm puting the whole thing up for the simple fact that it's all been mixed and scratched into each other by Joe Cooley and the Egyptian Lover and a couple of tracks would be too much of a tease to any Rodney O & Joe Cooley fan that may not have heard this.



..::Rodney O & Joe Cooley::..
...:::The Days Of Way Back:::...
Everlasting Bass
DJ's And MC's
Your Chance To Rock
This Is For The Homies
Super Cuts
Give Me The Mic
Mixed By Joe Cooley & The Egyptian Lover

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Battle On Wax - Random Disses 5

Kokane Ft Cold187um - Don't Bite The Phunk (Dr Dre Diss)
On a beat hunt around town on the weekend Emvee found a copy of Kokane's 'Funk Upon A Rhyme' for $7 at a Cash Converters store, This prompted another 'Battle On Wax' post so I could chuck up my favourite track from this gem, 'Dont Bite The Phunk'. For those not familiar with this track it's another classic Ruthless Dre diss track. As a follow on from Eazy's 'Its On' E.P. This drills Dre pretty hard but gives props to Snoop, which is the only down fall to this mad track. In Kokane's eyes Dre bit his 'Phunk' from their days at Ruthless and considering that Dre is known for getting ghost writers like Jay Z, this would not surprise me one bit.


Luke ft J.T. Money - Cowards In Compton (Dr Dre Diss)
While we're dissing Dre, I've chucked on 'Cowards In Compton' that I ripped from my 12. The track is by Luke, that although he is a southern hip hop legend and I have nothing but respect for can't rap for shit, which is why he put his artist J.T. Money from Poison Clan to put the skills down on the diss. Dr Dre got a gapped teeth look-a-like to mimic Luke and Eazy in his 'Dre Day' video which is why Luke got pissed. I have heard rumors that after Dre's 'Dre Day' video Dre got run out of Atlanta by Luke and his boys while on the 'Chronic' tour. Although what the rumors are and what actually happened may be to completely different things. Any Tweedy Bird Loc fans that were wondering why he disses Luke in 'Fuck Miami', this is why.

New Gettie - Click Click (Cash Money Records Diss)
This next track is by the New York outfit 'New Gettie', who appeared on 'Da Wild Boyz - Time For Da Real' compilation that came out in 2000. The track is called 'Click Click' and is aimed straight at Juvenile, Lil' Wayne and B.G. as well as also giving a bit of a diss to the whole 'Cash Money Records' roster. Other than whats said in the track I have no idea what started the beef but is pretty clear that the Cash Money boys dissed New York at some stage. Like I said I know fuck all about this so I'll have to leave it here, but it is a straight diss with no hiding behind hints and metaphors.

Fat Joe - Fuck 50 (50 Cent Diss)
First up, I can't fuckin stand 50 Cent, that said I hate all these fake fuckin diss tracks that are made to make some extra dollars. On DJ Blacks 'Fuck 50' compilation there are 19 tracks all directed to 50, half of them probably don't even have a problem with him. Track 5 is Tupac featuring on a Black Child track dissing 50. I may not be the smartest guy in the world but I'm pretty sure Tupac never had anything to do with 50 Cent. Anyway I put Fat Joe's 'Fuck 50' on there because it's a pretty def track. Not that I have been a Fat Joe fan for the past 10 years or so since his quest for Top 40 fame.

The Relativez Ft Nuttz - This Is The Thanks You Get (Assorted disses)
This track is by west coast group 'The Relativez' who used to go under the name 'Young Soldiers' who appeared on the 'Murder Was The Case' soundtrack. They were originally an extention of Tweedy Bird Loc's 'Bloods & Crips'. The track is pretty much a Dre diss with the hook an answer to Dre "I started this gangsta shit, and this is the thanks I get" although they also diss Mack 10, Xzibit and a slight line to a few others. The track itself is pretty sick but as a diss track could have been more focused on their targets. 3 out of 5 of these tracks dissed Dre and I could easily find another 8 or 9, I guess cross dressing fake gangstas are easy targets?


MP3's:
Kokane Ft Cold 187um - Don't Bite The Phunk (Dr Dre Diss)
Luke ft J.T. Money - Cowards In Compton (Dr Dre Dss)
New Gettie - Click Click (Cash Money Records Diss)
Fat Joe - Fuck 50 (50 Cent Diss)
The Relativez Ft. Nuttz - This Is The Thanks You Get (Assorted disses)
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