Rare Artist Series: Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (Remastered 2010)

Not so much rare but when I copped this album on vinyl I had to share.  I have about three different copies dating back to the marble cassette release in 1989.

Listen and buy.

Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique (Remastered 2010)

Mayhem (Analog Remix) - The Video

The Video

Mayhem (Digital Remix) - Instrumental

The Beats

Mayhem (Digital Remix)

Futuristic synth sounds pan out the musical landscape for this version of Mayhem's self titled song.   The samples from "The Mist" and "Terminator 2" still are served up over the breakbeat and heavy drums mixed on top as Mysterio serves up kick, snare and vocal cuts to accentuate Mayhem's lyrics from 1995.

Mayhem (Digital Remix)

Mayhem (Analog Remix) - The Video

The Video

Mayhem (Analog Remix) - Instrumental

The Instrumental

Mayhem (Analog Remix)

Digging some sounds out of the sonic soundscape Mysterio crafted this version giving it a mellower vibe yet still quite intense - if that makes sense.  The samples from "The Mist" and "Terminator 2" still are served up over the breakbeat and heavy drums mixed on top as Mysterio serves up kick, snare and vocal cuts to accentuate Mayhem's lyrics from 1995.

Mayhem (Analog Remix)

Rare Artist Series: Dr. Dre & DJ Quik - Grand Finale/Last Song/P.S. Phuk U 2

 

Two of my favorite west coast producers.  These three tracks showcase what was early in the posse cut territory in the nineties.  The "Grand Finale" was off of D.O.C.'s superbly produced album "No One Can Do It Better".  While the "Last Song" came off Above The Law's debut album.  "P.S. Phuk U 2" appeared on the Penthouse Player's Clique only album.

All the songs feature funky pianos over uptempo drum tracks smoothed out with some deep bass lines and some wah-wah guitars.  It is almost as if they were all recorded in the same session - well... almost.  Anyhow - they definitely make it to me posse cut mixes on my IPOD and they should on yours.

Grand Finale

The Last Song

P.S. Phuk U 2

Rare Artist Series: The Dragons

Listen and then BUY this album.  This is another lost gem that Ninja Tune dug up from back in the day.

From Amazon:
"It's the late '60s. Three brothers, Doug, Daryl, and Dennis Dragon are living in Malibu, surfing and gigging around the Los Angeles area, and having their minds blown by the music of The Beatles, Hendrix, and The Doors. The multi-instrumentalist sons of a symphony conductor and an opera singer, the brothers decide it's time to create their own psychedelic soul/rock masterpiece."

The Dragons - BFI

Magmatic (Live in 95)

The live version of the T-Booth and MJB classic.

Magmatic (Live)

Matt Braunger rapping

Rare Artist Series: Virtuoso - Omnipotence

Big Virt had some promise to him when he first arrived on the scene from Boston, MA in the late 90's.  As time went on a fallout occurred between him and Jedi Mind Tricks as well as 7L & Esoteric.  They moved on and made some noteworthy material and he remained in limbo.  Anyhow, this is the first joint I heard by him back then and it still holds weight till this day.  He re-released the song on his debut album albeit with a different beat that didn't pack the punch that this one does.  


Omnipotence

The Great Debate

Reverend Allen and Senator Ramirez butt heads over the Elian Gonzalez situation back in 2000.

Get in on the Debate

Rare Artist Series: Subterranean - My Style Is Phreaky

This crew made only this one song as far as I know.  I liked it a lot when I heard it back in the early 2000's and the crew Subterranean were a breath of fresh air and reminded me a bit of Digable Planets.  Still good music.

My Style is Phreaky

Rare Artist Series: WC & The MAAD Circle - Ain't A Damn Thing Changed (Remix)

In between his beginning in Low Profile all the way to his Connection to the Westside, WC met up with the MAAD Circle.  This track came of off a cassingle and is a remix of one of the songs off their debut album.  I think that the album this is off of is definitely one that is highly overlooked when it comes to talking about west coast gangsta music.  Maybe people were put off by Coolio but I certainly was not.

Ain't A Damn Thing Changed

Cerebral Blows

Moosie Moe and T-Booth stepped up to the mic to throw cerebral blows without their fists.  Afu Ra was sampled for the hook over a Mad Mysterio Masterpiece.  Louis Farrakhan stepped up to and dropped some knowledge in between the verses.  Claw makes an appearance too to round up this colossal cut from 1995.


Cerebral Blows

Sorry I Never Told You

Cise's jam off of the Time-Space Continuum album featuring Kwote on the chorus over a Mysterio beat.

Sorry I Never Told You

Most Incredible

Aya Da Storm's solo joint off of the Time Space Continuum album.  Mysterio produced the intense track for him to showcase his lyrical prowess.

NOTABLE QUOTES:
"Aya Da Storm I scale cliff's that's rocky/ Sipping sake/ Motherfuck Pataki"

"I throw rappers into dark pits/ Target the mic and spark it/ With the force of a minatour kick"

Most Incredible

Rare Artist Series: Sun Ra - Nuclear War

A very solid and slightly more accessible album by the one and only Sun Ra.

Nuclear War

The Pub Line Up

It twas 1995 at the Pub and DJ Cream was on the wheels of steel introducing the Universal Sounds crew:

The Line Up:

Spee*D - "And every time I grab the mic I rip it lovely"

MJB - "If you didn't know Matt's flow is slick like chicken fat"

T-Booth - "I don't bust caps but I bust rhymes that spread like butter"

Mayhem - "This mission is splitting competition like fission"

Moosie Moe - "Fools that pack get smoked like bowls"

J.O.B. - "Some call me Big Rob and others call me Bubba"

ENS - "I'm a man with a permanent tan"

Then Claw almost made it on before we experienced technical difficulties.

Get your grub from the Pub

Rare Artist Series: Pacewon - I Declare War

Pacewon stepped up for this song back when he was rolling with the Outsiderz and Eminem.  Although his other material didn't really hit me too much for some reason this song did.  It definitely relates to the sample used but also because of his braggadocios infused lyricism on this particular track.

Pacewon - I Declare War

Morfyre

Menace crafted this track for the Lost Link (Kwote & Cise) to shine on back in 2001.  The drums shake along with a deep warm sound as a piano is sprinkled over the bubbling bass.

NOTABLE QUOTES:
"Hair grey/ Going against what you scream/ Entering your life through the back door of dreams" - Kwote

"Walk cold blocks with heat that ice melts/ Gun shots pop like corn and scottish celts" - Cise

Morfyre

Rare Artist Series: Jedi Mind Tricks - Muerte

Damn this song just gets me amped.  The spanish sample mixed over the simple drum track gives enough space for the Jedi Mind Tricks crew to rip up shop.  There have been plenty of times where I play this song over and over and will continue to do so as long as I remain on this earth.  Fire!

Muerte

Jake's Jamboree Session #7

A fourteen part series from the session up in Connecticut at Lamada's Laboratory. Live drums, bass, keys, kalimba, turntables, etc. provide the tools for which these guys used to just have some fun making music.

Session #7

Sinister

A little jam thrown together back in 1998 with Mysterio on the sampling mixer and 8-track.  Aya and Analytical stepped up on the Shure microphone.  Old school style.

Sinister

Ironic

A select scripture from the book of Kwote. Melodic keys accentuate the tight drum programming as strings come in and out while Kwote kicks some lyrics about relationships.

Ironic

It Only Takes One

A classic Claw conceptual creation from 1996.  The lyrics provided by Moosie Moe, T-Booth and Claw fuel the chorus provided by E.N.S. as they give their opinions on death.


It Only Takes One

Rare Artist Series: The Roots Live In the Studio with A Butta

This was off of The Roots white label with the group performing "Live" in the studio with a slew of rappers.  This is my favorite cut off the album and it showcases A Butta's superior rhyme skills from back in the day - too bad he never continued on the path lyrically like with this song and the one off of Lyricist's Lounge "Keep Pourin'".

A Butta

Rare Artist Series: DMG - Ain't Bullshittin

One of the lost gems from the Rap-A-Lot era when the label was in full stride.  Actually they did put out a lot of wack stuff too back at that time (Too Much Trouble... ahem) but I always liked this album.  This particular track has DMG rapping over a dark beat with wah-wah samples taken from "90 % of me is You".  Overall, his lyrics and voice are a perfect fit for this type of track.

Ain't Bullshittin

Facial Features

Claw crafted this slick song for Kwote which debuted on the Time-Space Continuum album back in 2001. The lyrics and flow by Kwote match the beat perfectly like a glove.

Facial Features

Kemikal

Another Cise gem from the 2000-2001 sessions in Brooklyn.

Kemikal

Melquan Lost My Scruples

A track from the Constant Deviant Melquan Armstrong circa 1993.

Lost My Scruples

Rare Artist Series: RZA - Sunshower

Not so much of a rare artist but a rare track from the Wu-tang Clan leader the RZA.  Hands down this is my favorite track by him.  It

Sunshower

Freestyle Friday

Rip It

Rare Artist Series: Jedi Mind Tricks - I Against I (Revisited)

Stoupe sampled Cal Tjader for this track by Jedi Mind Tricks and sprinkled some other sounds over it as it rides the drum track. The lyrics are complex and the flows fit perfectly.  It has that fall time feel to me whenever I hear it and when I do hear it I usually play it over and over a few times.  Solid hip hop.

I Against I (Revisited)

Mid Day Blues (Autor Titel Remix)

This here is a remix by a German producer Kwote had connected with back in 2001.

Mid Day Blues (Autor Titel Remix)

Rare Artist Series: Willie D - Clean Up Man

A lot of people out there are fans of Scarface and I do too think he was the best part of the Geto Boys.  However, Willie D will always remain one of my favorite comedic rappers even more so than Biz Markie. Whether he intended to or not he always had me laughing my ass off listening to his over the top lyrics and loud rhyming style.  This song in particular is funky and at the same time quite hilarious given the subject matter of Willie D taking your woman if you don't take care of her cause he's the clean up man.  Ha ha ha ha!

Clean Up Man

Dark Saga

Mysterio played around with some programmable synths on this jam digging on the sounds from the ASR-10. What resulted was an uptempo track with dark intentions laid forth for Anoir and Aya to spit some lyrical artillery on. Pianos, organs and strings glide along the head snapping drum kit with cuts thrown in by Mysterio from Inspectah Deck and Pharoahe Monch.

NOTABLE QUOTES:

"When my mind invents a collage/ A verbal sabotage/ Lyrical barrage/ Appear like a mirage/ Rhymes you can't dodge/ Camouflage couldn't hide ya/ When poisonous rhymes get up inside ya" - Aya Da Storm

"But who am I to tell you what to do and not do/ And who are you to say what I do is not true?/ We all don't have a clue/ Stressing to be guessing/ So I'm manifesting/ Finessing with a blessing" - Anoir Akbar

The Saga Continues

World War 3 (ELP Remix Live)

This is the Live Version of World War Three produced by ELP with Claw, E.N.S. and Anoir Akbar on the mic.


World War 3 (ELP Remix Live)

Freestyle Friday

Freestyle Friday

Seismic Tremors

Mysterio crafted this dark track for Anoir and Aya to display their lyrical abilities.  Horn stabs shock the drum track along with eerie sounds complimenting their complex verses.

Seismic Tremors

Lyrical Masterblasters (2010 Remix) - The Video

The Video

Lyrical Masterblasters (2010 Remix Instrumental)

Strictly beats.

Lyrical Masterblasters (2010 Remix Instrumental)

Lyrical Masterblasters (2010 Remix)

The original version of this song was recorded in a bathroom in the summer of 1993.  Mysterio has updated the song with new cuts, drums and sound effects but the same sample cultivated from the crates by J.O.B. remains.

Lyrical Masterblasters (2010 Remix)

Rare Artist Series: Canibus - Channel Zero

Canibus' first album was somewhat of a disappointment but I feel it had some shining moments despite all the self promoted hype.  I remember Canibus painting himself silver at the MTV awards and just shaking my head in bewilderment.  We also remember him battling with the LL and dragging out that one-sided feud for years onward.

Anyhow, his first album and the numerous albums that have followed have been a big mixed bag.  A lot of tight verses - lyrically and phonetically.  A lot of mediocre music and some disastrously wack hooks.  This song in particular has some great conspiracy tinged lyrics that sound so good to me that it almost takes over and makes me forget the extremely lame chorus.

Channel Zero

Jake's Jamboree Session #6

A fourteen part series from the session up in Connecticut at Lamada's Laboratory. Live drums, bass, keys, kalimba, turntables, etc. provide the tools for which these guys used to just have some fun making music.

Session #6

Three Emcees (Part One)

Lamada pulled samples out of thin air for this extremely satisfying head bobbing beat. The change ups always get me and keep me interested in what happens next as the three emcees deliver some tight verses.

Just straight up hip hop skills: Beats + Rhymes = Rewind & Play Again.

NOTABLE QUOTES:

"Pass me a mic and I'll break down the dewey decimal/ This extraterrestrial - skills so celestial - BX from the start" - E.N.S.

"I craft for fiends - it's in my basic nature/ I laugh at magazines and how they overrate ya" - Anoir Akbar

"So microphones will get ripped apart from the start/ I take this art more serious than just a chart" - Aya Da Storm

It Takes Three

Rare Artist Series: The Dragons - Pop's Bag

This group came out with an album that almost never saw the light of day.  It wasn't until decades later that Ninja Tune was able to release it.  This one song is just pure perfection to me.  Definitely makes me appreciate it and also wonder how many other lost gems that there are out there like this.

Buy

Download

Kaotic Disciples of the Poet: It's All Kaotic

Still yet another gem from the archives of the Kaotic Disciples. This time it is all...

Kaotic

Rare Artist Series: Felt 2 (Murs & Slug) - Dirty girl

I loved this album.  After a mediocore debut Slug and Murs followed up with a solid sounding album produced by Ant.  Then Felt 3 came and I tossed it in the trash.  So, anyhow this is one song that will always be kept on the playlists for summer or spring time fun.  Solid.

Dirty Girl