Ignoring the clamour from idiots who think Everlast is any good, we grant our first Cracker Pass of the new regime to one Tony D. Don’t get it twisted, this isn’t the Anthony who produced joints for MC Serch and numerous fools on Idlers. This is the Trenton legend Tony D. The YZ-PRT hate triangle Tony D. Crusaders for Real Hip-Hop Tony D. Selling many records on eBay Tony D. It would be easy to grant him a license based on his dope production work, but we’re giving it to him for his MC’ing, straight up. He might not be kicking the polysyllables or the igpay atinlay, but he’s pretty nice with his.

We asked Tony to put us up on his Trenton classics: “I think ‘Rock Dis Funky Joint’ would be first. I’m really big on this Black Prince and Aziatic stuff. He’s got this track called ‘Contact’ that is amazing. Then there was another thing, this album by a guy called Baby Chill who was a spin-off of YZ that no-one ever heard. He passed away. We did a 16 song LP that never got signed, and that was some of my best beats. I’d split with PRT so all my beats were going to this kid. And then there’s the unreleased Blvd. Mosse stuff…” Trust us, we want to hear it all. You can read our full in-depth Tony D interview in a forthcoming HHC, but for now we’re just laminating that Cracker Rap pass…

Tony D – Check The Elevation
[See post to listen to audio]

Almighty & KD Ranks (prod. by Tony D) – Trenton Where We Live
[See post to listen to audio]

Poor Righteous Teachers (prod. by Tony D) – Time to Say Peace (original mix)
[See post to listen to audio]

Remember when Dre really mattered and hip-hop moved units? Earlier in the month we said we wouldn’t speculate as to whether the ‘Detox’ album may or may not materialise this year. We’ll stand by that, but even if it did you could predict each step of the flimsy promotional campaign. First up, every blog would leak the cover. Then we’d be leaked numerous tracks featuring Z list G Unit rappers. Then the track listing would leak. There would be a 30 second leak of an Eminem track. The first single would be officially leaked by a Universal Music grunt and no doubt we’d all be very disappointed by a sub-par Game verse. The official mixtape would leak. We’re losing interest. Finally the official album would leak and we’re already over it. Any genuine anticipation has waned. So once again we dig back in history to get our thrills. Buying 12 inches and magazines seems like such a distant memory but it was so much more exciting.

Dr Dre – Deep Cover (Introducing Snoop Doggy Dog) – The original 12″

“Deep Cover on the incognito tip…”

Here’s another high brow feature courtesy of your boys at the ‘Lace. When we get promotional items we don’t just secure them in an airtight vault then sell them on ebay some years later for overly inflated prices, hell no, we put them to damn good use. As the RZA seems topical again, we decided to dust off the Bobby Digital Vinyl Killer and give it a road test. For the life of us we couldn’t decide which Wu Tang record to kill but we think you’ll appreciate our selection. If there’s another Wu track you want us to kill just send a postcard to the usual address. Anyway, enjoy, we like the ending the best and if the audio sounds a tad wonky, don’t worry, it’s overdue a service and M.O.P. Shame on a nuh!

Greg Nice is one of those characters in hip-hop that has stood the cruel test of time. His style, personality and entertainment value is as relevant today as it was back in ‘86. He’s been the go-to-guy for any record lacking that party flavour not to mention his three classic albums as part of the group Nice & Smooth. He’s got more hits under his belt than most of his peers put together and many of those are simply records he made a guest appearance on. Whether it’s his show stealing verse on ‘Dwyck’ to massive crossover hits like his current smash appearance on O’Neal McKnight’s ‘Check Your Coat’, Greg Nillz has been a mainstay in rap. Still touring with longtime partner Smooth B and about to embark on some groundbreaking projects, we hooked up with the ‘fortune teller’ in person.

FL: What was the first record you beatboxed on?

GN: It was on a record by the Nasty Comedians, I think one of them passed away. Then I did it on ‘Bass Machine’, after that I did ‘Back To Burn’, T La Rock’s album then on Ultramagnetic MC’s ‘Bait’.

FL: How did you hook up with Ultra?

GN: I actually went to school with Keith. He was the same original type dude. We used to watch karate movies every Saturday at my mom’s crib. We used to mix Guinness Stout and Private Stock and eat Chinese food.

Ultramagnetic MC’s – Bait
[See post to listen to audio]

FL: How did you meet T La Rock?

GN: I was at a house party and some friends of mine told me to come down to a club where T and Special K were. We saw them dudes in there. My boy put me on the spot and I had to perform so I got on the mic or whatever, did a beatbox and Special K asked me for my number. A day or two later I came home from school and my mom told me I got a phone call from Special K. Next day I got home earlier and took his call. I met him downtown in Harlem and he took me to some friends of his O.C. and Crazy Eddie. They DJ’d for the Fearless 4. They took a liking to me and we became buddies. Started doing shows with T but O.C. would take me under his belt and I started going to studio with them. Peso took a liking to me too. T used to come by and pick me up. He’d take me to different parties out in the ‘hoods. He took me to a Mike & Dave jam where they had a beatbox contest. I got up there and ran up against Biz Markie and from there we became friends because I beat Biz in the contest. We exchanged numbers. I would pick Biz up at the train station and we’d go to jams. I remember I took Biz to the Disco Fever.

T La Rock featuring Greg Nice – Three Minutes Of Beatbox
[See post to listen to audio]

FL: When did you make the transition from Beatbox to rap?

GN: I have a friend of mine called John Porterfield (June Love R.I.P.), he passed away. I would do the beatbox for him and he’d do the rhymes. He wrote me a rhyme for a song we did called ‘Suckers’, he wrote me a four bar rhyme. It never got chance to come out on record because he was murdered. Then a friend of mine asked me to go to his house to meet a dude called Smooth. We all kind of hit it off. Smooth was with Bobby Brown, he was Bob’s MC, Bob just left New Edition. Smooth wrote all the rhymes for Bob. So he was doing all that. I was still doing shows performing with T La Rock. Me, John and Smooth hit it off and we were going to do a group together but John got murdered one night and me and Smooth continued on and that’s why I’m here right now.

FL: What was the first record you rhymed on?

GN: Other songs we did on our album we did before ‘Skill Trade’ but that was first one that got to public but we did the ‘Gold’ song before that.

FL: How did the deal with Sleeping Bag deal come about?

GN: I was already over there with T, we had formed the group but they wasn’t fucking with me before I was an artist. I used to hang out with Rockmaster Scott and the Dynamic Three, so Scott would take me different places with him. He would go to different labels like Next Plateau and he’d tell dudes about me and Smooth. He set it up for me to have a meeting with Next Plateau. I would be around Sleeping Bag all the time, I’d know ‘em all through T but they wouldn’t take me seriously as an artist. One day we going to a show with T and Joyce Simms in Baltimore. While we were riding in the limo I was playing my demo. They were asking who it was. I told them it was me and Smooth and we were going to do a deal with Next Plateau. They were like ‘we your family right here, why you wanna do a deal with Next Plateau?’ and that was it, we got a letter of intent but we never signed a deal. Eventually we did sign the contract. I remember seeing EPMD in there sat on the couch before they got signed.

FL: Who first played your records on the radio?

GN: Red Alert and Awesome Two. Red played ‘Skill Trade’. I was stood in front of the original Latin Quarter at 47th and Broadway. There was a pizza shop that’s connected to the Latin Quarter. They had the doors open and a radio on the counter and there was a car at the lights so I could hear it in stereo and we realised it was us on the radio.

3rd Bass featuring Nice & Smooth – Microphone Techniques
[See post to listen to audio]

FL: What was it like when the album dropped?

GN: I remember when Skill Trade was in the record store but not the album. People would go in the store and ask for the record but they wouldn’t know the artist. It was before we had videos.

FL: What was your first record that broke you through?

GN: ‘Early To Rise’. The Fat Albert sample was the whole catch. It was a big show especially with Black people.

Nice & Smooth – Early To Rise (The Nice Mix)
[See post to listen to audio]

FL: How did the deal happen with Def Jam?

GN: That was a buy about for $2m, a buy out for us and EPMD as Sleeping Bag was going under. We were the only ones of value with EPMD, they didn’t want no dance records. It was another level because it’s different to making a name on the street. Even with Sleeping Bag going under we was the shit. I’d hear cars going by the house and they’d be pumping ‘Kicking wicked rhymes like a fortune teller…’. It was crazy, especially as we produced that whole album. When they’re playing five or your shits on mix shows it’s crazy. It’s like the Grammy’s when you’re respected by your peers like that.

Nice & Smooth – No Delayin’
[See post to listen to audio]

FL: Dwyck was a big record on the underground right?

GN: Their record company didn’t care about that, that’s why it was on the B side. We just made it ours like every other track we featured on.

FL: What does Dwyck mean?

GN: Ask Premier.

FL: What was the biggest record you featured on?

GN: Lisette Melendez ‘Goody Goody’. That shit was big over here. We did Arsenio Hall. You don’t do Arsenio Hall if it wasn’t good. You see Fat Joe standing right there with me in the video. It was one of his first video appearances ever. I like everything we did for some reason. Everything got its acclamation.

FL: You did a lot of underground collaborations like with Preacher Earl.

GN: Hell yeah, he’s my homeboy. I helped a lot of those guys out. I didn’t want publishing they could have it, whatever they needed.

Greg Nice – Come Thru With The Click [Feat. Rich Nice, Phat Doug, Mo Crazy & Asu]
[See post to listen to audio]

Preacher Earl – Return Of The Body Snacha (Ra Ra Mix) [produced by Greg Nice, BV's by Slick Rick]
[See post to listen to audio]

FL: What about the 12 inches you released on Paper Music?

GN: They’re straight party themes now, I always liked doing them shits. Even when I was in Nice & Smooth. Like with Set It Off, I pressed those myself and sold them to one stops. I sold around 17,000 of those.

FL: What happened with Def Jam in the end?

GN: We had a listening party at their office. I called two days later for some information. They said the label was no longer there. We had 22 radio adds, we had a number one rated video. We went to Def Jam and they suddenly had no radio or video department. Suddenly you’re in debt with Sony for millions of dollars. They didn’t tell no artists about it. Suddenly Sony are asking for their money, they were like, ‘we’ll renegotiate when we get our money’. Then suddenly Def Jam got a new daddy. So at the time if you went to the record store to get ‘Old To The New’ you’ll find Warren G ‘Regulate’ pressed on there. That’s one of the reasons we managed to bounce. It got real crazy, I ain’t even gonna talk about it (making gun gestures with his hands) but we made it all peaceful. We took a break from that shit.

FL: You’ve done so much since then and added so much flavour to so many records.

GN: It’s called insurance. When our ancestors did this they weren’t able to own it, there was no publishing. I’ve never done a publishing deal in my whole life so whatever I’m on, it’s all there. I’ve never been the dude to ask for money to buy a fancy car but give me my rights and I’ll live for ever. I’m with the Clyde Otis Music Administration, I’m with ASCAP, I’m good.

C + C Music Factory feat Nice & Smooth – Do You Wanna Get Funky
[See post to listen to audio]

FL: Tell us about the production on the Nice & Smooth albums?

GN: I produced the first and second album with a little help. On the third album Louis ‘Fat Cat’ Vega (formerly of Priority One) helped me along with my buddy Mark Spark and Showbiz. It was about to be a whole different level but as I said the powers that be stepped in.

FL: What were some of the career highlights for you?

GN: Selling out the Apollo on Thanksgiving on the 7 o’clock show and the midnight show. Black Sheep and Cypress Hill opened up. We came out of the sky hanging from cables. They had a highway built and dancers popping out of the fucking manholes. We had Pure Blend singing in the background with different colour silks on. Nobody was sitting down, everybody was in the isles and going crazy. I finally got to bring my mom to a concert, Smooth brought his mom, we put on chairs on the stage behind the curtains. That was insane. We did shows with Big Daddy Kane, ladies night, we did ‘Pimpin Ain’t Easy’ and Bobby Brown came out. The whole shit going crazy. Daytona Spring Break for MTV, that was amazing. Doing Soul Train was a great feeling. We did In Living Color three times.

FL: Peace out Greg

GN: No doubt

What’s next for Greg Nice? Here’s a clue:
[See post to listen to audio]

In the first of our new Fallen Soldiers feature we salute the legend that is DJ Scott LaRock (3/2/1962 – 8/27/87). Here’s some audio from an old Dave Pearce Radio London show reporting the news of Scott’s untimely passing:
[See post to listen to audio]

Scott (pictured) calling a girl before the advent of internet dating. We imagine this would have been his Facebook photo would he still have been with us today. So time for a caption competition. What’s Scott saying on the telephone? Answers by way of comments please, the best one wins a Fat Lace T Shirt.

Here’s Boogie Down Productions ‘Super Hoe’, an ode to Scott’s love affair with prophylactics. We think KRS, a serial monogamist, lived his own fantasies through the promiscuous DJ.
[See post to listen to audio]

…and here’s KRS telling you all to Stop The Violence. This includes harming pets, killings wasps, threatening a child with the naughty step and giving someone a chinese burn.
[See post to listen to audio]

Peace to Bobby Corridor for the Dave Pearce link

Roxy Music: Having a nice day but too old to be playing on that thing

After months of research, trawling through our record libraries and interviewing thousands of Fat Lace readers for their input, we give you the definitive list of the best pre-1990 female rap songs. OK, we interviewed nobody and it’s formed of our own bias but it’s a valid study. We’re working on the post-1990 list as we speak. Popular opinion dictates that Women are only good for managing hedge funds, heading up international peace keeping missions, flying jets and baking cakes but we think that’s unfair, they can also rap, well some can and a few even do it quite well, so let’s celebrate the fairer rapping sex in all their perfumed glory.

Isis ‘The Power Of Myself Is Moving’ (4^th & Broadway)
The title would suggest this song was about flicking herself off but no, she was talking about her independence and inner- female strengths. Girl power 101 by Isis. The Slave sample really hooked us in and there’s even a guest appearance by Professor X who apparently loved to show the ladies his big black staff.

[See post to listen to audio]

Roxanne Shante ‘Have A Nice Day’ (Cold Chillin)
KRS One once said “Roxanne Shante is only good for steady f**king”. Did he know something we didn’t? Marley struck gold when he discovered this Queen Of Rox. The feisty Queensbridge raised Juice Crew MC debuted in 1984 and never looked back since, well until she recorded the Large Professor produced ‘Brothers Ain’t Shit’. She was exposed as a fraud when it was revealed she didn’t even have a brother, proving her tale of sibling rivalry was totally unfounded. She never quite recovered. Come back Rox, all is forgiven.

[See post to listen to audio]

Sparky Dee ‘vs. The Playgirls ‘The Battle’ (NIA)
Sparky’s talents were totally overlooked until DJ Red Alert became her DJ. Well she recorded a song called ‘He’s My DJ (Red Alert)’, whether that was true or not has never been proven. They were never seen together. As part of our research we examined New York City court records and uncovered a restraining order by a Mr. R. Alert filed against a Miss S. Dee. Apparently when he found out she recorded the song withiout his permission he flipped his lid, hence the term ‘DJ Red Alert, goes berserk’. We’d like to see the video for this track, we imagine it would be like the x-rated version of Duran Duran’s ‘Girls On Film’.

[See post to listen to audio]

Queen Latifah ‘Latifah’s Law’ (Tommy Boy)
Hail Fat Queen. It’s an anagram, we pointed that out in an old issue of Fat Lace. She’s like the Oprah Winfrey of rap, annoyingly self-aggrandising and but we’re not going to put down the ‘Princess Of The Posse’ too badly, anyone who’s a friend of the 45 King is a friend of ours and this Louie Louie produced album cut was a bonafide killer. If anyone knows where the horn sample is from we’d love to know.

[See post to listen to audio]

Turbonator X: Self-aggrandising

Tanya Winley ‘Vicious Rap’ (Paul Winley)
The intro, you may recognise, was used on Diamond D’s ‘Best Kept Secret’. This early classic on Paul Winley records has to be one of the first female rap records. Who’d have thought that a girl called Tanya could rap for over seven minutes about sweet fuck all and it be considered one of the greatest hip-hop records of all time. Also an early example of rappers using their real names. People accused Anya Hindley’s ‘Handbag Rap’ of copying her.

[See post to listen to audio]

Dimples D ‘Sucker DJ’s (I Will Survive)’ (Partytime)
This record was made more famous for its use in Marley Marl and MC Shan’s ‘Marley Scratch’. Listening back, nearly every line by Dimples, real name Crystal Smith, has become a classic hip-hop sample. Not exactly a stand alone great but certainly immortalised for its later use. This was her only release but we guess calling every DJ a sucker didn’t inspire them to play her records.

[See post to listen to audio]

MC Lyte ‘Cha Cha Cha’ (FPM)
Where do we start with Lyte? She’s recorded so many classic tracks spanning her career it’s unfair to single out any one in particular. Lyte’s probably the only female rapper who lasted the test of time in terms of credibility. She’s never quite been a sex symbol although she is attractive. Not being objectified probably helped her status as becoming one of the greats. Blimey, Germaine Greer would have a field day with this wouldn’t she?

[See post to listen to audio]

A pensive Lyte sipping on a nice cuppa-cuppachino

Antoinette ‘Hit ‘Em With This’ (Sound Check)
Although her career was short lived, Antoinette released a string of great singles taken from two albums ‘Who’s The Boss’ and ‘Burnin At 20 Below’. Much like Salt N Pepa, Antoinette was under the tutelage of Hurby ‘Luv Bug’ Azor but never went the ultra commercial route like her peers. Probably why she’s broke today. Hurby had a real eye for the ‘talent’ didn’t he? First Antoinette, then Salt N Pepa. Totally transparent.

[See post to listen to audio]

Salt N Pepa ‘My Mike Sounds Nice’ (Next Plateau)
This was as underground as it got for Salt N Pepa, pretty much everything else they did was nothing less than a commercial success. Let’s face it through, we all loved DJ Spindarella, albeit a tad cross-eyed, she was the girl next door type. You just wanted to spy on her getting undressed after practicing her scratching. We hear VH1 are running a reality show about them, well all that money lasted a good ten years, not bad going.

[See post to listen to audio]

Blondie ‘Rapture’ (Chrysalis)
Not strictly a rap record and Deborah Harry wasn’t strictly a rapper but ‘Rapture’ was a huge hit and Grandmaster Flash etched it stone by including the rapping part on his classic ‘Adventures On The Wheels Of Steel’. Damn, she even rapped in French. Maybe that will catch on one day and folk will start rapping over there in Franceland. Nah, it will never happen.

[See post to listen to audio]

Who’s that girl?: Can anyone name the mystery rapper? (not mentioned in our list)

Shazzy ‘Keep It Flowin’ (Elektra)
Not too many people have heard of Shazzy, She’s not the female version of Shaggy put it that way. On the 12” of Shazzy’s ‘Keep It Flowin’ it states the album was to be titled ‘The High Priestess of Newfunk’, when it dropped it was called ‘Attitude: A Hip-Hop Rapsody’. Convoluted either way. Regardless, it’s a slept on classic notable for production by the Stimulated Dummiez a.k.a. SD50. A project Dante Ross will probably want to forget.

[See post to listen to audio]

Ice Cream Tee ‘To Be Continued’ (Uni)
Bettina Clark made her debut on Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince’s debut album ‘Rock The House’ on the track ‘Guys Ain’t Nothing But Trouble’. She was quickly snapped up by Jazzy Jay and one year later released her debut album ‘Can’t Hold Back’. It was nothing like her syrupy debut though. The beats were hard as nails thanks to Jazzy’s influence. She never made it to the big time but let’s hope she still gets some change from Will and Jeff. Or at least a Christmas card.

[See post to listen to audio]

Big Lady K ‘Don’t Get Me Started’ (Priority)
Big Lady was the first female artist to get signed by Priority Records. Her career never amounted to much but this particular track was a smash with the real heads for it’s faultless sampling of Ike & Turner’s ‘Bold Soul Sister’, which considering she was from the West Coast had a distinctive East Coast feel at the time. Not much else to say really, she was overweight and made one great record.

[See post to listen to audio]

COMMENTS & FEEDBACK PLEASE, DID WE GET IT RIGHT, WHICH TRACKS WOULD YOU HAVE PICKED?

Before AOK were a rap crew, you were a NY graf crew, right?
To answer your question, yeah, we were a Graffiti crew. Basically, for anyone who knows something about graffiti, they will know AOK; it’s considered one of the best crew’s ever, I think it’s fair to say. There was Me, Reas, and Wolf as co-presidents and then the various members. But the music stuff was me and Flasha – a dude I met while messengering with his brother, Petey. He was from the South Bronx and knew all kinds of shit about old records, and I was an avid collector of breaks. We hit it off, bugging out and drinking forties. The band originally included Reas as an MC also, but he decided it wasn’t for him when there was a show that was approaching. Flasha also was a writer – big time in New York with his boy Pre-Sweet, TR nation – anyone from the city is aware of them. So it was a serendipitous match. I used to go to Downstairs Records, the capital of breaks and beats back in the day for those who knew. It was actually the record store that used to literally be downstairs in the subway station at Times Square 42nd st. but then moved to a one flight walk up a few blocks away. That was the shit, digging through forty-fives and looking for breaks. The people who worked there were DJ’s also and would hook you up with stuff when you came through and we were all chill with them. That was the spot. Run by old timers. DJ Duke of Denmark was a good friend for a while who worked there and DJ’d parties outside of work, and another fella Willy was a guy who played my record.

MESH taggin’ it up

How did the hook up with Profile come around?
The hook up with Profile came about indirectly through my Mom. She was a teacher at an alternative High School in NYC. She actually ran the school newspaper when Jean Michele Basquiat went there and he used to draw for it. But though I like his stuff a lot now, at the time we thought he was semi-fake graf. He used to write Samo back in the day and you would see some old tags, but for us, if you weren’t hitting trains it was kind of a con. We took the shit serious – and still do I suppose. Anyway, when I was performing she had invited a guy named Born who was looking to manage people who went to the school to the show because she told him I was doing Hip Hop or something. So he came, and said he had some hook-ups through a lady named Michelle Saunders who was part of the night life scene- sweet lady. So I was like, sure. They shopped my demo around and poof, that was what happened The two people who signed me are Claudia Casetta and Brian Chin. They had just come off the heels of the Rob Base, ‘It Takes Two’ signing so I believe they had a lot of cache at the label. My whole thing was that they don’t promote me as being white. I wanted to be judged solely by the quality of the tracks – and surprise people I suppose. Anyway, they barely did any promotion at that time in Hip Hop back then: They’d throw a couple thou at a record and hope they got results. That was how things worked back then. No one was making millions yet so that’s how it went.

Where was the ‘The Signal’ / ‘Shack it up’ 12″ recorded? Who produced it?
I produced the entire record myself, with input and scratching from Flasha. He had mad dexterous hands. His day job was cutting graphics at a printing company and he just had precision, what more can I tell you. It was a hard decision being that I had so many breaks to choose from. There was always the Ultimate Beats and Breaks series coming out all the time, but I always wanted to push the envelope and use something rare and unknown. Or unusual, thus the “pause” break on ‘The Signal’, a kind of beat not really used at all at that point. But I wanted to have the record be a hit also, thus the more straightforward groove of ‘Shack It Up’. Just had to be funky, You know. It was recorded in a guy’s house a previous friend of mine used to do some electronic music at. It might have been a more commercial sounding record if we had gone to some commercial studio but opted instead to have total control over the project in a comfortable environment.

Were you signed for just the one 12″, or was there an album deal?
There wasn’t an album deal, these were just one-off things. That’s how it worked. Barely anyone even had albums out at that time, or were just starting to.

How come we never heard another A.O.K. record?
I suppose I was a little broken up about the response to the record here and took a long time to follow up with new material to submit. The thing is, back then, if you didn’t get your song on rotation at either WBLS: Mr. Magic, Marley Marl or KISS: Red Alert, Chuck Chillout, that was it, though The Awesome Two did play it on their show which was great, but it was only one of the two other late night shows. Those 4 venues were essentially it. The story is thus: Willy, a DJ who worked at Downstairs Records was spinning at a club down in SOHO . My record had just come out and he said he was going to play it. I don’t even know if I had really heard it out, loud, for the most part. So he played it and afterwards I went up to him to ask what he thought. He told me, Yo, Red Alert came over wanting to know what it was. I was like, Oh shit, this is my big break for the record. So I decided to go over to him and introduce myself. You should have seen his face drop when he saw I was white. So that was that And even though the record companies sent copies over as they would typically do, he never played it. When I finally submitted more tracks about a year later, which the A&R put forward, their response was like, what took you so long – why haven’t you been in contact? That always bugged me out, because it’s like, is it really my job to keep up with you, But again that’s how it was back then: very patchwork. They considered the new material but declined.

Do you know how many copies it sold?
I think it sold maybe a couple thousand, which was decent for back then. The funny thing is, I had heard from some people we met over in England that they were playing my record some, And that it was on some Profile compilation over there. Lo and behold, I was never told about this, nor whether it was ever even released over there at all, and since the record wasn’t a mega-hit which is what I had wanted/planned I just didn’t care much – nor thought it was worth it to bitch about.

The tune was quite popular in the UK, and I know a lot of dudes in the States with it – did you ever tour and do live shows off the back of it?
Never did much live shows. That’s what’s great about you England-ers, you really organize shit in that regard. Here it’s just every man for himself, very brutal, more struggle. But that’s what makes our shit fresh historically because it’s not f’ing easy to pull it off. But I would have liked to do more.

Tim Westwood played your record in the UK often – as did John Peel – and mentioned you were bike messengers. Is that just apocryphal?
Around this time, if I remember me, Reas and a couple friends took a trip to England. Upon hearing that it was referenced that I was a bike messenger, I now remember that we went to the Tim Westwood radio show, I believe to do a promo. Trust me, we were spaced out in-the-now/moment kids so I apologize for being weak on chronology/detail. And I vaguely remember being asked what do you do and responding, on air I believe, I messengered – so that IS a true story. That might of been hooked up by Profile. We didn’t really know who was running the show regarding hip hop then over there, but I’m honored to have been played over there – apparently, a lot by what you’re telling me. Then we also, through some other hook up, did back-up vocals on a Derek B record while we were there but I think they didn’t use them or cut them down. It was fun though, we bugged out. That was just when Rebel Without A Pause came out, and also we got to see our pieces in The Spray Can Art book over there in a book store when it just came out. Good f’ing times. And I love to hear that John Peel played my tracks.

Do you have any unreleased tracks from that era?
I do have unreleased tracks actually – never thought about releasing them until now: Good shit, interesting shit. The most interesting one I can think of now is a Land Of The Lost – from the TV show – parody of sorts as a racial allegory, with the sleestaks being African American: “Slee-stak- and proud” and trying to make peace in the Prehistoric community. But as far as rap since that time I did in 2003 release ‘Player’ – available on iTunes – a collection of songs with me rhyming over vintage dub reggae : Real hard shit . With one track a graffiti anthem of sorts – and tackling a variety of things. It’s funny, it’s about an album’s worth of things, and I came up with some real dope rhyme phrasings for all of these dub grooves that are really advanced. They are kind of rough hewn and incomplete, but what I like doing most now is coming up with whole new avenues that I’d love to see other people explore. Laying the groundwork as such for whole new genres. I’d be more than happy to give you a couple of those tracks to post.

What did you do after the group split?
After the group split, well the group was just me and Flasha technically – so we still chilled a lot and worked on stuff, but you know, life happens. Last I saw him he was living in California. He seemed good. I’m happy about that.

Your new material is a world away from the A.O.K. sound, how would you sum it up?
Thanks for asking about my new material. Yeah I think I’m really onto something with it. Since the denouement if you want to call it that of Hip Hop, at least for my serious interest – though I do like Madlib and what he does – I’ve always been looking for the next thing. I did some Drum and bass/Jungle way back when and have some super deep tracks in that genre yet to be released. But this new Electro thing has been the most exciting thing to come along in a while I believe. It’s got energy and power that’s raw. And it depends on the new machine of our era to be used as an instrument: The compressor or limiter. The turntable was like that : a tool that then became an actual instrument. I think of all this new compressor/limiter manipulation evident in Electro like that. It’s an instrument in itself now that you’re playing and it brings about enormous power. So I’ve been applying that to the tracks I’ve been completing and I got to tell you I think I’ve been creating some really wild unprecedented stuff. I think of what I’ve been doing as real minimalist modern art that is comparable to the heaviest heavy funk of James Brown even in its power. I’ve coined the phrase The Rothko of Electro in reference to the former modern artist. It’s all about trying to capture that essence from way back when a track like ‘Apache’ would come on and people would have to just start up-rocking, wind milling etc. Or ‘It’s Just Begun’, or ‘Dance To the Drummer’s Beat’ or any of those tracks that just have that essence. That primal essence. And I think I’ve hit on it with these new tracks. I’d love to hear what your readers might think. I have to tell you, that the tracks are so engineered for power, and cut so hot – I’m kind of scared to tell you, but I must – that if you play them against most anything in your mp3 collection out loud I feel they will just sort of stomp all over them . That’s what they’re meant to do – but I know a lot of people don’t have a natural affinity for electronic/dance music: I’d ask your readers to give these a try on their systems – you won’t be disappointed. Also in tracks like ‘Let The Dance Begin’, I’ve come up with entirely new rhythm patterns. I really do want people to take these ideas and run with them. Like, I’d love for someone to play some scratch guitar over it, add their own vocals, whatever. I think there’s some real excitement. Though, having blown the sonics to the fullest with that and its companion track ‘I Want To Start’, I don’t know where else there is for me to go in that direction at the moment, so I will be doing something completely different again until the energy from doing those calms down a bit. They are really wild. And I’d love to share them with you guys via posting them. Thanks man for letting me talk about all of this. I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that my record really sounds like it made an impact with some people over there and elsewhere.
Cheers for the attention and to your readers
Peace out
MESH Rock
All Out Kings

Now here’s the music:

The Signal
[See post to listen to audio]

Shack It Up
[See post to listen to audio]

Download Here…

Download new MESH material here: (NB: MC Mesh now goes by the band name MESH, not to the confused with UK synth-pop band MESH whose albums are sometimes mixed in online. Get it right)

Let The Dance Begin

I Want To Start

Check MESH out at www.myspace.com/kingmesh

The Source gets a severe bashing these days but there’s no denying it’s history and impact. They covered all the major events before the more prominent magazines du jour were even conceived. We break down a few instances where Hip Hop died, literally, by way of classic Source covers. If you have any early issues of the Source we’d love to collate some scans for a retrospective down the line of the magazines’ formative years.

Eric Wright 1963-1995 R.I.P.

Tupac Shakur 1971-1996 R.I.P.

Christopher Wallace 1972-1997 R.I.P.

One Month Earlier

A.T.C.Q. 1989-1998 R.I.P.

Christopher Rios 1971-2000 R.I.P.

Russell Jones 1968-2004 R.I.P.

C.E.B – Back Up In Da Joint

[See post to listen to audio]

Steady B’s Appeal.pdf

Real Life Hip-Hop Confessions

“My wife found out I was gay for Kanye”
As told to Matt Sanders

“Where’s your husband tonight?” asks Julie Staples, nervously tapping her still-shiny wedding ring against a half-drained tumbler of gin. “You ever ask yourself what the one you love is doing when you’re not there with them?”
Julie knocks back the rest of her drink, sucks the alcohol through her teeth, and wipes the back of her hand across a smudgy eye. I’m a man. I don’t have a husband. But I don’t stop to correct her.
“When I was working late, I’d call home to see if James would make the supper for when I got in. We’d only been married six months. I had a new job, good prospects, but only if I put the hours in. It looked like I was going places.” She pauses to tilt her head wistfully. It’s like she’s listening to a far off melody. “But that job’s a distant memory now. I just couldn’t face people. I locked myself away.” Stopping again, Julie goes to draw her third cigarette of the past twenty minutes out of its packet. I think about reminding her that we’re in a smoke-free zone, but I remember the look she gave me when I told her the last time.
“And then Kanye took it all away from me.”
I meet James Staples at the bus stop he sleeps in, a few hours later. It’s a far cry from the smart split-level maisonette in
London’s Farringdon that Julie showed me pictures of earlier. They sold up when they went their separate ways, but James’ despair took him on a financially draining quest to meet the man who tore their life apart. Julie’s rebuilding. James is broken.
“Yeah, I still wear my ring too. I guess we’re both hoping that one day we’ll make up and get back together. I know it hit her hard. We’d only been married a few months. And I screwed it all up.” He looks at a picture in his wallet, shaking his head, tears forming. I lean forward, assuming I’ll see a grainy snapshot of James and Julie together in happier times. I don’t. I see a magazine clipping of Kanye West in a neatly pressed shirt.
James Staples, 32, and Julie Staples, 29, were childhood sweethearts who lost touch with each other when they left their home town of Sevenoaks, Kent, and only found each other again years later through a then-popular networking website. After a whirlwind year of romance, they tied the knot in the summer of 2006. By the winter of that same year, Julie was seeking a separation and James was using up his savings on flights across the world, busting the bank as he stayed in the swankiest hotels known to man. All in search of a certain Mr West.
“The first time I realised something was wrong was when the second album came out,” says Julie. “The first one came and went without so much as a ripple in our household. James heard one of the songs on the radio once, I think. You know, that one about him breaking his mouth in a road crash. Well, I can vividly remember James saying it wasn’t his cup of tea. I mean, back then he didn’t even listen to rap music. He was hooked on The Hold Steady and The Wrens. Drunk white boy rock. Hip-hop wasn’t a part of James’s life. I guess he hadn’t seen a picture of Kanye at the time…”
“It’s true,” James admits. “I never really got down with all that stuff. I still don’t really. Not that I can listen to music in my bus stop. Just a week after I moved here a tramp with a sword took my iPod. All I can do now is hum. Mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmm, mmmm… I ain’t sayin’ she a gold-digger…” I let James sing to himself for a short while. The nights are cold and it’s the memory of the music that keeps James warm.
“But then all the hype when the second album came out… I couldn’t avoid it. And it was a while before I saw a picture of him even then. I only saw that big funny bear in the school. But one day, I was killing time at work, back when I worked, and I was flicking around on Youtube, and I guess I wanted to hear that Diamonds song, so I typed ‘Kanye West Diamonds’ into the search bar. That was a defining moment. I just didn’t realise till then I was gay.” James stops, looking around as if to check we aren’t being eavesdropped upon. He leans in toward me. “And you know what? I still don’t think I am. Two tramps tried to suck me off the other night, and I didn’t finish. I wasn’t bothered. I think it’s just Kanye…”
“I was so stupid,” sobs Julie. I give her hand a reassuring squeeze, but she pulls it away. “So stupid. One minute we’re listening
to ‘Late Registration’ in the car, the next I come home to find James making babies with himself over the sleeve of a rare Kanye 12″. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know where to look. He tried to cover it up, but he’d already laid out a crescent of press shots on the bed. There was no escaping it. I can still hear him shouting, ‘Don’t come in!’ It rings in my ears…”
“I suppose it all happened pretty quickly after that,” James sighs, rustling under the newspaper that will shield him from yet another unfriendly night. “We tried to make a go of it, even though I’d been rumbled, but she basically couldn’t even look me in the eye. And, to be honest, I couldn’t get hard for her any more. Even if I thought about Kanye while I was scumping her. It just didn’t work. I needed to be with Kanye. I needed to scump or be scumped by him. So I left. And I tried to track him down.” Did you find him, I ask? “No. His security wouldn’t let me scump him. I don’t think he even got to know I existed. And then I ran out of money and I had to come home. And now my home is this bus stop.” I ask James if he has any regrets. “No,” he says. “None.” And with that, he curls up for another night in the piss-stink.

Kanye West was available for comment. You know the rest.

Next month in Real Life Hip-Hop Confessions: “MF Doom Murdered My Cat”

Happier times for James and Julie

Kanye West, yesterday