“I need the poohnah the poohnah the poohnah the poohnani!” - MC Brains

I really hate saying this but I never really appreciated “The Miseducation of Laryn Hill.” With all of the success and accomplishments Ms. Hill achieved with her debut back in 1998, her multi-award winning album was completely ignored on my part. Around that time I was in full swing with the whole Hip-Hop underground movement ignoring great commercial releases from Lauryn Hill and even Jay-Z for underground acts like Company Flow, Planet Asia and The Living Legends Crew. It was a different phase in music I am grateful for. At that time I was attracted to homemade beats with above average street knowledge on a higher level. I completely gave up on the radio and attended live shows buying underground tapes and burned CD-R’s with local acts. That was the scene back than and this was done before the internets use in MP3’s went into full swing. Maybe 1998 wasn’t the right time for me to listen to “The Miseducation of…” Fast forward to 2008 and I’ll shamelessly say this was the first time I really gave the album a chance… and I loved every moment of it. This is one album that shouldn’t have gotten lost in the shuffle.
(more after the jump…)

My favorite Jurassic 5 album (out of the 4 dropped) is J5’s debut LP that dropped in 1998. An EP had dropped a year earlier but I had upgraded my collection for a few dollars more (The LP had included bonus material. ) How refreshing was it to here this album for the first time in 1997? It felt real good. J5 had abandoned the industry bullshit of rap mainstream and delivered old-school vibes , excellent rhythmatic raps, (always on cue) and the production stylings of crate prevailers Cut Chemist and DJ Nu-Mark. Tracks like “Jayou” and “Concrete School Yard” were just a few of the tracks that were responsible for the appreciation I had even more towards the Golden Age of Hip-Hop. Their style which was a tribute to everything that was old school and mattered was a bit tough for me to catagorize when I was mixing songs. Is it new school? Is it old school? At the time I had started calling J5’s material… True School as in true to it’s form of Hip-Hop. Bridging the gap between old school happenings and the New school surroundings of today. (to put it in mellow) The industry ushered their new found style as “The 1990’s alternative hip hop movement” (ah, same shit different toilet)
(more after the jump…)

It’s like picking a needle in the haystack. Before there was a follow up album that introduced me to Blackalicious (which was their A2G ep) there was talk amongst friends of an earlier EP called “Melodica.” We didn’t have any Hip-Hop related websites (or a computer) at the time so it was strictly “word on the street” type shit. Just trying to cop this album, we travelled up to Berkley, the City, and had friends as far as LA look for the Melodica EP which was out of print at the time due to a limited amount printed (alongside sample issues that stopped production of the EP). This was around 1994, so my friends and I figured it was as rare as the Death of Superman comic at that time. Honestly, I didn’t care How I got the album. Bootleg tape, a snippet tape or hearing it bump from someone’s car- it was sure to be a hunt to find!

Let’s get into the music after the jump…
(more after the jump…)

“Classics” is an understatement to some of the tracks featured in this compilation. Think of some of these tracks featured on “Wild Pitch Classics” to be instructions in creating dope Hip-Hop music. Before there was Rawkus Records or Stones Throw, Wild Pitch Records was reined supreme as a second-generation hip-hop indie label representing some of the finest within late 80’s/early 90’s Hip Hop talent. Their resume included The Coup, Gang Starr, Chill Rob G, Main Source, O.C., Ultramagnetic, U.M.C’s & Lord Finesse. But with bad business decisions and other issues, these problems plagued the label and had never reached it’s full potential.
(more after the jump…)

It took some time but I found em’! Well worth the wait! Overlooked, usually under priced “bargain bin” specials that are both out-of-print collectables and classic Hip-Hop gems. Don’t think twice. Cop em’.

With the change in music format from vinyl to cassette tapes to compact discs making way for MP3 collections, not everyone is benefitting from this change in format. I gotta say, The best place to find vintage and out of print Hip-Hop is at your local music store. Living out in the Bay area, these stores come a dime a dozen in which new trends like “The iTUNES store” and “mp3.com” have replaced retail giants like The Wherehouse, Tower Records and Sam Goodie. (all of which were completely over priced!) Yet these retail stores had pocketed sections of misused “gems” or “bargain bin sections” stores and misguided listeners did not appreciate. (Where’s the hot track featurings Puff Daddy?!?) With no complete market value- to the true Hip-Hop purist at heart, this is truly a “come up” in music.

There’s a select few of us out there who still dig for music. While vinyl diggin’ has been around for quite sometime. There are a number of cats doing the same thing with CD’s. (for me, I love buring singles and placing them in my iPOD) CD singles in bargain bins are such a steal in stores like Amoeba’s, Rasputins and Street Light records, and while it may seem like a quick buck for them (usually its a quick ¢50 cents!) the rewards are even more for the collector. You usually get a dope song from back in the days. Included with the single is the instrumental version, a clean version for the kids and a remix track featuring someone out of the ordinary. I recently picked up The Beatnuts “Watch out now” for a quarter. The instrumental alone is a steal to have. With DJ’s making the jump to Serato for their mixing, I’m sure diggin’ in bargain bins have increased. Singles aren’t the only gems hidden in that pile of clearanc CD’s. At times, the staff at The Wherehouse don’t know what they put in there. Back in 98′ I found Blackalicious’s “Melodica” debut CD in a pile of crap for $3.99 and when they rung it up it was only ¢98 cents. This is how I see things… what’s there loss is my gain and I would totally appreciate the music found way more than a store willing to take my few dollars for it.

After the jump, I’m gonna share with you guys a few of favorite albums I found in these “bargain bins” and how they shouldn’t have been there in the first place!
(more after the jump…)

Classic material. Needs no explanation. More vids after the jump.

(more after the jump…)

Back in the days when I was a teenager…
Before I had status and before I had a pager…
You could find the abstract listening to hip hop…
My pops used to say, it reminded him of be-bop…
I said, well daddy don’t you know that things go in cycles…
The way that bobby brown is just ampin’ like michael…
Its all expected, things are for the lookin’…
If you got the money, quest is for the bookin’…

I was a freshmen in highschool when I first heard those lyrics. It was 1st period science and this dude behind me had a Das Efx tape and Tribe’s “Low end theory” tape on his desk. The art work on the cover of Low end was bugged out. I couldn’t help but ask “what’s that?” and the dude let me listen to his tape… It was a trip to vibe off of the opening verse of “Excursions” and move on to even greater hits like “buggin’ out” that well… had me buggin’! “The infamous date rape” painted a picture perfect story about the evil within of our society… ladies truly need to protect their necks. “Check the rhyme” was the jam that did it for me. It was a weekend type jam that had me feelin’ good about hip-hop and lyrics. Follow it u with “We got the Jazz” was an ever greater effect to my ear. “Scenario” by far was the ultimate posse cut introducing all hyped Leaders of the New School and a young crazy like Busta Rhymes! Back in 93′, you couldn’t fuck with this song.

A Tribe called Quest’s “Low End Theory” is by far one of the most important albums out right now. A defining classic that balances Beats, Rhymes and Life in one creatively twisted and positive cassette tape. It was one of the first albums I could truly relate to through a lyrical standpoint and was so fifferent to commercial radio. The Low end theory also had me thinkin’ and doin’ right for a change. Keep an open mind- it’s the Tribe Ya’ll!

Peep Classic Low End Theory Video’s after the jump!
(more after the jump…)

We all recall the 1st time we heard the classic Hip Hop posse-cut “The Symphony” with the “ Juice Crew ““that dropped in 1988. For me, I didn’t get a feel for the song till a few years later when I heard the single playing at a local record store. At the time, my homies were all bumping Hammer’s “Can’t touch this…” Though as time went on, my knowledge for Hip-Hop expanded as well. I started picking apart each member of the Juice crew, and If I could I tried to get as many tapes as I could of each artist. Master Ace’s debut Album “Take a look around” was one of those albums I had a real hard time finding. It wasn’t until 1995 I saw the cd for $3.95 at a local Wherehouse Music store I finally copped it… by that time I had a job and money wasn’t a thing for me and music!

For the first time ever, and similar to MC Shan and Kool G Rap’s debut releases, Cold Chillin’ Records and Traffic Entertainment Group proudly present Master Ace’s “Take A Look Around”, available for the first time as a double disc set, including the original album, and a plethora of substantial bonus material, from artwork to audio. With all the songs being digitally re-mastered, and all the additional photography being supplied by the man who took the photos (George DuBose), this project has been thought out, done right and handled with care, and we hope you enjoy it.
(more after the jump…)

There seems to be a pattern here… 2 classic reviews with Dre and Snoop back to back? What’s the deal? Well, I have a 2 hour commute from Home to work 5 days a week, so listening to albums in a back to back fashion is a plus. Today I chose, Dre’s “Chronic” and Snoop’s “Doggystyle.” Growin’ up, I didn’t have a job at the time Snoops debut album came out so I did what any other kid would do that didn’t involve stealing. I asked my pops to let me join his BMG mail service CD club … you know, buy 1 get 10 free! My pops deducted the bill from my allowance and was well worth it… some of the 1st CD’s I got were Tribe’s Low End Theory , Outkast’s 1st album and Snoop’s Doggystyle! an album with it’s G-Funk vibe stole the show in releases received by BMG… Don’t get me wrong, Outkast and ATCQ were off the hook, but a gangsta album with Dre’s beats, gangsta lyrics and Sexual escapades had this 15 year old kid wondering! What’s his name? Snoop Doggy Dogg!
(more after the jump…)