J-Live - Reveal The Secret ep . A pretty dope effort from J-Live from '07 . I had actually bought this a while back , and shuffled it away without even giving it a listen . I ran across it and decided to crack it open . Glad I did !! I generally prefer J- Live's earlier work , but really enjoyed this 6 track ep all the way through . If you are a fan of J's be sure to add this to your collection ...
^I thought their 12” single “Troubleneck Wreck” was dope (it is) but this is even doper. The first song is the best, a killer boom bap beat and quality rhymes.
^Accumulated from the Big Dig, this is an interesting oddball collection of old school rarities. Some of the tracks are fantastic, others not so much, but the good outweighs the bad.
The UN – UN or U Out LP (Fatbeats) 2014 RE of 2004 OG
^I got the black vinyl release and I gotta say I love the hell out of this. It still comes with the bonus tracks so other than the lack of blue color it’s basically the same as the RSD release. This is one of those albums that Uptown was telling me to buy for years now, and since Fatbeats reissued it I had no excuse. Glad I took his recommendation cuz it’s dope.
K-Solo – Tell the World My Name LP (Atlantic) 1990
^Unlike Volume 3, this is not pure bangers. I was thinking this would be a lot better for 40$, but what can I say, it’s not as good as V3. I can’t say nothing of volumes 1 and 2 which I missed out on. There’s about 3-4 good tracks on this and the rest are just so-so. It's decent, but maybe I should have passed on this, oh well.
Ultramagnetic MC’s – Ain’t It Good To You 7” (Black Pegasus) 2014
^Paul C produced remix on this! Normally that'd make this essential, but in this case the thing sounds like ass. I bought it for the names on it and the fact that it’s so limited (200 worldwide) but I got burned. At $45 it’s the most expensive mistake I’ve made in a long time.
It's pressed way to fast. Before the rhymes even kick in you can tell the beat is too fast and Kool Keith sounds like he was sucking on a helium balloon. Besides that the bass hit sounds muddy. You gotta slow down the pitch control slider all the way to make the MCs sound right.
Even if the sound quality was better, there's one organ stab and one muddy bass hit and a snare and that's about it. So the beat isn't even all that. Usually when you think of Paul C production you think of high caliber boom bap, but this is maybe a 5/10 beat at best. For him, it's more like a 2/10 in comparison to his good shit.
When it comes to unearthed old DATs, reel to reels and acetates, sometimes shit is underground for a reason. It sounds like an experiment that Paul C fucked around with for a while and then gave up on and moved on to other things. It's basically a super raw demo that never should have surfaced. In hindsight, I don't know if he would have wanted it to surface.
Ultramagnetic MC’s\Kool Kieth – You’ll See 7” (Red Apples 45) 2012
^When I do these “recently” posts I’m always saving the best for last. No exception here, this one is a total winner. Till I heard this I knew nothing of DJ RIz but now I got nothing but respect for him. While that Paul C\Ultramag 7” might have been the worst 45 bones I’ve spent, this is the best 2 dollars I have ever spent. It’s cheap, super ass dope and for some reason slept on by everyone.
This is some of the best original Hip-Hop-used breaks you’ve ever heard mixed continuously and done so perfectly. I would literally kill all of you guys to get my hands on this dudes records he used to mix this tape. Frankly I think it’s SO good it actually deserves it’s own thread. If you see this record, don’t even pause to think, just buy it and thank me later. There’s some dudes on Discogs selling this for 88 cents right now and it’s the dopest thing to rotate on my decks in months. I can’t believe how something so cheap and so slept on can be so perfect.
Even the Biz skit at the end is lovable. Everything about this record is great.
How Great?
JUST TAKE A SECOND TO JUST LISTEN TO SOME OF THESE BREAKS!
^So how many break sources can you name?
Sure, it's easy to name the sampling Hip Hop artists but spotting the original tracks on this is tougher.
