Peanut Butter Wolf : The Chronicles (I Will Always Love H.E.R.) (from Lunar Props EP)

Peanut Butter Wolf : The Chronicles (I Will Always Love H.E.R.) (2Kool, 1996)
Peanut Butter Wolf : When You Feel Good, Things Can Turn (2Kool, 1996)
Grand : I Can't Understand (demo)
Encore : Untitled (demo)
Encore & Grand : Story (demo)

Some A&R must be totally death to hide the best track on the B side. In this case I think that the guy who took the decision to put "The Chronicles (I Will Always Love H.E.R.)" on the B side didn't actually listen to the song. That or he thought that everybody knew the song from Return Of The DJ, which kinda make sense (the version here is different though).

I'm not really sure why they call that the Lunar Props EP, since with all due respect to Peanut Butter Wolf, "Lunar Props" (as the name implies) is more like a study on Black Moon's "Who Got The Props". It's a cool variation of Evil Dee's composition, not a track you would spend $6 for. Hate to say it but it's the least interesting of the EP. They could have call it the When You Feel Good, Things Can Turn EP, but that's a bit long for a title.

But really, as a big fan of cut & paste, I have to say that "The Chronicles (I Will Always Love H.E.R.)" is probably the best of it's kind. I bet Cut Chemist, Steinski and Coldcut are actually happy that this track is less known than their Lessons/Beats & Pieces etc... because it's shitting on anything they did in the genre. Opting for a chronological approach Chris Manak is collecting his favorite hip-hop breaks and samples from "Rockin'It" to "I Used To Love H.E.R." and cutting vocals from famous rap tracks. The 12" also include an instrumental, that doesn't have scratches or vocals, a bit like the "Giant Wall Crawling Insect Breaks" 12" by The Herbaliser.

The last part of the song is made up of three beats by the little known Dreas, whose demo was unhearth by the now defunct blog My Fist In Your Face. You can still get some tracks here Grand : I Can't Understand ; Encore demo ; Encore & Grand : Story.

Paris : Lights, Camera, Revolution (from The Hate That Hate Made 12")

Paris : Lights, Camera, Revolution (Tommy Boy, 1991)
Paris : The Hate That Hate Made (Power Of God Mix) (Tommy Boy, 1991)

I'll be honest : I totally forgot about that one until last week when Bashir asked me to do a bay area mix on our radio show. The Hate That Hate Made is such a strong cut that it's hard to pay attention to what's on the other side. Paris first album was one of those records directly inspired by Public Enemy at every level, visually, lyrically, musically, concept-wise etc... From the shadow his cap makes on his face to the sequencing of the album, everything is reminiscing of the best rap album ever. He even has a silly play on word in the title, which has been Chuck D's forte since 1991. Lights Camera Revolution is a short track with no chorus, like a lot of tracks from the Devil Made Me Do It album. Actually the A side of the single was also very short on the album. The album version of The Hate That Hate Made is just 64 secondes long but this sort of skit was so catchy that they had to make it the second 12" from the album, so they made an "extended" remix of the song, clocking at 2:54 minutes ! Since it has an extra verse I think people would want to hear it also.

Encore : Defined By The Dollar (The Essence 12")

Encore : Defined By The Dollar (Stones Throw, 1997)
Encore : Think Twice (Southpaw, 1995)

It may be hard to believe it, but a few years ago Stones Throw was a good label, before they decide to rely 100% on a weed addicted producer. A long time ago, mind you.

For the first two years their catalog was flawless, it was at the end of the glorious indie takeover and they were releasing the cream of the north californian scene. The first wave of twelve inches was mindblowing but after STH 2013 they started focusing on Madlib and his kin, and they never looked back. I mean, I won't front, I kept buying all their records religiously until that terrible Jaylib album, but it was only out of respect for Jeff Jank, but now even that powerful esthetic is lost. Not only they stopped doing the 45, but their 12" are in semi-generic sleeves.

For some reason (contractual, I guess ?) they don't repress the best part of the back catalog. Rasco reissued his first records on his Pocket Linted label, and Rob Swift's Soulful Fruit has just been repressed by Fat Beats, but this gem by Encore is desesperately out of print.

Shaya Bekele was friend with Charizma and Peanut Butter Wolf, his first appearance was on Wolf's Step On Our Egos EP with the incredibly beautiful "Think Twice". This song is one of my all time favourites, that's one of the 5 or ten records I will keep when I sell my whole record collection. Besides I had a radio show named after this track (even though I think that Bachir found the name). With "Think Twice" Encore was showing his story telling skills, describing a tragic high school graduation party that end up with the death of Demond Striplan (a friend of him and Charizma).

That's around the same time that Encore and Grand (Homeliss Derilex) went and recorded demos at the Glue Factory in San Francisco. The owner and engineer, Dan, liked his style so much that he asked him to rhyme on his beats. Encore thought the beats were weak and declined. Instead, it's Kool Keith who went on to record with that Automator guy the "Dr Octagon" album.

But that's another story. So later Encore with his partner G-Luv (also from Homeliss Derilex) released this incredible 12" on Stones Throw. The main song, "The Essence" is a strong but unexceptionnal battle oriented track, but as often B side wins again ! The track which stands out is the concept song about the root of all evils, "Defined By The Dollar". The beat is a pretty straight forward piano and upright bass loop, without too much variation, except for the weird panning during the last bars, but Encore vocal presence is what makes it compelling.

After these great songs, to which I could add "The Undercover", the expectation was high for the album. I mean at least for me. But when his album dropped in 2000, I was not impressed. It was OK to be, but quite disappointing compared to the excellence of his previous output. I know that some people consider themselves fans of Encore, but don't know these songs. I guess it means that I'm a bit too harsh with rappers I like.

Extra Prolific : Give It Up (from First Sermon 12")

Extra Prolific : Give It Up (Jive, 1994)
Souls Of Mischief : That's When You Lost (I Ain't Trippin Remix) (Jive, 1993) (fixed)

Even if they actually had an album out in 1994, Extra Prolific is the group that no one seem to remember when talking about the Hieroglyphics. And when they mention them, a lot of people don’t realize that Extra Prolific was a group. Since Snupe was the only MC of the duo and he also produce a lot of tracks, it’s easy to forget that some producer named Mike G was also in the group, but left shortly after the first album was released, probably to form a supergroup with Jarobi...

Extra Prolific didn’t left an unforgettable mark in the history of the crew. Their track record, besides the four-mics album “Like It Should Be” consist of a remix of That’s When You Lost, two guest spots on Casual’s album, one song on the Low Down Dirty Shame soundtrack and the beat of You’re In Shamble.


Snupe was suddenly kicked out of the crew, the Hiero issued a press release on christmas eve 1996 at 9:40PM (who has time to send a press release on december 24th ?) to officially annouce his departure “due to musical differences” What does that mean ? Did it take two years for them to actually listen to his album ? His music was obviously very different from the rest of them since the beggining. This texas transplant had a west coast feel that made him different from the Oakland natives, as you can hear on the B side of his first single, Give It Up.

But the persistent rumour was that he was fired because he had an affair with Casual’s sister ! He thought the Hieroglyphics was like a big family ! It’s probably not true, but at least it’s funny, like that other rumour about Del shopping his demo around LA claiming to be Ice Cube cousin’s, even thought they didn’t know each other ! From what I heard, Cube had to ask his mom if that kid was really his cousin. Hey, I don’t know if it’s totally bogus or if it actually happened, so don’t be dumb like me and don’t repeate anything you’re told.

Del, Q Tip & Pep Love : The Undisputed Champs (from Wrong Place Wrong Time 12")

Del, Pep Love & Q-Tip : The Undisputed Champs (Elektra, 1994)
Pep Love & Jay Biz : Days Of Blueness (demo, 1992~3)
Lucien : From A Town Called Paris (Virgin, 1993)(fixed)

Here is another nice Q-Tip guest verse that only appeared on a B side. Hearing Tip sharing the mic with the Hiero is only logical since they share the same love for battle rhymes and soul-jazz infused beats . People don't sweat this song too much, probably because it was on the b side of Wrong Place Wrong Time, which is not really Del's strongest cut, but in my opinon, every song out of "No Need For Alarm" was good enough to be a single.

Also on the song is Pep Love of Pep Love & Jay-Biz also known as The Shamen, also known as The Prose, the only group out of the Hieroglyphics who didn't have the oportunity to release an album. Well they did, but way too late, not when people cared. I mean, I know they have a huge cult following, but seriously who was still checking for their records in 2001 ? Well, too bad for you if you didn't, because the compilation of their demos circa 1992-1993 is mindblowing. Some songs from this album can still be heard from the lost Hiero Sound Vault page : http://www.hieroglyphics.com/sounds/the_prose

Oh ! and the song that flip the sample used later by Del on "No Need For Alarm" is by Q-Tip's old friend Lucien, and to the best of my knowledge it's the only full length song he ever released on his own.


Del, Pep Love & Q-Tip : The Undisputed Champs (Elektra, 1994)
Pep Love & Jay Biz : Days Of Blueness (demo, 1992~3)
Lucien : From A Town Called Paris (Virgin, 1993) (réparé)

Encore un couplet de Q-Tip qui n'est apparu que sur face B. Ce n'est pas très etonnant de retrouver Tip aux cotés des Hieroglyphics puisqu'ils partage la même passion pour les battle rhymes et les samples soul jazz. Bizarrement ce morceau n'est pas très connu, contrairement aux autres faces B de Del (Burnt, Eye Examination). Certes Wrong Place Wrong Time n'est pas son morceau le plus populaire, mais si vous voulez mon avis n'importe quel morceau de "No Need For Alarm" méritait de sortir en single.

Sur le morceau on entend également Pep Love de Pep Love & Jay-Biz alias The Shamen, alias The Prose, le seul groupe du crew qui n'a pas eu la chance de sortir un album. Plus précisément qui a sorti un album bien après la bataille. Les Hieroglyphics sont cultes, ils ont des petits groupes de fans dans le monde entier, mais qui s'intéressait encore à eux en 2001 ? Pas vous ? Eh bien vous auriez du car la compil de leur démos enregistrées vers 1992-93 est fabuleuse. Quand on pense à toutes les perles qui sont passées entre les oreilles des directeurs artistiques de l'époque, on se dit que les places en maisons de disque sont parfois attribuées n'importe comment. Quelques morceaux de l'album ainsi que d'autres vieux titres de Pep Love & Jay Biz sont toujours en écoute sur le site des Hiero : http://www.hieroglyphics.com/sounds/the_prose

Enfin le dernier morceau avec le même sample que Del utilisait sur No Need For Alarm est From A Town Called Paris de Lucien, vieil ami de Q-Tip.

Too Short : What Rap ? (from The Ghetto 12")

Too Short : What Rap ? (Jive, 1990)
Too Short : In The Trunk (Jive, 1992)


First : no, the song What Rap is not on the 12" pictured above. The cover is the european pressing. What Rap was only on the domestic pressing of The Ghetto, which I have but in an ugly Jive promo jacket. I don’t know why but us europeans didn’t have the remix, nor the exclusive B side, as if they wanted to make us focus on one song only.

Anyway, The Ghetto is the track that got me hooked up to Too Short music. I bought the album, his back catalogue and all his next albums, at leats all those before his retirement. I know, it's weird, isn't it ? It's like buying "Bigger And Deffer" because you liked I Need Love and end up loving I Need A Beat. I first heard The Ghetto on the radio, which was highly unusual at the time. No radio played rap in 1990. And it was not on an underground radio station, it was not even on a music station, but on a late night talk show on mainstream radio. I guess they had more freedom in that show to play what they loved, and Too Short was on rotation in this show for a while.

I remember back then I used listen to the radio a lot and to cross my finger, whishing that one day they would play some hip hop. Now that hip hop is all over the airwaves my dream is to stop them from playing rap.

Just like The Ghetto, What Rap is one of the few moments when Too Short doesn’t rap only about women. Actually What Rap was the first of a series of songs where Too Short talks about hip hop. But in this song he’s like “I’m proud to be a rapper”, while he later adopted a different attitude. On songs like In The Trunk ou Paystyle his attitude is more like “I don’t care what the rest of the rap world thinks about me”.

There is a rare remix of In The Trunk by DJ Premier, that everybody jocks (you can hear it on this dope tape) but quite honestly I love the OG better. Can't nobody in New-York top that Oakland beat.


Too Short : What Rap ? (Jive, 1990)
Too Short : In The Trunk (Jive, 1992)


Tout d'abord : non, le morceau What Rap ne figure pas sur le maxi dont vous voyez la pochette ci dessus. Ce visuel est celui du pressage européen de The Ghetto. What Rap n'était que sur le pressage original, que j'ai mais dans sa version promo, dans une hideuse pochette Jive bleue. Je ne sais pas pourquoi mais nous autres européens n'avons pas eu droit à la face B, ni aux versions longues du morceau.

The Ghetto est le premier morceau que j'ai entendu de Too Short et c'est grace à lui que je suis devenu fan. A l'époque certains de ses fans de longue date lui ont reproché (à raison) d'avoir une démarche commerciale en sortant The Ghetto. Too Short racontait des histoires de bitches depuis 5 ans et il a du faire du rap conscient pour rencontrer le succès. Incroyable comme les temps changent, non ?

What Rap, comme The Ghetto est un de ces rares titres où Todd Shaw ne parle pas seulement de filles. En fait What Rap est le premier d'une série de morceaux où il parle du hip hop. Dans What Rap il semble être fier d'être un rappeur, tandis que plus tard dans des titres tels que In The Trunk ou Paystyle son attitude est plutôt une attitude de défiance par rapport aux autres rappeurs.

Il existe une version remix de In The Trunk par DJ Premier, qui est recherché par beaucoup (présent sur cette tape fortement recommandée ) mais la version originale garde ma préférence.