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.

Grand Puba : Mind Your Business (from Ya Know How It Goes 12")

Grand Puba : Mind Your Business (Elektra, 1993)
KRS One : Outta Here (Jive, 1993)

Following the Phife song I post last week here is another B side exclusive song about a rapper taking us back down memory lane, and a bonus song on the same topic which was on the A side.

I'm a sucker for this type of nostalgic storyprobably because I'm old and it also remind me about thos proverbial good ol'days. First song is a SD 50's production for Grand Puba which appeared on Ya Know How It Goes 12" which was I think the 3rd single off his Reel 2 Reel album. I guess that judging from the lukewarm response tha album got he was like "I paid my dues way before I met Sadat and Jamar, and now they have more success than me" so it was probably his way of reminding people that he was far from being a new jack.

I also included Outta Here for a few reasons. First it's obviously on the same subject. It's a dope track. I'm a fan of KRS One. But contrary to Puba or Phife, this wasn't his swan lake. Actually he had some of his biggest hits after that, which gave him the opportunity to stay in the business and to go through enough stuff to address the same subject again on the terrible Hiphop Knowledge (no to mention that the lyrics contained mistakes on his own career !).

Pete Rock & CL Smooth : It's Not A Game (from Lots Of Lovin 12")

Pete Rock & CL Smooth : It's Not A Game (Elektra, 1993)
Pete Rock & CL Smooth : One In A Million (Epic, 1993)

I have to admit that Pete Rock is not my favourite producer ever. I know that in some countries you could go to jail for saying that, but sometime a man has to stand for what he believes in. I mean, I like some of his music, but I really don't understand why so many people consider him a demi-god. He has a blind cult-following among beat-makers and wannabe producers. The funny thing is a lot of producers are fans of Pete Rock, while DJ Premier appeals more to MCs (and DJs judging by how many best-of Premo mixtapes are around).

It's almost cliché to try to compare them, but they have a similar career. Both were in a group with an average MC, and surrounded themselves with a crew of terrible MCs. When they had the oportunity to work with great MCs, DJ Premier is the one who pulled the best beats in my humble opinion. Take Rakim, listen to "Remember That" and then listen to "Been a Long Time", or say KRS One : "MC Act Like They Don't Know" compared to "Get Yoursel Up remix" ? "The World Is Yours" vs. "Represent" ? "Juicy remix" vs. "Kick In The Door" ? (by the way I don't consider Biggie to approach anywhere near Nas, KRS or Rakim, it's just to prove my point).

To me, Pete Rock reached his climax with They Reminisce Over You, and he somehow manage to make his entire career out this extraordinary song. Very early he understood the importance of having a signature sound. At first it was the echoing horns, the adlibs, and on The Main Ingredient it was the Biz Markie/Big Daddy Kane scratches (as heard on "I Get Physical", "I Got A Love", "Main Ingredient", "Places I Been", "Check It Out" "In The Flesh" and "Get On The Mic"). "It's Not A Game" was made between their albums, so it still has the adlibs and the horn sounds. The other cut is from the same time period, the horns are still there, but in a jazz style, with a scratch chorus, courtesy of MC Ricky D.

It beats anything on the Main Ingredient album. But that's just my opinion...

KMD : What A Nigga Know remix

KMD & Grim Reaper : What A Nigga Know Remix (Elektra, 1994)

The main focus of this blog is not really remixes, but sometimes you may wonder what's the definition of a remix after all ? Literally a remix is supposed to be a different mix of a song, you turn the bass up, add some percussion and flip the sample differently. Back in the 80s it was closer to arrangement than composition. Then in the early 90's most hip hop remixers started to do beats out of scratch and just blended a cappellas over it. Then Sean Combs came and "invented" the remix, very usefull when you know your rapper won’t be around next year but you have a dope beat and you want to extended the longevity of the song. You just cast a bunch of free lance MCs to spit rhymes over the original music. But nowadays you hear remixes with different beat AND different lyrics, so I guess a remix can be anything.

This song is listed as the remix to What A Nigga Know. The beat has nothing in common with the original, the lyrics are totally different, and MF Grimm appears as an uncredited guest on the song. I used to think that it was a typo, or a type of mistake on the 12” artwork, but it seems that this was not a song per se, but really another version of What A Nigga Know. OK, they don’t even say the words What A Nigga Know in the remix, but whatever... That particular song was one of the very first time we heard The Grim Reaper. If memory serves me correct this 12” dropped in april 1994, just a few weeks after Kurious’ album where Grim made his debut on “Baby Bust It”. The remix pitches a strong line from Gil Scott-Heron’s ballad “Pieces Of A Man” as a hook, not a surprise since the Black Bastard album was strongly influenced by spoken word.
I remember buying the record when it came out, and loved it so much that I used the instrumental to open my radio show for a whole year in 94/95, and from 95 I used a beat I made sampling the Constipated Monkey bassline. I was really expecting the album and I was really sad when someone told me they got dropped from Elektra over some artwork argument. I guess artwork was a very sensitive subject for WEA back then because they used the same reason to refuse to distribute more than a few records that same year.

I found a bootleg copy of the album during the summer of 1994 in London, and of course the so-called “remix” was not on it. However it was included as a bonus on the original official pressing of the album, released years later on Subverse. Bobbito also had re-release the 12” on Fondle’em in 1998.

KMD & Grim Reaper : What A Nigga Know Remix (Elektra, 1994)


Le thème de ce blog n’est pas vraiment les remixes, pourtant on doit parfois se poser la question : quelle est la différence entre un remix et un morceau original ? Etymologiquement un remix est un mix alternatif, on remonte un peu la basse, on ajoute des percu, et éventuellement on triture le sample... Dans les années 80 les remixes tenaient plus de l’arrangement que de la composition. Ensuite au début des années 90 les remixeurs hip hop ont commencé à refaire totalement des beats qui n’avaient rien à voir, et à coller les a capella dessus. Et puis Puff Daddy est arrivé et il a inventé le remix… Très pratique quand on a un rappeur non charismatique mais un instru mortel et qu’on veut prolonger un peu la durée de vie du morceau. Il suffit de payer quelques mercenaires de la rime pour leur faire enregistrer un couplet sur le beat existant. De nos jours on a franchit la dernière étape puisqu’on entend des remixes où les beats ET les rappeurs différents, à croire que n’importe quel titre est un remix à partir du moment où on a décidé de l’appeler remix.

Le morceau que voici est censé être le remix de What A Nigga Know. Le beat n’a rien à voir avec celui de la version originale, les paroles du morceau sont différentes, et il y a un invité non crédité, le Grim Reaper connu maintenant sous le nom de MF Grimm. A l ‘époque je pensais qu’il y avait eu une erreur sur la pochette est que le titre de ce morceau avait été oublié, mais il semble que c’était vraiment un remix de What A Nigga Know, même si ni Zev Lov X, ni Grim ne prononcent les mots What A Nigga Know dans leurs textes… C’était une des toutes premières fois qu’on entendait Grim Reaper, il avait seulement posé un couplet sur l’album de Kurious sorti quelques semaines auparavant.

Je me souviens avoir tellement aimé le maxi à l’époque au point que je l’avais utilisé deux ans de suite pour le générique de mon émission Amis De La Poesie Bonsoir, en 94/95 j’avais pris l’instru de What A Nigga Know, et l’année d’après j’avais composé un générique qui samplait la basse de Constipated Monkey. J’attendais l’album avec impatience, et j’étais réélement triste quand j’ai appris que le groupe avait perdu son contrat avec Elektra à cause de leur pochette. Il faut croire que les pochettes de disques de rap étaient un sujet sensible pour WEA en ce temps là, puisqu’il avaient utilisé la même excuse pour se séparer de plusieurs groupes la même année...

A l’été 1994 j’ai trouvé une version bootleg de l’album à Londres qui ne contenait pas alors le soit disant remix. Il n’était pas non plus sur la version sortie en autoproduction par MF Doom en 2000, mais a été ajouté en bonus sur le pressage SubVerse en 2001. Le remix est également trouvable sur la réédition du maxi sorti chez Fondle’em en 19998.