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The first of of 2 12 inches the heavily Wu-influenced Camouflage Large dropped in the mid 90's. "Hitmen Holdin' Steel" is somewhat of a posse cut which credits Ghetto Minds, 21 Guns, Messiah and Underground Assasins as MC's. Producer E. Knight lays down some nicely dusted piano chops with the occasional horn stab. The slighty catchier flipside, "Cocbacda 9", features an ominous organ and piano loop atop a driving, bass heavy beat with only Razen Cain and 21 Guns holding it down lyrically. Razen Cain also raps on "Hitmen" which makes me wonder if the some of those credited MC's are crews or not. Another mysterious 90's indie release and the sole offering from Closerange Records.
Camouflage Large - Hitmen Holdin' Steel 12", Closerange Records, 1996
Hitmen Holdin' Steel
Cocbacda 9
NEW LINK 2/19
This is a remix I did of Missin' Linx's "Sametime" which was originally produced by Mark B. This beat was actually from an old Underbucket demo Luke Sick and I were working on years ago. I threw this one together old school style only using records and the MPC, no Pro Tools.
Missin' Linx - Sametime (Eons One Remix)
I'm sure most of you caught the recent 3 part T-Ray interview over at Unkut where he discusses how the Ghetto Pros LP was supposed to be the first release on his Warner Brothers distributed label until all sorts of drama went down and it never came to be. Someone ended up bootlegging the finished product and ironically I came across it at Amoeba the same day the I read the Unkut post linked above. I had heard of it years ago, but had never come across a copy online or in real life. I gotta say it's definitely a slicker and slighty more mainstream Ghetto Pros sound than you may be used to if you followed V.I.C. and Mike's previous Hydra and Rawkus related productions. It may be the case that the large budget played a big part in ruining that sound. Instead of making the best of what you have available , suddenly it becomes the sky's the limit. Personally I think hip hop sounds best when produced under extreme limitations and that's probably why this is some of my least favorite Ghetto Pros material. Featured MC's are Kurupt, Jo-ell Ortiz, Kool G Rap, The Beatnuts, Nate Dogg, Big L, Brand Nubian, B Real, Dead Prez and Tha Alkaholiks, among others. The only track I've seen officially released elsewhere is the Dead Prez one which T-Ray released as a split 12" with Milano on his Beatdown Recordings label.
NEW LINK
Here's another one from the grimey 90's. I had forgotten all about this 12" until I recently came across an auction for it on eBay where it fetched almost 20x what I paid when I bought it new back in "nineteen such & such". I always remembered it not being all that spectacular back then so I decided to pull it out to revisit it. At the time of it's release I'm sure it was definitely overshadowed most of the other records on the racks, but spinning it today you'll hear that Lefrak's Chrome Rebels (aka Chrome Rebel Dynasty) had the CNN/Tragedy Khadafi/Mobb Deep sound DOWN. Over an melancholy 8 bit piano loop, Mr. Chrome and Crab Rebel spit heavy QBC influenced flows inspired by the "scientific genocide" going down Irak City. The sole release on producer Coptic's Coptic Soundsations label, he later went on to produce tracks for Da Brat, Boot Camp Clik, Black Rob, Memphis Bleek, G-Dep, etc.
Chrome Rebels - Escape From Irak (Vocal Org.) Coptic Soundsations, 1997
Who were Death Camp? I have no clue, but this KRS One producer banger is serious underside of a manhole cover in the middle of the projects type grimey. Only surfacing as a test pressing, this appears to be the final release for Bill Stephney's short lived Stepsun Music Entertainment label. The production is raw hip hop at it's most primitive with KRS dropping a 2 note bass line over a heavyweight kick/snare combo while Tombstone and crew break down their daily schedule which is the polar opposite of my sorry ass, working stiff lifestyle. At least I can live vicariously through this elusive piece of wax. My boy the Zodiak Iller (RIP) originally turned me onto this 12" and he used to end every episode of his weekly radio show with it. It was our anthem as we climbed out of the basement, zooted at 12pm on a weekday.
Death Camp "Sleep All Day" (Main Mix) Stepsun Music Entertainment, 1995
The first of of 2 12 inches the heavily Wu-influenced Camouflage Large dropped in the mid 90's. "Hitmen Holdin' Steel" is somewhat of a posse cut which credits Ghetto Minds, 21 Guns, Messiah and Underground Assasins as MC's. Producer E. Knight lays down some nicely dusted piano chops with the occasional horn stab. The slighty catchier flipside, "Cocbacda 9", features an ominous organ and piano loop atop a driving, bass heavy beat with only Razen Cain and 21 Guns holding it down lyrically. Razen Cain also raps on "Hitmen" which makes me wonder if the some of those credited MC's are crews or not. Another mysterious 90's indie release and the sole offering from Closerange Records.
