MURDER IS A MISDEMEANOR

"I heard a fool call in the radio today, he said, 'San Jo is shockin'.' You need to get your sister's Rabbit so we can mob to that Rodney O. and Joe Cooley show at Studio 47. Sal's cousin's got some six-by-nines we can put in it." --Frosty C, 1987, Gunn High School, Palo Alto, Calif. And yes, he really did say "shockin'."

First of all, Saturn Records is the shit. This surly L.A. label put out only 22 records from 1983-1988. Chris and Ray's was the second to last one in '88. And although the label's mailing address was Los Angeles, they were def knee-deep in more than a few Nor Cal scenes. From billing The Triple Threat Three as the "Sound Of Sacramento" on their 1984 release "M.P.G. Rap" to shouting out Milpitas, California's Nissan Gang on the circle-label of Ceiliia's (from Manchester, England???) county-fair-hair anthem "Nissan Truckin'" a year later, Saturn made music for mini-truck culture, it's obvious. Their acts played car shows in San Jose back when it was "shockin'", no doubt. When this record came out I was in a rap group called C.O.L.D. (Chemists Of Lyrical Devastation) inspired by Saturn's 1983 release, Ice T's "Cold Wind Madness." My boy Frosty C put me up on it, sayin' "Yo, these fools are from Milpitas, dog. They in a crew that only wears Warriors Starters." I believed that immediately (even though other people said they were from L.A.). Just like an 808, a Run-DMC record, and John William's orchestra in the nimble hands of DJ Ray lend instant credibility to Chris's boasts: "Your response when I rock is, 'My god, he's froze!" In fact, I want to close out by typing out the lyrics of his third verse, because cold-murdering the track used to require an extremely high level of science and sometimes it is necessary to put a microscope on that bitch so you motherfuckers can examine exactly what I mean by that. Errrrrr Rah!

"For years I've kept, while Bo Peep wept,
my girl straight groovin' while Snow White slept

now with a quarter and a duece, I now let loose
helpin' Rocky pull the rabbit without the Moose

got my homeboys wiggin', the girlies' drawers diggin' (or "girlies drugged, diggin' me" both are def)
me in a party, rock, 'cause the dance-floor's giggin'

Number one, I'm gonna be 'im, a photo mausoleum
My DJ by my side in the Oakland Collesium
See, in Cali they scatter, gettin' madder and madder
with my DJ named Ray choppin' platter after platter
Justa tearin' up halls, rippin' down walls
girls fightin' over me in bathroom stalls
they want the fame the glory the west-side story
not told until now 'cause I felt it mandatory
and to all you wack rappers, and to those who diss
if you never bought a record then boy you'll buy this
oh yeah, I'm packin' for fun, my mic and my gun

so when you hear me rock a party you don' t walk, you run!"

Chris & Ray - U Walk Don't Run

Chris & Ray - U Walk Don't Run (dub)

Chris & Ray - U Walk Don't Run (inst)