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The "Off The Ropes" compilation CD that came with an issue of the late, great Big Daddy Magazine outta the UK was my intro to the P Brothers. That right there is reason enough to check it out. Speaking of P Brothers and intros, their (exclusive to this release) intro to the CD makes Fat Joe's "Yeah" the warrior call for all swamp dwelling Mantronix drum machines to be hurled through Marshall stacks the world over (check the Roc Marci drop). You would think it would be hard to follow such a bombastic intro (like the Bomb Squad hooking up the intro to a D'Angelo LP), but the crate savvy minds at Big Daddy hand picked some of the tastiest treats they were covering in the accompanying magazine and seasoned them with a liberal dose of UK tunes that were unheard by any of us in the states. The Paul Nice produced Biz Markie track has got to be Biz's best track of the 2K's. Rodney P's "Murderer Style" is like Robitussin drenched dancehall on dust. Shit is evil. Plus you get a bunch of tracks off limited 45's that have come and gone. Big Daddy eventually became Grand Slam which also included some dope CD comps, but died after a short run. Former editor George Mahood now runs the online shop Concourse Records.
Off The Ropes
Here's a nice megamix from 1988 on Megajamm Recordz by the mysterious "DJ Prince Ice". My money's on Prince Ice being fake name so King Tech and his homies (Mark 5 who produced a grip of tracks on Dre Dog's "I Hate You With a Passion" album and Big Ed who has a pretty eclectic resume) wouldn't get sued for pillaging all the tracks necessary to make "Dopemix Vol. 1". What sets this mix apart from other megamixes of the time is the sheer amount of scratching. This ain't no Latin Rascals tape splicing mix here, this is real DJs cutting wax over an unwavering 808 pattern. While it does include many megamix staples "Prince Ice" gets some dirt under his nails dropping snippets of Ice T's "Colors" and G Rap's "Poison". There is a distinct Bay Area sound to this mix that many listeners outside the 415 (I'm talking pre 510) may not catch. File this one next to your Flynamic Force and In-A-Minute Records.
Dopemix Vol. 1
Looks like all the links on here are dead after Zshare's crash a week or so ago. My original plan was to reup all the dead links when we reached 10K hits, but at this point I have neither the time or the patience to re-up the entire blog. If there's a post you missed out on and you want to request a re-up, post a comment and I'll get to those first.KRS One - Ah Yeah (Diamond D Remix)
Sometimes scrounging up tapes to record radio shows would lead to desperate measures. Spending too long searching for a C-90 could mean the difference between catching a white label pressed in the hundreds or a dope freestyle by some MC you'd never even heard of. So it goes with this tape of Rob One on The Drum. I don't recall the specific night, but I'm sure I heard Kevvy Kev say Rob One just walked into the basement and I frantically grabbed whatever tape was in front of me, stuck it in the deck and hit record. Unfortunately it ended up being some promo tape of some shitty metal band some crap label had sent me. For those not in the loop of the classic "I do a music zine, send me free shit" scam of the 90's, this meant I was dealing with a cassette giving me a meager 30 minutes (if you're lucky) a side. Typing this up is stirring up regret for too many lost tapes with songs I still haven't recovered in years of digging. Who knows where the tape(s) of the rest of this show ended up. But you don't throw away the fossil just because you broke the rock, right? With this view, we present to you a brief excerpt of Rob One's 1997 visit to Kevvy Kev's legendary show. Rob drops then unheard Rakim and Ghostface tracks plus a nice Sunz of Man drop. EB the Lyrical Storm stops by and a then unknown Chali2na starts to bust right when the tape cuts out. Yep, that's just how it goes sometimes. Rob was one of the illest ever to put records to cassette and the flawless mixing on this short bit just hammers it home. Check the fossil.
Rob One on The Drum
I’m pretty sure whoever played the keyboard chimes on the chorus for this one was drunk. That shit is like three-wheel motion on a u-turn, spillin’ So Co and orange Fanta out your Solo cup onto your black Bart Simpson XXXL, trying to re-position your leather Africa medallion over the stain so it doesn't show.
Street Art Records was a subsidiary of Miami’s Hot Productions (Hot Associated Labels) that released only about a dozen records in the late-80’s; its most notable release was probably the first issue of L’Trimm’s 'Cars With The Boom.’ ‘Grand Force b/w Grand Bass’ by Grand Force Posse in 1987 was their first release ever. Welcome to bassland! Sorry about the skip in the second half of the instrumental. You should have seen how warped this plate was! The stylus at Eons’ looked like it was riding the Big Dipper at Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Trust me, you don't need to throw a hissy-fit over this one minor flaw, 'cause every house party I ever went to at least one record skipped, and I'd much rather be listening to this at a house party then on a lonely iPod, sittin' on the train on my way to my dead-end job. So, GET IN THE ZONE, little homies! Like Damone said in Fast Times, "It's all about the attitude, Rat."
Grand Force Posse - Grand Force
Grand Force Posse - Grand Bass
The "Off The Ropes" compilation CD that came with an issue of the late, great Big Daddy Magazine outta the UK was my intro to the P Brothers. That right there is reason enough to check it out. Speaking of P Brothers and intros, their (exclusive to this release) intro to the CD makes Fat Joe's "Yeah" the warrior call for all swamp dwelling Mantronix drum machines to be hurled through Marshall stacks the world over (check the Roc Marci drop). You would think it would be hard to follow such a bombastic intro (like the Bomb Squad hooking up the intro to a D'Angelo LP), but the crate savvy minds at Big Daddy hand picked some of the tastiest treats they were covering in the accompanying magazine and seasoned them with a liberal dose of UK tunes that were unheard by any of us in the states. The Paul Nice produced Biz Markie track has got to be Biz's best track of the 2K's. Rodney P's "Murderer Style" is like Robitussin drenched dancehall on dust. Shit is evil. Plus you get a bunch of tracks off limited 45's that have come and gone. Big Daddy eventually became Grand Slam which also included some dope CD comps, but died after a short run. Former editor George Mahood now runs the online shop Concourse Records. 
