Q-BERT’S CRIB DECEMBER 26th, 1994 2/3: BORED STIFF MEETS TMC

A bevy of all kinds of hip-hoppers (not just DJs) came thru to represent in Q-bert’s catacombs of records that day. Here Kwanz (aka Dubstar now known as Rick Flare) an original member of the legendary Bored Stiff rap crew from the Lower Haight fresh off mentioning that he drops tons of acid on the song "Therapy" off the Bomb Hip Hop Compilation came thru to bust a freestyle with MC Chill (I think, please correct me if you know his real codename??) from the equally legendary TMC crew (rulers of Mission District bombing all thru the early-nineties and beyond; peep “Piece-By-Piece” for the full history lesson). The two street rappers had never met before that day, and I don’t know if I’m being a race-obsessed whiteprick for pointing this out, but I think Kwanz’s seemingly unconscious and casual tolerance of the Filipino dude’s liberal use of the N-word let’s you know it’s a ‘Sco thang, SF b-boys of all races (Bored Stiff itself is a good example of the Filipino, Asian, South American, Caribbean, Black, White, etc. melting pot the SF hip-hop scene was and still is) rarely tripped on that shit back in the nine-quad when real recognized real from 50 blocks away (folkers from other parts of the country used to trip hard on that shit when they visited back then, unless of course they were from NY). I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing, I'm just saying that's how it was. But hey now, you Menlo Park breads don’t go gettin’ all loose-lipped with the racial epithets in your freestyle ciphers just ‘cause I said that, ‘cause these days most people assume yer fake from jump and you’d get snuffed on GP, besides drunk ass peninsula whiteboys never really got a pass anyway (firsthand experience speaking, ain’t that right Z-Man?). For writer heads: you might be able to do a “Where’s Waldo?” on other members from TMC [like Spie, who was also a member of TDK and did cover art for Q-bert's Dirtstyle records as well as various Hobo Junction releases along with MikeDreamTDK before he passed R.I.P.-- hint: this is foreshadowing for round 3 y'all!] and DJ MykeOne maybe?) poking into the frame for cameos, but I ain’t saying what’s what, those dudes still got burners running, and I don’t wanna get my ass kicked. That crew had a reputation ya know. Their name: TOO MUCH CRUSHIN’ didn’t just apply to “gettin’ up," you smell me?

NON PHIXION: ASK MICKEY KNOX WHO WE ARE

Non Phixion will always be remembered as one of the ruggedest crews to emerge out of the mid 90's indy scene. While many of their contemporaries were flirting with sci fi language or introspective themes, Non Phixion were the straight hoodied up, drugged out maniacs from the slums of Brooklyn. Here's a pre-Non Phixion freestyle from DJ Riz and Wildman Steve's WBAU show circa 1994. This is Necro, Ill Bill, Goretex and Captain Carnage performing as Goons. (Note: this is a different rip and is a bit longer than the version contained on Necro's rare freestyles release):

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Next is an early Non-Phixion freestyle from a 1995 Stretch & Bobbito show. At this point the line up is Ill Bill, Sabac Red and Goretex and they go verse for verse over Primo's "Livin Proof" instrumental. Ripped from an old tape:

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THE DOWNLOW HIGHLIGHT REEL

I remember getting a phone call from someone at Point Blank magazine who had discovered my info from a failed attempt I had made ordering a Project Blowed cassette. This was late 94-95. I had seen a review of it in Slap magazine so I sent $10 to the address they printed and crossed my fingers. "You should never mail cash. Someone will just steal it!" the Point Blank cat informed me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was already 20+ calls deep to Video Graff trying to get them to send me my damn tape (and that was a money order!). Sometime after the phone conversation, a package arrived from Point Blank that included this tape and an issue of the mag. The tape features a few different radio appearances from Kev Sakoda's Downlow show. The Artifacts take up the entire A side while the B side has appearances by Rass Kass and Aceyalone. I remember going to see The Artifacts in Santa Cruz back around this time with Common Sense, The Beatnuts and Organized Konfusion. The Artifacts didn't show, but while one of the wack openers was struggling through his set, a completley unnanounced Aceyalone jumped up on stage and proceeded to rip this kid a new one before devouring him alive. The place exploded. The Downlow show is still on the air. You can catch it every Saturday on KSPC 88.7FM.
HIGHLIGHT REEL