I don’t get DJ Screw. I mean, I greatly appreciate his music, but I’ll never fully understand it. How could I? When he passed away I had only just heard of him and his movement, having had a few cursory glimpses of his world by way of Napster downloads. The man had such a unique and immensely community driven impact that any outsider interpretation comes close to pure speculation. There was a time when dudes waited in lines around his block like fiends for his latest tape while we now just wait 60 seconds for a download ticket.

Today Screw is getting more press than ever thanks in part to interlopers who have affected his aesthetic (though rarely his emotionality). This turn of events would be frustrating if it wasn’t always his plan. As he told the Source, in what I believe was his first national press feature, he genuinely wanted to screw the world. The fact that white bisexual heroin addicted art students from the midwest, Sweedish chicks in bird masks and half Jewish Canadian ex-child actors are now biting/sweating/worshipping him only means that he’s succeeded in that mission.* (more…)

Bun B – “Let ‘Em Know” (Produced By DJ Premier)

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from III Trill III Furious (Rap-A-Lot, Coming Soon)

This is not a great song and it doesn’t matter.

Both these artists are absolute legends and deserve our utmost respect but I tend to believe that honest criticism is a more reverent act than empty praise. So it needs to be said that “Let ‘Em Know” is basically a lazy mess. Bun phones in his verse, as he’s been known to do, the beat is generic even as far as standard issue Premier goes and the scratched up spoken Pimp C vocals don’t come anywhere close to forming a musical or rhythmic chorus, let alone a memorable or catchy one.

The record an appropriate combination, though. The Awl ^[1] was astute enough to notice that both artists are old but there’s an even closer parallel here – Bun and Preem have aged uniquely into legacy artists, which is a rarity in this genre. Aside from Jay-Z, who built an industry off legacy alone, I can’t think of two acts in hip hop who have more effectively sustained themselves off codified mythologies alone.^[2] That these guys are important has become conventional hip hop wisdom, so much, in fact, that there are many people who have never heard “Front, Back, Side To Side” who will tell you that Bun B is an undisputed legend and there are those who would mistake “Check The Technique” for a Dockers commercial but will still draw the weathered conclusion that DJ Premier is the best producer to ever do it. I wouldn’t argue against either of those points, but this sort of etched in stone idolization without context has been devastating for a few reasons. (more…)

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from Sexy Girls 12″ (Rap-A-Lot, 1987)

“Sexy Girls” was the second 12″ on Rap-A-Lot and also the possibly worst thing in it’s catalog. And I know this is going to lead to one of those cases where Captain Jack googles himself and then finds this post and gets all bummed out so let me be clear – when I say worst I mean its the most uncomfortably un-Rap-A-Lot release. Most of the labels earliest output was all pretty shaky* but those early Ghetto Boys records were also clear stepping stones to their later sound. And yeah RAL went on to drop some duds in the later years – stuff like the Ghetto Twinz or bad late Outlawz records – but even those were a logical extension of the Rap-A-Lot ideal. “Sexy Girls” is just weird synth rap about sexy girls. The cut up moaning samples are kind of tight, fwiw. (more…)

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from The Invincible (Rap-A-Lot, 1992)
Raheem – “5th Ward (Radio)”

from 5th Ward 12″ (Rap-A-Lot, 1992)

One of the more painful cuts from that Complex RAL list was Raheem’s very slept on ode to “the nickel,” “5th Ward.” Raheem was part of the original original “Car Freaks” era Ghetto Boys but split to pursue a solo career once the group was reformed with Face and them. He was a beast of a rapper in his own right. “5th Ward” appeared on his second album The Invicible and is one of those weird cases where the 12″ doesn’t include the album version at all, but instead features two mixes with entirely different vocals. The “Radio” version changes up all the curses to less offensive words so “first motherfucker with a record out in Houston and the last motherfucker you should want to fuck with” becomes “first male rapper with a record out in Houston, make the soundtrack and do a video too!” Then there’s also the confusingly titled “Bonus Radio” version which is smoother with a Marvin-esque hook and again entirely different raps, this time sending some not so subliminals at Kris Kross for not being the original Mack Daddies.

We’re back again with another Complex/Vh1 Top 25, this time looking at the Rap-A-Lot legacy. I work in a field where I’m often asked to write lists and this was probably the hardest one I’ve ever had to put together. The RAL catalog is just so incredibly deep and rife with more fan favorites than really obvious megahits. In fact for a long time they weren’t even dropping many singles, but six track “Hot Club Wax” samplers, which left DJs to their own devices as far as what would become the hit. Already in looking it at it I’m noticing omissions. But what am I gonna do? Cry? No, instead I wrote a list of 25 mo’ good ones from off the top of my head after the jump. Look them up on Youtube and collect them all. Also be sure to hit the old Tumblr for more RAL randomness. (more…)