Hip Hop and Breakz

Because I have had a number of people asking for the Re Up on this post here it is again, with the download of course. Back in about 1999 I picked up a Bootleg Mobb Deep 12" from London's now closed down Mr Bongos. I've always been partial to a nice bit of Havoc and Prodigy especially if its Havoc behind the boards. I like the dark ominous production style that Havoc fathered and their style of morbidly threatening raps has always cheered me up. At the time I had only heard 3 the Hard way and Gun Love on a couple of mixtapes and had liked what I heard despite the wack DJ shouting all over the tracks. So of course being a big QB fan I had to grab this bootleg 12" The track Gun Love is about a love affair and how it lasts through the various ages of Prodigy's life and how much this love means to him. I know what your thinking this doesn't sound like the usual Mobb Deep subject matter but the love that he's talking about is as the title indicates his G...

I awoke this morning to the news that yet another Soul legend had passed away, Teddy Pendergrass. Teddy's career began when he was a drummer for The Cadillacs, which later merged with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. Melvin asked Teddy to become the lead singer. Months later the group signed with Gamble & Huff on the then-CBS subsidiary Philadelphia International Records in 1972. The Blue Notes had hits such as "I Miss You," "Bad Luck," "Wake Up Everybody," the two million seller "If You Don't Know Me By Now" and many more. Following personality conflicts between Melvin and Pendergrass, Pendergrass launched a solo career and released hit singles like "The More I Get the More I Want," "Close the Door," "I Don't Love You Anymore," "Turn Off the Lights" and others. His first solo album was self titled Teddy Pendergrass (1977), followed by Life is a Song Worth Singing (1978), Live Coast to C...

As I haven't done a breakz post in a while and I've been listening to a lot of Reggae recently I thought I'd compile my top 10 Reggae Breakz. I'm not saying these are the most sampled Reggae Breakz or even the best but these are my favourite Reggae Breakz; 1 - Yellowman - Zungguzungguguzungguzeng Classic Yellowman track from the album of the same name best utilised for Boogie Down Productions "P is Free" this was released in 1983 on the Shanachie label. 2 - Brentford All-Stars - Greedy G Fantastic up beat Reggae / Ska tune used by BDP, Eric B and Rakim, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince and Ghostface amongst others. This was an early 1970s release by Studio 1's house band and apparently based on James Brown's Get on the Good Foot. 3 - Dave & Ansel Collins - Double Barrell I am the Magnificent... this was taken form the 1971 album of the same name and was most notably used for the famous vocal sample at the start of the track by too many people...

When J-Live's debut 12", the original Longevity/Braggin' Writes 12" dropped in 1995 on Raw Shack (RSP-001, another nineties indie label that seems to have disappeared) I totalled missed it and by the time I heard Braggin' writes I couldn't find a copy anywhere. That is why when the remix 12" (Groove Attack GAP 00211) dropped in 1996 I made sure I got two copies and if I remember correctly this may have been one of the first records I bought off an internet site, Sandbox I think. Obviously the original Longevity/Braggin' Writes 12" is an amazing debut 12" which really shot J-Live onto the indie hip hop scene. The dope A-Side Longevity had a mellow beat with a crisp drum and the B-Side has a killer guitar sample with some sick scratches and both of them featured J-Live's intricate lyrics therefore to make the remix 12" something special they needed the remixes to be dope but significantly different to the originals. The Longevity re...