Hip Hop and Breakz

Back in the summer of 1996 (which is almost twenty years ago, damn I feel old) there were all sorts of dodgy remixes and bootlegs floating around.  This here piece of vinyl is a perfect example of this sub-genre.  Someone has managed to get hold of a few a capellas and have made up their own beats for these tracks that were everywhere that year.  I probably picked these up in Uptown Records where I bought a lot bootlegs that year.  Although there were plenty of these bootlegs around at that time the cheap music creation apps like Garageband and Fruity loops had not yet come into existence and making tracks like this actually required access to high end music software like Q-Base and some actual hardware. All of the tracks on this EP are produced by a dude called Funkmaster Frankenstein  who soon after dropped the Funkmaster and went onto produced some nice underground head nodders throughout the 90s and well into the 2000s.  The first track is Franke...

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...

It has been a little while since I dropped a Dodgy bootleg on y'all so heres a dope little mid nineties East Coast gem for you to savour. Back in 1996 the seminal DJ / Producer, Frankie Cutlass dropped a dope little compilation album called Politics and Bullshit. Frankie handled the production and had some dope emcees on board; Kool G Rap, Mobb Deep, M.O.P., Lost Boys, Heltah Skeltah, Craig G, Fat Joe, Busta, Sadat X and BIz Markie to name a few. A few months before the first single from this album dropped the phenomenal Mobb Deep, Kool G Rap and M.O.P. track Know the game started making noise on Mixtapes and getting play from people like Westwood and 279. The track is a 100% classic that often gets overlooked when people mention Mobb Deep and Kool G Rap other duets. Not only does this track have Mobb Deep and Kool G Rap, both QB legends but it has Billy Danze and Lil' Fame on the hook, what more could you ask for? Well a dope beat would good and Frankie Cutlass does his...

I posed this back in October and a lot of people have been been requesting that i re-up the whole 12", here it is again with a better link this time grab it while you can. 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...

This is the second in my series of dodgy 90's bootlegs and this time its the turn of Mobb Deep and Cormega. I picked this up in the long since closed Unity records in London's SoHo back in the late nineties. Its a dope Havoc produced Mobb Deep and Cormega joint that I've only ever seen on this particular bootleg although it was rumored to be from the original version of Cormega's shelved Def Jam album Testamant. Its a darkly orchestral beat typical of Havoc at that time and the lyrics are the usual crime riddled, morbid threats that those Queensbridge kids throw about so well. Prodigy handles the first verse, Cormega the second and Hav drops the last one. Prodigy's verse is the strongest in my opinion with this classic quote; 'Overdose music It's theraputic to the user Driving wild under the influence of this Careful, cuz ya might just crash ya shit Total ya whip and still pull my tape out the deck' Pure Queensbridge Classic. Check the link Q.B.C. r...

I'm going to try and upload a few treats between now and the New Year for those of you who check Hip Hop and Breakz on the regular. The first of these treats is a collection of Mobb Deep tracks that were recorded in between their 'Juvenile Hell' album and their Loud debut 'The Infamous' in or before 1994. I'm a big Queensbridge fan and in particular Mobb Deep. I think its often underestimated how much Havoc's dark and ominous production style influenced the whole sound of the East throughout the mid to late 90's and beyond. Some of these tracks went on to become tracks on the 'The Infamous', tracks like; Give up the Goods, Up North Trip, Survival of the fittest and Temperature's rising. Whereas some of the other tracks have only ever shown up on mix-tapes and dodgy bootlegs. I'm unsure if this really is Havoc and Prodigy's pre Loud demo but it certainly is a nice little collection of tracks that deserve their place in any Mobb Dee...