N.W.A. Explicit Content Only

Papa D! just put me onto this. Wow.

N.W.A. - Fuck Tha Police (Explicit Content Only) -

N.W.A. - Gangsta Gangsta (Explicit Content Only) -

HERE are the rest.

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Raheem Jamal

To continue running down the line leading up this show on Wednesday, I wanted to give some shine to another performer sharing the bill with Dagha and myself... Raheem Jamal.

Over the years, Raheem and I have gained a friendship out of being on the same label, but he knows I've been a fan of his since way back when I first heard him set it off on the Electric track, Respect Life.

Electric- Respect Life (From Life's A Struggle) -

(Raheem Jamal, left. Raydar Ellis, right)

Also around that time, I caught Project Move's debut track on 7L and Beyonder's Vinyl Thug Music. Alongside emcees Anonymous and Moe Pope, the trio would release a dually titled full-length in 2006, Love Gone Wrong / The Butterfly Theory. Here's one of the title tracks:

Project Move- The Butterfly Theory -

It was during Raheem's work on his solo debut, Boombox, that I really started to get to know him. Entirely produced by Raydar Ellis, the beats on this album are a perfect marriage to Raheem's subject matter and emotion. I was lucky enough to be a fly on the wall for some of these recording sessions, and have great memories of witnessing their chemistry and excitement first hand during the making of this record.

Raheem Jamal- Live It Up -

Raheem Jamal- The Thang -

Oh yeah, and that's Anonymous doing the uncredited bugging out on Live It Up. He'll be in the building Wednesday as well.

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Mr. Magic Tribute- March 19th @ The Lab in Brooklyn

I just got word from Fly Ty that there will be a Mr. Magic tribute show going down in Brooklyn on March 19th at The Lab Banquet Hall. It's being put together by Ty, Marley Marl, and Russell Simmons. More info to follow in the near future. I know I'll be there!

1428 Fulton Street

Brooklyn, NY 11216-2505

(718) 773-1760

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Wednesday February 24th - Live From the Basement with Will C., Dagha, Anonymous & Raheem (Project Move), Agari Crew

If you're in the Boston area on February 24th, come through to the Good Life for "Live From The Basement!" This show is going to be a great time. I'll be on the bill with my boys Anonymous and Raheem Jamal from Project Move / Electric Co., as well as Dagha and others.

All the info should be on the pictured flyers. I champion all of these dudes I just mentioned, so I figured I'll drop a little material by some of the individual artists performing at this show, as we lead up to the event. Let's start with Dagha.

I first got put up on Dagha through his affiliation with the Electric crew. They only put out one album as a collective (Life's A Struggle) back in 2004. Here's a track off of it, featuring every emcee in the group- Insight, Anonymous, Raheem, Moe Pope and Dagha .

Electric - Where Would U Be (Remix)-

The Electric album is 90% produced by Insight (Y Society), with interludes produced by DJ Real. It is a superb release that was highly slept on. That same year, Dagha destroyed it with his guest appearance on Insight's The Blast Radius album, on The Method of Madness.

Dagha's first solo offering, Object In Motion, came in 2005, the same year he appeared on Edan's Beauty and the Beat LP (on the track Rock and Roll). Here's two of my personal favorites off of Object In Motion:

Dagha - No Sheets (produced by DJ Real) -

Dagha - Back To The Center (produced by DJ Real) -

Dagha's most recent full-length, The Divorce, is yet another above average release. A concept album, The Divorce tells the story of some major relationship woes. Here's a song that appears early in the disc (another Insight production):

Dagha - Devil's Work -

Alright, I'm definitely doing this post on the fly, but the point is Dagha is dope, 'nuff said. He's enough reason alone to come through to the show.

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Reks- In Between The Lines (The Mixtape) Here

Oh shit! Reks just dropped his In Between The Lines mixtape. Going through this now and there are some serious serious joints on it. Lately Reks has been out of control making high quality material, and this continues the hot streak. I know I JUST gave Statik props a couple days back, but he's murdering it on the boards with the lead off track, Self Titled.

Reks- Self Titled (produced by Statik Selektah)-

Self Titled is apparently a preview of the forthcoming full length, R.E.K.S., most likely dropping sometime this summer. Piano sample on this one is perfect, and I'm digging how they flipped the Nas' Destroy and Rebuild A Capella. At this rate, I know this won't be the last time this year I blog about the man behind Grey Hairs.

Grab it all below!

In Between The Lines

1. Green Lantern Intro

2. Self Titled (off R.E.K.S. album) (produced by Statik Selektah)

3. I Don't Play (LFHQ Dj Premier Exclusive)

4. Understand (produced by Lee Bannon)

5. Rap-a-nomics ft. Slaine & Torae (produced by Statik Selektah)

6. Count If Off ft. CurT@ins (produced by Statik Selektah)

7. 2012 (produced by Statik Selektah)

8. God Damn! ft. Freddie Gibbs (produced by Statik Selektah)

9. I Too, America (produced by Statik Selektah)

10. 7am ft. Termanology, Steven King, J-Status, & JFK (produced by Statik Selektah)

11. That's What's Up ft. Bossman (produced by Statik Selektah)

12. Hennessy (produced by Statik Selektah)

13. Henny @ Halftime ft. Ron artest (produced by Statik Selektah)

14. Dangerous (Showoff) ft. JFK, Statik Selektah, & Kali (produced by Statik Selektah)

15. 21st Century Rap (prod. by Anthem)

16. Banner City ft. Termanology & Easy Money (off Dj Deadeye album, prod. by MGI)

17. Diesel ft. Chi Knox & Lucky Dice (produced by Rain)

18. City Night Stories ft. Nature, Soul Theory, and G Huff (produced by Soul Theory)

19. Down Like That (Lawtown) (produced by Statik Selektah)

20. Evil That Men Do ft. JV (produced by DEMOBeats)

21. Problem ft. LMS and Saheed (prod. by OZNY)

22. In Between The Lines Freestyle (prod. by Infinite Archetype)

23. Lucky Man (produced by Statik Selektah)

24. International ft. El Da Sensei and Insight (produced by Insight)

25. Something From Nothing ft. Mr M.O.E. & B.R. (ATL) (produced by S-Type)

26. Jena Side (produced by 1914)

27. Invasion Outro

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86 Init!

Here's a De La Soul track I don't hear people reference that often. It's actually a track from the Nightmares On Wax Sound Of N.O.W. EP, released in 2000. Aside from this EP, I'm not really up on the Nightmares On Wax collective. I remember seeing this in stores when it came out, but never got a copy until I acquired it from someone else's vinyl collection (What up John May?!)

Just doing a little research now, I see that the crew specializes in soul music and that they've been active since 1988. Their biography from their website offers a little history on the group. I'll let the music do the talking, though. Check out the track below for some exceptional De La you may not have caught the first time around! Well done, N.O.W.!

Nightmares On Wax feat. De La Soul - Keep On (86 Init Mix)-

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100 Proof! M.O.P. x Mobb Deep x Juice Crew Collabo

(above: Statik Selektah at the Cambridge, MA 100 Proof Listening Party)

Alright, so I had a short burst of posts to close out 2009 / ring in 2010 then I got quiet. I suppose I should visit my Mom's house over holidays and bring my laptop more often. I'd be a blogging king. A king I tells ya! Well, let's be for real, that's not really what I dream of becoming.

(Great start, Will. That'll keep them checking in...)

Honestly, I've crawled into my cave that is C's Section and started putting in work on new material. Time to make some magic. The only way for me to do that is to drop off the face of the Earth here and there. Also, I have to surround myself with positive energy, so check out the new name I gave my computer hard drive:

Now you know it's official.

Statik Selektah's 100 Proof The Hangover) dropped a little over a week ago, and I've been meaning to say a little something about it / post a track. Statik is killing it on the boards and once again came through with an onslaught of talented emcees. That's pretty much a given now, as his talent and unparalleled work ethic have helped him build genuine friendships with countless industry personalities. With that being said, you can tell everyone is happy to be involved in the project, yielding an album that sounds natural. This in itself is a great accomplishment for a record stacked so high with guests.

I'm sure you've noticed I have nothing but positive things to say about Statik projects. In a genre where countless personalities are talking trash about one another, Statik is giving us albums where there is a sense of camaraderie between tons of artists, and that alone is worth giving props.

Speaking of giving props...

If you haven't peeped his past two albums, Spell My Name Right (The Album) and Stick 2 The Script, check them out. There's something for most rap fans on these releases. For the demographic who checks out this blog, I'm thinking this may be a choice cut off the new record (it's also the beat playing in the above video)...

Statik Selektah- Do It 2 Death feat. Lil Fame, Havoc, and Kool G Rap-

Here's a couple of my favorites from his past two offerings...

Mr. Popularity feat. Consequence (from Stick 2 The Script)-

Ahhhh, those drums!!!

Did What We Had To Do (Showoff Mix) feat. KRS-One, Larry Cheeba & Large Professor (from Spell My Name Right)-



Take It To The Top feat. Cassidy, Saigon and Termanology (Video- from Stick 2 The Script)-

(Worth checking out alone for the amount of times Cassidy says "man" in the first half of his verse... YES)



If you like 'em, cop 'em!

MAN!

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