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.
Time for a little show plugging... saturday night, if you're in the area, check it out!
"Future Classic is taking the party to Cape Cod this year with Summer Loft Parties every Saturday at Pufferbellies beach-side Entertainment Complex in Hyannis. For the Grand Opening Future Classic & UGHH are bringing you Fatlip & Slimkid3 of the Pharcyde for an exclusive New England DJ set! Brick Records will also be in the house with sets by Raydar Ellis & Will C. along with Future Classic's own DJ Stenny. It all goes down next Saturday, 6/13 @ Pufferbellies from 10PM to 1AM / 18+ to party / 21+ to drink / $12.00 for advance tickets / $20.00 at the door. Summer is almost here, so get a head start!"
We're gonna finish off Mr. Magic where we began on two different levels... sort of.
First off, way back, probably a year or two ago at this point, before "Down The Dial" dropped, I let a real special clip get out there into internet land. Transferred from one of those classic tapes from the vaults of Starrlite (and featured on the "Down The Dial" poster) is the oldest cassette salvaged from her collection. A tape of the Mr. Magic Disco Showcase 1981 (that's right, BEFORE the Rap Attack). This is before Magic's radio show had even integrated entirely into hip hop. I mean, at this time, there weren't even enough Rap 12"s to fill an entire slot on WHBI. Like I said in "New York Class,"
"Before the skill was saturated / he couldn't fill his format with rap, he played / funk and jazz and rock and roll / Ty or Starrlite'd tape the show / this is the Disco Showcase if you know / predates Rap Attack and In Control..."
Yeah that's right, I just quoted myself. Check the entire track here. Beat is by my main man Raydar Ellis. Don't make the mistake of sleeping on him.
Will C. - "New York Class" (Produced by Raydar Ellis)
Raydar just put out an exceptional album as a tag team alongside Quite Nyce of Radix. Cop "Champs Vs. The League"here.
To hear a clip from the Disco Showcase is always a gem. I really truly treasure this one. It's from October 10, 1981. A BIG night in hip hop history. Magic drops the sciend::
"See actually I just got back from the lower east side amphitheater, and by the way they were filming a motion picture to come out next year called 'Wild Style.' And it's about a graffiti artist from New York City. Well, what we were doing tonight, we were filming a scene, as I said down in the lower east side of Manhattan, and I ran into a whole lot of super listeners by the way...
... The show included The Cold Crush Brothers, who furnished the sound system, and a special thank you to Charlie Chase and Tony Tone. We also heard from Busy Bee and DJ AJ, the Fantastic Romantic 5 MCs with DJ Theodore. We also heard from Double Trouble, and I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa Lee, an up and coming star. One of the few female rappers here in New York City. Special congratulations to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, who put on a fantastic show!"
Ridiculous. Damn, I really wish the Flash and the Furious footage made it onto the film. Can't remember if it was a contractual thing with Sugar Hill and the amount of dough they wanted, or that some of the footage was damaged from that night, or a combination of both.
Check... it... out
Mr. Magic Disco Showcase- October 10, 1981
Also ill to hear the show intro over Grover Washington's "Mr. Magic." This is taking it wayyyy back. A great experience just to hear how things were back then, how he spoke... all that.
On another note of ending where we started, as promised I said I have a little curveball to revisit the first Magic post concerning the infamous Public Enemy dis on the Rap Attack. This clip is from June 3rd, 1987. "Don't Believe the Hype" is pumping from the radio show and Sir Juice states:
"I must say, the most intelligent thing I ever heard from a rap record- 'don't believe the hype.' DEFINITELY sounds like a winner. 'Bout 23 minutes in front of 11 o'clock in the P.M. Public Enemy in effect, I'm proud of you guys! What can I tell you."
Who knows what inspired this. This just goes to show you, you never know what to expect on that show. Classic.
Rap Attack- June 3, 1987- (Magic Bigging Up P.E.)
Yo, so like a wise man once said:
“That about does it for yours truly until I return to burn tomorrow night starting at 9 o’clock in the PM. Anyone driving in a car, please proceed with a little extra safety and care. Super listeners, whenever you do your homework, always do it to the best of your ability and also remember that persistence always overcomes resistance. Any fool can learn from his own mistakes, but it takes a wise man, a wise guy like you, to learn from the mistakes made by others. Quick reminder to be yourself or you might find yourself by yourself, and that is definitely no fun. Just ask sister station from down the dial…”
A couple times I thought this Mr. Magic week was gonna be the death of me. Particularly tonight, fresh off of my fair share of Easter Dinner glasses of wine. I'm gonna go ahead and call it a success, even know technically it's 12:33 Monday morning right now.
Stick around and keep checking this blog. As we close out Mr. Magic week, we're gonna move on to a lot more interesting stuff. I don't know why I say we. It's just me... maybe this shit is making me crack up already. Uh oh...
