January 27, 2016

Shorty Long "Shorty'z Doin' His Own Thang" (12", 1994)


This 12" dates back to 1994; the debut single from Shorty Long(stroke) from the BX. "Shorty'z Doin' His Own Thang" was produced by Lord Finesse & released through Shorty's own imprint, "Long Shorr Records." Once you hear the horns, you know it's the Funky Man; add to it vocal chops from fellow-D.I.T.C. crew member Diamond D (+ Sadat X) and you had a joint that was heating up for a while. His follow-up single, produced by DJ Mike Smooth, didn't catch as much attention, and like many talents in the 90s, we didn't receive any additional records at the time. Yet, there's more...


In 2008, DJ Mike Smooth presented "The South Boogie EP" by Shorty Long, on One Leg Up Records. It was a 7-track EP of unreleased joints recorded between '94 and '96, which featured production from Showbiz, Buckwild, DJ Mike Smooth & Ahmed. With that release came more information: Shorty Long was from the same housing projects as much of the D.I.T.C., Forest Housing projects. It adds that Mike Smooth was made a partner in Long Shorr records back when he recorded that second 12" so together they were connected with One Leg Records in '08 and that's how these gems were unearthed for the EP release, which is also available on streaming platforms.