March 18, 2016

Shamus "Serving Life" (EP, 1997)


Following up on the discussion of Cover The Child of Destruction, it seemed logical to cover another Bronx MC - who also had production from Michelob - Shamus. Going back to '95, Shamus had a solid run dropping joints on his own independent label, Raw Tracks Records. Well-received and even charting at the time, singles leading up to his solo debut in '97, "Serving Life," included "Big Willie Style," produced by Ski Beatz, and "Neva Dream;" an apocalyptic track - produced by Michelob - that sounded on par with something off Mobb Deep's "Hell On Earth" album. As an independent release, "Serving Life" attracted a lot of attention, and so did the single "Tight Team," with production from Buckwild. It also featured a brother name Flu, who was in a group called Rugged Brood, also releasing joints through Shamus' Raw Tracks Records. Along with Flu, Rugged Brood had the members Paradox & Mad Max, also from the Bronx. Their 3 12" releases were kinda dope too, although I really only remember "Dwellin In The Darkness." From there, Shamus released music with a crew named Crime Wave. Their first single was "War Fair," years later more records were released, including the debut album "Scripture Won," which I've seen floating around but I never heard it so I can't say much about it. Suffice to say, "Serving Life" is a really dope, independent record that you can still find on CD, Vinyl and cassette (the cassette is more like a cassingle, it only has 5 tracks). For now, dig into the EP below and pardon my memory if I got the names or timeline mixed up.