N.W.A. "Straight Outta Compton" (The Rap Year Book)

N.W.A. was a gangsta rap group from Compton, California. They had a few different line-ups, but the strongest version was the too-brief period when it was Ice Cube, Eazy-E, MC Ren, DJ Yella, and Dr. Dre. That's the core group behind Straight Outta Compton, which has become the most impactful album within the gangsta rap genre. N.W.A. was substantial for a handful of reasons, but they all wiggle back to the same premise: They were the first rap group that America actively tried to ignore, and then eventually tried to stop. They were railed on by politicians and members of the media. They were blocked from the radio and TV and banned from performing in certain cities. They were just too crude, too aggressive, too mean; these were the main complaints, at least. Even the cover of Straight Outta Compton, which was a photo of the group's members gathered around looking down directly into the camera very much in a manner that seemed to represent that they were either going to shoot you (Eazy-E is aiming a revolver) or had already shot you, was scary. And so they were bottlenecked.... Straight Outta Compton was a rough-cut job - recording took six weeks and it was done on a budget of approximately $8,000 - but that only seemed to confirm the rawness of the group. In less than two months, the album sold more than five hundred thousand copies, later topping the three-million-copies-sold mark following the buzz of media talking about how nobody should be talking about the group. It was the first time in history an album had gone platinum without being played on the radio... Straight Outta Compton was not the first gangsta rap record. But it was the one that fully bent the trajectory toward reporting the dejection and desolation of the inner cities of the country. And that meant it was no longer just for those populations anymore. Straight Outta Compton popularized gangsta rap in America.... - Rap Year Book. Hmm... I am not 100% sure of the album's official release date (late '88?/early '89?) but I do know a letter from the FBI was written on August 1, 1989 and the album reached the charts also in 1989. Here's some more content for the TL, which has been discussing the album the last couple of days.

Taken from Shea Serrano's The Rap Year Book. Read below...

In Memory Of... Sean Price (Playlist + NY Daily News, 2015)

Brooklyn Rapper Sean Price died in his sleep Saturday (August 8, 2015). The 43-year old hip-hop artist was a member of the rap super-groups Boot Camp Clik and Random Axe. Price got his start in the music world as part of the group Heltah Skeltah before rising in the underground hip hop community as a noted solo act.... "It is with beyond a heavy heart that Duck Down Music is sadly confirming that Sean Price passed away early this morning in his Brooklyn apartment," said a statement from his representatives. "Sean's family and friends are asking for time to grieve and process the news...." As a solo artist, Price released "Monkey Barz" in 2005 and "Jesus Price Supastar" in 2007. The lifelong Brownsville resident was featured in the video game "NBA 2K11" as a playable character in street mode. Price's latest album, "Mic Tyson," was released in 2012 and he was working on a mixtape, "Songs in the Key of Price" slated to be release by Duck Down Music on Aug. 21. "I"m going fishing Sunday at Sheepshead Bay I did it last week it was relaxing," he wrote on Twitter a day before his death. The MC's fellow lyricists took to social media to mourn the loss of the influential star. "Hip Hop has lost another great. RIP Sean P! #RealOne," The Roots' Black Thought tweeted. Others commended Price's tenacious spirit. "RIP to Sean Price one of the illest to ever do it. 1/2 of Heltah Skeltah aka Ruck. He was always a good brother to us and down to build," the Bronx-based rap group Rebel Diaz wrote. "Sean Price went from being a childhood hero of mine to a great friend. He was the most competitive MC I've ever met and kept me on my game," rapper Talib Kweli wrote. Price is survived by his wife and three children, according to his representatives. - New York Daily News (August 9, 2015). Rest In Peace, Sean P!, who passed away 5 years ago today. To continue to celebrate the Brooklyn barbarian, below is a playlist with 50+ tracks, dig into it...

Original cover story in the NY Daily News (August 9, 2015). R.I.P. Sean P!

What Had Happened Was "De La Soul Is Dead Episode"

In 1991, after the smash success of their debut album 3ft High and Rising, De La Soul and Prince Paul become household names and with that comes strangers harassing them with unwanted demo tapes, weird encounters at Burger King, and rumors being spread about the group. All of these problems are front and center on their second album, the brilliant De La Soul is Dead. Hear Prince Paul discuss it with Open Mike Eagle below, and hit the tags for all past episodes. Dig into it below...

Astronote "Bigger & Better: Notorious Remixes" (Mixtape, 2009)

This mix tape has been burning a hole in my hard drive since it was released in 2009. The French homie Astronote produced all the beats, blessing these classic vocals from the late great Notorious B.I.G. The tape is hosted by Brooklyn's Talib Kweli and mixed by Detroit's DJ Graffiti. There are additional vocals from Talib Kweli, Buff1, Big L, Busta Rhymes, Guilty Simpson, Bahamadia, Erykah Badu, Heavy D, 2Pac, Grand Puba, Sadat X, Junior M.A.F.I.A. and Puffy. When it dropped, DJ Graffiti sent it along with this message, "I already know you’re skeptical. I was too, and I manage Astronote!," but he assured us it was dope and basically we could thank him later, lol. Facts! I was already cool with Astronote so I didn't need to be sold, but if you do, trust ME... it's still DOPE!

Scarface "The Fix" (August 6, 2002)

"...with a superb cross-section of hip-hop's best producers, singers and MCs riding shotgun, The Fix is an undeniable balance of street consciousness and mass appeal. The title for this album [The Fix] is more than a dope-game synonym. It's a statement about how Face methodically stitches a hemorrhaging rap game one heart-wrenching couplet at a time... The lead track, "Safe," says it best: "So listen up, my n!@@as  / And I ain't tryin' to preach / I'm just tellin' it from my side 'cause I'm in the streets...." In the spirit of Italian poet Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Face keeps the lyrics on this album in three distinct planes of thought: a drug-laced Hell on Earth; a contemplative Purgatory where he muses on the life he's lead; and, of course, the eternal bliss of Paradise. He appeases long-time Scarface fans with killer cuts like "In Cold Blood." Over a lilting piano sample courtesy of Gladys Knight, Face proves there is no honor among thieves - and drug pushers - as he dupes a dealer he's working for out of his supply.... The gangsta boogie continues on "I Ain't The One" featuring W.C. and "Guess Who's Back" featuring Jay-Z and Beanie Sigel. Over Kanye West's pounding keys and interlaced strings, Jigga and Beanie Mac bookend Face's declaration of financial independence: "From the womb to the tomb / A hot pot of joy and a spoon / Tryin' to make me $40,000 and move...." Beyond being "infectious," this track is downright terminal." Click play, cont'd...

The album pivots on tracks like the more reflective "In Between Us" which pairs angelic moans and plucky chords with a stripped-down and vulnerable Nas who steers the song like a suicidal conductor: "Circumstances are like my first fight / I lost it / Was swingin' / My arms buggin' / Adrenaline pumpin' / Oh shit, this little n!@@a's thuggin'...." Uncle Face let's the young'un ride on this one but comes back on "Sellout" with his own thug speak: "I been in fist fights with n!@@as twice my size / Got an incredible record, 27 and five / And the five losses I got, I had to redeem 'em / So he had to fight me every time I seen 'em." Though he painstakingly details his struggles with vices and men, it's Face's battle for his soul that is the most compelling. On songs like the Kelly Price-assisted "What Can I Do?" Face crafts sermons for street disciples who spray paint altars to pay tribute to saints in the 'hood. Kirk Franklin he is not." (The Source). The review continues to champion the LP, but you get the idea. You can't forget the classic single, "My Block," nor The Neptunes-produced "Someday" with Faith Evans. All-around, The Fix rightfully earned the highly coveted 5-mic review! Released on this day in '02, Scarface's The Fix should be revisited, and if you own the CD, break out the plastic baggy that held the liner notes and read more! Also, pick up a copy of Brad 'Scarface' Jordan's book, Diary of a Madman, for more required reading. Salute, 'Face!

Sha Hef "Numb" (Album Stream)

Black Market Mob / Out the Mud’s $ha Hef is far from your “average rapper.” Hailing from the streets of the Bronx, NY, Hunnit Round Hef is a direct reflection of the grimey hard knock lifestyle from that which surrounds him. Since arriving on the scene with the street album B.O.A.T.S., Hef continues to deliver hard hitting lyrics over some of the most villainous production you will find, while giving a voice to the hustlers as well as the have-nots in every city throughout the world. His latest offering, Numb, features Benny The Butcher, Jim Jones, 38 Spesh, and Jay Worthy. And yes, these beats are hard as f#ck, who mixed this project? It grew on me, give it a full listen below...

Kenny Dope "Nervous Hip-Hop" + Billboard Magazine (1995)

Nervous backs such artists as Black Moon, a Brooklyn, NY, collective that came out before hard-edged heroes the Notorious B.I.G. and the Wu-Tang Clan. Its album "Enta Da Stage," sold 225,000 units, according to Soundscan, and stomped mudholes in the comeback trail for East Coast rap... The label also has Mad Lion, whose rap single, "Take It Easy" (205,000 copies sold), pre-dated the current trend toward dancehall over hip-hop beats.... Other acts on the Nervous roster with developing singles are... Funkmaster Flex ("Safe Sex, No Freaks"), ...  Kaotic Style ("Get In Where You Fit In") and Broadway ("Brothers Dyin' Everyday"). Viewing itself as a cutting-edge independent, Nervous runs on simple street knowledge... Sam Weiss, who owns the label with his son, Michael, started in the business "many years ago" and has functioned as a distributor, manufacturer and publisher... Besides having Flex on the label, Nervous regularly uses such studio deities as Beatminerz, the team responsible for Black Moon and Smif-N-Wessun, another best-selling rap act; KRS-One, who supervised Mad Lion's "Real Ting" album; Kenny "Dope" Gonzaels [and more] ... Nervous is actually an umbrella company for several specialty imprints... Weeded handles reggae. Wreck manages hip-hop. Strapped deals in break beats... All are represented by logos featuring variations of a lively cartoon figure, which are marketed on promotional t-shirts." - Billboard (8/26/95).

That same year, to promote the label and its various imprints, Kenny Dope blended sixteen of the hottest tracks to ever come from the Nervous Records sub-labels Wreck, Weeded, and Strapped - back when Black Moon, Smif-N-Wessun, and Mad Lion were all signed and dropping the most memorable records of their careers. Along with the classics like “I Gotcha Opin,” “Bucktown,” “How Many Emcees,” and “Who Got Da Props” are some rare break records by Funkmaster Flex, The Groove Asylum, and Wreck All-Stars. The retail mixtape/compilation was called Nervous Hip-Hop (A Continuous Mix by Kenny Dope). I cop'd this mix-CD at Tower Records in the Village in '95 & still listen to it today. You can stream the project above or officially via Spotify. Below is an original sticker and examples of their official logos. One of my prized possessions from that time were their logo-designed slipmats. Everyone DJ/fan had them on their tables at the time! Who got da props?

One Be Lo "C Section" (Album Stream)

The cover art is a picture of the Pontiac Northern Huskies, High school basketball team. This game was against our rivals, Pontiac Central. We are huddled up on a time out with 46.9 seconds left on the clock, and the legendary Coach Sy Green (R.I.P.) is hunched over with his arm around me (Number 21), giving us instructions before we go back in the game. I don’t remember the final score, be we ended up winning this game by 2 or 4 points. That huddle was intense but we were cool under pressure. This picture reminds me of Teamwork, Hard work, Dedication, Never giving up, Struggle, Overcoming adversity, just to name a few. This was my senior year and I was a team captain. My teammates nicknamed me 'Scrappy Doo' because my defense was relentless and I always scrapped for the ball. As of July 2020, the whole globe has been in a state of pandemic for the last 4 months at least. Many cities and countries were forced into quarantine to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus, many businesses shut down and even the NBA was brought to a standstill...

While in quarantine, the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others lit a spark and protests erupted in cities worldwide, demanding justice for those wrongfully killed. Breonna Taylor was killed while sleeping in her home by Police Officers who entered the wrong home on a no knock warrant, and her killers have yet to be arrested or charged with any crime. These events lead some of the most influential players in Professional basketball to speak about refusing to play until some major reforms were made in the United States. Now as of July 2020, the NBA is scheduled to restart on July 30, 2020 to finish out the 2019-2020 season. Some people have even criticized the NBA as being a distraction during these tumultuous times, while others have argued that playing could also bring attention and resources to individuals and groups working towards justice. It has been my intention to bounce back when the NBA restarts, but with my contribution in revolutionary fashion. This project is intended to call attention to several conversations ranging from Police reform and abuse of power that continues where Colin Kaepernick kneeling in the NFL left off, the safety of Vaccines, 2020 being an election year, and more. The NBA is scheduled to restart with all games played in Orlando, with no crowds in attendance, for safety measures. Section C will be empty, but hopefully the protesting, the dedication, the teamwork, the struggle and so on will continue. - One Be Lo. Listen and support!