Been on a little bit of a nostalgic trip lately, checkin` out plenty of early `90's mixtapes & well this joint just happen to stand out amongst the ones that I had been listening to. The mixtape in question coomes from DJ Cocoa Chanelle titled "The Best Kept Secret". Honestly I wasn`t familiar with any of her work prior to this mixtape, but I truly enjoyed this one! Her selection of music, mixin` skills, as well as the 'Cocoa Mix' blends are all on point here! If you`re a fan of `90's Hip Hop & R&B I`m sure you won`t be disappointed. I grabbed the original files from DJ Step One`s blog so BiG uPs must go out to him! I simply boosted up the volume on a few of the tracks & separated the Side A & Side B files into individual tracks for easier listening. The original files are also included for those that care about that type of thing, enjoy...
Side A: 1. Intro {ft. Hurricane G}
2. Freestyle {KRS-One & Redman}
3. Never Seen Before b/w 10 Crack Commandments [Cocoa Mix] {EPMD}
4. Off The Books {Beatnuts}
5. Zhane b/w Off The Books & Ill Nana [Cocoa Mix]
6. Reach [Exclusive] {Mobb Deep}
7. Flipmode Squad [New] {Rampage}
8. Leschea b/w KRS-One [Cocoa Mix]
9. Put Your Hands Where Your Eyes Can See {Busta Rhymes}
10. Next Level b/w Tragedy - True Confessions [Cocoa Mix]
11. 1-2 Many [New] {Common Sense}
12. Victory {Puff Daddy}
13. Jagged Edge b/w Organized Konfusion [Cocoa Mix]
14. Legal Money [New] {Shaq ft. Mobb Deep}
15. Give It Up Baby [New] {Tracey Lee}
Side B: 1. Minnie The Moocher [Exclusive] {Ol` Dirty Bastard}
2. Love Is All We Need b/w Heavy D [Cocoa Mix] {Mary J. Blige}
3. Illa Noyz {Boot Camp}
4. SWV b/w Capone-N-Noreaga [Cocoa Mix]
5. Bubblin` [New] {CRU}
6. Mary J. Blige b/w Mobb Deep [Cocoa Mix]
7. Hoodlum {Mobb Deep ft. Rakim}
8. It`s On You {2 Individuals}
9. Likwidation [New] {Alkaholiks}
10. It`s Been A Long Time [New] {Rakim}
11. Some [New] {De La Soul}
12. I`m Not A Player [Exclusive] {Big Punisher}
13. Nobody Cares [New] {New Child}
14. Blackstreet b/w New Child [Cocoa Mix]
15. Soul In The Hole [Exclusive] {Wu All-Stars}
What`s good? What`s happenin`?? What`s lovely my people??? It`s been a good minute since I`ve posted up something, I do apologize but I blame Life....LoL anyways yo what I have for y`all is something that I`m almost certain you`ll enjoy. Was it worth the wait? Perhaps, it all depends on yourself really. I`m going to take things back to a time when record labels would actually use promo/advance copies of an album to do just that PROMOTE the album. It was an interesting time indeed if you were a Hip Hop fan because you`d end up with some slight differences between the advance & retail versions of the album. Whether it was track sequencing, song title changes, sample clearance issues resulting in a slight change in the beat of a song, tracks not appearing at all or albums getting shelved for whatever industry issue. So there`s always a reason to peep an advanced copy of an album, especially if it`s from the 1990`s or early 2000`s...
With that being said I`m going to take things back to the year 2000 when Cam`Ron was set to drop his second album "Sex, Drugs & Entertainment" ("S.D.E." for y`all abbreviating mu` fuckas) with the Epic record label. At the time online peer-to-peer file sharing (Napster, Limewire, etc.) was probably a it`s highest, so labels were really pushing 'advance/promo' copies of their releases. Now perhaps I may be giving records labels more credit than they deserve, but I think that one way labels still kept an interest in their releases was to create these 'advanced versions' that were intentionally different than the retail versions, then again that`s my 2021 view on it. I mean that`s what I would have done! Think about it, even if folks get a hold of & download the promo~advance it`s not the retail. Sure, they could just eventually DL the the retail as well but it`s still an extra step they`d need to take & not everyone is computer/online savvy so it`ll lead to sales regardless because people are lazy...
So back to Cam`Ron`s "Sex, Drugs & Entertainment" album.......this isn`t it. Nope what I`ve got to share with y`all is the Advanced version of said album. Yup, it`s nothing like the retail. Sure some songs are the same but honestly like my homie BaZooKa KooPa said to me, "Dogg, this shit is just flowin` fluid like your Rum & Coke in a straw....Ha~HaH, the album`s OK, but this shit right here homie, this shit right here should`ve been the album!" Ya know what? I TOTALLY concur with ol` BaZ` Ko` because honestly it is just that, more connective with the tracks & even the skits/interludes. Someone deserves credit fo` sho` because they did Cam` some justice with this version without question. I dug it so much I decided to give it an HeRBaN DeLuXe VeRSioN touch & that`s what y`all are getting right here...
First off BiG~uP kingsol81 for hookin` me up with the original Advance copy after I searched for it & came up shorter than my patience in the DMV line on a Monday morning, much appreciated homie! After listening to it I had to of course compare it to the retail, you know for research purposes & even tho some of the songs & skits are the same I still feel that the track~sequencing of the Advance Copy is waaaaay better than the retail! So much more fluid like I mentioned before. I`ll definitely take "I Don`t Like You" (the Charli Baltimore collabo`), the "Bitches Ain`t Shit" flip (featuring McGruff, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana & Keema),"When A Nigga`s Fed Up" & "Gimme Some Head" featuring Keema over the Honey collabo` "That`s Me", "Freak", "All The Chickens" & "What Means The World To You" featuring Keema...which is basically just a PG-13 toned down "Gimme Some Head"...
Although I really DiG the Advance Copy of "Sex, Drugs & Entertainment" I did find that it was just a bit low on the volume side of things on a lot of the tracks, so I had to BuMP them uP a bit. While I was editing the volume of some of the tracks I also decided to split the skits into their own tracks, simply for easier listening purposes. Sometimes ya just want to get to the music & skits get in the way. There was also a few tracks that had skips & pops/clicks in them so I did my best to try & edit them out. It started on track 20, 21 & 25. In fact, "Why No" was skipping so much so in the beginning that I had to cut it out & mix in the version from the retail album because I just wasn`t trying to spend the time editing every single one of the skips because there was too many for me to bother dealing with. I wanted to keep things as O.G. as possible so I didn`t just switch up all the tracks that were the same as on the retail album because it would take away from the 'digital griminess' of the Advance. So all I`ve done when puttin` my touch on this HeRBaN DeLuXe VeRSioN was BuMP uP the volume on the tracks, split the skits into their own individual tracks & try to edit out some pops, clicks & skips from a few tracks, as well as add 2 joints to the end that just had to be on here; "Hustler" & "Too Late"...
Standout joints for me are; "Do It Again" somethin` about that hook had me reciting it hours after listening....LoL, "Still High Till We Die (Come Kill Me)" is probably my fav` joint on here, "I Don`t Like You" I dig how Cam` & Charli go back & forth on here they have some solid chemistry on this song, "Let Me Know", "Double Up", "Losin` Weight" is a solid collabo` with Prodigy, "Bitches Ain`t Shit" is a decent Easy Coast flip of Dr. Dre classic tune of the same name, "Gimme Some Head" featuring Keema is a solid joint & should`ve been on the retail version of the album with "What Means The World To You?" being used as it`s radio version instead but hey that`s just me. While I`m speaking about Keema, does anyone have any more info` on her? "S.D.E. (Sports, Drugs & Entertainment)" is great, listeners will dig the Biggie & Jay-Z samples used. Finally we get to "Hustler" & "Too Late" which both should have been on the retail album. So there ya have it, check it out & enjoy...
1. Fuck You [Intro]
2. Whatever
3. Do It Again {ft. Jim Jones & Destiny`s Child}
4. Phone Sex [Skit]
5. Where You At? {ft. Noreaga}
6. What Up Wit` Ma$e? [Skit] 7. Still High Till We Die (Come Kill Me)
8. What I Gotta Live For?
9. Violence {ft. Ol` Dirty Bastard}
10. Phone Call [Skit]
11. I Don`t Like You {ft. Charli Baltimore}
12. Let Me Know
13. Money Talks [Skit]
14. My Hood
15. Double Up {ft. Juelz Santana}
16. Where`s That Money At B? [Skit]
17. Losin` Weight {ft. Prodigy}
18. Can I Get Some Pussy? [Skit] 19. Bitches Ain`t Shit {ft. McGruff, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana & Keema}
20. Bitches, Hoes & Chicken~heads [Skit]
21. When A Nigga`s Fed Up
22. Call Them Bitches [Skit] 23. Gimme Some Head {ft. Keema}
24. Why? [Skit]
25. Why No {ft. Jim Jones & Freeky Zeeky} 26. S.D.E. (Sports, Drugs & Entertainment)
27. Where I`m From {ft. Dutch & Spade}
What`s lovely my peoples? Hope Life`s treating ya fairly! Today we`re gon` take it back to 1995 & dust off a 12 inch single released thru Wreck Records by New York`s infamous DJ Funkmaster Flex & The Ghetto Celebs called "Nuttin` But Flavor". I`m not truly sure exactly who the 'Ghetto Celebs' are, but I`m just guessin` that it probably just consisted of whoever was featured on a Funkmaster record at the time of release. For any Hip Hop head this right here is a gem of a single for many reasons, but I`ll just state 2 of `em right now `cuz that`s all that`s needed! First off; you get to hear some early work from 3 great emcees who are no longer here BLeSS`n us with music right now; Ol` Dirty Bastard, Biggie & Craig Mack! So GoD BLeSS the dead, R.I.P.!!! You get to hear why Hip Hop truly loves Ol` Dirty`s standout style on "Nuttin` But Flavor". In my humble opinion he outshines both Charlie Brown & Biz Markie on the track, no DiSReSPeCT....but that`s just how I hear it! Secondly; the B-Side of this single features some live from the Palladium freestyles from none other than the late & great Biggie & Craig Mack which were recorded on August 5th, 1994 (Funkmaster`s birthday apparently). What`s interesting about the Craig Mack freestyle is that it also features Biggie kickin` some raps right along with him, which is kind of rare because there`s not very much recorded material of them working together. The Biggie 'freestyle' includes some rhymes that would later end up on "Unbelievable". So there ya have it y`all, enjoy...
W`ud up my peoples? Hope all is well! Today we`re gon` head down South on a Bounce music tip. We`re going to dust off an EP that was released by Cash Money Records in 1996 from Magnolia Shorty. I believe that it was Birdman who discovered her which would explain how she became the 2nd lady signed to Cash Money Records, Ms. Tee was the first. Also called the Queen Of Bounce, she actually received her stage name Magnolia Shorty from another New Orleans legend, Magnolia Slim (a.k.a. Soulja Slim). Seein` as how both came from the rough & dangerous Magnolia Projects it was a natural choice. Paying her dues she collaborated with Juvenile & the Hot Boys, eventually releasing this EP that we`re talkin` about now...
The "Monkey On Tha Dick" EP was entirely produced by Mannie Fresh & features guest appearances from fellow label mates B.G. & Juvenile. This is definitely for the Bounce fans since 4 of the tracks on here cater to that spectrum of music. It makes total since considering that was her lane & these tracks display just that. Especially on the title track, which is exactly why it received both an explicit & radio version. I wish that it would`ve had a music video. Guess Baby & them didn`t quite have enough ca$h money yet, or maybe it was more of a local/regional hit. Either way it is definitely a solid Bounce track! "Charlie Whop!!" is in the same vain as the title track. "Soldier Chant" is the weakest joint on this EP in my opinion, had it been like 2 minutes shorter I guess it wouldn`t have been so bad but it just goes on for far too long! "Magnolia Shorty" has Juvenile & B.G. making an appearance on the only non~Bounce joint on the EP. The trio display good chemistry together & deliver a track that would be right at home on any Hot Boys album...
Unfortunately for her family & the Hip Hop world on December 20, 2010 Renetta Lowe a.k.a. Magnolia Shorty was shot 26 times & murdered while sitting in a car with another occupant in her gated apartment complex. Unlike many of those Hip Hop murders this case was actually closed & those responsible charged. On February 22, 2017 both McCoy "Rat" Walker & Terrioues "T-Red" Owney, were found guilty of the murder. It`s because of those fools that the world will never get to hear an album from Shorty & that`s a DaMn shame! She had a lot of talent & from what I heard was working on a full length album around the time of her death. "My Boy" a collabo` with Kourtney Heart is one of the last songs she recorded before her death...
A re~up for a post dated Saturday, May 14, 2011...
I`m trying to clean out my computer`s
hard-drive & in the process I came across this video of an
appearance that Lil` Kim made on the Howard Stern Show. She`s promoting
her "Notorious K.I.M."
album so I`m guessin` that the year`s around 2000 or so. The video is
about 21-22 minutes in length. Can`t even try to front Kim looks pretty smokin`! Howard Stern is flirtin` with her the whole time sayin` her titties are
poppin` out. Aside from all the jokin` & ish Lil` Kim does speak on
the relationship she had with her father, not a great one. She also
speaks a lil` bit about Biggie & their relationship. Then towards
the end they bring in "Brock The Stutterer" & he sings in an attempt
to get signed to Lil` Kim`s record label. I kinda felt bad for the
dude, he did an alright job but the whole time they were crackin` jokes
& clowin` him. Anyway if you`re bored & lookin` for a laugh peep this
video...
