This is prime mixtape exclusive shit right here. I’m assuming that Erick Sermon had put away a few stiff drinks before recording this, as he actually raps with some moxy, pep and conviction here, as opposed to the lackadaisical delivery on his first two solo LPs. Taken from DJ EV and Stretch Armstrong’s Back To Back tape. Erick Sermon and Keith Murray – Back To Back Freestyle ..read more

It’s been a tough week, with Mr. Cee, Patti Astor and Paul Nice all leaving us. I’ve revisited and re-transcribed the interview I did with Paul in January 2015 for my Ultimate Breaks and Beats feature for Cuepoint so that I can share his personal reflections on the series that changed everything, and the inspiration for the final mixtape he released in 2018. Robbie: What’s your first memory of the Ultimate Breaks and Beats? Paul Nice: There was a local DJ where I grew-up named Eddie On, or Eddie On-Time. In maybe ’84, ’85 he was at Catherine Street Center, which was a local community centre wh ..read more

From deejaying for Dana Dane to founding the Supermen crew, hosting the NMS DJ and MC battles to producing basically anyone who’s so much as glanced at the Brooklyn Bridge, DJ Clark Kent has been deep in the music game for as long as I can remember. Here are twenty tracks that he produced or remixed over the years, with an emphasis on some of his lesser-known works. 01 ‘Just The Two Of Us [Supermix]’ – Chubb Rock 02 ‘Top Billin’ [Clark Kent Butter Mix]’ – Audio Two 03 ‘Fugitive [Super Extended Remix]’ – K-Solo 04 ‘Gotta Have It’ – A+ 05 ‘Kill Niggaz [Original Version]’ – Slick Rick 06 ‘Kick Th ..read more

Keith LeBlanc died this week, leaving behind an extensive catalogue of music as a member of the Sugar Hill house band, Tackhead and Litle Axe. I interviewed Keith in 2015 for the Past The Margin book, so I thought I’d share this excerpt where he discused the making of his ‘No Sell Out’ single on Tommy Boy (and Sugar Hill, apparently!): Keith LeBlanc: Someone was asking me how I came up with the Malcolm X thing [‘No Sell Out’] and I said, ‘I was in a place where there was nothing but groundbreaking things happening, so in order to even do anything it had to be groundbreaking for someone to take ..read more

The late, great Biz Markie was sometimes referred to as The Clown Prince of Rap, which isn’t the greatest nickname because clowns generally get a bad…erm…rap. Later in his career, I believe Biz was getting a lot of DJ work at fancy parties and whatnot after he hit the mainstream as a regular on Yo Gabba Gabba, due to his fun-loving and ‘jubilant’ personality. I have no idea where the following recording was sourced from, but it appears on a bootleg I picked-up the other day, on the strength of the two Converse promos included (originally given away on a tape when you bought a pair, which also ..read more

Here’s 47 minutes of old Chicago rap records. Track listing to follow soon. Download: CRC Early Chicago Rap Mix ..read more

From what I’ve been able to piece together, Dan The Beatman (aka DJ Danny Dan who made a record for Select with his girlfriend, The Female Dream) made the original beat and recorded it with Paul C. at 1212 Studios (as told to Big Daddy magazine for issue 12): Could this YouTube upload of an acetate be that first recording? In Chairman Mao’s Power Play Studios: An Oral History, DJ Doc discusses re-recording the Danny Dan / Paul C. demo: Ivan ‘DJ Doc’ Rodriguez: Everything fell in my lap [because] I was the one that would rewrite the music or clean it up. We used to get stuff on 2″ tape that ..read more

When The Bomb Squad’s Keith Shocklee told me about this song in 2008, I was thinking I didn’t have a snowflake’s chance in hell to ever hear it. Luckily, Long Island resident Lloyd Means has taken the time to upload his extensive collection of Spectrum City / The Mr. Bill Show recordings from WBAU, featuring such sure-shots as the echo-soaked intro to the MC Flavor show, a roller-skating style promo jam from Chuck D and Flav dropping ‘Claustrophobia Attack’. Hank Shocklee: We picked-up the Roland CR-8000 with the Roland TB-303 Bassline. I was the only cat rockin’ the beat box and bassline aro ..read more

Eric B. is not one of the most talkative characters I’ve encountered in my days as a bloke who rings up rap music legends. Considering that I was unable to verify anything he told me, the whole thing was an exercise in frustration and bewilderment. Our conversation in 2009 included a declaration that Queens invented hip-hop, casually bankrolling a series of unidentified restaurant chains and enjoying dinner at the White House with Nelson Mandella, Robert DeNiro and George Bush. In this 1988 interview with British publication Blitz, Mr. Barrier shows utter disdain for the author, a fellow by th ..read more

Bootlegged in 2013 from an acetate that Red Alert sold on ebay…or just taped off of someone’s Walkman. New music, new raps and an incredible new chorus. Can we blame Eddie O’Loughlin for ditching this in favour of the hip-house remix of ‘Travelling At The Speed of Thought’? This was on my Destroying All Germs bootleg as well in case you missed it ..read more