Throwback Raps: Soulful Ernie – Hard Times

February 7, 2011 by Quan Vu 2 Comments


Soulful Ernie “Hard Times“
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Wow, how much of an ass am I? Apparently, a writer associated with Soulful Ernie, a ridiculously old school San Diego artist, had actually hit me up in the comments section asking about a Soulful Ernie track he had penned, “Hard Times.” The incomparable Steven Flex replies with a link to the track. The writer, AJ Jones II, replies back with a little SD rap history lesson. And I don’t even notice until like 2 months later. FML.

Check out AJ’s commentary after the jump. Peace to both AJ and Steven Flex for being so thoughtful. Excuse me as I flog myself:

Back in the 70’s & 80’s, I would write all of the time, anytime the words would start to flow, I would write them down on anything that I could get my hands on. I had no aspirations to rap and I can’t sing, but a friend of mine, Ricky Edwards read some of the stuff that I wrote and said, “We need to take this up to Motown Records. We gonna get paid …” Read more of this post

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Throwback Raps: Black Mikey – We Drop Bombs x Pacific Coast Niggaz

February 1, 2011 by Quan Vu 1 Comment

Youtube is where hip-hop lives. Youtuber Folgaz has uploaded a ton of old school San Diego rap. I’m gonna be parsing through it all for weeks. For now, here are a couple mid-to-late-90s joints from Black Mikey that he mentioned way back when I interviewed him. “We Drop Bombs” is above, “Pacific Coast Niggaz” with Big Maine after the jump. Both songs are a ton of fun with Mikey showing just how elastic his flow can be. Read more of this post

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Throwback Raps: Gangsta Ern’s 2 The Hard Way on Youtube

January 31, 2011 by Quan Vu 2 Comments

Gangsta Ern had another cassette before Up Against It called 2 The Hard Way. Youtuber lamont61975 just recently uploaded some tracks from there onto Youtube. Check out a couple more after the jump. Read more of this post

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Throwback Raps: Video: Black Mikey from Skyline Documentary

January 30, 2011 by Quan Vu 2 Comments

This a short feature segment about Black Mikey that comes from a promo VHS from Skyline Records. Nothing mind-blowing, really just another excuse to watch “Rubber Rooms” again.

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Throwback Raps: LPSD – Back Atcha x Microphone Enhancer

October 26, 2010 by Quan Vu 4 Comments

LPSD “Back Atcha“
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Most Desh ft. LPSD, Jai Silk “Microphone Enhancer“
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One more throwback post before coming back to reality. Because some people know how to make suggestions to improve the site while telling me I’m full of shit instead of just telling me I’m full of shit. LPSD are OG’s in San Diego hip-hop, sharing a deep history with The Armory (dude, King D works at the shop all the time). And one day, we’ll be able to get into that history, once I get off my ass and just request an interview already. But right now, let’s just talk vinyl.

These are rips from a 2004 vinyl re-issue of LPSD’s “Back Atcha” b/w the LPSD-assisted “Microphone Enhancer,” pressed courtesy of The Armory. These were LPSD’s biggest songs, to my knowledge. They both originally dropped in the ’90s. As far as I know, “Back Atcha” first appeared as the first proper song on the Beat Junkies’ first compilation in 1997 (for which you can thank DJ Babu, who I hear is King D’s cousin). The LPSD Discogs page also shows a white label release for “Back Atcha” b/w “Insane Nigga” but it shows no release date, looks kinda suspect, and doesn’t seem to have been verified yet. “Back Atcha” also later appeared on Icylee’s Strictlee Dope solo CD from 2008. No idea whether the song was preserved or remixed somehow.

“Microphone Enhancer” first appeared on Most Desh’s Hip Hop Is Livin’ vinyl EP from 1995, released on City Of Angels. The EP also includes two other songs–the title track and “Cops & Crackrock”–as well as the instrumental to “Microphone Enhancer” (which you don’t get, if you were wondering). These are both pretty dope battle cuts on top of being pieces of SD hip-hop history. Enjoy!

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Throwback Raps: Video: Tony Da Skitzo – Are You Crazy?

October 25, 2010 by Quan Vu 1 Comment

Holy shit. I was just fulfilling a reader request for Tony Da Skitzo music and I find out that he’s dead. Apparently, he committed suicide by poison on April 21, 2009. Damn ……

The “Are You Crazy?” track comes from The Next Chapter: Strictly Underground compilation released on Immortal Records. It was like an Unsigned Hype showcase for Southern California hip-hop artists, including Dilated Peoples, Defari, Phil The Agony, and Tony Da Skitzo. He was one of the first San Diego artists to hit on a national level. He released a series of 12-inches throughout the ’90s. This compilation was released in 1995 but the track’s video dropped in 1996.

The video and song are pretty self-explanatory. Tony Da Skitzo raps like an unhinged supernatural spirit, not just rapping about being crazy but then also using a constantly shifting, unorthodox flow that illustrates this state of mind too (I wonder if he influenced Black Mikey at all with the psycho rap). Of course now, knowing that he committed suicide, knowing that he had serious mental health issues, something feels wrong about watching this video. Are we paying tribute to his art, his legacy? Or are we entertaining ourselves with his pain? I don’t even know ……

If you’d like to read Skitzo’s suicide letter and some of his last thoughts before committing suicide, check out the blog on his Myspace page.

UPDATE: LOL wait, I’m hearing this is just an elaborate hoax. Like Skitzo is faking his death on some “De La Soul Is Dead” shit to change his name. Can anyone else confirm?

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Throwback Raps: Video: Jayo Felony – The Loc Is On His Own

October 25, 2010 by Quan Vu 1 Comment

Another video off Jayo Felony’s Take A Ride album from 1995. Jayo talks about going to prison and being abandoned by his closest family and friends. What’s surprising is that he’s not even real mad about it. You’d think he’d at least lash out as his mom for letting him down. But at the start of his second verse, he tells her “I understand that you’re tired of the bullshit I put you through.” You get a sense that he knows he fucked up and he’s maturing as the song progresses. Unfortunately, maturing also means learning about how cold the prison system really is. It’s a pretty gripping song.

Last I heard, Jayo was back in prison but I’m not completely sure. Has anyone else heard anything?

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Throwback Raps: Kutfather – Neva Scared b/w Thoughts I Generate

August 21, 2010 by Quan Vu 2 Comments


Kutfather “Neva Scared“
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Kutfather “Thoughts I Generate“
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Kutfather made a run in the mid-to-late ’90s when indie labels were blowing up all over the country. Although much of his work was with Battleaxe Records, “Neva Scared” b/w “Thoughts I Generate” was released on a smaller label, Conception Records, back in 1998. I think both tracks are produced by Jake One, who Kutfather was working with a lot at the time (apparently, he had moved to Seattle for awhile and linked with Jake One in that short time). Overall, both are pretty satisfying displays of braggadocio, though I give it to the B-side for the brooding sample and the scratched hook (I wonder if Kutfather can rhyme and scratch at the same time, a la J-Live).

Alternate sleeve after the jump. Read more of this post

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Throwback Raps: Video: Jayo Felony – Sherm Stick

August 5, 2010 by Quan Vu 2 Comments

I’d say this is a better representation of Jayo Felony than the previously mentioned “Watcha Gonna Do.” “Sherm Stick” comes from Jayo’s 1994 label debut album, Take A Ride, though a re-make appears on his 2001 album, Crip Hop.

This is such a psychological song, especially in the second verse. After he’s taken a hit of the sherm, Jayo goes from thinking he’s got superpowers to sitting on the curb for 4 hours, reminiscing about his homie in jail to seeing a milk carton and hoping he doesn’t end up dead/missing with his face on a milk carton. It’s almost visceral this immediate juxtaposition between his superhero high and this utterly sad, grounded low and then further down still as he contemplates his own mortality because of a milk carton of all things. This is a heavy and deceptively complex song. It sounds like it promotes using sherm but then when you get down to it, when you see the sadness in his verse, maybe the song’s not really doing that.

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Throwback Raps: Video: Blame One & Deja Voo (Mystery’s Extinction) circa 1995

July 20, 2010 by Quan Vu 1 Comment

Blame One may have just released his first official video, but this may be his first video ever. Blame performs as one half of Mystery’s Extinction with his homie, Deja Voo. Beat comes courtesy of Oh No. The song was recorded way back in 1994, video shot in 1995. And no, Blame does not remember the title of the song (yeah, he’s really getting old =P).

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