post008: REDACTION: “internet chess, friends, and strange bedfellows…”
While working on this record, I definitely ran the race in trying to get guests on it. It’s considerably harder to expect verses from folks nowhere in your daily life and in other countries. I mean, I like working with people and I also love to hear tracks that sound like some stuff that is greater iller than the stuff made by the people involved in it’s creation. When I was young, I used to geek off of posse cuts with a gang of rappers on it or even just some randoms that would never normally be in the lab together (according to the listener), working. Some grand examples of this are:
1. Tha Alkaholiks; Coast II Coast// this record was a classic for so many reasons, it’s not even cool. Motherfucking Natas Kaupas did the album cover, for starters. Starting with WLIX (THE song of the record, in my opinion), you had Voodooo! from Western Hemisfear playing the part of radio announcer (that was Ras Kass’s old crew, for those keeping track), Wildchild starting it off, Madlib coming in with a COLD verse/beat and besides proper contributions from the Liks, you had the song book-ended by a young Declaime AKA Dudley Perkins. This was some monster shit and it only went well with 3 guest features by King Tee, and some more with east coast savages Q-Tip and Diamond D! The fun gossip on this record according to “sources” was that there was a song on the record with Aceyalone and p.e.a.c.e. from Freestyle Fellowship that got cut from the final master…….
2. The Nonce; World Ultimate// I remember buying both of these cassettes on the same day. This was in a golden age of guests on songs and such. Besides delivering a flawless first record, (for real.) they had all sorts of interesting combinations on this record. Aceyalone pops up once again playing the part of announcer on Bus Stops (check the single for the alternate version, he will go down in secret history as having the best outro on a single in rap music) and the song “The West Is…” is another testament to mysterious group cuts. Meen Green (of First Brigade/Western Hemisfear) kicked a spoken word poem at the end of the song! WTF?!?
3. Every other Project Blowed related release// Call me biased and I will say yeah, but Blowed made this shit fun for me. All of the Heavyweights songs, the random group cuts, all that. When they work together, everyone sounds like they have been rapping in a group for decades. When they don’t, you still get quality material from SOMEBODY in the crew. That is more than you can say for Wu-Tang outside of 7 members, or Master P. or even NWA! Tell me with a straight face that you bought Yella’s “One Mo’ Nigga To Go” album and I will shoot you in the face with penetrating pellets from a replica desert eagle that I have put to the side for just this situation and occasion….
4. The starting 8 or whatever from Wu-Tang Clan;// These dudes basically hold the rest of that gang on their backs like atlas. In the 90’s, a Meth, RZA, GZA, Ghostface or Raekwon guest feature was basically money in the bank for everyone involved. When Meth and Redman cliqued up, that was like a fantasy group for lots of different people for different reasons. You could even deal with an Inspector Deck verse or a U-God verse drifting in from the ether, and it was all good….
5. Indelible Emcees; Weight, Fire in which you burn slow, Farewell Fondle Em’// These fucking guys. And girl. I can’t even believe that NYC was churning this stuff out on NewsCorp’s dime at one point! Weight is one of the illest group cuts on 12” and honorable mention goes to the DJX P2 compilation. While I was initially mad as fuck that Murs’s album didn’t sound like the sneak preview track with him and Mr. Lif, I never saw a Dizzee Rascal record produced by EL-P, not did I ever see the fabled Del-P project that backpackers worldwide were nightsweating over…..
I’m here waiting for a G-Pack of verses from some individuals and I genuinely hope that I get them. Not because they will MAKE my album or some shit, it’s already done! It’s more along the lines that it will make my album more interesting to the person not looking for these particular combinations. For this record, it has nothing to do with WHO I do the album with and everything to do with HOW I do the album and who I CHOOSE to do it with…..
