WU-TANG CLAN'S DEMO TAPE [1992]

Wooooooooooooooow (c) Flavor Flav.

We all know Wu-Tang ain't nuthing to fuck wit, but you need to fuck with this. This shit right here....this shit RIGHT HERE? This shit is def. This is the original Wu-Tang Clan demo tape this spit out back in 1992. One year later, they took the industry by storm after they released their debut album, Enter The 36 Chambers, on Loud Records. I think we all know what happened after that...

Take a trip back in time and see where it all started. You'll hear some extremely raw versions of familiar cuts (including an original version of the "Diary of a Mad Man" beat that the RZA cooked up) as well as some brand new shit. The RZA graces every song, as he probably did 90% of the leg work for this. Thank God he did...

[DOWNLOAD HERE.]

A colossal shout out to Blind I for this one.

Wu-Tang Live @ The Apollo in 1997.

Classic. Historic. Everybody's there except the RZA. ODB blesses the stage something fierce. The crowd goes insane. Great times all around.

Shout out to YN for making these embeddable. I know that's not a word, but fuck it. I just made it one.

Joell Ortiz Covers The Classics. [MIXTAPE]

The name says it all. Joell goes in on 33 of your favorite hip hop classics, everything from "Know The Ledge" to "Children's Story" to "T.R.O.Y." to "Get Money." Basically, if you've listened to hip hop in the past 20 years, Joell murders a song you love. And when I say murder, I mean the good kind. Not the sloppy, embarrassing, "Oh shit, look what I did now" O.J. kind.

[DOWNLOAD HERE.]

Spotted at Nah Right.

Biggie & Co. @ The Hit Factory.

Rare footage of Biggie Smalls, Puff, Junior M.A.F.I.A., Naughty By Nature, and Onyx having a photo session at the Hit Factory circa 1994. This is dope. Big's rocking a Karl Kani hoody, Sticky Fingaz is rolling a blunt, and Puff is barking orders. Classic.

It's the M-E-T-H-O-D, MAN!

Johnny Blaze and his Wu brothers perform live on the Jon Stewart Show. No, not the Daily Show. This was the short lived talk show he had on MTV from 1993-94. Although it was cancelled, it provided some very dope live acts, as evidenced by this classic clip of the Wu-Tang Clan playing "Method Man."

Courtesy of the MOD.

First thing's first, I Poppa...

Here's an ill throwback of Biggie Smalls performing "One More Chance" live at the Apollo circa 1995. Class-sick. You also get to see Puff rocking a silk shirt and doing the Diddy bop. That's always worth the price of admission. Below, you get another video of Big and Junior Mafia rocking "Playa's Anthem." And no, Lil Cease isn't being played by a 12 year old kid. And yes, Lil' Kim manages to keep her titties in her shirt.



Both videos courtesy of The Meaning of Dope.

[VIDEO] Method Man - "Bring the Pain"

Is it real, son? Is it really real, son? Let me know it's real, son, if it's really real.
Something I can feel, son. Load it up and kill one. Want it raw deal son, if it's really real.

This is hands down one of the G.O.A.T. boxer entrance songs of all time. I think Iron Mike came into the ring to this song once and I always lost my shit. Imagine how the other boxer felt. So gangster.

2 Hours of DJ Premier.

Hot 97's Peter Rosenberg plays 2 straight hours of DJ Premier laced joints on his Real Late radio show. This might be the best 2 hours of your entire week. People forget how dope Primo is. This should jar your memory.

WARNING: Individuals with weak or sensitive necks should consult a physician before listening. This is guaranteed to have your head nodding for 120 straight minutes.

DOWNLOAD: Part 1 | Part 2

Daily Dopeness: Mass Appeal.

One of the most hypnotic Primo beats of all time. I can't get enough of this song. What I love most about this is how Primo took a little two second sample from an instrumental jazz guitar track and flipped it into this legendary beat. He's one of the greatest of all time.

This is classic Gangstarr from their album, Hard to Earn, which was released in the greatest year in hip-hop history: 1994. Enjoy.

DOWNLOAD: Gangstarr - "Mass Appeal"

Until tomorrow...

Westcoast Wednesday.

Pharcyde - "Drop"

This is one of the greatest videos of all time. In fact, it might be the best. Shot backwards and then played in reverse? Who thinks of that? Director and creative genius Spike Jonz that's who. And I can't forget J Dilla on the beat. How could this not be classic?

The Common (Sense) Demo Tape.

This is truly a gem. This is the actual tape that got Common into the Source's Unsigned Hype column back in 1992. This has been conformed by NO I.D. himself (aka Common's producer)

DOWNLOAD: The Common (Sense) Demo Tape

We Be to Rap, What Key Be To Lock.

Fuck a simile and a metaphor, Digable Planets stepped their grammar game up and dropped analogies. A Key is to Lock, as Digable Planets is to Rap. Brilliant. I wonder what Butterfly scored on his SAT? And why the hell was his name Butterfly? Granted, the whole crew had insect names, but he couldn't think of a doper insect that a butterfly? I know the Beatles and Flea were taken, but what about June Bug or Dragonfly? And nobody questioned his choice? I would have said something. Homies don't homies have wack ass nicknames. That might be one of the Top 10 worst rap names of all time. Seriously.

Anyway, this is an old school video of Digable Planets performing "Rebirth of Slick" on In Living Color. Digable was, is, and will always be one of my favorite rap groups, and in my opinion always overlooked. They were so smooth with it, and the Jazz-influenced vibes they provided were so cool. I miss the days when being cool was actually cool.

This performance only features the first 2 verses f the song. Doodle Bug was cut off when Fox rudely cut away to commercial. Damn you Fox, fucking up my shit again! Nas was right about you, you no good good-for-nuthins. Watch your back, O'Reilly.


Video courtesy of MOD.

These Are The Breaks.

(Our weekly look back at the original songs your favorite Hip-Hop records sampled)

THIS WEEK: James Brown.

A new week, a new break. It's no surprise that the Godfather of Soul (R.I.P.) has made his way into this section. In fact, James Brown is the most sampled artist in music history, as he's been flipped almost 1000 different times (and counting). His song "Funky Drummer" is the most sampled song of all time, and the drum break at the end of the song has been used over 100 times - this all before sampling was illegal.

"I made 7 whole albums with no James Brown,
and even though I love his music, I just can't stand...
the way they used it all up and didn't pay the man." (c) Too Short.

But we're going to dig a little deeper here, and take a look at one of his lesser known samples. His song, "Blind Man Can See It" was originally from the soundtrack to the blaxploitation flick, Black Caesar starring Shaft himself - Fred Williamson. The movie was a remake of the 1931 film Little Caesar, and though it wasn't a commercial success it featured a notable musical score by James Brown (with heavy input from his bandleader Fred Wesley), which happened to be his first experience for writing music for film. The soundtrack is dope, through and through, and features one of James' most bad-ass songs "The Boss."

"Blind Man Can See It" is a superfunky instrumental track that keeps a fairly simple funk melody throughout the beginning of the song, and then at 0:45 seconds in - that's where the magic happens. At that point, the beat drops...and there, my friends is where we find today's sample.

LISTEN: James Brown - "Blind Man Can See It"

Most of you will riggitty-recognize it instantly, as it's that classic biggity-bum rush music from the niggity-nappy headed duo striggity-straight from the sewer.


Das EFX - "They Want EFX"

A Tribe Called Quest - "Youthful Expression" (Live)

Here's a retro performance from Tribe performing the heavily slept on track from their first album, People's Instinctive Travels...

I've always like the groove of this song, and wondered why it's never mentioned as one of the "classic tracks" from that album among the ranks of Bonita Applebum, Can I Kick It?, Luck of Lucien, and I Left My Wallet...

This video also features the long lost Tribe member Jarobi, and Phife doing his best backup dancer impersonation.

Talking All That Jazz.

Classic track from Stetsasonic, off their 1988 album In Full Gear. One of the funkiest basslines of all time, courtesy of a young Prince Paul on the production.

I need one of those white track suits like, not now, but right now. Fresh to def.

Common Sense.

This is what I'm talking about right here: classic Yo! MTV raps footage of the boy Common Sense. Yo! was one of the best shows of all time, and I loved the unscripted, spontaneous nature of the show. So Hip-Hop. No word on the actually air date, but it has to be around '94 or '95. In these clips, Com chops its up with Fab 5 Freedy about the city of Chicago, his "new" album Resurrection, and getting his dad on the track "Pop's Rap."

Sit back and reminisce.

These Are The Breaks.

So I wanted to start a new category of posts here on the Bloggy Smalls. If you didn't know, allow me to reintroduce myself (c) Jigga...I'm a huge beat head. i study the history of hip-hop. I dig through dusty records. I love the original samples that we flipped to make some of the illest beats in the music history. So i wanted to dedicate a post every week to let you in on some of the original samples that have left a huge impact on hip hop history. Because you'll never know where you're going unless you know where you're from.

And since I'm from the West, that's where we're going to start. One of the most prolific and legendary producers in westcoast hip hop history is the good Doctor. Dre has laid classic track after classic track,and set the soundscape for L.A. based Hip-Hop. Many people are unaware that Dr. Dre actually samples -- but rather that he produces his tracks from scratch. This is not true. Dre has sampled hundreds of times, he is just so good at replaying the original sample on his keyboard and/or layering it with other synth and drums sounds that it sounds original. Here is one of those sneaky samples he snuck in there, and gave to Pac just as he was out on bail, fresh outta jail...

Joe Cocker - Woman to Woman


2Pac - California Love

(I forgot Chris Tucker was in this video, haha. What happened to that guy?)

It's Hotter Than July.

Mack 10 - "Foe Life"

"Fool, I'm a vet, and you can bet...that I can dance underwater, and not get wet."

The Headbanger.

EPMD + Redman = Classic. Reggie Noble is one of the greatest of all time. This was one of the hardest songs of the 90s.

True story: I used to listen to this song (on cassette) before basketball games to get me pumped up and ready to play.

Summertime.

Tomorrow is the official first day of summer, so it's time to break out this Classic. It's hotter than 50 Cent's Baby Mama's house today in L.A....last i checked, it was 103 here. Boy, I can't wait until August when it really starts to get hot, and gas costs $5.00 a gallon.