Loop Diggin' Thursdays, 08.09.07
Posted by Phil Watts, Jr on 08.09.2007
The return of Kurious and the Lords of the Underground! The Justus Leauge gears back up, and 50 Cent thinks you're STUPID!
[Mr. Funke] ZZZzzzzzzzzzz…..
[DoItAll] Hey yo Funke wake up!
[Mr. Funke] Huh?
[DoItAll] Turn your radio up!
[Mr. Funke] What?!
[DoItAll] It's us!
[Mr. Funke] It's US?!
[DoItAll] Yeah listen to the cut!
It's our style!
[Mr. Funke] Our style?
[DoItAll] Your style!
[Mr. Funke] Stop lyin'…
[DoItAll] Aiyyo nigga wake up--let me show you somethin!
Listen to the way they flip the metaphors and phrases
Listen, listen, it's drivin me CRA-ZY
Cause everytime I do a style and flip it kind of simple
Brothers say, "That's fat," and do it on the demo
From a demo to a promo now a hit on the radio
Next thing you know, they'll be doing our video
[Mr. Funke] Same one?
[DoItAll] Same one! Concepts, whole nine
And crazy similarities to the whole rhyme
I'm not worried though…
[Funke] Why?
[DoItAll] I'm flippin hits from the grill
And in the underground only real stays real, so umm
check the skills, the skills are kinda ill and yo
Here Come the Lords, cause we're here to make 'em kill!
HERE COME THA LORDS!
HERE COME THA LORDS!
HERE COME THA LORDS!
HERE COME THA LORDS!
HERE COME THA LORDS!
HERE COME THA LORDS!
HERE COME THA LOOOOOOOORDS!!!!!
In case you don't know, Mr. Funkeman, DoItAll, and Lord Jazz have returned to the Hip-Hop landscape. HERE COME THE LORDS (1993) was one of the dopest joints to ever come out at the time, and most of the tracks still hold up. You had the MC interaction between DoItAll and Funkeman, the turntable magic of Lord Jazz, and unforgettable beats from Marley Marl and K-Def. Joints like "Psycho", "Chief Rocka", "Funky Child", "Here Come the Lords" and "Lord Jazz Hit Me" still work to this day! The second album, KEEPERS OF THE FUNK (1994), had its moments, like "Tic Toc" and "What I'm After", but wasn't as good as the first. The third, RESURRECTION (1999), was way below the radar, and those that knew it existed found it pretty forgettable ("Like That" was the only song that had some life in it). From there, they only popped up here or there, with DoItAll showing up on one of Nas' "Where Are they Now" remixes (and even making a walk-on during the final head-scratching episode of THE SOPRANOS!)
The Lords (or L.O.T.U.G.) were recently interviewed by BritishHipHop.co.uk about the upcoming album,and even went into detail about some of the guestlist:
DoItAll: "On this album as all of our albums we introduce new people. This time we did it with producers. On the productions side we've used Sedeck Jean who is Wyclef's brother (he also just did the TI single), Chi-Town Rise or as we call him Chicago Rise, a new producer from Chicago that is incredible. We also used The ARE that is from Houston Texas; a Lord Gang producer named Epic; Lounge Lizzards, who are producers from Denmark and who are amazing (and are working with Justin Timberlake's new artist); one of DJ Lord Jazz's protégés, named North Carolina Reggie; and for backgrounds we used Jannyse who is on Style P's new record and also sung on DMX's last album. We also used a beautiful Latin female named Nancy N on the "ENGLISH MAMI" record."
…and of course, they were asked the ever-present question about what they think of the current state of Hip-Hop.
Doitall: The game has changed in numerous ways, some good, and some bad. But the most important thing is that it has grown into this billion dollar business. Now we have to, as artists, make sure we mould it into a platform that we can use to help build into something; positive opportunities for the culture of Hip-Hop.
Funke: There is a lot less variety out there. They don't call the early 90's the "golden era" because the music was so much better, it's because you had so much creativity. Groups from all over had their own styles. Everybody sounds the same today.
BritishHipHop: Before it was released, did you ever expect Chief Rocka to blow up as much as it did?
Doitall: When we first recorded the Here Come the Lords Album which was the album Chief Rocka was on, we recorded that album without any expectation from anyone but ourselves. What I mean is that we were only trying to be ourselves and create music that we felt and believed in. When you start to worry about what is good for the radio or what is going to work as a video before you even record, I believe you limit your creativity. So to answer your question we didn't know what to expect from Chief Rocka or any other of our hits.
I heard some of the songs from their upcoming album, HOUSE OF LORDS, and while it doesn't come close to their old hits, it is a step up from RESURRECTION. "I Love Hip-Hop", "Fab3", and "Clinic" (which sounds like Ceelo & Timberland's "Call me") show that they still have a little something in the tank. I would've loved to hear K-Def & Marley come back and contribute some shit, though.
Lords Of The Underground's HOUSE OF LORDS is in store August 21.
****
Speaking of MC's that haven't been heard from in years, Kurious Jorge (REMEMBER: Spelled with a J--not with a G!) is also planning to drop something. Even though it took him a while for his debut, THE CONSTIPATED MONKEY, to drop (the first single, "Walk Like A Duck", came out 2 years prior), it took 5 years before he ever got another break with an appearance on MF Doom's OPERATION DOOMSDAY project, and joining MF Grimm's Monstah Island Czars for a bit.
Last month, Jorge signed a two album deal with Amalgam Records, which will reissue the CONSTIPATED MONKEY album, this time including "Mansion and a Yacht" (the b-side that featured Sadat & the Jungle Brothers' Mike G), and the "I'm Kurious" remix. He's also working on a long awaited (to put it mildly) follow-up, produced by Doom. He was recently interviewed by AllHipHop.com, where he went over his fucked-up record deal with Columbia (where he released CONSTIPATED MONEY), how he still gets respect even with no new record out, and that Don Imus/Sharpton fiasco. You can read about it right here.
And to those that don't know about Kurious, here's some videos to help you get familiar. After all, we all have to be introduced sometime, right?
This was Kurious Jorge's first single, which came out 2 years before the album. This was produced by the World Famous Beatnuts, who would produce a good chunk of the album. The beat was dope, but a lot of people didn't know what to make of the song: "WALK LIKE A DUCK?! What the fuck is he talking about?! That shit's CORNY!" Oh well. Can't win over everybody. Thankfully, it was enough to get some people to wait for the album to drop.
"CHECK IT ON OOOOUT---IT'S THA UPTOWN SHIIIIT, YEAH!" Those that didn't get win over by "Walk Like A Duck" definitely got won over by THIS. Another quintessential Beatnut classic. There were actually 2 versions: the album version, which featured some fool cussing up a storm in the second verse, and the radio edit, where Kurious does the second verse.
This was produced by Pete Nice, who just got finished using MC Serch's head for batting practice for leaving 3rd Base! (Don't worry, they squashed it years later.) Unfortunately, the sound is out of sync with the video, which happens often when people try to post album versions of a song overtop the video.
< a href=http://youtube.com/watch?v=UfrVwTz5XV4>"A Mansion & a Yacht"
Another Beatnut classic. Shame it wasn't on the album (although the upcoming reissue will correct that oversight). This joint features the ever-animated Sadat X and Mike G of the Jungle Brothers. I wonder what's up with Mike G these days. I remember looking at Baby Bam's MySpace page, and that fool was on some OTHER shit, talking about how Q-Tip don't love him no more and how conscious niggaz are hypocrites. What's the DEAL?!
This was from Doom's OPERATION DOOMSDAY, where the former 3rd Base collaborators (Kurious did a few joints for Pete Nice's solo album, so that sorta counts) reunite for this cool-out joint. Hopefully, this will be an indicator of what the next Kurious album is going to be like.
****
It's good to hear that the Justus League is still in full swing.
Median has been struggling for years to get his debut album, MEDIAN'S RELIEF, to be released. He's made some guest spots on many JL releases like Big Pooh's SLEEPERS album ("Scars"), and put out PATH TO RELIEF, which highlights past material, to keep his name out there. Now, all the hard work and hurry-up-and-waiting, MEDIAN'S RELIEF finally has a release date: SEPTEMBER 25!
Meanwhile, Phonte' and Big Pooh are about to GETBACK this September. After their dreams of working for the majors turned into a nightmare, they have returned to ABB Records. Yeah, they have had problems with ABB in the past ("…an oxymoron like ABB Distribution!"), but hey…'the devils we know', right? And from the looks of things, Atlantic Records should be kicking themselves, because Tay & Pooh have dropped a new single that would've made that label some money: "Good Clothes"! You got 'Tay and Pooh talking about rocking the fly wears over some Rose Royce shit. This joint is SCREAMING for a video…a video that BET would actually PLAY this time (it's about CLOTHES, you stupid fucks! If this is 'too intelligent' for your asses, then you need to go out of business!) And with the upcoming album boasting of a guest verse from the industry's current HOT-HOT-HOT Boy (hint-hint-hint), Atlantic is probably wishing that they never dropped them! Here's the…uh…track listing:
1. (angry song with a creepy chorus)
2. (neckbreaking song with weird meter change)
3. (song that will make core fanbase gasp in disbelief)
4. GOOD CLOTHES
5. (song that features the same person who was on the first song)
6. (song to ride out to)
7. (song that your girl will love)
8. (song produced by the same person who produced the song that introduced you to the person on songs 1 and 5)
9. (bittersweet song)
10. (tearjerking song)
11. (the last song)
"Produced by 7 Niggaz and 1 bad-ass Filipino!"
Yes, they still have that ONE 9th Wonder track in there, which will probably be the last Little Brother song until they work things out (To me, Little Brother will ALWAYS be a TRIO).
…but don't think that 9th is totally out of the picture, because on October, he's about to bring us his new compilation album, DREAM MERCHANT 2! (By the way, DREAM MERCHANT 1 was included in the 6-Hole Records 3-Pack deal with The Away Team's NATIONAL ANTHEM and Legacy's PROJECT MAYHEM.) Here's the tracklist to the upcoming album:
1 Mr. Dream Merchant Intro
2 Shots f/Big Dho & Sean Price
3 Merchant Of Dreams f/The EMBASSY, Skyzoo & Torae
4 Brooklyn In My Mind f/ Mos Def, Jean Grae & Memphis Bleek
5 Sunday f/Keisha Shontelle & Chaundon
6 Baking Soda f/Big Treal
7 Reminisce (Take Time) f/Big Remo & The Great Novej of the A.L.L.I.E.S.
8 No Time To Chill f/Little Brother (!!!!!!)
9 It Aint Over ft. Jozee Mo & Tyler Woods
10 The Last Time f/ Royce the 5'9, Naledge & Vandalyzm of the MIDWEST WRECKIN' CREW- The D, The Chi & The Lou
11 Saved f/Saigon & Joe Scudda
12 Milky Lowa ft. Camp Lo
13 Backlash f/Sean Boog & Buckshot
14 Thank You f/ D.O.X & O-Dash
15 Let It Bang f/Ness & Skyzoo
16 What Makes A Man f/Rapper Big Pooh & Buddy Klein
So PLEEEEEASE, people--SUPPORT THEM MUTHAFUCKAS!!!
****
"I think that's very exciting. I think it's a moment for hip-hop. It's think it's great for retail. I think it's great for the record business. I think it's great for the buying public.... I gotta bet on the home team. I have to believe that until the numbers come in." (Jay-Z, commenting on the upcoming 50/Kanye 9-11 paper-chase.)
As you probably heard by now, both 50 Cent's and Kanye West's next albums will be released on September 11th. A lot of people have been trying to drum this up as the ULTIMATE YIN VS. YANG BATTLE…even though they both have the same habit of talking out their asses and both have very unhealthy obsessions over plaques and trophies. Hell, I was even about to place my bet on Kanye until he started crying about Grammy's again. Needless to say, it's pointless to play that angle.
But looking at the whole situation, I can't help but wonder, who has the most to lose? The answer isn't hard to figure out…
A few years ago, 50 Cent was that HOT-HOT-HOT rapper that everyone was sweatin'. He wasn't the most talented muthafucka on the mic, but these days, it's not a requirement. He had a profitable image (Oiled up shirtless mens=PROFIT), he had a backstory that drew people ("I got shot 9 times!") He used the ‘Processed Beef' method of album promoting that ALWAYS got people talking, he had tunes catchy enough for the pop fans, and BOOM. The GET RICH album=over 6 MIL (probably 8 or 9 million by now). The MASSACRE=10 MIL. To put it short, 50 and the G-Unit brand became an American institution.
Problem is, ever since Tony Yayo flopped with his PREDICATE FELON coaster, 50 and his G-Unit brand have been on a 2 year losing streak that they spent years trying to break, where projects that would've been big-big-big hits wound up either flopping huge or doing mediocre numbers. In fact, the only one who did decent numbers wound up being the one G-Unit member that got tossed out (The Game). On top of that, 50 tried his hand act 'acting' with GET RICH OR DIE TRYING…THE MOVIE which was a box office BOMB.
It's now, 2007...and we're in a whole different world. A lot of people moved on to other HOT-HOT-HOT acts. You may have noticed that a lot of muthafuckas below the Mason-Dixon line are blowing up huge and leaving everyone in the dust sales-wise. And yet, 50 remains undeterred. He is determined to do everything possible to blow up just like he did in 2003 and 2005...
…by using some of the same tactics he used in 2003 and 2005!
50 on Lil' Wayne and his many guest spots: "A whore sleeps with whoever pay them. So we gotta call him a whore - if he just goes with whoever."
50 on Chamillionaire cutting down on the cussing: "Let him go sell gospel records, if he's so fuckin' righteous."
50 on Ghostface being a FAILURE:"In my camp, a couple hundred thousand records is a failure. From my perspective, if I sell 200,000 copies, after selling 12 million records, it's considered terrible...But if you're on a major record label, and he [Ghostface] is, and you sell a couple hundred thousand records, that was a failure. Your fuckin' photos and videos aren't recouped with 200,000 copies sold."
50 on Nas & KRS not being hot no more because they READ too much: "Nas is a really smart guy. He reads books constantly. We were around him on the Nastradamus tour. He was almost weirder than me 'cause we would go to breakfast and he'd be there reading a book. Conceptually, I think that's what made him drift away from what his initial audience enjoys from him and why he's not hot right now….He's feeding you too much information in the music and they don't actually want it. He's like a teacher. I was in love with KRS-One when he came with "Criminal Minded" and "The Bridge Is Over." That was theme music to what was going on at that time. And when he started teaching, he lost them. 'Cause it was like, "What is he talkin' about?"
That last one in particular is going to kill him. Yeah, it's bad enough that he shitted on two Southern rappers (and you know how most Southern rap fans are about outsiders dissing their heroes, so that's a huge chunk of fans that won't be getting his new album!) And considering the many G-Unit sponsored flops from over the past 2 years, his comments about Ghost being a failure can be filed under "POT. KETTLE. BLACK." But it's that last one that will kill him the most. Not only does this show how stupid he is, but it also shows how stupid he thinks YOU ARE!
Now I've had my problems with Nas' last album, but to say that he's not hot right now because he READS TOO MUCH?! That is 100% Pure STUPID. And that shit he said about KRS shows that 50 has no sense of history whatsoever. "When he started teaching, he lost them. ‘Cause it was like, "What is he talkin' about?" Sorry, fool. The only one he lost was YOU. When KRS got ‘educated‘, he helped in creating a MOVEMENT: the advent of conscious/revolutionary Hip-Hop. Years ago, people like KRS, Public Enemy, X-Clan, Wise Intelligent and the PRT, and Paris made people more politically aware, made them more aware of their history. Remember the African medallions? The Malcolm X caps? Millions of songs with Malcolm, MLK, Khalid Muhhamed, and Farrakhan speech snippets in it? It had Hip-Hop fans thinking that they could make a difference in the world. I guess Fitty forgot about all of that in his attempts at revising history. And he thinks a lot of people today are too stupid to follow something like that again? Yeah, the media has drilled it into people's heads for so long that the only thing that black youth are capable of responding to is money/hoes/rims/thug life (especially the stupid fucks at BET.)
In Fitty's attempts at making lightning strike a third time in the same spot, he had better hope that this quote does not make the rounds around the media (especially if Al Sharpton gets a hold of it). The worst thing that can happen to 50 is for people to read that quote, and realize that they are being played for fools. With many attempts at singles flopping, the last thing he needs is backlash from the very people he took for granted. He needs to straighten the fuck up, or he will get caught looking like Hammer & Vanilla Ice: astonomical sales records…and no relevance whatsoever!
