Back 2 Da OG / Don't Bite Tha Phunk / One Eight Seven

3 Deep: Sucka Free (EP) (CD) (1994)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:32:01 PST

This EP differs in several ways from the ‘debut release’. Firstly, their voices don’t sound too similar. These females come off hella smooth whereas on the other CD their style was quicker and at times hard for me to understand. The singing continues and that’s what makes me think it’s the same group. I know lots of fools got their own style of production but whomever produced this really knew how to get down. The 1st thing you hear is a live wah-wah-like guitar and when the beat kicks in you hear guitar on the left channel and of course the bass on both. One thing I've never noticed befo' is the background vocal track if that is a voice at all. The raps on this cut aren't too R&B but this is the only exception. One of the sistas [the one who kicks her verse after the bridge] sounds comparable to Da Brat. Sucka Free isn’t quite R&B but if it had more singing it wouldn’t be too far from it. The one who jumps it off with verse 1 is the one who sounds like Da Brat. I really like that wah-wah guitar that is on the left channel and goes to the right. Each member has her own verse and you can hear the differences in their deliveries. For Da ‘94 is a fat dose of Bay Area G Funk which samples Atomic Dog. The bass line is simple with only 4 changes in notation. It shows they can come off fonky but also smooth on other tracks. Besides Sucka Free and Funk From The O this is my other recommendation. Slippin’ is nuthin’ special to me; it lacks somethin’ that’d make it stand on its own. If you want some real live instrumentation listen to Funk From The O. Stan ‘The Guitar Man’ is on that fly fly fonky guitar [there’re several guitar tracks if you notice]. The hook was sung and you can't have a good instrumentation without a voice to match. This definitely stands on its own lyrically and instrumentally.

The more I listen to this the more I question if it's the same group I posted earlier. The sound is much different and only a year has passed since the other one was released but of course it could still be the same group. I like this CD more than the other one 'cause it has better production in my opinion. If you like Bay Area rarities you'll definitely want this. Luckily, it contains both the vocal and instrumental of Sucka Free that just so happens to contain some type of sine wave synthesiser. That song was released as its own single.but I don't think it garnered much attention. By re-posting this I hope somebody has more information about this trio or has a better quality copy of this they can somehow send to me.

Track Listing:
01 3 Deep Got The Bomb (Feat. Philly Mo)
02 Sucka Free (Feat. Peebah)
03 For Da '94
04 Slippin'
05 Funk From The O (Feat. Clee Dogg)
06 Sucka Free (Instrumental)

Click Here To Download (26.48 MB)

3 Deep: 3 Deep Debut Release (CD) (1993)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:52:10 PST

Besides not knowing from where this came this is sure to please just about everybody who likes smooth west coast R&B. It's a small but delectable slice of 1990s west coast R&B with sophisticated production. The instrumentation sounds hella live and for all I know it could be. Their delivery is somewhat foreshadowing of the female group II Tru that would come outta Cleveland in 1996. A key and very much likeable element of this group is the singing of hooks. I don't know if that person is a part of the group but if they are that's a versatile clique. I wish those vocals were in stereo. The 2 of the 4 cuts that make this R&B according to me are tracks 2 and 4. Gave You Everything has even mo' sophisticated production than Haters and Bustas. The sung ad-libs are perfect too. The lyrical content tells a story so listen to that. Everywhere we go has an OK beat but it sounds like hardly any instrumentation was played in contrast to Gave You Everything. When You Come Over is unquestionably the most R&B jawn. That bass line and piano coincide well with each other. I like the chord changes through the entire song. The singing is so reminiscent of 1990s R&B when a lot of R&B at that time had substance [of course you'd have to like some of that to agree]. The lyrical content got ‘get it on’ written all over it but the beat dictates that so it should be no surprise. This is my favourite song 'cause it sounds so dated. I put it on repeat if I just wanna kick it on tha laid back tip

I hope somebody can provide me some info on these three females from Oakland who call themselves 3 Deep. To tell you the truth they don't sound too much like the females on Sucka Free released the following year. One day I spent hours researching this group and came up with nuthin'. I know not a thang about these three Oakland, California homegirls but I do know this CD is certainly not circulating around the Internet. I don't even know if this is the actual title of this release or if it was released at all. That's why I'm askin' somebody out there – any of my visitors who happen to know somethin' about these homegirls, get at a brotha fo' real. I urge everybody to peep this Oakland dopeness. Their '94 release [assuming it's the same group] sounds a lot different and a bit more G Funk oriented even though it's still not true G Funk [as S.N.O.P. is]. If you plan to do any research regarding this release better you than me. Finally, I did include a high resolution cover so maybe that will give you a clue. If it does, say somethin' 'cause I don't know what tha hell it looks like or if it's even a legitimate one. By re-posting this I hope somebody has either more information or a better quality copy of this which they can send me somehow.

Track Listing:
01 Haters and Bustas
02 Gave You Everything
03 Everywhere We Go
04 When You Come Over

Click Here To Download (18.56 MB)

Isaac Hayes: Live At Wattstax '72 (CD) (2003)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:01:44 PST

On 20 August 1972, 112,000 African-Americans gathered at the Los Angeles Coliseum for an all-day concert featuring virtually every artist then signed to Stax. The event was billed as Wattstax. Seven years earlier, to the chant of ‘burn, baby, burn’, a sizable section of the Watts community had been destroyed by flames during the first of the 1960s' so-called ‘race riots’. To commemorate the Watts rebellion and to raise money for a variety of community needs, the Watts Summer Festival had been established. In early 1972 Stax had opened a West Coast office headed by 26-year-old Forest Hamilton. Recalling a comment made by Stax artist John KaSandra that it would be a good idea to mount a Black Woodstock, Hamilton suggested that perhaps Stax should stage a concert as part of the 1972 Watts Summer Festival. From Al Bell's perspective, Hamilton's idea could potentially serve a number of the company's agendas: [1] the event would be a perfect showcase for much of the Stax roster and, therefore, would hopefully stimulate greater sales for the company's artists on the West Coast; [2] the event could be filmed, thereby facilitating Stax's entry into the world of motion pictures [the film, of course, would eventually further promote the Stax artists featured in it]; and [3] Wattstax would be yet one more vehicle whereby Stax Records could be a responsible corporate citizen, making a contribution to the Black community at large on both a cultural and monetary level. With tickets set at $1 so that virtually anyone in the community could afford to attend and Schlitz Beer and Stax underwriting all production costs, Wattstax raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Watts Summer Festival, Martin Luther King Hospital, the Sickle Cell Anemia Foundation, and the Watts Labour Community Action Committee.

Held on a beautiful summer's day in August 1972, the Wattstax festival represented the pinnacle moment in the history of Memphis-based Stax Records. The concert itself consisted of the largest nonreligious or Civil Rights-orientated gathering of African-American people up to that point in history. The capacity audience spent seven hours peacefully celebrating all that was embodied in the music of Stax in an environment where the security was conspicuously all-Black and equally conspicuously unarmed. With Jesse Jackson leading the audience through his ‘I Am Somebody’ litany, Kim Weston singing both the Star-Spangled Banner and the Black National Anthem, ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing’, Stax artists such as Carla Thomas and the Soul Children singing both gospel and secular material, and Rufus Thomas and Isaac Hayes performing at the height of their powers, Wattstax summed up the mood and tenor of Black america, clearly making manifest just how closely the music produced by Stax Records was in sync with the African-American community.

According to everyone who was a part of it, Wattstax was, indeed, a glorious event. The Los Angeles Rams had played an [American] football game the night before, forcing the construction of the stage into the wee hours of the morning. Nonetheless by mid-day Sunday all was ready. That morning Isaac Hayes, celebrating his 30th birthday, was the Grand Marshal in the Watts Festival Parade in which several other Stax artists also participated. By the 2:30 showtime, every one of the Coliseum's seats [the grass was off-limits to protect the football field] was filled.

Isaac Hayes did not take the stage until about 08:30. Over the course of the day those lucky enough to be inside the stadium had been entertained by mini-performances from the likes of Eddie Floyd, William Bell, Rufus Thomas, Albert King, the Soul Children, Jimmy Jones, Carla Thomas, the Staple Singers, and others. As soulful and nourishing as the afternoon's entertainment had been, for most of the audience the climactic point of the concert was a full hour-length performance by a man many simply referred to as Black Moses – Isaac Hayes.

If Wattstax represented the pinnacle of the Stax Records story, it was also arguably the peak point of Isaac Hayes's career. Nine years earlier he had found his way into Stax as the keyboard player in baritone sax player Floyd Newman's band. The session that produced Newman's solitary solo single also led to Hayes securing a regular session musician gig replacing Booker T. Jones, who was spending a large part of every year majoring in music at Indiana University. In 1965 Hayes started writing songs with lyricist David Porter. Over the next five years the dynamic duo of Hayes and Porter wrote and produced innumerable classic slabs of southern Soul including B-A-B-Y for Carla Thomas, I Had A Dream for Johnnie Taylor, The Sweeter He Is for the Soul Children, and Soul Man, Hold On! I'm Comin', When Something Is Wrong With My Baby, I Thank You, and Wrap It Up for Sam and Dave.

When Stax vice president and co-owner Al Bell decided in late 1968 that the company needed to develop an instant back catalogue, he asked for albums from every major Stax artist then signed to the label. He also provided the green light for a number of special album-length projects which included solo albums by Mavis Staples, Booker T. and The MGs guitarist Steve Cropper, and Isaac Hayes. Hayes recorded an album consisting of only four extended songs that was eventually entitled Hot Buttered Soul. A radical album by any definition, Hot Buttered Soul found Hayes ingeniously fusing Pop songs and a Soul-based rhythm section with classically-inspired orchestral accompaniments and Jazz-infused extended improvisations. To everyone's surprise, it became the biggest selling album up to that point in Stax's history, charting at or near the top of the R&B, Pop, Jazz, and Easy Listening charts. In the late 1960s, the seven-inch 45-RPM single was still the dominant medium for Black music, industry wisdom maintaining that Black consumers had neither the money nor the inclination to support the higher-priced album. The success of Hot Buttered Soul demonstrated unequivocally that, if presented with the right product, Black audiences would buy the more expensive album format by the truckload.

Within a year Hayes had commercially and aesthetically replicated the success of Hot Buttered Soul with The Isaac Hayes Movement and ...To Be Continued. In 1971, the seemingly irrepressible Hayes entered the stratosphere, writing and recording the soundtrack to Shaft, winning himself both Grammy and Academy Awards in the process. By year's end he had issued another stunning double album, this one entitled Black Moses.

At the time of Wattstax, Hayes was, alongside James Brown, the hottest artist in all of Black america.

As was his wont at this point in his career, Hayes's group, called the Movement, was a large ensemble consisting of three trumpets, five saxophones, two guitarists, two pianists, bass, percussion, and drums. The core group was accompanied by a small string orchestra hired in whatever city the band was gigging in and directed by Onzie Home, as well as dancers and the trio of female backing vocalists who had come to be known as Hot Buttered and Soul. In addition to singing lead, Hayes played keyboards and saxophone. At Wattstax, the Movement was joined for the first time by second guitarist Al McKay. A longtime friend of Forest Hamilton, McKay had just left Sammy Davis Jr. To try and help him get on his feet, Hamilton had asked Isaac to let the young musician sit in. McKay did well enough to hold down the gig for five or six months before he left to join an early version of Earth, Wind and Fire.

Whilst the Isaac Hayes Movement had played a handful of stadium shows up to this point in addition to their regular regimen of hockey and basketball arenas, the crowd at Wattstax had taken them aback. Trumpeter Nokie Taylor remembers being in absolute awe of the situation. ‘I walked out the entrance way on the track’, recalls Taylor, ‘and there were over 100,000 people there. That was scary. I got further out and I saw people to my left, people to my right, and people all behind me. It was dramatic. It was just breathtaking.’

‘It was extra, extra special’, agrees guitarist Skip Pitts. ‘We knew we were doing something to help build Watts back. At that time it was about the biggest thing I had ever done in my life. [There was a] giving and sharing there that I had never experienced before.’

By early evening, the audience was primed for Black Moses. As the sun set in the West and the various members of the Movement took their places, the crowd caught sight of Hayes being chauffeured to the rear of the stage. As Hayes disembarked from the station wagon, the excitement was more than palpable and the crowd just about lost it.

‘The response was heavy everywhere we played’, smiles Pitts. ‘Isaac was the shit and that's the truth. [But, at Wattstax] he killed it, man. The response was hell. They were off their feet! It was something, man. It was chaos, it really was. The way Jesse Jackson built it, it was just perfect!’

Jackson's buildup opens this CD in electrifying fashion. Standing at the centre of the stage he loudly intones, inflecting his speech with the imperative command of the best Black preachers, ‘The brother that all of us have been waiting for. . . a bad, bad brother, Isaac Hayes’.

Hayes opened up most of his shows in 1972 with an extended cover version of the Doors' Light My Fire whilst Theme From Shaft was generally held back until the end of the show. At Wattstax he decided to put his signature tune front and centre, opening with a super-charged version of Shaft that Skip Pitts describes as simply being on fire.

Oddly enough, the charts for Shaft and a number of other songs the band was scheduled to play had disappeared at some point before the show began. Fortunately, the members of the Movement had for some time served as guides or tutors for the orchestral players who were hired locally for each show. ‘I could play the strings parts, the second cello, whatever it was’, laughs Nokie Taylor. ‘I ate and slept that music. We rehearsed it all the time. Everywhere we go, before the show we had a rehearsal [with the orchestra]. So, we knew all the parts. That made it easier. The only thing that had to be done was transposing parts.’

Shaft was followed with another song from the movie entitled Soulsville. Sporting the most arresting melody in the whole score, this version of Soulsville is marked by an extended solo on alto sax played by Isaac himself. Isaac also takes an extended sax solo on the nearly 20-minute version of Bill Withers's Ain't No Sunshine. ‘That's the only reason we did it’, laughs Skip. ‘We did it to feature him on the horn.’ In both cases Hayes displays a harder edge to his tone that is not evident in the work of any of the other horn players.

Soulsville was followed by three songs from Black Moses, Never Can Say Goodbye, Part-Time Love, and Your Love Is So Doggone Good, Isaac closing his set with the aforementioned Ain't No Sunshine and his incendiary take on I Stand Accused from the Movement album. Unfortunately, the master tapes of the show, which have lingered untouched in the Stax vaults all these years, were missing Hayes's vocal on Part-Time Love. Consequently, it is heard here as a primarily instrumental track, featuring the background vocalists at every point that the chorus would normally return.

Highlights abound over the course of Hayes's nearly 60-minute set. Perhaps most notable is the 17-minute version of Ain't No Sunshine. Bill Withers had taken the song into the Top Ten of the R&B and Pop charts the previous summer. At the time of Wattstax, Hayes had yet to record it, so for the audience that day at the Los Angeles Coliseum, it was something of a surprise.

Fueled by pianist Sidney Kirk's Funk-infused piano, Hayes's otherworldly falsetto, and his extended alto sax solo [beginning around five-and-a-half minutes into the performance], Ain't No Sunshine becomes this gig's tour de force. Mid-way through his sax solo Hayes and the band briefly go into Ray Charles's Lonely Avenue. ‘We would change up different grooves in a song’, offers Pitts. ‘We might have come back and done something else at another time. We followed Isaac, wherever [he went]. That's how we got right into it. We just followed in. … Spontaneous shit!’

In 1973, Hayes included an 11 -minute version of Ain't No Sunshine on his Live At The Sahara Tahoe double-live album. Whilst very good, that version doesn't hold a candle to the elongated gem that Hayes and the Movement concocted at Wattstax.
Hayes's final number, I Stand Accused, is still the highlight of his shows, over 30 years later. Written and originally recorded by Jerry Butler in 1964, the song's cyclical, Gospel chord structure provides a framework that Hayes routinely turns into an emotion-laden high point of his sets. This version is somewhat undercut at the 06:20 mark as Hayes quiets down the band and introduces Reverend Jackson; as Jackson led 112,000 Black Angelenos in prayer, Hayes departed the stage. The Movement, though, remained to play behind Gospel singer Jimmy Jones, who brought Wattstax to a close with Pete Seeger's If I Had A Hammer.

Thirty years after the fact, the release on compact disc of Isaac Hayes's complete performance at Wattstax affords an opportunity to hear and re-hear one of the seminal moments in the history of Soul music.

Track Listing:
01 Theme From 'Shaft’ (Feat. Rev. Jesse Jackson)
02 Soulsville
03 Never Can Say Goodbye
04 Part-Time Love (Feat. Hot, Buttered and Soul)
05 Your Love Is So Doggone Good (Feat. Hot, Buttered and Soul)
06 Ain't No Sunshine/Lonely Avenue
07 I Stand Accused
08 If I Had A Hammer (Feat. Jimmy Jones and Rev. Jesse Jackson)

Click Here To Download (473.58 MB)

Various Artists: Music From The Wattstax Festival and Film (3x CD Box Set) (Compilation) (2003)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 10:01:13 PST

To commemorate the 39th anniversary on which the documentary was released to Los Angeles cinemas, I am re-posting what I have of the live concert. The documentary will follow on 15 February which is the 39th anniversary on which it was released to cinemas in New York.

As I was thinking of what to write up for this first of three extra special posts I came across this rather informative customer review on Amazon. I have changed it slightly taking out all the first-person wording that does not apply to me. This review was for the 2007 USA pressing which has the same exact track listing, so the wording was also changed to reflect that this is not that particular 2007 USA pressing. This is a WAV multi-disc set. The only things I did were [1] auto-trim the first and last tracks on each disc and [2] maintained continuity by making sure the tracks start and end when they should. Here is the review, then following that is the link.

There is so much to love about Wattstax, from the music, the reasons surrounding the event itself, and most of all the Stax sound – pure Soul, pure R&B, pure Memphis. Soul and R&B music from the 1970s was never been fully recognised for what it was – as just as important as Jazz, Blues, or even Classical. This concert, put together as a form of not only musical protest of sorts remembering the Watts riots a few years earlier, but to showcase the sound that was pulsing through the streets of the inner cities nationwide at the time and show Black unity.

When it was released as a film almost a year later, the concert was chopped and edited down from the incredible almost 10-hour affair to an hour and a half for the screen, which is understandable as it not only got the message out further but still showed the power of Soul music. At the same time of the film's release, two two-record sets entitled Wattstax: The Living Word Parts 1 and 2 were released, giving the public almost 4 hours of the concert. A single album of the film was also put out entitled Wattstax: Highlights From The Soundtrack, further boiling it down to 2 sides reaching just under an hour, and it probably sold well too.

As time passed, the music was occasionally re-released in subsequent forms; it got more confusing to understand why. No fewer than 10 different releases of the Wattstax concert have been produced, with most of them ‘made in America’ with horribly abbreviated versions of the original songs themselves and a couple of non-USA CD pressings containing more music than all of the other USA pressings combined [although not in sequential order], but is still a find and highly prized amongst collectors.

Now here it is: 2003, approximately 30 years have gone by and the UK-based branch of the Stax label have re-released Music From The Wattstax Festival and Film, containing extra tracks never before heard, all remastered, and the sound is so crisp and the music so rich… However, Wattstax was a legendary all-day concert containing some of the best live Soul music ever recorded. It was almost 10 hours long [and you must keep in mind that almost every album included Richard Pryor joking and speaking from the heart, that in my opinion, horribly dates the time and distracts from the essence of the event].

Concord Records, who acquired the rights for the entire Stax masters after purchasing Fantasy Records are trying to do some good by re-releasing this in 2007. I understand that to release the ENTIRE CONCERT would be an expensive package for some, but for those same fans, we have wondered for many decades what it would sound like. If you look at the below track listing, it is repetitive, as it has been released on other smaller editions. Isaac Hayes' hour-long closing set has actually been released separately on CD [which will follow shortly], but I'm assuming the producers of this decided only one song was good enough to satisfy anyone who didn't know that not only did he close out the concert with a 5-minute entrance even BEFORE he began singing, but sang more songs than anyone there, and all we get is a highly edited 4-minute snippet of his live version of The Theme from Shaft? Shame on them.

As for the music, if anything, Concord Records did put together an impressive package of sound: the first disc includes many of the lesser known stars of Stax and that wonderful southern Soul sound, from the gospel of Deborah Manning and Little Sonny to the amazing voices of Lee Sain, Louise McCord & Lee Bell. The second disc includes many of the songs you probably have heard, such as The Bar-Kays and The Emotions, but now with the inclusion of David Porter's set, including the blistering Introduction, this will blow your speakers and stand your hair on end! The third disc is where the meat of the disc really lies, though, from the opening track of Little Milton's Open The Door To Your Heart, Mel and Tim's Motown tribute of sorts Backfield In Motion, a double-shot of two of the greatest Bluesmen who ever played it, Johnnie Taylor and Albert King, to the double-shotgun blast of both daughter Carla and father Rufus Thomas, and as you may have seen from the film, when Rufus proudly struts onto the stage in his hot pink shorts/vest/jacket/cape ensemble with white go-go boots, announces ‘Ain't am clean?’ and shouts to the band if they're ready, worthy of James Brown, you know The Breakdown Part 1 and Do The Funky Chicken is coming! The Soul Children give us their best Sam and Dave and then Isaac Hayes comes on very quickly, sings for three minutes… and that's it?

Remember, if you were to piece together the previous 4 or 5 CD releases [the non-USA pressings, USA pressings AND the Isaac Hayes live CD], you could probably form together at least almost 5 to 6 solid hours of music without this alone. However, the quality of sound presented here is top notch. It's too bad the set-up is awful. Why give us Isaac Hayes songs previously, and then take it away? Why give out more Albert King previously, and then omit them? If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be Right, by Luther Ingram – gone! why?

In conclusion: as for THE MUSIC, there's no fighting the clean sheer sound of the power behind Stax presented here [some for the first time], and you can feel it down to the soul! As for the packaging, sadly, this tripple-disc edition is still incomplete, and lacks ALL of the artists at the concert. These record companies better step it up a notch and put together a multi-disc version that includes EVERY SINGLE PERFORMANCE, from start to finish.

Woodstock has bootleg CDs with expanded versions of songs not heard on many of their official CDs, but there are no bootlegs of Wattstax. Concord Records is playing this one VERY close to the vest by ‘allowing’ us to spend a lot of money on some music some of us already have, and leaving out some music some of us already have as well. Maybe more will come out, who knows.

Wattstax to me is more important than Woodstock from a personal and cultural point of view, and even though many of the Stax stars presented here never reached the commercial heights benefiting from the exposure of Woodstock to the mainstream public such as Jimi Hendrix, Sly and The Family Stone or Santana, people need to know that this concert existed [in a more totally complete form] so it can also be appreciated for future generations, not just in pieces.

Track Listing:
1-01 Dale Warren and The Wattstax '72 Orchestra -- Salvation Symphony (Previously Unreleased)
1-02 Rev. Jesse Jackson -- Introduction
1-03 Kim Weston -- Lift Every Voice and Sing
1-04 The Staple Singers -- Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom-Boom) (Previously Unreleased)
1-05 The Staple Singers -- Are You Sure (Previously Unreleased)
1-06 The Staple Singers -- I Like The Things About Me
1-07 The Staple Singers -- Respect Yourself
1-08 The Staple Singers -- I'll Take You There
1-09 Deborah Manning -- Precious Lord, Take My Hand (Previously Unreleased)
1-10 Louise Mccord -- Better Get A Move On (Previously Unreleased)
1-11 Lee Sain -- Them Hot Pants (Previously Unreleased)
1-12 Little Sonny -- Wade In The Water (Previously Unreleased)
1-13 William Bell -- I Forgot To Be Your Lover (Previously Unreleased)
1-14 The Temprees -- Explain It To Her Mama (Previously Unreleased)
1-15 Frederick Knight -- I've Been Lonely (For So Long) (Previously Unreleased)
1-16 The Newcomers -- Pin The Tail On The Donkey (Previously Unreleased)
1-17 Eddie Floyd -- Knock On Wood
2-01 The Emotions -- Peace Be Still
2-02 The Golden -- Old Time Religion
2-03 The Rance Allen Group -- Lying On The Truth
2-04 The Rance Allen Group -- Up Above My Head (Previously Unreleased)
2-05 The Bar-Kays -- Son Of Shaft+Feel It
2-06 The Bar-Kays -- In The Hole (Previously Unreleased)
2-07 The Bar-Kays -- I Can't Turn You Loose
2-08 The David Porter Show -- Introduction
2-09 David Porter -- Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One)
2-10 David Porter -- Can't See You When I Want To
2-11 David Porter -- Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)
2-12 Richard Pryor -- Niggas
2-13 Richard Pryor -- Arrest/Lineup
2-14 The Emotions -- So I Can Love You
2-15 The Emotions -- Group Introduction/Show Me How
3-01 Little Milton -- Open The Door To Your Heart (Previously Unreleased)
3-02 Mel and Tim -- Backfield In Motion (Previously Unreleased)
3-03 Johnnie Taylor -- Steal Away
3-04 Albert King -- Killing Floor
3-05 Carla Thomas -- Pick Up The Pieces (Previously Unreleased)
3-06 Carla Thomas -- I Like What You're Doing (To Me)
3-07 Carla Thomas -- B-A-B-Y (Previously Unreleased)
3-08 Carla Thomas -- Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes)
3-09 Carla Thomas -- I Have A God Who Loves
3-10 Rufus Thomas -- The Breakdown
3-11 Rufus Thomas -- Do The Funky Chicken
3-12 Rufus Thomas -- Do The Funky Penguin
3-13 The Soul Children Feat. Rev. Jesse Jackson -- I Don't Know What This World Is Coming To
3-14 The Soul Children -- Hearsay
3-15 Isaac Hayes Feat. Rev. Jesse Jackson -- Theme From Shaft

Click Here To Download (1735.20 MB)

Snoop Doggy Dogg: Murder Was The Case: The Movie (2001 DVD Reissue) (1995)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 08:06:47 PST

This is the DVD disc that was issued 6 years after the original issue of the VHS. A VHS was also reissued the same year. I'm naturally inexperienced in regards to navigating DVD and questioned if there was somethin' technically wrong with this. The DVD has 1 title and 22 chapters [think of a chapter as a section of a title; in this case the title is divided in 22 sections]. I learnt the 00:56:46 documentary begins on chapter 4 but hopefully you can figure out it mo' easily than I did.

The most obvious difference between the uploaded VHS is this is in stereo. It should've been LPCM but of course it's not gonna be lossless so we'll all have to settle for AC3. The unknown beat I mentioned hours ago begins on chapter 4. The music videos of Who Am I? (What's My Name?) opens chapter 5, Gin and Juice opens chapter 6, Doggy Dogg World opens chapter 8 and Natural Born Killaz opens chapter 13. It's really nice for me to hear those skits and added sound effects in stereo. Don't you dig Dre's additional synthesiser on Gin and Juice before Snoop kicks verse 1? The rare footage featuring Tha Dogg Pound begins not too far in chapter 7. When the Gin and Juice instrumental comes on after that simple drum beat [they rap G'z and Hustlas] is when he kicks that short freestyle I think I remember hearing on The Lost Sessions. Later in the same chapter is an excerpt of him performing Lodi Dodi backed with what sounds like a live band. It fades out much too soon. At the time frame of 00:28:30 is when an interviewer asks Snoop about what he dreams and that marks the 1st mention of Murder Was The Case. Chapter 9 opens with the actual movie but it's so short it closes out chapter 11. If you don't wanna see the interviews or music videos just skip to chapter 9. I love how that girl fades him in front of his homies! Sam Sneed makes a cameo appearance but don't blink 'cause it's that small. The 1st mysterious beat starts at 05:10 and the 2nd starts about 60 seconds later. I can't see a thang but it doesn't take a sighted gee to know these muthafuckas come with some HEAVY artillery. Put this up in ya theatre system and let that virtual surround sound put you in the middle of the rat-tat-tat-tat. That part jumps off chapter 10. That's one clear advantage of downloading this DVD: sound in more than one channel.

Chapter 16 contains the music video of Natural Born Killaz. I don't know what the purpose is. It's already been included in the feature presentation. You know it's a reissue when you get to chapter 17. That version of the song didn't exist till the year 2000; it was released on Dead Man Walkin' but it's not the original version. Chapter 18 contains the music video of Midnight Love which wasn't thought of at the time of February 1995. Chapter 19 contains yet another copy of the Murder Was The Case movie. To be exact it is 00:15:57 in duration. I can't discern this extra and original but it's nice to be able to access it without goin' through the VHS content.

This can't be found anywhere online unless you purchase it. Upon examination of the one I had there was no content restrictions to remove. This is the entire DVD image; it has not been split. Gettin' a premium account to download all these disc will sho' nuff make it complete faster but you'll still be able to download it. Get the VHS for nostalgia and get this for the multi-dimentional sound.

Click Here To Download (3605.70 MB)

Snoop Doggy Dogg: Murder Was The Case: The Movie (3rd Generation VHS Transfer) (1995)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:43:35 PST

Everybody talks about this and that in interviews but nobody talks about a short film made in late 1994 to be released in early February of 1995. They talk about the soundtrack but what about the movie? This is that movie: Murder Was The Case. Surrounded by interview clips and 4 full-length music videos this 16-minute movie is based offa dream Snoop had. The very basic synopsis is after a gang of fools killed him he tries to bargain with the devil to live. Unfortunately there's not much that leads up to it 'cause he dies within the 1st 10 minutes. They could've made it at least 5 minutes longer but it's all good. I don't know who any of these actors are but for a project like this I don't think trained professionals are necessary.

The movie itself starts around 00:29:45 and ends around 00:45:45. Not long after is the music video of Natural Born Killaz. The whole thing begins with some interview and live performance clips with music videos throughout in the exact order of [1] Who Am I? (What's My Name?), [2] Gin and Juice, [3] Doggy Dogg World. To those not up on the Funk pay attention to the beginning of Doggy Dogg World and learn a lil' somethin'. There is a live concert clip in particular that people need to listen to 'cause Snoop says a rhyme that never officially got released till the Lost Sessions compilation of 2009. It may or may not be the same excerpt but I thought I heard Daz somewhere close to that. Any footage with Tha Dogg Pound before 1995 is worth watchin'. The 1st show you'll see is with Dre when they do Nuthin' But A ‘G’ Thang. Before that though is some unknown beat. Does anybody know if it was ever used possibly for somethin' still unreleased? Precluding Murder Was The Case, Indo Smoke and all the background songs in the movie itself I think 2 other beats were used. One is fast and one is slow; I like the slowwer of them. I don't know a thang about these either.

This is a 3rd generation VHS rip I received in 2009. The DVD reissue 6 years later doesn't have too much more but the sound is a little more clear. The file is a .VOB [video object] and can be played in any media player. I have the DVD comin' soon but peep game if you haven't already. If anybody has the original 1995 issue in like new condition who has the ability to digitise this in the highest audio and video quality possible I'll replace this if you think yours looks and sounds better.

Click Here To Download (1048.80 MB)

N.W.A.: Niggaz4Life: The Only Home Video (2002 DVD Reissue) (1992)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 12:54:44 PST

Way back when, I brought to you all a low quality VHS rip of N.W.A.'s only home video which I no longer have [if anybody gotta .vob VHS transfer holla if ya hear me]. This particular copy is disc 02 of the Niggaz4Life reissue. There were 2 rereleases: one with the DVD and one without. To increase sales the DVD was reissued on 18 February 2003, Dr. Dre's 38th birthday. This DVD contains the approximate 60-minute documentary which is one of the last times the group is seen together before they split. The sound of this is noticeably better than the VHS issue from 10 years prior and something tells me the picture may be as well. This is a very rare find online. You will not find the full 3.75 GB DVD anywhere unless you purchase it.

There are no content restrictions on this DVD whatsoever; I removed them before I created the image using a very trusted program. Read on if you think I'm fakin' the funk.

Info for drive [F:\] (DVDFab Passkey 8.0.4.9)
Vendor: DVDFab
Product: Virtual Drive
Revision: 1.1
Vendor specific:
Drive region control: RPC II
Drive region: 1
User changes left: 4
Vendor resets left: 4

Disc media: DVD
Disc type: DVD-Video
Disc region: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
Volume name: DVD_VIDEO
Video standard: NTSC

CSS (Content Scramble System) protection is not found.
RC (Region Code) protection is not found.
RCE (Region Code Enhancement) protection is not found.
APS (Analog Protection System) protection is not found.
UOPs (User Operation Prohibitions) protection is removed!

Invalid PTTs protection is not found.
Invalid PGCIs protection is not found.
Invalid PGCs protection is not found.
Invalid TMAPs protection is not found.
Invalid CELLs protection is removed!
Invalid VOBUs protection is removed!
Fake vts protection is not found!
Bad sector protection is not found!
Structure protection (ARccOS, RipGuard, etc.) is not found.

PathPlayer is enabled!
Unplayable cell (vts:1 menu lu:1 pgc:4 cell:5) is removed!
Unplayable cell (vts:1 menu lu:1 pgc:4 cell:6) is removed!
Unplayable cell (vts:1 menu lu:1 pgc:4 cell:7) is removed!
Unplayable cell (vts:1 menu lu:1 pgc:11 cell:3) is removed!
Unplayable cell (vts:1 menu lu:1 pgc:11 cell:4) is removed!
Unplayable cell (vts:1 menu lu:1 pgc:11 cell:5) is removed!
Unplayable cell (vts:1 menu lu:1 pgc:18 cell:3) is removed!
Unplayable cell (vts:1 menu lu:1 pgc:18 cell:4) is removed!
Unplayable cell (vts:1 menu lu:1 pgc:18 cell:5) is removed!
Unplayable cell (vts:1 menu lu:1 pgc:18 cell:6) is removed!
10 unplayable cells are removed!

This is the full DVD image; it has not been split. You should be able to download it regardless if you registered an account or not but doing so and upgrading to premium will sho' nuff make it finish faster. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I do. I have future plans to upload the extremely informative Death Row documentary entitled ‘Welcome To Death Row - It Started In Compton. It Ended In Infamy.’. However, this is in the future so don't expect that full DVD any time soon.

Click Here To Download (4042.10 MB)

Mista Grimm: Steady Dippen (Promo 12") (1995)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 07:49:50 PST

His real name is Henrik Milling and he's originally from ‘tha land of tha deathly freezin'’, or more correctly Denmark. He and Madness 4 Real along with M4R's take-over-L.A. fucked-up-in-the-head, jackin'-fools'-ends manager went to the USA in 1992 and made their everlasting mark on the G Funk sound. I love Doctor Jam's production. It's so unique and so original. To this day you can't fade anything he produced for anybody in Cali. Mista Grimm I think was one of his final projects before he left and returned to his homeland. Mista Grimm recorded an entire LP as I'm sure you know with this being one of the tracks. It remains shelved today and is one of those albums that so desperately needs to be released – more so than the LBC jawn the corrupted WIDEawake released last year. The first thing I gotta mention is the uncredited vocals. They're not present on anything besides this song and that's a shame 'cause they sound real good. They sound like an west coast R&B group. Mista Grimm continues with is well-crafted word play but because this is much more laid back I like it much more. He laid down his vocals 2 times as you can clearly hear. The best part about the lyrics are all instances of the hook. I don't know if any instruments were played but it sho' sounds like the bass and other guitar was. Listen to that guitar and how it pops then changes in frequency. It almost doesn't sound like a guitar. Whatever effect they put on that is damn fonky! At the moment I can't think of any G Funk record besides this with guitar that sounds just like that. The synthesiser you hear on the right channel isn't your typical sine wave synth; it has somewhat a lower tone. All this plus everything I didn't talk about is all thanks to Doctor Jam's production.

The only place you'll find B2 and B3 legitimately is on this single. This was also included on Things Are Looking Grimm and is one of Bobcat's best works to date. The beat is on point and I like how all things were mixed. The radio version is even more scarce considering it wasn't included on his full-length LP. To make it better Grimm's verses and hook was re-recorded as not to ruin the track with silences. Bobcat was lazy, however, so don't expect total perfection. This was edited from a wax-to-WAV transfer.

Track Listing:
A1 Steady Dippen (Album Version)
A2 Steady Dippen (Clean Radio Edit)
A3 Steady Dippen (A cappella)
B1 Steady Dippen (Instrumental)
B2 Da Whole 9 (Album Version) (Feat. Bobby ‘Bobcat’ Ervin)
B3 Da Whole 9 (Radio Version) (Feat. Bobby ‘Bobcat’ Ervin)

Click Here To Download (26.60 MB)

Mista Grimm: Situation Grimm (Promo 12") (1994)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 06:30:23 PST

I forgot I had this and the following single uploaded to MegaUpload before everything was wrongfully seized. I know others like this song more than I do 'cause I really don't like it too much at all. To me it's well-crafted word play with a soulful hook. Indo Smoke had some type of subject matter but he's all over the English language map with this. I also don't like how Val Young's vocals echo to the right. The guitar does all through and that's enough for me. There's just too much goin' on at once. The only good thing about everything is the live bass guitar. B2 has a completely different beat that's a little more simple. This version too features unknown vocals [whose are they?]. I'd like it more if he recorded entirely different verses for it but I still have the bass guitar although not as potent. The next single I have is mo' better than this I think. This was edited from a wax-to-WAV transfer.

Track Listing:
A1 Situation Grimm (Album Version) (Feat. Val Young)
A2 Situation Grimm (Clean Version) (Feat. Val Young)
B1 Situation Grimm (Instrumental)
B2 Situation Grimm (Street Mix) (Feat. Val Young)

Click Here To Download (16.00 MB)

Twinz: Eastside LB (Cardboard Sleeve CD Single) (1995)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 14:10:42 PST

As I was recently listening to Conversation on factory-pressed CD in my portable CD player I realised just how ingenius it really is. Put aside the vibe and the vocals and focus on the instrumentals, more specifically the live instruments on select few songs. Not all them are based on Warren's choice of keyboard-constructed bass; at least 4 have live bass guitar including this one. I've already explained Jump Ta This. Listen to the instrumental of Eastside LB and see if you can break it down. There are at least 2 guitar tracks, one being bass. There's obviously drum programming and finger-snapping with a bit of added reverb plus a synthesiser. Keep listening and you'll notice something that makes you almost wanna call it laid back Funk. I almost never hear horns on a G Funk track and regardless if they were in fact recorded live they sound damn good on this instrumental. I'm confident there were 2 horn tracks as well. If you wonder why you haven't heard the horns before it's cause they fucked up by not including those on the LP version. The special inclusion of horns should make any true-to-life G Funk fan wanna download this with no second thoughts. This was edited from losslessly compressed files.

Track Listing:
01 Eastside LB (LP Version) (Feat. Tracey Nelson and Warren G)
02 Eastside LB (Instrumental)
03 Jump Ta This (LP Version)

Click Here To Download (10.20 MB)

Twinz: Jump Ta This (Promo 12") (1995)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:45:07 PST

You can't not know when Warren G produced something. This is him at his best. Nobody can fuck with keyboards like he can and mix like he can. That wah-wah pedal gets me right every time I hear it on that guitar and it wasn't till I heard this particular vinyl copy I noticed a few piano notes. The synths, drum programming and claps are OK but that guitar [though not played by Warren G] makes the instrumental what it is to me. The drawback of this is the radio edit simply has muted vocals instead of alternatives like Warren G did for his album. I'd hate to hear the censored version of Conversation. This was edited from a wax-to-WAV transfer. If there was more to this I'd have more to say.

Track Listing:
A Jump Ta This (Radio Edit)
B1 Jump Ta This (Instrumental)
B2 Jump Ta This (A cappella)

Click Here To Download (9.20 MB)

MC Ren: Shock Of The Hour (LP) (1993)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:51:37 PST

This has to be one of the most meaningful and substance-filled albums ever released on Ruthless Records. As much as I'd love to hear all the Life Sentence material I love this album for its content. MC Ren wasn't fuckin' around after N.W.A. split and went their separate ways. The production doesn't coincide with what was the norm for Ruthless either. That's probably because there were a few people who if you look at the credits don't appear on anything other than this album, Doctor Jam and Madness 4 Real being the exceptions. I've always had much love for all those Danes' production during their tenure in the USA. It remains unsurpassed in uniqueness to this day. The A-Side is just as dope as the B-Side; you can't fade Same Old Shit, Fuck What Ya Heard or You Wanna Fuck Her. Different people play different instruments and if anybody knows who these people are it'd be useful to know. I already know who Mike ‘Crazy Neck’ Sims is – we all do. You Wanna Fuck Her showcases his talent on the guitar [there had to be 2 separate guitar tracks] plus whomever's on the piano.

The B-Side takes on an entirely different tone and is the one I like best for its meaning. The reason Ren scrapped Life Sentence [the A-Side was originally recorded for it] was 'cause he converted to The Nation Of Islam. This side is coded with his newly-founded ideologies and perspectives of the USA and its European settlers. I'm not gonna say if I agree, disagree or if he's either right or wrong; I'll leave that for you to think about. If you've downloaded the Forget What Ya Heard 12" Mayday On The Frontline won't be anything surprising and if you didn't make a request and I'll re-upload it for you if you want it. Rhythm D's production is almost instantly recognisable from Paperboy to Steffon to his collaborations with Eazy. Attack On Babylon is probably the most unrecognisable track he's ever produced. If he didn't do the hook I would've never known. This is 1 of the 3 cuts for which was recorded 2 vocal tracks with different tones. The background track is less audible but that's why it might sound like there's another person layin' in the cut. It's undoubtedly my favourite on this side alongside Do You Believe? and Shock Of The Hour. These have potent messages that deserve to be heard and are the 3 reasons to download this. The bass played on Shock Of The Hour just calls for change. Play this today and people might say it's a foreshadowing of what's to come. Ruthless Records as a whole never had another LP quite like this. It's one thing listenin' to the CD but listen to this and the wax fiends won't go back. It was edited from a wax-to-WAV transfer and isn't available anywhere else online.

Track Listing:
A1 11:55 (Feat. Laywiy)
A2 Same Old Shit (Feat. Badd Newz)
A3 Fuck What Ya Heard
A4 All Bullshit Aside
A5 One False Move (Feat. Da Konvicted Felon; Dollar Bill; Don Jaguar)
A6 You Wanna Fuck Her
B1 Mayday On The Frontline
B2 Attack On Babylon (Feat. Rhythm D)
B3 Do You Believe?
B4 Mr Fuck Up (Feat. Jermaine ‘Juvenile’ Patterson; J-Rocc; The Whole Click)
B5 Shock Of The Hour (Feat. Kam and Laywiy)

Click Here To Download (43.00 MB)

Above The Law: Call It What U Want (Test Pressing White Label 12") (1992)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:12:33 PST

This is an extremely rare Above The Law vinyl. Not only is it not on any label it is a test pressing 12". Back in the day Specialty Records Corporation used to be one of the largest manufacturers/pressing plants in the world and that's who was responsible for this. Specialty Records Corporation is NOT a record label; don't get it twisted with the label Specialty Records. It was released on 23 April 1992 which was probably the date before the actual 12" went out. That would make sense considering this is a Test Pressing instead of the commercial release. That was just a few months short of 1 year before Black Mafia Life was released on compact disc and not even a year after Vocally Pimpin'.

The selections are the same as the actual 12" I posted a while back but of course the analogue sound varies from vinyl to vinyl. Considering this came from my homeboy's system you should know you'll hear things you've never heard befo'. As much as I dig the album version I dislike it a lot more than I ever have. Listen to the radio edit then listen to the album version on this particular copy. Besides the difference in equalisation [did the mastering engineers boost the top end of the radio edit befo' it was pressed?], the album version has somewhat a claustrophobic feel to it when compared to the radio version. Conversely, the radio version was mixed and mastered beautifully. The guitar, tambourine and the samples used to provide the rest of the beat are all nicely distributed across the channels not to mention everybody's vocals. I don't know what that weird noise is on the right channel but it's more noticeable than ever. As a testament to how good the radio version was mastered there's just enough reverb to the right. It's not easily heard on the album version 'cause it was mixed differently; they really fucked up on that. Both instrumentals sound the same and have even more channel separation. There's somethin' on the left channel I didn't notice on the radio edit possibly 'cause of the vocals.

This is the best-sounding copy you'll ever find of this, probably mo' better than the Ruthless/Giant 12" and promo 12". Get it and claim to have something most people do not. It was edited from a wax-to-WAV transfer.

Track Listing:
A1 Call It What U Want (Radio Edit) (Feat. Tupac and Money B)
A2 Call It What U Want (Instrumental)
B1 Call It What U Want (Album Version) (Feat. Tupac and Money B)
B2 Call It What U Want (Instrumental)

Click Here To Download (17.40 MB)

Lighter Shade Of Brown: Spill The Rhyme (12") (1992)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:38:10 PST

Last year Latin Alliance covered War's Low Rider [Why Can't We Be Friends?, 1975] and this year Lighter Shade Of Brown covered Spill The Wine [Eric Burdon Declares ‘War’, 1970]. Though I dig the reincarnation of Low Rider a lot more that's not to say this is not worth the time of anybody's day. It starts just like the original does and when the beat kicks in you'll hear a very audible organ. That's one of the key components of the mix; that, the piano and what sounds like live drums. The organ only appears when the hook does so if you happen to be an organ fiend it's a good tease. However, the final verse of the radio version has a little injected. Listen carefully to the end and you'll hear more piano. This is one of the recommended cuts offa Hip Hop Locos and 'cause of that I'm glad they made an extended version. One obvious difference is the inclusion of tambourine. The hook is also different too; it doesn't include the Spill The Wine chorus with respect to the 1st instance. That organ is most potent right before the 2nd instance and during that extended bridge. The end has more of the Spill The Wine chorus and piano. Needless to say this is the mo' better version if you like the song at all.

If that's not enough they have an instrumental which is essentially the same as the extended version with no vocal tracks with exceptions for the hook [it's not a true instrumental unfortunately]. It should be entitled ‘Extended Instrumental Version’ but you know the time when you see the durations. I've never liked DJ Muggs's production. It has always sounded too gritty for my liking but this is tolerable. I like how he incorporated the sample in his beat and the thing that makes this worth listenin' to is the completely different verses by ODM and DTTX. This was edited from a wax-to-WAV transfer. I still prefer Spill The Wine from Brown and Proud.

Track Listing:
A1 Spill The Rhyme (Radio Version)
A2 Spill The Rhyme (Extended Version)
A3 Spill The Rhyme (Instrumental Version)
B1 Spill The Wine (Muggs Wine Mix)
B2 Spill The Wine (Muggsamental Version)

Click Here To Download (22.60 MB)

C.P.O.: This Beat Is Funky (Promo CD Single) (1990)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:53:09 PST

This is unquestionably the ‘mo' better’ single of the group. I usually say the 12" pressing is preferred but the Mo' Better Funky Remix sounds just as funky on compact disc as it does on vinyl. This is one you wanna hear a little mo' bass 'cause you've got the horns, organ, guitar and all that instrumentation so the bass helps. Put aside the samples and just dig Ren's production. The Video Mix through a little examination I found has 2 beats. The one is on both channels and the other echos from left to right. I hardly do this but without saving anything I removed the centre channel and focused on soeley the left and right channels. Sho' nuff it was another beat. The centre channel provided more of a kick drum track which I'm sure was done by keyboard. Again put aside the samples and peep what I'm sayin'. The Movement is cool but I'd personally pick a different cut to put on the CD pressing or add more non-LP mixes of somethin' different. Regardless, you now have the option to download both 12" [if anybody requests a re-upload], this or both. It was edited from losslessly compressed files.

Track Listing:
01 This Beat Is Funky (Mo' Better Funky Remix) (Feat. MC Ren)
02 This Beat Is Funky (Video Mix)
03 The Movement (Remix)
04 The Movement (LP Version)

Click Here To Download (16.10 MB)

Lighter Shade Of Brown: Homies (12") (1992)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:49:32 PST

Songs and their sequence vary across different mediums of the same single. I once presented to you the Germany CD pressing of Homies which has 5 tracks and is one of the few times you'll notice the CD pressing having more on it than the vinyl pressing. This contains the title cut plus its instrumental plus On A Sunday Afternoon and Low Rider Madness. I never paid too much attention before but listen to Low Rider Madness on Hip Hop Locos then do the same to both pressings of this single. ODM added vocals to this version which he whispers. You can hear them around 02:30 to 02:40 but you won't hear anything on the album version. To make matters more mysterious nothing on the single provides any insight to that. I've never liked the re-mix of On A Sunday Afternoon till I heard this copy. I never knew how nicely Crystal Blue Persuasion, Groovin', Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) and every other sample used could sound till I was hooked up with yet another drop in the digital wax collection. That bass line is much more clear too. If you download this do so for B1. If you dig that mix you'll dig it even more when you hear this. One important thing many people don't know is there does exist an extremely rare version of On A Sunday Afternoon entitled DJ Juanito Remix. It is 06:45 in duration and is so dope nuthin' comes close, not even the original mix. It was pressed in a very limited quantity of vinyls but was also released on the unauthorised Greatest Hitz in 2003. I'll sho' nuff post that in the future. This was edited from a wax-to-WAV transfer.

Track Listing:
A1 Homies
A2 Low Rider Madness
B1 On A Sunday Afternoon (Feat. Shiro)
B2 Homies (Instrumental)

Click Here To Download (15.10 MB)

I Think I'm Ready

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:30:20 PST

OK, I think it's time I start taking requests for re-uploads. If you make a request [put them in the comments and I will reply to it once it has been re-uploaded] make sure you really want it and will download it so I don't waste my time – I'm very stingy with it. There's a lil' somethin' somethin' I wanna say before I publish this. Firstly, the download speeds will be slow if you don't have a premium account. It's not MegaUpload but it's much better than nothing and it has proved to be reliable thus far. If you want decent speeds buy a premium account. It's going to a good cause, trust me. Secondly, all download links will be protected with a password to try to minimise those who don't visit this blog from downloading [e.g. via FileTram.com, FilesTube.com and other indexing site searches]. I could've done the same with MegaUpload but for whatever reason I decided against it. Every download link created after the password has been provided will remain active for the next 6 hours for that IP address only. I'll soon add a notice below the posts stating what the password is. I hope this works the way it's meant to and if my homies are readin' this you know I got your back. Game rec-OG-niz game, you know the time.

Just When You Think I'm Gone…

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:39:51 PST

There's hope! A good and very knowledgeable down-ass homie of mine put me up on game. From the ashes of MegaUpload comes a project launched by not only somebody I know but somebody I can trust and have trusted for long enough to know this blog might survive. I never said I was gonna shut these O.G. doors and now it seems I won't have to. It's too soon to say definitively but don't fall off 'cause after I do a few tests you'll hopefully read a post saying I'm taking re-upload requests. That's the only way I'll know what to re-upload provided I still have it. The layout of the site is worlds better and more accessible than MegaUpload was after they revamped it in 2008[?] and since I have an unlimited premium account [naturally] my limit is 7,000 MB. I'll have to ask him if there's a download limit but that's my upload limit. Like I said, stay tuned 'cause if it all turns out right I'll be able to do what y'all still want me to do.

Every Fed Has His Price

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:04:46 PST

Well… what can I say? I should've posted more frequently? I shouldn't have fucked around as much? Maybe I shouldn't have. Even still I had post after post planned even though they weren't yet expressed in writing. Now what? Where do I go from here? All my hard work and bandwidth wasted, or so it seems. This is no joke and it makes me personally want to pull a MASS 187 on ALL those who were involved in this catastrophic tragedy. Not much has made an impact of this magnitude. My condolences go out to Kim Dotcom, founder of the wonderful, uncprecedented, one-of-a-kind, almost-addicting, … MegaUpload file hosting service. I can not express my gratitude in writing but all I can do, all anybody can do, is hope for something to take its place. That just represents what a worthless, power-hungry, big-headed, egotistical, greedy … conglomeration the corporate United States Of America truly is not to mention those in Germany and other countries.

I hope and wish everybody involved in the take-down of the MegaUpload.com domain and all its data centres the most painful, horrible, gruesome deaths. Where do I go from here? Can not go anywhere else but up.

Above The Law: Vocally Pimpin' (12" EP) (1991)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:20:37 PST

In 1990 they were Livin' Like Hustlers and now they are Vocally Pimpin' like nobody has befo'. If there's one album by the TRUE inventors of G Funk I never thought I'd hear on vinyl it's this one. Most people don't consider this 9-track EP an album and whilst it isn't a full-length album it should be counted. I once said Black Mafia Life was the blueprint to G Funk but I was wrong; this one is. No disrespect to Dre but no version of The Chronic or anything from Death Row could ever compete with this. They are truly Vocally Pimpin'. Listen to Cold 187um's inflection and laid back style on Livin' Like Hustlers. I need not say any more about that; now listen to this one-of-a-kind EP.

Cold 187um and KMG are on a whole 'nother level as they kick the knowledge to ya but in order to understand you've gotta be on the same level. Dose Of The Mega Flex which features the sine wave synthesiser [likely before Dre even thought about using it] contains KMG's most pimpologic pimpolicious and fonky verses ever recorded and the entire song is his. If Playin' Your Game didn't teach you anything this will. KMG straight up breaks it all the way down in. This should've been titled Pimpology 101 'cause there's no other way to describe it but perfection. Also, llisten to the instrumentation and how it was mixed. I know I speak about mixing methodology more than ever but when it comes to mixing this is 2nd to none. The bass guitar and piano on the right plus the guitar on the left not to mention all the other components make it very unique along with the rest of the EP. The same goes for their vocals: one is usually on one channel and the other is on the opposite. Everybody knows 4 The Funk Of It but it's a good example of Cold 187um's departure from the ‘chilllin' like a villain’ vocal style. He has more inflection than anybody I've ever heard but I guess that can be attributed to the elasticity of his voice. I don't think it's reverb they put on the track but it has a certain noticeable type of spacious atmosphere towards the left channel only they can make work. Wicked has an intro and if you pay adequate attention you'll hear the brotha who tells them to ‘shhh’ is the same one who appears on N.W.A.'s unreleased 1-900-2-COMPTON skit. He's the one they talk to from a jail telephone and tell to get 'em out. They took a break from spittin' game and come with another kind of real. I never noticed it befo' but Kokane does the hook [he's good with voices]. The spacial vibe must be a theme they wanted for the album 'cause the G-Mix of Livin' Like Hustlers has it more than A4 and A5 but it wouldn't be the same without it. Listen to Crazy Neck play that guitar [there are 2 tracks that were mixed in]. You won't hear it like this elsewhere. Have you ever noticed the timing of Cold 187um's vocals are different on 4 The Funk Of It's radio edit versus the album version? Finally, I've gotta know who that Joe Braxton is. The commercial is the only skit on which I've ever heard his voice, somethin' like sergeant Kickass from N.W.A.'s Sa Prize Part 2 skit. The music can't be mo' fonky than it is. Speed it up in every conceivable way and you'll get a continuously replayed clip of Funky Worm direct from the record. It's one of the best skits of the year even though it's only a gang of telephone calls.

Ruthless had a habit of crediting virtually unknown names on albums but not mentioning their respective songs. That accounts for this EP: Funkette and Tha New Funkateers were given proper credit but to what songs they belong I don't know. I took a chance and attributed them to Dose Of The Mega Flex. I then forgot about ‘hold up wait a minute’ on 4 The Funk Of It so I probably fucked up. Unless Kokane is a member of Tha New Funkateers he's not mentioned anywhere. If you read album credits you know that's not how they usually did it [read Black Mafia Life if you don't believe me]. Snow is the other person you hear in the background. He's also on Meditation [Addictive Hip Hop Muzick, 1991] but I don't know nuthin' about him. The CD is one thing but this is somethin' so unlawful it might turn you into a mega playa. You won't find this elsewhere and that's givin' up the real. It was edited from a wax-to-WAV transfer.

Track Listing:
A1 Playlude
A2 Playin' Your Game
A3 Dose Of The Mega Flex (Feat. Funkette; Snow; Tha New Funkateers)
A4 4 The Funk Of It (Feat. Kokane)
A5 Wicked (Feat. Kokane)
B1 Livin' Like Hustlers (G-Mix)
B2 4 The Funk Of It (Radio Edit) (Feat. Kokane)
B3 B.M.L. (Commercial)
B4 4 The Funk Of It (Pimpsextramental) (Feat. Kokane)

Click Here To Download (39.23 MB)

Above The Law: Untouchable (Promo 12") (1990)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:52:58 PST

There were a handful of different pressings of this single on vinyl alone. This is the best one 'cause it has the most tracks. What Cha Can Prove was the version used for the Untouchable video back in 1990 if you're not hip to the music video scene. There are 3 versions of that and only 1 of the original version. If it was up to me Menace To Society would have been replaced with an instrumental of A1. You've NEVER heard the samples used like you'll hear them here. I'm not gonna speak on those 'cause you should already know the time. One thing I will say is to let the horns on A1 take you whereever they take you; they've never sounded better. I don't know why B2 is labelled as a ‘Mega Mix’ 'cause that implies there was more than a single song mixed. Eazy-E's Mega Mix 12" released in 1995 is a mega mix but this isn't. Lastly, although not credited, Mike Sims [the guitar player that stayed with Above The Law till 1996] is the one who provided the voice on Menace To Society. I once posted this years ago but this is copy is much improved so replace it if you downloaded it. If not download it 'cause you know you're on fiend. It was edited from a wax-to-WAV transfer.

Track Listing:
A1 Untouchable
A2 What Cha Can Prove (Mega Mix)
B1 What Cha Can Prove (Radio Edit)
B2 Menace To Society (Feat. Mike ‘Crazy Neck’ Sims)
B3 What Cha Can Prove (Instrumental)

Click Here To Download (21.58 MB)

A.L.T.: Stone Cold World (LP) (1993)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:47:59 PST

If you think about it this is truly a classic Chicano rap album. Not every Chicano rap album is classic but this one is. It's just somethin' to ride to. If you've downloaded the vinyl single which I highly recommend you should know what to expect. A.L.T. is one of those vatos whose voice works well with the doubled vocals. The majority of the album depicts a day in the life of him and his homies in east Los Angeles – a common theme of Chicano rap. There are 3 cuts that stand on their own with respect to lyrical content. Get Out My Life hits hard with realities about his drug addictions. True or not it's one of those cuts to which you listen more intently. Heaven Can't Wait is another one containing potent lyrics about what really goes down on the streets and not just those in Cali either. Stone Cold World illustrates exactly that and anybody who doesn't think the world in which they live is stone cold to say the least is either in denial or just doesn't know anything about reality.

When I initially heard the CD pressing I noticed how well it was put together. When I split both sides of this days ago I realised the CD has nothin' on this. The channels are very well balanced and of course the channel separation lets more of the underlying harmonics come through. For examples, I've never noticed the subtle subtle reverberation on Audi 5000; a whole 'nother drum track on the right channel of All Nite Long [what is that?]; the short guitar bits, the echo of the saxophone and the noise in the background on verse 2 on 17 Shots; That continuous tone in the background that stops on the last drum beat on Heaven Can't Wait; the noticeable reverberation Plus all that good sounding piano towards the end of Stone Cold World. Simply worded: this sounds extremely better than the CD pressing – especially Ridin' High, Audi 5000 and Stone Cold World. This was edited from a wax-to-WAV transfer and came from the same place as the single.

Track Listing:
A1 Ridin' High (Feat. Rich Garcia)
A2 Deez Nutz
A3 Audi 5000
A4 All Nite Long
A5 Just Go Blank
B1 Take You Back (Feat. Slow Pain)
B2 17 Shots
B3 Get Out My Life
B4 Heaven Can't Wait
B5 Stone Cold World (Feat. Rich Garcia)

Click Here To Download (36.01 MB)

Tairrie B.: Swingin' Wit ‘T’ (Promo CD Single) (1990)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:45:35 PST

This is the other of 2 singles released to promote her only album. If you're more concerned about lyrical content there's little difference between the remix and LP versions. The mixes are vastly different, hence the former being a remix. Her vocals sound a little closer and one thing you'll notice almost immediately is the cycle effect they put on the remix. Small sound effects were added in the background in verse 1. Verse 2 is different; the LP version references N.W.A. and contains a clip of an Eazy-E song. The outros are also slightly different.

The really fucked up part of this is the vinyl 12" pressing contains 2 additional versions this CD single should. For those who lack access to the medium it takes away from them. Needless to say the remix is very much better than the LP version. She's always had dynamic inflection in her delivery no matter how fake she sounds tryin' to be hardcore but it works. This was edited from losslessly compressed files. This proves Ruthless didn't need Dr. Dre to play a part in production for it to sound just as good.

Track Listing:
01 Swingin' Wit ‘T’ (Remix)
02 Swingin' Wit ‘T’ (LP)

Click Here To Download (8.60 MB)

C.P.O.: This Beat Is Funky (12") (1990)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:58:31 PST

The Mo' Better Funky Remix has gotta be the closest gangsta rap has ever came to pure Funk. Every instrument sounds live but that could simply be the reverberation they added. I know the organ and guitars are however. The horns if sampled from somewhere are what really put the Funk in Funky Remix! This must-listen sounds like a mix between Hip-Hop, Funk and Jazz with that saxophone after Lil' Nation's verses commence. I really dig that too and of course those horns. It's too perfect; they should've made it extended like Dre did Dre Day. Nothing can compare to that so expect not too much from the Video Mix. The A-Side samples Funky President by James Brown and the B-Side I Know You Got Soul by Bobby Byrd. Both A1 and B1 were remixed by MC Ren. These are probably his best productions to date – especially A1.

I've re-uploaded this with a MO' better copy. If you've downloaded the old one delete and replace it with this. It was edited from a wax-to-WAV transfer culled from the same source as the Ballad Of A Menace 12" vinyl single. The CD single will follow in the future when I secure it.

Track Listing:
A1 This Beat Is Funky (Mo' Better Funky Remix) (Feat. MC Ren)
A2 This Beat Is Funky (Video Mix)
B1 The Movement (Remix)
B2 The Movement (LP Version)

Click Here To Download (15.60 MB)

Loon-E-Toon and DJ Mike Tee: Tha Good Ole Dayz/Catch A Contact (Promo 12") (1993)

noreply@blogger.com (Tha Jsta) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:56:35 PST

It came more quickly than I thought. This is the single to which I referred in the last Loon-E-Toon post and is a much better one if you ask me. That bass line you hear with that keyboard I guess it is should give you the assumption it's gonna be a dope track. The ‘one two’ clip you hear on the left channel is a song by New York rapper Biz Markie. I think it's called Make The Music With Your Mouth Biz but since I'm not down with rap from there if it's not 1985 and older I can't say. I don't know what that thing is ‘the good ole days’ on the right. When the drum track starts you hear that familiar Ohio Players sample of Funky Worm [Pleasure, 1972]. It goes well with the other components. Listen carefully to the right channel and you'll hear ‘oh yea’. That's an excerpt of Fun by Con Funk Shun [Secrets, 1977] but it's not a direct sample 'cause there's a beat behind it. That means somebody incorporated it in whatever thang you hear; Mike T should've spun the original like Joe Cooley did. From verse 1 till the song ends there's some subtle noise from left to right. I'm confident that's a very short More Bounce To The Ounce clip and the left channel has the same clap as that song as difficult to distinguish as it may be. There's something else on the right channel but somebody gotta tell me what it is. The instrumental lets you hear all this. The vocal version originally had a few instances backmasked but after re-reversing those I found they went a step farther and replaced what was there with clips from elsewhere. This brotha has a simple flow and speaks directly to you whilst telling his story. This is one of my favourites off'a the EP.

The B-Side is good too although not as. The Faze-O song has been re-used much too many times but still sounds good with the other samples. On the left channel you'll hear much more easily The Breakdown Part 2 by Rufus Thomas when his verse begins and pay attention to what I have a strong feeling is Ashley's Roachclip by The Soul Searchers on the right. The hi-hats sound too much like Compton's Most Wanted's Driveby Miss Daisy which also sampled it. This also has an accompanying instrumental. Rude Awakening is OK but I never liked a reggaeton flava mixed in my G Funk. That's just me but tell me what you think if you're so inclined. This is still better than Everybody Duck found on the other single. Does anybody know what the purpose of the outro is? That has no reason to be there. This is a really dope single if you like to hear decent samples and his voice which is scarce considering he released hardly anything. It was edited from a wax-to-WAV transfer.

Track Listing:
A1 Tha Good Ole Dayz (Vocal)
A2 Tha Good Ole Dayz (Instrumental)
B1 Catch A Contact (Vocal) (Feat. Rude Awakening)
B2 Catch A Contact (Instrumental)

Click Here To Download (18.39 MB)