During the interview with Meyhem which I dropped yesterday, I asked him which three songs he’d play to someone who’d never heard hip-hop from Queens before. He gave me five…

5. Nas - ‘New York State Of Mind’

Robbie: I need to listen to this every time Nas does something stupid to remind myself how ill he can be. Obviously, I listen to this a lot.

4. Capone-N-Noreaga - ‘Blood Money’

Robbie: EZ Elpee was on fire during this period, while NORE just ‘did him’ at his finest.

3. Mobb Deep - ‘Shook Ones Pt. II’

Meyhem: I respect Run-DMC, but my era’s the nineties. I listen to Run-DMC to this day, but if I wanna mention what makes me tick and influenced me in my youth and made me wanna rhyme? It’s that ’93 to ’97 era.

2. Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - ‘Road To The Riches’

Meyhem: If you listen to what G Rap was saying and listen to how he’s flowin – and think about the time that came out and how advanced it was? That shit was crazy.

1. Iron Sheiks [Tragedy Khadafi & Imam THUG] - ‘True Confessions’

Meyhem: When this dropped, it was so retarded I lost my mind. Trag’s flow is so technical and stupid on that – it really took you to a whole ‘nother level. If you rap, you really had to kick it up a notch after you heard that. The second verse Trag kicks is so crazy…that’s hip-hop to me. That’s what I breathe. That’s what I came up on.

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The Dude wins again.

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You might know Meyhem from his work with J-Love, as he’s hosted the majority of his mixtapes and appeared on all of J’s street CD’s, and is also a member of The Outdoorsman crew. Not to mention his outstanding contribution to the Counter Strike tape (‘Animal Science’ feat. Roc Marciano) and numerous dope songs he’s been leaking as he prepares to release several solo projects in 2010. I recently took a minute out to build with this Queens representative on the rise…

Robbie: When did you start working with J-Love?

Meyhem: I knew J from before I rhymed. We’re from the same neighborhood and we had mutual friends. I started doing my thing with the music and he was already ‘J-Love’ by then, and one day I just went up to him like, ‘J, I need some beats’. And he’s like, ‘What are you talkin’ about? Beats?’ He didn’t even know I rhymed, and we kinda took it from there.

Plus you both collected Polo gear, right?

That’s actually how we got cool in the first place. We know the same people and we were the two Polo heads out the group – tradin’ items, dealin’, switchin’ all that – this is when we were younger, but that definitely built our friendship.

What age did your ‘Lo addiction start?

Junior high school, like twelve, thirteen. Just stuck with me forever, you know? I used to be into graffiti a lot when I was younger – I used to write – and through graff, fashion comes with it. People used to rock a lot of Polo and North Face, and we used to boost paint to go bombin’ and then we met people boostin’ ‘Lo. I had a lotta friends from Brooklyn, they went and put me on, and the team that I repped – it’s an honor to rep – the Brooklyn Lo-Life’s, they’re the original ‘Lo team comin’ outta Brooklyn. A lot did it, but if you really do the knowledge and really ask about who started it and who really put it down to make Polo blow to the extent that it did? It was them. That’s who I run with – my man Thirstin Howl III, FI-LO, Bar, Disco – all the originals over there.

Back when thirty or forty dudes would walk into a store and just start grabbing shit?

Sometimes it might be a hundred! This is obviously in the past, but I’m still in it for the fashion. If it’s not broken don’t fix it – Ralph hasn’t let me down yet! I’m a Nike head – Air Max 95 or Jordan’s or Air Force 1’s – and I rock Gucci kicks and shit, but ‘Lo is the main focus. I might put a little North Face in the mix or some old Gortex, but for the most part I’m a simple guy. If it’s not Polo or one of those brands it’s like no brand! You might see me in a white t-shirt or a army jacket, something regular. But I’m pretty loyal to Polo for the most part.

When did you catch the bug to start rhyming seriously?

I’d say about 2003. That’s when I first started working with J-Love on a major level. I didn’t even know how to write bars at that point – I just knew how to rhyme, and I had to mold myself, develop myself and develop my style.

Who were your main influences?

I can definitely say the Wu as a whole, Tragedy…Kool G Rap is probably my favorite MC. G Rap in his prime is untouchable. 4,5,6 is like my bible – ‘Blowin’ Up In The World’ was like my theme music in high school. M.O.P, Jay-Z too. Queens as a whole – Nas, ‘Mega – all that. That’s what I came up on.

How many songs would you say you’ve recorded so far?

Roughly two hundred.

How do you manage to maintain that kind of pace? There was a time when all you’d need was an album every year and some remixes.

This generation in general has such a short attention span you get forgotten quickly, and at the same time if you’re an up-and-coming artist you have to really get the people’s attention. If you’re established and you have that fan-base and you sold ‘x’ amount of records, you can come out once a year, once every two years. But someone in my position? You’ve gotta let ‘em see you’re hungry and keep reminding them that you’re relevant. The worse thing that you can do in the game – no matter who you are – is stop being relevant. And the only way you can do that is stop working. So I gotta let the world know I’m here.

But what about doing a freestyle a day for a month on YouTube?

That’s a little excessive to me. When you do things like that, you deplete your value. I feel you have to maintain a balance, ‘cos if you throw a new song out every week you’re gonna have songs that get over-looked, you’re gonna use all your material and then it’s like, ‘Who cares about this song?’, ‘cos there’s gonna be another one next week, so people don’t really get a chance to hold on and really savor that song. Sometimes when you do too much it’s almost like doing nothing at all.

Can you break down what you have planned for 2010?

I’m doing the mixtape thing first, starting in July, and the next is Self-Induced Illness, which is a street album. It’s actually gonna be a double album, ‘cos I have a lot of material. Between the mixtape and Self-Induced… I’m really hittin’ the people with a good sixty joints just in the first half of the year, so I don’t try and cheat the people! I’m working on another LP – which I’m viewing as my first LP – and the production line-up’s crazy. I’m featuring Ayatollah, getting a beat from Just Blaze for that project, J-Love’s producing a lot of it. I’m gonna get a beat from Large [Pro] for that project, so it’s really gonna be crazy. But that’s not dropping ‘till next year, so I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself.

Is it still possible to actually sell mixtapes now?

Things might not sell as much as they did, but if you put quality music out there, people will still buy it. For an artist in my position, I’m using them more as a promotional tool. I just want to be heard at this point. Believe me – J has a good following, he makes decent money off mixtapes still, despite everything going on with them. If you have a steady fan-base and you give the fans what they want, then they will support you. Not everyone will just download.

What do you in your down-time when you’re not doing music?

I recently got back in the gym…I’m kinda boring, honestly. I don’t drink like that – I drink on occasion – I don’t smoke, I don’t go out, parties…if it’s not music or working-out, I’m just chillin’, figuring out the next step. Really, my life is music, truthfully – and still fashion. If I’m not doing music, I’m buying gear. If I’m not buying gear, I’m doing music…or I’m eating out! I’m into fine dining. I’m all about culinary arts. My brother is a chef and my man Action [Bronson] – his family owns a restaurant too. I’ve been cooking since I was young. I’m always trying new recipes and eating-out places. That’s one of my favorite pastimes.

Speaking of food, have you heard of the Reef and Beef?

No, I haven’t.

It’s a steak with prawns and lobster on top of it.

Wow, that definitely sounds like something I wanna marry. I definitely want a serious relationship with that steak!

Meyhem Lauren - ‘True Confessions Freestyle’

Meyhem Lauren - ‘Sound Boy Buriel Freestyle’

Meyhem Lauren - ‘The Bigger Picture’

Meyhem Lauren - ‘Bout 2 Win Again’

J-Love & Meyhem Lauren feat.Thirstin Howl III – ‘Stay Sharp’

Counter Strike – The Unkut Dot Com Mixtape, Hosted BY DJ Doo Wop

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Just caught this over at Grand Good – Kane explaining the story behind some of his greatest records for the Classic Rhymes series.

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At the Raekwon show the other night, I witnessed the next generation of weed holding. Several members Ice Water were helping out The Chef on stage as you might expect, but it wasn’t long before one of the co-stars tired of vocal back-ups and abandoned his mic in favor of taking care of the drinks for everyone on stage. Every time Lex Diamonds required a top-up of his vodka and cranberry, this loyal side-kick made it happen. When a bag of local weed was handed to Shallah, he quickly passed it to the same dude so he could roll it a fatty, and when some skeezer’s/jump-off’s started hanging out on stage behind the crew, homeboy started the ever-important ’selection process’. Salute for a job well done! Meanwhile, Rae did his thing as you might expect, peppering his performance with words of encouragement for folk with self-confidence issues and urging the crackers in the crowd to try and bag some black chicks when they get the chance. Much like other Wu shows, Rae spent a lot of time performing his crew’s rhymes for some reason, but when did shit from the original Cuban Linx all was forgiven. That reminds me, I still haven’t ordered that Linx 2 vinyl….

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This is Critical Beatdown for 2010. While it doesn’t exactly share any similarities in terms of the beat science presented, Marcberg is a game-changer. Much like the impact of Ultramagnetic MC’s long-awaited debut, you’ve never really heard an album like this before. No guest producers, over-used hooks or any type of traditional song-structure for that matter. This is fourteen cuts of raw flows over minimalistic tracks – only built for real rap connoisseurs.

Marciano delivers a verbal technique that combines a stream-of-consciousness flow with traditional street wisdom, all wrapped-up in a complex labyrinth of flow patterns and cadences. This is the kind of record that sounds like it was made on the artists own terms – no A&R interference or forced collaborations, no pandering to current trends – and it’s all the better for it. Even though previous work with his UN crew featured beats from Large Professor and Pete Rock, it was the tracks he produced himself that knocked the hardest…and he didn’t even own a sampler back then. Now armed with an MPC-2500 and a razor-sharp ear, Roc has really knocked this one out the park. The stripped-down production essentially serves as a platform to showcase the flows on display here – and if you have even a passing familiarity with Marcy’s catalog, then it will be no surprise that he beasts every beat on here.

The previously leaked ‘Snow’ really sets the benchmark here, with cuts like ‘Don Shit’, ‘Real Raw’ and ‘Thugs Prayer’ decimating the competition with line after line of ill imagery, sly boasts and that trademark unorthodox delivery that keeps it in the pocket regardless of the tempo. ‘Jungle Fever’ is the best homage to the ‘rich man’s aspirin’ ever, while ‘Ridin Around’ is the ideal soundtrack to driving while twisted. ‘Panic’ makes you remember why you started messing rap in the first place – that hardcore, sinister anti-social sound that demands to be put on repeat. There’s honestly nothing that you’ll skip or fast-forward on here.

After a long wait, Roc Marciano has achieved a feat that I thought was near impossible in this era – a consistent, cohesive album. A clear vision without any outside interference, executed flawlessly. Casting off the shackles of over-produced melodrama, Marcy has cut his own path through the backwoods of the industry and cemented his place in the legacy of great Long Island lyricists.

Marcberg is out through Fat Beats on 20 April on CD and vinyl EP.

Roc Marciano - ‘Marcberg’

Roc Marciano – The Unkut Interview

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The God is back. Produced by Pete Rock, from Wild Cowboys 2.

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Mark down April 20, 2010 on your calender…the long-awaited, most-anticipated official solo shot from Roc Marcy is finally dropping through Fat Beats on CD and vinyl EP. I’m gonna call this as having a 90% chance of being the album of the year even even half of it is as good as ‘Snow’.

Roc Marciano - ‘Whateva, Whateva’

Shouts to Legend.

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Queens-bred production duo Thorotracks (Sam & Jay) have been putting it down as a crew since 2002, and have delivered dope beats for everyone from Sean Price to NYG’z, Casual to Killah Priest, Krumbsnatcha to Skyzoo. With two compilations under their belt (The Saga Begins and The Saga Continues) and the dope new mixtape from their group The Closers (not to mention that exclusive joint for the Unkut Counter Strike tape) doing the rounds right now, you can count on these dudes to deliver the goods again and again. Here are some of the highlights from a conversation I had with Sam Thoro a couple of months back.

Robbie: How long have you and Jay been a crew?

Sam Thoro: We’ve been together as a group eight, nine years. He’s from Lefrak, and I’m from Woodside. When we started working together we just never stopped. I do a lot more of the sampling and he does a lot more of drums – now – ‘cos we kinda got it down to a science. Sometimes we do beats on our own, but most of the time we do everything together. Between the two of us we have like fifty crates of records. I might do the sample, he might do the drums, then I might play the bass line and we dump everything right into Pro Tools. He’s a DJ so if there’s scratches then he scratches – I’m an engineer so I’ll mix. Most of the stuff you hear from us that sounds good? I recorded it.

Did you do get any training to become an engineer?

Nah, not even, man. It’s the craziest story – my partner found a laptop – he was working at the airport and he found one. Someone had left it there, flew out somewhere, didn’t claim it. Grabbed it – it was a Mac – so we were like, ‘Fuck it, let’s buy an M-Box’. Bought Pro Tools and then we just started recording. That’s when I was working with Royal Flush all the time, so he’d come to the crib and we were like, ‘Fuck studio time, we gonna record ourselves’. We had that shit set-up in the basement, recording in the bathroom. I didn’t even really know what I was doin’ at first, man. I just called a couple of my peoples to bother ‘em, like, ‘Yo, how you do this?’ Fronted like I knew what was doin’, and eventually just learned. ‘Deep Thoughts’ was cut down there from Killa Sha, a lot of the Royal Flush stuff was cut down there. People used to ask me, ‘Where you record that shit at?’ ‘My fuckin’ bathroom!’

What was the first project you ever worked on?

The first person we ever worked with in the industry was Blaq Poet. That’s like family to me – we know each other from hood shit before that. After that we got up with Royal Flush and we was runnin’ around with him a lot. I was managing Royal Flush for a couple of years and we were doin’ a lot of production for him. He had dropped a CD called Street Boss, and that’s probably the first real CD that we featured on and first vinyl that came out with us on it. We did ‘Q.U’ on there and ‘Man Up’ with Troy Slugs. After that we connected with Shabaam Sahdeeq – and to this day we still grindin’ heavy with him – workin’ with the NYG’z, we did two joints on their first album. I met them through Poet, too. We did ‘Connect 4’ from Sean P’s Master P CD and two joints on Killa Sha’s album. He shoulda sold a lotta units on that, it was a fuckin’ good CD. ‘Deep Thoughts’ is one of my favorite tracks that we’ve done.

What are you working on next?

We got a new group we just started called The Closers. The Closer is the pitcher in baseball that comes in at the last inning to make sure that no more runs get scored and you win the game. Shabaam Sahdeeq, Red Eye – he’s from Queens but he’s in Orlando now – and Thorotracks Productions. We also dropped The Saga Continues mixtape on iTunes while we’re working on the Thorotracks album.

It seems like no one wants to admit to being a fan anymore.

I still buy records. If you don’t like what’s on the radio – go buy the shit you like, and change things! I have some of my own peoples, ‘Oh, dude! This wack shit on the radio!’ They ain’t buy their own man’s shit! They won’t even buy certain people we fuck’s with album. Somebody we work with might be doing an in-store at the record store, and I’mma walk in there and while people are standing around I might be the first one to buy their record and give to them, ‘Alright, sign this for me’. They might laugh at me, but you know what? Every single thing we ever worked on – we bought. You ask people what the last CD they bought was – they never know what to say, man. That shit be funny.

I miss cutting out of school to buy the new CD that came out. That’s what we used to do in New York – people would play hooky to go grab the new Nas CD or whatever came out. It wasn’t enough that you could get a copy from your friend – you had to go buy that yourself! I remember when Strapped came out on HBO – everybody grabbed their 40’s and went to the crib and watched that movie and then came back out, like, ‘Oh, you see that saw that shit?’ Nothin’ moves people anymore like that no more – everything’s fast and forgotten and over with real quick. When Big L’s first album came out? We sat there like, ‘Ohhh!’ and digested that whole shit! ‘You hear what he said, yo?’ I love lookin’ at the covers and all that. They tryin’ to completely destroy that. I remember I got pulled over and got a noise-pollution ticket for blastin’ the first Wu-Tang tape – crazy shit – on a Sunday morning! [laughs] It’s hard, ‘cos the classics are taken away because people drop so much shit and it’s so fast paced that you don’t have time to sit there and marinate to let it even become a classic – even though some people drop dope records.

I don’t suppose you know what happened to Kyron’s project?

I don’t know. I ran into him recently – it was Poet’s album release so we ran into him in the hood. It was Queensbridge, we went there at like 11 o’clock in the morning but we were drunk by 1:30 in the afternoon. We went to Poet’s in-store twisted – that was bad, bro. Then it was 6 o’clock and we were like, ‘Fuck, we still got a show tonight?’ We just kept drinking. We probably shouldn’t have bought a bottle of Henny and six-pack on the way to Queensbridge. That’s me and Poet’s problem – when we get together, we get drunk. I don’t know what the hell’s with that…we always get twisted. I never see him drunk unless he’s with me. The funny thing is when I’m with Po we’ll end-up drinking Olde English or some crazy shit. He came here with St. Ides the other day, matter-of-fact! [laughs]

Thorotracks Site

The Closers – Bullpen Sessionz

Counter Strike – The Unkut Dot Com Mixtape

Blaq Poet feat. Shabaam Sahdeeq, Phantasm & Killa Sha - ‘Grimey Niggas’

Thorotracks feat. Sean Price, Shabaam Sahdeeq, U.G. & Casual - ‘Connect 4′

Killa Sha - ‘Deep Thoughts’

Thorotracks feat. Smiley The Ghetto Child - ‘Gangsta On Da Track’

The Closers - ‘Unkut’

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Free Tragedy Khadafi!

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The artist formerly known as Tony Bones from The Home Office put together this ad for the Villain In Black’s new range of Swap Meet Snacks, which got me thinking – what are some rap endorsements that need to happen? Tim Dog’s Extra Beef Burgers? Lords of the Underground’s Squidgy Set? Neek The Exotic’s Exotic Spices of The Orient? OJ Da Juiceman’s Fruit and Vegetable Juicemaker?

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You know that Shabaam Sahdeeq, Red Eye and Thorotracks came through with one of the hardest songs on the Counter Strike tape, right? Here’s more of the raw from these Queens representatives, with assists from Blaq Poet, Planet Asia, Krumb Snatcha, Reks and Gab Gacha. Look out for my interview with Sam from Thorotracks next week…

The Closers – Bullpen Sessionz

Back cover:

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An amusing clip of Keith E.E. in happier days, breaking down some hip-hop basics. As we’re constantly reminded, he’s having ‘fun’. Maybe it was the Stella’s?

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Here’s a track that didn’t make the Counter Strike tape. Un Pacino and H-Brando from Hard White rep over a Grimy Kid track. I ended-up using ‘Murder, She Wrote’ on the Counter Strike tape instead, but this works too. Courtesy of Ammo from G.I.T. Records.

Hard White - ‘21 Grams’

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As you would have heard by now, Keith E.E. ‘The Guru’ is seriously ill following a heart-attack. While there has been a flood of support from his friends and fans, this sad news has also given fuel to trolling douche bags to take some cheap shots at the man. Don’t get it twisted, bent-up or confused – at the height of their career, nobody was touching Gang Starr when it came to the classic MC / DJ combination. Not even Pete Rock & CL Smooth can match their legacy when you consider that The GURU and DJ Premier gave us three of the greatest rap albums ever made. Once Keith E.E. broke out from the Gangstarr Posse in Boston and hopped a Greyhound to the Rotten Apple – where he was soon to be paired-up with Texan DJ Premier – it was on like Donkey Kong. Following some early 12″s with The 45 King, No More Mr. Nice Guy introduced the world to the group known as Gang Starr in all their rough-around-the-edges glory.

Despite a horrible cover and some low-budget recording (“first album took us two weeks”), the record contained enough sparks of originality to catch the attention of everyone who wasn’t born legally deaf. Once the ‘Manifest’ and ‘Positivity’ remixes hit, we were offered a glimpse into the true potential that these two outta state characters were about to display. When Step In The Arena hit the following year, it showcased the phenomenal development of the crew. Premier had since cut his teeth on Lord Finesse’s debut album, and the time spent rubbing shoulders in the studio with Showbiz and Diamond D clearly paid off, as his sampling and programming techniques were now cutting-edge, while GURU had evolved from his self-conscious ‘posititive’ content of his earlier lyrics into a self-assured intelligent hoodlum persona. There was nothing else really like it when it dropped – eighteen tracks, some clocking in at under two minutes? …Arena was fresh, original and raw without pandering to the trends of the day. Resistance was futile once ‘Just To Get A Rep’ hit…

Daily Operation managed to up the ante another notch, as the crew responded to the misguided ‘Jazz Rap’ tag by unleashing a stripped-down, unapologetic declaration of hardcore beats and rhymes. While the ‘in-crowd’ was busy shouting corny chants and multiple beat change-ups, Gangstarr unleashed unyielding loops, sparse tracks and scratched hooks. Gifted Unlimited proved time and time again that it wasn’t ‘Mostly Tha Voice’ after all, as his in-the-cut delivery and brutally honest worldview provided the ideal compliment to the stark tracks. And who could forget the timeless b-side insanity that is ‘DWYCK’…

For anybody that was yet to be convinced for some inexplicable reason, Hard To Earn delivered the knock-out blow in 1994, as the Gangstarr Foundation were given even more exposure (following ‘Speak Ya Clout’ from the previous project), as Melachi The Nutcracker, Big Shug, Lil’ Dap and Jeru The Damaja got a little shine. Moment of Truth proved that only were they still relevant in a rapidly-changing commercial landscape, but still had a few tricks up their sleeve as well (such as getting Scarface on a track), while even the troubled The Ownerz had some gems on it.

The legendary status of Gang Starr is rarely questioned, so that’s not the issue here. The problem is that many Johnny-come-lately’s want to try and diminish the contributions of GURU to the Gang Starr sound. They insist that Premier’s tracks carried him, his rhyme styleis too basic or that the crew would have been better with someone else handling vocal duties. These people are morons. Not only did GURU co-produce every record that the crew ever released, but he’s been responsible for more classic quotes and vocal hooks than you might initially realize. ‘Shorty said nah,pulled the trigger and stepped….’ ring any bells? Despite any misgivings you might have about the Jazzmattaz projects, if nothing else I’m sure GURU bagged some bad-ass jazz broads over in France on the strength of that shit. Please take moment to stop jocking Preme and acknowledge the vet that is Gifted Unlimited Rhymes Universal, and wish him a speedy recovery while you’re at it.

Gangstarr - ‘Credit Is Due’

Gangstarr - ‘The ? Remains’

Gangstarr - ‘The Place Where We Dwell’

Gangstarr - ‘Gotta Get Over’ [Large Professor Remix]

GURU - ‘Doo Wop Freestyle’

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