Diamond D And The Psychotic Neurotics – Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop 2xLP

Get On Down (2014, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Diamond D (Or Diamond as he's billed on this particular album cover for whatever reason) is part of the Diggin' In The Crates (DITC) crew and has hand on the production side of classics throughout the 90s.  He also can step up to the mic with the best of them as he proves on his debut album from 1992: Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop.  I've written before about my never ending love for 1992 as far as being one of the most under appreciated years in hip hop, but I haven't written about this album before.

Part of the reason is that for whatever reason, l I didn't hear this album back when it was released.  I was neck deep in hip hop at the time, but whether it was from lack of funds or lack of awareness I didn't check this album out until quite a few years later.  I've also had this on vinyl for absolute AGES, but kept passing it over to write about something different over and over.  The funny thing is it's because I love this record and don't want to inadvertently give the impression that I don't.

How could that happen? It's mostly because of one track, "Sally Got A One Track Mind."  I just don't like this song.  It's slow, it's kind of a downer and it's sitting there at track three, just grinding the album to a halt before it even begins.  I know it's a song that people point to as being one of the great cuts here, and I will never try to convince someone not to like anything, but this is one of those songs that has never clicked for me personally.  Once I get past that, this is a record that just dishes out classic after classic, but "Sally" is a buzz kill for me every time.  Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about Diamond D as the double threat that he is.  

Diamond D produced almost every track on this in addition to handling the vocal duties.  On the production side, you can almost hear Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop forcing its way out of the 80s sound and laying the blueprint for what the 90s would become.  The sound is perhaps a little more sparse than what was to follow, but you can hear the progressing as new ideas and samples take hold as you move through the track list.  When it comes to rhyming, Diamond can hold his own there as well.  He has a smoother flow that I find similarities with Lord Finesse in.  When you combine the vocals and the beats, it's just another bonafide 1992 classic.  I have no idea why it took me so long to write about it, but it's essential, both as a standalone album and a crucial building block on 1990s golden era hip hop.

Diamond D And The Psychotic Neurotics – Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop:

https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCymQzV2rUMuXj7jd3Dnww2g

Lord Finesse - Return of the Funky Man 2xLP - Tan & Black Splatter Vinyl

Get On Down / Giant (2025, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

For me, 1992 is the miracle year of hip hop.  While it's not the year that most of my favorite records came out, I think it's the best and most consistent year of hip hop before the golden era started showing signs of cracking.  It built off of 1991 and took things, particularly from a production standpoint, to higher levels.  Innovation was careening forward weekly with new releases that explored new ground in a genre that was making sure the world knew was here to stay.

Return of the Funky Man is Lord Finesse's 2nd full length, though he's lost DJ Mike Smooth since his 1990 release.  Also by this time the Diggin' In The Crates crew (or DITC, for short) saw their notoriety rising as Diamond D and Showbiz & AG were making noise.  Despite all of that, Lord Finesse flew under my radar when I was buying records in 1992.  I don't remember seeing Finesse on Yo! and I guess what The Source had written about him wasn't enough to make me hunt down anything by him at the time.  Part of that is tragic, because this is exactly the sort of thing I was listening to at the time and I should have had decades to grow with this record.  But on the plus side, I was able to discover a true classic many years later and hear the exact kind of hip hop production I love in the mid 2010s.

And it is the production that really makes this record soar for me.  There's enough of that late 80s and early 90s fast tempo drums, with those eclectic samples and bass lines that were starting to assert themselves by this point.  There isn't a stinker in the bunch as every song is funkier than the one before.  On the mic, Finesse has a voice that did take me a little time to get used to.  It's a little higher pitched and nasally, but not in an over the top B-Real sort of way.  Just in a way that didn't grab me immediately and required a few listens to have his lyrics sink in. Once they did sink in, it became easy to see why he's so respected all these years later.

While I cannot say that this splatter colored vinyl is aesthetically the most pleasing record I have ever seen, I am gratefully to have a nice double LP reissue of this as even the 2005 and 2014 reissues had become quite scarce over the years,  If he originally flew under your radar like he did mine, it's probably time to give Lord Finesse a listen, and this is a great place to start.

Lord Finesse - Return of the Funky Man:

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=e9kJNgcTmCM

Ed O.G & Da Bulldogs – Life Of A Kid In The Ghetto LP

Get On Down / PWL America (2019, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

While I haven't had this reissue since it came out in 2019, I have been sitting on it for quite a while.  I grabbed it when it was on sale, so it was a pretty inexpensive addition to the collection and it's one of those early 90s hip hop albums that is often lauded as a classic.  I don't know that I can throw around that particular c word when talking about Life of a Kid in the Ghetto, but it does have elements of the classic sound of the early golden era.

I'll start with the positives.  On the mic, Ed (or Edo G as he tends to be known as these days) is great.  He can tell stories, he can self aggrandize, he ticks all the boxes of what you want an MC to do during this time frame.  I can't call him top, top tier, but I might also have a different opinion if this was a record I'd been listening to since it was released.  I only heard it for the first time in the past ten years, so it lacks a little in the nostalgia area for me.  But that's a me problem, not a problem with the rapping.  Ed can hold his own with most MCs that put out albums in 1991.

The reason that I can't really call this album a classic for me is because I think the production is a little uneven.  Hip Hop in 1991 was going through a pretty seismic change in regard to beats and production.  While other albums that year were pushing the envelope and exploring new sampling techniques and soundscapes, Life of a Kid in the Ghetto feels like it's still clinging to late 1980s sounds.  That's not to say it doesn't move the production forward a little, but when you realize Low End Theory came out the same year, the beats on Ed O.G.'s debut feel somewhat dated on certain tracks.

But the sum of all parts is still quite good.  I wouldn't have bought the record if I didn't like it, but it's one of those albums that has a sound that I really need to be in the right mood for.  If I'm feeling a little old school, Life of a Kid in the Ghetto fits the bill nicely.

Ed O.G & Da Bulldogs - Life of a Kid in the Ghetto:

https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m3D4AVE2F5O8EzNjQ_LEuLSbeIaaOfJu4

Souls Of Mischief - No Man's Land 2xLP - Clear w/ Blue & Orange Splatter

Get On Down / Jive (2024, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

This long overdue reissue of the second Souls Of Mischief album came out as part of last year's Record Store Day Black Friday.  It has taken me a moment to write about it.  This is in large part because I've already written about this album when I picked up the original pressing of it a few years ago. I'm not as motivated to tackle an album just because it's a slightly fancier reissue.

That said, it's a slightly fancier reissue worth picking up.  It's a nice gatefold sleeve with thick card stock that is miles better than the original pressing.  My original has a pretty gnarly seam split as well, so that just makes this one even better.  The colored vinyl is sharp looking, though that means less and less to me as the years go buy.  You can usually trust Get On Down reissues to sound good, and I've heard no issues with this release.

The album itself is so much better than I gave it credit for in 1995.  I was really down on it when it was originally released, primarily because I thought the production was a step down from 93 Til Infinity.  I still think that it's a step down, but over the years I have heard so much boring, abysmal hip hop production that in comparison, No Man's Land is much better.  

As far as post-1994 hip hop goes, it's pretty elite production if we're being honest.  It's just that in 1995 I was coming right out of the golden era and was watching so much hip hop turn into something I wasn't interested in, so I had turned my attention to punk and indie rock.  But today, 30 years later in 2025. I can see this album for what it is, an unappreciated album from one of hip hop's best groups.

Souls Of Mischief - No Man's Land:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CdRNZZPU5mI

Casual - Fear Itself LP (Black Vinyl, UK Version) & 2xLP (Black & Red Swirl, RSD Version)

 

Jive (1994, UK Pressing)
Get On Down (2024, RSD Pressing)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Wrapping up the fifth and final Record Store Day purchase for 2024 is Casual.  But as an added little bonus, I'm also including the 1994 UK pressing of the album, which until this year was the only version that had a picture sleeve.  I picked up the UK version quite a while ago, maybe close to two years?  But it had remained in the 'to write about' pile as I had already written about the non-picture sleeve US version on this site at the beginning of the Ed Lover Dance Day project.  That made it not as big a priority to get to, but we can add it here for a two for one deal.

The picture sleeve is the only selling point of the 1994 UK version.  As a single LP, the album is crammed onto two sides of vinyl and does the dynamics no favors.  It doesn't sound bad or anything, but it definitely doesn't compare to either of the double LP versions.  I wasn't sure Fear Itself would ever get the proper reissue treatment, but it was important to me to have a copy with artwork.

The new double LP Record Store Day version on colored vinyl looks pretty good and sounds pretty great.  The bass sounds low and full on my stereo, and that's always been one of the real selling points of this record for me.  The colored vinyl matches the art well enough, but the black in it isn't really dark enough.  The inclusion of the obi strip covers up most of Casual's face on the art when everything is in a plastic sleeve, so I wouldn't say that's a bonus, but it is nice to have the bolder spine when it's sitting on the shelf.  I personally would have made the bulk of the obi also be based around that portion of the album art.  I've seen it enough times to know it's a thing and I'm not sure why they didn't go that route.

The album itself is among the very best.  If I'm ranking my favorite hip hop records of all time, this is my number two on the list, only behind Del's No Need For Alarm.  It's a nearly perfect record showcasing everything I love about that era's production.  Casual's rhyming has always been more straightforward that the rest of the Hiero crew, but that doesn't make him a lesser MC.  In fact, because his flow is a bit more straightforward, it sort of forces his to really show his command of rhyming and building complicated, but easy to follow patterns.  He can tell stories when he needs to and battles better than all but the absolute most elite rappers on the planet.

Can't say enough good things about the album and this new Get On Down pressing is the definitive version of it.  Even though it's a Record Store Day release, I still see it readily available on many online stores.  If you like 90s era hip hop and didn't catch this one first time around, I can't recommend adding a record to your collection more strongly than this one

Casual - Fear Itself:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m61K-0X-SVBBfbt_K3FmNlIs8uu6DMgcw

Boogie Down Productions - Edutainment 2xLP - Yellow & Black Swirl (/2500)

Get On Down (20245, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

The fourth album I picked up on Record Store Day this year was the double LP reissue of the fourth Boogie Down Productions record, Edutainment.  I was really excited about this one as this was the most recent Boogie Down Productions album that had been released when I first started listening to them.  I've had the CD for decades and I have a mediocre single LP pressing that I picked up a few years ago, but there's a whole lot of songs crammed on to each side of that record.

This reissue is the first ever double LP pressing of Edutainment to be released.  Now, it wouldn't be truthful if I didn't mention that I'm bummed that this new reissue didn't include the two bonus tracks from the CD, "7 Dee Jays" and "30 Cops Or More."  Not that either is anywhere near the stongest song on the album, but for completist purposes, it would be nice.  I'm sure the nine minute run time of "7 Dee Jays" was the main culprit that probably would have pushed it to a triple LP.

That said, just having the vinyl version spread out over two LPs is a massive improvement over the original pressing.  Plus there is one extra bonus track, the remix version of "You Know The Rules."    Now there has finally been a high quality rerelease of every Boogie Down Productions full length (and the first KRS-One solo album).  It would be nice if someone tackled Live Hardcore Worldwide, but I don't think it's super important in the grand scheme of things.  The main album run is all out there and reasonably affordable (by today's vinyl price standards anyway).  And what a run of albums it was.

Boogie Down Productions - Edutainment:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kA9-4nMh9LtkMuoYvf2ZmIk12rdNpYFo4

Del The Funky Homosapien – No Need For Alarm 2xLP – Orange Vinyl (/1500)

Get On Down (2023, Reissue) 

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

On this past Thanksgiving, November 23rd, Del The Funky Homosapien’s second album, No Need For Alarm, turned 30 years old. To celebrate this momentous anniversary, Get On Down reissued this album on colored vinyl. It showed up at my house on Black Friday, so I didn’t have it in time for that week’s Ed Lover Dance Day post, so we’ll get into it this week instead.

I have written about this album before, so some of this may be a bit repetitive if you read the last write up. But to try to summarize, this is my all-time favorite hip hop album of all time. When it was released in 1993, I picked it up immediately since I really loved Del’s first album from a couple of years earlier. I am pretty sure I hadn’t even seen a video or heard any songs from the album when I bought it. I was expecting something different than what was on Del’s debut because the Souls of Mischief record had been released, so I was aware of the path Hieroglyphics were pursuing. That said, I was completely unprepared for what Del was about to unleash into the world.

Hearing No Need For Alarm for the first time blew my mind. The production was like nothing I had heard before. Even the Souls record didn’t have beats that sounded quite like this. The lyrics were so rough and ready with Del creating the sort of complicated rhyme patterns that I had never really heard before. It was almost as it he was reinventing hip hop in real time before my eyes. It became the album I judged everything else against. It reshaped how I thought about hip hop and music as a whole. And I have said this before, but I’m positive this record is the foundation for me eventually getting into punk rock, when hip hop could no longer provide me what I was looking for. It’s just a monumentally important record in my life, which is why I felt that I had to buy this 30th anniversary version.

Is it really a necessary purchase? If you have the album already, probably not. It’s not really any different from the other pressing I have, sound wise. The colored vinyl is nice and the Obi is kind of fun. It also comes with a really cool poster that I think I’ll eventually get mounted and framed. For most, if you have a copy already, that’ll do. But if for some insane reason, you don’t have this record on vinyl, you should grab it right away. They do not come much better than this.

Del The Funky Homosapien – No Need For Alarm:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy0_lrerCGRmzByUFcqF9hOY6ykTomi1VDx14

Cypress Hill - Black Sunday 30th Anniversary 2xLP - Brown Vinyl (/1993)

Get On Down / Columbia (2022, Reissue) 

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

I couldn't help myself and I bought this fancy version of Cypress Hill's second album from 1993, Black Sunday.  I did have a perfectly serviceable copy of this on vinyl already, but the inclusion of some extra bonus tracks and the deluxe version and all piqued my interest enough that I couldn't help but double dip.

Is it worth it? I don't really know.  Bonus track wise, maybe not.  There are three bonus tracks in total.  First is an extended version of "Insane In The Brain" that is exactly as advertised.  It's longer.  That's really it and not something I would say is super important.  Then we have "Scooby Doo," originally released as a B side on the Lick A Shot single.  It's not the most exciting song in their catalog and I wish it had drums that hit harder.  That would improve it in my eyes.  Lastly is the T-Ray remix of "Hits From The Bong."  This one is quite excellent and while not quite on the level as the original version, it is still some pretty stellar Cypress Hill-ing.

The main album sounds great, I'm not sure it's any better or worse than the other version that I have, but it gets the job done.  The artwork really is lovely as a nice gatefold with shiny metallic print job.  It definitely looks the business.  So, is it worth it?  If you don't have the album, this is absolutely the one to get.  If you have it already, it's probably not that important to pick up unless you're a sucker for fancy reissues (guilty).  I'll probably end up selling my other copy though, there's no reason to have two of these.

Tha Alkaholiks - 21 & Over LP

Get On Down (2018, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Tha Alkaholiks are one of those Golden Era hip hop groups that I was absolutely aware of back when I was in high school, but I didn't have any of their records and I don't remember seeing their videos on Yo! MTV Raps.  They're probably just another one of those acts that I read about in The Source but was not ever able to follow up on due to access or financial limitations, so I hadn't heard anything of theirs until the last few years.

The real highlight here is how great the beats are throughout the album.  They're cobbled together with quirky, funky bass lines and trunk thumping percussion.  As MCs, these boys hold their own for sure, though I can't say any of them really comes off as being an elite lyricist.  They carry the songs just fine though and I find myself engaged the whole time.  There's more sophomoric references to being drunk than I think are necessary, but again in general the lyrics are solid and compliment the production.

I do think I would have liked this even more if I had been able to hear it back in 1993 when it originally came out.  Coming at it twenty plus years later was cool, as it's always nice to hear something new that sounds like the sort of hip hop I enjoy listening to, but if I had been able to live with the record more intently as a youngster I can only assume it would have stuck with me pretty good.

Tha Alkaholiks - 21 & Over:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mJuHTafRFFmShFygn8Bk_SJUNbUrXRvcs

Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill 2xLP - Red w/ Black Smoke Vinyl

Get On Down / Columbia (2022, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

I wrote about this record before when I added the basic, single LP version to the collection.  I don't really have too much more to say about it, but I will repeat how I hated the Cypress Hill song "Phuncky Feel One" the first dozen times I heard it on Yo! MTV Raps.  I also couldn't understand why they kept playing it week after week.  They they started up the second single, "How I Could Just Kill A Man."  

My first thought was "oh no, not another Cypress Hill song," but it didn't take long for me to recognize how great a song it truly was.  It lead me to liking Cypress Hill so much that for a little while I actually wore a necklace that had their logo on it.  Hey, I was fourteen years old and it was 1991, have some empathy.

This new 2xLP version looks great, has rad liner notes in the gatefold and finally gives the album enough space to breathe over 4 sides of vinyl.  They also threw on two remixes that weren't on the first version of the album.  If you have this record already, it might be worth considering the double dip, it's pretty solid.  But if you do not already have this album, this one is pretty much a classic of the era and if I were buying any version, this is the one to get.

Cypress Hill - Cypress Hill:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nFuSAVZsc11fgTZYjM9Mn9jcNZ6v1VB4Y

Souls Of Mischief - 93 'til Infinity 2xLP - Blue Vinyl (/2000)

Get On Down (2022, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Yeah, I have this on vinyl already.  I actually wrote about it during the first few weeks of starting up Ed Lover Dance Day around here.  But as it is one of my top three hip hop albums of all time, I just couldn't resist picking up this colored vinyl variant with the obi strip.  It was also an easier decision since I had a Get On Down gift certificate kicking around from Christmas.

I don't really have anything to say about the album that I didn't already say here.  But to summarize quickly, it's just one of the greatest things I've heard in my entire life with absolutely killer production and stellar lyrics all the way through.

Sound quality wise, it's good.  Just as good as the old 2021 2xLP pressing that Traffic put out.  In fact, the liner notes on the gatefold are exactly the same, making reference to it being nearly twenty years since its initial release even though we're now only a year away from the thirtieth anniversary.  If you don't have this album yet, that criminal.  This is a great version to pick up.  If you only have a single LP version, it's also worth the upgrade.  But if you already have the 2xLP version, it's probably only worth grabbing if you're a bit obsessive like I am.

Souls Of Mischief - 93 'til Infinity:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_k3iPJ9cBB9c_y9oSCOexs9-75aYImFmEg

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - The Main Ingredient 2xLP - Clear Vinyl

Elektra / Get On Down (2016, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Like pretty much everyone on the planet in 1992, I really dug the first Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth album, Mecca and the Soul Brother.  Fueled by the omnipresent single "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" you couldn't not be taken in by it if you were following hip hop at the time.  But not only that, it crossed over in a big way and is still pretty darn popular to this day.  I feel like I saw it in a wine commercial or something in the past few years.

For me, I kind of wore that song out and it was a bit overplayed in general.  It's good and that album is great, but that specific song isn't really something that I'm clamoring to hear on a daily basis anymore.  Their follow up, The Main Ingredient, came out two years later in 1994.  I have no memory of this album from back then. 1994 was definitely a transitional year for me when it comes to music, so it's possible I just didn't know it came out, but it's equally as possible that I hear a song or two and just wasn't as interested in it.  I don't really remember, but I picked it up recently after listening to a few of the songs online.

It's not quite as good as their debut.  The beats are top notch for sure and that's what really drives any hip hop record for me, but C.L. Smooth doesn't feel like he's bringing it quite as forcefully as he had two years earlier.  Not to say anything he's doing is bad, but it's very much a 'meets expectations' sort of performance.  Nothing all that special is going on vocally, but again, the beats elevate everything and make this a pretty enjoyable listen.

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - The Main Ingredient:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kbHBrsTQ1JvU20N_Ft2a8H8NoNemeg07c

Group Home - Livin' Proof 2xLP

Get On Down (2017, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Group Home is yet another one of those 'missed it by that much' groups in hip hop for me.  As this album originally came out in 1995, it was pretty much off of my radar when it was released.  By '95 I was deep into punk rock and indie rock and frankly, I didn't have the time or money to keep up with the increasingly few interesting hip hop records that were coming out. Had Livin' Proof been released in 1993 or even 1994, it would have probably hit me in a completely different way.

I heard Group Home for the first time within the past two years.  I really didn't even know they had ever released an album.  My only knowledge of them was from their affiliation with Gang Starr and being collectively shouted out on my favorite track of theirs, "Blowin' Up The Spot." When I found out that they did have an album and it had been produced by DJ Premier, I figured it was worth going after, and for the most part it was.

Like all Premier releases from this general time period, the production and beats on this record are quite excellent.  As good as Hard To Earn? Probably not quite there, but easily on the level of The Sun Rises In The East.  As a crew, Group Home hold their own reasonably well on the microphone.  There's no real stand out to me and when pressed, I can't even think of any lyrics that are particularly noteworthy, but they fill out Premier's beats evenly enough.  

Every time I listen to Livin' Proof, I always like it, but it does often feel a little bit long and there's no one that has the sort of charisma or lyrical dexterity that you'd find in Guru or Jeru. That said, it was cool to be able to find a record of this quality and be able to hear it for the first time in 2018 or 2019.  That's not something I get to experience very often.

Group Home - Livin' Proof (YouTube Music full album playlist):
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_m6kA7Z5wLu0JM0ViY95A7X3VcWEw5RFag

Boogie Down Productions - Sex And Violence LP

Get On Down (2015, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Sex And Violence was the final Boogie Down Productions full length album.  It came out in 1992 and I vividly remember when it was released.  The video for "Duck Sown" had started playing on Yo MTV Raps and I just adored that song.  Even today it would rank quite high if I was making a list of my favorite BDP songs.  I acquired my copy of the CD through one of those BMG Music Club 8 CDs for a penny gimmicks.  My CD copy still has that little BMG barcode type thing on it.

I have read over the years that there are some who do not think this particular BDP album rates as highly as some of their prior releases.  And while I will be the first to admit that there's nothing at the level of say "My Philosophy," it's a bit unfair to try to compare this album to one of the all time great songs in the history of hip hop.

I think Sex And Violence is solid from start to finish.  The songs, while maybe a bit rougher than those on Edutainment, have the same sort of high IQ lyrics that really tell stories and make some salient points.  The beats are much harder hitting and part of me thinks that's why the record took some by surprise when it came out.  I actually like the production on this a lot and think the beats use clever samples and memorable hooks.  "Duck Down" is still the highlight for me, but "The Original Way," "Like A Throttle," "Drug Dealer" and "How Not To Get Jerked" are bubbling right underneath and can hold their own with anything in the Boogie Down Productions catalog.

With this LP, I have all of the BDP full length albums on vinyl.  I don't have the Live Hardcore Worldwide live album, but I'm honestly not sure I need to get that one.  I haven't listed to my CD version of that since I finally tracked down a copy Criminal Minded and had better versions of that album's songs.  I also never enjoyed the KRS-One solo albums anywhere near as much as Boogie Down Productions.  I bought Return of the Boom Bap right when it came out, but it never hooked me and that was the last KRS-One album that I bought.  If I've missed anything important, let me know, but I'm pretty confident that by having all of the BDP albums, I have the best songs covered.

Boogie Down Productions - Sex And Violence (YouTube music full album playlist):
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mRwYXQqvm2pxlfuEyWgoCySVf8Nu8P2R0

Jurassic 5 - Quality Control 2xLP

Get On Down (2015, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Jurassic 5 is an interesting group to me.  I will always associate them as something separate from the Golden Era of hip hop, though at this point, that seems a little weird since this album is somehow twenty years old now.  My first exposure to Jurassic 5 was seeing them the 1999 CMJ Music Marathon when I attended as the music director of my college radio station.  That was the year that a hurricane hit the NYC area and flooded roads made coming back to NJ a real disaster.  I remember a little bit about the show, but it was mostly an Interscope schmooze-fest.   I do remember liking J5 enough that they left an impression, something that was difficult for most hip hop acts to do with me in 1999.

Quality Control was released in mid 2000 and when it came out I was so shocked to hear a record that sounded so much like the early 90s hip hop albums I adored so much.  I definitely didn't remember Jurassic 5 being this good the one time I saw them play, but on Quality Control, they blew away all of my expectations and essentially created the first hip hop album that I listened to by a group that didn't already have a record come out before 1994.

The way the group linked up interesting beats with mic trading lyrics and combined that with some group harmonizing was something that I hadn't really heard before.  But it was this kind of innovation that epitomized the early 90s and I saw J5 as a bit of a mix between Tribe Called Quest, Souls of Mischief and BDP.  Twenty years later, Quality Control still stands tall as a pretty incredible album, though it is the only J5 record that I tend to listen to.  I have their first EP and second full length on CD, but they're not as good.  Ultimately it seems like Quality Control was that lightning-in-a-bottle moment where everything came together and Jurassic 5 was able to unleash a classic.

Jurassic 5 - Quality Control (Youtube full album playlist):
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lNjXm7LoA09ovj648M86HfM1zYfRJnUOg

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca And The Soul Brother 2xLP - Clear Vinyl

Elektra / Get On Down (2016, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for 25+ years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

I was so completely on board with this record when it came out in 1992.  The single "They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)" was on non stop repeat on Yo MTV Raps.  With its jazzy horn hook, laid back groove and dynamite lyrical flow, it was one of those songs that resonated with the underground while still bubbling up to infect some mainstream outlets.  It's a great song, but you have to understand how much it got played back then.  It was played a lot.  To the point that it actually started to get a little annoying.  Even nearly 30 years later, while I appreciate it as a great song, I don't really need to hear it that much.  I had my share in 92 and 93.

But the good news is that the rest of this album is every bit as strong as its most famous single, with the added bonus of not having been played into the ground.  Right from the opener "Return of the Mecca," you know the sort of journey you'll be on throughout the album.  Jazzy, soulful beats that don't necessarily sound like Tribe Called Quest, but live in the same general area.  Mid tempo without sounding sleepy and forceful without sounding comically aggressive.

Another track I want to highlight is "It's Like That."  It stands out as being a little different with the scratchy washboard percussion mixed in with the bass and horn loop, but still fits in perfectly with the rest of the album.  C.L. really showcases a faster delivery here, laying down a flawless flow that makes you wonder why he isn't a bit more lauded as one of the great MCs of the era.  Listening to Mecca and the Soul Brother in 2020 doesn't feel like a throwback to me.  This doesn't sound like old music.  While this sort of hip hop isn't what is popular these days, to me it sounds as fresh and innovative as ever.  Though that just might be me getting old...

Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca and the Soul Brother (Youtube full album stream):
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_miBnKzbqkmiky5o3jGbcJFnAMHY3dsDM4

Da Lench Mob - Guerillas In Tha Mist - Orange w/ Green Splatter Vinyl

Get On Down / EastWest (2019, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for 25+ years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

In 1993, my aunt asked me what I wanted for a holiday.  I assume birthday or Christmas, but I can't remember which as they are both in December and that was a long damn time ago.  I told her that I wanted this album by Da Lench Mob.  Instead, she got me a CD by a band called Lynch Mob that had a bunch of dudes with long glam rock hair on the cover.  I remember having the feign some sort of enthusiasm while opening it and then having to explain what I had actually wanted.  In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have asked anyone to buy my this album.  The grownups were bound to not understand what I was after.

While I definitely saw the video for Guerillas In Tha Mist on Yo MTV Raps, what actually drew me to the group the most was that Del The Funky Homosapien had been part of Lench Mob when they were a crew with Ice Cube.  In 92/93, I had no internet so I didn't really know if Del was on this album at all or not, so the only way to find out for sure was to get it.  Unfortunately Del isn't a part of this, but the record is still a really fun listen, especially when it goes into extreme points of over the top ridiculousness.

Anyone who has seen the video for the title track knows what I'm talking about.  Ice Cube and Da Lench Mob standing around in the woods with Predator style heat signature visual effects.  They're rapping about King Kong and Godzilla and Tarzan.  Then there's this part where Ice Cube loses his mind and starts going on about "With a boom ping, ping/listen to the ill shit that I bring, bring." It's all kind of insane, but it works and is helped by how great the underlying beat and production is.  Shorty can also hold his own on the mic and leads the lion's share of this album.

All of the songs are solid, but I would never say this is an all time classic, must have album.  It's really good and I think it holds up pretty well all things considered.  There are important issues tackled in the lyrics on quite a few songs, but it is so over the top and weird at times that it's hard to take in the messages with all of off center imagery and general strangeness that takes place.  That said, it is still entertaining to listen to and I was pretty psyched when the reissue came out last year.

Da Lench Mob - "Guerillas In Tha Mist":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9I9R-IMG20

Da Lench Mob - "Freedom Got An A.K."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrvKI9FfqO0