Thoughts
I have been thinking about how I buy rap music. It is almost exclusively artist or label direct through Bandcamp except when there is an item at like HHV or Beatstreet that is not available elsewhere. Generally a reissue of something especially from the 90's Taprs imprint . Discogs is great to fill in holes but must stuff I am looking for is priced prohibitively but there are always some deals to be had. This had me thinking about online retail/physical stores. I used to buy a lot from online stores and fill my cart to maximize on shipping costs. When I first started buying records we used to phone Basics (sp) in Vancouver. I learned about this through the homie Konowskills and we would call and they would tell us about new releases that came in and then we would order them over the phone. As time went on we started a "bag" much like a comic book file at a comic shop. They would fill thing they thought we would like based on our previous ordering and conversations. Sometimes they would play snippets for us over the phone to listen to. We would be like yeah that is dope add it to the "bag". Some of the best pulls from this method were the early Fondle em Records release and the Juggaknots album. It was so much fun. We used to talk to an employee named Jayce (sp) and she was so helpful and patient with us. I remember the first time I went to Vancouver and actually went to Basics (sp) in like 1997 and met her. It was awesome to meet someone who had helped curate my musical taste. She was so nice and will never forget her patience with us on the phone all those times we called. I was such a fiend I remember one time I was waiting for an order and I had the slip from the post office to pick it up. I went but they didn't have it yet. I saw a mail truck and a guy unloading stuff at the mall I went and talked to him and he had my package in his truck and he gave it to me.
Knowskills was an engineering student and a few years older then me. He was an early adopter of the internet, email and interment commerce. He told us about this website in New]York called Sandbox Automatic where a guy was listing records for sale. We started ordering and it quickly started expanding and quickly became the mecca for buying indie rap. I spent so much time on that website. Like so many in that era. So Far West, La 2 The Bay, ATAK, Access Hip Hop, Hip Hop Infinity where all places I ordered from some more then others but they had records I was interested in and So Far west is where I got one of my holy grail records Bored Stiff's - Explainin. Access Hip Hop I probably ordered from them the most out of all of these sites. They had a good rotation of new stuff I was interested in and they were super quick on the ship.
I am not sure how I discovered Ugsmag on the internet but it was exciting. They were located in Edmonton which is only 5 hours away so it felt really close to home compared to these other sites. They had a lot of amazing Canadian content and things I was really interested in. The best purchase I ever made was a Stinkin Rich tape for like 10$. Noyz probably could retire off of that stack of Stinkin Rich tapes today. As we started playing shows out of Saskatoon Edmonton became a second home and I became great friends with Noyz 319 ands we would always stay at his place with the primo sleeping spot being under the pool table. I know many people who read this know exactly what I am talking about. Gino's Pizza ands Lucky Lager 6$ six packs were always the move.
I honestly don't remember how many hours I spent filing carts and taking things out that I couldn't afford. I was so much fun. I still do the same thing on discogs or on bandcamp. I don't think I will ever stop doing that. I literally pan out purchases and budget money for surprise drops or things that you have to scoop within hours before it sells out. I have set my alarm to wake up at 2 am to buy a record when it drops in a different time zone. It is really all too much sometimes. I make 90% of my purchases at between 6m and 7am.
One summer I was on my Medical Assistant QL3 course ( I was a Canadian Armed Forces Reservist) Len's Steal My Sunshine was huge that summer and I remember the first weekend we had leave from the base going to the town of Wainwright Alberta and that was playing on the bar tv's a lot. I was like i recognize a whole bunch if people in this video a few who would later go on to be good homes. I still love that song. Anyways that first weekend I went to an internet cafe and made a substantial purchase from Sandbox Automatic. I needed that money for University in the fall but fuck it right? Money is temporary rap records are forever. That was a tough fall semester for sure. I still have those records so it was worth it.
The homie The Gumshoe Strut has a dope shop and business Styles Make Fights If you need t-shirts, stickers coffee mugs and other things for your brand or release hit him up. The latest drop in the shop is this super dope Rove t-shirt designed by the homie Biafra of the legendary CBS crew. I have a couple of designs that will be hitting the shop soon so stay tuned. The homie Kutdown was featured on Rolands 404 "beat tape" compilation this week. Audio Recon dropped a new preorder for Serengeti - Kaleidoscope III so cop that.
Record 1
Backburner - Continuum
The Backburner Crew is a who’s who of Eastern and Atlantic Canadian rap darlings. Continuum is the third in a trilogy of Backburner Albums and picks right up where Heatwave and Eclipse left off. One thing I really like about the vinyl release is they broke it out on to two volumes instead of a Double LP. The Second Volume features the track Roll Deep which is a vinyl exclusive. I am a big fan of all the mc’s in the crew and that is no secret. It’s Going Dow is my favourite track produced by the Beatmason and I think Psybo steals the show with my favourite verse on the whole album. Insane flows and style. Full disclosure I am the only member of BackBurner West which is an auxiliary crew to the original Eastern Backburner Crew. This is self appointed of course but has the blessing of some members of the crew. You should buy both volumes of the record and the really dope four cassette release which features the three albums plus a bonus posse cut tape.
Record 2
Curse Ov Dialect - Dark Days Bright Nights
I have to give the homie Noyz 319 mad props for putting me on to Curse Ov Dialect back in the Phonographique physical store days. The album then was their Lost In The Real Sky release. What first pulled me into the the group was the samples. They use insane upbeat folk type samples that change up at the speed of light and keep you engaged throughout the track. Dark Days Bright Nights continues in this light. The other thing I really love about them is their political content and anti colonial rhymes. It is like the prefect blend of politics and music and done so in a non preachy but engaging way that makes you want to work even harder to destroy imperialism, capitalism and colonialism. Cultural Theft is my jam. I listened to it like 10 times in a row the first time heard it. I would suggest going back through their catalogue as you will not be disappointed.
Top 5
Jam Baxter - Fetch The Poison (Nolto Recommendation)
Tom Caruana - Strange Planet (Nolto Recommendation)
Myles Bullen - Mourning Travels
Paollo 13 - Stunted Growth
Homeboy Sandman - There In Spirit
CLASSIC MATERIAL
Die Young - Ravish
This story isn't so much about the album as it is about the journey to get that album. This album is incredible front to back. Rajbot has a good interview on Ugsmag with Deeskee around the time this dropped. I have cd and vinyl copies and I rocked this one a lot. In November of 2004 Rove, Theory and myself set out on a wild adventure to catch two shows on The Shapeshifters Was Here Tour. The shows we were going to were in Durango and Denver Colorado. I had a Mini Cooper at he time. the first car i ever owned . we hoped in it and set out to drive straight from Saskatoon To Durango for the first Show. Saskatoon to Durango is a straight 22 hour drive. I drove 21 straight hours before I conceded, however we were pretty tired so we pulled over and all slept for like an hour. Catching our second wind Rove drove us into Durango and I think we got there around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. We looked for a place to stay and found a motel with a couple of double beds for like 30$ a night. It was clean and the right price. There was Safeway across the street. We walked over and bought a some beer and went back to the hotel to try and get some sleep before the show. I don't think anyone ended up getting any sleep. We turned on the tv and learned about the untimely passing of Old Dirty Bastard putting a somber mood on our excitement for the show. We went to some bar before the show and ended up chopping it up with an old timer who was retired miner. He was super nice. We went to the show. I had toured previously with Awol One and Circus a couple years before so I knew them. We linked up at the venue before the show and we watched soundcheck and meet the rest of the crew. It was surreal to meet everyone and this trip would literally change the course of Saskatoon Hip Hop and things for Factor (stories for another day but the Akuma and Candy's .22 albums on Sideroad Records were a direct result of us making this trip).
The show was at a small theatre with a large stage that was fairly high off the ground like 3-4 feet. I remember the sound being really good and there being like 20 or so people there. Years later in 2019 I met a guy that was at the show in Minneapolis at the the Ceschi Sad Fat Luck tour stop. The show was incredible the Shifters are the best. After the show I don't remember what we did. We may have just crashed but before we did we made plans to meet up in the morning and caravan to Denver together. It was really fun we stopped at all the same stops along the way and chatted.
We got to Denver and the Shifters show was an early show and there was a Typical Cats and a CMA show down the block. Mestizo was like can I take your car for a spin and I was like yeah for sure lets go! I don't remember the exact sequence of events but he pulled some insane driving moves right out of the movie The Italian Job and literally saved my life and his. We probably should have died that night but I am glad we didn't. The Shifters were cool with the Galapagos4 guys so I was able to meet Qwel, Qwazar, Denizen Kane and Mestizo. They all stayed for the Shifters show and after we went to the their show. There was some tensions that night as there was a previous incident where Grouch had disrespected the Shifter Flag at a show. It seemed like a really big deal then but in hindsight it was probably not a big deal.
Qwel was really mad about it and was insistent that if there is any battling that night as a result he wanted first crack at The Grouch. Nothing ended up happening that night which was for the best. We didn't have a place to stay but Existereo told us we were going to be crashing at Jher's house which was super nice of everyone. We all grabbed breakfast the next day at this really dope breakfast diner.
To Bring it full circle just as we finished saying our good byes and right before we jumped in the whip to make the 19 hour dive home, Die Young handed Rove a cd that was a copy of the then unreleased Ravish album. We bumped it a couple times on the way home exhausted from our whirl wind rap adventures.
Closing Ramblings
I host two weekly radio shows Third Verse on CFCR 90.5 fm in Saskatoon Saskatchewan every Wednesday 9 -10:30pm CST and You Know The Rules on UMFM 101.5 in Winnipeg Manitoba every Sunday Night 10-11pm They are pretty great and you should check em out.
Also i got some cool shirts, poster and hats in the Ugsmag Shop if you want that fly shit.
**legal disclaimer all records and songs were run through the RAP NEST 5000 SUPER ANALYTIC COMPTROLLER MACHINE that is certified by the I.A.A.R.R.A (International Association of Analytical Rap Recordings Analysis) in layman’s terms, it means the machine is never wrong.
Catch you next week with more thoughts from the rap nest.
Peace
-chaps