Thoughts From The Rap Nest

vol023-074

I am super excited to have submitted mat TFTRN column for the 5th print edition of UGSMAG. I was unsure of what I was going to write about but having the homies around for summer fling and having a house full of rapper and producers brought clarity to what I shook write about and it was people. More specifically. tea 5th element of hip hop which is hosting people at tyiour place whekui they are in town for shows and that being recipricated. It is wild how important this actually is to the sustainability of rap music and building community. It is also wild how little attention this gets outside of the people participating. I think people assume there isa lot of money to be made and money for hotels. It is actually quite the opposite. Huge shout out to all those that host people within this hip hop culture and than you to everyone who has let me crash with them over the years. I genuinely appreciate it and those are typically my best memories. The new issue is staked and the biggest one yet! I really can’t wait to see it! Back Issues still available!!

We have a new logo for the Saskatoon Rap Rap Music collective and one again we hav the homie Dren to thank for it! It is based off of the cover of the 7” single for Graffiti’s Rap Rap Music. It is super fun and awesome! I ordered some stickers the other day with the logo so hopefully they show up soon!

We also officially welcomed Nolto to crew and if you want one of these super fresh Pen Thief Records shirts hit up Noblonski.

I ordered RAP Feriera’s - 5 to the Eye with Stars and it has decided to go on a world tour. Rove got his last week and I was excited because I was like mine should be here the next day so I checked the tracking and it said it was in Vancouver after spending most of July touring around the United States. I was like oh it will be here in a couple days. I checked a few days alter and it now says it now in Malaysia. I am a bit concerned at this point. I am thinking I may not see it and if I do it will be a miracle if it is in one piece. Check this tracking out in reverse order or scroll to the last one and scroll up!

The folks at Audio Recon and Ooohh! Thats Heavy are dropping the certified classic from Murs - F*Real tonight at midnight EDT or 9:00pm PDT. Check the Bandcamp. These are georgeaus pressings with all the bells and whistles. And they are classic black vinyl! Also it is a Bandcamp Friday and shopping up to be a great one so get out there and support your favourite artists if you have the means! (photos courtesy of Ooohh! That’s Heavy) Shouts to Rove for the incredible painting of the original cover that is inside the gatefold of the album and thanks for writing me up!!!

I won this super fresh Mediah Loop artist can a few weeks back courtesy of the Medicine Hat Mural Fest! I also got this super sick Chaps HO scale refrigerated boxcar courtesy of the homie Sonz! It is so dope and also a sick sticker pack. It was such an awesome prize pack to open up!

Missed Third Verse last night? No Noblonski, but I picked up the homie and Third Verse/ Trunk Of Funk The Vinyl Frontier founder Knowskills who is in town visiting with his family. It was a great show but it sure was fun having him in the studio. Ugsmag has you covered once again to stream or download NOW! Catch Third Verse on CFCR 90.5 fm in Saskatoon, SK every Wednesday 9-10:30pm CST. Stream online via CFCR.ca or Radio Garden.

As always the last 10 episodes of my other weekly radio show You Know Know the Rules on UMFM in Winnipeg airing every Sunday night 10:00pm -11pm CST. Episodes available NOW!

Record One

Capaciti & Noblonksi - Learning To Walk In The Dark

This album is incredible front to back. I was not all that familiar with Capaciti prior to listening to this album but I am a big fan now. I think Noblonski did a n incredible job of creating a perfect batch of beats for this album. It is so cohesive in its flow and it really takes the listener on a soothing adventure. I listened to it three times back to back on the first drop onto turntable. It was a really impressive listen from start to finish. My jam is Uphill Battle with Ceschi and Awol One. It is such a perfect track! Thanks for the Classic Black Vinyl as well!

Record Two

Serengeti - Gasoline Rainbows

This is an abbreviated vinyl version of the original album. The original 2008 CD version has 15 tracks, while the first time to vinyl version has 10 tracks. This is my second favourite Serengeti album. The first is obvously Dennehy. I told Id Obelus when he was here that it is probably the only album I would by every edition of. Even if they were coloured vinyl. I like the new and revamped cover art better than the original. It is a nice updated version while still staying true to the original cover. This one has a Eurpean feel which the original has an American feel to it. The music is timeless and sounds even better on vinyl. Another two for two week on classic black vinyl.

Classic Material

Nas - If I Ruled The World 12”

I was such a huge Nas fan form the moment I first heard It Ain’t hard To Tell then Illmatic which never left my tape deck when it dropped. The beats were incredible it was like the USA Olympic Dream team but of rap. The album is perfectly sequenced from front to back and there are no duds on it. The way the intro sets it off giving you goose bumps every time is stuff of legends. This was the best rap album at that time in my world and there was nothing even close. When I heard there was a new Nas album coming I couldn't think about anything else I was so exited. It was one of the most anticipated albums for my up top that point.

Back in this time I was ordering records from the former defunct Records on Wheels store then known as Rockin Ron’s Records. I would go there every week as I made friends with them and look any their printed distributor lists of rap albums and looking for names I recognized form rap magazines and asking them to bring it in. So many things I really wanted never showed up but a lot of things I did want showed up and are still in my collection. It was always a crap shoot and super stressful because I didn’t know if I would be on the hook for 1 tape or 10 tapes.

It was around this time that I started buying vinyl singles and albums and started DJing. I saw the If I Ruled The World 12” on a list and asked them to bring it in immediately. The record store was on the second floor of an old bank so you had to climb up the old marble stairs that were worn from people going. up and down. There was always lot of anticipation going up those stairs. The thought of getting your next favourite rap album was exhilarating and I think I ran up those stairs pretty much every time. I would almost always get a ride at lunch with Funky or after school. We would often phone the store before we drove downtown from one of the three pay phones by the front office of our high school. I had the number memorized at that time but as the years have passed it has left my memory. It was always a simple conversation. I would say it was me and ask if anything came in for me. They would never say what but would give you some sort of heads up if it was a large amount or not.

The drive downtown from our high school always seemed long when you were going to get rap tapes. It was like a 10-15 minute drive at most. It sure felt double that. I would sit on edge, clenching my teeth in anticipation. When I am hyper focused on something I clench my teeth. It is a bad habit and I am doing it right now as I type this. I have donut my whole life and I don't even realize I am doing it anymore for the most part.

On the day this 12” arrived at the record store was a memorable one. I passed two people I didn't know coming down the stairs with one of them carrying the 12”Instantly I was like who were these people buying that 12” and why don’t I know them? as I entered the store I quickly saw multiple copies of the record behind the counter with peoples names on them. There were a couple people ahead of me buying the 12”. It was DJ ‘s Kripy and Contact Cee nka Parab Poet. I knew them on a hey what’s up basis. Rap was so competitive then. Everyone was trying to get rap music no one else had. I paid for my 12” and marvelled at the amount others on hand which was probably like a dozen. I had never seen anything like this. This never happened in my small city in the middle of nowhere. This only happened in places like Toronto or New York. It was exhilarating. Now the down fall of buying records is you couldn’t listen to them in the whip on the way home. We had to wait until after school and then not until I got home.

That sure seemed like the longest afternoon of my life. I sat in classes and dreamt about what the song sounded like. The cover was super dope and that was the only clue I had to what it sounded like and some writing on the back saying it contains portions of Friends by Whodini and If I Ruled The World by Kurtis Blow. I knew what both of those songs sounded like and I was big Whodini fan especially of the track Friends. It was so fun to rap along to. Finally the school bell rang and I rushed home and ran down to my room to put the record on. This had to be one of the biggest disappointments in my life. This song sucked. It lacked all the grit and hunger that Nas demonstrated on Illmatic and the Lauren Hill hook was wick wick wack. I wasn’t having any of it. This was pretty much the nail in the coffin for me and Nas. I have not bought a Nas album since Illmatic. I don’t even check them out. He lost me and I moved on to other rap that resonated with me. He did pull me back for a hot minute on a couple singles over the years but that was it. I was heart broken. How could the second incarnation of the rap god Rakim put out a track like this? Hip Hop broke my heart that day.

Closing Ramblings

As always, thank you for reading and for the feedback!

**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

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