Thoughts From The Rap Nest

vol024-097

Thoughts

I have some super exciting news to share. The homies Nolto and Rove will be joining me on Third Verse as official co-hosts. It has been something I have been thinking about for a while and something I didn’t know how much I really missed until the three of us were in the studio last night! It was so fun just to play rap music and talk about rap for 1 1/2 hours! The show’s lineage dates back to 1994 as Trunk Of Funk the Vinyl Frontier, where I cam on in late 1996 and we eventually rebranded as Third Verse and have been running with that moniker ever since. 2024 is a mile stone year for us as we celebrate 30 years of continuous Rap Radio on CFCR 90.5 FM here in Saskatoon. I hope I can make 30 more years!

You can get a classic Milch and Allegra ep t-shirt right now from the good folks at Styles Make Fights BUY NOW

While you are buying that sick shirt or bunny hug you can listen to this classic!

The homies Kay The Aquanaut and Factor Chandelier are back with the New Physics!! I am really excited for this album as you should be. Classic Noyz 319 art an and design! They have vinyl up for preorder now from Diggers Factory so doing the thing and BUY IT NOW

New Physics is the first collaborative project in nearly six years from the two longtime label-mates. This latest album is a conceptual journey spanning across the ancient & the post-modern, with booming sound scapes & universal concepts surrounding the meaning of life, consciousness, and the human connection to the cosmos. Written in the context of an ancient tablet discovered by futuristic humanoids, New Physics is an artistic journey unlike anything these two have created in their vast catalogue.

Digital of the album available here:

Record One

max prime & jon brando -hardly novices

A couple CD releases this week to talk about! The first from the homies Max Prime & Jon Brando, the prairie classic Hardly Novices. This is a re-release expanded version of the original featuring some demo versions, remixes, instrumentals and few new original songs! I am really happy this album is getting a re-release and some new attention. This was such a classic when it dropped originally back in 2005! I am also super excited that Max Prime is back on the scene! There are super dope CD and tape versions of this one available now! Max has always been one of my favourite mc’s and it was super dope to add some cuts to Hardy Hard remix by Noblonski! Hardy Hard original and remix are my jams!

Record Two

Avatar - Odd Man Out

Like many of you out there, I was shocked and saddened by the news of Avatar’s passing last year. Everyone who had the pleasure of meeting him knew how amazing of a person he was. This album had been in the works and was recorded prior to his untimely passing. The homie Hobs Staybusy produced it and made sure that it got a proper release. Posthumous albums are always full of mixed emotions and a hard listen, especially when you have met the person and had a really memorable time with them. This is classic Avatar and something tiny will definitely want to add to your collection. My Jam is the title track Odd Man Out. RIP Avatar.

Classic Material

Mood Ruff - No Hooks 12”

“Who’s the one you trust in?” It was pretty exciting to see this song on Rap City for the first time back in 1998. The infectious backwards looped drums to set the track off were mesmerizing to me. I loved tracks with backwards loops. The lowrider bikes and mini truck with the hydraulics were fascinating to me at the time as well. This was a true 12” single that was not all that common in that era of prairie rap. Records in that era were far and few in between. They were such a status symbol and an announcement to the wold that you were taking this rap shit serious. Mood Ruff, I believed played their first out of town show in Saskatoon. I could be wrong but I think I remember Odario saying this last time he was in town.

I remember them coming through in this era and rocking Zombies. They had a real presence and seemed like stars in my mind. I instantly connected with Odario, but to be frank who hasn’t instantly connected with that beautiful charismatic soul! If I remember correctly they were late to get into town and coming in hot to the venue. They rocked it and had merch for sale after to buy. It was a pleasant surprise that they had cassette and 12” singles for the No Hooks track. The were an instant cop.

The b-side of the 12” was for the Rody Rod know now as bigmcenroe produced track Maintain. It was so much more laid back than the a-side No Hooks. It is classic mcenroe production and drums of that era. There is a third track Strangers (a diss to someone, I wonder who?) on the B-side but there is no instrumental version of that one like there are for the other two tracks. I love how the record label has directions on it. “this way for radio play” and “this way for scratching”. Stuff like that back then made records really cool and fun.

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