Thoughts
Well, I made it four months. Who Would have thought I would have these many thoughts about Rap? Well probably everyone as that is all I pretty much think and scheme about. Rap pretty much dominates most of my internal thoughts. It is pretty obsessive but Rap Is The Best, music. The homies have been incredible as always but especially as of late. I need to give a shout out to Dren for always being open to my sporadic ideas and making them a reality and super dope! Thank for some recent care packages from the homies; sign one for a test press of his new album The Mighty Highs and the Lowly Lows, Noblonski for a super dope care package with the Saskatoon Folk Rap Records Posse cut test press dropping July 12, and the homie Rove for a vinyl advance of of your album If Not Now dropping August 26.
As I was listening to it for the first time through on vinyl, I could not have been more happy and excited for Rove. I know how hard he worked on this and the amount of dedication and support he has shown for rap and artists over the year. He is super lowkey and never looking for any type of shine and operates with a quiet confidence that I respect the hell out of. We have been friends for over 20 years and have been on al types of rap adventurers together all over North America. We formed a dj crew, The Stone Cold Party Rockers and now he has ventured into making beats. I swear he has been making beats in his head for 20 plus years but during the pandemic he seriously put those ideas in to action and is about to release one of the greatest debuts in indie rap history.
I was blown away by the first few beats that he sent my way to check out and I was fortunate enough to hear the album as it progressed from a couple songs to a full blown release. It was really exciting to witness in real time. Rove really has a knack of creating a beat that perfectly suites the style of the rapper on it. You can really tell that he is a huge fan of all the artists on the album as he brought the bets out of all of them. He would shoot me and Nolto beats saying he was going to reach out to so and so and I would be like yeah they would be perfect on that track. It is wild. Someone messaged me and said isn’t he too old to make a rap album and I was like you are never too old to do anything that you love and want to do. At the same time that Rove was working on this album, I got the bug to make a solo rap record produced entirely by Dren that is now in the hands of sign one and Dren in post production. I never would have thought a few years ago that Rove and I would both be releasing albums in the near future., But I sure am glad that is happening and I know especially in the case of Roves album the whole world will appreciate it.
Test presses have always been sort of a cool novelty. It has always been fun to say yeah I got the test press of that because of the rarity. However in an era of discogs I know there are test press collectors and pretty much everything is attainable if you really want it and that takes a lot of the allure out of it. I don’t buy records, tapes or cds for clout, I buy them to play and listen to and because it is something I have always done and is how my brain is wired. It is probably some sort of neurological disorder but I am unwilling to address it at this time. A recent trend over the past few years is for artists to sell test presses and press up extra copies of test presses and offer them in packages. Like 10 test presses for an album really take the rarity and specialness of them out of the equation.
I think this takes away from the allure of the test press and just comidifies it a way the takes all the fun out of it. I understand artists gotta eat and I am not ripping on them as it is the nature of the beast these days. I just never thought of test presses as commercial products and that if you had one it was because the artist wanted you to have it and that is really special. I have like a dozen or so test presses that I have been gifted over the years and each and every one of them means a lot to me. Posting a picture of them would be pretty boring so I will refrain from doing so. Here is one anyway.
If you are not into celebrating holidays of colonial occupation on stolen Indigenous lands tomorrow, then rock out to this track from the homie Pip Skid! Pip’s always got a track for all occasions!
The homie Wordburglar just announced a new album Burgonomic which is available now for preorder on CD. The cd comes with a 20 page booklet featuring lyrics and art. I hope there is a vinyl version at some point. I don’t now what I did but it appears you can copy in the album from Bandcamp. I am going to have to investigate this further but a dope accident nonetheless.
Record One
Buck 65 - King Of Drums
A little internet search and I looks I got this figured out! the pasting of the bandcamp link. It is safe to say that Buck 65 is back and I would say better than ever. After emerging earlier this year on the Flash Grenade album with Tachichi he is back with a solo effort. I am sure you have been reading and following along with his Substack as he talked about this record quite a bit. The album is great and combined the best part of Buck 65. A self proclaimed “king of drum breaks” having catalogued 35% (not sure how you qualify that as you would have to know how many drum breaks their are in the world, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt and take his word for it on this one) of the worlds drum breaks in his life time and he has put all of that knowledge and energy forward and created an incredible record. The tapes sold out very quickly and the cd’s shortly after that. A vinyl pressing is coming so keep your eyes peele
Record Two
Ugly Duckling - Moving At Break Speed
Now this is not a new release but a recent reissue. Originally released in 2012 on Special Records it is a release that flew under the radar for me and was one I added to my discogs want list but quickly realized it was very expensive and was a small run but the group. The last one selling in March of this year for 269$ CAD. I am really glad to see artists and labels who see this kind of ridiculousness on Discogs and take it into their own hands and re-release the album. I was just looking at the website as I was writing and saw a drop down menu for the album to order and saw there is a standard black edition vinyl. I lamented with a loud “ahhh fuck’ as I am clown for getting the cloured version. I played this record on yesterday on Third Verse and I said to myself as I pulled it out of the sleeve and put it on the platter, I wish the vinyl was black. This is not the first time and I am sure not the last time I will make this mistake. This reissue is courtesy the good folks at Lonestar Records a label out of Germany. Ugly Duckling has alway been a favourite of mine and I am really happy to add this to my collection. Such feel good rap music.
Classic Material
The Nonce - World Ultimate
I don’t have any great stories about this album. I never saw them live, I never met either of them. Sach took me for like 120$ as he never sent me records I ordered from him a number of years ago. I know he has done that to others. So if you are reading this, I would advise against ordering anything direct from him. Fuck anyone for real that does shit like this. It is insanely wack. Lucky for me I can separate shit head behaviour from the music and still enjoy it. I first heard the single Mix Tapes by seeing the video for the song on Rap City on Much Music here in Canada. I saw adds for the album in the Source as well so it was on my radar. I bought the tape at HMV when it came out but it was filed in the Jazz section. I am still not sure how I found it there. It was some sort of fluke. I sure am glad I did though as I rocked the hell out of it.
This album really resonated with hip hop heads in a way that made the homies in Winnipeg take notice. They would always comment about how much we liked this album. It didn't do the same for them. This was really a Saskatoon album. The themes of being an underdog, being on the air, selling mixtapes really resonated with the Saskatoon hip hop heads at the time. We all dj’d the 12”’s from this album a lot. Especially the Bus Stops 12” that featured the top five all time b side cut, Who Falls Apart?. I remember Epic would go back and forth on the one’s and two’s with the phrase,“I found this slowed it down and mixed it with that” for what seemed like hours. It was the best. The snare is the ultimate on this track too. It just snaps in a really amazing way. The track also has one of the best hooks of all time:
Because of that a lot of groups fell apart
Egos and pride has changed the course
And if you hear me, think about your favorite group that's lost
If you hear me, think about your favorite group that's lost
Because of that a lot of groups fell apart
Egos and pride has changed the course
And if you hear me, think about your favorite group that's lost
If you hear me, think about your favorite group that's lost
I remember we heard Dj Premier play this instrumental on a mixtape of his and we all lost our minds. It was that weird hip hop validation that was so important in those formative years. I finally got a full length vinyl copy from Epic a number of years ago. Thank you homie!
This is just one of those special albums that could never be replicated in a million years. All the conditions were perfect and the result was perfect. I am sure everyone reading this is familiar with this album but I would encourage you to go back and revisit it this weekend! Rest In Peace Yusef Afloat.
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