Thoughts
I don’t have a lot of thoughts this week. Lots going on in the world that has grabbed my attention and brain power. In addition to world events, provincial events, October always being insane for Baseball and with my renewed love of Hockey especially the Saskatoon Blades my attention has been elsewhere as of a late. I am really looking forward to the weekend as the Blades have a home game on Saturday night and then on Sunday my brother and I are going to make the quick track to Prince Albert to see the Blades take on the Raiders. It will be my third game at the Art Hauser Centre. It is a really fun rink as it is small (like 2200 seats) and the have awesome onion rings. I went to a preseason game there in September so I am looking forward to getting back there again. Also Kay the Aquanaut and Kitz Willman are rocking it at Amigos on Saturday night her in Saskatoon so that will make for an amazing weekend.
Shout out to everyone that copped the first official drop from the crew at Saskatoon Rap Rap Music this passed week. We really appreciate it. There are still a handful of copies left if you are interested in grabbing one!
Bandcamp Friday was on the quieter side for me last week which was needed. Too many great releases the past couple of months. I hope everyone was able to get a thing or two that they wanted. I picked up the following two releases.
Missed Third Verse last night? Well, I didn’t but unfortunately Noyz wasn't able to record it and he won’t be a bee to next week either so you will just have to catch it the old fashioned way live. episode this week. 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!
Classic Stevie always walking, sitting or laying down on the records as I try to get a quick flick.
Record One
Mathematik - Mathuniversal
I have been a long time fan of Mathematic and he has been on a resurgence and tear the past couple years which has been really nice for me as a fan. As soon as I saw this one drop I grabbed a copy. It is a ten track album alternating in production from two Paris-based siblings, Parental & Lex (De Kalhex). This is pretty cool and sort of a throw back to Main Source. The production is super classic boom-bap tand exactly what you would envision it to be. One pf yeti really cools things in my opinion is Mathematik does all his own scratches on the album. I can’t think of another Mc off the top my head that did the scratches on an album that they also didn’t produce themselves. The album is really goos in that super classic Toronto rap sense. It his not earth breaking in any senses but rather comforting and familiar and that is what I enjoy about it most. My jam is Focus and the you better believe I bought that “Standard Chaps Black” pressing!
Record Two
Super Duty Tough Work - Paradigm Shift
The Winnipeg super rap group is back and this time on vinyl! I think the theme this week for me is comfort and familiarity and this one is right in line with that theme. This album is great front to back with lots to digest and enjoy. I hav been giving it a lot of play on my radio shows and in the rap nest. My Jam is Quiet Strength. It seems they didn’t get the memo and opted for super a super trendy gold pressing, but it could have been timeless on “Standard Chaps Black”. I can get past that shortsightedness of that, as the album is super dope.
Classic Material
Dj Babu - Super Duck Breaks …the saga begins
Break records, scratch records, dj records, turntablist records or what ever you want to call them, they were highly coveted and seminal in dj culture in the mid to late 90’s into the early 2000’s. I have about 3/4’s of a cube in a record shelf full of them. I loved them, they helped me learn and grow so much as a DJ in that era. I think I am safe in saying this is the seminal scratch record. Every Dj had a copy. I lost my original copy at a show. I think I left it on a turntable after a set and someone mistook it for theirs or just straight up jacked it. My current copy is super beat up and and I love that it is. The spine is completely split, the corners are all rounded and worn and the opening of the jacket it worn down form flipping and grabbing out the record.
14:32 of the above YouTube video audio clip is probably the greatest dj scratch beat of all time. I literally never get tired of it. I can listen to it on repeat for hours and I have, scratching over it and then picking up the needle and dropping it at the start. Over and over for hours I would do this. The tempo and space the beat provides is so perfect to scratch to. As soon as you hear, “don’t stop frontin and use your head” sample and then the “baaam bam, ti ti ti ti ti ti ti ti” and them “don’t stop frontin and use your head” for the second time and the drums hit you know it is on. This is literally the gold standard of beats to cut on. Using the cuts Scratch Fresh or Ahhh and you can have hours of fun. Scratching on this beat is time warp.
This cover is an all time classic as well. It always stood out amongst the rest. It has my favourite scratch sentences as well with all the perfect samples and noises to cut up with. I wonder how many 10’s of thousands of copies this sold over the years. I know there have been multiple pressings. It has to be the highest selling record in this category of all time. I am sure this will bring back some great memories for any DJ of this era reading this. I bet this record sold like 40 copies in Saskatoon alone. That is insane to me. Every DJ at the time had one or two copies of this in their crates at all times it seemed. It has always been my go to record to scratch during live performances over the years. It is just the perfect scratch record.
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