Thoughts
How many copies is enough? I sometimes ask myself this question lately more and more. I know a lot of collectors read this newsletter so this maybe this falling on deaf ears. But when is it ever enough? For collectors and fanatics, I don’t think it is ever is or ever will be enough. There is always something to add to the collection. Especially in this golden age of reissues and first time to format pressing. Also, this is such an incredible time for new releases. I have said it before, and I will say it again we are living in one of the best times of my life for music collecting. I am sure for others living in larger markets where they had greater access to things in other era it was better but from the perspective of a collector living in Saskatoon it has not been this exciting since the early days of the late 90’s early 2000’s. With the emergence of Discogs it has made things more exciting as literally any release is attainable for the right price. Prices are high but there are always deals to be had.
The triple threat combo as I like to call it is the classic Tape, Compact Disc and Record combo. In the collector world it is sort of a flex to say, yeah, I got that release on all three formats Artists also love when collectors post that because that is three sales. I don’t think I have ever consciously said to myself that I wanted to own a release in all three formats. I think more often then not it just happens over time. I will own it in one format and then find it used in another format and then sometimes it gets released in the missing format years later. Other times you just accumulate things like one of the homies is downsizing or getting out of the physical game and you find yourself completing the triple threat combo.
The one thing that sucks as you age your disposable income is harder to come by. There are simply more demands on your money as you age and have more respnsabilites. Don’t even get me started on home ownership. I showed my partner the classic Tom Hanks and Shelly Long movie the Money Pit a number of years ago as we rebuilt 1/2 of our hose that was collapsing. We laugh a lot about it now and I always quit Pip Skid “I’m in deep debt like Tom Hanks and Shelly Long”. I think that was the impetus for us to watch the movie. I am 44 years old and I don’t have kids and I don’t think I ever will. An embarrassingly large percentage of that decision is that I am unwilling to give up collecting music. There are other factors like the state of the world, my age and stuff like that but I am not willing to make the sacrifice needed, both time and financially to raise a child in this ever-evolving world. You could call me selfish in that regard but I feel you need to be fully committed to bring a child into this world, especially these days but I am not willing to make that commitment. I am not anti-kids by any means. I just know it is not for me and conducive to mine or my partners wellbeing. My homies have some of the best and sweetest kids I have ever been around, and I give them a hell of a lot of props for it.
Bandcamp day this past Friday was wild. I have never seen as many deals on really awesome records, CD’s or Tapes as I did this past Friday. Shouts to all the artists and labels that were passing along savings to fans and collectors. My email inbox was flooded with deals. I hope you were able to save and pick up something you really wanted and save a few bucks in the process.
I want to send out a warm birthday wish to the big homie Id Obelus who is celebrating a birthday today! Wishing you all the best in the year to come! Thank you for the friendship and your unwavering support of Rap! Rap is the best because of you!
Missed Third Verse? Ugsmag, has you covered as always. You can listen here. Also, if you are looking for archived episodes of You Know The Rules, look no further. Rap radio is the best!
Record One
Serengeti & Ployphonic - Don’t Give Up
The homie Noyz319 put me on to this album when it was originally released. I didn’t really buy CD’s when it came out so I kinda didn’t give it the attention that it really deserved. A few years back I copped a copy of the CD off of Discogs and really dove into it. I always knew it was a great album and I have always been a huge fan of all of a Serengeti’s work but lacking a vinyl release really hurt my appreciation for this record. I am super glad I did get the CD but having this on vinyl takes it to another level. I know how ridiculous that sounds but that is how my brain works. I am so excited for this vinyl reissue that features some incredible photography by the homie Id Obelus on the front and back covers. Shout out to Dren for the great layout! Puppydog Love is still the jam. There are 6 copies left at Audio Recon. You have been fair warned.
Record Two
Run The Jewels – Super 7 Action figures
I know this isn’t a record, but I use this once and a while to feature something else. I am a sucker for Super 7 rap and rap related figures. They do such a great job of them. I was so excited when the announced back on October 22, 2021 the preorder for this Run The Jewels box set. It was an instant pre-order. I finally got the set this week in thew mail. It is even better then I expected. Never in my wildest dreams listening to Company Flow did I think there would be an El-P 3 ¾” action figure. Rap is outta control.
Classic Material
Farm Fresh – Played Out
The members of Farm Fresh (mcenroe. Pip Skid and Dj Hunnuicutt) have had such a huge impact on me both as a person and as a rap fanatic. I have been very fortunate to establish long standing friendships with all oof them over the years. They have played so many shows in Saskatoon over the years that they start to blur. One of the more memorable ones and the one I think was the one that seriously began our friendship and my life long support for all things Peanuts and Corn was one that occurred at Zombies in Saskatoon on Saturday January 24 1998.
The show was memorable for a lot of reasons and the performances were incredible. M.Phasis opened with soso backing him. They were working on some music at the time with soso producing some incredible beats for M.Phasis to rock on. I really wish they would have continued working together and made a real push to get an album out. A few of these songs from this era made their way onto M.Phasis - North End Jornals released in 2002 on his imprint Say Something Records. Super-Duper and Where Ya Going were real fan favourites in this era. I thought soso and M.Phasis had some real magic together like a DJ Premier and Guru type combination. Also performing at the show was a local B-Boy crew The Mistic Ism Disciples of Rhythm. I remember the B-Boys that performed because I knew them but If I didn’t see this name in the article about the show I never would have remembered it. I think they may have just used it for that show as they were always changing their names back then.
It was also my first foray into hip hop journalism if you can call it that haha. Oh man I just dugout the article and read through it. There is a lot of cringe in it as it focused on a lot of underdog us vs Toronto Rap. It was for our campus newspaper at the University Of Saskatchewan called the Sheaf. It was published January 28th and that is why I was able to pin point the date of the show. A really strong narrative of the day. I wish I could redo the article but I did it with a guy I grew up playing hockey with Named Mark Seniuk. He was really good homies with Shaun B aka the Forman aka The One Who Ran The Show. The three of us grew up playing hockey together. One of the best things about this show is I brought a camera to it. One of the biggest regrets is that I didn’t bring a camera to more events and take pictures. Now people have pictures of everything and things are over documented. There is something special about those old hard copy photos. The Graff homies will really attest to this.
Closing Ramblings
I have two shirts up at Stylesmakefights.ca One for my radio Show You Know The Rulesdesigned by the homie Aiden Searle and the other for my dj crew The Stone Cold Party Rockers with the homie Rove designed by the homie Awol One. Also the homies at Audio Recon have some dope shirts too
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