In response to a request from Seriousbiz, I’m throwing up another 12” from my collection. I first stumbled across ‘Verbalise’ on the final installment of the ‘Hip Hop Don’t Stop’ series that brought together some of the best cuts from the preceding compilations and let DJ Prime Cuts work his magic on them. I always liked this track and had forgotten about it until recently, and it has only been with a brief bit of research over the last day or so that I realised its strong UK connections: here’s the rundown…

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Kwam made much impact on the scene, with only a handful of 12′’s to his name and a couple of appearances on various compilation albums. This is a shame, as he is lyrically strong, with lots of internal rhyme schemes and a tight and relatively aggressive flow (he reminds me a little of O.C. at times). ‘Verbalise’ is the standout on this slab of wax, a Spinna produced cut that has a dark and moody vibe along with some exceptional scratching from my favourite UK DJ, Mr Thing (UK connection number one). Honestly, the cuts at the end of this track are excellent: highly technical but definitely funky. The flipside is less interesting, but still a nice joint produced by The Creators (UK connection number two). I like the tight snares and glockenspiel sample, and as with ‘Verbalise’, Kwam does a nice job on the mic.

Two things surprise me about this 12”. Firstly, this was released in 1998, but very successfully captures the essence of hip hop in the earlier ’90s. If I had been asked to guess the year that this was released on a first listen, I would have certainly shaved at least a year or two off the actual release date as this slipped into the Prime Cuts mix easily between KRS One’s ‘Sound Of Da Police’ and the Beatnuts’ classic ‘No Equal’ (I just checked for that mix on Amazon… $125! I’ll throw it up soon: who pays that for a CD?). Secondly, what the hell happened to this guy? With such a promising 12” release you would have expected at least a full LP at some stage, but unfortunately this was obviously not to be. Any information on his current whereabouts will be much appreciated.

I have his earlier 12” with PB Wolf on the boards and the mighty Q-Bert on the cuts from ‘96, but I’m pushed for time with work commitments at the moment so you’ll have to wait. Perhaps I’ll put it up with the Prime Cuts mix later in the week: peace.

Big Kwam - Verbalise b/w Capacity Blown

After compiling my ‘Top 25′ list, I’ve been compelled to get back into some of the albums that featured that I haven’t listened to for a while including ‘Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop’, Diamond D’s masterful debut. Although I am not generally that up on sample sources, I did ‘borrow’ a record from my Dad several years ago that is used on ‘K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid)’ and thought it would be interesting to discuss the way in which Diamond D utilises the break (to his credit, this is co-produced by Q-Tip). Interestingly, this was one of the songs on the album that passed me by when I first got it, sucked in by the brilliance of more obvious standouts to the detriment of some of the other cuts on the album. I remember playing ‘Tiger Woods 2003′ with my friend Al when we first fully appreciated this particular song, and it has subsequently become one of my favourite joints on this fabulous record.

I’m not going to pretend that I know an awful lot about Weather Report other than the fact they are a relatively well-known group in the jazz/rock/fusion era of the late ’70s, so check out this link for a more detailed round-up. The part of the song to focus on begins at 1.35, with a breakdown from the relatively hectic soundscape that precedes it into a more stripped down break that leads into the saxophone section that floats in at around 1.54. The break, before the introduction of the sax, is comprised of three key layers: drums, bass, and although I can’t be sure of the final element (much to my frustration), I assume it is the second bass guitar with some kind of filter applied. For those of you who may be interested, the instrumentation and musicians featured on the track breaks down like this:

Wayne Shorter: Tenor and soprano saxophone
Auger James Adderley: Vocal
Josef Zawinul: Rhodes piano and synthesizer
Miroslav Vitous: Bass
Alphonso Johnson: Bass
Ishmael Wilburn: Drums
Dom Um Romão: Percussion

What I appreciate about ‘K.I.S.S.’ is that it does exactly that: keep it simple. I may be wrong, but it seems to me that this is the one and only sample source for this cut apart from the two half bar vocal samples used in the chorus section. The warmth of the bass and the complexity of the percussion work incredibly well together, and I particularly like the double cymbal crash that completes each bar. I like to imagine D Squared c. ‘91 in front of his SP 1200 chopping this break up with Q-Tip by his side and rearranging it to suit their purpose: pure and unadulterated hip hop from a time now sadly passed.

It seems amazing to me that in the liner notes to the album this sample isn’t even credited, as it forms such a core component of the subsequent song. Whether this is simply the result of a more relaxed approach to the legal side of the industry at the beginning of the ’90s I don’t know, although I thought that sample clearance issues were rife at this stage in the genre’s development. Whatever the reason, ‘K.I.S.S.’ and ‘American Tango’ are both dope: hit the link and enjoy.

‘American Tango’ & ‘K.I.S.S’ - Diamond D/Q Tip sample flip

[Note: For all you sample freaks out there you will notice that 'American Tango' was also used by DJ Ogee on O.C.'s ''Can't Go Wrong'... check the science!]

I don’t want to bore anyone with my rambling personal bullshit, so I’ll keep this brief. If you are planning to compile a ‘Top 25′ list be wary: I haven’t been able to stop thinking about mine for 24 hours. ‘Should have I included that?’, ‘but what about…’, ‘how could I forget!’: honestly, I’m concerned I may not be able to let it go that quickly. I’m not going to change anything or nominate those that didn’t make it as that kind of defeats the point of the list in the first place, but be warned: you may experience some forms of stress in the process.

Check in tomorrow for something a little different here at FDB. I promise I’ll leave it with the list for now…

With prompting from Passion Of The Weiss, Straight Bangin’ and various other blogs that have thrown down the gauntlet, here is my list detailing my favourite 25 albums in hip hop history. I wanted to play this all cool and simply nominate the first 25 that came into my head (with a little tinkering), but inevitably the geek in me has taken over and I have toyed with the selections and ranking for quite a while, much to the detriment of my day job…

As with everyone else who has been taking part in this mass blogger ballot, I feel it necessary to preempt any backlash with a few clear ‘disclaimers’:

1. These are my favourite albums: this is not a list of the most important albums in hip hop history.

2. The order in which these are placed is somewhat arbitrary, as I love each one of these albums for different reasons. Still, I have attempted to weigh up all the different factors and rank them.

3. I am fully aware that this list does not include anything from the ‘80s and omits several extremely important artists in the genre’s history. Please bear in mind that in 1988 I was six years old and still occasionally needed help going to the toilet. Although I would love to have been born in the Bronx in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s and seen Kool Herc spin records out in the park back when this all started way back when, I can’t be blamed for circumstances beyond my control. To all you old school b-boys and b-girls out there, rest assured that I am working my way back through the wide spectrum of hip hop and am committed to expanding my knowledge of it in all of its colourful phases.

4. If I were asked to compile a list tomorrow, it would probably be different to this one. Indeed, this is slightly different to the one that I did last night.

5. I would usually only include one album by any one artist in lists like these, but I have made an exception here… it should be obvious why.

Phew… onto the list.

1. Nas – Illmatic
Boring I know, but is there a more perfect hip hop album? Coherent, bangin’, beautiful, concise: absolutely timeless.
2. A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders
Difficult to pick a favourite from the Tribe catalogue, but ‘Midnight Marauders’ wins it for me, just beating ‘The Low End Theory’.
3. Organized Konfusion - Stress: The Extinction Agenda
This album seems to get overlooked in these type of lists somewhat, but the combination of top class beats and exceptional mic skills firmly cement this in my top three picks. Pharoah’s verse on ‘The Extinction Agenda’ is absolutely astonishing.
4. Mobb Deep - The Infamous
The production on this album is crazy, and combined with highly articulate and quotable rhymes, I don’t think anyone could front on this classic.
5. Lords Of The Underground - Here Come The Lords
This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I had this on a recorded tape when I was only 11 years old. Its influence on my musical tastes is unquestionable, and I still bump it to this day. I felt I had to get some K-Def production into this list as well, as I deem him to be one of the most underrated producers in the game.
6. DJ Shadow – Endtroducing…
This blew me away when I first got hold of it. It takes me back to drives with friends around London late in the evening with ‘herbal’ cigarettes firmly in hand (the London Transport Police would have been appalled). Shadow: I know you could still do it like this… please don’t desert us totally in the search for some new ish!
7. Showbiz & AG - Runaway Slave
Banger from start to finish. The beats are quality and A.G.’s rhymes easily do them justice. I would give anything to have seen them live with Roc Raida behind the tables back in the day: oh, to be a native New Yorker c. 1992!
8. Wu-Tang - Enter The Wu-Tang
So many killer tracks and such a fantastic overall coherence make this an undeniable classic. Surely this one is on everybody’s list, isn’t it?
9. Smif N Wessun - Da Shinin’
It was a toss up between this and ‘Enta Da Stage’, but ‘Da Shinin’’ just wins out due to extended play whilst I was in Chile in 2003. A great album that reminds me of great times.
10. Notorious BIG - Ready To Die
So many choice cuts and Biggie rips through verses with such an amazingly captivating style: this album’s charms are impossible to resist.
11. Pete Rock – Petestrumentals
The first Pete Rock installment on the list. This may not be his most celebrated work, but this is a pure, funky slice of Pete Rock genius without any rhymes to get in the way. I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of ‘Pete’s Jazz’: despite thousands of plays, I just can’t kill it.
12. Diamond D - Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop
One of the first true crate digging albums featuring brilliant production and enjoyable rhymes. Granted, D Squared ain’t the tightest on the mic, but I like his laid back flow and it complements the beats here perfectly: this still feels fresh and it’s fifteen years old.
13. OC - Word…Life
The Buckwild numbers are particular favourites, but the album as a whole is exceptional. OC is without a doubt one of the best MCs in the genre’s history. ‘You lack the minerals and vitamins’: the hairs rise on the back of my neck every single time.
14. INI - Center Of Attention
A double dose of the Chocolate Boy Wonder at numbers 14 and 15. This is such a great album with some of Pete Rock’s best production work as well as some great verses from Rob-O and Grap Luva.
15. Pete Rock & CL Smooth - The Main Ingredient
Honestly, I really struggled to not include their debut as well, but this is my favourite of the two albums and this list is already a little bit Pete Rock heavy (can you blame me?).
16. Pharcyde – Labcabincalifornia
‘Runnin’’ goes down as one of my favourite cuts of all time, and although I know most people feel differently, I prefer this to their debut. Dope beats and a more mature lyricism make this a wonderful album.
17. Rawkus Presents Soundbombing II
OK, so not an ‘album’ as such, but it’s my list suckas. I was in sixth form, Rawkus was flying high and although I had been listening to hip hop for years, it was around this time that I started to take it more seriously, placing a foot firmly on the ladder towards my current geeky state. The intro juggle to ‘1-9-9-9’ is one of the most amazing pieces of turntablism I have ever heard.
18. Mos Def - Black On Both Sides
Similar reasons to ‘Soundbombing II’, but this is not to take away from the quality of the album. ‘Umi Says’ is being played at my funeral (although the ‘I want black people to be free’ line at the end might seem a little strange at a white, middle-class North Londoner’s farewell bash: fuck it).
19. Genius - Liquid Swords
Another album that I had on tape when I was still in the very early stages of my obsession with hip hop. I remember coming home from my parents’ friends’ house in the summer and rocking this on my walkman. Easily my favourite Wu solo effort.
20. Gangstarr - Hard To Earn
Very difficult to pick a Gangstarr favourite, but this wins it because it was the first album of theirs that I really got into. The best DJ/MC team in hip hop history?
21. Jay Z - Reasonable Doubt
I remember listening to this on a school trip to Hadrian’s Wall in the north of England and other people taking the piss out of me for it (I don’t think Finchley, North London was quite ready for Mr. Carter in ‘96). I didn’t care: I loved it then and I still love it now.
22. Common - Like Water For Chocolate
I probably prefer ‘Resurrection’ but this was another seminal album in my sixth form years that cemented a love for hip hop and made me hunger for more in a way that I hadn’t done previously. I also caught him with a full live band on the tour that year, and it was one of the best gigs I’ve ever been to. For this reason, I’m nominating this fantastic album instead of the indisputable classic, ‘Resurrection’.
23. Main Source - Breaking Atoms
I was so surprised when a discussion on my blog revealed that some people don’t see this as a classic, as I think it’s incredible. Great, great beats, and although Extra P may not have the greatest flow in the game, I think he deserves more credit for his mic skills than many are willing to offer.
24. Naughty By Nature - Poverty’s Paradise
By no means would I expect this to be deemed a universal classic, but once again, this is an album from my youth that carries personal significance. I used to love playing ‘Lemmings’ and rocking out to ‘Craziest’. How my parents despaired…
25. Da King & I - Contemporary Jeep Music
Although this is only something that I have gotten into relatively recently, I’m chucking it in there because it is one of the only albums that I have acquired in the last five years that has genuinely blown me away. I can’t believe that this is not more widely appreciated, as it is an album of incredible beats and wonderful rhymes that includes absolutely no filler. How many albums can you say that about?

There you have it. I can hear the cries of ‘what about PE?’ and ‘are you kidding: no De La?!’ resonating across cyberspace already… deal with it. I’ll look forward to seeing the final results go up at Straight Bangin’ and Passion Of The Weiss. If you haven’t compiled your own list yet then get on it: the more people that take part, the more complete an overview we will end up with. Unleash the geek: you know it feels good…

Fondle ‘Em Records: probably the best underground record label in hip hop’s history. Set up and run by the infamous Bobbito Garcia, the first release on it was in the form of the Cenobites EP - a collab between Kool Keith and Godfather Don. Since then it has released music from the likes of MF Doom, MF Grimm, Siah and Yeshua, KMD and countless other underground heads. It is now defunct, with many of the releases being unavailable and out of print, and some, such as the Siah and Yeshua EP, are collector’s items. I’ve picked three 12′’s to review which (I hope) are lesser known. Someone requested the Lord Sear 12”, so I stuck that up on here. The DJ Eli 12” and the Grimm 12” are both bangers, and well worth checking. Seek out these 12′’s if you can, but beware, some are harder to come across than others.

DJ Eli - And So Kiddies b/w Truly Gifted Ones

Part of the Cloudkickers crew, Eli has produced beats for a number of people, including Ill Bill and also MF Grimm as well as this 12”. I must admit that outside of this I don’t know much about his production but on this 12 it is mint. The a-side features the great MC Cage: this is a typical Cage affair with his involved rhyming complementing Eli’s beat very well. However, Cage is not really an MC who has ever grabbed me overall; I’m more a beat person than a rhyme person so I don’t really feel suited to judge this track. However, The b-side, is the winner. A great headnodding beat, again crafted by Eli, runs with three MCs - Yeshua, J-Treds, and Pumpkinhead. The trio trade verses on a track which as well as being considered ‘underground’ manages to go off well in a club too: the snare snaps hard on this! To finish off the 12”, there is a great instrumental piece called ‘Lay Puzzled’, utilizing a sample from Nas’s ‘NY State Of Mind’ as a hook. Overall, this 12” is great, however the b-side is definitely the winner.

Lord Sear - Alcoholic Vibes b/w My Hindu Love

Lord Sear became well known on the Stretch Armstrong show for his freestyle segments and general chit-chat during the ’90s. He popped up every now and again, freestyling to whatever Stretch felt like. He steps up from that for this 12; although I’m sure this is all freestyled, it is a studio recording and what a recording it is. Like many records, one side is better than the other. ‘My Hindu Love’, performed by his alias ‘Stak Chedda’, is pretty nice, but it is all about the a-side, ‘Alcoholic Vibes’. One of the simplest, easiest beats I’ve ever heard but it thumps so hard. I dunno what it is, whether it’s the repetitive bassline or the way the drums have been laid down, but it is impossible not to nod your head to it, or maybe even to try a little freestyle yourself! He produced all of it as well, with it being engineered by Mighty Mi of High and Mighty. This 12” is long out of print and I copped it a while back in NYC, a very good find, as it had been on my list for ages. Seek it out (like all the records I review) if you can, and buy it on sight.

MF Grimm - Landslide b/w Tick Tick

MF Grimm (now known as GM Grimm) could perhaps be considered a legend in rap, for both his skills and also the stories that surround the dude. He hails from Brooklyn and is probably the only rapper I’m aware of who has spent most of his ‘professional’ career confined to a wheelchair. He suffered at the hands of a gunman in 1994, several shots to his body leaving him, at one point, deafened, blinded and paralyzed from the neck down. Although he regained the hearing and the sight, he is still confined to his wheelchair. During this time, according to his bio, he wrote the great ‘Scars and Memories’ in hospital. If you haven’t heard that, you need to check it.. maybe I will post it up here soon. Anyway, not only contending with being confined to a chair, in 2000, he was sentenced to life imprisonment (which was later reduced) for various charges. The dude even posted a $100,000 bail for one day release to record an album, ‘The Downfall of Ibliys:A Ghetto Opera’. That is hardcore!

Anyway, back to the 12”. Along with other releases, this came out on Fondle ‘Em. The main track is a simple, haunting effort. Laced with a piano all the way through, Grimm comes correct. There is also a remix, and I prefer this to the original, which is also found on the 12”, produced by none other than DJ Eli. For the MF Doom fans, the b-side, ‘Tick Tick’, is produced by the metal faced villain and it’s a typical Doom affair. DJs: I challenge you to mix this! It slows down and speeds up throughout the tune making it a very interesting listen. I much prefer ‘Landslide’, but I appreciate Doom doing something different.

P.S. Sorry for the record skipping on the landslide remix… shitty records!! Buy CDs!

[Dan's note: that 'Landslide (Remix)' is seriously dope. Thanks once again to the mighty Scone!]