We’ve been hyped about this ever since our friends at Coalmine Records described it to us many moons ago. The excellent Small Pro does a stellar job with the vocals from the late, very great Sean P, alongside the cream of today’s best emcees. Listen below and they make the purchase.
Words by John Morrison.
Originally released on August 22, 1995 on the small independent start-up Up Above Records, Key Kool and Rhettmatic’s debut album Kozmonautz is a snapshot of Los Angeles’ historically rich and diverse underground Hip Hop scene. Two southern California kids, Kikuo Nishi (Key) and Nazereth Nirza (Rhettmatic) were among the first generation of L.A. youth to be impacted by the birth of hip-hop.
Hip-hop, and the socio-cultural explosion it set off, stretched out across the country from its flashpoint in the Bronx. This wave of influence shaped the lives of countless young people who were eager to participate through the arts of b-boying, graf writing, MCing and DJing.
Spurred on by the founding of KDAY (the country’s first 24 hour hip-hop radio station), the movement created by the Uncle Jamm’s Army DJ/Party promotion crew and countless other cultural, social and political variables, the hip-hop scene in Los Angeles flourished.
After honing his skills as an MC and DJ, Nishi joined Ice-T’s Rhyme Syndicate crew, which included members such as Divine Styler and future House of Pain star Everlast. During this time, Rhettmatic was rocking parties at L.A. clubs like Unity. A series of chance meetings through mutual friends would bring them together as a group and lay the foundations for their crew, underground hip-hop mainstays, The Visionaries.
Although it touched a select few underground hip-hop heads when it was initially released, more than twenty years after the fact, Kozmonautz has aged beautifully. The album retains a special place alongside unheralded West Coast underground gems like Ras Kass’ Soul On Ice, The B.U.M.S. Lyfe N’ Tyme and Mannish’s Audio Sedative. From tracks like “Can U Hear It?” to the classic posse cut “E=MC5”, with dope beats from Rhettmatic, Vooodu, Ras Kass and Miko.
The album’s heaviest emotional moment comes in the form of the track “Reconcentration” where Nishi retells the harrowing true story of how the U.S. government relocated and locked up over 100,000 Japanese Americans in military-designated internment camps situated along the West Coast during World War 2.
The story of how this album was made is as varied as the story of West Coast hip-hop itself with all its diversity and DIY spirit. From Nishi’s youth spent buying music at the legendary Roadium Swap Meet to Nirza’s involvement in the Filipino American Mobile DJ Scene of the 80s this piece is made up of the shared recollections of the people involved.
The story of Kozmonautz is not only the story of a group of talented young people being creative on their own terms, it is also gives a sense of what hip-hop means to the city of Los Angeles.
Key Kool: MC, DJ and Father. Key Kool is the MCing half of the Kozmonautz duo.
Rhettmatic: Turntable Virtuoso and co-founder of the World Famous Beat Junkies DJ Crew.
Dannu: Member of the Visionaries crew. Appears on the Kozmonautz posse cut “Visionaries (Stop Actin’ Scary)”. Also handed Key & Rhett’s cassette tape to Janet Jackson at the Kozmonautz release party at Club Roxbury. According to Key “She was randomly there”.
Lord Zen: Also a member of The Visionaries. Appears on “Visionaries (Stop Actin’ Scary)”.
Ras Kass: The waterproof MC. Member of the mythical Western Hemisfear crew. Released the West Coast classic Soul on Ice in 1996. Also co-produced “Reconcentrated” on Kozmonautz and appears on “E=MC5”.
Doug “Papa Doug” Kato: Former DJ and Founder of Up Above Records. Also appears on “Be A Hoodlum”.
LMNO: West Coast hip-hop veteran. Member of The Visionaries crew. Don’t Fuck with him or he’ll send your demo tape to Jerry Heller.
Vooodu: MC/Producer and founding member of Western Hemisfear. Appears on “E=MC5” and also co-produced “Reconcentrated”. Also produced many tracks on Soul on Ice.
Meen Green: Western Hemisfear member. Appears on “E=MC5.”
Origins: The Big Bang.
DJ Rhettmatic: I’m a first generation Filipino American. My parents moved to the US in 1968; they settled in Southern California. I was born in Huntington Park (East LA) then moved to Cerritos (a suburb in the LA County, 15 min next to Long Beach, 30 min from Downtown LA) in 1972. I pretty much discovered hip-hop growing up in Cerritos. My 1st introduction to hip-hop was in 7th grade when I saw a bunch of cats forming a circle & started to bust out Popping dance moves.
Someone sneaked in a Boombox with Planet Rock playing out the speakers. As soon as I seen the whole thing happening in front of my eyes, I was totally hooked. Of course, I didn’t even know it was called “Hip-hop” at that time….this was like 1983. During those times, it was normal to do 2 or more out of the 4 elements of hip-hop. I was a popper & a graff writer first until I eventually got into DJing. As I got older, that practically became my calling
Key Kool: My parents were super into music, jazz, soul/r&b. I didn’t realize they were cooler than me until I asked them if they ever saw James Brown live, and they said they saw him at the Hollywood Palladium on New Year’s Eve, sometime around 1965. I was exposed to locking when I saw my brothers friends doing it at a school talent show in 1978, ironically their younger cousins started teaching me how to poplock in 1981. That’s what got me into hip-hop.
My older brother Jin (not the rapper), also had a friend that had a set a turntables and a mixer but didn’t know how to use it. He told me to take it home and show him how to use it after I figured it out (I had already began scratching on my dad’s old stereo and apparently, he thought I had potential.) I picked it up pretty quickly, and by the time I was in 9th grade, people were hiring me to do guest DJ sets at college parties because not a lot of party DJs at the time were really scratching and blending. In LA, we also had 1580 KDAY, the only radio station that had hip-hop programmed 24 hours a day.
LA in the 80s: Popping and Locking. Beats and Swap Meets.
Key Kool: My friends and I would listen to all the KDAY mix masters and be inspired. I think the biggest thing is that I lived on the back neighborhood of the Roadium swap meet. The owner Steve Yano (RIP), was Japanese American like me, and he treated us like nephews. My homie Glen and I would hop the back wall and hang out there all day listening to every new hip-hop record he brought into his stand. Yano was the one who sold the famous Roadium Dr. Dre mixtapes and he actually introduced Eazy-E to Dr. Dre. Being right there as a pee wee in what people call the “ground zero” of LA hip-hop, and seeing NWA’s rise was influential as well.
Rhettmatic: Prior before meeting Key around 1993, I was heavily involved in the Mobile DJ scene in the mid to late 80’s. I was already hanging out with some of the members of the Beat Junkies such as J.Rocc (who founded the crew) & Dj Curse (an OG member & a mentor of mine growing up), coming from different mobile DJ crews, before we actually became a crew officially in 1992.
I was also actually a member of the Rock Steady Crew, LA Chapter in 1991 with Rakaa of Dilated Peoples, B-Boy legends Zulu Gremlin & Easy Roc, & LA DJ legend DJ Rob-One as members as well. My 1st taste into the music business was being the DJ for a group called Brotherhood Creed, which had a hit at the time called “Helluva”. My best friend was part of the group at that time as well. Needless to say, I got to experience a lot & even got to meet some heroes of mine during the brief stint, but I also learned a lot. It truly taught me to start learning more about the business, that not everything is gold, & to follow my heart & instincts.
Key Kool: DJing seriously kept me from selling drugs or running with gangs…they all told me that it’d be a waste of what they saw as talent. Pretty much every DJ in SoCal would travel to Yano’s record stand cuz he was one of the few that bought from the Big Daddy one stop, so he’d have a bunch of East Coast records that just came out. If you listen to those Dr. Dre mixtapes, you’ll hear all the records that had Just come out at that time, stuff that Yano gave Dre to mix. Those mixes would also play in KDAY. You can hear all of that influence on the NWA Straight Outta Compton album.
Visionaries: Stop Actin’ Scary.
Rhettmatic: After the Brotherhood Creed stint, I pretty much just went back to the drawing board & concentrated on DJing. And by that time, the Junkies were formed. I also was able to buy my 1st drum machine sampler: the EMU-SP1200 & pretty much just hone in, trying to make beats like my heroes such as Marley Marl, Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor, Dj Muggs, Dr. Dre, Dj Pooh just to name a few. I worked with a few MC’s but it never really worked out. Thru the grapevine & some parties, I would hear about Key. Remember, there weren’t that many MC’s of Asian descent at that time in the West Coast, let alone in Southern California (with the exception of the Boo-Yaa Tribe, who were from Carson & are of Samoan descent) that really had skills. If I remember correctly, we actually met at a club that a common friend of ours was the main promoter, and Key was actually the host MC…and I think I was doing a guest DJ set.
Key Kool: In 1989 I got recruited by Ice T’s management company Rhyme Syndicate to be in a group as a DJ. Our first demo was recorded at Prince’s Paisley Park Studio in Minnesota. That was my first recording experience in a “real” studio, and I really wanted to rap on a song. As the DJ of the group, I felt confined behind the tables and always wanted to be out front rapping, it just felt more natural to me. We were a group called UNC (United Nations Committee), and the concept was to be a multicultural group. While it was corny and contrived, it was visionary (pun intended). Ironically, it was what The Visionaries actually are, we just happened to be friends that formed a crew, and in fact, that’s how I met LMNO. He was the replacement white guy when the original member quit. Sinful from the group Tha Mexkinz (Mad Sounds/Motown), and Kel C (from the pioneering Minnesota I.R.M. Crew) were the other members of that group. The group disbanded when our manager went to prison. I was MCing at Prince’s club Glam Slam in downtown LA, (yeah, a bunch of Prince references), and Rhett was the guest DJ.
First time I met Rhettmatic was pretty mind blowing. I was at this club in Hollywood that was always jumping off. In one night you’d see people like Steven Tyler from Aerosmith, one of the Milli Vanilli guys, and Chuck D, and random movie celebs just walking around. We spoke about every hip-hop fact, record, etc – we’re super hip-hop nerds, and he told me he’d send me some beats. I never got them, but about a half a year later my manager says he ran into his old friend Rhett, and so we finally linked to record a song or two. Rhett’s homies from Cerritos who were MCs we’re focused on mashing in their industries, and rightfully so. Rich One founded Creative Recreation Shoes, and Emil (Soriano) is one of the founders of Crooks and Castles. So needless to say, they’ve been successful. So Rhett and I formed a group, and the name Kozmonautz was actually a name that Rich One came up with.
Dannu: I met Key around 93…met Zen in 92 doing shows around LA. Key and Zen were already linked and one day I rolled with Zen to a recording session for Key. That was our first encounter. Rhett was DJing for Key and that’s how I met him when we all rolled to support Key for a show. It was for a tofu festival in little Tokyo.
ZEN: I met Dannu and we started working on music together. Key knew LMNO from a group he had before and we talked about meeting up. Doug Kato started Up Above Entertainment and we had a studio in the office in Carson, called the Bomb Shelter, where the five of us would create. Key was going to UCLA at the time and had a radio show there. Rakaa from Dilated and 2Mex came thru one night to rock the mic. We invited 2Mex to the Bomb Shelter sessions, he showed up and the rest was…well, The Visionaries history. The beginning.
“Stop Actin Scary” is the 1st official The Visionaries song. That pretty much jump started the whole crew. Key knew LMNO already from his early days with him in a group; also during that time he was also part of the Blak Forest crew (what up Wiz!). He was also already working with Zen & Dannu when they were known as “Disciples Of The Sound” before they officially change their group’s name to Writer’s Block. 2Mex already had a buzz as a dope MC in the underground as being part of a group from the Good Life cafe called OMD (Of Mexican Descent) with XOXOLAXINCO. I met 2Mex thru Rakaa (Dilated Peoples) during my Rock Steady Crew days. Rak & Evidence were known as the Fatliners at that time (pre-Dilated, pre-Babu days) & they had a little loose fit crew with OMD, Joey Chavez, & a crew called Project Ill Brothers…it was called “Nerve Defness”. It wasn’t an official crew, but more like homies hanging out together and making music. I actually invited 2Mex just to hang out with us and vibe. I don’t officially remember how exactly how he got down with us but I think we asked him to be down with the crew during a freestyle session (minus me not rapping of course…haha!).
Up Above: Recording Kozmonautz:
Doug “PapaDoug” Kato: Key and I go back pretty far, almost back to high school days. I met Rhett through being a DJ. I was a DJ and my partner was from Cerritos. I started doing these charity dances and live performances and at one time we brought Key along to perform. We were pushing it to get them signed. We were getting quite a bit of action (from labels), but it was just kind of mis-playing the whole “Asian rapper” thing and we just felt like it was just going to go in the wrong direction. So ultimately with the encouragement of (music industry veteran) Violet Brown…she said “Hey, why don’t you guys just start a record label?”
Rhettmatic: We chose to be indie, do it yourselfers by necessity. Major labels were saying shit like Asian people don’t listen to hip-hop, or they wanted to exploit us on some disrespectful level. I like to think we started working on the album around 1994 because the album came out in 1995.
How the name “Kozmonautz” came out about, originally it was a name that I wanted to use for a production crew that was supposed to consist of my best friend Ty (who was also in Brotherhood Creed) but it didn’t really pan out because he lost interest in making beats & went more into freestyle dancing. Then I suggested to Key that we use the name instead, cause I really like the name, plus Key said that it was dope, because it reminded of him that we’re going into “new territory”, being that we might be one of the first Asian American Hip-Hop duos on some Gang Starr steeze, even though we really didn’t set out to be that. We wanted to be respected for our skills regardless of the fact that Key is Japanese American & I’m a Filipino American.
Key Kool: We recorded it at a home studio in East LA with Stan Kaneshige “Moki”, the one who produced Can U Hear It. Really talented musician. His family was so cool, they used to leave the back sliding door unlocked so that we could walk in the house anytime to record. Was crazy when you think about all that equipment.
Rhettmatic: We recorded everything onto ADAT Tape Machines then we transferred onto 2 inch reel tapes to have it mixed at a professional recording studio (Milagro Sound Recorders ). What’s crazy was that our engineer (Vachik Aghaniantz) is the same engineer that mixed Low Profile’s only album We’re In This Together on Priority Records. If you didn’t know, Low Profile was DJ Aladdin’s & WC’s group (yes, THAT WC of Westside Connection).
E=MC5: Bust The Scientifical (feat. Western Hemisfear)
Rhettmatic: “E=MC5” is probably the only song that had the original Western Hemisfear crew (Ras, Vooodu, & Meen Green) ever recorded onto wax before Ras left the crew. I was doing scratches for Ras’ original “Soul On Ice” demo album before I met Key. I already knew of Ras when he was a dope “Freestyle” dancer. We both have a friend in common: Kalani (RIP) was a dancer & member of Divine Styler’s Scheme Team. He was the one that introduced me to Ras, personally giving me his “Remain Anonymous” 12” on vinyl.
From there, he asked me to contribute scratches to his album (I did scratches on “On Earth As It Is”, “Core Audience”, & “Jack Frost”). This is when I also met Vooodu & Meen Green. All three of them are incredible emcees! Because of me working with them during these times, I was able to ask them to get down on our posse cut & we were lucky to get Vooodu to produce “Reconcentrated” & “Lyrical MD’s”. Me personally, I’m very thankful to have Ras, Meen Green, & Vooodu on the album.
Voodou: In a nutshell me, Ras and Bird we went to high school together and we was dancers at the time. We was called Club House back in the day. We ended up going to different clubs and everybody was on some dancing stuff. Even when we were dancing, we were rhyming. And Bird was the first one out the crew that was a producer. Battlecat took him under his wing and that was his prodigy. So, he learned from Battlecat and I learned from Bird. I would sit in the studio and watch Bird get tutored by Cat. At the time the SP-1200 was the shit. I liked the SP, but the MP was my thing and I work on an MPC 4000 to this day.
We was a group at that point, I named the group West Coast Avengers. There’s was a song Ras was working on were he said “Western Hemisfear” and I said “I should name the group Western Hemisfear”.
Mean Green: I met Vooodu and Bird in Trax studios in Hollywood CA (circa 1992). We clicked and formed a group called The West Coast avengers. Ras at this time was in jail and when he got out we merged and became the Western Hemisfear. We were in Long Beach CA at Rhett’s studio and I remember hearing the beat feeling the comp(etition) level or energy in the room going outside getting high as moon craters and penning then spitting that verse. Each verse set the stage for the next man. Key and LMNO were crazy then to go up against Ras and Vooo, it was a challenge I accepted with open arms LOL.
Vooodu: It was dope because I had never met a white MC and LMNO was the first one. LMNO was dope as…..man! I knew Mean Green, he was just my dude from LA but I didn’t know he was sick like that. We went up in the studio and laid that shit and I was just blown away by LMNO and everybody just blessed the record.
Ras Kass: From what I remember that was Rhettmatic’s idea. pretty sure I met the guys first and would frequent the studio and then eventually my whole group ended up hanging with Up Above and the next thing you know we were all rapping on a sick beat (laughs).
Reconcentrated:
Key Kool: As a DJ, we would play instrumentals, and of course as a fan, I would know entire songs like Run DMC “Sucker MC’s,” and rap it over the instrumental, you know, karaoke rap. Eventually, I started writing little basic raps to put on mixtapes and stuff. It wasn’t until I heard Public Enemy that I realized I could speak about my family’s experience and I wrote a verse about my family going into the concentration camps during World War II.
Ras Kass: Early on I did a lot of my own production. Rhett knew this so I was honored when they asked me to help formulate some ideas for that song. I think Key, knowing I had just written “Nature of the Threat” could help organize his thoughts because “Reconcentrated” is effectively the Japanese-American “Nature of the Threat”.
Key Kool: Rhett was doing scratches for Ras Kass at the time we were working on our album, so we were hanging out a bunch at Kitchen Sync Studios with Ras and the Western Hemisfear Crew. When Ras was recording “Nature if the Threat” I had told him about “Reconcentrated” and how I had researched with the leading Japanese American History Professor Yuji Ichioka, but was needing to finish it feeling the pressure and burden of representing for my family. He was the one that told me to finish that shit for your people, and Voodoo gave me the beat for the song, which was actually supposed to be for the Western Hemisfear posse cut.
Ras was pissed at first, but later said, just let me add some shit to the track, and came in with a Koto sample that completed the track. I’m forever grateful to those brothers for that. The song means so much to me. When my grandfather was sick, and I visited him in the hospital daily, we spoke a lot about his history. I asked him how could he not be angry about being a self made multi-millionaire that came out of the camps to find out that his attorney stole everything from him and was even driving his car: he told me that money means nothing to him as he’s lying down in bed near death, the important thing is his grandson is there to comfort him, spend time with him, and that he was able to make more money anyway, but love and family is the most precious thing.
LMNO: As a fan of edutainment I thought/think “Reconcentrated” was/is necessary for all of us to hear. Key has always been proud of who he is & was never hesitant to express that, makes me proud! His whole family took me in like a family member which means a lot to me despite America’s not so glorious history.
Doug Kato: “Reconcentrated” was kinda revolutionary where universities were studying that song. It memorialized a piece of history that was really forgotten.
Can U Hear It? Closing Impressions
Rhettmatic: I’m not really sure how much of an impact we’ve made with this album, but we definitely have had people come up to both Key & myself over the years & have said to us how much the album & our music has inspired them. I also have heard over the years as well that supposedly our album & the song “E=MC5” is a West Coast underground hip-hop classic. When cats like Vinnie Paz of Jedi Mind Tricks and Apathy have told me personally that they were peeping our music back in the days. All of this truly means a lot.
LMNO: The Kozmonautz took me around the world. I am proud of them for going for it and still going for it to this day, I love Key & Rhett! I am very grateful for everything they’ve done and still do to this day.
Doug Kato: I think that thing that really left an impact of that album is that we did it independently. We were a small fish, swimming with the big fish. We were able to make music the way we wanted to make it. There’s a lot of records out there that 20 years ago, you look at what they did and think “Dude, what were they thinking?” But I think we can pretty much hold our heads up high and say “Dang, that Kozmonautz album is still relevant” I think there was magic in what we were able to do with the little amount of money we had.
Key Kool: I asked my grandfather about what he thought about me rapping, and he said everyone thought he was crazy for leaving Japan at 16 with a few hundred bucks. He said do what you love and go be a pioneer.
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John Morrison is a Philadelphia based DJ, producer, and music journalist (Red Bull Music Academy, Jazz Right Now, Bandcamp Daily etc.) His debut instrumental Hip Hop album Southwest Psychedelphia is a psychedelic trip through a day in the life in his Southwest Philadelphia neighborhood, and available now on Deadverse Recordings. Follow John on Twitter and Instagram.
Just like the producers she’s writing on, Paris-based writer, Madeleine Byrne seeks out artists, forgotten, overlooked or not given the attention they deserve to work out their particular brand of magic and express it in words.
Grown Up Rap is happy to announce we’ll be publishing some of her writing on hip-hop – past and present – as part of an occasional series of articles, starting with Damu the Fudgemunk’s The High Light Zone, the 12-minute plus instrumental from the Washington DC, Redefinition Records owner’s album he likened to watching a movie, Vignettes.
We’re huge fans of Damu at Grown Up Rap (read our interview with him and Jason Moore, aka Raw Poetic, here) – a sentiment more than shared by Madeleine as you’ll see.
The High Light Zone by Damu the Fudgemunk (Vignettes, Redefinition Records, 2017). First published at https://www.madeleinebyrne.com/ July 01, 2017.
Extravagant, outlandish claim alert: this track, The High Light Zone from DC-based producer, Damu the Fudgemunk’s two-hour opus, Vignettes might be one of the best pieces of music, Madeleine Byrne writes, in any genre released in 2017.
If you think of hip-hop production as the assemblage of sonic elements, where the skill comes via the construction and use of contrast, Damu the Fudgemunk’s The High Light Zone goes against such easy categorisation. This music sounds like its flying, pure movement – to stop, start, stop and start again. And has a stunning drum sound, a killer beat.
When researching this piece, I had one key question to answer, one puzzle to solve: was this music sample-based, live instrumentation, a mix of both? I contacted Redefinition Records – the label co-founded by Damu the Fudgemunk (the artist known to his classical musician parents as Earl Davis). I asked my friends; one thought it’d be sample-based, another said the opposite, or that it was made up of live instrumentation sampled and spliced and found a clip posted on Twitter by the flutist, Seb Zillner as back-up for his hunch that showed him recording a part for the record’s track Solitary Refinement.
But then my trying to ‘work it out’ runs counter against the experience of listening to this music, which encapsulates such energy that it leaves you feeling transcendent, perhaps even breathless at times because of the essential swing of it, the kick of it. And it is this energy that sets it apart.
Many contemporary hip-hop instrumentals mine a similar territory, it often seems to me. Whether they are following the classic prototype set down by the great masters from the 90s, or burrowing into the super-soft fractured melody-driven style so popular today, you can recognise a formula: start with a dramatic, or mood-setting vocal sample (a comedic skit, or something from the news, the voice of a famous artist to set the theme of the music) and combine three, or so elements that appear/re-appear at set intervals. There is nothing wrong with following conventions, but sometimes it can feel a bit stale.
The High Light Zone starts with a sample, but the overall effect of the music is closer to a live jazz performance, or poppy electronic music from the 80s, say the extended remixes, or live performances of English groups, such as New Order – not so much for the sound, but the music’s essential exuberance.
What makes The High Light Zone so interesting though is that even if it might seem to be closer to other genres of music – the duration could be that of a live jazz band performance, the snazzy feel could come direct from disco – the hip-hop foundations are plain to see, mainly via the way Damu the Fudgemunk exposes the beat and then allows the music to stop completely at times.
The final two minutes of the piece where one instrument/or one part comes forward and the others recede: this resembles jazz, but whereas the expectation within that genre would be for a musician to let loose with some kind of solo, or improvisation, it’s controlled/contained. Here we find the direct point of continuum with the hip-hop aesthetic.
This has always been something that has appealed to me in hip-hop production, the way the manipulation of the various elements thwarts our expectations and desires, via the refusal of development and release; the various parts begin, then stop, or are repeated over and over. It’s a kind of anti-music, in essence, punk almost.
This music by 9th Wonder, Let me Talk – released, I think in 2011 – offers up an extreme version of this tendency, aggressively cutting it back at points leaving total silence when you expect the music to build towards its conclusion.
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Paris writer Madeleine Byrne’s interviews and articles on hip-hop have been published at The Wire Magazine, Passion of the Weiss, Okayplayer.com, Ambrosia for Heads and here at Grown Up Rap – we published her interview with Nolan the Ninja earlier this year. Check out her site, madeleinebyrne.com to read more.
Welcome to the first edition of a new, occasional series of articles looking at classic rap radio shows from the excellent Hip-Hop Radio Archive.
Show: Raw Deal | Date: June 27, 1991 | Station: WPRB (103.3 FM) Princeton, NJ, USA (Princeton University)
Words by Laze, Hip-Hop Radio Archive.
As a kid growing up in South Jersey in the 1980s, I came up listening to Philadelphia hip-hop radio on WDAS and Power 99. Mimi Brown, Lady B, and Colby Colb laid the soundtrack to my earliest days as a hip-hop fan. But the show that really changed it all for me came not from Philadelphia or New York. It broadcast from the ivy league campus of Princeton University in Princeton, New Jersey.
Club Krush (later renamed Raw Deal) launched on 103.3 FM WPRB in 1987 or 1988, hosted by DJ Eazy M (Marc Coleman) with G and later on, Trenton hip-hop producer/MC Tony D as well as DJ Kam. Club Krush/Raw Deal played an important role – existing in between New York and Philadelphia – by reaching areas of Jersey that New York radio couldn’t and by promoting local Trenton artists that Philadelphia wouldn’t.
Twenty-seven years ago today, the newly renamed Raw Deal aired one of their most legendary episodes. The Tommy Boy Records crew rolled massive into the studio, including Naughty By Nature just a few months before their self-titled album hit the shelves. They discuss the album as well as Treach’s controversial loss to Cleveland’s Chilly D at 1990’s New Music Seminar.
Joining them is Prince Rakeem who, of course, later became Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA. Interestingly, while RZA mentions his “Wu-Tang Slang style,” the Wu-Tang Clan had not yet been formed by that name. Instead, he was down with the DMD (“Dick ‘Em Down”) Posse and the Gladiator Posse. He mentions having eight songs done for his solo album, which didn’t materialize before RZA’s departure from Tommy Boy. It’s interesting to hear G interviewing RZA for the first time because it’s the start of a long relationship between the two – G would go on to become a promoter for the Wu-Tang Clan and he continues to work with individual members to this day.
The playlist includes some great tracks including an unreleased Crusaders for Real Hip-Hop track called Stop Them Know [sic] and Nardo Ranks & Junior Demus’ underrated ragga-anthem New Jersey Drive. The real crown jewel, though, is the resurgence of Thursday Night Live, Raw Deal’s live-on-air segment. This June episode features one of the best sessions in the show’s history featuring Treach, RZA, Tony D, LA Law (aka Mr. Law), and others going in. This lineup is particularly interesting given Tony D’s well-known beef with Naughty By Nature for OPP‘s extreme similarity to Tone’s own Adams’ Nightmare instrumental. No punches were thrown and, indeed, no references were even made. Maybe Tone was in a good mood since his 25th birthday was the following day. Everyone brings the fire, particularly RZA on his final verse.
The recording of the show does cut out a few tracks in the first two hours (I was a broke high school kid conserving blank tape) but all airbreaks and freestyles are in tact. Enjoy 2 ¼ hours of classic hip-hop radio you’ve probably never heard before below, at the Hip-Hop Radio Archive or at Raw Deal Radio. You can follow the Hip-Hop Radio Archive on Twitter here.
Few other groups epitomized the sound of the mid-late 90s underground Hip-Hop golden age better than the Juggaknots. Originally consisting of brothers Breeze Brewin and Buddy Slim (now aka Kev Fevr), they released the classic Clear Blue Skies in 1996, before later adding their sister to the line-up, Queen Herawin. In this exclusive interview, Gingerslim spoke to all three groups members about their impact on the scene, their jobs as school teachers, life since Clear Blue Skies and a lot more.
[The following has been lightly edited for length and clarity].
You’re all siblings and you all ended up making music together, so was it a very musical household you grew up in? What are your earliest memories of music?
[Buddy Slim]: Memories in music, hmmmmm. Being raised in a strict Caribbean household with both of our parents coming to New York in the 60’s from Jamaica and Trinidad respectfully, the only music you might hear is an occasional reggae or calypso classic, but what you probably didn’t hear was enough practice from our piano lessons that quickly dissipated when dad felt we were not practicing enough and shut down our lessons.
Once upon a time, I was practicing my DJ abilities, of course after finishing my homework, and one of our father’s favorite lines was, “you don’t have any extra work?” So of course I answered, “yes sir, homework and extra work has been done hence the reason I’m practicing my DJ set.” My father then proceeded to throw my whole DJ set on the floor and said; “MORE schoolwork!!!”
[Queen Herawin]: My earliest memories of music growing up were definitely Caribbean based as well, although there were certain specific songs that stuck out from other genres too. I remember dancing in the living room with my mother to Stealing Love by Carlene Davis. This song is still one of my favorites, probably because of the connection to my mother and the warm memory it possesses. My father’s sound was soca music, however, other specific artists he often played remind me of him as well…like Grover Washington Jr., Etta James, Dinah Washington or Lionel Richie.
My love of Hip-Hop happened in Elementary School. It happened living in the Bronx. It happened watching Video Music Box and when I fell in love with MC Lyte, Slick Rick, Special Ed, Jungle Brothers, De La, Queen Latifah, Boogie Down Productions and so on and so on. I matured into Hip-Hop through my brothers, listening to the Clear Blue Skies album, going to studio sessions they would take me to, seeing it become real…the process of it. The combination of this experience, fan, and voyeur, made me want to be part of it and be really good at it.
It’s been over 10 years since we last had an album from you guys. Is that the last we will hear from you as a crew? Are you ever tempted to come back for one more?
[Buddy Slim]: Yes sir, in the immortal words of KRS-ONE; “We’re not done.” After our last full-length studio album, Use Your Confusion, we decided to have all members devote time to their individual solo efforts. We dropped Queen Herawin’s solo debut, Metamorphosis, off our Matic Entertainment label in 2015, and we are now preparing for two Brewin solo efforts. One being a collection of Brewin’s scattered efforts in the form of an EP, then his full-length solo to follow. A compilation consisting of artists from the Matic camp and a reggae project from Kev Fevr aka Buddy Slim. As for the JuGgs, after we get those ideas out, we plan to start plotting the next Juggaknots offering, God spare the life!!!!
[Queen Herawin]: I certainly would love to do another album with my brothers! As Kev mentioned, we’ve been working more on solo work and collaborative projects, however, there is always a special synergy of working on a Juggaknots project that represents us as a whole. I’m curious and excited about the idea of what that would sound like. I think it could be the best one yet! The foundational album, the first, was a hands-down classic! I’m a major fan of that album, not only because they are my brothers, but because the music was amazing! Stepping away from something for an extended period of time creates an opportunity to share something truly unique when you return.
What made you guys decide to quieten down after Use Your Confusion?
[Buddy Slim]: During the recording process with UYC, things got a lil toxic. We had been trying to break that ceiling for almost 15 years and we felt as a team and as a family that it would be best for each member to follow their own individual voice. Even though we are family, any relationship demands compromise and we were not compromising but the hiatus has kept us busy and allowed time for us to heal, recharge, and refocus. Our label, Matic Entertainment, always keeps us busy, discovering and developing talent, making tracks/songs for that talent and also trying to get better as entrepreneurs to run a more efficient successful endeavor for ourselves, fans, and our roster. We also spend a significant amount of time running, tweaking, upgrading and improving our lab, BBS (BronxBullyStudios), BX, NY.
[Queen Herawin]: For me, life happened. My daughter was born that same year. Motherhood became my focus. Music was and will always be there, however, I was expanding in other ways as well, ways that needed my time, energy, love, commitment, and creativity. That experience provided creative direction and ammunition for my next project, Metamorphosis.
What have you been up to since Use Your Confusion was released? I understand you gravitated towards teaching?
[Buddy Slim]: Yes, we are all still teaching; myself and Brewin are still servicing the Bronx (ironically in the same North East Bronx neighborhood where we grew up) community and Herawin took her talents to Chicago.
I remember seeing Breeze on the Adult Rappers documentary talking about how he tried to keep his rap career secret when he started teaching, but I would have thought it would have been a good way of connecting with the kids?[Breeze Brewin]: We are educators. The first way we teach is socially. I love this art form, but I’ve been teaching children of color in neighborhoods very similar to where we grew up for 14 years. I am in no way embarrassed or regret earlier artistic work. However, my mouth was a little reckless in a good way at the time. I didn’t care; unadulterated. With that, some of the things that were said, I can’t see me saying now, especially knowing we live in a society where people can be critical utilizing specifics that serve their purpose and/or narrative.
Lines are taken out of context to sell a story and make mcs with public service livelihoods the bad guys. I saw it with Brownsville Ka. I could see it with us, as educators. So I’m a bit cautious. I haven’t even used the N-word recently. However, that only makes it more challenging. One of my idols, Rakim, rarely used any obscenities and was as hard as anyone in the game. So I have rhymed in front of the kids, but I’m careful with my word and topic choice. It was actually in an elective class on rhyming. I was trying to school them.
When you guys first formed it was an exciting time for rap and you were on the frontline of that whole underground movement. Did you have a sense at the time of how special what you were doing was, or is that something that has come with hindsight?
[Buddy Slim]: It was an interesting time, at one time ourselves and Company Flow were recording at the same studio in the city. I remember that time Co-Flo had finished up their debut effort and it was just Juggs and Flo in our own private listening party at the studio. We also performed together a lot back then. I remember our first show together was pretty crazy; we performed Clear Blue Skies wearing masks of old presidents, and Co-Flo was ill. Brewin was really the one who first connected with El-P and them, so for a lot of us in the cru it was our first exposure to the Co-Flo experience and them joints had us bent.
[Queen Herawin]: For me, I was just becoming part of that scene. Kev and Breeze were really at the forefront of the underground movement as foundational artists who helped set that wheel in motion. I became more of the experience through the Lyricist Lounge Volume One compilation on the song Weight. I didn’t realize how important and influential that song would be for my career and consequently add to my weight as a Juggaknots member, solidifying my role as part of the group and giving me needed exposure, experience and performance opportunities to enhance my craft and be better. As far as looking back, it shocks me at how many retrospective projects have been made, honoring underground Hip-Hop, yet neglecting to note Juggaknots as part of that foundational experience.
It’s always been interesting to me – maybe cos I’m a frustrated rapper at heart – that there are artists as talented as yourselves, who don’t have a constant urge to make music and put those skills to use. Was there a point when you thought the focus of your careers would always be Hip-Hop, or did you always see it coming to an end sooner than that?
[Buddy Slim]: We never stopped but life sometimes dictates direction. We had kids early and in the industry, money comes in ebbs and flows. When it’s good it’s really good but when it’s bad it’s real bad. So we had to reassess how we were going to incorporate life and the dream. Simultaneously.
[Queen Herawin]: The urge is always there. Whether it’s silently whispering in your ear for attention, or screaming at the top of its lungs to be heard. It’s in the fabric of who we are. We were artists before educators or perhaps educating through the music before we were doing it in the classroom. As Kev mentioned, so eloquently I must add, “life sometimes dictates direction” and juggling both hasn’t been easy, but our love for music has kept the flame lit, just maybe not the lights on. Teaching has provided that. We still persist to be who we are, and if and when that direction shifts, allowing us to provide for our families through the music solely, the creative balancing act may be one that we do until we no longer have to.
[Breeze Brewin]: I love this art form. I would love for this to be the only means of supporting myself and family. However, I needed to hit a certain level of income for my family to be comfortable. For a while, the music provided for that. When it didn’t, or I didn’t (who knows what drives what) I couldn’t see my family involuntarily joining the ranks of the starving artists. My son and daughter never asked for any of that. That being said, I have nothing but respect for the artists that took a chance and banked on the dream more exclusively.
I remember Pumpkinhead (RIP) was always talking about that ‘GRUSTLE’ (grind and hustle). He always had something on the burner and was able to make it work. John Robinson’s another perpetual professional creator. That dude always juggled hustles in a way that seemed effortless. I know it took a lot of effort. I can only celebrate and admire those that made it happen, as a full-time artist. When times got tough, I couldn’t. There were some other issues that made it necessary to keep a more traditional 9-5 type gig. Lucky for me, my job as an educator is very inspiring. It keeps me close enough to the young people of my community and often gives me ideas for music. The same way I wanted to make music to impact people. I impact through educating.
The balance seems to be finally tipping in terms of artists needing a major label behind them to put an album out. Do you think it will make the industry evolve for the better, or will labels always find a way to exploit new talent?
[Buddy Slim]: Labels will always exploit, that’s the nature of the beast, but times are changing. It seems that Hip-Hop is coming full circle, it’s about to be like back in the day with small independent labels like when Prism, Sleeping Bag, and Warlock were the go-tos. Hence the reason why we have been in business as a Hip-Hop label (Matic Entertainment) for the past ten years. We hope to relive those glory days and hopefully be more of a player in the independent Hip-Hop label scene.
[Queen Herawin]: The freedom that any artist has to put out music is bittersweet. It allows of course for full creative range, but it also allows, therefore…for FULL CREATIVE RANGE!!! There is so much music that is being called music, that doesn’t exactly sound like music [laughs], But it sells, it gets views, like millions and millions. Music as a craft has tipped the scales there as a result of this freedom, like giving kids a bunch of markers and saying…ok, you can do whatever you want on the wall. Some will just scribble, while others will create actual pictures and thoughtful images that represent art.
Juggaknots have been a very influential group for a lot of the artists who have come up after you. Do you pay much attention to the current generation? And if you do, do you have any favorites, anyone who you think will leave a real mark for the next generations?
[Buddy Slim]: We have a lot of favorites we feeling out here, right now we been vibing a lot to Axel Leon outta the South Bronx. He is a beast but what can we say we bias to the BX.
[Queen Herawin]: I can be stuck in my old ways of loving what I love and what inspires me, even if it is in the past or from artists who have been creating amazing music. From this generation, it’s more their energy I’m in awe of [laughs]. I would love to work like that! Non-stop. But again, quality over quantity. But quantity sparks momentum. I heard 16 Shots by Stefflon Don and thought it was dope. The beat is crazy, but it was the fusion between the Hip-Hop sound and Dancehall that got me. It kind of reminded me of Lady Saw’s 99 Ways; her tone and the tone of the song had a similar vibe to me. I liked the fusion and definitely was rockin it in the car. It must be our Jamaican roots as well, mixed with the Hip-Hop foundation.
What’s next for you all?
[Buddy Slim]: Dropping these Brewin solo efforts, a Queen Herawin EP is in the works, the Fevr compilation/Reggae project. Plus as always, discovering/signing new talent and keeping up with the craft. We are also expanding into literary works, app designs and film.
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Gingerslim has been a hip-hop fan since 1994 and has written for various blogs and websites since around 2006. During that time he has contributed to style43, Think Zebra, Headsknow and Front Magazine. His main interests in rap are UK hip-hop and the underground movement in America, with a focus on Rhymesayers Entertainment and the once mighty Def Jux label. He lives in Bristol and has a beard. All other details are sketchy at best. Follow him here.
Stones Throw Records followers and liner note junkies will probably recognize the name Dave Cooley from albums like Donuts, Madvillainy, Champion Sound, The Further Adventures of Lord Quas, and Ruff Draft. Cooley is a world-renowned and well sought after mixing and mastering engineer, audio restoration specialist, and producer at Los Angeles-based mastering studio, Elysian Masters. He’s currently working on a number of “top-secret” projects and audio restorations/re-issues with the assistance of Elysian Masters’ recently attained and newly-restored Neumann VMS66 lathe-cutting machine, of which there are only a few left in existence. Matt ‘The Witzard’ Horowitz recently interviewed Cooley about everything from Paramore to Silversun Pickups, J Dilla to DOOM, and everything in-between.
How much does the overall sound (to the common ear) of an album generally change and progress from when you first get it from the artist to when you’re completely done mixing and mastering?
Well it can change quite a bit in terms of where the focus is being drawn to within the tune. Ultimately my goal is to honor what the intention was, the feel that the artist was originally shooting for… but just more of that same feel and more energized. By the time things are mastered, the listener’s ear should be drawn to the interplay of all the different sonic registers and events, so that the music sounds more dimensional, huge, and sort of animated in presentation. That might be done through pressurizing the sound (compression), highlighting or separating things (EQ), smoothing the high frequencies, or spatializing the mix. Spatializing means handling the depth from the upfront leading edge of the sound all the way to the “back wall” or deeper image of the sound.
Now some people will say mastering is just getting things “loud” which is somewhat true, but it’s not that easy. You’ve got a limited amount of canvas, and to maximize every square inch of it with the least amount of degradation to the signal…. it’s knowledge that takes a long time to develop. A lot of easy processes that people have access to at home are either the wrong choice… or overcomplicated and tricky to simplify. Knowing which parameters on a piece of hardware or plugin to not touch on an album, or to take out all together… again, not easy… takes years of experimenting. I compare it to surfing. Looks easy but it’s a lot of muscle memory built up over time. No way are you not wiping out first 10-50 attempts.
How much hands-on or face-to-face interaction do you typically have with artists like Madlib & Freddie Gibbs, DOOM, Silversun Pickups, Paramore, Electro-Acoustic Beat Sessions, Washed Out, etc?
I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing artists and really enjoyed being there with them during the creation of the music, mapping out songs and performances. That was in my producing days with bands like SSPU and others. There’s so much face to face when producing that it’s like you’re in a mountaineering base camp together; making a record with a band really does feel like climbing a mountain. On the other hand, when it comes to mastering we have a no attendance policy while doing EQ (Equalization). It’s a one day process usually and I find that almost nobody expects to attend anyway. It’s both a technical and a meditative process; it doesn’t help the music if we’re trading war stories or jokes while I’m working. I take that very seriously and I need to zone in and listen deeply to the tunes. Sometimes the artist will come in at the end of the record and work on spacing/sequencing with me in the studio and I really enjoy that, but even that’s rare these days… most people just fire off notes or tweaks, if any after listening.
Do artists ever disagree with decisions you often have to make during the mastering stage, especially those who are producers themselves? You really must have gone to-to-toe with some sizeable egos, over the years, plus plenty of perfectionists like J Dilla!
Very occasionally, but less and less… and if there’s a redirection after the first listening it’s always for the best because it’s almost universally a project preference thing and not a technical thing at that point. They want it brighter or less bright, that’s pretty common. But often times I’m taken aback by how quick we get through a record, one pass in many instances. Ironically Dilla… the perfectionist… signed off on everything almost immediately with very little second guessing. Madlib too. I would say experience = less indecision. Both on the engineer’s part and on the artist’s end.
The names of engineers often only get noticed by crate-diggin’ liner note junkies, but when you read histories of classic Hip-Hop studios like Callipe, Power Play, D&D, and SugarHill Recording Studios, the engineers always get their proper shine; would you say that Hip-Hop is a genre that really appreciates and respects the skills an engineer brings to the table?
There are times that we engineers are acknowledged and it’s appreciated: a shout out in a rhyme to Mario Caldato or Bob Powers, etc. I was very grateful to be included in much of what’s been written about J-Dilla’s story and legacy as another example. And then conversely, there are times when we’re plainly written out of the historic narrative. Not every single record necessarily; It’s more like when you see a body of work or a true contribution to a sound or label that engineers should be given their fair share of acknowledgement I think.
What album(s) have you contributed to that you’re most proud of and which album (if any) would you go back and approach differently knowing what you know now, in retrospect?
My favorite mix was for These New Puritans’ Hidden album, if only for how wild it was sonically, and just surviving the sheer track count with orchestra, programmed drums, and live band. I think I have Stockholm Syndrome on that one. My favorite mastering jobs I’ve done, probably the two M83 records and our recent Bob Marley: Exodus 40th Anniversary reissue. And Madvillainy because it’s pretty reckless and punk in spirit.
As far as what I would approach differently today… probably all of them done pre 2017! Not that they should have been done different, but I prefer to keep evolving. If my skills and techniques remain the same then I’m not honoring new ways of looking at things, or I’m not trying to do my best sonics yet. The early Stones Throw records, some of the techniques on those… I wouldn’t default to now. But they became part of the sound of those records. It fit the music, and people liked what it was contributing as far as the aggressive and disorienting sound. Sometimes I get requests to run things like that (which is retro at this point) and I do it if it’s right for the record. No absolute methodology, just whatever supports the vibe of the record.
How exactly did you go from playing in Rock bands to producing for Silversun Pickups to mixing for J Dilla and Madlib to mastering records for Paramore and Jimmy Eat World to doing audio restoration and working with the Neumann VMS66 lathe? Your musical career path really sounds like it’s been one hell of an exciting journey!
It was borne out of necessity. When I got in, it was the tail end of the music industry as it was previously known. We went from a Pangea major label land mass to a broken up world of independents. To survive, you needed to be able to translate between the differing cultures and sub-genres, and navigate between all the newly minted indie labels. You needed to be a jack of all trades too because budgets were scant. Lastly, I spoke “record collector”, which was the equivalent of a rosetta stone… and hard to find in an audio engineer in the early 00s. That really helped me lock up with Light In The Attic, NowAgain, Stones Throw, Dangerbird etc. I guess things have only gone further in that direction since. For my clientele I still need to know the difference between zamrock, beach goth, and next gen new age… what those sound like. I don’t think most mastering engineers do.
What was it like being right there in the studio while Madlib & DOOM crafted and recorded Madvillainy? Do you happen to have any particularly crazy stories you’re able to mention from those fateful sessions at The Bomb Shelter?
Well the beat making all happened at Madlib’s Bomb Shelter before I was brought in; he had hundreds of 2 track beat snippets on CDs. In one month of reclusive producing he had a CD made up called “100 beats”. Two weeks later, he had another CD made up called “Another 100 beats”. He had Jeff Jank (in house designer at Stones Throw) make custom album artwork for these CDs which were only used internally at the label and to shop beats to MCs. DOOM would go through those to pick out his faves. Most (if not all) of the material for Madvillainy, Jaylib’s Champion Sound, and I think Dudley Perkin’s first album was sourced from that one month’s worth of Madlib beats!.
The music was then imported to Protools at my place, and then DOOM tracked all the vocals. We had a great mic sound and workflow, everything got pretty well cinched up. DOOM took the semi-final material home and upon review decided that he had put everything down with “too much energy” in the vocal takes. So all those takes were scrapped! He ended up re-recording the vocals with a super laid back delivery, on a rough mic, and those became the finals… I think to the betterment of the record. It just had a better dichotomy to it. Madlib’s beats were so day-glo intense; DOOM’s casual delivery worked well against that. I also remember loaning DOOM a book: Tao of Physics. Every time I saw him he wanted to talk about that; he was really into the the idea that quantum physics was a manifestation of the ancient Tao teachings. So some of that super-consciousness you get from his rhymes, it’s informed from places other than psychotropic substances. He was more of a hip-hop Tim Leary: well-read in addition to being a cosmic explorer. Also, we probably went through about 8-10 differing album sequences for Madvillainy… over a period of 2-3 months. Peanut Butter Wolf and Jeff Jank were grinding out how it was strung together, there were probably 50-60 snippets of audio scene changes that needed to be put in a particular order, to create that audio-meets-comic-book feel.
While recently perusing your Discogs profile, I noticed you’ve had a hand in nearly every Adrian Younge (Linear Labs) release since 2013, including Adrian Younge Presents The Delfonics, Ghostface Killah’s 12 Reasons to Die I & II, Something About April II, and The Electronique Void (Black Noise). What’s it been like steadily working alongside Younge as his career rapidly progresses and evolves? How did it feel being part of what most would quite arguably call Ghostface’s recent “Rap career resurgence”?
Adrian is a really heavy artist in that he’s a multi-instrumentalist composer/arranger. And he cranks out consistently great records. He and I have worked closely together over the years to get a finished sound for his records that people recognize immediately, and he’s great at getting me input on what he needs the mastering to sound like. Working for his projects is right in my wheelhouse (historic record presentation mixed with hip-hop/breaks). He’s also probably one of the most gentlemanly dudes I’ve ever worked with, a savvy businessman, and a great friend. As far as 12 Reasons to Die, I was a fan of Wu-Tang Clan of course from way back. While I was mastering, I was trying to get it where I felt like I was listening to a classic Wu record for the first time all over again. Am I getting that record buzz I remember from being a teenage rap fan skipping class? If so, move to the next song. Sweat, repeat.
How did you go about attaining your fully-restored Neumann VMS66 lathe-cutting machine now housed at Elysian Masters? I remember you’ve said you and your crew used it to cut Ariel Pink, Betty Davis, and Paramore’s recent records… but what exactly does it do, for those who may not be familiar with such a machine?
Well this particular vinyl lathe was rescued from the backyard of a DJ in Boston who didn’t have the time or resources to restore it properly and get it running again. We spent about a year with four people working on it, and 10s of thousands of dollars, to get it cracking again. It is now cutting amazing records, just amazing. We went nuts making sure that the lathe was restored to the condition it would have left the German factory in 1966, which was truly a painful process. Then we took it miles further by improving the electronic components and wiring, shortening signal paths, and optimizing the computer that handles the groove placement.
We got it to the point where we were benefiting from the fantastic original discrete designs by optimizing them with new component choices, but also benefiting from certain modern upgrades that could only happen within the last couple years. The result is a lathe that cuts a lacquer master for vinyl that is really efficiently cut. And super musical and high fidelity. The running times can be longer, the depth of cut can be deeper for more volume and better signal to noise, and lead outs at the ends of sides are long. This puts most of the music on the outermost diameters where it sounds the best. We feel it’s the best cut for the money out there and possibly at any price point. So once our clients have a 14” lacquer master from our shop, then that is sent out for electroplating to create the metal parts and then the stampers that will handle the production run for a vinyl release.
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Matt Horowitz has been a hip-hop fan ever since he first heard Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) back in the mid-90’s, which positively or negatively changed his life ever since, depending on who you ask. He single-handedly runs online music publication The Witzard, and has been fortunate enough to interview Eothen ‘Egon’ Alapatt, Guilty Simpson, Dan Ubick, Career Crooks’ Zilla Rocca & Small Professor, Kool A.D., Cut Chemist, and J-Zone, amongst countless others. He enjoys writing about and listening to hip-hop, Punk/Hardcore, and Indie Rock on vinyl with his lovely fiance, while drinking craft beer, red wine, or iced coffee. To paraphrase both Darko The Super and the Beastie Boys: “Already Dead fans, they want more of this… I’m a Witzard like my man Matt Horowitz!”. Follow Matt here.
Marking the sad death of Camu Tao, nine years ago today.
This is an incredible throwback, with clips from the recording of BDP classic Criminal Minded.
https://www.audiomack.com/song/deltron-1/criminal-minded-practice-sessions
Anything MF DOOM and Madlib related gets our panties pretty damn wet, so this stream of rare Madvillain track Avalanche is a welcome sight.
The concept behind this latest from the new Snowgoons album, Goon Bap, is pretty clear, as OC, DOItAll (Lords of The Underground), Black Sheep Dres, Onyx, Ras Kass, Pshcyo Les (Beatnuts), Nine and Cella Dwellas emcee UG combine.
