All City "The Actual/Priceless"- Geffen

Ah man, you can never go wrong when the production credits read Pete Rock and Premier. Even if the lyrics are lackluster typical NYC material, such as the case here with All City. Primo, as always, comes with a sparse beat that has this funky little rolling drum in it. Good stuff, the beat possess kinetic powers as it gets me pretty hype. Pete comes with a funky little guitar lick that equals Primo's concoction, yet another simple but hypnotic instrumental. But I can't really say much about All City's lack of cadence on the mic, very typical mix show material if not for the two beat wizards. Grade:B+

Man, I can't front, I like this a lot. One of the few club tracks that has gotten my attention. Obviously aimed for club play, but yet it doesn't sound wack (which is hella rare). Nice chopped up piano loop, albeit the snares and drums weren't too hitting. Although I doubt they wanted it to be too hard since it's aimed at the shorties. Joe comes in and sings his famous hook and Pun proceeds to run his chubby game. Very smooth delivery, Pun's flow doesn't overwhelm you with forced deliveries. Good stuff. Grade:B

Although not an actual 12" yet, this is the only bearable cut for me on his "Pillage" lp. I think Cappa has really been caught up by his own hype and have slacked off severly when dropping his lines on his note pad. I'm starting to really think that someone else wrote Cappa's verse on "Winter Warz" because there is just no comparison when you're listening to this boring lp. But Goldfinger (I think) picks up the slack and brings some magic to the table with this track. Not a typical Wu beat, Goldfinger pulls out some funky keys and all I can say is, it's hella dope. That is until Cappa comes in and strings some words together w/o any meaning. "I stayed dipped like the first day of class", c'mon, that is hella corny. Grade:C- (if it was just an instrumental, it would be a B+)

Skip the boring 80's remake Puffy trend inspired a-side and play the hell out of the b-side grooves. I swear, Primo always seems to step up and bring the best out of each mc he works with. On Pt 1, the song remains the same as the lp version with the funky piano loop.Except now it gets extended w/ an extra verse since the original was hella short. Then when pt.2 comes in, an very dark beat drops and Jay proceeds to get loose. Too bad Jay wastes his talents most of the time on crap like "Sunshine". Grade:B (just for the b-side though)

I forgot what it stood for, but it was an extremely corny acronym, if I recall. Nevertheless, I could've swalloed my own tongue when I found out Trackmasters produced this track. For once, it's not the jack-a-beat style as they come with a nice track. I was willing to overlook Noreaga's annoying lyrics of his thug life for this one track.... Grade:C+

The Golden State Warriors, should be hella dope right? Not really, since the beat was snooze material. But it's their first official release as a triumvirate, and they rarely dissapoint lyrically. A good release, but the potential of the group has defintely not been reached w/ this single. Grade: C

Big Kwam "Execution Expert/Verbalise/Timeless Pieces"- Creative

Same horn loop that Clark Kent used for "Guess Who's Back", except chopped up and flipped differntly.Obviously, the energy of the track is what carries the weight as I've never really been a big fan of Kwam. Some nice cuts on the chorus too, but that's about it. The other two tracks are negliable...Grade: C+

Hot hot hot, man is this ill or what. Supposedly only to be a vinyl insert in Stress mag (how the hell are they gonna do that?), this didnt' get released because of a sample clearance problem, I think. I can't really stres how funky this record is, you just have to hear it yourself. Can you go wrong w/ Mos and Kweli? Never.....Grade: A-

Not bad beats from a couple of Danish guys, but nothing that'll blow out your synapse. The best of the average is the Artifacts track called "Hageen Daaz" (Butter Pecan being my fav). Over a very melodic piano loop, El and Tame proceeds to bless you, perhaps for the last time as a group. Then Co-Flow comes on "Johnny Rookie Card" and spit some annoying off the head freestyles, urrggghhh, enough of that. Then, we see the return of Serch, again dropping a freestyle about him being on tour w/ Bobbito in Denmark. Finally, Promoe drops "Denmark Style", albeit I think he's from Sweden and is down w/ the almighty Kash (haha). Grade: B-

The a-side T.O. all-star posse cut ain't bad, but it 's won't leave a lasting impresssion either. It's dope, but I know these guys can come way better on the upcoming "Mad Fiber" lp. Frankenstein and Kardinal set it off nice and buttery, but it doesn't stand out from the rest of their work. Now, the b-side is some nice flavs coming from another FOS member. This "Silver Surfer" track has been sitting around for close to two years. Now it finally gets release and yet it still sounds very up to date, although the 98 sound isn't worth aiming for. I say b-side wins again. Big ups to Day...Grade: B

Duretduretduretduret Dilated Peoples.....Right off the top, Revolution comes in again with his sick cuts, which can juice up any track instantly. The piano loop that Evidence and Kutmaster glued together for "Work" is hella dope also. No doubt the Peoples come correct on the mic, especially on one of the most memorable choruses in recent history with "Triple Optics". "Put out one of my eyes and I still have two, put out the other one and I can still see you"....what, that is so fragging ill, then Babu comes in and drops his dime on the cuts. Can you afford to not pick this up? Grade:A

More Pete Rock white labels, he must be sitting on tons of tracks. Makes me drool just to think of the thought of more Pete songs. Anyways, again, the audio quality is consistent with his previous white labels (muddy), but I'm willing to overlook that because the tracks are dope. "Grown Man Sport" start off with a funky bassline that has a tinge of a xylophone in the background (I've heard this loop before but I can't recall where it was last used). Then after about a minute, the beat changes and on comes the sonic assault of the funky piano. Very nice piano loops as Pete flips a more mellow vibe on the b-side. Although INI don't really drop any quotables, the beats alone carry this. Grade: B+

Aww, I love me some 93 flavour, and KMD took a turn from their early "Peach Fuzz" image and became more sinister and dark. I saw the Black Bastards white label bootleg from several years back but I was guilty of sleeping on it. But I heard the tracks on this ep are remixes/reedits, so those who own the white label should pick this up still. Getting lost in the shuffle of major label politics w/ Elektra over their cover art work, this ep finally sees the light on a accessible format. All 4 tracks are nice, and the bpm's are a bit high, which was the trend before hiphop slowed dramatically down around mid 94. My favourite has to be "Sweet Premium Wine" as it is just extremely energetic. Consider this a chance to recapture some lost hiphop essence, especially the new jacks. Grade: A

Heavily anticipated, a tad bit overrated. A slight dissapointment for me considering the potential for this project. There's a few new mc crews on this record that come correct like Cipher Complete, but nothing was impressionable. The best cut defintely has to be Kweli's "Manifesto", which led to more dissapointment since we've all heard this several months ago. Another minor drawback has to be the inclusion of old material like Indelibles' "Weight" and Jurassic's "Jayou". Although these cuts are tight, appreciative music fans will probably have them in their collection. Plus, they could've fit this on 3 slabs of wax instead of splitting it into four (no doubt a marketing scheme). It's good stuff, but it defintely never lived up to all its hype. Grade: B-

One of my favourite indie labels, they've managed to convince Skillz to drop something here instead of Funtown (puzzled). Anyways, both tracks are influenced by Slick Rick, as "Lick The Balls" jacks the beat of the same name. Pretty hype stuff, but I prefer "Conceited Bastard", which is more original in terms of creativity. But overal, but sides are nice, can't really go wrong. And if you're deliberating between which Mad Skillz 12" you wann buy, forget about the Bedroom Wizard one. Grade: B

Is Pete really putting all this stuff out on white labels? Or did some schiesty mofo cop some dubs off dats because I don't think the quality would be this bad if Pete just mastered them from his dats and took it to the pressing plant. Anyways, raw is the only option available to you now as you'll have to live with the sonic downgrade. Once again, more piano tracks as Pete seems to have adapted the keys as his "horns of his moment). As you recall in a lot of his recent beats (Rakim, INI, now Meca), they all sport piano loops. I can't complain though because once again, he comes through, and Meca comes off a lot nicer on the mic when you compare him to the INI bredrens. Overall, solid release, pick it up before it disappears. Grade: B+

Finally, the iminent arrival of this 12" has my heart palpetating. After being teased with an incredible dope ep and their obscure Ruffhouse white label, these guys have learned their lesson and are going at on on the indy tip. "Galaxies" illustrates Chops' talent of producing hypnotic beats w/o sampling (something that Shawn J can't do, stick to sampling man). The nice keys are played effortlessly as this tracks symbolizes summer with its mellow groove. The flip is on some blaxiploitation vibe as a funky bassline drops, begging for you to roll up in your pink caddy with seal skin hubcabs. Defintely my favourite indie group of the moment . 98 is your time to shine Chops.....Grade: A

Another Makin records hit, as Pump put it so eloquently. This remix retiains the format of the original except the backwards horn loop ain't backwards no more. I assume it's What on the ASR again as this is another head nodder. Plus, the entire Makin family drop their lyrical fodder on to the masses, no doubt this will be their best selling 12" to date. The b-side is in the vein of Pump's flow as he's out to anihilate more wack rhyme sayers again, with a nice little ditty cooked up by Overtime....Big ups to the crew, especially What x2 and J-Grand. Grade: A-

Already out with a cd (where's the wax?), these guys drop a remix to their suprise hit, since it crept out of nowhere. The rmx. retains the same lyrics, but the beat is a very basic pounding track with notes chopped up. Plus, Revolution brings the hype factor up ten notches everytime he brings his patterned cuts on to the table. For those that slept the first time around, the original is also on the 12". "And you know this, maaaaaaaann!" Grade: B+

Single numero 4 for the High & Mighty crew, this time they team up with that crazy white muchacho named Cage. Mr.Eon flows pretty well with Cage on both songs, and the beats of course are tight as Mi keeps knocking them out of his MPC. Both tracks have that echoy atmospheric feel, relying less on loops but instead on thick basslines. Two thirds of the great white mc trio, too bad Milkbone was busy, haha. Grade: B+

The original wasn't too shabby with a deep bassline by Sean C, but Raida's remix is where the moolah is at. The vibey 3 note key loop is very nice, suprising since most of X-men's production on their lp were typically bland. Wayne O from the E.Bros drops an unnoteworthy rhyme, but he really gives a damn. If you're spending your hard earned cash on this 12", you're basically looking for some beats and cuts. They provide this in ample abundance on thise track and also on "Countdown", which is a scratch collage via the band format. Grade: B

I've lost track of wack shit, there's just too much for me to go through......give me some time. But in the meantime, check out my radio show to hear the joints that I've reviewed. IGB.COM