To help promote the upcoming East Bay Classics limited edition double disc set, R8R has put together another free 80 minute mix dedicated to the rap artists from The Country Club Crest in North Vallejo, CA titled “Crestside Classic (Mixed By R8R).”
It’s only fitting that R8R chose to use the movie “The Mack” to narrate the soundtrack to the Crestside Classic. The Crestside is known for bringing us three generations of Mac’s which include; The Mac, Mac Dre & Mac Mall.
With production by Khayree, all three of the Mac’s were a huge success and put the Crestside on the map. What laid that foundation was the early work of Khayree & The Mac in the 1980’s. Unfortunately The Mac was murdered before he had the chance to reach his full potential.
The Mac and Khayree were inspirations for a young rapper by the name of Mac Dre who ended up dominating the rap scene in the late 80′s through the 2000′s. Even during Mac Dre’s incarceration in the 90′s he was still one of the biggest names in rap and arguably the most successful rapper from the Crest.
The third and final Mac is Mac Mall. Mac Mall was still a teenager when we first heard him on Mac Dre’s Young Black Brotha album. He carried the torch while Mac Dre was serving time and he was able to continue the success of music with Khayree’s production. Mac Mall played a huge roll in defining the sound and lyrics that described what life was like growing up on the Crestside of Vallejo.
In this mix you will notice the rappers unique sound, slang, delivery and creativity that was influenced by the everyday life in the Crestside. From the early recordings of The Mac, Khayree, Mac Dre and Coolio Da’ Unda’ Dogg to a new generation of rappers such as Mac Mall, Dubee, P.S.D. Tha Drivah and Young Lay, this mix is will keep your speakers slappin’!
Hard copies, which include split tracks, of this album and past mixes are available for purchase. Please contact R8R direct at djpmix@yahoo.com.
As America commemorates the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, we cannot help but to remember The Coup, and their controversial album cover that found the political hip-hop group in a messy predicament.
In September of 2001, The Coup planned a symbolic attack against the World Trade Center. And the timing of could not have been more disturbingly in sync with the real-world event.
What you see below was the planned cover art for The Coup’s Party Music album, designed in June 2001. The album cover depicts group member Boots Riley destroying the twin towers of the World Trade Center using a Covert-Labs digital chromatic tuner as a detonator while DJ Pam the Funktress waves two sticks held between her thumbs and forefingers, as if she is “conducting” the proceedings with two batons.
For obvious reasons the album was delayed until November 2001 in order for the cover to be redesigned. But it was too late, a small amount of the original CD covers were already printed and distributed to members of the press. This original version has no barcode and features a street date of 9/4/01. If you have one of these in your possession, it’s considered a collector’s item due to its rarity and powerful imagery.
Group member Boots Riley explained the symbolism behind the cover:
“I came up with the idea with the photographer. We took the pictures on May 15th, and we were done with it by the beginning of June. Any similarities are totally coincidental, and it was originally supposed to be more of a metaphor for destroying capitalism & where the music is making capitalist towers blow up.”
The twin towers themselves were not the target, capitalism was the target. Unfortunately for Boots Riley and DJ Pam the Funkstress, some sick people were planning a similar symbolic attack that would go far beyond a cheesy photo and an album filled with political hip-hop lyrics.
To see the album that caused all the controversy we have it here: The Coup – Party Music
Former Cash Money member Mannie Fresh is the latest artist to participate in an in-depth interview with the Red Bull Music Academy, joining Mobb Deep, MF Doom and others. During the 2 hour long lecture in Madrid, Spain; Mannie Fresh breaks down his long career as a producer, rapper, DJ, and everything in between. He also speaks out about being unpaid by Cash Money Records and the beef between him and Juvenile and also the feud between Master P’s No Limit Records and Birdman’s Cash Money Records.
The interview is hosted by Andrew Noz from Cocaine Blunts. We suggest you watch and observe as Mannie discusses the roots of bounce music, his humble beginnings with local MC Gregory D, why he left Cash Money Records, where he went, and a whole lot more! This is a must see for any fan of Cash Money Records or New Orleans rap music, so sit back and enjoy the show.
Great rappers have always found creative ways to mix their lyrics and flavor with reppin’ their hood. Rap artists also define themselves by their surroundings and through the use of their regional slang. The Rap Map of the USA provides us with a fascinating way to look at the geographical distribution of underground rap music cd’s, records & cassette tapes. It also allows you to locate underground rap and hip-hop albums released from artists who reside within a specific state or region.
Our goal with the Rap Map is to help educate music listeners and collectors by enabling the use of an interactive map to search and plot out the origins of rap albums. We also consider the Rap Map as an excellent tool for artists who are interested in networking with other rappers in their area.
So give it a try for yourself! The Rap Map is the most convenient way to learn about rap music and discover artists you’ve never heard of.
DJ Matthew Africa out of Oakland, CA just released a dope E-40 mix that is totally free, so check it out by downloading it here! E-40 – Yay Game
For this “Best of” E-40 mix, Matthew Africa meticulously selected classic tracks, sequencing and mixing each song to put together the best possible representation of the artist they call Forty Water aka Mr. Flamboyant.
By cleverly choosing forty songs from all eras of E-40′s career, ranging from his albums in the 1990′s such as “Let’s Side” & “Down and Dirty“, to his current single “Function“, this has got to be one of the best E-40 mixes we’ve heard in while.
We all know that E-40′s catalog is so vast that picking just forty songs is incredibly tough, but with a everything from mob slumpers and album sleepers to radio and club hits, this mix does him the justice he deserves.
Tommy Wright III aka The 1 Man Gang is an underground gangsta rapper who is considered a legend in his hometown Memphis, Tennessee. In 1994 Tommy Wright III formed Street Smart Records, and the rest is history. To the horrorcore murder rap scene all of his albums are recognized as classics, and collectors of his cassette tapes & CD’s are willing to spend skrilla for his original music on eBay! and Amazon.
Tommy Wright III began his career in the early 1990′s putting together his own rap group called Ten Wanted Men, which featured the rappers Jesse James, La Chat, 2-Face, K-Rock, C-Roc, Lil’ Ramsey, Mac T-Dogg, Project Pimp, Princess Loko and of course himself Tommy Wright III. He also released numerous solo albums such as Memphis Massacre, On The Run, Feel Me Before The Kill Me, Behind Closed Doors & Ashes 2 Ashes, Dust 2 Dust. Tommy Wright III is also the head of many Memphis rap groups including the Manson Family, who’s latest album is titled Heltah Skeltah.
Recently Rap Music Guide caught Tommy’s attention, so he sent over a promotional package with some of his music and autographed posters. Much respect playa!
Tommy Wright III also supplied us with several ways for you to stay up to date with all of his latest projects. You can like him on Facebook, send him a friend request on Myspace, follow him on Twitter, collaborate with him on ReverbNation, or to support him the most; purchase Tommy’s albums on CD Baby! Also be sure to visit the Street Smart Records Facebook fan page for more information.
Step your rap game up and help spread the news about Rap Music Guide by “Liking Us” on Facebook. Also don’t forget to hit the like button on our individual posts. Browsing RapMusicGuide.com is just one way to find out about rare and out of print rap music, but now we can post and share rare albums right to our Facebook wall. Once you like our page, you’ll be able to receive status updates with all of the latest Rap Music Guide news and recent additions, along with information about special events, shows and promotions. What’s even better is that you can join in on discussions with other rap music collectors and rappers while share interesting information of your own.
The West Bank of New Orleans, LA has brought us some very talented rappers over the years. Recently we uncovered some old school glossy promotional photos for a few of the early acts out of the NOLA that we thought you might enjoy. The photos below are of the Lower Level Organization, Dog House Posse, Ruthless Juveniles, and Death, a member of the Ruthless Juveniles. All of the artists released albums on Mobo Records, a West Bank label home to some of the darkest gangster rap and gangsta bounce from New Orleans at the time.
In 1992 “Mobo” Joe Paynes started the label Mobo Records out of his West Bank Expressway record shop. What made Mobo Records more unique than any other label from New Orleans during that time was the line up of gangster rap albums such as Dog House Posse “Dope Gets No Heavier”, Lower Level Organization “Wanted By Five-O Feared By Most”, Ruthless Juveniles “Hard As Tha Fuck”, and Death “Possessed By The Ouija Board”. Behind all of the releases was Ivory Joe Paynes (aka Mobo Joe) backed up by his vice president Kenneth M. Taylor. Mobo Joe rapped on a few of the albums and handled some production, although most of the music was handled by Death of the Ruthless Juveniles.
The label eventually fell into obscurity in the early 2000s because the president Ivory Joe Paynes was arrested, and ended up doing time in federal prison. When Mobo Joe was eventually released from prison he released his first solo album in 2004 titled Federalli.
To find out more about the history of Mobo Joe Records and his entire catalog of New Orleans rap albums, read the article titled West Bank’s Finest.
Recently we were requested to help a music collector identify which version of the album Bink “Something 2 Ride To” he purchased. Since this isn’t the first time we were asked this question, we figured we should post an article to help everyone tell the two apart.
By looking at just the album covers it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between the two releases. Even when you turn them over and look at the rear traycards, the barcode and the artwork are almost identical. In order to really tell the difference you will actually need to look beyond the album cover and checkout the jewel cases they came in. The easiest way we found to spot the re-release is by the clear jewel case that allows you to see the traycard artwork which has advertisements behind the cd for 15 other albums by Travlyrics. The original version came in a standard jewel case and does not feature any artwork on the inside traycard. Below are both releases side by side so you can see the difference in jewel cases. The original Bink “Something 2 Ride To” is on the left, while the Bink “Something 2 Ride To” re-release is on the right
If for some reason you still cannot tell which version you have, open it up and check out the additional linear notes and artwork. The original will have a large Fly Records logo when you open the cd case, while the re-release has the track listing for the album printed in black & white. Below are scans of the original in on the left, and the re-release on the right.
There are also slight differences in the way the cd art was printed. On the original release seen on the left you will notice the track numbers 4, 5, 6, & 7 were cut off during the pressing. While the re-release on the right all of the tracks are clearly printed to the cd. Also printed on the re-release is Compact Disc Digital Audio logo located beneath the title of the album, which is not found on the original. Also it’s important to notice that the original version of this album has 14 tracks, while the re-release has only 13 tracks.
Finally of course the ringcodes do not match. The original ringcode is on the left is: BINK/DISC MEDIA CA/#240 CD 00999-04, while the re-release on the right is: CD231-011G Bink JLM/CA
If you follow the Free Gold Watch blog, then you have probably seen the leaked photo of our new line of Rap Music Guide t-shirts that are in the works. If not, check out the article titled “Free Gold Watch Enterprises“. We chose Free Gold Watch to help make our couture fashion dreams come true because their brand is not just a quick trend, but a phenomenon. Also because their clothing/printing store is conveniently located in San Francisco, CA right behind the famous Amoeba Records at 1767 Waller St. in the upper Haight. Our Rap Music Guide shirts will be available in December, which will be perfect timing for those of you who need to get your holiday shopping on.
Aside from being the official printer of the Amoeba Music t-shirts, Free Gold Watch counts rappers such as Berner, Evenodds, Town Thizzness, and SMC, the label that puts out music by rap artists such as The Jacka and Messy Marv, as some of their regular clients. As opposed to the more cost effective and widely used auto-press method of printing, Free Gold Watch embraces the manual press, which involves the human hand, eye, and the squeegee in order to produce a product that reflects the qualities of human creation. In a society that is constantly moving towards machines, perfection, and the removal of human involvement, we appreciate Free Gold Watch for their artistic rawness, imperfection and the preservation of man-made artistry.
Be sure to stay tuned, because Rap Music Guide is about to keep you fitted, and dipped in butter with our new line of freshly pressed garments. If you’re interested in pre-ordering, please contact us directly, or leave a comment with your contact info and shirt size.
For obvious reasons the album was delayed until November 2001 in order for the cover to be redesigned. But it was too late, a small amount of the original CD covers were already printed and distributed to members of the press. This original version has no barcode and features a street date of 9/4/01. If you have one of these in your possession, it’s considered a collector’s item due to its rarity and powerful imagery.
Group member Boots Riley explained the symbolism behind the cover:
Former Cash Money member 
In 1992 “Mobo” Joe Paynes started the label Mobo Records out of his West Bank Expressway record shop. What made Mobo Records more unique than any other label from New Orleans during that time was the line up of gangster rap albums such as 
