Hades Forum

Forgotten Beefs Part 1 - Freddie Foxxx vs. Ultramagnetic



This installment of Forgotten Beefs is also somewhat of a mystery to me, in that there is very little information on the basis of it. Freddie Foxxx has experienced many ups and downs in the rap game, but has maintained his position as one of hip-hop??€�s most enduring tough guys. Originally slated for vocal duties on Eric B. Is President, a young upstart named Rakim Allah turned out to be a more than capable replacement. Foxxx dropped his first solo effort three years later, and with Eric B. as executive producer it was no suprise that the album was equal parts classic brag rap ("Freddie Foxxx Is Here") and sappy ballads ("Forever").

The standout track ??€� I??€�m Ready ??€� sources it??€�s hook from Freddie??€�s first record as a member of Supreme Force Handlin Things/You Gotta Come Out Fresh (NIA,1986). But with the number of incredible hip-hop records being released in 1989, Foxxx??€�s confident, old-school influenced delivery may have come-off a little dated amidst the advanced techniques displayed by Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane and Kool Keith. But it was musically where the album really struggled, utilizing cheesy keyboard riffs over familiar breakbeats, which would have been fresh in ??€?86, but couldn??€�t compete with Marley and Ced??€�s cutting-edge programming. That said, the five or so good tracks make this an album worth tracking-down if you don??€�t already own it.

KRS introduced Foxxx to a new generation of listeners after unleashing him on two tracks from the incredible Sex and Violence album, and before long he was aligned with the second incarnation of the Flavor Unit, which replaced hardcore members like Lakim Shabazz and Lord Alibaski with more the commercially viable Naughty By Nature and Zhane. The only original members remaining were Latifah, Latee and Apache. After making an impression with his show-stopping appearence on Roll Wit The Flava, Freddie recorded an album with S.I.D. Reynolds (the new in-house producer for the Unit after the 45 King??€�s fall from grace). Possibly due to a luke-warm review in The Source, Crazy LikeA Foxxx (Flavor Unit/Epic) never saw a proper commercial release. The project did yield So Tough however, the b-side of which has had me scratching my head since it came out.
Crazy Like A Foxxx dedicates an entire verse to the original dismasters (no, not Raven T or Chuck Chillout), and details Freddie hunting down and stomping out Ultramagnetic members DJ Moe Luv, Ced Gee and Kool Keith (TR Love is spared for some reason). Considering that Ultra have never been afraid to take shots at the competiton, both on record and in their videos, this isn??€�t all that remarkable. The thing is, I can??€�t recall ever hearing anything about this feud. I have no idea what sparked it, and apparently Ultra never officially responded.

Could it be that the Bronx Bombers were, in the immortal words of Sponnie Gee and Jerry Lee Lewis, all shook up by this mic-wielding hardrock? Or was this aired-out on a radio show that I never heard?
The only possible link that I can make between Foxxx and Ultra goes back the First (and only) Annual Rappers Charity Boxing Title, which pitted rappers with handskills against their cross-coastal rivals. Match-ups included Willie D v. Melle Mel, and a scheduled fight between Ultra-affiliate Tim Dog and Dope E from The Terrorists (A Houston group signed to Rap-A-Lot). The thing is, Tim Dog never showed up, so Freddie had to step in and fight Dope E after having already won his own match. Bumpy Knuckles went on to win the tournament, and held it down for the East-coast. In his acceptance speech, he called-out the author of Fuck Compton for fronting on the event. I can??€�t find the original article, but I remember Freddie saying something about ??€?rappers who make records like Step To Me but can??€�t get into the ring.??€?

Here??€�s an excerpt from a recent interview from Tha Formula:
ThaFormula.com ??€� Willie D knocked Mel out?

Freddie Foxxx ??€� One punch B, and Melle Mel is way bigger then him. Willie D wasn??€�t crying that skinny guy shit cause Willie D is not no big dude, but his hand game was together. This dude Dope E was fighting like a broad man. I was like ??€?where the fuck did you all get this cornball ass muthafucka from???€? Tim Dog should have came in there and broke his ass up. That??€�s what he should have did, but he didn??€�t even show up.

Since Tim was down with Ultramagnetic, it??€�s possible Keith and them may have dissed Foxxx somewhere in retaliation for his comments about Tim Dog, which in turn lead to ??€?Crazy Like A Foxxx??€?. This is pure speculation however. Anybody who knows the real story behind this, please let me know. Apparently Foxxx has also shitted-on Dres from Blacksheep on a track or two as well.

Freddie Foxxx - I??€�m Ready (Freddie Foxxx Is Here, MCA, 1989).

Freddie Foxxx - Crazy Like A Foxxx (b-side of So Tough 12??€? single, Flavor Unit/Epic, 1994).

10x . Astept sa tii topic`ul asta up-to-date.

Forgotten Beefs Part 2 - Dismasters vs. Kool DJ Red Alert

Considering they named their group the Dismasters, it??€�s suprising that Raven T & Lord Mike Ski??€�s album contained only one diss record. While they claimed a spot in rap history with the timeless "Small Time Hustler", and to a lesser extent with "Black and Proud", their most entertaining moment in the booth was ??€?Act Like You Know??€?.

Delivered in their typical Shout Rap style, the first couple of verses include a few vague stabs at the competition: "Run-DMC can??€�t do me nothing, I wish that KRS would say something / PE I like what you??€�re doing, Rakim drops science/ yeah, that??€�s kool and the gang, but don??€�t ever suppose you could beat me!". Luckily, the final verse makes it all worthwhile, as Kool DJ Red Alert receives a verbal beatdown for "being the only DJ in New York who wouldn??€�t play our record". It starts off with: "Red Alert and the Jungle Brothers, go on safaris and play with each other / out in the jungle ??€� no womens in sight, one of them plays the girl for the night!" This is all funny shit, but the crediblity of the whole attack is pretty suspect when you take a look at the Dismaster??€�s album cover (below)?!?



The Propmaster was no stranger to diss records himself, as he was the first to play BDP??€�s "South Bronx", which itself was made in retaliation to Red Alert??€�s radio rival Mr. Magic??€�s reaction when Scott and KRS asked him to play one of their pre-Criminal Minded 12"s. The Juice Crew fired back at Red with Craig G??€�s ??€?Duck Alert??€? from Marley Marl??€�s In Control, Volume 1 LP, which is pretty tame compared to "Act Like You Know" but still comes off due to well-placed Star Trek soundbites. Not to be outdone, Red included several tracks dedicated to himself on his Next Plateau compilations ??€� MC Mitch-Ski??€�s "Red Alert Is A Great Man", Total Control??€�s "DJ Red Alert" and Bizzy Boys with DJ Supreme Nyborn??€�s "Kool DJ Red Alert" all attested to his superiority in the rap radio wars.

Dismasters - Act Like You Know (And Then Some, Sure Delight, 1989)

Marley Marl ft/ Craig G ??€� Duck Alert (In Control, Volume 1, Cold Chillin', 1988)

Forgotten Beefs Part 3 - Craig G vs. MC Shan



In the wacky world of diss records, crew-on-crew crime often provides the funniest moments. It??€�s one thing to talk greasy about some kid you??€�ve never met, but when you start riffing with someone you used to hang-out and perform with, things can really get ugly. Such was the case with former Juice Crew buddies Craig G and MC Shan. Having weathered numerous attacks from the outside (??€?Juice Crew Diss??€?, ??€?The Bridge Is Over??€?), as well as in-house rivalries (G Rap and Kane) during their reign at the top of the rap game in the late ??€?80??€�s, the loss of super-producer Marley Marl was the death-knell for the this legendary collective.

After serious financial disputes with Cold Chillin', Marley broke-out with the crew;s two youngest members ??€� Tragedy and Craig G ??€� leaving the rest of the squad to fend for themsleves. This worked out OK for some, as Kool G Rap connected with Large Professor, Big Daddy Kane had contributions from Prince Paul and Easy Moe Bee, and Biz Markie already had deep crates, but for MC Shan, Marley??€�s original number one frontman, the results were disastarous. Without the guiding hand of his mentor, Shan??€�s self-produced third album was an unholy mix of hip-house, rock-rap, swingbeat, ballads without TJ Swan and every other horrendous musical combination imaginable??€¦.including a duet with his wife. Combine that with a video featuring Shan swinging on a vine dressed as Tarzan, and you??€�ve got the recipe for instant dollar-bin status!

To make matters worse, Shan then proceeded to mouth-off about Craig G in teen-rap rag Word Up! magazine (stemming from jealousy regarding Craig still working with Marley, I suspect).



Craig wasn??€�t too impressed with these outbursts, and when he dropped his second album (Now, That??€�s More Like It) the freestyle wizard dedicated a number of tracks to burying his Puma-sporting rival. Here??€�s the first verse from ??€?Going For The Throat??€? :

Yo, I got beef, and this beef is on my mind
Since it??€�s on my mind, let me put it in a rhyme
It seems a brother that I went way back with
Is coming out the woodwork talking shit
At first it didn??€�t mean all that
Cause he was washed up and strung out on crack
Freebase, his life was a waste to the rap world
Nobody cared about him or his wack girl
So yo, I took it in stride
And continued with the rest of my life
Until recently he showed some form of indecency
When in a magazine he tried to release on me
But now it??€�s the last straw
I??€�m gonna wreck him, and anything he stands for
Point blank ??€� Shan, you suck
And I??€�m about to nail your coffin shut
Juice Crew Law? That shit is out the window
Just like the basepipe, where all of your ends go
Yeah, excactly what I thought
Just like Magic when he was a little short
To buy crack from my man on the block
Eyes wide open, and your mouth just dropped
Ah-ah ??€� don??€�t say a word
Just a lot of glance superb
MC Craig G to kick all the facts
About why your records are wack
BDP wrecked you quite a long time ago
But allow me to deliver the final blow
Dis me and get away easy?
Yo, I??€�m gonna hand you a squeegee
Go wash windows, that should be your career
I could give a fuck about what you ??€?pioneered??€?
Straight up, that don??€�t mean shit
So won??€�t you take your vine and swing the fuck off a cliff
Yeah, I mean business
Don??€�t ever in your life try to diss this
Cause punk, I??€�ll rip you to streads
And mail your record company your head
I know it sounds a little graphic
I heard your album??€�s double plastic
And your single went copper
Congratulations, but I think you need a doctor

And if that wasn??€�t enough, he finishes him off with Ripped To Streads (no, that??€�s not a typo!).

Shan attempted to hit back on the b-side of his ??€?Time For Us To Defend Ourselves??€? 12??€?, with Even If I Tore It (which if nothing else, is worthwhile just for being more hardcore than anything on Play It Again, Shan). Compared to Craig??€�s spirited attacks, lyrics like ??€?Get off my dick, short shit-stain??€? don??€�t exactly get the job done, other than possibly providing inspiration for the name of one of Ol??€� Dirty Bastards??€� Brooklyn Zoo crew members.

Bonus trivia: The ??€?Time For Us To Defend Ourselves??€? remix featured production assistance and drum programming by Outloud and PF Cuttin, who would later be known as one-and-a-half-hit wonders Blahzay Blahzay.


Craig G - Ripped To Streads (Now, That??€�s More Like It, Atlantic, 1990)

MC Shan - Even If I Tore It (b-side of the Time For Us To Defend Ourselves 12??€?, Cold Chillin', 1990)

Forgotten Beefs Part 4: Choice vs. NWA, Geto Boys & Too $hort



Biting the hand that feeds you is never a good idea, but when you??€�re a foul-mouthed Houston broad struggling to get noticed, it seems like the only option. Such is the story of Choice, the first "lady" of Rap-A-Lot. Willie D gave her a break by generously allowing her to appear on his seminal Controversy album, resulting in I Need Some Pussy, which still stands up today as a classic ignorant duet. Choice informed us that ??€?I got a pussy ??€?bout the size of Bolivia??€? (which later provided the hook for Too Much Trouble??€�s "Take The Pussy", but more of that later), which apparently is a something she seemed proud of(!?). I suspect that D ghost-wrote her parts anyway. I??€�m not sure what happened between then and the time she dropped her album, but since she looked like Billy Dee Williams in drag her only chance of selling a few CD??€�s was to find a cheap gimmick. Most of the songs on the album dealt with her ??€?sexcapades??€? (Pipe Dreams, ??€?Minute Man??€? and ??€?Cat Got Your Tongue??€?), but for her first single she did what any new rapper desperately seeking free publicity does ??€� she made a diss record.

Payback finds Choice taking shots at all the big name rappers of the era. Her comments toward Willie Dee (??€?talkin??€� ??€?bout bald head hoes ain??€�t nice, when you??€�re mama can??€�t even roll her hair with rice!??€? didn??€�t go down too well with the Clean-Up Man, who retaliated on his next album, ??€?Goin??€� Out Like A Soldier??€?. Choice dropped a follow-up effort in ??€?92 called Stick-N-Move which added some safe-sex messages in with all the pillow talk.



Here??€�s what Willie D had to say about the situation in an interview with James Bernard in the October 1992 edition of The Source:

What??€�s up with dissing Choice? Isn??€�t she your labelmate?

[Laughs] Yeah she??€�s down with Rap-A-Lot, but she ain??€�t down with Willie D. She dissed me ??€� you didn??€�t know that, did you? She had an album called Payback which had a song called ??€?Payback??€? where she dissed me, The Geto Boys, Ice Cube, Too $hort and NWA.

Willie Dee featuring Choice ??€� I Need Some Pussy (Controversy, Rap-A-Lot, 1989)

Choice ??€� Payback (The Big Payback, Rap-A-Lot, 1990)

Choice ??€� Pipe Dreams (The Big Payback, Rap-A-Lot, 1990)

Forgotten Beefs Part 5: DITC vs LOTUG

Remember back to the days when annoying, gimmicky raps were flavour of the month? A time when groups like the Fu-Schnickens were actually taken seriously, and you could dance around with a muppet in your video and still get respect (UMC??€�s Blue Cheese)? In a similar vein, Marley Marl unleashed the Lords of the Underground from his House of Hits, a NJ-based trio who shared The Pharcyde??€�s fondness for energetic, high-pitched vocal outbursts. Not only did they ruin some outstanding K-Def and Marley productions with their corny new-jack techniques, but they also managed to piss-off several key DITC legends.

One of the members of LOTUG went by the name of Mr. Funkee, which didn??€�t sit too well with Lord Finesse, since he has been calling himself The Funkyman since his first record. As a seasoned performer who had been battling for years in school yards, on street corners and on stage, Finesse made like his Grandpa character and got grumpy at these kids claiming themselves to be Lords of the rap underground, when he insisted that no one in New York had ever heard of these clowns. Finesse aired-out his feelings on the matter at the Rocksteady Anniversary Jam (a few minutes after Grimm appeared), resulting in a classic example of a verbal ass-whipping.



But the Underboss wasn??€�t the only Bronx resident who took a disliking to this group. The 12??€? for their biggest hit, Funky Child, contained a remix which featured an identical beat to Showbiz & AG??€�s Hold Ya Head. Keep in mind, this was an era when biting was still considered sacreligious, instead of expected, so The Giant had no qualms about voicing his contempt on a couple of tracks. On Next Level, Goodfellas lead single, AG spits: Fake Lords they get strangled with mic cords, taking beats from my LP for sure ain??€�t healthy, while the white label treat Stand Strong added the following: ...The Giant??€�s on a mad mission, suckers sampled off the LP with no goddamn permission / they like our style that??€�s why they choose it, might as well let me write your rhymes and let Show do all your music.

Naturally, the whole thing eventually got sorted out and, as confirmed by Finesse himself, the beef was deaded. The Lords went on to release another couple of albums which nobody bothered to pick-up, while Finesse??€�s production skills have kept him on the rise, contributing to projects for Capone-N-Noreaga, Brand Nubian and most notably Dr. Dre??€�s Chronic 2001. He??€�s currently developing the Funky Technician Remix Project.

* Although it??€�s worth noting that they beat the Wu to the one-inch punch with the whole kung-fu movie samples angle, although flying around in Chinese take-out boxes in the ??€?Ring The Alarm??€? video didn??€�t give the whole concept much credibility!

DITC vs LOTUG Lord Finesse Live Rocksteady Anniversary Jam Volume 2 (white label)

a classic example of a verbal ass-whipping.

nu stiam unde sa pun articolul asta asa ca profit de topicul asta ca tot e in tema

Pete Rock = Not a snitch

Combat Jack's Top 5 gulliest moments he's experienced first hand in the music industry (that you won't hear about anywhere else on the whole effin planet but here)
Back around 1993, Pete Rock was God in the greater New York City area. He was in one of the hottest rap groups (Pete Rock & CL Smooth (although I never understood whut the eff CL was saying)), he was producing hits for everyone (RUN DMC, Nas, etc.).

Around that time, a lot of of music industry players came from the Northern town of Mount Vernon (Puffy, Heavy D and the Boyz, Pete and CL). Anyways, Pete at the time, being the good dude that he is, was trying to put a local rap group called the the YG'z (short for “Young Gunz”) on. He provided these dudes with a lil cash, supplied them with ample beats and even got them a record deal with either Uptown or MCA. The problem was that these cats were really turrible. In addition, these dudes were all like ex-cons or professional crooks or some shit like that and they had no reason being in the music industry. Their single comes out and it effin stinks like cabbage and chitlins stew, they get dropped and start leaning on Pete. I guess they figure Pete's gonna continue funding them, “riding” with them or whatever the fuck real thugs think they man's an 'em is supposed to do. Pete, however, realizes that these cats were a bad investment of time and energy and summarily cuts them off.

That summer, I attended a “Mt. Vernon Family Day” picnic. It was one of those picturesque days (like in a music video) and everyone was there enjoying Heavy D's special barbeque chicken and ribs. Pete, with chicken in hand, is rapping to this dime piece on her huge picnic blanket when the YG'z. show up. One of 'em requests Pete's attention and when Pete gets up to talk, the YG knocks Pete Rock in the jaw with an uppercut, catapulting dude clean over the huge ass picnic blanket. The chick is screaming, cats are scrambling to get out of there, Pete is convulsing on the ground with barbeque sauce all over his bright yellow Cross Colours jersey (cause he's knocked the fuck out) and the YG'z are rifling through his pockets Debo style. Heav and the rest of the “Mt. Vernon” crew don't say shit (I guesss because the YG'z were really that gully). Pete then gets up, recovers immediately and sprints, OJ-style, across the picnic grounds with the YG'z on his tail (no homo).

From what I understand, this shit went on for a while. A few months later (winter), I was on my way to attend some music industry black tie event. When I get to the venue, I see Pete running the fuck my way in a tuxedo. I move out of dude's way and a few seconds later, I see the YG'z (not in tuxedo) running after him. Where I'm going with this is that during the entire time that dudes are hazing Pete (let's say a period of like 9 months), Pete never contacts the authorities. He took his multiple beatdowns and terrorizings like a man. He may be a lot of things, but the Soul Brother #1 aint a snitch.

Forgotten Beefs Part 6 - MF Doom vs Parker Lewis

( <- Click! )

Sorry to confuse any UK rap fans, but the Parker Lewis I’m referring to isn’t in fact the British MC/producer who provided the beat for the first song on Fishscale (Lewis Parker), but the name of the lead character from that TV show that tried to recreate the whole Ferris Buellers Day Off vibe. In what must have been a slow news month at The Source, Matty C reported that the star of Parker Lewis Can’t Lose shocked the crowd at Ed Lover’s birthday party with some “impressive” mic skills. All I’ve got to say is that Corky Nemic has to one of the whitest names ever.

Why am I bringing this pointless bit of trivia up years later? Well it seems that MF “got ebay goin’ nuts” Doom was in attendance, as he explains on the awesome “Black Bastards!”:

It was Ed Lover’s birthday party, a block from the spot
On stage I heard some off-beat “Lick shot! Lick shot!”
Well goddamn, guess who, looking bitchy as hell
Parker Lewis, well well, I brings an L
I gave him a “Beef Beef” look, he acted like he couldn’t tell
I guess that was the sucker in him, ready set to swell
But Jorge said it was insane, advice to maintain
but damn it has to be hard, the way they master how to act black
Fall off the funky track to rock the house in vein
As we sat with Kuriosity and sipped champagne

Not really much of a beef, but funny shit regardless.

KMD - Black Bastards! [Black Bastards, Readyrock, 2001]


***

Apropo de KMD, chiar zilele trecute am vizualizat cover'ul ultimului album semnat The Roots - Game theory - release date 29 august, 2006, Def Jam.. Nu m-as mira sa apara discordante intre acestia. Desi asta fac, nu vreau sa scrutez prea mult.. ramane de vazut. Piesa de pe albumul ce da sa apara: The Roots - It Don't Feel Right



(vs)

foarte tare...istorie curata...keep it up
sadclown...mi-a placut aia cu Pete Rock

Stick-N-Move



Remember my first post about Freddie Foxxx and Ultramagnetic? I finally dug-up the Source article about the First [1] Annual Rappers Boxing Match.

As it turned out, the reason Foxxx made that track against Ultra was due to Kool Keith's line "How can you put a fox against an alligator" on the The Four Horsemen. Freddie responded with "Crazy Like A Foxxx", but the whole thing got squashed when they met each other on a plane and talked things out before shit got violent.

Here are two classic tracks debating the pro??€�s and con??€�s of ??€?shooting a fair one??€? vs. ??€?shooting you??€?:

Willie Dee - Put The Fuckin' Gun Away [Controversy, Rap-A-Lot, 1989]

Kool G Rap & DJ Polo - Go For Your Guns [Live & Let Die, Cold Chillin', 1992]

Who wins the gun control debate?

* Kool G Rap - That boxing shit is dead, gimme a burna instead.
* Willie D - Beating the crap outta someone is way more gully.

1. Sadly, it was also the last.

Forgotten Beefs Part 7 - Spoonie Gee vs Schooly D



Spoonie sums up this situation perfectly??€¦.

JayQuan's interview with Spoonie:

You had a song called ??€?That??€�s My Style??€? who was that for?
Schooly D came out with ??€?Gucci Time??€?. I just wanted to let him know that was my style.

I thought so. The hi hats on the song were programmed just like ??€?Gucci Time??€?/P.S.K.
We were on shows together after that. He thought that I would hate him , but we winded up talking and I shook his hand & we were cool. I just wanted to let him know that everyone thought that he was me.

Since Philly??€�s finest never responded on record (unless it was something subliminal), this falls more under the ??€?forgotten answer records??€? heading but who knows - maybe Schooly School had a little live routine firing back at the ??€?Godfather of Rap??€?? Or quite possible he could have cared less about the whole thing??€¦

Schooly-D - Gucci Time / P.S.K. [twelve inch single, Schooly D, 1985]

Spoonie Gee - That??€�s My Style [twelve inch single, Tuff City, 1986]

KRS-One - Hip-Hop Sucks Because of You! PART I

Written by Kool Kim - Thursday August 31st 2006



Here's the debut post from new Unkut.com contributor, Kool Kim of the UMC's:

KRS-One is a FUCKING LIAR. Word is bond, I was there. Not only was I there, I was the person that INTRODUCED PM Dawn on stage. I was standing there at the back of the stage flirting with their dancers

WORD, this dude KRS-One is a fraud. He claims to be HIP HOP, but he’s just another bully. I never told this story - even when asked to by The Source right after it happened. I never spoke on it, because Haas asked me to stay out of it, he didn’t want us to be involved with the beef. So I kept my mouth shut. But today I just got a link to that radio interview, and when I look at the happenstance in retrospect and I consider the ramifications of what KRS did…I feel compelled to break my silence.

KRS-One AUDIO!

Lemme tell you why:

I’m there like 20 deep, it’s at the Sound Factory on 28th Street near The Tunnel night club (just in case yall think i’m lying). It’s T-Money’s birthday party and they got us and D-Nice hosting the event. I’m like bet to that. We get to intro dudes - shit was a good look. Plus for me, I used to dance to House music back when that was hot at the Sound Factory years before so it was a real homecoming.

It’s all good, we party up, and then…it’s time for PM Dawn to hit the stage. Now the trippy shit is that everyone was acting like these cats was wack and they wouldn’t get any love…and if i remember correct D-Nice ain’t want to intro them cause he was on some BS. In any event I decide to intro them ’cause we had met months before at a taping of Dance Party USA (that was a dance show that would come on back in the day). I met them and kinda gave them the cold shoulder cause I felt they were on some bullshit, until Prince B just shouted me out on some real brotherly love stuff - really humbled me yo…word. Gave my album and my crew mad love, and I felt bad. So I figure in my mind: "Lemme give these cats the very best intro i can". So I go on stage and do my lil' "one two" intro, and to my surprise the audience got hyped over the fact that it was PM Dawn coming to the stage…word…it bugged me out.

And they got on stage and ripped it! They did "Reality Used To Be A Friend of Mine" first, and then they were about to go into �Set Adrift�. So right before then he asks the crowd if they like what he was doing - dudes and broads was giving them MAD love - damn it is like it was yesterday, I’ll never forget this. They start pumping "Set Adrift…" and I step to rear stage left, and the dancers are dancing in a circle with their backs to one another. This light skin cutie was giving me the eye, and all I could think about was how nasty I was gonna screw this chick.

Now lemme back track - out the corner of my eye I am noting a mass of BIG GIANT MEN (now at the time I aint but like 5 foot 7 140, so if you ever been that size you know when you see them 6 foot 6 dudes that weigh in at 240 and shit, them cats make you feel like a lil’ boy) well he had a gang of them cats with him. When I say a GANG, I mean a true Hit squad - I’m talking about 20-30 dudes easy. Naaah hold up, real talk - I can honestly recall from my mental image - a good 15-20 dudes for sure. All in black hoodies or black shirts. So as this cat starts singing the song. He just about to say the part "Set Adrift of Memory Bli…" and they were on that dude like I don’t know what - and here my ass is standing on the stage, bugging. Now PM Dawn was Prince B and his brother Minute Mix and about 4 dancers, word, that’s it. No one else was on that stage except my ass - WORD TO LIFE.

This cat snatches the mic outta sons hands, and you can see PB tryna peace the dude on some "Easy going let’s talk it out stuff". KRS 1 starts beating the poor dude upside his head with the mic! Boop! Bop! Boop! Boop! (the mic was on, lol) and then HE pushed the dude off stage, and then the crowd started taking shots at son. He throws the peace sign up and just leaves - like a man. For real I have to say I have mad respect for Prince B he held his like a man with conviction. At the same time KRS’ team just does away with the dancers and Minute Mix got shoved off the stage so hard that he just sort of shot off to the side sort of like when you go to some office and they have them balls on a string and if you pick one up and let it swing the kenitic force drives thru the other 6 balls and the seventh shoots up…it was trippy like that. I never really seen a human being get moved like that.

Then right after that, as if on cue (real fucking coincidence) the DJ scratched the PM Dawn record (and you could hear the SCCCCCCRRRREEEEEEEEEE) and next thing you know you hear that unforgettable intro to �The Bridge Is Over�. That came on and the crowd went bazerk!!!! It was pure pandamonium. He start hitting that "Bridge" chorus but he was hitting with "the Dawn is over the Dawn is over". Honestly it was amazing, I can’t front. Right there at that moment he had orchestrated the most hardcore illest MC dream of snatching an MC off his set and ripping the crowd.

When the song finished, the dude dropped the mic and rushed the front of the stage with his team - mowed thru the crowd and security - and out the rear doors, which I NEVER saw opened until that moment. The crowd was insane - fights broke out and security was wylin out on folks - and just then DJ Clark Kent tosses on "They Want EFX" from Das for the first time. People never heard this song till then.
I grab the mic and start yelling "Jump! Jump! Jump!" to get the crowd focused somewhere else. Crazy…

But let me tell you, before the punk ass non-thinkers jump online and jump on his dick, that was some foul ass shit, ’cause at the same time if I am correct - and I am pretty sure I am - KRS had REAL beef with King Sun. When he disrespected the 5% Nation and them brothers was gonna FUCK HIM UP, that dude got real philisophical and when he had beef with them PRT Jerzee dudes that dude ain’t have SHIT to say to them. He ain’t throw a muffugga off the stage with them cats. But OHHHHH Prince B - he gonna roll mob heavy on them guys, and they soft - and that’s not a disrespect to them - they’re soft, Prince B is a pacifist. He ain’t gonna be a fight for KRS! So now where was the debate at? Where was "the teacher"? That nigga aint a teacher. In fact, he the reason why HIP HOP is fucked up now, ’cause right after that niggas went CRAZY tryna replicate that crap. Mad fights and people getting jumped, it changed the face of the music ’cause dudes were tryna toughen up to show that they weren’t soft either. 14 years later - look what we got:

A bunch of savages.

And that was the lesson that "the Teacher" really taught us.

KRS-ONE - Hip Hop SUCKS because YOU!

KRS-One's interview with The Source where he talks about the incident!

Written by Robbie - Sunday September 03rd 2006



Since this has been mentioned a number of times in response to Kool Kim's article about the BDP / PM Dawn incident, it seemed only right to post what KRS had to say about the incident, plus his static with several other groups. Here's the classic interview that he did in the April 1992 issue of The Source magazine, conducted by the founding editor Jon Shecter:




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Boogie Down Productions - Build And Destroy

UMC'S - Hip-Hop Sucks Because of You! PART II

Written by Kool Kim - Sunday September 03rd 2006


Kool Kim and the Cella Dwellas

Editors Note: For everyone who thinks that Kim was just shitting on KRS out of the blue, he was sent the audio included in the last article under the impression that it was recorded recently, which pissed him off to think that KRS was still talking about that shit and inspired him to speak his piece. It’s also worth adding that it’s the first article in an on-going series which he’ll be writing here, addressing some of the problems facing hip-hop today. The following is Part Two, and was sent to me not long after we posted Kim’s first article - I just haven’t had time to put it up until now. As you’ll see, he’s not afraid to put his own actions under the microscope…

Y’all thought I wouldn’t? Let me say first and foremost I am NO PARTS of ashamed of my career or my crew. But I am going to keep it REAL and be honest about how I believe WE caused HIP HOP to suck.

First and foremost you have to understand the UMC's. Most of you either remember us from when you were in JR High School (middle school) and most of your experience with the UMC’s is limited to the three videos we put out if any at all, the primary being �Blue Cheese�. A difficult thing about discussing a group and it’s musical relevance 15 years after the last song is that there is a lack of temporial context so some of this shit you are either going to accept and take my word on, or you gonna just come back with some sideways shit.

The UMC’s as a group was a conscious effort on our part to represent HIP HOP in a positive light. I myself was the president of my schools Black Awareness club, had led protest and ethnic reforms at my school as well as helped galvanized my peers to increase their GPA’s considerably. I was extremely Black conscious, mind you I was in High School when P.E. was on fire, Jungle Bros, Native Tongues, De La, KRS dropped "My Philosophy" somewhere in that time frame, so being Black and aware was big. Even dudes like Divine Styler was dropping pro-Black music. So when we were trying to come out we were doing a lot of performances we were primarily a performance group and we in all honesty were very influenced by the Native Tongues collective. Our first song was called �Invaders of my Fruit Basket� LOL…that shit makes me laugh cause if you say it now that sound like some gay shit, and a subsequent album called Fruits of Nature…I am over here cracking up ’cause without context these titles sound mad gay.

All the time we are walking our dogs to get on, House music is doing it big in NY - and nah, I ain’t do the Sound Factory on Saturdays…LOL (dick). My crew was some stylish, trendy, party dudes we rolled deep like shit and we loved to party. We were like 16-18 then, so come on man. And that’s what we did in those days, we had fun. So when after about 3 or 4 years of hard work and struggle and sacrifice and all we finally did it. After every label had passed on us Premier brought us into the door with Wild Pitch. Now some of you have heard about Stu Fine (owner of Wild Pitch records) - some haven’t - this dude is responsible for some of the most prolific groups in Hip Hop (Main Source, UMC's, Chill Rob G, The Coup, Lord Finesse, et al) but this dude was the WORST…he’s been pistol whipped, beat up, chased, threatened, roughed up by damn near each artist on that label - but I digress. Here we are signing to a label notorious for jerking cats. We had this bullshit lawyer that basically sold us out and our manager was a KOOL brother…but he had a quality to him that made him seem like people could run over him. He tried his best though, but that was how it was.

So here comes the first album Fruits of Nature - which was supposed to be spelled �Fruits Uv Nature� which was meant to stand for F.U.N. - that was what the album was supposed to be about. Further, Haas and I were both heavy into the Nation of Islam, and the Security division of the Nation is called the Fruit of Islam. So we have this first song that is slated to come out �Blue Cheese�. Now many of you think that we actually named the song �Blue Cheese� ’cause we was off the bugg - NO! We named it that because we KNEW that the minds of music listeners were like 5 year-olds - that all we had to do was have a catchy hook and a hot beat and y’all would rock to the song. The song in reality is pure nonsense. It was done intentionally to an extent as an insult to sheeple (sheepish people).



So now Stu gets the song, hears some of the others like �Never Never Land� and he got us pegged as this teeny bop pop group - I guess that was his interpetation of our style of hip hop. So everything they did was real trippy, real bugged on some �kid appeal� shit, which was cool to me cause I studied all this marketing shit that said that there are three prime colors in advertising - Green (cause that’s the color the human eye can see in almost all it’s variations), Blue and Red. Pimps wore bright loud suits. Song and Dance men from years and years smiled when they performed it was apart of Broadway. This is what I thought you was supposed to do as an entertainer - actually entertain - so when �Blue Cheese� comes out…to be real honest, I was the one that came up with the video concept, but I swear on my soul it was supposed to be this Michael Jackson-level epic with all sorts of ill shit. I did all this research on ulti-mat (the green screen process) and had all these pictures and schematics of what the video would look like. Well, suffice to say it didn’t look ANYTHING how we had planned - that damn �Blue Cheese� monster still haunts my sleep. After that it was a wrap for us ’cause there was nothing we could do we had been type-cast we were �happy rap�.

But here is the thing we WERE HAPPY - I mean help me with this, you get a chance to rap on TV - Yo! MTV Raps, BET, Dance Party USA, FUCKING SOUL TRAIN! You’re rapping some shit you made up while you and your boy are 19 years old over the telephone and your going to be ANGRY? We was suppose to do what? Mean mug? Y’all niggas kill me with that. And half the muffukas that have something to say about how happy we was used to be in the front of the stage with your dayglo green t-shirts and your fucking yellow drop socks - fake bastards - niggas is the Bay used to have a hairstyle called the Kool Kim…..ha ha ha…but WE were happy rappers right? OK, so now we are the happy rap group who are signed to Wild Pitch/EMI - who’s jerking the shit out of us - WE NEVER EVER get paid for selling records. We go on tours and all sort of promo shows and never get paid anything but a per diem, so it ain’t so happy now! [1]

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Kim's editorial for The Source, April 1992

Now here is a very ill concept about Fans and Artists that I have come to understand after all these years. Fans are in a time warp, while Artists are living in real time. Follow this - I put out an album, 1st single comes out and rocks for 4 whole months - by the 5th it sees #1. The second single comes out and 5 months later it reaches #2. The third single comes out and gets burn for about 4 more months - THAT’S a YEAR and TWO MONTHS that have passed in this artist’s life. In this time my dear grandmother has passed, my mother (my only parent) is away at WAR, so is my only brother, I got a baby’s mom now and an infant daughter, I’m living in a fucking tenament with two windows and they face each other - damn, this is my word - but for YOU THE FAN, last thing you heard me say was �We are the kids of Never Never Land�. So to this point if I was your average internet dick this just sounds like I am making excuses for my group. So HOW DID UMC’s CAUSE HIP HOP TO SUCK?!?

Well here it is. Now as I said we are living in real bad conditions, while niggas is playing our songs in expensive cars. Check it - when i got my #1 plaque from Billboard I had to jump the turnstyle to get home from EMI that day, ’cause I didn’t have a dollar to pay the train. My daughter’s moms was on welfare ’cause I ain’t had the dough. People were kinda carrying us ’cause the image and my dudes that I grew up with and used to work at Statue Of Liberty with were coming out with a group Wu-Tang - a group that we were the first to mention ’cause we came up with these brothers. In fact back in the day - before the first album fully dropped - Rakeem and RNS and Haas used to practice producing at RNS house and RNS was learning MAD SHIT from Haas and vice versa, ’cause Haas was already NICE ’cause I had ALL THAT equpiment - Ensoniq EPS 16 plus, Roland R8, Akia S-900 - holla back if you a real producer. In any event WU’s movement was strong, and instead of acknowledging the fact that we were bigging them up on the first album ’cause we knew they were coming soon enough, they made this anti-UMC’s campaign! Dudes was �soooooooing� at us and shit on the block - lil’ young cats - *sigh* man and near that time we had this beef - if you wanna call it that - with the Hit Squad, which to this day had me baffled. So now we are on full alert. We went to a club one night while we were supposedly signed to Flavor Unit Managment out in LI. Let me tell you, at one point shit was all gravy - we vibing - next thing you know the ENTIRE club was just Hit Squad assasins! Shit was sureal…but that’s another story.

So like I said, we are on amber alert like a muffuga, and then the final catalyst kicked in: the UMC’s Kool Kim - Mr. �Need no narcotics� - started drinking and smoking weed! HARD CORE. And that was it - that did it. Whatever restraint I had up to that point had succumbed. Stu Fine - the bastard - demanded that we produce 5 songs a week…meanwhile we are begging for rent money. I got locked up for assult on a cabdriver who hit my baby’s carriage. Shit just goes bad - and we are making music under these circumstances - and here you have the next album Unleashed. The realest shit ever, ’cause it was honest. If you would have ran across me I would have murderd you. And ANYONE that knows me knows that ain’t my steez at all, but believe me at that point you have no idea how many people have to walk around right now with the knowledge that they got fucked up by them "UMC niggas".



Still making excuses right? Well here is how we caused hip hop to suck: I feel like the UMC’s were faced with the trial of JOB. If you are familiar with Job he was a servant of God who was favored for his good works and faith. The devil �wages� with God that if he would take his protective hedge off him that he would curse his name. And those that know the story knew that after losing EVERYTHING, Job doesn’t falter he remains true to his GOD to what made him and GOD rewards him with a better life. When things got bad for us - real bad - I was hurt ’cause I was a BATTLE MC. That was my shit - battling and sex rhymes - I would have been that dude with that shit. And again, those that doubt - if you really know what it is - ask Young Zee and the Outsiderz about Kool Kim, ask niggas in the ATL at 5 Points Underground about Kool Kim, ask niggas in Washington Square Park, ask SuperNatural, ask anyone that has faced off against me if I am a battle rapper. I have only lost ONE battle in my life - ONE - and I beat that cat too. So i am fucking pissed ’cause I feel like GOD betrayed me. HERE it is I come out with an album with positive words NOT ONE CURSE, no disrespect to women, I ain’t shame my race with a bunch of fool shit and cooning. Not getting on TV and dumbing out (man, I remember when the Beastie Boys won that Grammy years ago, and these bastards get on stage dippin’ extra low on some super stereo-typed shit, and at the time they were the first to represent HIP HOP like that on a national level. We was mad like shit cause we felt like they made clowns of us. At the time Hip hop was something u had to justifiy to your moms and shit, when she would be like: �This ain’t real music!�, so I swore if I ever got a chance I wouldn’t go out like that).

Here it is after all that, after all this �sacrifice�, here we are with LESS than nothing. For what? For fucking what?! I remember this day clearly: I was tryna bring these clothes up the stairs of my apartment - mind you I used to be a tumbling fucker and have mad balance - and somehow I just trip and go falling down the stairs, bust my nose and the whole shit, it was crazy. It takes the weirdest things, but at that moment I snapped and I just left the apartment and walked to my then baby’s moms house and vowed that if GOD was going to forsake me like that then I would take as many people to hell with me as I could. I vowed to be his enemy. I wasn’t as good as Job - not by a long shot.

And that is why Hip Hop sucks because of ME. Because I failed myself at that moment. I wasn’t a strong enough man and I succumbed to this bullshit business. I wanted success more then I wanted to make good music. I didn’t understand that being a good man was its own reward. I couldn’t identify the fact that my crew was beloved by the HARDEST dudes we - were able to go anywhere and be safe because people had love for us. We were like everyone’s lil’ brother. I ain’t peep how dudes like Cube would break they mean face and start dancing around like kids when they saw us cause we were FUN. People loved us for that, and I wanted to be respected for fear! I lost it all, and the world lost my group…and that shit sucks.

So that was the fruit of my nature…KOOL KIM - HIP HOP SUCKS BECAUSE YOU!

1. Side note - groups that have made radical changes and become "hardcore":
Mobb Deep - two backpackers singing a song called "Hit It From the Back".
Brand Nubian - niggas was dancing around a room singing "Feels So Good".
Jay Z - was Jaz’s side-kick singing about "Hawaiian Sophie" and "The Originators" with a fucking hawaiian shirt on (that shit was hot in them days, fuck that).
Rza aka Rakeem - "Ohh we love you Rakeem"…"thank you".
Black Moon - this nigga Buckshot and Evil D somehow got my home number and used to call me with all his ideas. I remember telling him I thought the name Black Moon was wack… LOL…shows ya what I know!
Dre - World Famous Wrecking Cru - the dude had a glitter suit on.

How soon we forget…now stop fucking fakin'.