Now I’m not saying it’s better than part one because that would be blasphemous. The Cuban Link era will forever inspire and trying to capture the same raw energy is impossible but it’s nice to see the dynamic duo doing it again!! THE PURPLE TAPE LIVES!!

Rae & Ghost “Criminology II”

Back in the bitter cold after a few days in sunny San Diego. Big shout to Aaron of Agenda for the love. The show was cozy, comfy and even though retail is tough, there was a decent turnout.  Big shout to Mike & Ari (Alife), Alyasha (FiborOps, Alpha Numeric), Slick, Tina and Danny Boy (Dissizit), Chris (Nixon), The Burn Rubber crew out of the “D”, Fubz (Agenda), BJ and Chris (Crooks) and Big Diz for bodying the House of Blues… oh yeah… shout to the taxi driver Deon Point almost had to put his fists on (Deon to cabbie: “what? You don’t like money… stupid muthafucka!”)…

Chace chases his paper…

“Do they have brew over there?”

House of Blues

The beard and Dizzy

Also…

I murdered the Open Bicycle Crew’s “Weekly Commute Podcast” with a Butcher Block version… check it out here… shouts to the OBC.

My name is Frank “The Butcher” Rivera and I have a beard. At first it was just a game to see how long I could go without shaving but with time I grew to appreciate the complexity and work that went into maintaining a well groomed beard. My beard started to become a part of me almost to the point where I don’t remember when I didn’t have a beard. You think it’s easy? Not at all my friend. You have that first itchy stage that will drive the average man crazy but I’m anything but average hermano . I walked through that stage like a stroll through central park on a spring day. After that, it was smooth sailing.

Enter the Bearduary. A website dedicated to monitoring beard growth and its kind of a community for people like me. People with a specific skill.

My bearded bother Chedda BLC put me on and now its official.

See you on the other side.

-Butcher

If you know me, then you know that I don’t drink. Well, Deon and Check had me sip this $500 bottle of champagne that smelled like paint thinner but it barely touched my lips and my eyes were watering.  I don’t have to be a member of the BLC (Brew Live Crew, Concepts official drinking team) to appreciate a good alcohol related rap and when Ice Cube is spitting about malt liquor, I listen. St. Ides commercials were promoting a destructive lifestyle to young blacks and latinos in the urban market where print ads covered neighborhoods like cheap funeral home wallpaper and commercials rang like bells in the ears of impressionable youth. Dope! If I chose to become an alcoholic I’d prefer to do it to the Wu Tang’s “Shaolin Brew”, so I didn’t mind a bit. If you listen closely to the intro of Raekwon’s “Spot Rusherz” off of the Cuban Linx album, you could hear the WTC’s St. Ides promo spot playing in the background. Ice Cube, King Tee, Rakim, EPMD, Snoop, Kool G Rap, Wu Tang and more, all contributed to the legendary St. Ides campaigns.

So… crack a brew, smack a bitch, puff a loosie, roll an L, clean a gat, cook some crack, and enjoy St. Ides greatest hits.

St. Ides Commercials

Also, in honor of the release of the Biggie movie, here is Big’s St. Ides spot and the “Who Shot Ya” 12″ promo vinyl rip with “10 Crack Commandments” on the B side.

Notorious B.I.G. – Who Shot Ya / Ten crack Commandments promo vinyl

Remixxxxxxxx!!!

I want to speak on something I consider near and dear to my heart, “The Remix”. Don’t get this confused with today’s definition of a remix because I’m definitely not talking about someone dropping a catchy tune, possibly implementing auto tune, and within days someone has reworked the words, possibly implementing auto tune, and dropping a new version to the web. What’s the saying? Pouring syrup on dog shit doesn’t make it a better version of “A Milli” and “Pop Champagne”.

I’m talking about a time when you would search out the vinyl single or maxi-single (remember the maxi single? It was a beefed up cassette single usually including remixes, b-sides and instrumentals) to obtain the remix that sometimes was a totally different version of the song. New beat, new words, maybe if you were lucky it would include “Pete Rock”, “SD50″, “Premier”, or “Diamond D” between the parentheses.

I used to love discovering a remix. I use the word “discovering” because it was at a time when I literally didn’t know it existed until it was in my hands. Personally, there are a ton of remixes that meant more to me than the original. Not just because it was a new version but these remixes would be as dope or even doper than the original… on purpose. It was rule of thumb.

Some favorites of mine are:

Rass Kass – Soul on Ice (Diamond D Remix): A lot of dope remixes would end up being the video version of the song. I remember hearing “Miami Life” originally off the movie “The Substitute” soundtrack where Rass went in and bodied it but it wasn’t until I heard the Diamond D version of “Soul on Ice” from the video that I realized the monster he was.  Top ten remixes of all time.

A Tribe Called Quest – Scenario (Remix): This joint was a bit of a bitter sweet send off for a tremendous MC named Hood that passed away before the song was even done being mixed. Nas has been quoted as saying that when he first came out, Hood was someone he felt was one of the best lyricist at the time. Everyone was was looking at Nas and Nas was looking at Hood. That says a lot. Besides Hood, Tribe and Leaders of the New School all set this track on fire.

Common (Formally Common Sense) – Soul By The Pound (Remix): I had the pleasure of kickin it with Com recently and I asked him about this joint. I told him how the video made me go out and buy his first album “Can I Borrow a Dollar” looking for the video version of “Soul by the Pound”… and it wasn’t there. He told me at the time he was still learning his craft and it so happened that he made better joints after the album dropped. Was I mad? Not at all. One of the illest remixes ever!

Black Moon – Buck Em’ Down (Remix)  / I Got Ya Open (Remix): Another video versus album situation. Black Moon’s,  or “Brothers who Lyrically Act and Combine Kickin Music Out On Nations” (didn’t think I  knew that huh??), debut album “Enta Da Stage” was revolutionary. Buckshot Shorty (now Buckshot) was always in “best MC” arguments and the Beatminerz introduced their dirty bass filtered Brooklyn style to the world. What was better than the album? The video versions! Not only were they better but they were fuckin classics. And yes I wore army fatigues and hockey jerseys with Timbs.

Public Enemy – Shut Em Down (Pete Rock Remix): Is this considered the illest remix ever? It might be. It was the contrast between Pete Rock’s soul influenced style and the Bomb Squad’s condensed musical chaos that made this remix so popular. The Bomb Squad are one of the best to ever do it and were PE’s in-house production team. When Pete Rock remixed a song that was already potent and made it just as powerful but in a different way, it redefined what remixes are supposed to be. Different but equally good or better. Peep the horns panning from speaker to speaker son!!!

So peep… I enjoy passing on good music. So I put together some definite classics for you to discover, like I once did. I didn’t fuck around either… there are some gems in here. You might be thinking I missed some but these are just scratching the surface. I will do this again soon and cover more ground.

Butcher Block Classic Remixes Volume One

Grand Puba – 360° (What Goes Around) [SD50 Remix]
Showbiz & AG – Next Level (DJ Premier Nyte Time remix)
Notorious B.I.G. – Juicy (Pete Rock Remix)
Kool G. Rap f Nas – Fast Life (Buckwild remix)
Brand Nubian – Slow Down Rmx (Pete Rock)
Nas – The World is Yours (Pete Rock Remix)
Common Sense – Resurrection (Extra P Remix)
Special Ed – Freaky Flow  (Premier Remix)
Gangstarr – Words I Manifest (Remix)
Cypress Hill – When The Ship Goes Down (Diamond D Remix)
Redman – Tonight’s da Night (Remix)
O.C. – Time’s Up (Remix)
Redman – Time 4 Sum Aksion (Remix)
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth – T.R.O.Y. (Pete Rock Vibes Mix)
Krs-One – Sound Of Da Police (Remix)
Ras Kass – Soul On Ice (Diamond D Remix)
Common Sense – Soul By The Pound (Remix)
Public Enemy – Shut Em Down (Pete Rock Remix)
Fat Joe – The Shit Is Real (DJ Premier Remix)

Butcher Block Classic Remixes Volume Two

A Tribe Called Quest f. Leaders of the New School – Scenario (Young Nations Mix)
A Tribe Called Quest f. Leaders of the New School & Hood – Scenario (Remix)
A Tribe Called Quest f. Leaders of the New School – Scenario (7 MC’s Mix)
Das Efx F Mobb Deep – Microphone Master (Sewa-41st. Side Remix)
Das Efx – Mic Checka (Remix)
Method Man – Method Man (Remix)
Jeru The Damaga – Me, Not The Paper (Remix)
Main Source – Just A Friendly Game Of Baseball (Remix)
House of Pain – Jump Around (Pete Rock Remix)
LL Cool J – Jingling Baby (Remixed But Still Jingling)
Nas – It Ain’t Hard to Tell (Remix)
Black Moon – I Got Cha Opin (Remix)
Junior Mafia F Notorious B.I.G – Gettin’ Money (Remix)
Special Ed – Freaky Flow (Premier Remix)
Ultramagnetic MC’s – Ego Trippin’ (MC’s Ultra Remix)
Artifacts F Mas Skillz – Dynamite Soul II (Lip Service Remix)
AZ F Raekwon – Doe or Die (Remix)
Blahzay Blahzay feat. Trigger, Darkman & Smoothe Da Hustler – Danger Pt. 2 (Street Mix)
Blahzay Blahzay – Danger (DJ Premier Remix)
MC Lyte – Cappucino (Remix)
Black Moon – Buck Em Down (Remix)
Masta Ace – Born to Roll (Jeep Ass Nigguh Remix)

This week I’m going to post something to satisfy your “thirst” for real hip-hop. Um.. “thirst” is a hint.

In 1996, I barely graduated high school in Orlando Florida ending a year of being away from home because of my extra curricular activities that attracted the attention of the police department and disappointed the shit out of my parents. So my dad sent me to my mom in sunny Florida to finish high school. After graduation, I came home and immediately got my girlfriend (soon to be wife) of some years pregnant and the “real world” began.

Music is the soundtrack to my life and in 1996 / 97, the Capone N Noreaga “War Report” album was the score following me through one of the toughest periods in my life. It was like an “in between era” in hip-hop and Queens New York had the floor. It was after Mobb Deep’s Infamous but before Murder Muzik. A little after the release of Big Noyd’s “Episodes of a Hustler” and Havoc’s infamous production style defined Queens shit to the fullest. I remember coppin DJ Tony Touch #51 mixtape which featured CNN’s “Illegal Life” and “Stick You” that sounded like Queens but not like Mobb Deep. It was amazing. Tragedy (formally The Intelligent Hoodlum) was featured on the album and almost played the Ghostface roll on the Cuban Links album.

The War Report was the album that brought that NYC grime back right before the explosion of the shiny Bad Boy Entertainment era (post Biggie) and had everyone checking for Queens. Mobb, Trag, CNN, Cormega, Royal Flush and the rest of the thunns & kikos, were delivering something that was real and the world knew it. The chemistry between Nore and Pone was wild. Capone’s style was more precise while Noreaga was a live wire spewing random God Body slang and broken Spanglish. Meeting in prison and hailing from 2 different Queens neighborhoods, Lefrak City and Queensbridge, they dubbed their respective blocks “Iraq” and “Kuwait” which set the tone of the Desert Storm theme they were rolling with. Unfortunately, Capone went back to prison leaving Nore to finish up the album alone but the album still was crack.

The War Report is a classic album hands down. One of the last true classics coming from New York. Peep Nore’s new Blog HERE.

Side note: Remember when the movie “Juice” dropped and the news reported that there was a shooting in a NYC movie theater. That was Noreaga. The shooter not the victim.

Side note 2: Tragedy has dropped some amazing joints that were in the same vain as the CNN album which I dug up for your listening pleasure.

T.O.N.Y. Video

Peeps the joint below if you are not familiar…

Capone N Noreaga f Tragedy Kkadafi – Stick You
Capone N Noreaga f Tragedy Kkadafi and Havoc – Illegal Life
Capone N Noreaga f Tragedy Kkadafi – T.O.N.Y.
Tragedy Khadafi – Alluminati
Tragedy Khadafi – True Confessions
Tragedy Khadafi f Nas and Noreaga – Calm Down
Tragedy Khadafi, Mobb Deep & CNN – LA LA (Irak Dirty Mix)

Bonus
Cormega f Havoc – Angel Dust (Just because….)