Episode 187 : The Killer Tape

"...and we don't make the f-ing pistols..."

- Kool G Rap

Sometimes the episode number compels me to follow it to provide an overall theme for an entire show, and this month is one of those! With 187 famously being the California Penal Code paragraph number/police code for murder, and via Hip-Hop becoming widely known and used as a signifier well outside that jurisdiction, I decided that for this episode we'd lean into that as a theme - sometimes literal, sometimes metaphorical, often pure creative writing, and at other times rooted firmly in reality. With that in mind, this episode might not be to everyone's taste, but for everyone else, it's certainly a journey thematically and sonically from the first track to our closer, which is truly a great piece of writing.

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Playlist/Notes

M.O.P. : 187

We won't reveal the sample here as I don't know if it was cleared and don't want to get anyone sued, but I doubt the original artists ever expected it to end up on a track like this! We start Episode 187 with a track of the same title, and Brownsville's own, the World Famous M.O.P. coming out as hard as titanium on this track from the "Street Certified" project, bringing the aggression to absolutely everyone - wack DJs, sucker MC, groupies, sponsors...no-one escapes. Lil Fame produces this one himself, combining the piano sample mentioned earlier with a well-known drum break that has done the business in Hip-Hop time and time again.

Skitz : The Killing (Remix Instrumental)

The original mix of "The Killing" is in my opinion the far superior version, but this minor-keyed piano instrumental is still solid in its own right. As far as I know, the only place to get this is the 12" single of "The Killing", which was just one of the outstanding tracks from the "Countryman" LP. If you see the wax of that about, don't think, just buy.

DJ Marvel : 1-8-7

In the interest of not giving you the "Deep Cover" beat for too long, I'm only giving you a portion of this great DJ/cut-up track, which is based around that famous beat and hook, and turns it into a DJ-killing anthem. DJ Marvel is a UK DJ out of Torquay in Devon, a place that - save for the beach - couldn't be further away in vibes from Long Beach, but he represents his area amazingly on this, probably my favourite track to this day from Bomb Hip-Hop's "Return of the DJ Volume V".

Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg : One Eight Seven

Many of you will be familiar with the Dr. Dre classic "Deep Cover", which introduced the world to (as he was called then) Snoop Doggy Dogg, but I think fewer will know this alternate version/sequel, which was on the B-side of the "Dre Day" 12" single. The lyrics are a complete re-write, though the hook is the same, and there are some subtle variations in the arrangement, but otherwise the original groove is the same. Gloriously dark crime rhyme action. 

Kool G Rap & DJ Polo : Crime Pays

My only regret is that the great intro to this track is slower than the main tempo, and so was too slow to play you here! If you want to hear the whole thing front-to-back, then the album you want is the 1992 crime opus "Live And Let Die". Planned to come out a year previously, the subject matter and disturbing cover art (which had its original two ideas shelved for unsuitability, and the final one responsible for a long-time shelving of the LP after release) are dark, extremely aggressive, and you barely come up for air the whole time. Like most of the album, this funky and fairly short track is produced by Sir Jinx of The Lench Mob, with the Juice Crew legend Kool G Rap speaking from the perspective of someone who feels - rightly or wrongly - that crime is their only option, and criticised the hypocrisy of society. The TLDR is that it's something of an "it's bigger than Nino Brown" piece, and very much of its time when you consider it would have been written around the tail end of the murder spike New York City experienced due to the crack epidemic. 

Jaylib : Survival Test

I've used both the vocal and instrumental versions of this track from "Champion Sound" here to get a proper intro and outro for mix purposes, with Madlib's dense Bollywood-accented production seeming to absolutely fill the sound field but somehow still having space for J Dilla to get on the mic and be heard clearly. Dilla uses the technique of rhyming the word before the end of each line, while the final phrase on the line repeats, thereby constraining how it can be written; he demonstrates a skill as an MC that many people don't give him his full credit for.

Giggs : Talking The Hardest

There's apparently something of a meme around this track supposedly being the national anthem here, so I thought I'd lead it off with an appropriate sample! Many years after recording, this freestyle is still a very popular tune from Giggs' catalogue, even though it didn't make it onto his debut LP. That might be in part due to the Dr. Dre-produced beat being a direct lift from Stat Quo's "Here We Go", that would have been basically impossible to clear. Nevertheless, there's a digital release of this track, so feel free to get yourself this slice of Peckham street talk for a very reasonable price!

Kardinal Offishall : Bang Bang (Instrumental)

I played the vocal version of this a long time ago on episode 113, but here you get Kardinal Offishall's production in the raw - dark, thumping, and menacing. The "Bang Bang" promo is the only place to get this instrumental, which I might even try and get a second copy of myself as this one has taken a few scrapes over the last twenty years!

Smif 'n' Wessun : War

Appropriately for representatives from the Boot Camp Clik, Smif 'n' Wessun blend the street and the military on this tough cut from their 2005 album "Tek & Steele: Reloaded". There's a really quick change-up from the original beat, as Ken Ring, Rune Rotter, and Coptic drop out to a sample from a famous film before coming back with an alternative composition to carry things forward for the remainder of the track. The final bit of seasoning is the cutting in of one of the best-known lyrics from the late Prodigy of Mobb Deep, a man amongst the most quotable MCs in Hip-Hop history.

Ran Reed & Shabaam Sahdeeq : Murderous Flow

This is very much one of those records I might never have thought to include if I hadn't digitised all my 12"s! It's pretty much entirely unlabelled and thus easy to lost in the sauce, but this is a single I picked up during my student days on account of the killer Nick Wiz beat and what must have been an affordable price :) The simple formula of a dope beat with dope rhymes (with the titular murderous flow) is followed here by both the New Jersey native reed and guest Shabaam Sahdeeq, who you may actually be a little more familiar with if you know your late-90s underground Hip-Hop. This was a promo 12" which did get an official single release, but isn't on any LP - as such, you may struggle to find it on any streaming service, and so buying the single is the only way.

Xzibit ft. Mobb Deep : Eyes May Shine (Remix)

This has been a favourite track of mine since it was first released way back in 1996, and I can't believe it's taken me so long to finally find a home for it here! In my opinion this is a far superior track to the original "Eyes May Shine" from Xzibit's debut LP "At The Speed Of Life", with Havoc's gloomy, string-led production striking exactly the right tone for this dismissal of studio gangsters. With the late great Prodigy guesting on the mic alongside Havoc, and the overall vibe being what it is, you could easily think this was a Mobb track featuring Xzibit rather than the other way round. This was never included on any albums as far as I know, but you can find it as a promo-only release on 12" or CD, plus on the B-side of the "The Foundation" single.

Jedi Mind Tricks ft. R.A. The Rugged Man : Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story

This track from the 2006 release "Servants In Heaven, Kings In Hell" is widely and rightly lauded for a top-tier lyrical performance, this time by guest R.A. The Rugged Man. Vinnie Paz opens up with a really good first verse over Stoupe's production, but R.A. is the absolute star here despite that, as he tells the true story of his own father, the late Staff Sgt John A. Thorburn, an American Special Forces soldier during the Vietnam/American War. The verse goes through the mindset of the man at that time in his life, then a life-changing experience during the war, and finally the some of the repercussions as he returns to civilian life. In keeping with the subject matter, some of it might be uncomfortable, but in my opinion, the father-son bridge that this represents makes it an essential listen at least once.

[Tragedy Khadafi] Capone-N-Noreaga : Illegal Life (Instrumental)

One of my favourite beats of all time, this grabbed me from my very first listen in the mid-late 90s when I heard it on Radio 1. Tragedy gives it some Arabic flavour with the sample, and then backs that with tough Queensbridge boom-bap drums and non-melodic bass. Any rapper should be able to sound good on this, and Capone, Noreaga, and Havoc all do their thing on the vocal version from the 1997 "The War Report" LP.

Meyhem Lauren ft. WestSide Gunn : Trigger Point Therapy

This was a track I played a lot last year, as Spotify reminded me, so it was always a candidate to make it onto the podcast, but the absolute golden thing about it that got it into this episode is the speed and beat change halfway through, as Daringer switches it up into the piano-raining instrumental for "Eric B" by WestSide Gunn - who also guests here as the first MC. Meyhem slays it on the mic as usual, and then pays respect back to WSG at the very end, calling back to "Eric B" with a line taken directly from the hook to close the track. Meyhem and Daringer made magic on 2022's "Black Vladimir" LP, which you'll love if you're into the Griselda sound.

Da Beatminerz ft. Apathy : Martial Law

It was a pleasant surprise to hear Da Beatminerz, the legendary New York production crew, back with a new album this year, and they pulled together an array of guests to bless each beat with their vocals. This track sees the East Coast underground veteran Apathy (Demigodz, Army Of The Pharoahs, etc) spitting on a chunky beat a million miles from the AI-assisted, algorithm-friendly fare that some are involving themselves in, showing us how more experienced artists can continue to plough their own furrows away from the passing trends of the day.

Lake and Cormega : Get It

Buckwild on the beat, my goodness - identified the hot section of a much longer track and isolates it here to great effect, producing a menacing, droning backing for two Queensbridge stalwarts. Cormega is a deeply-respected MC with a deep history who has continued to advance and mature into the present day, while Lake is a man with not so large a catalogue as an artist, but is known both as an executive and as a mover and shaker in his own area. The 2006 collaborative LP "My Brother's Keeper", from which this is drawn, is a solid release with a few real gems on it, including "Dirty NY", and my personal favourite, "The Oath".

Above The Law ft. Madd Harv Dawg : Karma

We go sombre for the penultimate vocal track of the episode, reaching back to Above The Law's fifth album, the 1998 "Legends" LP - produced, as was the rest of their catalogue, by group member Cold 187um. The late KMG might just have the highlist verse here, as he, 187, and guest Madd Harv Dawg remind us all that if you choose to indulge in wrongdoing, you can't be surprised when that negativity ends up coming right back around to your front door.

[Self] Heltah Skeltah : Worldwide (Instrumental)

Not "Self" as in me, or Heltah Skeltah, but a producer also known as Lord Self (or Self Serve) who has done beats like the now thoroughly thematically-ruined "Black Trump" for Cocoa Brovas and Raekwon, and big single "What's My Name" for DMX. We hear him here producing on the second Heltah Skeltah LP "Magnum Force" with a dark, string-laden cut dripping with 90s flavour.

Nas : I Gave You Power

We finish the episode with a spectacular piece of first-person storytelling taken from Nas' second LP "It Was Written", and arguably the standout track on the album. Nas provides a great commentary on the tragedy and endless cycle of gun violence by writing from the point of view of a gun, giving a very different perspective than the ones most MCs might have provided. As the title says, Nas notes how holding the gun gives each owner the feeling of power, provoking and aiding them in wreaking havoc they wouldn't otherwise, until even the gun doesn't want to be involved anymore. DJ Premier is on production, with a perfect boom-bap beat centred around a mournful piano - he notes himself that he didn't want to make any element too busy so that the lyrics would stand out, and that lack of ego makes the final product all the stronger, a true all-time classic.

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