Wassup Y'all,

Last night my man KID came through and we got to politicking - He asked me why my last blog post was from 6 months ago. I replied that I don't really have much to say - which if you know me in real life - isn't always the case...lol
Anyway, this post is dedicated to my man KID - Thanks for being my man for all these years and always looking out for a maxwell...


Soooo on that note, since both KID and I hail from Toronto - I decided to throw up some  thoughts about various homegrown hip hop that I have always loved, and that outside of our city, probably doesn't ever get much shine... And this is by no means a complete list, there are many more tracks and albums that I love, I just may not have them on vinyl...(yet)...

So firstly we have the Cold Front Compilation from 1991.
(yeah, I know it's a cd, silly - it's the only one in here so shhhhh!!!)


 

This came out in 1991, and instanly takes me back to the days of Ewing and Champion kicks in crazy colours, chunky beads, and Starter caps...Elephant cords, the Concert Hall and The PowerMove Show. Can't forget The Masterplan Show, Carnival Records on Yonge st. (RIP), and New York Connections on Harbord st...
Toronto hip hop was in full bloom - and check the players involved on this lp - heavy hitters like Maestro Fresh Wes, Main Source and The Dream Warriors, and then other smaller acts (but still dope) like KGB, Kish, and R&R. But my favorite track was  always "When I went to buy milk" by Base Poet - still is today. A simple story told over some Dyke and the Blazers breakbeats...just cool...

PS - What ever happened to K-Force? That dude could always spit hot fire - plus I heard that he was the one that coined the name "Teedot" for Toronto back in the days too...



Okay, next up is the dude recognized by most as the godfather of hip hop in this country - not the first, but definately did it the biggest back then.

 

Maestro Fresh Wes - Drop the Needle. Most would choose Let your backbone slide,
but this jam was always harder...Plus the first time I saw Maestro in concert (back in 89 opening for Public Enemy) he opened with this song (this was before he dropped his first single, btw). The energy was crazy, LTD cutting up a storm and Maestro controlling the stage like a true emcee with his conductor stick and stopwatch...Dope State for real!!!


 

Michie Mee & L.A. Luv - Jamaican Funk. What more can I say?
Well, for starters, Michie Mee was and is one of the illest - male/female/I don't care...
Michie has also done so much in this country for hip hop and music, but this right here will always be my favorite from her. Nuff Niceness right here - Michie absolutely KILLS IT. I am one of the brothers that hits the ceiling when this comes on - and I'm talking about the og version, not the remix. Sweet & sexy, yet super deadly in the same breath, Michie lays it down with a liberal dose of patois, and lets all the haters know from the jump she don't play. God knows I love this song  - thank you Michie!!!

 

 

Apple & Orange - Givin' Ya A Taste 12" - (Play De Record -1993)
Fast foward about two years to 93, and Tommy Hill is the new lick. Apple was ahead of the game back then, (some things never change) and he dropped this 12" that same year. My favorite joint from this one isn't the main (video) version, but rather the illy  "rotten apple instrumental" from the b-side. IDK if they used a sp-1200 for the beats, but it sure SOUNDS like they did. This sh*t slams hard - in a dirty, breakbeats kind of way (the best way if you ask me...) A stupid fresh bassline, chunky chopped drums, heavy, gritty hats and echo-ey horns throughout with the chorus dubs dropping in and out of the mix make this a cerified banger...Too Bad no one knows - I consider this my most unknown favorite 12" from Toronto...



 

Saukrates - Still Caught Up 12" (Steppin' Bigga Records - 1994)
Ah Yes! Saukrates' first joint on wax, courtesy of Eugene and them down at Play De Record (A classic Teedot record spot on Yonge St. - still open today!!!) While the title track about all the groupie luv stories that Big Sauks had to deal with is dope, and that All the People break is sooo essential - It was the b-side that caught my ear the most back in the day. "Skillz ta Thrill" had it all - a menacing bassline and ill chunky kicks and snares. Then Sauks and Lock Jaw come in and murder everything!!! "My poetry is personified and my beats insubordinate - corrupt vocabulary..." DAMN!!! This was my first introduction to Saukrates, FOS (Figures of Speech crew), and I was made a true believer instantly!!! I think most of my friends slept hard, but I know that KID always knew what was good...He always did, that guy...lol


 

Da Grassroots ft. Elemental - Drama 12" (Black Employed Records - 1995)
Okay - this is quite possibly my favorite Toronto record EVER - A huge statement, but true nevertheless. This record is a monster, and I don't say that lightly, because Da Grassroots (and Mr. Attic in particular) has been behind the boards for some of the dopest hip hop records this city (and possibly planet) has ever created. EZ on the Motion, Ol' Time Killin', Certified, Big, I mean I could keep on going, but it all comes back to this joint right here. An absolutey divine rhodes sample (that still give me the jollys everytime I hear it) with drums so hard but smooth (you don't know weather to wild out or chill hard when you hear them) pins this whole track down so that G. Knight can catch mad wreck on the mic. "Acrobats on heroin" is perhaps the best description of this track - soooo dope.
The b-side is no slouch either - drums that my brethren could get down with, plus an equally smooth sample as the A-Side backed with more G. Knight dopeness and some killer cuts provided by Turnstylez own Mr. Grouch. This shit IS Toronto... (just ask DJ Linx, he had to borrow my copy of this 12 for a mix he did back in the day... 'Sup, Linx!!!)


 

Saukrates - Father Time 12" (Knee Deep Records - 1995)
I know, this is my second Sauks pick in here, but hear me out. This one has special meaning to me personally as well as being a dope ass 12". This beat is still ill today, DAY killed the beats on this - both the og and remix version are proper. Sauks murks the track again, referencing everything from emeralds and fat diamond rings to Van Halen and Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Part 5 and Carlito's way - while explaining the tragedies  and the mindstates behind them that occur daily in our cities... Plus my man Dushawn gave me my  old DJ name from this record - I was cutting up doubles and "Quiz" was born from the grooves on this vinyl... Word up... The B-side was dope too, "21 Years" from Choclair is a dope track, but nothing is foxxing with Sauks on this 12". This was also the first indy 12" from Toronto that made quite an impact south of the border - I remember hearing these tracks on Tony Touch and Craig G. & S&S mixtapes back in 95 - DOPE...Plus Primo ended u sampling Choclair's vocals from this one for one of his tracks as well...

PS - watch out for DJ Grouch murdering the Steve Miller cuts on the outro of the Father Time remix...sickness!!!


 

Concrete Mob - Boiling Point 12" (Groove-A-Lot Records 1996)
SCAM...What more can I say about SCAM? This dude is a beast - as a producer SCAM has contributed some illy beats over the years, some real dopeness for Thrust - but this one has to be my favorite by him. Boiling Point makes you feel like you are going to explode or wig out and go postal a la Michael Douglas in Falling Down. For real - the drums (sp-1200 again?) and piano chops backed with a relentless vibrating bassline make you feel like you are gonna hurt something or someone real soon. Like Russel Peter's father used to say - "Somebody gonna getta hurt a real BAD- SOMEBODY!!!"
Blackjack and Deuce Deuce let us into the window of life in the inner city (Esplanade represent!!!) of Toronto. Fake thugs, confessions bringing snitches reduced sentences, Molson Dry and hoodrats, no love or doves to be found anywhere - this track is HARD... Studio gangsters need not apply...

PS-my copy still has the price tag from Traxx records on it. (RIP) Traxx is now a Quizno's sub shop...So many record stores I used to frequent are long gone...*sniff*



 

Frankenstein - UV ep (Knowledge Of Self Records - 1997)
Franky Anno. While not my first Frankenstein record (that was the red-sleeved 12" "Frankenstein's Pain" a few years prior) this ep probably has gotten the most burn from me over the years. While no slouch on the mic, Frankenstein shines behind the boards as a producer. Ill, smooth but rough beats eq'ed to perfection define this release. Oh, and the Mobb Deep vocal samples - there is a grip of those on here too - but that's not a bad thing. Check the crickets on "Agony & Ecstacy". The ill disconnected phone line intro on "Quiet Storm". Evil drama loop nugget strings abound with chopped drums and ill rhodes and piano samples. Add guests such as Afrolistic, Static, Luminous, Meesah & Grimace Love and we have a winner, son... Shouts to may man akalias over at the-breaks.com for the Frankenstien vinyl showdown (lulz) we had the other day...Frank was ill. Please bless us with some more dope beats Frank  - we need them now more than ever...  
PS - did anyone else peep Jay Z wearing a Knowledge of Self shirt in one of his videos back around 2000? Was that a Little X connection? Weird...


 

The Rascalz - Soul Obligation 12" (Figure Four Records - 1997)
Okay - all y'all Canucks not from Toronto who have been catching feelings because all of my picks so far have been from the Megacity - CHILL - This one is for you. No, this was not my first Rascalz purchase (that would have been "Really Livin'" a few years before this one). This was a tough choice as well because the Rascalz have had a few bangers that I could of gone with ("Fitnredi" from the BeatFactory comp, "Funky Migraine", or even "Dreaded Fist" were all fyah), but it comes back to (as it always does with me) the beats. Kemo looped one of my favorite samples from an obscure French ost and that was it - I was hooked. The sample in question has been used by VIC for a Big Pun track "Boomerang" as well as Quasimoto using it for "Come On Feet", and I fall in love with it everytime I hear it. I coincidentially ran into Mr. Attic of Da Grassroots buying the same ost in question at a Teedot record show last year sometime...('Sup, Attic?)
Anyway, big up VanCity and The Rascalz for repping hip hop culture to the fullest...



 

Da Grassroots - Passage Through Time (Conception Records - 1999)
Wow. *Deep Breath* Damn - How can I start this? Fusk it - I'll just jump in. This right here ladies & gentlemen, is quite possibly my favorite lp that my city ever made...IN ANY GENRE...Yeah, I said it. Essential heads know the transaction - or should I say Real headz know the deal. Released on Mr. Supreme's now defunct Conception records in 1999, this lp contains the culmination of a couple of years worth of work from the three man production team known as Da Grassroots. (Mr. Attic, Swiff, and Mr. Murray for those of you not in the know...) These dudes have maaaaaad crates, and after the first listen, you understand how serious it can get up here in the Dot. Some of the nicest beats ever chopped blessed by some of our cities finest emcees (Arcee, K-OS, Thrust, Ghetto Concept, Saukrates, Mr. Roam, Marvel, Q-Bot, Schizm, Cryp2nite, Choclair, G. Knight, Remy Rezzin and Fatski). Whew. I don't know if I could pick favorites from this lp, but just for starters "Themantics", "Eternal", "Precious Metals" as well as joints like "Price of Livin'", "Body Language" and "Black Dove" are are stellar...Plus this lp really is the sound of our city committed to wax... Hard drums, jazzy but hard samples, and a general feeling of "blueness' that feels like home make this one special. Thank you, Grassroots...



 

Kardinal Offishall - Ol' Time Killin (Fat Beats Records - 2000)
BRRRAAAAP!!!! This jam makes me lose it everytime I hear it. Instant chargeration!!! BIG CHOON!!! Okay, seriously though, Mr. Attic blesses Kardinal with his best track EVER - (yeah I said it - you must deal) and Kardi along with Wio-K and Black Cat from IRS murder the bloodclaat ting. Toronto at it's finest. From what I understand, this beat was just an interlude (huh?) on an Attic beat tape, and Kardi pressed for it to become a whole song. That was a great call there, no rey-rey. Anyway, peep the video for some simple but oh so bashment visuals courtesy of the one Little X (B-Town Represent!!!).
Do not sleep. Maxwell done told ya...



 

Black-I - Where I'm From (Real Rcordings - 2000)
First off, RIP Black-I. Having said that, this independant single dropped in 2000. Not as crate-a-licious as my usual choices, I still dig this joint (pun not intended, lol). DRK blesses Black-I with a simple but hard track with a little synth line in the chorus. Black-I commits one of the best (IMO) descriptions of Toronto to wax - the good, the bad, and the ugly. References both well known (Vince Carter) and not-so-well-known unless you live(d) here (Century Sams, Mike Harris, Jarvis st.) make me love this track. Black-I also shouts out almost every damn hood in the city during the choruses, making this a street anthem. This had a (low-bugdet but dope) video as well, you should be able to find it on youtube...I heart Toronto...




And that's it for now - I hope you all enjoyed that rant. Like I said earlier, this is by no means a complete list. There are lots of artists and tracks I wanted to mention, but either don't have the vinyl (RedLife's "Who's Talking Weight" and Down Ta Erf's first ep for example) or I didn't have the time to get to today. (Dream Warriors, Ghetto Concept, HDV, Rumble & Strong, Thrust, 2 Rude, Mathematik, King Reign, BrassMunk, etc...) I'm getting damn hungry, and I have a roti upstairs with my name on it, so I'm gonna bounce now. Please feel free to comment on any of this, agree, disagree, whatever - I'd love to hear some feedback.

And KID - Thanks again man for the inpspiration. I hope you and your fam have a great and safe trip - let's link up when you get home...

Max Out...