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HardC.O.R.E. Vol. 1 Issue 2
SECTION ONE -- 1
HardC.O.R.E. Vol. 1, Issue 2
Table of Contents
Section Contents
---- --------
1 Contents
2 C.O.R.E. info
3 Trespass review - Movie
4 Trespass review - Soundtrack
5 ATCQ Article
6 Lyrics - Stranded on Death Row
7 Closing
SECTION TWO -- 2
The C.O.R.E. creed
We at C.O.R.E. support underground hip-hop (none of that crossover
bullshucks). That means we also support the 1st Amendment and the right to
uncensored music.
How to join C.O.R.E.
To become a member of C.O.R.E., just send your name and E-mail address to
<JUONSTEVE@BVC.EDU>. And if you feel liking contributing article-wise to
HardC.O.R.E., include it with your application. Or send me an e-mail note.
I'll be on campus most weekends to work on HardC.O.R.E. and answer mail
(plus read ALT.RAP)
I'm audi 5 to my doghouse!
"I say peace and Allah U Akbar"
Lord Jamar-Allah U Akbar
Asalaam Alaikum from MC Flash X
SECTION THREE -- 3
Reviews - "Trespass", the movie
from Rolling Stone -- Feb. 4, 1993
(reprinted without permission)
Trespass
Critics mostly dissed Walter Hill's hip-hop take on John Huston's Forties
classic _The Treasure of the Sierra Madre_. Early box-office returns
indicate audiences know better. _Trespass_ is an action powerhouse,
brimming with high style and low cunning. The script, by Bob Gale and
Robert Zemeckis, is merely servicable, but Hill directs with a ballsy zest
missing since the glory days of _The Warriors_ and _48 HRS_.
In _Treasure_, Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt dug for gold in Mexico. In
_Trespass_, William Sadler and Bill Paxton find a map to a gold stash in a
gutted Illinois factory. Bogie and Holt fought bandits, lead by the
chilling Alfonso Bedoya. But Bedoya's a wimp compared with Ice Cube and
Ice-T, playing crime lords who can draw a cellular phone (to close a drug
dealer) as fast as a gun (to close an argument). It's a standoff until the
violence escalates and Art Evans -- tops as a squatter modeled on Walter
Huston's crafty old prospector in _Treasure_ -- gets the last laugh. Both
Ices are dynamite, giving _Trespass_ the poetry and potency of rap.
SECTION FOUR -- 4
Reviews - "Trespass", the soundtrack
(Contributed by MC Flash X)
(props given to K-Mello for not minding me running my review)
Review scale :
6. Phat - Ten years from now this shit'll still be so dope!
5. Funky - Ownership is the difference between a mack and a mark
4. Fine - If your pockets are fat get it, but don't panic if you don't
3. Fair - It has some potential hits, and at least it doesn't stink
2. Flat - Somebody explain to me why this person even tried?!
1. Flunk - The ultimate diss... PM Dawn sounded better
Rating : 4 out of 6
Highlights : Phat Gangstarr track
AMG for the nine-three
Lord Finesse wins again
Sir MixALot rippin
Lowlights : Of all the new P.E. songs...
Ice-T is falling off
Black Sheep - good song, but...
King of the Street - not!
Part two of the Trespass review special features this mixed bag of hip-hop
songs. Some of these are destined to be underground hits, and others...
well, ya moms always said if you can't say anything nice don't say
anything. Which means I can at least skip reviewing the P.E. track. After
all, we've all seen what the Source had to say about it --
"Gotta Do What I Gotta Do (is) surprisingly average.
'I gotta do what they don't like,' Chuck drowsily rhymes,
'Cause I gotta mic'.
But at least the first track helps offset this dissapointment. Thankfully,
Ice-T comes off on this track... something which I believe is entirely
because Cube was there. Even so, Cube totally outshines his partner in
crime.
Here's a good rhyme (Ice-T)
"This is my shit, my hood, my turf
my gold, my grip, whatevah the fuck it's worth"
And here's a great rhyme -- it looks good on paper, but you really have to
hear Cube's intense pitch-shifting off-beat flow to get the feel.
"Take a good look at my motherfuckin jack-up
About to feel the wrath of a greedy ass cracker
Pile of snow, so you know the hoes stand out
Coming in my hood with his hand-out
Tryin to get over on the black
But the motherfuckin mack
Will put a fuckin slug in his back
And with the boom-ping-ping
It ain't no thing to blast
On greedy motherfucker that trespass"
Don't get me wrong, T is good, and ya can't help putting these two
together, but Cube owns this song lock, stock, and barrel.
Anyway, you press the FF button to skip Public Enemy... while you're at it
skip Ice-T with Daddy Nitro, a.k.a. "Depths of Hell". The bass is weak,
the P.E. style whine is the worst attempt to use it I've heard yet, and
Daddy Nitro sounds more like Baby BlastingCaps. If it comes to battle of
the guest chatters, Cube's Don Jaguar would kick shit all over the place.
I don't know what is wrong with T... he was once the articulate rapper of
'Lethal Weapon' and 'Freedom of Speech', but somewhere after "O.G. Original
Gangster" he fell off hard. Must've spent too much time trying to be heavy
metal headbanger...
Two tracks this weak? Are you ready to sell this tape back to the stor for
half price? Don't give up yet, cause it's about to get a whole lot
better... it's time for MixaLot to start rippin. I know some of y'all
think he's too pop, and that his flow is goofy, but HELL with it! I like
him! Any man who makes a song like 'Hip-Hop Soldier' gets props in my
book... and 'I Check My Bank' may be his best song yet.
Or, as Mix says,
"When your platinum niggaz start dissin
Record companies think your missin
But I'm back, I'm back,
I'm back and I gotta bigger gat"
And the sentiments of this song are very much on target
"A word to the bouregois fuck all y'all..."
Now this one might cause some disagreement, but that's nothing compared to
what I'm about to say about Penthouse Players Clique. Now, I'll agree with
anyone that that first album was weak (I only liked 'Explanation of a Playa
on the last one) but for whatever reason 'I'm a Playa (bitch)' clicks with
me. It's not so much the lyrics, so I won't quote them, I think it's more
the funky track and the hook of the chorus. 4.5 out of six.
Last but not least on side one is 'On the Wall' by Black Sheep. A good
song, but the track is so muddy it distorts Dres lyrics... here is some I
can make out
"Yo it's not easy at the top
Which is why we play the back
Not to say that we don't shine
In fact, to be exact
It's a one-sided coin
Gotta know how to flip it..."
And so on... it's better than 'I'm a Playa' but still only a 4.5
Let's just fast forward from here on out and mention the few cuts left that
I like (remember the don't say anything rule?)
'Gotta Get Over (taking loot)' by Gangstarr is phat. The track is destined
to be a classic (as all Gangstarr tracks are) and the hook is my favorite
"Makin moves I'm never fakin
cause the loot is for the takin"
6 outta 6 here! It slams! Even slow Gangstarr jams still kick shit!
Okay, the two cuts I want to mention are as follows. First is Lord Finesse
'You Know What I'm About' which as K-Mello already stated is a slamming
track. Forgive me, but why does everybody sleep on him? Not only is he
good on this track, but I even saw him freestyle hard on YMR! THis brother
ranks tops in the underrated dept.
And, if you heard the Juice sndtrk., you will understand the Chorus
"Knockin niggaz off, knockin niggaz out
You know what I'm about"
5 outta 6 on that one, and last but not least on my least is WC and the
Maad Circle's 'Quick Way Out'.
"I'm looking for a quick way out motherfucker"
Why quote all the lyrics? This one you should hear for yourself... falls
somewhere between a 4.5 and 5 but I haven't decided which.
In summary - If you like these groups get it, if you like West Coast flava
get it, but if you do at least be careful not to get the censored version.
PEace and I'm out.
SECTION FIVE -- 5
Tribe Called Quest Interview from RapSheet magazine
Feb 1993 pg 16-17
By Gerrie E. Summers
(reprinted without permission)
-------------
If you have difficulty trying to fit A Tribe Called Quest into a
neat little category, you're not alone--they have a problem with that
too, and frankly would rather not have to deal with the question.
"We get asked that question every year and every year we have the
same answer," Tribe's Ali says dully. "We cannot describe our music."
"It's just there. It's just music," says Q-Tip. "It's just some
hip-hop, you know. It's hard to catagorize it," and besides, "when you
put yourself into a category you limit yourself."
One reason that Tribe may be difficult to categorize is their
change in styles between the first LP, _Instinctive Travels and the
Paths of Rhythm_--an East Coast underground hit--and _Low End Theory_.
Instead of recording _Instinctive Travels Part II_ or abandoning hip hop
for a more profitable path, Tribe switched gears.
"The first album was more of a learning experience," says Phife,
"and when the second album came around, we know what we wanted to do.
We had good control over [the production]. As long as it feels good
when it hits, we don't care how other people think."
Sure the jazz thing was in effect on both albums, but Tribe
definitely flipped the script in some other areas. Where the first one
was abstract and esoteric, with personal lyrics only the group could
understand, the second was more street accessible. While the rapping
styles on the first were plain, the second had the trio kicking styles
in all types of directions. And while the samples on _Low End Theory_
may not have been clearly recognizable to many rap fans, the beats were
crazy--not dance, not jeep, just plain hype.
Along with the Jungle Brothers and De La Soul, fellow members of
the Native Tongue posse, Tribe helped open up hip hop to another level,
one of adventurous experimentation that has been continued with groups
like Das EFX and Arrested Development. Experimentation has been an
uncertain road to take in hip hop, where followers often have a confused
definition of what is truly hip hop and hardcore. Groups like PM Dawn
and even De La Soul's hip hop legitimacy have been put in question,
especially when the mainstream embraced them. PM Dawn never wanted to
be labelled as a hip hop or rap act, and De La, who suffered from an
image problem caused in part by the acronym D.A.I.S.Y. (Da Inner Sound
Ya'll), succumbed to the pressure by recording a more "hardcore"
follow-up to their critcally acclaimed _3 Feet High and Rising_ called,
not suprisingly, _De La Soul Is Dead_.
Thus far, Tribe has not had this problem. With "Scenario," they
attracted mainstream white America without making the hip hop crowd ill.
But Tribe did not crossover, a new audience crossed over to them.
"Going commercial or crossing over is changing your music style,"
says Ali, "and 'Scenario' is just a street raw record. It's just that
different kids are opening themselves up to hip hop a little more. So
the real hard stuff is making it. It's going real mainstream, so we're
just keeping it the same, keeping it street."
Although introspective Tribe-like hip hop slowly rose in the world
of rap, the biggest trend in '92 was still gangster rap.
"Everybody's just on the gangster tip. Everybody's got a gun in
their hand," says Ali.
Q-Tip adds, "Everybody's talking about shooting somebody and how
bad they are. Actually they probably would think twice about shooting
somebody if they had to." Q-Tip also notes that many acts are cropping
up that are inspired by Das EFX and their vocal style.
The impact of female rappers, however, has been on the decline for
awhile. An influx of female rappers in the mid-'80's made most of them
nothing more than exploited novelty acts, though Q-Tip allows that Lyte
is the best female rapper.
"You know why women don't really come off in rap?" Phife begins,
"Because women always stress the point that they are women." Although he
understands a female rapper's need to prove that she is a legitimate
rhymer in a male-dominated field, gender shouldn't factor in the makings
of a skilled MC. "You're supposed to be an artist. So if a woman just
came out and just rhymed and did her thing without addressing the fact
that she's a female in a man-dominated business, she'd probably get a
lot further."
Q-Tip agrees. "Lyte doesn't address that shit and she's the best
one because she looks at herself as an MC...Women support hip-hop more
than men do, because guys don't buy albums. Girls go out and buy shit
and they buy tickets to the shows and that's why Lyte is so popular.
She addresses herself as an MC and women spectators want to be
entertained just like a man wants to be entertained."
For 1993, Q-Tip predicts that Large Professor, Nasty Nas and
again, Naughty By Nature will be large, while the subject matter for
most rap will be darker. "As the economy and society gets more and more
wretched we'll keep hearing more and more dark music."
Tribe can't, or won't predict what the next Tribe album will be
like. But the pressure is on. "We get a lot of pressure, but what you
got to do is keep checking yourself," says Q-Tip, "and the pressure is
good pressure because it make you try that much harder to do well. It's
not that we try to set out to do better than our last effort. We just
try to make good music and that pressure just keeps us in tune to that,
so we don't get pushed off the trail."
-----------------
Tribe's third LP, _Midnight Marauders_, is slated to come out early this
year. (Ed. Note -- NOT!)
Tribes's top 3 albums of the year:
Q-Tip:
Das EFX / Dead Serious
Pete Rock and CL Smooth / Mecca and the Soul Brother
Diamond D / Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop
Ali:
Pete Rock and CL Smooth
Diamond D
Das EFX
Phife:
Showbiz & A.G. / Runaway Slave
Redman / Whut? Thee Album
EPMD / Business Never Personal
SECTION SIX -- 6
Stranded on Death Row by The Dogg Pound
(contributed by MC Flash X)
Intro : Bushwick Bill
Yes, it is I says me
And although me
By morning three, cause they're weak
(laughter)
Yes, yo!, I'm in the house now for sure
Because I wanna talk about the hearts of men
Who knows what evil lurks within them
But lets take a travel down the blindside
And see what we find on this...
Path...
Called...
Verse One : Korrupt
Stranded on Death Row, so duck when I swing my shit
I get rugged like brawl head wrecks with fat tracks that fits
The gangsta type, what I recite's kinda lethal
Niggaz know, the flow that I kick, there's no refill
I'm murderin niggaz, Yo, and maybe because of the tone
I kicks my grip, the mic and kick shit
Niggaz can't fuck with
So remember I go hardcore, and slam
Nuff respect like a sensei, ba-bash like Van Damme
So any nigga that claim they bossin
What don't you bring your ass on over to Kris-Slaus Slausson
Take a walk through the hood, and we up to no good
Slangin on things like a real ho
G should, I'm stackin and mackin and packin a ten so
When you're slippin, I slip the clip in
But ain't no steady tripppin
Cause it's Death Row, rollin like the mafia
Think about whoopin some ass, but what the fuck stoppin ya
Ain't nathin but a buster
I'm Stranded on Death Row for pumpin slugs in motherfuckers
Now you know you're outdone
Feel the shotgun, Korrupt inmate cell block one
Verse Two : RBX
No prevention from this mention of sorts
Your're a victim, from my driveby of thoughts
No extensions, all attempts are to fail
Blinded by the light, it's time you learn braile
>From the lunatic, I death like arsenic
When I kick up wicked raps
That the grain will hit the scratch
With treachery, my literary form will blast
And totally surpass the norm
Not a storm, zero, make it, many storms
When I'm vexed, I fly leg necks and arms
In this dimension, I'm the presenter
And the inventor, and the tormentor
Deranged, like the hillside strangler
MC mangler, tough like Wrangler
I write a rhyme, hard as concrete
Step to the heat and get burned like mesquite
So what you wanna do
The neverator RBX, cell block two
Verse Three : Rage
Rage, lyrical murderer
Stranded on Death Row
And now I'm servin a lifetime sentence
There'll be no repentence
Since it's the life that I choose to lead
I plead guilty
On all counts let the ball bounce where it may
It's just another clip into my AK
Buck em down with my underground tactics
Facts and stacks of clips on my matress
Bed frame thereUs another dead pain
Layin lain with the shame, whoUs to blame
Me, the lady of Rage
On when IUm comin from the D-E-A-T-Hin
R-O-W takin, no shit
So flip and youUre bound to get dropped
ItUs 187 on motherfuckers donUt stop
Handcuffed as I bust thereUll be no debate
ItUs Rage, from cell block eight
Verse Four : Snoop Doggy Dogg
And yo steppin through the fog
And creepin through the smog
ItUs the number one nigga from the hood
Doggy Dogg
Makin videos, now I stay in Hollywood
Bustin raps for my snaps now they call me Eastwood
Dre is the doctor and my homey little nigga
Warren G is my hand and my hand's on the trigga
Shootin at the hoes with the game that I got
Sent to death row cause I wanted to make a quick one servin my rocks
And I'm still, servin for mines, peace
To my motherfuckin homies doin time
In the pen and the county jail
Moppin with your blues on, mad as hell
And you say yeah fuck the police
And all the homies on the streets is all about peace
And it's drivin the cops crazy
But ain't nuttin but a black thing bay-bee, uhhh
I'm not flaggin, but I'm just saggin
I betcha don't wanna see the D-O double G
And you can't see, the D-R to the E
Or my motherfuckin homey D.O.C.
You know you can't fuck with my motherfuckin DJ
That's my homey and we call him Warren G
Yeah, and you don't stop
Doggy Dogg break em down with the motherfuckin DoggPound
That's the only way we'll beat em man
We gotta smoke em, then choke em
Like the motherfuckin peter man
It's like three and to the two
And two and to the one
Cell block four peace Doggy Dogg's done
Outtro : Bushwick Bill
Yo, now you know the path I'm on
You think you're strong, see if you can travel on
Cause only the weak, will try to speak
Those who are quiet, will always cause riots
There's three types of people in the world
Those who don't know what happened
Those who wonder what happened
And people like us from the streets that make things happen!
SECTION SEVEN -- 7
I would once again like to thank everybody for their support of this
project. If you have any comments on the newsletter or other things you
believe C.O.R.E. should do, feel free to let me know. One thing I would
like to remind everybody was that the original idea was for HardC.O.R.E. to
be "very creative with articles 'n shit". I've got commitments from a few
people, but the more, the better. I hope we can turn this into something
really unique in hip-hop. Thanks again y'all, and I'm audi 5!
