3 unknown records. Unknown 3 in particular.
I'd had the mix for 2 years on mp3. DJ Premier live on W.B.L.S. Radio from sometime in 1994 cutting and scratching up some of the finest mid 90's hip hop records id never had the pleasure of owning (yet). With the help of a few people i'd identified quite a few of the tracks but there were 6 that were still eluding me. I made some sound clips and posted on a few music discussion websites earlier in the year. The replies were few but 3 of the tracks were id'ed and i purchased the ones i could and put the others on my evergrowing wants list. The final 3 would be tough i thought to myself and then other things got in the way and they were briefly forgotten.
Fast forward to yesterday. I had joined a new Hip Hop website recently called DWG (Diggers With Gratitude) and the guys here seemed to know their shit. I dug out the link to the clips and wrote a short post to see if anyone could help me. I was particularly after unknown 3.
10 minutes later i had ordered and purchased the record. You see the main thing about hunting records down is actually knowing what they are. Ive had a few websites over the years dedicated to identifying unknown records that really need a place in my collection from old mix tapes i have. Many times a track is id'ed and i think back to all the record shops i've been in and recall seeing the track more times than i want to remember.
The reply to my post on DWG had been 5 minutes in arriving. Its simply read:
1. The Edge - Do Ya Dirt
2. Brother Arthur - Watcha Gonna Do?
3. Justice System - Dedication To Bambaataa
I instantly jumped on discogs (no time to type my thankyou's yet) and searched for the records to see what was up for sale.
1. The Edge - Do Ya Dirt turned out to be this. 2 copies for sale at $30.00 and $45.00. A good track but one to go on the wants list for the time being
2. Brother Arthur - Watcha Gonna Do? turned out to be this . No copies for sale and looking at the 39 people who had it in their wants list not an easy one to find. Which made the mint copy that sold on discogs on the 29/07 for £10.00 a bit of a bargain. Another one for the wants list.
3. Justice System - Dedication To Bambaataa was my next call and it popped up on a few releases. In chronological order - A double LP from 1994 and more importantly a promo 12" and a regular full release 12" from 1995. 3 copies of the full release 12" were the only ones up for sale. Two near mint copies from England for £6.00 and £6.99 and a sealed copy for $9.99 from a seller id bought from before. Not wanting to trust that the English copies were over graded i plumped for the sealed copy and prepared to cringe at the ridiculous pound to dollar exchange rate.
I could only find a pic of the promo 12" but the tracks are exactly the same on the full release. Boasting production from Diamond D and The Beatnuts on the remixes and containing the original LP version to boot a fan of mid 90's hip hop can't go wrong.
I managed to locate a clip on YouTube of the original LP mix but when i receive the record through the post i will try to upload the mix i wanted id'ing as it is better in all aspects. What you have here is a super jazzy beat with MC's reminiscing about the early days of hip hop in the late 70's and 80's and paying tribute to one of the pioneers of this old school age - Afrika Bambaataa. An age where violence was put on hold and all the mattered was finding that rare breakbeat to spin to the crowds, pulling the best breakdance move or coming up with best rhymes to rock the party. At the height of the gangsta rap movement of the 90's this record not only bucked the trend but harked back to better days. Enjoy.
Justice System - Dedication To BambaataaThanks to the knowledgeable guys at DWG for being so on the ball.
