Historic MCs

Woebot

Well-known member
<img alt="hmcs.jpg" src="http://www.woebot.com/images/dissensus/hmcs.jpg" width="492" height="221" border="0" />

Recently made this comp of old MC twelve inches that i've been picking up. I've tried to keep it obscure (, no G.A.R.A.G.E etc) Everything is pretty much before 2002, certainly early 2002 at the latest. It's interesting to hear the differences between the older form of MC-ing and todays. They're still (even on the So Solid track) essentially pushing the rhythm along in the way someone like GQ might, as a result quite a few of the tunes have a low-slung funkiness which is quite Mantronk-like. Also the voices have that "rrrich rrrolling" quite male baritone feel to them, shades of luxury. Even God's Gift (who now always seems to chat ragga style) sounds like this. Lyrics per se are pretty thin on the ground. Big holes in the tracks whereas nowadays there's always someone popping in with a rhyme to drop.

Quite funny to see who and how survived this era. Luck Neat became part of Special Delivery with Major Ace and were pretty much laughed out the place (i liked them...). There's the aforementioned Gods Gift. Recent news that Megaman was in court on murder charges (seemed to go uncommented on). It seems like an absolute age ago. The two labels which caught my imagination back then were Kronik and Red Rose, what happened to them. Practically everything on those labels is both excellent and prescient.

I sent this comp to Reynolds, Stelfox and Luke and both of the former's copies went missing in the post. Weird or what. As for Luka, well he's kept schtum. Granted it is all a bit creaky. But charming nonetheless.
 

blissblogger

Well-known member
the non-arrival of that comp hurts!

i remember being on a trip to London, must have been 2001, buying a whole load of UKG 12 inches in Honest Jon's of all places (we were staying in Ladbroke Grove) and most of them were MC based but this was definitely "garage rap" not Grime. at that point it seemed like an interesting and exciting flava but not a new paradigm. the fact that there'd always been a few tune with "feat MC whatever" on them before, going back to "it's a London thing", made it not seem like that momentous a development. plus there'd been "Good Rhymes" (execrable! but important)

most of the tunes i picked up at Honest Jon's turned out to be not much cop but one of them i still think is great--

TEEBONE & MC SKIBADEE--Super S

it's one of those alphabet-type tunes -- and is somewhere between oldstyle a few catchphrases and new style proper verses 'n' verbiage -- very fast, sinuous, criss rhyming

the other one by TEEBONE with MCs of around that time is the immortal

TKS (TEEBONE featuring KIE & SPARKS)--Fly Bi

which in its rowdiness and lotsa-words seems as much a harbinger as PAUG "know we" or Roll Deep 'terrible'

this is a very early one with verses:

N’n’G featuring ROSE WINDROSS and CREED--Liferide

but as with most early garage mcs it's not really got "content" -- it's creed bigging up the music/Rose/dj
 

Woebot

Well-known member
blissblogger said:
TEEBONE & MC SKIBADEE--Super S

it's one of those alphabet-type tunes -- and is somewhere between oldstyle a few catchphrases and new style proper verses 'n' verbiage -- very fast, sinuous, criss rhyming

the other one by TEEBONE with MCs of around that time is the immortal
never heard that one. i'll look out for it. there's more of this era swilling about. lots and lots of middleweight records. i've found most of those ones on your garage rap vol.1 cd (i looked hard enough!) yeah this comp was supposed to be white light returned with thanks. btw dont worry i shoved another in the post last week with a "lab_a_like" compilation ive knocked up.
 

xero

was minusone
woebot how did you change the colours on itunes like that? is it a shareware add-on or summat? I'm sick of staring at that white background!
 

dominic

Beast of Burden
One Tribe feat GEM -- "What have you done" -- one of my all-time faves

The desolate soul of Mr Fingers' "Can U Feel It" but with a breakbeat beneath

The actual rapping -- "I'm Not Dracula" -- is borderline ridiculous. With the UK accent, almost sounds as if the MC can't get the words out -- "I'm not Dracula." The clipped and "dainty" delivery of grime MCs is no where in site. Primitive, low-skilled rapping. Which is the charm.

That said, surely GEM's singing is what makes the track work. MC Fats is nearly extraneous.

The B Side is not bad either -- "Together We've Got Power!" -- but should only be played in the dead of night, round bout 5 am
 

bun-u

Trumpet Police
I'm sure somewhere I must have a few of those from that list (even besides the obvious ones).

The God's Gift 'mc tribute' one I always thought it must've been pieced together in the studio, rather than than him getting through that whole repertoire himself - has anyone heard him do it live?

Incidently, on the b-side of the recent frontline rmx* there's a riddim tribute - a cut of of garime's biggest riddims of the last couple of years, igloo, ho, rat race etc.

*this slots into what I think is 2004's only real riddim variant, which started with wizzbit's golly gosh riddim, and has gone on to include davinchie's 'eyes on you' and 'bus lightyear'
 
C

captain easychord

Guest
^^^^^^^ is there a wizzbit remix of 'golly gosh'?
 
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