TAPE 1, side A – Up to 1990 National fucking anthem…MC MELLO Our Time (album “Thoughts released”)Republic 90 DADDY FREDDY & ASHER D Brutality 12”Music of life 88 HIJACK Style wars 12”Music of life 88 STEREO MC’s On the mike (SUBSONIC REMIX) 12”Gee St 89 BLADE Lyrical maniac 12”Raw Bass 89 OVERLORD X 14 days in May 12”Hardcore 88 MC BUZZ B How sleep the brave 12”Playhard 89 MC MELLO Comin’ correct 12”Republic 89 RICHIE RICH feat RUMBLE I can make you dance (album – title cut)Gee St 89 MC TUNES Back to attack (rare white)Hit Quad 87 BLACK RADICAL MK 2 B Boys B wise (off Monsoon 12”)2 the bone 89 THE SINDECUT Demanding cycle of a word bound hammerhead 12”Virgin 90 HIJACK The badman is robbin’ 12” INSTRUMENTAL off import copyUS Epic 88 TAPE 1 side B – Up to 1990 HIJACK The badman is robbin’ 12” US/UK Epic 88 MC BUZZ B The sequel 12”Playhard 89 MC DUKE Miracles 12”Music of life 88 STEREO MC’s Lyrical machine INSTRUMENTAL off 12”Gee St 89 HARDNOISE Untitled 12”Music of life 90 OUTLAW POSSE Original dope 12”Gee St 89MC MARTEY & DJ DBM Beyond control 12”Gti Records 89 HIJACK present HUNTKILLBURY FINN, SHAKKA SHAZAM and The ICEPICK The burial proceedings in the coarse of three knights 12”Music of life 90 COOKIE CREW Born this way US 12” (rare US PRINCE PAUL REMIX) US Polygram 88 HIJACK Hold no hostage (released on Music of life and also on Ice T’s US Rhyme Sindecate) 88 HIJACK Doomsday of rap(released on Music of life and also on Ice T’s US Rhyme Sindecate) 88 2 THE TOP The matter at hand (b side of “Score to settle” 12”)President 90 MERLIN Bust da move (off Drop the weapon EP)Rhythm king 89 SILVER BULLET 20 seconds to comply 12”Tam Tam 89 BLADE Forward (off “Mind of an ordinary citizen” 12”)691 influential 90 SHE ROCKERS On stage 12 (backspun instrumentals)Jive 88 TAPE 2, side A – 1990-1992 RUTHLESS RAP ASSASSINS Justice (Just Us) THE MASE REMIX 12”Emi 91 FRESH SI & MO ROCK A day of reckoning – off “The long awaited paraxysm ep”Conscious 91 11:59 In the shadows (off “Killing time” ep)Hum 91 KILLA INSTINCT Un-united kingdom (off Den of thieves 12”)Music of life 92 MC MELLO Firm stance (off “Mello gone crazy” ltd promo)Funki dred 92 DEMON BOYZ Glimmity glammity (off 12” and 2nd LP)Tribal bass 92 HIGH AUTHORITY I’m the man 12”Optimism 91 BRAINTAX Talk about the future (off “Fathead” EP)Low life 92 COOKIE CREW Secrets (of success) 12” COOKS MIXFFRR 91 BUSHKILLER Bushkiller draw (flip of “92 Salute” 12”)Danger 92 BLADE Rough it up EP691 Influential 91 HARDNOISE Serve tea then murder 12”Music of life 91 AKAPEL Pick it up EPPhlange 92 DEF TEX Bird land (Off “tutorial sessions” EP”)Soundclash 92 KRISPY 3 Destroy all the stereotypes 12”K3 91 TAPE 2 side B – 1990-1992 REBEL MC Black meaning good – Slavery mix 12”Desire 91 BLACK RADICAL MK 2 Rippin up the industry Part 2 (off 12”)Mango 91 SUBSONIC 2 Unsung heroes of hip hop 12”Unity 91 JC001 & D-ZIRE Sea of MC’s 12”Anxious 92 POINTS PROVEN feat FLY On the mic (off “only fools & horses” EP)Payday 92 CAVEMAN Cool – cos I don’t get upset REMIX (off “Victory” EP)Profile 91 SINDECUT Wisdom (b side of “Tell me why” & on album)Virgin 90 BLACK RADICAL MK 2 Sign of the beast ltd REMIX 12” (whoops)Mango 91 CAVEMAN I’m ready 12”Profile 91 KRISPY 3 Don’t be misled EPK3 92 KATCH 22 Biting the hands that feeds (off “Return to the fundamentals”ep) Kold Sweat 92 OUTLAW Sons of the devil (the principles re-buriel) promo ltd 12”Promo 91 The BROTHERHOOD Just a manifester (off debut EP)Bite it 91 SON OF NOISE Retrocide 93 (off “Crazy mad flow” single)Little rascal 12” FIXED PENALTY All of us (off “The EP” !!)Fpt 91 SON OF NOISE Retrocide 93 (off “Crazy mad flow” single) – instrumental. Little rascal 12” TAPE 3, side A – 1993-1995 MC MELLO Mello gone crazy 12”Funki dred 92 MINDBOMB Stop ya skemes(off album “Trippin thru the minefield” Vol 1) The Ruf label 95 UNANIMOUS DECISION Bomb diffusal (off EP)Kold Sweat 93 KRISPY 3 Bubble gum 12” (and on album “Can’t melt the wax”)Kold Sweat 94 LONDON POSSE How’s life in London 12”Bullet 93 3:6 PHILLY Those flags offend me 12”Zoom 93 LORDS OF RAP Where does the xtra 3 quid go? (off “Stix n stones” EP)Madd dog 94 SCARY EIRE Dole Q 12”Eleven 95 K.I.D. Fatal attraction (off shared double 12” pack with BENJI)Kold Sweat 95 BLACK RADICAL MK 2 Hard times (off “This is war” EP)Copasetic 93 KOOL DJ MAXI JAZZ I got the blues (off rare EP)Chaiya 94 MC Ni Sit back relax 12”IQ Reecords 94 GUTTERSYNPES Who fell (off “trials of life” EP)Liberty grooves 94 MINDBOMB The Mindbomb (12” & off album “Trippin thru the minefield” Vol 1) The Ruf label 95 TAPE 3 side B – 1993-1995 BLADE Bedroom demo (off “The lion goes from strength to strength” LP) 691 influential 93 JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE Interception (lp“Attack of the wildstyle beatfreaks”Ruf label 95 HEARTS OF DARKNESS A taste of venom 12”The Ruf 94 GUNSHOT Colourcode 12”Vinyl Solution 94 MINDBOMB Expletives deleted (off “Chameleon vibes” ep)The Ruf Label 95 TRANSCRIPT CARRIERS Diggsat (off “The haemorrhoid fry up” ep)Undivided 93 The PRINCIPLE feat SILENT ECLIPSE The damned EPBlueprint 94 499 – 499 is here EPProfile 95 BUSHKILLER Music in motiom (off “Trouble makers”EP)Danger 94 KILLA INSTINCT Thieves rush in where th efools lay dead 12”European 95 UNANIMOUS DECISION Put em up (off “It ain’t clever” ep)Kold Sweat 93 BLADE Clear the way 12” (ltd 12 with pre ordered lp’s!)691 influential 93 FIRST DOWN Let the battle begin (off EP)Ill gotten gains 94 JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE Nah, nope it’s dope 12”The Ruf Label 94 JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE The bomb drops (off “seconds to detonation”ep) The Ruf Label 95 TAPE 4, side A – 1993-1995 ( a few 96 jams too) HEARTS OF DARKNESS What you waited for 12”The Ruf Label 95 UNANIMOUS DECISION Disappoint me (off “It ain’t clever” double 12” ep)Kold sweat 93 M C MELLO Radics delight (off “The first chronicles of dett” ep)Natural response 94 HIDDEN IDENTITY Return of the red eye (off “blunted bumpkin buskers” EP) Pure rudeness 94 LONDON POSSE Pass the rizla (off Various Artsists “British underground” EP)XL 94 KATCH 22 Lifestyles of the poor & ruffneck (lp “Dark tales from two cities”)Kold Sweat 93 GUNSHOT Social psychotic Double 12”Vinyl Solution 93 BLADE Planned and executed MINI LP691 influential 95 KRISPY 3 On tempo 94 Lick REMIXKold Sweat 94 JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE Scream – boomsday of rap (off lp/cd “Attack of the..”) The Ruf Label 95 DJ KRASH SLAUGHTA Always remain hardcore EPX Records 95? LEE CURITS CONNECTION Hip Journey EPBlindside 95 BROTHERHOOD One shot 96 REMIX 12”Bite it 96 LEWIS PARKER Visions of splendour (b side of “Rise” 12”Bite it 96 NUMSKULLZ Signs of the end – Instrumental 12”Hombre 97 TAPE 4 side B – 1996-1998 NUMSKULLZ Trouble on my mind (debut off V/A Ruf Diamonds 1 lp/cd) The Ruf Label 96 MINDBOMB Man’s life (off “Trippin thru the minefield Volume 2”lp/cd)The Ruf Label 96 The CREATORS feat Marga Marl J – Weird old world (off “Masterplan” ep) Blindside 96 PARLOUR TALK Colouring 12”Acid Jazz 97 UNANIMOUS Freshest on the mic REMIX (off V/A Ruf Diamonds 1 lp The Ruf Label 96 JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE Hip hop love (off V/A Ruf Diamonds 1 lp in 96 and re-released in 2000 on the “Thermonuclear Soundwars” EP & budget priced CD. The Ruf Label / Ruf Beats SKITZ & ROOTS MANUVA Blessed be thy manner 12”Ronin 96 MUD FAMILY Mud files EPRonin 97 MINDBOMB vs JEEP BEAT Westwood is a twat 2x12” + on RD Vol 1 lp The Ruf Label 96 KILLA INSTINCT And now the screaming starts (off “escapism” EP)German Move 95 MINDBOMB vs JEEP BEAT Stop your skemes SCRATCH REMIX 2x12” The Ruf Label 96 SOLID ROX The struggler 12”Black plastic 98 GUNSHOT Return of the gunshot (off “Twilight’s last gleaming” lp/cd)Words of warning 97 JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE 4 the ho’s (“Return of the wildstyle”ep) The Ruf Label 97+cd 98 TAPE 5, side A – 1996-1998 THE HERBALISER feat FABIAN Mr DJ 12”and on lp/cdNinja Tune 96 NUMSKULLZ Nothing but the music (b side of “Enough of that” 12”)High noon 96 RODNEY P Tour stories (off “Tings in time “ep)Pussyfoor 97 DECKWRECKA Wrekin biz (London) EPRonin 97 The ICEPICK & DJ SUPREME Phenomenal criminal 12” (Backbone 97, re-issued Ruf Beats 99) BRAINTAX Deal with it (off “Future Years” EP)Low life 97 KRISPY Listen up REMIX (off Various Artists “Ruf Diamonds Vol 2 “lp/cd)Ruf Beats 98 JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE Cosmic symphony (off 2xlp/cd “for Jimi Hendrix”) Ruf Beats 98 Also into off Summer in space off same lp/12” mixed over next record. Both tracks were also released on the US Bomb Hip Hop anthology JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE “Technics Chainsaw Massacre” 99 3xLP / 2xCd set. The first British act to get to No 1 on a US radio chart! ROOT S MANUVA Fever (his own solo debut – rare 12”)Armshouse 98 JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE Childs play(off 2xlp/cd “for Jimi Hendrix”) Ruf Beats 98 LEWIS PARKER Songs of the desert (off “Masquerades & silhouettes” mini lp) Melankolic 98 NUMSKULLZ DifferenceHombre 97 HERBALISER Wall crunching giant insect breaks 12”Ninja Tune 98 TAPE 5 side B – 1998-2001 SKITZ feat ROOTS MANUVA / PHI LIFE CYPHER / SKELETON & TONY VEGAS Fingerprints of the Gods 12”Ronin 98 NUMSKULLZ Something worth listening to (off “The unexpected”epHombre 98 MINDBOMB Deconstruction of a falling star (off “Great British Beef” lp/cd) Ruf Beats 98 MARK B & BLADE Insight magnificent (off “Hitmen for hire” 2x12” set) Jazz fudge 98 MARK B & THE MUD FAMILY No time like the present (off 2The half of it” ep K Boro 98 LOST ISLAND What I like 12”Son 99 BEANZ presents ASPECTS Indecent exposure 12”Hombre mapache 99 DJ LIFE Zee plan (off “Some music” ep)Chop chop 98 The MEN FROM ATLANTIS Heavy water 12”Hombre 2000 MINDBOMB Ruf Beats (lead single off “Great British Beef” lp/cd)Ruf Beats 98 PARLOUR TALK Vacation 12” (off “Padlocked tonic” lp/cd)Acid Jazz 99 MAD DOCTOR X feat BLACK TWANG etc DJ’s & MC’s Son 99 DJ FORMAT English lesson 12”US Bomb hip hop 99 TAPE 6, side A – 1998-2001 THE HERBALISER feat BLADE Whose the realest (off “8 point agenda” 12”Ninja Tune 99 LEFTFIELD feat ROOTS MANUVA Dusted 12” (off “Stealth” lp/cd)Hard hands 99 K DELIGHT How many DJ’s (off “Controlling the hip hop” EP)Ruf Beats 99 The ICEPICK Dungeon Funk 12” (also on Various “Thermonuclear Soundwars” CD) Ruf Beats 99 TASKFORCE feat SKINNYMAN its on you (off “New mic order” EP)K Boro 99 MARK B & BLADE Nobody relates 12”Jazz fudge 98 THE NEXTMEN feat TY Turn it up a little 12”Scenario 2000 TOMMY EVANS Desert Island Discs (off “Time capsule” EP)YnR 2000 RONI SIZE REPRAZENT Dirty beats (DJ SKITZ REMIX 12”)Talking loud 2000 MC MELLO Hedz don’t know 12”Jazz fudge 99 NUMKULLZ Ad infinitum 12” (title of album but not on lp/cd)Hombre 2000 BRAINTAX Go there (off “The travel show” EP)Low Life 99 DEF TEX Obscure journey (b side of “Synchronise” 12”)Son 2001 JEEP BEAT EXPERIENCE Another bomb beat (off “Thermonuclear” 12” ep) Ruf Beats 99 TAPE 6 side B – 1998-2001 MARK B & BLADE ya don’t see the signs PHI LIFE CYPHET REMIX Jazz fudge 2001 DJ FINGERS May tricks (off Ep & lp “Robots Rebeliion”)Syndicate 2000 LEWIS PARKER Sunflight (off ltd dj promo “The options” ep)Melankolic 2000 TASKFORCE Intro (off “Voice of the great outdoors” ep)Low Life 2000 DEF TEX Poetic speech techniques 12” (and on the lp/cd)Son 2001 UNDIVIDED ATTENTION In a change to the scheduled programming 12” UA 2000 ROOTS MANUVA Witness the fitness 12” (off “Run come save me” lp/cd) Big Dada 2001 FINGATHING Head to head (off “2 player” ep)Grand central 2000 JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE Northern rock (off “4 wheel drive” ep & lp/cd) Ruf Beats 2001 DOYEN & COCKA Cock deezal EPSFDB 2001 K DELIGHT Ignorant mc’s (off “1 man big band” ep) Ruf Beats 2001 RODNEY P Big tings we inna 12”Riddim killa 2001 JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE Devil music (off “Death Race 2001”lp/cd)Ruf Beats 2001 GUNSHOT featuring BLADE, MC MELLO, ICEPICK, TASK FORCE, HUNT KILL BURY FINN & BEANZ Th eenglish patient (off “International rescue” cd) Words of warning ASPECTS We get fowl 12” (off “Correct English” lp/cd)Homre 2001 BRAINTAX feat TASKFORCE 3 Amigo’s (unreleased to date !)Low Life 2001 JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE Playing with the big boys – last verse off “Death Race 2001”lp/cd) Ruf Beats 2001 ROOTS MANUVA Join the dots instrumental 12”Big Dada 2001 Mixed live by Dave THE RUF March 2002. For more info… Mail order call/fax RUF BEATS on 01606 47327 The Ruf introduction “What is the problem with UK rap”, “Why does British hip hop never blow up”, “Why do the few acts that get signed to majors quickly end up on the scrap heap” or worst still “UK hip hop – it’s a load of bollocks” – anyone involved in hip hop over here has heard it all before. For years it perplexed me why all these journalists and people seemed obsessed with talking about it, rather than doing anything about it. Then it struck me – that was the problem, too many people who didn’t have the talent were doing all the talking, rather than doing anything positive about it. So that was all I was going to do then, try and do something about it. Not talk, just do. This was going to be simple… Sod the prejudices of being white, from a grammar school, kind of awkward looking, not even from America, not even from London, not even from Manchester but from Altrincham? Looking back I was so naive, but that became a bizarre strength when mixed up with passion, a little intelligent madness and the attitude of a “rough mouth” (as my deputy head Roy Coleman (r.i.p) called me whenever I was sent before him). I just didn’t care back then, I thought I could be whatever I wanted to be, a blissful idea passed on from my loving mother… as long as I wasn’t going to be a journalist. After all, the duodenal ulcer I’d remarkably developed as a 14 year old, would not suit a writer’s lifestyle what with all those frustrated creative emotions. So after quickly retiring from the nine to five office life grind, I soon found myself on the dole, then with two record shops, then with one, then with none, then on pirate radio, dj’ing in clubs, soon to be making and releasing records and all the associated nonsense business activities. However I had arrived after the second UK hip hop attack had failed miserably with the demise of Music of life, Brit Core, and the evergreen (well its sleeves were anyway) Kold Sweat. What the hell was I thinking? Like Blade says “its great to be a lunatic. It is great being a loony!” Since 1993 somehow I’ve managed to remain out of control of the label to such a degree that I’ve spawned and released more records as an artist than anyone else in the UK (unless you can prove otherwise pal). On many occasions during 93 up to as recently as 99 I’ve told people my plans and they’ve looked at me as if I had a miniature resurrected 2 Pac trying to climb out of my nostril. I knew it was always going to be hard but if I’d known just how hard it was going to be, it is probably true that even I, Dave THE RUF would have thought “fuck that” although I doubt I would have started making UK Garage. Finally though, our music is starting to be judged on its own merits. With dedicated label owners and artists taking matters into their own hands, we have the chance to join together to build a scene like we have never had before. Numerous websites, e mails, mobiles, text messages, jams, occurrences are going off on the daily, as everyone tries to elevate their game to the next level, to be the next Roots Manuva, the next Black Twang, the next Mark B & Blade, the next Aspects. Whether they’ll reach that goal or not and whether that goal was just a mirage in the first place, will become apparent, but if this 6 pack achieves anything it should be to show you how staggering differences in finances, equipment, musical tastes, labels, location and attitude have helped to make one of the most diverse hip hop scenes in the world. Kids in our big towns now often have something, somewhere locally happening, that is if they can be bothered to get off their fat arses and find it. Years ago this wasn’t the case so let me tell you all a little story. A little Ruf history In the early 80’s Hip Hop from the UK’s view, was more a general part of dance music until the regular Electro / Hip Hop albums started and big albums dropped by Mantronix, Just Ice, Schooly D, Beastie Boys, Run Dmc, LL Cool J, Eric B & Rakim, MC Shan, Public Enemy etc. I was lucky to have grown up in a culturally naff (and firmly Tory) area of Manchester called Altrincham, although “town” was 9 miles away, as kids we rarely ventured there, unless on a shopping trip getting dragged round the shiny shops. Luckily for me my mate Jay was not only in one of Manchester’s earliest groups (Mind over matter) but had a great record & tape collection, which he shared via grimy ghetto blaster (hardly the ghetto but never mind!) at the top of the field where the smokers used to gather in breaks at school. So it was here I heard all the crazy sounds above and more like 2 Live Crew, Skinny Boys, Doug E Fresh, Melle Mel. It was so different and raw and I was hooked, banging up the volume on “My Uzi weighs a ton” whilst my Dad complained about “that darkie racket”. I’d absorb every little snatch of TV I could, staying up late for The Old Grey Whistle test, checking music shows in the hope some hip hop would be on, even all the cringe worthy stuff, Cutmaster Swift on Terry Wogan, and even The Tube (what were those Cowboys doing dancing to Mantronix like that?). I taped religiously Stu Allen’s 3 hour show “Souled Out” on Key 103, a big mix of soul, hip hop & house later to be put into separate sections and renamed “Bus Diss”. Stu was our Mike Allen (Mike could be a bit cheesy, but played some dope import records on Capitol in London), and he was the first radio dj I heard playing rap made over here. He had no preconceptions, he’d play tape demo’s from Ruthless Rap Assassins, Prince Cool, MC D, Grand Groove, MC Buzz B, MC Martey etc it looked like it was true, it wasn’t where you were from it was where you were at. However every town has its own little squabbles and because Stu Allen was heavily backed by a record shop called Spin Inn, who supplied him with all the US Imports, there tended to be little promotion of the other main local hip hop shop’s activities over at Afflecks Palace where the Goths & punks mixed readily with capped hip hop kids and early ravers. The rival shop was Eastern Bloc, who had got together four groups working under a joint umbrella name “The Hit Squad” which included my mate Jays group Mind Over Matter alongside Force Five (4 mc’s rhyming at the same time!), MC Tunes (with Geds on the scratches or A Guy Called Gerald as he would later be known), Spinmasters (whose 2 dj’s went on to be a part of 808 State & host their own mad dance show). Manchester writer John McCready did an excellent breakdown of the local scene, but unsurprisingly it just concentrated on the groups around Spinn Inn. So straight away I realised that politics played a part in this - trendy kids went to Spinn Inn where they’d cram at the counter hoping to be served by sarcastic Kenny (or some other moody, smug git), hoping to get something played just for them, or to pay £9 for some great dirty bootleg, or perhaps buy bugger all and just see what was out, or stare at Mrs Ice T’s bum on a record cover – “what’s she doing with a piece of string up her arse?” (G Strings were not commonplace in 1988). I hardly ever had any cash to spend but when I did I’d just get ignored, but I wasn’t alone. It was one of those snobby, pretentious shops where you got the feeling they were doing you a favour selling you the records. So I thought “fuck them”, they don’t want my paper round money then I’ll fuck off to Afflecks and mingle with the strange looking people mixed next to capped youths - weighing up the merits of buying Stetsasonic’s 2nd album (cover – blue sky, scary tracksuits) or BDP (cover – Malcolm X pose with gun, in scary tracksuit with BDP on). Eastern Bloc was strange, at the time it was more of a gathering place, but then again, it had to be as they were only capable of serving one customer every half an hour. Big queues, tons of fresh imports, little attitude and Martin & Graham had their Hit Squad set up, with my mate Jay in. My first UK hip hop gig was seeing all 4 crews in the Hit Squad playing at the legendary Boardwalk, which, at the time only held 200 downstairs and was a really grimy venue. It was mad – I was 15 and sneaked in with my mate Steve, the air smelt funny, the place was seedy as fuck but playing tunes like BIG DADDY KANE Raw (awesome), FROZEN EXPLOSION Babs (psychedelic), RHYTHM RADICALS Dig the move (hard PE tribute), it was crazy. All 4 groups did their very different sets, all were “local” but otherwise varied in sex (well there was only one bird rhyming but this was 88), colour, style & swagger. The jam ended late, very late, my Mum said we would “have to talk” in the morning, I didn’t care, it had been worth every minute. In the mean time huge amounts of records were being sold in the US, which translated to here. Morgan Khan’s electro series helped serve up affordable compilations to school kids with its heavily edited 40 tracks on one album (and they still had the nerve to put “fully extended mixes” on the sleeve, why? Cos the dj used the 7 minute original and then played the second fucking verse!!) he even put early stars Faze One on who then managed to drop UK raps first artist album. He even masterminded UK Fresh 97, a ground breaking event at Wembley Arena where the Streetsound label’s supporters gathered to see Flash, DJ Cheese, Bam, Lovebug Starski, World Class Wreckin Crew (with Dr Dre in shiny “suit you sir”!) Mantronix, Just Ice and who could forget The Real Roxanne. DJ’s Max and Dave made a tune with Afrika Bambaataa as Hardrock solid soul movement. Derek B started to persistently trouble the charts with his fly red and black tracky and (one small) gold chain, ultimately representing at Wembley with Salt N Pepa & the Fat Boys at the Free Nelson Mandela concert (with fashion and women like that no wonder the fucker stayed inside for a while). In the summer of 1988 everyone seemed to love or hate hip hop, there was no middle ground. In the meantime I was absorbing as much as possible whilst spending as little cash as possible. I went through 100’s of cheap cassette’s, videoing anything half decent (once Dad had got rid of the embarrassing Beta Max) and went to whatever gigs I was allowed to plus a few I wasn’t and generally started growing up. Out went the Commodore 64 and my 186 bootlegged games and 31 originals (10 of them out of a £2.99 budget range). Somehow I managed to buy a great big bollocking “disco console”, doing a deal to swap my big bedroom with my big brother, who took it over only to deny me access through it to go to the loft, which was where my glittery monstrosity awaited my sweaty paws. Trying to mix on these bin lids wasn’t easy but I did pull off some amazingly mediocre blends. Out went the disco console, in came a guitar amp (with dirty reverb for that essential Schooly D hard, recorded-in-a-metal-room-type-vibe) and a Roland 505 drum machine & a mike. I had been writing songs, poems & rhymes for some years but suddenly everything started to click into place, I was starting to sound half decent (some would argue I still do) but those drum machines were too basic, I mean this wasn’t 85. The regional heat of the DMC’s in Leigh had an MC & a DJ competition and I managed to persuade my old man to take me up there along with Jay. We both entered the mc battle, with about 18 competing in the day to get down to the 5 to have a chance at night. Jay dropped his raw styles on them and got through, I went for a 115 bpm fierce edited breakbeat and did a very political anti racism jam called “Fight This Thing” and didn’t get through. However a big rasta came up to me and fisted me (as in respect, not the sexual act). At the time it meant more to me than anything, seems corny now, but as I left the venue to Funkmaster Wizard Wiz’s “Girls” I was also wearing a smile. Meanwhile the first wave of UK rappers were storming in, every week it seemed Stu played some new group from places as exotic as, Bristol, Chorley, Newcastle, Sheffield but mainly from Saaarf London. What’s more some of them were even appearing on Normski’s genre crossing, spirited Dance Energy show, Hijack were even supporting (many say blowing away) Ice T except when they came, or rather did not come to Manchester (bastards, never found out why either). I went to every gig I could though, Public Enemy, Eric B & Rakim, LL Cool J, Run Dmc, Beastie Boys (with Davy DMX spinning breaks!) whether at the International 1 or 2, the Apollo, or the Ritz. On the 2nd occasion I saw Public Enemy at the International, he was supported by both Cookie Crew, who really rocked it, and Derek B who really did not, actually getting boo-ed as the needles jumped and his 2nd single went in the charts. Many of the people who had bought his early stuff were ridiculing him and I felt not for the first time (nor would it be the last) how hard it is when a group is trendy one minute, then shat on the next, as I joined in the boo-ing like the easily led teenager I was. Thinking back I definitely thought Derek B was good when he dropped, but I always thought those Sarah Jane lines were a bit embarrassing. However Derek B quite rightly came back next time, when he was supporting Run Dmc and Public Enemy at the Apollo with DJ Scratch in tow (at the time on EPMD tunes) “I’ve been looking all over the world for the best dj and do you think I’ve found him….” into dj routine, crowd go mad, especially the ones dissin’ him last time, me included - although I’d only arrived for his last ten minutes eager to avoid it seeming I wanted to check him out. Then there was MC Duke & DJ Leader 1’s amazing body popping-tastic set supporting Salt N Pepa, there seemed no barriers… yet. By now I had a Fostex X26 multi tracker, not just one crappy deck but two and was producing self important 24 track demo’s with embarrassing covers on with me in my black tracksuit, with arms made for an orang-utan, emblazoned with gold “Ruf MC” (or was I MC RUF back then?) and, get this, a long bold as brass, well gold actually, lightning flash not just down one arm, but down both legs as well. The girl who did it obviously had the Eric B & Rakim “Follow the leader” album but it was little consolation to know she had good taste in music whilst I was swinging around my bed-sit looking like a gibbon. I had left home by this time so had no one around me to tell me I looked a pratt, but luckily I had the sense to wear it once or twice. Bottoms or top – never both at the same time, the glare would have been too much, people would have been crashing cars and shit. Having money is an essential part of any boom times, looking back I realise now, that just like me, at the time were thousands of young adults in paid work for the first time with nothing to spend their cash on but clothes, music, booze, cigarettes and other drugs. After college I’d landed a two-year contract with IBM, but as I’d left home I had little spare money, especially after I bought a Roland 808. It maybe a bit old hat now but at the time it was the shit, so easy to programme and when you accented that bass drum, boy was the kid in the next bed sit pissed off as the beat boomed on. So lots of money going on living, and tiny amounts going on records – just the really, really essential ones, largely the albums I blame for this continuing addiction. And then the second wave of British acts came through. At the time it wasn’t like the big deal everyone makes now of being UK, UK, UK, it was just there, fans generally accepted it. After a being made redundant twice by two computer companies I soon found myself on the dole in Wythenshawe where after much Del boy style trading I eventually found I had my own record shop to steal and blag tunes from, many of which you are about to hear on these 6 tapes containing a variety of my most loved and most played British hip hop tunes. About these tapes So these six tapes are my definition of good hip hop that has come from these shores . I am well ware that there are blatant gaps in the track list but this is my history. Besides since 1992 I’ve probably put together more UK based mix tapes than anyone else, as far as I’m aware, but there could be an insane hermit living in the Shetland Isles who owns every obscure piece of UK rap vinyl ever, who knows. So if you think I’ve missed pure gems then it could be for a number of Ruf reasons : •I thought it was over rated then and probably now, •Some groups have had loads of press and media coverage whilst others got slept on at the time and I must admit I do like finding and playing records that others aren’t aware of, which is actually what a good dj should do, not just play all the shit that everyone knows for quick props. If Bam, Flash & Herc had done that there would be hip hop, but not as we know it, Captain! •The most obvious is – I don’t bloody own them. Whilst I am a record company mogul (or should that be mongrel?) I have had to buy most of the records here as UK labels have always been tighter than a knat’s arse at giving out promo’s to the needy. Also I’ve had to buy and sell records as my financials tides have ebbed and flowed through the years. I hate to think of a few of the gems I’ve got rid off to lunatic Germans called Hans who paid £30 for a Brit Core rare item I bought in London for 39p at an exchange (you’d be mad not to sell it, surely?). •I am not from London, which has released a large majority of British Hip Hop records, but unfortunately many groups and labels thought London was actually all there was to British Hip Hop, therefore forgetting to do any shows outside of the M25 or simply didn’t get the records distributed much outside the city. Anyway I think it paints a much more interesting and varied picture this way, so there. However doing this set has fired me up again and made me realise just how much great stuff is out there that I haven’t got anymore, if I ever had it in the first place. If you enjoy this set or are incensed about any looked over records, bare in mind they might have appeared on some of my previous mix-tapes, (which are still available kids!) such as : Uk Retrocide (1993) Rare British Compilations 1 – 9 (1995-1999) Sounds Of Blighty Doublepacks Volumes 1 - 3 (1999-2001) Radio Zero Doublepack fake radio show on mixtape (three times voted 3rd best hip hop show in the UK 1998-2000, despite the fact it’s not even broadcast yet) 1997-present. I have also put quite a bit of Ruf related records in here, partly because to me it’s a fair reflection of the amount of records I’ve released (often when there was little out) and partly because it’s fascinating hearing the label’s development and how it fitted in (or not) with what was out at the time. People forget, but I’ve released 15 albums and 25 other slices of madness, so to give some their first playing for years was quite uplifting. This project was a labour of love for me and I hope you enjoy it too. It has thrown up so many other possibilities and I’ve even enjoyed writing these notes (despite being chained to the computer for a while). Who knows we could have multiple spin off’s eg British Hip Hop Family Trees, Never Mind The Hardnoise, Around the UK with a crate of Stella (feat Disorda), My life as a British Hip Hop Nobody by Dave THE RUF or even Top of the Hip Pops. Alternatively, how about Roots Manuva’s herbal garden show, or the new UK Garage / Hip Hop fusion of supergroup “The Tele Thuggies”. All ideas copyright Ruf Beats 2001, well you never know, That twat Anne Robinson made a shit load out of “Wackest link” didn’t she? About the mix TIMES : Normally late afternoons from Feb 28th – March 14th 2002 LONGEST SESSION :Four and a half hours in one day. PLACE : Ruf HQ, up top. RECORDS USED : you bloody count them VALUE OF RECORDS : What someone would be prepared to pay for them. STATE OF MIND : Varied according to tune-age, spliff-age and family/business matters. MISTAKES : One audible when decided to put a record on a deck that already had a record on, this is not big or clever and generally results in a big fuck off scratch noise. Whoops. RESULTING BRAIN DAMAGE : Severe, this stuff does mess with your head. I like to make mix tapes live so I sat down in March with two big crates, a few drinks and multiple selections of spliff confectionary. They were all done live, one take, with few bpm’s known and arranged loosely in a date order but more according to what sounded nice back to back. There’s also a load of nice blends that dismiss the myth that you can’t play British Hip Hop out, this is bollocks as out of my many hundred’s of dj gigs over the years quite often it has been The Unknown selections that have been the titty-rippers. The dates of release and most other information on UK releases can be kind of tricky to figure out as they obviously thought it wasn’t important. Therefore the mix is arranged very loosely but still as it’s over 6 tapes you should be able to pick up on the differences in time. I tried not to blend and cut things too quickly so you could hear decent amounts of tracks, however as it got towards the end I realised there were too many top tunes to try and juggle into the mix. Bizzarre facts about Dave THE RUF •He won an original copy of Brainfreeze off DJ Shadow for answering his UK Hip Hop questions at a Quannum show in 2001. •He has never appeared on Westwood’s rap show, but has been played by John Peel who he met last year and learnt about how 50’s R’n B bassline were often done by the human beat boxers of their day. •He hosted the UK hip hop part of UK Fresh, after JURASSIC 5’s debut show (where they gave him props for his MINDBOMB show – yeh, I Know bloody hell!) and at the time allegedly Blade’s last ever show (never say never, eh!) despite having all accommodation withdrawn thus forcing him to sleep 50 miles away in a barn. •He once did a show at the Blue Note with 3 gorgeous girls dancing in front of him, and NONE of them were paid. Incredible. •He has been told to his face by the head of Radio 1 that he is “urban” which came as a shock to the Cheshire lad. •He has taken Afrika Bambaataa record shopping in his native town, only to be disappointed when the great one only was after Prince cd’s (Yes CD’s!) •He once appeared on a BBC 2 documentary about “wiggers” despite the fact that he has never worn a wig. •His favourite gig ever was in Cork, his most hated one was in Swansea. •He has still not bought any new recording equipment (since 1993) but insists “the old ways are the best” as he glue’s his dentures back in place and scrapes his Bobby Charlton haircut over his boyish grey hair. TAPE 1, side A – Up to 1990 National fucking anthem… This is actually off an old Ruf Beats promo of JEEP BEAT COLLECTIVE Seconds to detonation EP that never got released due to 2 tracks sounding shabby after the mastering (and no they didn’t sound like that before, you cheeky sods, honest). The main track on the ep “The Bomb Drops” was one of my label’s biggest hits (its been on 60,000 units) so it was worth waiting for the plant to get it right. MC MELLO Our Time off his devastating debut album “Thoughts released” Republic 90. This had to go on as I used to listen to this album time and time again when I was in my bed sit years. Every track on that album is a killer, listen to the breaks and you’ll hear many classic breaks ripped here first. I could have put on any of the tracks off this and been happy but like this because it really is infectious and flips the “God made me funky” groove into others effortlessly whilst Mello and crew have a right old laugh! DADDY FREDDY & ASHER D Brutality 12” Music of life 88. A very early stab at hip hop / reggae fusion that these toasters brought to the world. Daddy Freddy was once the world’s fastest rapper although I never understood much of his patter, it always sounded so raw and authentic. HIJACK Style wars 12” Music of life 88 These Brixtonites exploded onto the hip hop scene with the awesome energy of this JB’s Blow ya head sampling gritty drum machine anthem produced by Simon Harris. Kamanche Sly, Rhymester, Ulyseess, DJ Undercover & DJ Supreme were one of the first crews to come out of the undergound on the UK scene and ALMOST cross over on their own terms, before Ice T’s short lived Rhyme Syndicate label snapped them up, only to have its and therefore Hijacks backing pulled out by Epic/Sire. STEREO MC’s On the mike (SUBSONIC REMIX) 12” Gee St 89 I first saw these on a music programme when they were touring Germany with MC Rob B on the mic, DJ Head on decks and some mad geezer on the drums, it made me check their varied debut set “33/45/78” from which this awesome remix appeared later on. I loved their second album too but it seemed a lot of black hip hop lovers wouldn’t check for them ‘probably because of the honky factor which was a shame because these boys knew their music. I bumped into Rob B at UK Fresh 97 and wondered where he’d been for 5 years since their massive “Connected” album, which strangely (in my mind) blew up everywhere. He looked surprised to be recognised. BLADE Lyrical maniac 12” Raw Bass 89 This is the 2nd record on raw bass, so what the fuck was the first? Answers on a postcard please, or better still, post me the sodding record, aaarr go on please, you know I deserve it. Blade’s early records were so damn funky but still hard, I loved them still do, even hi s liner notes and quotes were good, take this “Many constantly try to make out we’re rejects of society of somethin’- but we’ll show em”, and boy did he from then til now. This ep featured “We’re going independent” and production by Mastermix / Sparkie & 2000 AD, Renegade on the decks and “No Sleep” Nigel on the engineering boards. OVERLORD X 14 days in May 12” Hardcore 88 There was some sort of video for this on a BBC programme called Dance Zone or something. It was pretty mad as Overlord X came with a weird deerstalker hat, the kind that Rick wore once in The Young Ones, not only that he came with a very big crew or hanging around his estate. What was interesting was that he got to say what the track was about and the messed up story of justice that influenced the track. Taking the lead from Public Enemy this independent 12” not only got included on the next Streetsounds Hip Hop compilation but also helped sign him & his crew to mango, an Island subsidiary. He released three albums through them and bizarrely found success in France before trying to re-invent himself with a commercial edge in the early 90’s. MC BUZZ B How sleep the brave 12” Playhard 89 This was the second proper release from Shaun Braithwaite aka Buzz B. I saw him in 1987 at Manchester’s Ritz (with about 150 others) doing tracks with the Rock The House crew and Leakey Fresh’s out to distress set up with Owen D. by now he’d lifted his skills to perform a unique hip hop poetry which maybe got a little bit too watered down by the time he finally dropped his unusual album “Words Escape Me” on Polydor in 1993. He managed to get this on late night channel 4 music programme that had Nenah’s younger brother Eagle Eye Cherry introducing it, for Shaun to come on dressed very classily, with two mates dancing in chimney sweep type clothes whilst Owen & Leaky jumped from deck to deck trying to make out they were back spinning something. The b side is actually a harder 70’s funk mix that deserves digging for two. Complicated, under rated Buzz B deserved better, he popped in my Corn Exchange shop once and said “hello”(just before the IRA bombed it) disappeared for a while rumoured to be on a caravan site in Wales. Only to appear in eclectic DJ Justin Robertson’s Lionrock group delivering more essential poetry on the sublime “Straight at yer head”. MC MELLO Comin’ correct 12” Republic 89 Released way before his album this is one of his earliest records after his JUS BADD early jams. There’s an urgency about this even reflected in the awful typed promo notes, blimey no computers in republic’s offices mate! RICHIE RICH feat RUMBLE I can make you dance (album – title cut)Gee St 89 Richie was one of the earliest pioneers of Uk rap. His radio show “Home beat hip hop show” on Kiss FM broke a new form of cut and paste mixing to the masses. He had a vinyl debut in the early 80’s after winning a scratching battle and went on to form Gee St, a label that helped not only launch his own records but also Jungle brothers, PM Dawn (gulp) and later The Gravediggaz. His early records “yes I have returned” , “Make it funky” and “My dj pump it up some” were trend setting records that hugely inspired my JEEP BEAT style. Richie was open minded and tried to cover all the styles of dance music on this, his debut album, with Soul cuts next to hardcore hip hop like the “Coming from London” track with one-hit-wonder SUGAR BEAR, and this Bootsy Collins sampling track, but he enjoyed a massive hit with his house anthem “Salsa House”. I saw him perform this album live at the International 2 supporting 808 state who had just dropped their own classic “Pacific State”. MC TUNES Back to attack 12” Hit Squad 87 The earliest piece of wax in this pack and for a reason. When my pal Jay was in Mind Over Matter and the loose Hit Squad posse put on jams. I was amazed how Gerald got the super raw drum machine beats & razor sharp cutting live, not only that but Tunes was almost punk rock in style, no body was going to fuck with him, or diss him, at least not to his face. This was Nicky at his hardest, a drum machine & cut and a voice that’s it, I still love the sound of them gritty 808 beats too. I think a lot of jiggy rappers should have to rhyme over shit like this to see if they can really rhyme. BLACK RADICAL MK 2 B Boys B wise (off Monsoon 12”) 2 the bone 89 One of the UK old skool’s most prolific artists came with this Big Life supported release (and remember back then Big Life were licensing stars like De La Soul, Naughty by Nature and Digital Underground in the uk) produced by Coldcut & DJ Cel & DJ Mo who dropped this weird b side that sounds a bit like Two tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Big, bold & making more than a few points Black Radical was our KRS 1 only without the beef. THE SINDECUT Demanding cycle of a word bound hammerhead 12” Virgin 90 This collective were the original all styles of black music in one box group, who should have blown up alongside Soul II Soul, ‘cos hell they could do it all. Impressive street soul “tell me why” and “Slow Down” fast funk “Live the Life” and tracks like this and “Wisdom” representing Lin E Lin’s dope rhymes. Awesome stuff that looked like it was going over the top only to slide back down into the muddy trench. Heroic. HIJACK The badman is robbin’ 12” INSTRUMENTAL off import copy US Epic 88 Not on the Uk edition, I had to track down a bloody yank copy for this dope instrumental. And was it worth it? Well yes because for about 4 years I used the instrumental in my live shows when doing Mindbomb’s Nervous Breakdown, no one knew what the fuck it was over here, in Germany the few Britcore survivors broke their necks. TAPE 1 side B – Up to 1990 HIJACK The badman is robbin’ 12” US/UK Epic 88 I actually loved this track so much that when I put down my first Ruf N Rugged megamix I couldn’t resist taking the accappella of this and dropping it over an instrumental of Young MC’s now overplayed “Know How” but with JB’s & Brothers Johnson breaks stabbed through (this resurfaced recently on my “Ruffest dj in the world” mix cd which is a little bit essential even if I say so myself. It’s a classic track especially because it was so mixable for dj’s and with the ace intro / outro, superb middle break cutting and themed lyrics no one could step to this. MC BUZZ B The sequel 12” Playhard 89 A big tune up North, even managed to get played at the Hacienda next to “Strings of life”. MC DUKE Miracles 12” Music of life 88 Duke held hardcore respect for a while even though on his debut he dropped a clanger by looking like Chris Eubank in English Gentleman garb outside a big mansion with scary butlers. The cover was so bad I sold my copy years ago, even though I quite liked most of it. When this dropped though, it was a gem, rare grooves were blowing up jams everywhere and Jackson Sisters “I believe in miracles” was a jam that always rocked it, with Simon Harris hooking up the beat clinically for dj usage. STEREO MC’s Lyrical machine INSTRUMENTAL off 12” Gee St 89 This is a great instrumental for scratching over and top in the mix, I always thought the vocal was a bit cheesy but loved playing Eric B & Rakim’s “Follow the leader” over this as it makes it sound crazy. HARDNOISE Untitled 12” Music of life 90 No Sleep Nigel & Mastermix engineered this “Apache” driven raw rocker to perfection with it’s ultra hard rhymes & delivery throughout this all time UK classic. When Liam from Prodigy recently put this on his “Dirt chamber” mix cd I could have screamed at him for just used the beats, this has always been a problem, our premier beat makers quite often don’t respect mc’s enough or try to put anything back in the scene. All I can say is it’s a good job that never happened with the Sex Pistols, the Specials, Madness or The Clash. The whole point of authenticity and originality often comes from local scenes and taking away the vocalists can strip the song of it’s own unique voice. This problem of dj’s playing largely instrumentals always takes the urgency to a lot of jams. OUTLAW POSSE Original dope 12” Gee St 89 Happy memories for these because I used to dance my pants off to this at Precinct 13 where Andy Madhatter or Huen Clarke dj’ed and much more importantly where I met my future wife. This was an early uk jam that broke in the clubs first, again often being played as an instrumental (see above, the bastards) and cutting in cheekily the same hook as UPTOWN’s classic “Dope on plastic” one hit wonder. Two years later and me & Mrs Ruf went out in London village, where my Mum was living at the time, to see OUTLAW (by then they had lost their posse) at Giles Peterson’s night at the Fridge where they rocked it, but caught a fair bit of boo-ing in the process. The night was amazing musically, hearing breaks &and funk next to hip hop at the height of the whole “Talking Loud”, “Acid Jazz”, “Jazz Rap” phase. We just thought it was good music. MC MARTEY & DJ DBM Beyond control 12” Gti Records 89 Another Manchester crew with a great female mc who manages to control her flow over some huge samples here, I mean, to sample in 900 number took huge bottle and to be fair to them this worked and blew up local clubs. HIJACK present HUNTKILLBURY FINN, SHAKKA SHAZAM and The ICEPICK The burial proceedings in the coarse of three knights 12” Music of life 90 When the terrorist group finally got hijacked from under Chris France’s nose (the Music Of Life boss) they agreed to make this parting gift to show gratitude to the label for helping them achieve so much. And so Hijack gave us the mc from future UK heroes Katch 22, Standing Ovation, and the Icepick who as well as a very nasal delivery n the posse track on Hijack’s lp, also popped up on backbone years later along with a a single release on some little crappy label called Ruf Beats ran by a dizzy Northern twat. Chris said thanks but never released any of them again and Kold Sweat, the new kid on the block, snapped 2 out of the 3 up. COOKIE CREW Born this way US 12” (rare US PRINCE PAUL REMIX) US Polygram 88 Along with Derek B, the Cooks were one of the first to really blow up, thanks to big money inputted early on, then later withdrawn by ffrr, which meant they got to work with Stetsasonic’s Daddy O and DBC. This classic break beat cutting up tempo jam bust open charts in the UK, but seemed to lose street cred straight away unfortunately, but I later picked up this ace US edition featuring this wacky, exciting Prince Paul remix which is much harder to front on. Cookie Crew’s 2nd album was largely dope with a few devastating tracks produced by Black Sheep, but again they seemed to have lost credibility before they started. No it wasn’t fair but yes they were good mc’s live and without them it meant the Wee Papa Girl rappers snuck in and embarrassed us all to fuck when our Mums and Dads said “ah so this is what hip hop is then” We wanted so desperately to kill these walking talking talent abortions. HIJACK Hold no hostage / Doomsday of rap (released on Music of life and Ice T’s US Rhyme Sindecate) 88 Big tracks, big tracks. Two absolute anthems and what’s more they were on the same twelve inch record, yeeahh. This is taken for granted now, but getting two rockers on 12” back then was a novelty, especially as far as US imports were concerned them tight yank bastards. Mind you singles were cheap at about 49 cents over there whilst an import could be up to £8.99 here if the bastard shop would even sell you the thing “sorry mate, I was supposed to save that for my man DJ Bastard”. Thank god then for Uk 12”s at £4 and for Music Of Life putting this out. Perfect hardcore B Boy insanity music, the cutting is on fire, the intro’s are attention grabbing and stylistic mc’ing 2 THE TOP The matter at hand (b side of “Score to settle” 12”) President 90 This is an early release by the mc who went on to be in Kinetic Effect with Insane MacBeth, that not only managed to make loads of relevant points about hip hop at that time, but managed to shout out (as was done in those days) to half the hip hop community including three girls called Dawn, come on boys, three, that’s just greedy. This was an unusual record as the a side Score To Settle featured journalist Malu Halasa with a very freakily voiced introduction, no wonder most hip hop journalists are failed musicians then? I actually sent one of my very early demo’s to President records too and their A&R girl there wrote me back an encouraging 10 page letter, offering positive advice and tips, of which I managed to ignore it all thinking I knew what the fuck I was doing. Three weeks later on I got a positive response from a CBS (pre-Sony) big wig, so after jumping around my shared kitchen whooping like a four year old and ultimately burning my toast, I decided I would listen to the advice this time. Four weeks later I finally got the bottle to phone him by which time he had left CBS thus teaching me a valuable tip, don’t fanny around being scared. MERLIN Bust da move (off Drop the weapon EP) Rhythm king 89 Merlin was on Top of The Pops once, with the Beatmasters I think doing a hip–house thing, I remember Record Mirror was going on about how he’d done it then got arrested and was going daaarrrn. I think the music industry loves it when rappers get in jail, it’s easier to rip them off money and it gives them instant street cred. Anyway this is off a 4 track ep dropped well after he became known for his Beatmasters “I’m free” debut and the huge “Megablast” hit with Bomb the Bass, which featured an ace funny horizontal Tim Westwood intro. This Ep is largely good especially this Tim Simenon (Bomb The Bass) & Nelle Hooper (yeh that’s right) produced fast hardcore killer. Raw. SILVER BULLET 20 seconds to comply 12” Tam Tam 89 Talking of hardcore killers… ha ha.. the immortal Robo Cop sampling intro, the wild transformer scratching and relentless beats crossed this record over to the house/techno crowd on hip hop’s terms. Everyone loved it, he even toured shortly with Public Enemy, had his previous release “bring 4th the guillotine” re-released and got an album out, that really wasn’t up to par and seemed rushed, quickly sinking without a trace. The producer Ben Chapman continued to stick his fast and funky tracks out via big beat label Bolshi in the late 90’s, whilst Sliver Bullet attempted a comeback in 1998 on beats label Arthrob that never got beyond a performance at Fresh 98. BLADE Forward (off “Mind of an ordinary citizen” 12”) 691 influential 90 “Nothing great was achieved without determination” yup, Blade back with more pro-independence jams. Although the cheesy intro is horribly derivative of the horrible Westwood radio scanning intro off Bomb The Bass, recently re-done with humour by J Zone, it soon develops into a break neck paced fast hard rocker with scratches flying around at belting pace. Blade tucked this on the flip of “Mind of an ordinary Citizen” and selflessly bigged up a whole host of up and coming British acts. Love the photo’s of his two mates at New Cross station too and his ultimate street declaration “if you need to contact us just ask anyone in the Lewisham Borough” – they will then go home turn on a light into the sky and when in times of wack mc peril, Blade will be there to save you. SHE ROCKERS On stage 12 (backspun instrumentals) Jive 88 These girls were pretty hardcore before Jive got their mits on them, put them in studio with big name producers and turned out a fairly weak lp, luckily the break on this is a killer with Dj Streetsahead (who came in my Corn Exchange shop and talked to Doyen Doy for a while once) pulling off tricky exciting cuts throughout. I’ve had 2 copies of this since 1988 and still can’t backspin properly. Anyone would think I was a dj. TAPE 2, side A – 1990-1992 RUTHLESS RAP ASSASSINS Justice (Just Us) THE MASE REMIX 12”Emi 91 I have a big soft spot for the rap Assassins. They were the first crew out of London really to make any impact and they were from up the road in Hulme which I passed on the bus on trips into Manchester. Manc electro pioneer Greg Wilson set them up on his Murdertone records which he managed to get distributed by EMI, furthermore they managed to rope De La Soul’s Maseo in to pump up this track a bi. Although occasionally lo-fi in the music production stakes and sometimes using already shagged to death breaks, they always threw so many ideas into the pot so that you got something from it. Both their debut “Killer” album (which did make some noise through the press) and the follow up “Think – it ain’t illegal yet” (which came out with no fan fare at all) are both quality albums. FRESHSKI & MO ROCK A day of reckoning – off “The long awaited paraxysm ep” Conscious 91 Very strange 6 track ep this, super, long titles, careful measured mc’ing and really crusty lo fi beats but somehow it just gives the whole thing a strange likeable feeling, even the record sleeve is hugely understated. Obscure record that was according to the group “big in London” but they all used to say that to you. 11:59 In the shadows (off “Killing time” ep) Hum 91 Now we’re talking Hardcore Urban Music put out dirty dance records whether sound system hip hop like this or mental rave tunes. I like this kind of sound system vibe that drags you in so very deep with the emotional mc dropping some awesome lines. I liked this so much I bought the company, well actually no I didn’t what I did do though was to sample the bassline and the “here it comes” line on my MINDBOMB pig dissing rhyme “The Vibe” (off “Trippin thru the minefield” Volume 2). This was 11;59 at their hottest. KILLA INSTINCT Un-united kingdom (off Den of thieves 12”) Music of life 92 Gil Scott Heron’s “The revolution will not be televised” funk poetry classic got caught up in some hardcore British hip hop anarchy here, with Lucas G’s boys pulling up their hoodies and walking through the rain with two fingers held firmly high. The track starts with a load of samples from the television film of Stephen Kings “it” and gets far scarier leading to one of the best last verses in hip hop as mc Bandog karate chops his way through verbal warfare. I don’t know who was acting so nasty to them, but at this time it did look as if the Britcore groups were pissing off people into melody driven hip hop or jazz-rap, personally I never gave a shite, if something rocks it rocks. It would seem though back then we were indeed a nation of back biting bitches, some might say we still are. MC MELLO Firm stance (off “Mello gone crazy” ltd promo) Funki dred 92 I love this and it was featured on 3rd Eye’s unique video insight into Uk Hip hop as at 94. There’s a moodiness to this that’s kind of hard to put your finger on, but still manages to uplift you. Mello was still the man, DEMON BOYZ Glimmity glammity (off 12” and 2nd LP) Tribal bass 92 If I hadn’t lost my first Demon Boyz lp it would definitely be on there, but this was an explosive tune for them and me. Firstly they’d been away and had two label changes since 1988’s “Recognition” LP on Music of Life and their 12” on Mango “International Karate” and for a while no body could get hold of this and I played it every chance I could. Using the huge “Pot Belly” break that A Tribe Called Quest had used on “if the papes come” but with cooler stabs and rolling organ chorus, this tune was awesome in smoky clubs and respect to Rebel MC who after hi s cheeky chirpy chart hits with Double Trouble set up this Tribal Bass label and hugely influenced jungle. I still drop this to cheers when down south and their 2nd album “Original guidance” still sells when ever I can find one. Demon dropped all that tricky word play ages before Das Efx and with better beats and more panache, they always entertained and the story of them driving off with the Merc/BMW Chris France had hired to put on the cover of their debut album always makes me laugh. The Demon Boyz are one of our most slept on groups and I’d like to bring them back. They were most definitely “Rougher than an animal”. HIGH AUTHORITY I’m the man 12” Optimism 91 Not much info on this at all, just a weird white promo , cat no OPT12005, I don’t even know if it got released, but it is very good and uses a Spencer Davis Group break that Portishead tour dj Andy Smith would later dig up and unleash on his “Document” mix album. BRAINTAX Talk about the future (off “Fathead” EP) Low life 92 Braintax and BTI came through like a breathe of fresh air in 1992 on Jospeh’s label from Leeds and the “Fathead” ep’s is one of our strongest ever ep’s. 7 tracks of pure butter, top breaks (they used the Quincy Jones “Summer in the city” break ages before the Pharcyde’s “passing me by”) skilful and entertaining rhymes and a fatness in the production that others would die for. I sold a stack of these and very nearly ended up in 194 releasing Braintax records before Jo decided to move down to London. Doh. I have a couple of tapes of their demo’s produced after this (the original “future years” EP) which have never seen the light of day that were excellent too, and I was really gutted when they pulled out of contributing to my Ruf Diamonds Volume 1 over a very real concern that being on the same album as my Mindbomb’s “Westwood is a twat” cut. I was distraught, but Jo bought the tracks back off me “Future years” and “jokes over” which I’d paid for to be recorded, at the Cutting Rooms where an ace French engineer called Christophe had impressed Jo. However out of it Low Life became reborn and I’d met a great engineer who I went on to work with on various Jeep Beat & Mindbomb tracks. Jo was good enough to put me up (and indeed put up with me as I overdosed on Wine and threw up in his flat) when I was in London cutting records at Abbey Road with an engineer he’d put me onto thus giving me mind blowing Abbey rd experiences (yes I did the Beatles walk photo etc). A truly great record from the force behind Low Life. Inspirational. COOKIE CREW Secrets (of success) 12” COOKS MIX FFRR 91 Another example of a blinding mix tucked away on a b side using the classic “Bouncy lady” breaks hard stabs. BUSHKILLER Bushkiller draw (flip of “92 Salute” 12”) Danger 92 Bushkiller were wild, ragga vibes filled their sound but they used the dopest beats and wrapped distinctive twang filled rhymes round your ears effortlessly.This tune was a hard to get killer tune at the time and has lasted the years well thanks to the simple production and original sound. BLADE Rough it up EP 691 Influential 91 More gems from the man, still walking the streets of New Cross here and dropping the Vibrettes “Humpty Dump” break over squealing funk mayhem. This has begun to be a stalwart of my hip hop sets for some reason… HARDNOISE Serve tea then murder 12” Music of life 91 Blimey, the sound of a juggernaut about to crash through your walls ,this “Dirty Harry” soundtrack sampling raw anthem unleashed hardcore mayhem on the streets with intense scratching and exciting tense atmospherics. Gemini’s unique vocals gave him the title of the hardest mc whilst still having clarity and power throughout. AKAPEL Pick it up EP Phlange 92 Biznizz had something to do with this lot who dropped a very strange largely beats and breaks orientated ep that also contained this club tune that got a nice bit of play. Great name for a label too, wish I’d thought of it. DEF TEX Bird land (Off “tutorial sessions” EP”) Soundclash 92 Def Tex used to drop these instrumental sets with alarmingly regularity thanks to the help of their native Norwich’s local hip hop store Soundclash backing them. Great jazz/funk loops and beefy beats were dropped from great heights by this crew who have recently returned on Big dada’s little brother Son. I’d done a couple of very early gigs with Damien, Chrome, Anthropologist etc and had a couple of mad parties at Disorda’s place where these guys proved they were one of the dopest crews around. I used to play this out so much that I ended up using the hook in a mix of “Metacosmic Dimensions” if only all samples could so easily be sorted out! KRISPY 3 Destroy all the stereotypes 12” K3 91