I swear it’s got to be good to be Yayo. Read the rest of this entry »

What do HGH, point shaving, stealing signs, & ghostwriting all have in common?

All are practices that have always been known to take place, but now have a face to go with the name. Tim Donaghy did it for point shaving, Andy Pettite did it for HGH use, & The Patriots did it for stealing signs. For better or worse, Snoop Dogg is set to become the new face of ghostwriting.

That’s right, I said ghostwriting. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By DJ Sorce-1
Graphics By P.

Lately, I’ve been listening to nothing but pre new millennium music. With a few exceptions, if it came out post 2000, I haven’t been fucking with it. Call me bitter. Call me a hater. Call me whatever you want to, but I sorely needed a break. I needed to go back to a time where ringtone sales had no meaning and there were no mix tapes only featuring 50, Jigga, and Weezy.

Shit, I needed to go back to a time when the word “Weezy” meant nothing to me.

One thing that has been in constant rotation in my ride during this phase is Vinroc’s Recon-Struction mixtape. DJ Neil Armstrong, Vinroc’s crewmate, cites Recon-Struction as his favorite mix tape of all-time. Released in 1997, it’s a perfect mix of great early to mid-nineties hip-hop, flipped with a turntablist aesthetic. Vinroc’s presentation of this era is a unique one as each track represents a mix of a specific group. He crams in three to five minutes of dopeness from each group and then moves on to the next. Vin successfully rides the fine line of displaying his skills as a DJ without going over board throughout. He flexes enough cuts and juggles to make Recon-Struction unique while simultaneously letting songs play uninterrupted when appropriate. The result is one of the purest hip-hop mix tapes I’ve ever heard.

These days, Vinroc is known more for his production accolades than mixtapes. The world of music is a much different from the world in which Recon-Struction was created, yet Vinroc’s memories of the tapes genesis remain fresh. Take a walk down memory lane as TSS’s Sorce-1 revisits Vinroc’s mixtape masterpiece.

TSS: What tapes influenced you before making Recon-Struction?

Vinroc: Hmm. That’s a tough question. I used to just listen to local Jersey stuff during that time period. I always checked my homie Ed Swift and bought tapes by cats like Camillo and DJs from Queens. But I can’t really say that stuff influenced Recon-Struction. That was just hip hop shit I was into.

TSS: So was the turntablist and battling scene more influential than the mix tape scene?

Vinroc: Yeah, that scene influenced Recon-Struction. At that time, other than battling, I was straight hip hop with what I listened to. I was all about Mobb Deep, Raekwon, and neighborhood music. Recon-Struction was paying homage to the stuff that came out a little before that and up to that time. I can’t say it was really influenced by anything but my personal taste.

TSS: What did Recon-Struction mean to you and your career when it was released?

Vinroc: My manager at the time pushed me to put Recon-Struction out and I’m still selling it to this day. It first came out around 1997 and was originally on cassette tape, to put the time in perspective (Laughs). If I recall correctly, I also did the cover art for it. At that time, I was a heavy duty battle cat…a real turntablist type. It was always on my brain. I was young and the turntablist and battle scene was at its peak. The music I used on Recon-Struction was the music I grew up with. I wanted to create something like a team turntablist set with golden era hip hop samples that flowed together well.

One of the first times I owned any “real” studio equipment was during the creation of Recon-Struction. I had a Tascam 424 tape based 4 track, which everyone used back then. I had just moved to Cali and I’d bought my 4 track from Canal St. a few months earlier. I basically pooled all of my favorite artists and the joints that they made and put them together as I was hearing it in my head. A lot of the composition and mixing philosophies that I used on that tape were part of what the Triple Threat DJ’s eventually became. If you’ve ever seen some of our videos, there is a lot of Recon-Struction-style composition mixed with Skratch Piklz techniques.

TSS: Can you talk a little bit about how things have changed since Serato? Back in the day you had to have a physical copy of each record that you used on a mix tape, or at least borrow one from a friend. How was it different having to collect each and every piece of wax? Read the rest of this entry »

Words By Contraâ„¢

It should be common knowledge by now that dissing Fat Joe for publicity, money, or personal gains is really an excercise in futility. He’s not as popular as he used to be, perhaps not as rich and seems quite morally bankrupt. Read the rest of this entry »

Pic By Richard Parry

“I’m a graduate of Cooley High
The last day of school threw my hat in the air,
With a new pair of shoes with the gum sole
Posed for the class picture…
…Fresh haircut, clean shave with the razor
It’s a sickness but God is my witness
Blessed with this gift since the day before Christmas…”

“Gold & A Pager”

All the jabbering about shoes yesterday & that track popped up on the iPod.

It ended up getting repeat plays.

Mikey’s second verse captures a select mindstate that reflects a time may have preceded him, but still rings true throughout generations. Read the rest of this entry »

Let’s ease through & make the e-rounds rather quickly so we can get these things behind us & move forward with our lives…

– Shyne is real close to being a free man within calendar year. Read the rest of this entry »

Directed by none other than Rik Cordero. Read the rest of this entry »

Should’ve put that video budget on “Party Life” or @ least weaved it into the end of the song. Something! C’mon Jay, give the people what they want. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By LC Weber

Pic By Kyla

“How’s everybody feeling in this biotch tonight?” Ta’raach asked the crowd surrounding him during the C.R.A.C. Knuckles preview of The Piece Talks on February 10. The club was Carbon – a dim redlight hole in the wall off of Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles. It has one cramped bar, two turntables and a couple of vinyl couches – which put C.R.A.C. right in the thick of things during their performance. Read the rest of this entry »

Words By Patrick M.

Hailing from Boston, Akrobatik’s got the east coast swagger and attitude you would expect combined with a quick wit and intelligent lyrics. Most impressive is his command of the microphone; the intensity he puts into each verse he spits in baritone does just as much to convince the listener of his ruggedness as ten lesser MC’s tired gangster posturing. The opener, “A to the K,” hits forcefully, taking a Cypress Hill sample referencing a gun was a weapon and flipping it to reference his purpose. On “Soul Glo,” Akrobatik mellows his tone, but his words are no less commanding as he gives the listener back story. Read the rest of this entry »

All the sneakers in this pack could be on one’s radar. But if I had to be a wise spender & pick one, I’m all over the Mowabb-inspired joints, set to release in April.

Nice color combo – Check. Read the rest of this entry »

Now that radio has jumped all over this song & it’s getting a full promotional push, expect to hear it @ least until Peter Cottontail comes hoppin’ through.

Previously Posted — “Now I’m In The Limelight…”

“…Allah’s Children with Equality.” Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s some nice entertainment, but I can’t get the embedded vid to fit here. Read the rest of this entry »