Remember Profile Records? Northern Cali’s N2Deep? While I know 98% of the population sees/hears the name “N2Deep” and thinks “Back 2 The Hotel,” with its signature jack of Lafayette Afro Rock Band’s “Show ‘Em Whatcha Got” sax riff, I’m on the other side that remembers being young & loving “The Weekend.” Why? Because when you were young, the weekend meant something. Hustle money matched with allowance, matching joint for joint with your cronies and the only worry you had was if your gear matched.
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Download — N2Deep – “The Weekend”
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i fire up the blunt and it tastes like gumbo
You guys are old. lol
Northern Cali’s where I’m from.
“Back To The Hotel” got MAD play back in the day on 106.1 KMEL…one of the best radio stations on The West Coast, and that’s going WAY BACK…
Not to go off on a tangent, but I distinctly remember a DJ on KMEL playing “The Creator” by Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth on a mixshow one time, and another time I heard the “Walk Into The Sun” Remix by Organized Konfusion….and this was during the day, mind you. Those were not Top 40 songs, nor were they popping regionally, but it still blows my mind to this day that Cali tastemakers were showing love to underground New York hip-hop in one of the biggest markets for radio at the time.
*sighs*
those were the days…can’t recreate ‘em
old, yes. but these dudes still jammed. the sound is so dated right now though, but i’m sure most of the material that’s hot now will sound just as dated 10 years from now.
Forever drinking purple chongos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNPIeyMh7VA
Where are you from Teef?!!?
Cali…uhhh…Mountain View, to be exact, lol.
WHAT SET YOU CLAIM, FOOL?! err, *clears throat*
ahem, I meant…where are you from, C Bloom? lol
HA, my mom is from Mountain View. Born in Vacaville though, where you can get a cut from Jay Tee at the OG barber shop. Holler if you’re ever out in Frisco, I’m out here holding down in the Mission.
Are you hip to cats like Sacred Hoop and Third Sight, dudes came out of PA and San Jose??
Wow. This brings back some memories!
“Two tall cans and a packet of Blackjack’s…”
@ Teef
KMEL exposed me to a lot of underground east coast music and emcees back then. I know you remember a time when they would not even play local acts (Mac Dre, Ray Luv, The Click).
Tried to even ban Too $hort *SMH*
Need to dig out my old cassette single of Total Devastation’s – Many Clouds of Smoke now.
aww shit! Sacred Hoop & Third Sight! yeah, i got some of their stuff from WAAAY back. dang! lol! that’s a trip…it makes me think of how deep & diverse hip-hop is. It’s been a while since I heard any stuff from them, and it would be interesting to hear it now…
but yeah, I’m jonesin’ to pay The City a visit. If it happens, I’ll holler
@ TRA – you know, come to think of it, I don’t really remember Mac Mall, Ray Luv, Mac Dre, & The Click getting spins on KMEL. In hindsight, that’s hella wack, and something I don’t really understand…it’s neither here nor there now, cuz some of those songs are very near & dear to my heart, lol
Aww shit, KMEL!
Y’all remember Chuy Gomez?
The boy was the truth.
^ or Franzen, Cameron Paul, Theo Mizuhara, Rick Chase…and, of course, Sway & King Tech
Rosary
Larry Jackson
Efren
Renel
Billy Vidal
Davey D
KMEL was the ish.
P.S. Chuy’s still holding it down.
(R.I.P. Rick Chase)
I do recall KMEL actually playing a decent amount of bay area rap during the mid 90s. They used to play a good amount of E-40 (Sprinkle Me, One Luv, Slurricane, Captain Save-a-Hoe,etc.), Too Short (I’m a Player, Gettin It), Total Devestation, Conscious Daughters and the above mentioned guys….
@jasisfresh
lol.
I am going way back… back in time.
Nah… just a few years before the point in time that you are speaking of. KMEL really just would not play local acts.
I remember they even had this special segment where they pitted two local artists/groups/acts against one another… and the listeners would actually phone in to vote on who got “some” rotation on the station.
(One of those artists was JT The Bigga Figga right around the time “Playaz n’ the Game” was set to drop)
E-40 and $hort Dog got play because the majors were paying (they were on Jive). And even then, they tried to ban $hort (as referenced above – take a listen to “That’s Why” from the album Gettin’ It (Album Number Ten) – or Google the lyrics where he speaks on it).
I recall Conscious Daughters, Paris, and Total Devastation getting burn [especially "Somethin' to Ride To (Fonky Expedition)"], but it was very limited compared to other acts (which is understandable due to the fact that they were local acts and the others were on major$).
Khayree (YBB – Mac Mall, Mac Dre, Ray Luv, Dubee, Young Lay, etc) even went down to the station with his acts and picket signs he was so fed up with their lack of playing and supporting local music (this was before “Get My Money On” dropped – and was actually the reason the station deservedly played the record so much).
It was a long hard road for the Bay’s own artists to get played on their own biggest station.
My how times have changed. Now, you turn it on and local acts are playlist adds and not just records played in the mix.
But as said, KMEL did introduce me to A LOT of east coast music from Diamond D to Gang Starr (and everything in between – Showbiz & A.G.)… my shelf is full of east coast records strictly due to how much KMEL played E.C. artists.
(Thank you Yo! MTV Raps for that introduction as well)
Thanks for all the love!!! KMEL (the People’s Station) was my home away from home and it was a rare time when a small time Dj from Richmond CA got a shot to spin on a big stage. The PD Keith Naftaly gave us freedom to spin what was going on in the streets and the clubs. Music was broke on these bay area streets back then, now its all corporate with no substance. Thank God for my iPod and SERATO!
DJ Billy Vidal