'95 Live

I picked up this Elektra/East West "iLLSTYLE LIVE" showcase record from a friend recently (S/O to DJ Eurok at Upset the Setup.)

My initial reaction upon playing it was "who A&R’ed at Elektra back in the day?" Seriously, what an amazing roster they had. It's crazy to think how many of these artists' (most?) albums went unreleased.

My reason for writing today is to introduce you to one of the artists featured on this 1995 Live album: Omniscence is his name (I'll take his word on the spelling.) He's from North Carolina, has/d a ridiculous punch-line battle rap-type flow, and just has some serious ENERGY on the mic. It’s possible this got some burn back then on college radio or mixtapes and the like, but this is the first I’ve heard it.

In terms of the audio below, here's what we've got:

Omniscence on the mic
+ Big Kap on hypeman duties
+ a bangin’ beat provided by DJ Rheji Burrell
+ a freestyle over a classic Biggie beat (to get you warmed up)
+ Pete Rock on the decks?
= some barely released classic mid-90’s unforgettable hip-hop shit.

Omniscence - Amazin (Live)

Shout out to Dante Ross, all the artists on this compilation, TROY blog and The Lost Tapes blog.

Air Raid

5 years ago, Alpha Pup Records released Glitch Mob member edIT's second album, "Certified Air Raid Material." Around that time, I had the opportunity to chat with both edIT and Ooah (also of the Glitch Mob) about their recent releases, inspirations, and the Live performances that they'd become known for.

Some things have changed in the past 5 years, but these guys are still doing their thing...and well, I might add.

Here is the full edIT + Ooah interview, as it aired back in 2007. Big shout to Alpha Pup Records, and of course edIT and Ooah for the time.

edIT + Ooah on Pitch Control - October 28, 2007/XM Buy: edIT - "Certified Air Raid Material"
Buy: Ooah - "Hacksaw / Tubstomper"

Stay in the loop with The Glitch Mob at www.theglitchmob.com.

Something You Got

I have a small collection of cassette tapes that I've held onto over the years...mostly stuff that I've never come across on record, or mixtapes and the like which were never released in any other format. I appreciate tapes, not just because they are a cheap way to experience music I don't otherwise have, but because there's no easy way to skip over the music and move on to the next track. You actually had to listen to the music on a tape...the limitations of the medium acted as a sort of quality control measure, or at least that's my theory.

I remember getting my hands on a couple of these tapes, "The Staple Sessions," back around 2001 when I worked with the FADER magazine/Cornerstone Promotion. Jeff Staple and Staple Design did a bunch of work for the magazine then, and so I landed these tapes from hanging around the offices.

Anyway, I was recently listening back to DJ Chillout (aka Harry Chronic) "The Sessions: Volume One" and heard a number of songs that I want to track down. And in most cases, I've been able to figure out the Artist/Title of these songs, but there's one tune in particular that I can't pinpoint who it is...

If you have any thoughts on who the artist might be, please throw some ideas up in the Comments section. I can't seem to get this out of my head...

Something You Got (reggae version)

(and for those interested, here is Side one of the tape in its entirety)
DJ Chillout (aka Harry Chronic) "The Sessions: Volume One" side one

Original mix

I bought a bunch of tunes from Beatport the other week. If you have not already experienced Beatport's online record store, I definitely recommend you check them out. Not only do they have ~2-minute audio samples of the songs for sale, but you can also store tracks in your "Hold Bin" for further review or to purchase at a later time. (hint: check out their 'DJ Charts' too.)

Anyways, I found some real dope records on this recent Beatport visit and wanted to share a few of them with you...

Waifs & Strays - "Yeah Yeah (Original mix)"

Finnebassen - "Touching Me (Original mix)"

Jacques Greene - "Dakou" (digital exclusive)

S/O to Beatport, Eats Everything, my dude Nacey, Machinedrum, Om Unit and everyone else whose put me on to some of these sounds. Appreciate it..