HipHop-TheGoldenEra: Jam D.O.T - Da Original Troopa

Sunday, August 13, 2017

Jam D.O.T - Da Original Troopa

The excellent record label Back2DaSource Records has recently released the long awaited Jam DOT - Da Original Troopa EP / Da Ooh! - Lost In Queens EP.

All I can say is I've been a huge Jam Dot 's fan since day one and it's a great pleasure for me to see this kind of wax seeing the light of day. For those who aren't familiar with this MC from Flushing Queens, here is some info for your personal knowledge.

"People always ask how things were back in the Golden Era. Da Ooh was birthed from pure hip hop. Jam and Kwota forged a relationship unapologetically bombing the streets of Queens and New York. On their missions they would freestyle and hook up with The Triflicts and a bunch of other friends and spit cyphers and drive around the city playing midnight basketball.

Jam already rhyming and making beat tapes worked with several other artists managed to get Kwota in the studio to record Da Ooh Tribe Demos."

"We would be in the studio with L Double and Life helping out, there are several tracks and intros you can hear their voices on. Due to some unforeseen circumstances by the time a record deal was secured for the project. "

12" - 1994 - Warning Records

"Kwota wasn’t able to participate but the label decided to record two new songs « Watch Out » and « The Chemistry » with just Jam which gave birth to Jam D.O.T « Da Original Troopa » aka James Data."

"Working on « Da Original Troopa » project , Jam and family formed 456 records which would be the launch pad for him and other artists he was producing like Reno, Khalil, L Double, Saquan and few others over the years. You can hear Reno on hooks like « The Hustle » and songs like « Queens ». Da Original Troopa came from many days and nights of just getting lost and exploring NY by way of car, 7 train, bus or even just walking the streets with a can in hand, a few stickers and a marker !! Bombing Beyond Insanity !"

James Data aka Jam DOT

In 1995 the first Jam DOT 's 12" single came out on 456 records, composed of 2 tracks "Soul Search'n " and "Like This", featuring L Double (Da Lunatic) and entirely produced by Jam.

12" - 1995 - 456 Records

The second single released in 1996, is composed of 2 tracks : a remix to "Soul Serch'n" on the A-side and the B-side is made of a new track called "Time" which is available in 2 versions : the Radio version and Wastelanz Remix version.

12" - 1996 - 456 Records

« Opting not to release a solo album just yet that same year he released “Survival Series 11355” a Compilation album through a joint venture with another local indie label. The album allowed James to showcase more of his production skills and introduce several up and coming Mc’s to the underground Hip Hop scene. »

Survival Series - 11355 is an indie comp which came out on Mr Eggs Records, produced by B.G. Skillz, Dj Sur, Bejasa a.k.a Juwelz and Jam.

3 Jam DOT tracks appear on the B-Side : "Eye See" featuring Khaliyl & Réyel produced by Juwelz, "Can No One" featuring Syquawn and "Queens" featuring Réyel, both produced by Jam.

EP - 1996 - Mr Eggs Records

2017 is finally the year which brings us some unreleased Jam Dot tracks with the help of James Data and Back2DaSource Records :

"For this release we selected the best Jam DOT 90's unreleased tracks never heard before which deserved to be on wax, 6 tracks EP simply called Da Original Troopa EP that stands for DOT, Jam Da Original Troopa , all the tracks are produced by Jam DOT himself.

Then second EP on this double vinyl release is Da Ooh! as said above this group consisted of Jam DOT and Kwota, in this second 6 tracks EP we have chosen to reissue their very rare Da Ooh! - The Chemistry 12" and we added three crazy Demos from Da Ooh! early 90's material"