"Sup y'all ?! As promised we are back with another Holy Grail reissue : The Mutha Goose Militia (Superior Allah, Born Education, Dj Klue, B.P. Superb). Golden era Gem from NY, Buffalo. Right on time for Easter, this Golden Egg EP chronicles their musical adventures from 93 an 94. This EP contains the two tracks from their very hard to find 12'' (1994) + Ain't No Change Instrumental and 4 DOPE mid unreleased tracks to make a 7 track EP . Analog mastering straight off the OG DAT!"- Bee Lapointe (B2DS)
A1 - Ain't No Change
A2 - En Garde
A3 - Duck Goose
A4 - Price of Fame
B1 - No More Mercy
B2 - Better Off Dead featuring Twenty Four Seven
B3 - Ain't No Change (Instrumental)
For those who don't know Mutha Goose Militia yet, the group released their first and only 12" on Ugly Duckling Music in 1994. The wax was composed of two tracks,"Ain't No Change" on the A-side and "En Garde" on the B-side, both tracks produced by DJ Clue and Born Education. They all disappeared after this release, dropping a unique 12" which is really hard to find nowadays... It's time to ask Superior Allah and Born Education a few questions to know more about the group story :
Where did you all come from exactly and how did the connection happen between all the members of the group ?
Superior Allah : "We're from New York State. Born is from Brooklyn but grew up in the Bronx, while Superb (which is not pictured), DJ Kloo and myself are from "DownTown" Eastside Buffalo, NY.
The group began in Houston, TX where DJ Hyde (from L.A.), DJ Born Education and I met in the summer of 1985 in the apartment complex we all lived in. Born moved to Houston the summer of 1985, prior to his freshman year of high school. I moved to Houston the summer of 1984 as a Sophomore in high school. I met DJ Hyde first, then we met Born. We formed a crew called E.D.I.C (Emcee Domination Incorporated Crew) and we did talent shows and parties between June '85 and June '86.
By the summer of June '86 I moved back to Buffalo where I would team up with a couple of childhood friends, Superb and DJ Kloo.
Upon graduating from High School, Born returned to NYC to reside in Brooklyn where he still lives.
Born Education : "As Supe said, we formed the group in Houston, Tx in the summer of 1986... it was funny at the time because none of us were from Houston or Texas. Once Superior had moved back to Buffalo, NY it seemed like we would never get our musical ideas off the ground. Not long after, Superior added two new members to the group and at first I was apprehensive hahaha.. he assured me that these guys were official; that they had talent and deserved their spots on the team. After getting introduced to Klue and Superb over the telephone, we clicked immediately and started plotting our very first songs.. this had to be around the summer of 1987."
How and when did you fall into hip-hop ?
Born Education : "We all fell in love with hip hop from the very beginning. In the years before we became a group we had been fully immersed in hip hop culture and all the elements.. our fandom was so great that we were determined to make music too! Hip hop was always changing in the beginning too and we had to navigate through all the changes in rap's overall sound.. we came from the era where rappers were spitting rhymes over drum machine beats with no melodies; just a dj cutting and scratching. After a few years of adjusting and refining our sound, we started going to the studio with more regularity and recorded demos. A LOT OF THEM! Eventually we put together a package that seemed comparable to much of what was coming out of the east coast in the early 90's."
Why did you choose the name of Mutha Goose ?
Superior Allah : "DJ Hyde, one of the original members, came up with the name Mutha Goose Productions. I felt the name was lacking bite so I suggested to the fellas that we drop "Productions" and add Militia to otherwise give the name some edge (hard core). In essence, saying don't be fooled by the name..we will get at you!
Do you remember why you chose "Ugly Duckling" for the name of the record label ?
Superior Allah : "After shopping for a record deal with no success we decided to start our own label called Ugly Duckling Music in which we managed. Born created the name "Ugly Duckling Music" as a spin of the group's name. As we struggled in our efforts to get our pkg together he was thinking some day this struggling, ugly duckling will blossom into a beautiful Swan for the world to see and experience."
Born Education : "One of the biggest challenges we faced as a group was getting a record deal. More than anything, we needed a connection into the record industry but we didn't have any. Our group name was unique but people were skeptical until they heard our tracks.. it was not easy to convince any industry heads that our sound and vision was worthy of a spotlight so we opened up own label and called it "Ugly Duckling Music"
"The Golden Egg"... where did the title of the EP come from ?
Born Education : "The Golden Egg concept for this EP came from the idea that our album seemed like a mysterious treasure that would never see the light of day... Almost mythical like the fable of the goose that laid the golden egg..."
Superior Allah : "The pursuit of the Golden Egg was more a desire for our music to reach the masses. We were dedicated to this mission. As Born said, we/he spent hours in the studio refining tracks, perfecting our sound. Eventually, I relocated to Charlotte, NC in 1997 and I think the fellas may have given up on the vision. I hadn't yet. So, I would travel to Buffalo with my computer to upload beats from Kloo and Superb to input them into a program I purchased called Logic by Emagic. At the time it was the most used software in Europe. I was still determined."
What were your musical influences at the time ?
Born Education : "As a group, we were inspired musically by a lot of the funk bands and jazz artists that dominated the 1970's and lyrically, I think we tried to make our own way on a path started by other conscious rappers of the era like Rakim, Lakim Shabazz, Big Daddy Kane, PRT, King Sun and plenty others.."
Superior Allah : "Musical influences ... Marley Marl, Eric B, Prince Paul from a production standpoint. Tribe Called Quest and Leaders Of The New School..."
Why is there only one 12" released in the 90s ?
Superior Allah : "Well... once we pressed our first single we were ineffective at pooling our monies to press the next single. Ditto for the album..."
Born Education : "Ultimately, our first release on our own label ended up being our only release. Having spent all the years prior to 1994 developing our sound and spending so many hours in recording studios, we had no experience running a label or a successful business. This led us to eventually give up recording new material and stop pursuing our dream of dropping our debut album.. in hindsight, we were too young, too broke and too inexperienced for what we tried to pull off. That's why this release in 2020 means so much!"
What are your most memorable moments?
Superior Allah : "Our most memorable moments came when we were asked to come to Amsterdam to perform. I met a guy by the name of George in the summer of 1987. He and my then brother in law Beaver had finished a pick up basketball game at the park. Beaver brought George to his house where my cousin Binky and I were beatboxing and rapping. George heard us, enjoyed what he heard then asked if we would come to Europe to perform ? I said sure. Now, in the back of my mind I'm thinking he can't be serious !?! Approximately seven months later he called asking how soon could we get our passports ? In February 1988 the crew was on our way to Amsterdam where we perform 17 shows around the city and country. What an experience that was! We open for a group called the Cookie Crew out of Europe at the Aknenton and was there when Public Enemy was touring. Unfortunately, Born did not make the trip as his pops would felt he was too young to travel across the Atlantic."
What do you think about Hip Hop or the so called Hip Hop of today ?
Superior Allah : "The state of Hip-Hop today is back to the happy/party era of the Sugar Hill Gang. I agree with KRS-ONE that Hip-Hop has seasons. Lyrically, there are only a handful of emcees that I listen to i.e J. Cole, Wale, Kendic Lamar to name a few. Everyone else sounds alike. To be honest, in my humble opinion, Hip-Hop began to decline when major record labels started investing in the music. Hip-Hop has been watered down since. I don't care for Hip-Hop music today because of this fact. Plus, I enjoy lyrics with content; an emcee with skills. Hip-Hop was not surprised to last. It was considered a fade according to music industry leaders. I look forward to the day when the season changes!''
Born Education : "As it has been from the beginning, hip hop is an ever-changing sound. While today's mainstream rap music hardly moves me, the underground scene still exists and thrives to this day! the underground scene has always been the creative spark behind our love for this music and I'm glad to hear that the appreciation for lyricism, musicality and conceptual music still exists in 2020. While we are no longer recording or producing music on any level, I made it a point back in 2015 to get back to writing graffiti and learning how to work a spray can. In the early days of hip-hop, graffiti was a hobby of mine until we became a rap crew. It seemed logical to get back to graf art after all these years; it seems to be the piece that was missing for me after we stopped making music as a group."
Born Education : "Before I go, I just wanted to thank you for this interview and Back2DaSource Records for this unique opportunity to see my teenage dream become reality. This has been an unforgettable experience.. PEACE!"
Superior Allah : "The entire Mutha Goose Militia tribe wants to thank you for this interview and Bee for his vision. For this was always our pursuit of the Golden Egg! Love, Peace and Happiness"
Mad Props to Bee Lapointe, Superior Allah, Born Education, Dj Klue, B.P. Superb, Thomas Stephansen, DJ Grazzhoppa, Nerco Black, Dé Larchiviste & all the B2DS Fam .
