Radio Show : Live From The Hood - July 1, 1995 - WOWI 102.9FM

Here is an episode of the  'Live From The Hood' radio show hosted by the Boodah Brothas. It was aired on July 1st 1995 on the Norfolk, Virginia based radio station WOWI (102.9FM).

Don't miss the Dark Skinned Assassin interview and Freestyle on Side #2 and Wise Intelligent of the Poor Righteous Teachers on Side #3. Props to DJ Problematik for the upload !

 Live From The Hood Intro

Big Kap feat Bahamadia, Precise, Treep, Uneek & Lauryn Hill - Da Ladies In The House Remix

Doug E Fresh - It's On  

Smif-N-Wessun - Sound Boy Bureill

Radio Promo

AZ - Rather Unique

L.O.T.U.G - Neva Faded

 Whitey Don feat. Chip Fu & Phife Dawg - Artical

Gang Starr - Instrumental

Talk Break

Show & AG feat Party Arty, Wali World, D Flow and Method Man - Got The Flava

Finsta Bundy - Sunnyside Instrumental

The Roots - Proceed Beatminerz Remix

Phone Call

Lost Boyz - Lifestyles Of The Rich And Shameless

Special Ed - Neva Go Back Remix

Raekwon feat Ghostface Killah - Criminology

Random Radio Promos

Notorious Big - Give Me One More Chance Remix

Nine - Ova Confident

Smif-N-Wessun - Wrektime Instrumental

Talk Break

Dark Skinned Assassin - Interview 

Dark Skinned Assassin - Gotta Get The Creme

Dark Skinned Assassin + Guests - Freestyle

Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya

Phone Call

AZ - Sugar Hill

Talk Break with Wise Intelligent 

Radio Promo

Wise Intelligent - Killin' U

Wise Intelligent - Interview & Freestyle  

Nitty Gritty feat Wise Intelligent - Good Morning Teacher

Jemini the Gifted One - Funk Soul Sensation

Talk Break

Mic Geronimo - Masta IC

Talk Break 

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Junior Mafia - Players Anthem Remix

Phone Call

Rugged Scientist - Lights Camera Action 

Big L Feat. Missy Jones - M.V.P. (Summer Smooth Mix)

Nine - Famaldahyde

GZA - Labels RZA Remix

Phone Call

DSA a.k.a Dark Skinned Assassin !

Back in 1995 when a Staten Island based emcee with a deep potential, known under the name of Dark Skinned Assassin dropped his first 12-Inches "Lock Shit Down" on 4 Doe Loe Records, a record label managed by himself and Steve Dunn. 
The 12" was produced by RNS, DJ ILL and Vic Flowers and was composed of three tracks "Lock Shit Down / The Horror / Gotta Get The Creme". The first time I've heard these songs was on a mixtape I bought in London in '95, from one of these record stores based in Soho. No doubt I bought the wax after that...

12" - 1995 - 4 Doe Loe Records 

DSA : "I was born in Harlem, things got crazy for my mom and us so we moved to S.E. Wash.,DC, afterwards, to N.C. , but I moved back to NYC, to live with my dad, on Staten Island, until we had a few altercations with one another. I started hustling and carrying, making street moves, soon after a couple close comrades brought me to Stapleton Houses where I met RNS and RZA.

My mentality back in the days was seek out, destroy, conquer.  So one night somebody was having a house party on Staten Island and a few of the favored, neighborhood well known Emcees were there, then out of no where one of  my comrades informed me that some dude was baiting me to get the microphone after Brown Hornet, (guess they wanted to compare my skills to the rest), so I spit over a break beat, "shut shit down", dropped the mic and started to walk away, all of a sudden the whole party went silent for a couple of seconds, then started trippin’!! Screams, cheers and whistles followed, (somebody even let go a few shots), shit was epic. I returned to Stapleton few days after, RNS expressed an interest in recording with me. I was charged ! Heard about RNS as a producer, so the energy was mutual. As we were recording, that same day RZA and a couple dudes walked in the lab, (at the time RNS studio was setup at the apartment in the Pees), RZA listened, then commented, replying, "sound dope, the god got his own style". GP and Wu-Tang was definitely inspirational, and genuine when we interacted. Living the lifestyle, gangsta rap was easy, but there was much more going on in my mind, so I traveled through out NYC to unleash the inner tension. DJ ILL had a studio in Queens at the time, I was living in Brooklyn. I was going from BK, to SI, to Queens to Manhattan to record, then to the Bronx to hustle and part time job back in Manhattan. DJ ILL was putting in crazy hours. He had a group of his on called X-tra Pleza, plus the yg’s (ENY) Pressure and L Murda, (Uncle Murda to most), Mic Handz, Zodiac and Zig Zag, a few others and myself. We all would collab with each other, then we’d record individual songs. The studio in Queens was a family vibe. I walked in and heard the track to "Lock Shit Down" and instantly wanted to spit to it ! ILL said "let me hear what you wrote"... Kicked the verse then we recorded the whole song that day. Soon after met Victor Flowers, (he produced "The Horror" and "Gotta Get the Creme"), and we naturally clicked artistically."

In 1996, he featured on the song "G.P Connection" released by Pop The Brown Hornet. The track is on the B-side of the classic 12" "Black on Black Crime" released by the GP Wu member on Smoke Records.

He dropped at the end of the same year his new 12" single "Unholy / Uncontrollable" produced by RNS and released on Black Dog Entertainment. This Record Label was comprised of Steve Dunn, his brother Walter and DSA. 

12" - 1996 - Black Dog Ent.  

"Unholy" is the main single of the record. A video of the song exists but was never released and the song wasn't as successful as "Lock Shit Down" but it was played many times by Stretch & Bobbito that year. By the way, DSA was invited on WKCR with Gauge the Mental Murderah on October 17, 1996 for the promo of his 12". Here are their freestyles and interviews.

Then he disappeared due to law problems without dropping an album...

DSA : "I was blessed to be alive and given a chance to release some music, do minimal promoting, meet and network with a few people, while being on trial for a couple of felonies, 1 charge was dropped based on a technicality, the other was dismissed in trial, after my attorneys filed a Clayton motion, but the Manhattan D.A. was not pleased so filed a motion of appeal and I was convicted in appellate court. Leaving behind 5 potential major deals on the table, family and friends, my freedom, my lady and 1year old son, whom I loved very much. Thus, no album after EP... I was angry at myself and the world because I felt I let down everyone who was riding with me. I fucked up. Re-entering society after my prison bid, I decided, primarily, the music industry wasn’t as important as being there for the child that never got to know his dad, secondly the shift in quality and politics had began to pollute the rawness of the artform so I stayed out of the grind and moved my new family out of state, (still and all, once and artist always an artist). A year or two later, found myself traveling 700 miles just to record in New York when requested to do so."

A strange EP was released circa '96 with three unreleased tracks produced by RNS : "Life of a Shorty" feat No Smiles aka Tommy Whispers, "Untitled Raw Shit" and "Smoke In Ya Face", but this is an unofficial release...

DSA : "I don’t know who released the 'Down Low Wreckege E.P.', I was incarcerated at that time..."

EP - 1996 - Not On Label 

Mad Props to Michael "Fuji" Love 

Pop Da Brown Hornet

12" - 1996 - Smoke Records  

Many aspiring rappers kick around the term "MC" whenever it suits their fancy. Many of these MCs lack skills, so in a futile effort to impress their over inflated egos, they rap about cars they rent, the ice they lease, the money they don’t have and the big house they don’t own. But, in the immortal words of Rakim, "MC" means to move the crowd. The best way to do that is with good olf fashion lyrical skills.

Pop Da Brown Hornet is an MC who possesses the lyrical skills to move the crowd, and more importantly , one who understands that hip-hop has taken a few wrong turns for the worst. His mission is to put it back on course with his weapon of choice : his trusty microphone and lyrical skills.

"Rakim once said that MC meant move the crowd , and lotta MCs are moving the crowd. I gather that a lot of rappers took that literally. No they’re busting their guns and they really are moving the crowd in the wrong direction. And hip-hop has moved in the wrong direction. In the new Millenium, to me, MC means message carrier. We have so much watered down hip-hop out there. It’s been a while since I’ve heard an album that sounds like mine , where you don’t have to kill up everybody to sound tough. It’s a lyricist album. I wanted to get lyrical and prove that’s there’s a difference between hip-hop and rap. Really, right now we have been dancing and boogying to rap. I wanna see if people are ready for a hip-hop album"

Born and raised in the infamous Staten Island , Pop started out rhyming at an early age . He payed his dues by coming up through the ranks along side some young MCs whom would later become the Wu-Tang clan. "I remember being underage rhyming on one of these corners out there in a cipher with five or six individuals , who at the time weren’t really known for who they are now. It was all of us . It was the Clan members, even though there weren’t the Wu-Tang Clan at the time. I remember stealing the show a couple of times"

By the early 90s Pop Da Brown Hornet’s name was ringing around Staten Island like church bells on Easter Sunday. "That’s when people were really big on me in Staten Island. During the late 80s and the early 90s when I was just doing demos , they’d be instant classics on the streets. Songs like "No More Mr Nice Guy" are from that era"

Although Pop’s demos were red hot on the streets and he had some impressive guest spots on Shyheim Da Rugged Child’s LP , He still found it hard to land a deal as a solo artist. Finally, he hooked up with some neighborhood friends (Down Low Recka, June Luva and Rubberbands) he used to rhyme with and they formed the Gladiator Posse, who later became known as GP Grain. 
Press Kit 

Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito Show - February 22nd 1996 - WKCR

Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito Show - February 22nd 1996 - WKCR

AK Skills - Check The Flava

Company Flow - Vital Nerve

LA The Darkman - I Want It All Remix

Sadat X - Move On

Hillfiguz - Pain 

Bahamadia - True Honey Buns

Group Home - 2 Thousand

Talk Break

Redman - Stretch & Bobbito Promo

Tragedy - L.A. L.A. (Original Mix) feat CNN & Mobb Deep

Royal Flush - Movin On Your Weak Productions

Talk Break

Sick Lyrical Damager & Percee P - '96 Stretch & Bobbito Freestyle

Omniscience feat Sadat X - Touch Y'all

Fat Joe - Firewater feat Raekwon, Big Pun & Armageddon

Lord Finesse - Actual facts Feat Sadat X, Extra P, Grand Puba

Shyheim & Rubbabandz - '96 Stretch & Bobbito Freestyle

Dutchmin - Get Your Swerve On 

Lord Finesse - '96 Stretch & Bobbito Freestyle

Percee P - Nowhere Near Simple

Mobb Deep - Q.U. Hectic

One and One - Phenomenon

Smoothe Da Hustler - Murdafest feat Trigger Tha Gambler & D.V. alias Khrist

Broadway - Must Stay Paid

Blahzay Blahzay - Danger (Remix)

Shyheim - 5 Elements

Trigga - No Tomorrow

Shyheim - This Iz Real

Paula Perry - Paula's Jam

Pop Da Brown Hornet - G.P. Connection

Broadway - Enjoy Yourself

Sunz Of Man - No Love Without Hate

LA The Darkman feat Raekwon - As The World Turns

Pop Da Brown Hornet - Black On Black Crime

Dark Skinned Assassin - Lock Shit Down

Dark Skinned Assassin - The Horror

Mobb Deep - Right Back At You Pt. 2

Talk Break

Pop Da Brown Hornet & Dark Skinned Assassin - '96 Stretch & Bobbito Freestyles

Talk Break With Lazy K

AK Skills - Nights Of Fear

Large Professor - The Mad Scientist

Artifacts - Art Of Facts

Heltah Skeltah - Undastand

Krunchtime

Dark Skinned Assassin - Lock Shit Down - 1995

12" - 1995 - Doe Loe Records