"Another Dead Nigga in The Street / You Can Get The Finger" is a 12" released by the Jamaica Queens-based group Rickochet in 1994. The group was comprised of 5 members : Rick Strickland, F. Robinsons, J. Bryant, D. West and Gold Finger.
The wax came out on Rickochet Records, a record label founded in 1992 by Rick Strickland. This is their second 12" and it features the lead single "Another Dead Nigga in The Street" on the A-side, available in its original, radio edit and instrumental versions, and "You Can Get The Finger" on the B-side, available in its original, Off The Head Flow and instrumental versions. All the productions were handled by Gold Finger.
Regarding "Another Dead Nigga in The Street", you'll notice that the song title for the radio version differs from the original. For the radio version "Another Dead Nigga in the Street" was changed to "Another Dead Brother in the Street".
I don't know why but this record was their last record unfortunately. It's cheap and it remains really easy to find, so don't hesitate to add it for your record collection.
Here is the wax dropped by Slade Savage on Hydra Entertainment in 1998. This is the kind of 12" which is good, cheap and really easy to find, so don't hesitate to add it to your record collection. It contains the song "Good Son" (Radio, Main, Instrumental) on the A-side and the song "War stories" (Radio, Main, Instrumental) on the B-side, both tracks produced by Bezo.
What do you know about Slade Savage ? ... nothing I bet because there is nothing about him on the internet... that's why I hit him to get some infos and I was lucky to talk to him :
Slade Savage : " I was born in Harlem but I was raised in Queens. The first time I heard "Sucka MC’s" by RUN DMC is when I fell in love with hip-hop. My first name is Slade and at first I just used that but a friend of mine heard something that I did and was like 'yo you’re a savage with that mic', so I just adopted the name and made it mine but originally I went by Mr Sinister but I figured that I would get sued by Marvel, so I used my name instead.
If you know anything about NYC in the 80’s and 90’s, it was a great time for hip-hop and I had a front row seat, I saw the greats from the golden era and I knew I wanted to be a part of it somehow. I held on to my dream even though Tony Montana and Vito Corleone influenced me as well, with that being said, I did my thing in the street as well. It wasn’t until I started losing friends to prison and the cemetery was when I said to myself let’s give this music a go. That was 1995, three years later I was signed to an independent label. I really enjoyed the grind of it you know self promotion... I covered NYC with promo stickers, I passed out CDs... I honestly miss making music and I’m always gonna be a fan. "
circa '98 - Photo courtesy of Slade Savage
Slade Savage's first official appearance was on a track entitled "Money Matters" released in 1997 by Buddah Tye on Double Down Records. In the late 90s, he was introduced by a mutual friend to the Hydra Entertainment owner, Gerald Famolari.
Slade Savage wasn't affiliated with a crew, he was always a solo artist but he had strong ties to the group Screwball outta Queensbridge tho. He used to basically live in the studio at that time and recorded a lot of material produced by Bezo and Mike Heron, but nothing came out after this 12" unfortunately and everything still remains unreleased nowadays. This 12" is his first and last one...
Slade Savage : " I became disgruntled at the label for not promoting the project like I feel they could have, they were happy with the buzz we were getting but I felt it could have been a bigger push but it was a small indie label...
I didn't stop after that, but that whole ordeal wore me out plus my girlfriend at the time was pregnant with my first child so I had really focus on providing for her and the music wasn’t really paying."
I'll definitely keep an eye on Book$ in 2024... this Queens-based MC has delivered some very good material in 2023. Here is the visuals for his latest single produced by GoldenArm Kid, "Pushing Europeans" featuring Munch.
One of the latest episode of No Tv Raps Radio Show recently aired on Radio FSK, Hamburg (Germany) played this M.B Network 's track "C.O.N.N.E.R.Y." and it reminded me this Lost Demos EP, remastered from a demo tape and released by Blunted Astronaut Records in 2012.
Connery & Cillo - Promo Photo courtesy of Sean Conn
M.B Network a.k.a Mindless Brothers was a Queens-based duo which was comprised of 2 MCs named Connery and Cillo. Between 1995 and 1996, they recorded some demos which have been buried for years until Blunted Astronaut Records gave them a proper vinyl release. All the Demos were produced by DJ Doom from Brooklyn, NY, the same DJ Doom who released an album with Napoleon Da Legend on Chopped Herring Records in 2018, or who dropped a few records on Blunted Astronaut Records including the excellent "Deep Breath / Passive Aggression" with the late Blacastan (RIP) and O.C.
Photo courtesy of DJ Doom
The Lost Demos EP is composed of 11 tracks including 3 skits. The EP features Geoffrey Domma, Kat Daddy and the legendary female emcee Marquee who, I'm sure you will remember, featured on Lord Finesse's classic track "Speak Ya Peace" with Diamond D and A.G. in 1995.
- Connery, when did you start as an emcee exactly ?
Sean Connery : "I started writing at 16 years old. That’s when my emcee journey began."
- Where does your name Connery come from ?
Sean Connery : "The name was giving to me by a dude named Mathematics since my name was Sean he was like why don’t you call yourself Connery and it just stuck with me till this day."
- Is there a meaning behind it ?
Sean Connery : "I go by Sean Conn a.k.a Connery and it fits my journey I became Hip Hops Secret Agent and that’s who Sean Connery was 007 a secret Agent."
- What were your hip-hop influences at that time ?
Sean Connery : "Redman was my biggest influence at that time. He made me want to write rhymes. But before that Rakim and L.L. Cool J where emcees that I would listen to all the time."
- Could you tell me how the connection happened between You and Cillo ?
Sean Connery : "I grew up on the same block in Queens as Cillo, knew him since 8 years old."
Cillo & Connery - Promo Photo courtesy of Sean Conn
- When did you form M.B Network ?
Sean Connery : "In High School 10th grade me and Kat Daddy used to hang out all the time and even wrote out first raps together and formed Mindless Brothers that is also know as MB Network. Kat Daddy took his focus off rapping at the end of High School and Cillo ended up joining me in the group."
- Could you tell me how the connection happened with DJ Doom ?
Sean Connery : "I met Doom right out of High School, I did a security job that he was working at as well. He saw me writing a rap one day on my break and told me he makes beats and that’s when I started going to Brooklyn to his crib to work on music."
- Where did you all come from exactly ?
Sean Connery : "Me and Cillo are both from St. Albans Queens (North Side). I grew up 5 blocks from L.L. Cool J and would see him all the time as a kid and was inspired."
- Where does this name "Mindless Brothers" come from ?
Sean Connery : "It’s funny the name came from a old song from Onyx before they got Big with the style we all know them for. Song is called 'Ahhh and we do it like this', they say Mindless Brothers in the verse and my boy Fuzz told be that would be a dope name for a group so I used it."
From left to right : Cillo, Connery, Biggs & Fuzz - Photo courtesy of Sean Conn
- Could you give me more info about the guests Geoffrey Domma & Kat Daddy featuring on "Make Moves" ?
Sean Connery : "Kat Daddy was my first rap partner and after school we would go to his side of Queens Linden boulevard (Also part of St. Albans Queens around the block from A Tribe Called Quest) and write every day and Geoffrey Domma lived on his block and was also a emcee so we all made it routine to write together and sharpen our skills. After high school when me and Cillo were working on the demo tape I asked if they would hop on a beat Doom did, that had a crew song feel."
- How did the connection happen with Marquee ?
Sean Connery : "Funny thing is the original Demo-tape did not have 'Death Game' on it. That song was recorded about 2 years later. I met Marquee from a friend of a friend and she was signed to Trackmasters already, she heard the demo and took a liking to me and said I was talented. She kept in contact with me and started inviting me over to write with her and sharpen my pen game. She would also bring me around so many legends including Lord Finesse who was her boyfriend at that time. So just going to his house to write with her was amazing and I met Big L there as well as her taking me to studios with Queen Latifah and so many others.
DJ Doom had a beat for me and wanted me to get her on it and I did and, years later when he found the old recordings Blunted Astronaut Records had added it to the demo. If you listen to 'Death Game' I was more of a skilled Emcee at that time due to the training I did with the great Marquee and also pointers from Lord Finesse."
- Why did you never release the demos officially in the mid-90s ? what happened ?
Sean Connery : "We made the demo so we could mail it out to record labels for a deal. Back then it was the way to go if you wanted to be seen and heard you had to get with a major label. We sent it to about 10 labels. And got letters back from a few.
SoSo Def passed on us and Jive had interest but was not signing acts at that time. To know that is getting so much love so many years later shows it was official. Might be ready to set up a tour if the people want it."
Queens-based MC Superbad Solace (of Timeless Truth) drops the visuals for his second single "Been Valid", off of his latest album "Sol Controler 3" which is fully produced by Mono En Stereo.
One word... Enigma ! 26 years after the release of Allah Be Universal's first and only 12" on Wild Beast Records, this Queens-based MC is still like a ghost in the 90s indie hip-hop history. Even DJ Static from the South Bronx who produced the main single of the wax "Indecent Exposure", don't know much about him... All he can remember is that they just met at the studio through a mutual friend and played him a few beats. "A.B. Universal picked that beat and started to write to it"... that's how the single was born ! The flip side of the record contains the track "Omerta" produced by Cross-One from East Elmhurst Queens, NY with scratches handled by DJ Goodfella.
Fred Ones who recorded and mixed the tracks during the studio sessions declared in a recent interview I had with him :
Fred Ones : " I remember A.B.U.'s seriousness of the craft. This was over 20 years ago so exact details are hard but he had a real gift for rhyming… voice, rhyme flow and vocabulary. We all smoked and drank at the studio but when he got into the booth, it was time to work. Serious but chill dude !! "
About Wild Beast Records, It was managed by DJ Goodfella and a kat named Lex P. Lex P also released a 12" Test Pressing (Gladiator / Kinetic) in 1999, produced by DJ Static. About Allah Be Universal, if you want to grab more of his stuff you need to know that he also features on another 12" entitled Cliffhangaz (Ready 4 War / Curry Chicken Head) releasedin 1999 on Fat Beats Records, with productions managed by Shakim and the legendary Mista Sinista.
Big Yang a.k.a Big Yang The Lyrical Boss was a rapper from Far Rockaway, Queens NY who is now based and living his life in Houston,Texas. In 1994 he dropped his debut 12" entitled "Now It's Time" on M.O.B.B. Records, a small record label from Rosedale, NY managed by Ramel Harvey.
Ramel Harvey : "I decided to open M.O.B.B. Records because rappers didn't really last forever back then but music executives do. I believe it was around 1992. M.O.B.B. stands for Might Of Black Brothers. Big Yang was introduced to me by a friend who knew I was into music and we started working together from there because I knew he had something. His voice and presence was commanding so I knew we had to get into the studio."
The 12" consists of 4 tracks entitled "Licka - Licka" produced by J.K. Smooth and B.Scott, "Blow Up Da Spot" featuring Johnnie Qwest and produced by Baby Wise, "The Madness" produced by Starkim, and "Time Ta Drop Da Bomb" featuring Johnnie Qwest and produced by Baby Wise. The A-side contains the Radio versions of each track and the B-side which is also called the Street side contains all the Uncut versions. It's rare but no instrumentals are available.
"Now It's Time" was also released on Tape and CD format at the time. Vinyl and Tape are easy to grab for a good price but the CD version is a little bit more expensive due to the fact that it contains a bonus track entitled "Watch Whut Ya Say (Uncut)" produced by Baby Wise.
%20Kage,%20Conn,%20Biggs%20&%20Fuzz.jpg)
