" Welcome to our 13th episode of the 90's Tapes Radio Show! Slight line up changes this time. J-Ruff (90's Tapes Team) will take care of the hosting part with active support in the recording process from his long time homie DJ Frenetikk (121 Crew). Both of them also shared turntable duties with Frenetikk bringing a mix of mostly classic golden era material while J-Ruff blended some indy favorites on the wheels of steel.
Special guest of the show is Wil Champion of the group Southpaw from Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in the early ninties with his childhood friend Pro-K, Southpaw delivered two albums with Left Hand Rule (1993) and Left Hook (1997) which became fan favorites among underground heads and indy collectors.
Enjoy 90 minutes of head nodding heat for your listening pleasure. Peep the flava! " - courtesy of 90's Tapes Radio Show
What a day ... 90's Tapes are back with the reissue of 3 albums from the Apex Crew members Southpaw and Ase Man representing Cleveland, Ohio. I've been waiting for a reissue of the albums "Left Hand Rule" and "Left Hook" for a long time, now it's done !
" Southpaw, the duo comprised of Wil Champion & Pro-K, delivered two certified classics in the mid 90's, handling both the production and rhyme part on their own. "Left Hand Rule" marked their debut in 1993, released in limited runs on vinyl, CD and cassette. Our release contains an alternate cover image from the original photo session.
In 1997, the sophomore album "Left Hook" dropped in limited runs on CD and cassette. Next to the original 12 tracks, the full album includes all instrumental versions sourced from the original DAT's.
Southpaw's longtime friend and Apex Crew member Ase Man originally dropped his CD-only debut "Step Into The A.M." in 1997. Wil Champion handled the productions, Pro-K served the cuts and Ase Man delivered the rhymes with features by Paradox & Lynes. Next to the original 12 tracks, the full album also includes all instrumental versions sourced from the original DAT's similar to Southpaw's "Left Hook". " - courtesy of 90's Tapes
Available in a limited run each on 2LP/3LP (300 copies each), CD/2CD in jewel case (300 copies each) and MC/2MC (100 copies each).
Here is another hard to find album that I'd like to see reissued on vinyl one day... It came out in 1993 and was dropped by the C-Town-based duo Southpaw which was comprised of Luther ''Pro-K'' Kibble and Wil "Champion" Harbour, both members of the Apex Crew. Wil Champion is from Highland Hills and Pro-K is from Warrensville, both in the South part of Cleveland,Ohio.
The album was originally released on Vinyl, Cassette and CD on Jammitt Recordings, and distributed by Platinum Label Group.
Wil Champion, could you tell us how the connection first happened between you and Pro K ?
Wil Champion : "It's funny, we were classmates in middle school and we sat next to each other. We both discovered art and we both liked to draw. One day I couldn't find a felt tip marker I liked to use for my outlines and asked him did he happen to see it. He said no but offered me another pen of his to use. From there we became best friends and we still stay in contact to this day. What's funny though is years later, I guess around the time we were going to the studio, he told me "remember when you lost that pen in middle school and I offered you another one of mine?" I said "yea..?" He says to me " oh yeah I stole that.. that was a nice pen you had". We had a lot in common with art and also loved music and was inspired by hip-hop culture."
About the Hip-Hop culture, what were your hip-hop influences at that time ?
Wil Champion : "Always loved hip hop from its very start but I really got interested in actually wanting to make music around the time hip-hop was making the transition from the drum machine and scratch to the sample based tracks with the drum programming. My influences are EPMD, Jungle Brothers, KRS, D-Nice, definitely Marley Marl and the artists he produced such as LL, Kane, MC Shan and Biz Markie (r.i.p.). But what ultimately inspired me to make the first album was listening to and networking with the DJs like Icy Ice, Fred the Jammer, Johnny O, EQ, and Scratch Master L, and producers such as JazzMarc, RobieMan, RoughDraft and L.T. So if you notice the production style of 'Left Hand Rule', while sampled based, many of the songs are structured somewhat like a DJ mix"
When did you start producing exactly ?
Wil Champion : "I started producing around 1991 and was hired by a management company to do remix versions of R&B songs. Among those I remixed a song called "Shoulda Been Honest" for Ron Banks of The Dramatics under the name U.B. Strange and remixed the theme for the Indianapolis black expo. At this time I started assembling beats and thinking up song ideas with my boys pro-k and 'letterman' Lance that actually came up with the title and co-wrote "waiting at the apex" with me. "
Southpaw was affiliated with the Apex crew. Could you give me more info about this crew ?
Wil Champion : "Well, Apex Entertainment is my production company and I opened a studio in which I got a chance to work with a lot of talented artists. I always had an affinity for the crews like Wu-Tang, Dipset, Juice Crew and NWA so I recruited and collaborated with rappers to assemble my own. The core group of my crew was Lewdog T, Wartribe, Trell Da Wizard, Feron Snotti, Tom Gotti, Johnny Newell (r.i.p.), Paradox, and of course Aseman and Pro K. I released 2 albums with the crew: Wil Champion "Crispy" featuring the crew and the Apex Crew "Top Notch" compilation. Also I produced an entire album for Aseman called "Step Into the A.M." "
Do you remember how many copies of the album "Left Hand Rule" were pressed on vinyl ?
Wil Champion : "We did that album with a local independent record label that did the pressing, so my best guess is 'not too many' !!!
We moved on to an independent record label called Avion Records, that did good by us, given the resources they had. Showed alot of love."
Why did Southpaw stop after the second album "Left Hook" released on Avion Records in 1997, which is also a very good one ?
Wil Champion : "Thanks, I appreciate that ! But we didn't stop; I went on to produce for other artists like Aseman and others from my own studio, I went on to produce the Wil Champion "Crispy" album that featured a song called "Operate" which we both performed, and a song called "You Can't Figga Me" with us and Donny Arcade from the group Wartribe. The Apex Crew album also features myself and pro-k on a few tracks. After that I released a solo project called "Blak Swan"."
Have you ever thought of reissuing the first album on vinyl ?
Wil Champion : "That would be a great idea. Maybe I'm not aware of the demand for this album on vinyl, but I always liked album cover art and design. That would be fun to do."
Mad Props to Wil Champion Harbour. Thanks for your time.
Southpaw is an underground hip-hop duo from Cleveland (Ohio) consisting of rappers Luther ''Pro K'' Kibble and Wil "Champion" Harbour, both members of the Apex Crew. Their first album " Left & Rule" was released in 1993 on Jammit Recordings. The Album is really dope and very hard to find so if you see the OG version online or in your local Record Store, you shouldn't hesitate one second to buy it ... but be careful a CD-R version is floating around !
