Ill Breed Militia - What's An I-Eleven? / Live & Direct - 1994

12" - 1994 - Bottomless Pit Records  

This wax came out on Bottomless Pit Records in 1994. It was released by the group Ill Breed Militia from New Brighton (Nowborn), Staten Island, NY. Ill Breed Militia was comprised of three members named Gello Jones a.k.a I elven (iLL), Nes and Boogie.

Promo Photo courtesy of Gello Jones

Nes, Gello Jones and Boogie were from the same neighborhood. They knew each other since they were in Junior High School, and Gello Jones & Nes also went to the same High School. They kinda formed the group at Kool Kim's house from the UMC’s who was Nes's dude. Nes spent most his time with the UMC’s while Gello Jones spent most of his time with U- God & Meth trying to get as nice as they were in writing rhymes. 

For the info, Nes was also in a group called The Unforgiven with Kool Kim and a kat named J-Bone. There is nothing officially released by the group but some demos exist...

Nes - J-Bone & Kool Kim - Promo Photo courtesy of Kool Kim

Ill Breed Militia's 12" is composed of 2 songs entitled "What's An I-Eleven"(voice version, radio edit & instrumental) and "Live & Direct" ('94 raw version) produced by Big God and Babyface Fin for Terra-dome Productions.

I don't have any info about those producers... According to Gello Jones, they met them through one of their home boys. They met them at the studio a couple times and they also came to the video shoot (yes ... an official video exists !!!!) and kinda lost contact.

About "Bottomless Pit Records", it was managed by Nes, Gello, George Diaz and his partner Luis Yanes a.k.a Lou. This 12" is the only one released on this small independent record label, grab it if you can !

Mad Props to Gello Jones. 

N.C.S. ‎- Real Shaolin - 1996

EP - 1996 - Black Prince Records  

N.C.S. a.k.a Nappy Crumb Snatchers was a group formed in 1993, born from a Brooklyn and a Staten Island connection, originated from Benjamin Grinch a.k.a Ben Green one of the core member of the group.

The group consisted of Napps from Port Richmond, Staten Island, Dingie Dust Kicker a.k.a Dingee Drinx from Killa Hill Projects, Staten Island, Crumb Unit 8 from Brooklyn and Benjamin Grinch a.k.a Ben Green from West Brighton, Staten Island but originally from Marcy Projects, Brooklyn.

The wax came out in 1996 on Black Prince Records, composed of the tracks "Black Rain", "Mentals Of The Mind", "Crumbsnatchers From The Slums","Facks", "Zero 8" and "Lump Sums", all produced by Johnell Hill a.k.a Napps. 

Ben Green : " N.C.S. ... I came up with the concept in January 1993. The way we were living at that time, in NYC, during the crack era with the world who flipped upside down... I lived in a house which had roaches all the time ... Crumbsnatchers...well a Crumbsnatcher is basically get what you can take and take what you can get ... and we considered ourselves Roaches... when you look at a roach, they are usually black and brown, so we were coming with the concept we represented the streets, the hoods, the projects and mainly in those areas you only see black and brown people, and we are all out here to take what we can get... that's how I start originally forming the whole concept. 

But we came up with different concepts, we also said we were from the 8 zone. The 8 zone is basically the twisted cypher, like how we felt, we were reversed to the earth... everything everybody was doing, we were doing the exact opposite...so being like what I said, be reversed to the earth. We were just so high one day that we've taken that zero and twisted it into a 8, that's the twisted cypher... We were so fuckin' high and twisted that day, we were spitting lyrics back and forth with each other, so when we got high we used to say I'm about to drop to the 8 zone... that was usually just us spitting lyrics at each other, during a mad 4 or 5 hours spitting and writing lyrics.

I knew Napps, we were both from different hoods on Staten Island a.k.a Shaolin at the time, we went to the same High School, and like in the early 90s, we were just straight battling always on the back of the bus and everywhere. As we were from different hoods, we had different clicks, everybody had their own squadron at that time...

I knew Crumb Unit 8 from Brooklyn, I had got ties in Brooklyn and the whole NYC and I had heard of Dingee because if you were wicked with it, your name was ringing bell in the street... Dingee lived in the neighborhood opposite of me and Napps as well. I talked to Crumb one night when I was in Brooklyn and I was in Shaolin the next day, I was walking one way and Napps was coming the opposite direction ... there was a low friction from a battle, like a month before, we directly had beef due to the battle and that shit was about to get physical... Anyway I stopped and said " Yo my G, let me highlight you for a second man, about the bullshit that went down... I respect your style and skill !", the feeling was mutual, I brought down the concept to him and he was feeling this shit... he said "I've got my man Dingee from Killa Hill, he's nice, he would be perfect!", so I said "Dingee would be perfect, check it out, I've got my man Crumb Unit 8 from Brooklyn"... from here and a hand check, we agreed to that !!

At that time, me and Crumb had a ritual... everyday, a Monday to Friday ritual.. after he got off from work, we were writing all the fuckin' night. It wasn't easy to access to instrumentals so we were just flowing over beats and words, trying to build our shit up. We were sat there from 5pm to 11pm maybe midnight, spitting at each other... 

Our first recording ever as a group was a joint titled "Hoodie Men" and we were known under the name of the Hoodie Men Click, a collective of emcees from Staten Island, consisted of me, Napps, Crumb Unit 8, Dingee, Neph aka the Last American B-Boy, the Madface Poet, P-Love and Shortstack. That was a big thing at that time because Shaolin was separated by hoods, and this hood could go to that hood, and that hood could go to this hood... and if you wanted to go this hood you better had props !! That was the first time that you had dudes from different Neighborhoods from Staten Island...we represented Shaolin to the fullest ... the WU came out with "Proteck Ya Neck" at the same time and we were also 7 members... "Hoody Men" was platinum in the street but none of us has a copy of that shit unfortunately... 

We didn't know nothing about business, we were angry niggaz, we were about 19, 20, 21 years old at the time, we were angry for everything... Napps knew a dude from Port Richmond, Keith Cormier aka Big Poppa. He was feeling what we were doing at the time, he heard a couple of joints we did and he was down with it. 

We originated in 1993 and started to record an album/demo at the beginning of 1996. Actually that was a good recording process at Unique Studios in Staten Island. At that time we had the pleasure of being in the studio A and the WU was in the studio B recording the Wu-Tang forever album. 

In July 1996 the album/demo was completed. Contacts have been made with labels like Def Jam, Bad Boy, Arista ... there was also another label, Keith Cormier had a brother who was in the game, his name was Roy Cormier, he worked for the independent label but I forgot the name of the label... But due to politic business all the deals from the labels were declined... we wanted to keep our shit to the essence ... From there Big Poppa had the money and we decided to go independent...Black Prince Records... that's how it was formed ! 

The wax was played on College Underground Radio Station on 105.9FM aired on Saturday nights and I believe it was played on Stretch & Bobbito on WKCR 89.9FM. We did college tour (upstate NY) and we also opened up for the WU one night I believe it was in The Arena... 

For the Story, we performed that "Hoodie Men" joint that night... everybody got on stage hooded up and when you were dropping your verses you had to take your hoodie off, so everybody could see who you really were... my man Shortstack, the white boy who was the third on that joint... Eminem before Eminem, Miilkbone before Miilkbone... as he took his hoodie off, I guess ODB didn't like white people, but he bum-rushed in the stage and grabbed the mic from Shortstack... ODB was drunk so there was some frictions and all the Wu warriors stepped on stage... so they emptied out the stage and emptied out half the club because of this shit..."

Mad Props to Benjamin Grinch, thanks for your time. 

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. 
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