Organized Konfusion in Stress Magazine - 1997

 

From Stress Magazine - Jul/Aug 1997, Issue #08 - Scans courtesy of Christian Luda

New Joint : CERTAIN.ONES - LIKE IT OR NOT - 2024

 

Here is the latest single delivered by CERTAIN.ONES featuring Feral Serge, Bobby Craves and Stress. The Production is managed by Wann Sklobi. 

Stress - Gas Ya Head Up - 1999

 

12" - 1999 - Stress  

I've seen this wax floating around a few times on social media, and one of the tracks entitled "Gas Ya Head Up" appeared in a few mixes recently.  This song is the first track of the B-side of this 12" released in 1999 by the New Jersey-based emcee/producer Stress. 

The track is produced by Stress, and engineered, mixed & recorded at the Safe House by Madman G a.k.a Gee The Madman, who is a member of the group Massive Staff and who also produced the legendary joint "Crab" released by Fierce in 1996. Safe House was a home studio owned by Kyle Knordle a.k.a Knowledge (of Massive Staff) which was based in East Orange, NJ. It was a creative center for numerous underground new jersey artists at that time. If you're looking for more info about Stress, I asked him a few questions in a short interview ... 

Stress, where are you from exactly ?

Stress : " I grew up in East Orange, New Jersey. These days I live in Newark, New Jersey, but I'm from East Orange."

 

Could you tell me how everything first started for you as emcee and producer ?

Stress : " When I was younger, I played the upright bass and also the trumpet. I was in the school band, the orchestra and the jazz band.  I was in all city bands throughout the school district. I also was in the church choir. So I had a pretty solid music foundation. My uncle had his own band and used to do shows and back up artists like Stephanie Mills. He played keyboard and used to take me to his rehearsals. At the same time my other uncle was getting into rapping and breakdancing Not to mention, my mother wrote poetry....This is where it starts for me... When I first heard my uncle rap, I knew that's how I wanted to express myself.  The production just went with it. I never saw myself not doing both. I started off making pause tapes to make instrumentals. Then my mom bought me a gemini sampler and a karaoke machine and I just went from there. I was making tapes in my attic and giving them out at school." 

What were your hip-hop influences at the time ?

Stress : " I was influenced by everything. But as far as hip hop, The Beatminerz, Dj Premier, Rza, Pete Rock, Prince, Larry Smith, Quincy Jones and so on.. There's so many to name. "

"Gas Ya Head Up" is co-produced by Madman G . How did the connection happen with him ?

Stress : " As far as "Gas Ya Head Up", that song is the first song I ever recorded in a studio! I had a skeleton of the track done on a tape, and I wanted to do a song to it.

I wanted better quality than my karaoke tapes so I started looking for a place to record. I went to school with Madman Gee's younger brother. He told me his brother had a place, so I just went there. He charged me 25/hr and we laid the song. He added the sample that's running over the main part of the beat and did all the drops. We did the song in 45 mins. I thought to myself, I'm gonna keep coming back here. "

Were you affiliated with a crew at that time ? 

Stress : " I was affiliated with a crew from High School called B.U.K. -  BUNCH UV KILLAZ... Broke Unfortunate Kids ... We had a lot of acronyms !

The hook itself from "Gas Ya Head" is a nod to my man Great Dane (RIP) from our crew. He said that line in a song. I used it for a hook."

Do you remember how many copies of the 12" were pressed in 1999 ? 

Stress : " I believe I pressed 300 promo copies of that record. Funny thing is, the single we were promoting was the song "Impact". "Gas Ya Head Up" was a B-side. We pressed it in 1999 but "Gas Ya head" was recorded in 1996 as part of my original demo tape. 

What amazes me is that all these years later, people from overseas and other place are seeking out that song !"

Mad Props to Stress, thanks for your time. 

Smoked Out Productions - Mad Drama 1994-1996 EP

EP - 2019 - Chopped Herring Records  

 350 Copies (120 Copies on Dark Green Vinyl & 230 on Trad Black Wax)

Pre-Order  

SOP a.k.a Smoked Out Productions

Let's talked about that group called SOP a.k.a Smoked Out Productions. It was a group from NYC who consisted of four MCs named Stress, Agony, Black a.k.a Black Attack and Problemz. 

The names of Stress and Agony might not be very familiar to you but no doubt you've already heard about Black Attack and Problemz, who were both affiliated to the Beatnuts and also members of the group Missin' Linx with Al' Tariq in the late 90s. 

For those who don't remember and to recap quickly, Black Attack and Problemz recorded a lot of stuff from the mid to the late 90s.Black Attack released two classic 12-inches featuring Problemz in 1997 which were both played many times by Stretch & Bobbito that year : "Holdin' It Down / Verbal Attack" on Correct Records and "My Crown / Correct Technique" on Ghetto Gold Recordings / Rawkus. They also worked a lot with DJ Honda at that time and featured on all his albums...

Smoked Out Productions was founded in 1993. They released their first 12" titled "Back Up Kid (That's What You Get)" on Smoke Out Music in 1994, which is very hard to find. Personaly I've never seen a physical copy of it for sale in a record store... always online for a fucking crazy price... 

The tracks "Back Up Kid", "Aw Yeah" and "Phases" were produced by two cats named Big Tone and John Kapon who also managed the record label.    

12" - 1994 - Smoked Out Music

Problemz : "SOP initially was a production squad with two Emcees .. Stress and Agony. Black and I met thru SOP, began recording songs and before you know it we all formed as a crew. We'd link up a few times a week at John's crib, smoke, kick it and write ... When it came time to record we'd go to a studio owned by one of John's friends called the Cutting Room... funny thing is although we were Smoked Out Productions ... I didn't really start smoking until like a half a year after getting down with the crew... I would get skipped in the cypher unbeknownst I was catching crazy contact high. SOP was just that ... Smoke Out Productions lol"

Black Attack : "Well before me they were already a group. SOP was already established. Problemz, Stress and Agony were already making records and all that. I came along after the fact introduced by a mutual friend that knew them. But once we met we automatically just clicked. They pretty much welcomed me in.

Stress, Agony and Big Tone were all from Harlem. If I’m not mistaken Stress and Agony were a group before SOP, with Big Tone making the beats. I think they kinda grew up together. John Kapon was from Manhattan, John and Tone together on them beats tho was fire. John just had a ear for something different. Tone was that all music guy... take any melody and turn it into a beat. He could listen to any beat and come up with the craziest hook you’ve ever heard."

The following year the crew was back with a brand new 12-Inches composed of 2 tracks titled "Styles" and "Bok Bok" ... same emcees, same production team ! 

12" - 1995 - Smoked Out Music  

The same year, Problemz appeared on the Echo Underground Airplay Volume IV with the solo track titled "Neva B4" which was an alternate version of the track "Styles". 

If you are a follower of the great "Take It Personal" podcast, I'm sure you're familiar with the name of Andre Prine aka DJ 360, member of the Philaflava crew. 

Here is something people don't know... In the mid-90s Andre was affiliated with SOP. At that time he worked for the music industry and he did productions and remixes for the group. After a brief interview Andre gave me more info about how everything started for him in the music industry and tell me more about how the connection happened with the SOP members... here is a slice of NY indie hip-hop history :

DJ 360 : "I was born in NY in 1971 and moved to Florida at a young age. I went to film school for college and that brought me back to Manhattan in the early 90’s. I lived in the West Village and was fortunate enough to experience Hip Hop’s "Golden Era" from the source.

I have been DJ'ing for 40yrs I started around 8 yrs old with my fascination for roller skating and the funk & soul that was being played there. I would go at least 3 times a week and became a king on 4 wheels. I started collecting records at that time ’79-’80 and the DJ at the rink would let me up and pick records out for him. Within a few months I was buying music nobody knew about that I would hear on pirate radio stations and my trips back up to New York visiting family. I would record nonstop 98.7 Kiss & WBLS at all hours of the night where they would play music that couldn’t be played during regular hours at the station. Jellybean, The Latin Rascals, Red Alert, Chuck Chillout, Mr. Magic, and Jeff Fox would run the dial late night and they were great to listen to. Certainly not the most skilled but equipment was limited back then and the setup in most radio stations didn’t make it easy for DJ’s to be close to the turntables and the mixer at the same time. They also used knob mixers (Bozak) mixers back then crossfaders were not the standard. Regardless, the shit I would bring back with me made most of the local DJ’s envious so they allowed me in with them. 

Shortly after I bought the old 2 Channel Numark Mixer from the Roller rink for around &150-$200 which was a lot for a kid under 10 yrs old and I begged my dad to buy me 1 turntable. For a kid in the late 70’s to ask his dad for a $250 Technics 1200 turntable (it wasn’t happening). I purchased a lesser quality direct drive pioneer turntable and I would hook up the turntable from the wooden stereo cabinets popular at that time and I taught myself how to scratch and blend 2 records over each other. Music was limited at that time there was no Hip Hop section in record stores and there were only a handful of songs being pressed that were even available nationwide. As time went on I finally hit my dad up for 1200’s just one but I traded my old mixer for a newer one and my skills started to really take a turn. I started DJ’ing for local acts in south Florida and found myself going to this record store in the Lauderhill Mall (Ft. Lauderdale FL)  which was really a record label called 4Sight Records run by Billy Hines who was a studio engineer. His son was MC ADE (Bass Rock Express, Bass Mechanic etc). One day he let me cut it up in store and within 10 minutes this little white boy had a crowd surrounding the turntables and afterward  he called me in the back asked if I would be interested in touring with his son ADE as his tour DJ. His son didn’t like the idea and he apologized and 2 other artists from the label asked if I would work for them. Here’s the kicker, I hated Miami Bass. I was a purist and my Hip Hop taste came from 1 place (New York) period!!!

Through the years I started DJ’ing on Miami radio mix shows Hot 105 and Power 96 and I went in all the DJ contests back then. I was the quick mix king. During one completion I battled thousands of DJ’s to qualify in the top 5 at a club called (1235 in Miami). I went up against one of the greatest DJ’s Bad Boy Bill from Chicago. He did shit I never saw before a real showman. He had a guy in a suit timing him so he stayed in the time frame of the contest. He even wore a strap on dildo pulled it out of his pants put it on the turntable and with no hands started scratching “Suck My Dick” from Eddie Murphy’s comedy album. That was the first time that I understood the concept SHOWMANSHIP. I stopped competing after that because it took too much out of me and shortly after that time DMC started and it became a world view that I wasn’t looking to compete with. 

The natural progression from DJ’ing led me into production. Aound the late 80’s I finally was able to buy my own equipment (credit cards) and I invested in a new drum machine that was the most expensive but it had no sounds on it. Roger Linn’s Akai MPC 60. Before this there were a few drum machines available (Roland 808, 909, DMX, Linn Drum, EMU: Emax etc). All were unattainable for a teenager.  The MPC was the 1st of its kind a sample based drum machine (Roger Linn realized the future of music production). My record collection was big by now so I started making songs on the drum machine sampling everything I could get my hands on. Ten seconds of sample time wasn't enough but you learn the tricks. Sampling records at 45rpm instead of 33rpm to speed the sample and then slow it down to conserve time. I eventually had a custom disk drive made to extend sample time to 24 seconds which was the most available with those types of machines. Every day making beats but the type of acts in Florida were not for me. I headed to college and went into film school where I Learned to produce and compose film scores but I would incorporate a Hip Hop mindset using the gear I had and they loved it. It also made my music have a little more movement. I hated when producers would just loop one thing throughout an entire song. So I learned song structure and created changes to the Hip Hop I was brewing. Once I got back to NYC I was on it. I went to every show there was, every record store, and went digging for breaks and rare groove. The diggers didn’t move completely in yet so records were still affordable. You could still buy a Bob James One or Two for about $20. Once “96/’97 rolled in you couldn’t find anything for under $100. I bought an SP 1200 and and few other pieces and continued making music. I worked at EMI/Capitol Records so I had access to some great promos and did a few remixes for artists they were trying to build. After a while I decided to leave the record company and went to work at Chung King Studios which was the biggest and best at the time. Every act from the Beastie Boys, 3rd Bass, LL Cool J, Salt & Peppa,  Fat Joe etc I would assist the engineer and learn the process from a professional perspective. The people who owned the studio always asked me why I worked there. They always alluded that I had a college degree and I deserved more as a career. I think they snubbed there nose at the Hip Hop that seemed to dominate all the studio rooms. “Your too good for this job” was what they said. The pay sucked but I wanted to be around these artists. 

Eventually I met enough people and carved a niche for myself producing and DJ’ing remember back then you didn’t have every kid in the world thinking they could DJ or produce music it was still rare to meet people that had there own equipment, passion, and the means to make music. 

John Kapon lived in Manhattan on the upper east side. His dad I think owned an apartment on top of the wine store that he owned. His father wanted him to be done with music and work for him. That wine store Acker Wines is one of the biggest in the world for buying and selling fine wines. We would always go into the shop when it was closed and grab a few bottles and hang out this was before cameras were a thing in businesses. 
Big Tone was from uptown NY (Harlem) I’m not sure if he eventually moved to Brooklyn but he always repped Uptown.

The connection with me and SOP happened when I was working at Capitol/EMI Records. John was a big weed smoker and a dude I worked with at the label was a big weed dealer. I remember John and I met at a showcase and he gave me his card and the crews demo and I slid him my stuff. He worked on a EPS 16 keyboard and I was an MPC guy. I loved his style of production because it was smooth and in the pocket. A nice dusted out moody vibe and I always said I could remix this shit all day. Was so surprised at the level of hidden talent the group SOP had. Black Attack was always my favorite he was just that Brooklyn dude with a great voice. Then you had Stress who had that raspy voice and presence and I immediately gravitated to the two of them. Big Tone was the east coasts version to Nate Dogg but much less polished but a great dude. I got in close with everybody towards the end. They were a super group and wanted a deal that would allow them to record as a group and also split into solo careers so they wanted what Wu Tang was getting. Most labels didn’t have that kind of vision but I knew a few people to send them to since I worked at the label and studio. A good friend of mine had an uncle Richie Cordell & Kenny Laguna that wrote music through the 60’s and 70’s. He wrote songs like "I Think Were Alone Now” and wrote and molded Joan Jett back in the 80’s. I brought him their demo with my remixes and songs I produced for them. I also gave him their original demo that had “Bok Bok” “Keep Smoking” and “Styles” on it. He heard the group and thought maybe he would try to create a deal in Hip Hop since it was what was going on. Older dudes who don’t understand what we did constantly tried getting in the game thinking they could pull the wool over a crew of kids who just wanted a deal and would sell their souls for nothing. SOP loved having me around because I was the type of guy who tried to make things happen for them. To be honest, they were the first group that I ever worked with that had the skills of a project I was proud to get behind. We took that deal to my friends uncle and it almost happened. I remember the meeting very well. We were all sitting in this large board room and it was at the offices of Bert Padell who was the accountant that used to get BIG deals for the artists in the Hip Hop world. I really thought this was gonna happen but it eventually never materialized because there were too many variables with the group. Too many members who want solo side deals etc instead of just focusing on a group and staying together cohesively. I won’t lie, I thought it was my pay day for bringing the group to the table.

Shortly after those meetings I immediately got the group back in the studio (which I paid for) to cut new vocals for “Mad Drama” at Cutting Room Studios and I also thought of working with certain individuals mentioned earlier that I though had solo potential. I took Stress and Big Tone to a studio in East New York Brooklyn and recorded “Stress Vs The West” which was popular for east coast artists to diss the west with all that beef. The songs were a little ahead of their time but nothing really materialized from it. The group slowly started to disband with The Beatnut's Fashion taking Black Attack and Al Tariq giving him work that eventually gave him a shot on Correct Records. They tried bringing Problemz on a few joints but nothing would stick. If I remember correctly John Kapon’s girlfriend was pregnant and his father pressured him to get in the wine business and secure his future which as I told you was the right thing to do."

So the group disbanded shortly after the second single in '95... Stress and Agony disappeared from the New York Hip-Hop scene, Black Attack and Problemz followed their path in the music industry. 

Black Attack : "In all honesty it was no beef or any thing like that. It was more of too much outside interference... I mean there’s 4 dudes which means 4 different personalities and 4 different crews. So we pretty much had all different views on what we should be doin.  Everybody pretty much just started their own thing. Me and Probz started doin shit wit Tariq and that was the ending."

Here is an info for all the tapes collectors who follow the blog... a Demo tape exists... It was recorded in 1994 and includes the tracks titled "Mad Drama", "Why O Why", "Stress Vs The West" or "SOP Flow" ... I've only seen one copy in my whole life which is owned by DJ 360. He ripped 2 unreleased demos exclusively for the blog ... enjoy the gift fellas !!!

 Mad Props to Andre Prine, Sean Black & Problemz. 
Thanks to all of you ! 

The Speedknotz - Remember Me EP - 2018

EP - 2018 - Back2DaSource Records 

A1 - Jealousy & Envy  

A2 - Jealousy & Envy (Instrumental) 

 A3 - Knotz Landing  

A4 - Knotz Landing (Instrumental)  

B1 - The Zone  

B2 - The Zone(Instrumental)  

B3 - Remember Me  

B4 - Remember Me (Instrumental)  

B5 - No Retreat (Unreleased 1999)

This rare 12" EP released by the Speedknotz came out in 1998 on Bloody Hook Records. This Brooklyn based group was founded in the early 90s by War, Stress and Revo. Here is the official reissue with the help of the dope Belgium label Back2DaSource Records : "We back with another mad bomb from New York with The Speedknotz !!! Hard to find record from 98, Remember EP is a classic indie 12" ILL tracks from start to finish, back to the 12" with instrumentals versions on it as the original 12". This release contains 9 tracks, including a bonus unreleased track from 1999 !!!"


Release Date : Mid June 2018
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The Speedknotz - The Speedknotz EP - 1998

12" EP - 1998 - Bloody Hook Records

This rare 12" EP released by the Speedknotz came out in 1998 on Bloody Hook Records. This Brooklyn based group was founded in the early 90s by War, Stress and Revo. The EP is composed of 5 tracks "Remember Me / The Zone / I Never / Jealousy & Envy / Knotz Landin", produced by War & Stress.

Not really easy to find info about the Speedknotz. The wax is well known by the Hip-Hop records collectors but I've never seen a review on the internet or in a Hip-Hop magazine. So the best thing I had to do was to contact the members. That's how War Bixby talked to me about the creation of the crew : 

"It started back on the early 90’s, Brooklyn was crazy ! We smoked blunts and just rap about each other (aka dissing) but in rhyme form, usually about how you were gonna bone the other guys Mom.. his clothes and how broke he was. I began to notice I could put words together that really meant something rather than blurt out jibber Ish about getting head from my boys Mom.

I met Stress cause his uncle lived on my block in Parkslope Brooklyn. We just would nod our heads like "what up" and keep it moving. Hip Hop was and still is a way of life, we learned a lot through the music.. like Slick Rick 'hey young world' where he addresses drug issues, KRS One 'Loves gonna get you' etc... we were rapping as a way of life, as a means of therapy. It was a hard time, Broken families, low income… We found a way to express ourselves through hip hop.

I worked as a barber in a popular barbershop named 'Just You' , there I met Marcos and Revo, they lived in the court street area of Brooklyn, Redhook Projects. Stress and I both worked as barbers, my boy Markus owned the shop so I got him in.

We always talked music, we both liked to dance, locking and battling, we even battled each other at 'intensity night club' in Sheepshead Bay... Das Efx was supposed to perform and canceled !! The club went crazy and everybody began to tear the club up, fights... bottles thrown and shots !! 

Through the shop I met a Dj, legendary “Dj Fat Phil” from w9st. Revo, Marcos, Stress and myself went to his house and he span records of instrumentals... we freestyled to them and he recorded it on a tape cassette. We thought that’s what it meant to go to a studio...We played the tapes at the barbershop. They were hating on us... saying everybody wants to be a rapper and laugh...

One day Guru from GangStarr walked into the shop... I cut his hair... he wanted a demo.. a real demo.. I was like huh? He said "go to a studio and get clean music"

Didn’t know anyone with a studio and didn’t know how to even find one...  this is way before the internet as we know it today. Luckily I met Shabazz the Disciple. He lives in Redhook Projects. He told me they were looking for talent to be part of the Mad Mob. He told us to meet him in the Projects, there we met Rated-X (known today as Hell Razah from Sunz of Man) Tre Bag and Supreme. We kicked our freestyles and they said they’d get back to us.

The Mad Mob - Early 90s - Photo courtesy of War Bixby

We needed a name… Me and Revo were at my house smoked out... we came up with "Speedknotz" originally spelled with the z at the end.. the vinyl was a misprint they made a mistake on it and didn’t want to redo it for us. Revo a.k.a Lumpz , Ed a.k.a Stressed out, War a.k.a Bad Vibez which became War Bixby and Marcos ended up not wanting to be part of it. My cousin's boyfriend set us up with a meeting at Def Jam. We went to see some exec but instead Randy Allen co creator of legendary rap group Onyx persuaded us to meet with him and his partner Jam Master Jay of Run Dmc.

They met us at the barbershop in Brooklyn, when all the people who laughed at us saw Jam Master Jay walk in, their hearts dropped ! Everyone wanted autographs, but he denied and stuck to the business... he loved our music.. that’s one of the greatest days of my life !!

Our producer at the time Supreme and Shabazz were in talks with a new group that was coming together a.k.a Wu-Tang. When JMJ wanted to sign us, Supreme wanted them to sign the whole Mad Mob including Speedknotz, but Jam Master Jay didn’t want the Mad Mob, he wanted Speedknotz ... so negotiations were kinda salted and It left a bad taste in JMJ mouth. The Mad Mob ended up linking up with the Wu-Tang Clan and they went their own way, it was definitely the fact we were so close to a deal ! "

After that, they were supposed to link with Jay Z or James Cruz (Violator Records) but each time negociations fucked up ... They met Dj Threat (RIP) at the Ruff Ryder’s office and he was supposed to play them on Hot97 but he died in a motorcycle accident the next day... Finally they were part of Death Row East, but the movement never took off. In spite of a great talent, The Speedknotz were definitely doomed to stay unsigned ...

Extra Bonus... I've found a Speedknotz Freestyle from a Stretch & Bobbito Show in the archives, aired on March 21st 1996. 

Massive Props to War Bixby (Youtube Channel / Instagram) & John Ruiz

Atmosphere - Overcast (3xLP) - 2017

3xLP - 2017 - Fifth Element 

01 - 1597
02 - Brief Description
03 - Current Status
04 - Complications feat. Beyond
05 - 4:30AM
06 - Adjust feat. Beyond
07 - Clay
08 - @
09 - Sound Is Vibration
10 - Multiples
11 - Scapegoat 
12 - Ode To The Modern Man (Lightning Blend) 
13 - WND
14 - Multiples (Reprise) 
15 - Caved In
16 - Cuando Limpia El Humo
17 - The Outernet
18 - Untitled
19 - Broken Rewind Button feat. Beyond
20 - Bus Benches 
21 - Pea King

"Celebrating the 20 year anniversary of Overcast, the full album is remastered and available on vinyl for the first time!

20 years ago, while building a buzz on the Twin Cities scene playing countless local shows, recording demos and endless freestyle sessions, Atmosphere released a milestone record that set the trajectory for a career that is still evolving and pushing forward to this day.

In the late 90's, for a brand new independent label, pressing a vinyl LP was an expensive venture. At the time, the focus of the young entrepreneurs was set more on expanding the foundation they had built in Minneapolis, so they invested their time and money into networking nationally by doing shows, MC/DJ battles, and sometimes traveling from coast to coast just to give CDs away, all in order to grow the fanbase. As a result of an ambitious plan gone right, Overcast will now, finally, see its way onto vinyl!

For this special 20-year anniversary vinyl edition, all the original recording sessions were transferred from the reel-to-reel tapes and mixed especially for vinyl by Joe Mabbot, long-time engineer for Atmosphere, dating back to God Loves Ugly. The album is pressed on triple white color vinyl and packaged in a custom built case-wrapped and debossed jacket, and includes three previously unreleased songs from the original reel-to-reel tapes!" Fifth Element 

Shipping Date : October 23rd 2017
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