There are eight million stories in the naked city, and The Birth Of LoneSwordcontains multitudes. Various characters pass in and out of frame. Loops explode. Societies collapse. Many-faced plugs facilitate all. Lungs/LoneSword has been on one throughout 2021, and it's all been leading up to this project, his first for Purple Tape Pedigree, which has also issued releases from fellow Tase Gripper AKAI SOLO and has more from the Wrong Island camp in the works.
Back in April, I shared what little info I could gather on a group called Hardcore, who released two singles on NuBeat Recores. In writing about the first, 1987's We Got It All / The Power of Rhyme, produced and mixed by Prince Paul, I mentioned that the second single also involved a Long Island legend. In this case, 1988's Take It from the Top / A Different Groove / High Time maxi-single was mixed by none other than Hank Shocklee of the Bomb Squad. As it happens, Shocklee's isn't the only recognizable name associated with this release, as the back cover lists the group's manager as Lumumba Carson, who would soon after become known as Professor X of the X-Clan. In fact, you can even hear Carson saying "vanglorious ... protected by the red, the black and the green" on each track (and if I'm not mistaken, that's him standing in the back right on the cover). As for the music itself, all three tracks are in keeping with the whole "hardcore" hip-hop angle. The first, "Take It from the Top," was even included on Priority Records' Hard Rap compilation, a project that featured gangsta rap pioneers Ice-T and N.W.A. along with the likes of MC Hammer and Kid 'N Play. Beyond that, there's not much to say. Cooley High raps about rocking parties and taking down rival MCs, and Double B scratches on every chorus. It's dope.
L.A.D.S. is the quartet of Boston's Lu Chin Chen, Binghamton's Awful P, Brentwood's DaMarco and Lindenhurst's Stryke. Those whose LI rap scene credentials go back a bit might recall the latter from his involvement with another group, Mic Shine (with MC Artifakt and DJ Spyncere), or All Business Records or numerous other associations. You also might remember DaMarco as Spectah from his group with Stryke, Double S. Regardless, the four have dropped two EPs inside of about six months, following up their debut, The FourWarning, with their latest, Four What? That one's below. Weathered but not worn, bullhorned bars abound.
Haven't seen the name "Clams Casino" in a minute, hadn't seen the name "Manny YS Sanchez" ever. I found his (year-old?) tape reposted to Soundcloud the other day, hit play, and was blown away before I even got to the Clams beats, which is to say somebody find that man and tell him about this man. How's this for a chorus? "I'm from the home of the drop-outs pregnant at 14 / Still living at your mom's house at 33 / Lost dreams, abortions and court hearings / Kids that don't think, dads that don't see 'em, trapped and never leaving." Small introduction?
L.A.D.S. is the quartet of Boston's Lu Chin Chen, Binghamton's Awful P, Brentwood's DaMarco and Lindenhurst's Stryke. Those whose LI rap scene credentials go back a bit might recall the latter from his involvement with another group, Mic Shine (with MC Artifakt and DJ Spyncere), or All Business Records or numerous other associations. You also might remember DaMarco as Spectah from his group with Stryke, Double S. Regardless, the four have dropped two EPs inside of about six months, following up their debut, The FourWarning, with their latest, Four What? That one's below. Weathered but not worn, bullhorned bars abound.
