The Chopstars & Busta Rhymes - The Coming (ChopNotSlop Remix)

Over a million people bought each of Busta Rhymes' first two solo albums, yet they remain two of the most underappreciated rap records of all time. That's how dope Busta Rhymes is. Even two million sales can't begin to explain the brilliance, the inventiveness, the unprecedentedness. Chopstar DJ Surrup breaks it down nice and slow for those who still haven't caught on.

Busta Rhymes Freestyles 10 Minutes for UK Radio

 Today feels like a 1995 Busta Rhymes freestyle kind of day.

Roc Marciano: The Flipmode Era

Busta Rhymes & Roc Marciano in Hollywood, circa 1999.

As a Roc Marciano fan who's long aware of his roots in the Flipmode Squad, I've always wondered why the MC seemingly appeared on so few songs with Busta Rhymes, let alone the rest of the crew. Of course, most everyone who's a fan has already heard "The Heist" (also featuring Raekwon and Ghostface Killah) off Busta Rhymes' Anarchy album and "Let's Make a Toast" (featuring Roc, Busta, Chip Banks and Raekwon) off Easy Mo Bee's Now or Never: Odyssey 2000. Thanks to House Shoes, we've now also heard the version of "Modern Day Gangstas" where Roc raps alongside Biggie, Busta and Labba on a Dilla beat. But none of those are technically Flipmode Squad songs, and of course, Roc Marciano isn't on any songs from the crew's only studio album, The Imperial. However, that doesn't mean Marc never appeared alongside the rest of the squad.

In fact, much of Flipmode's output from the late '90s and early '00s is preserved on mixtapes of that era, as well as the crew's guest spots on other artists' albums. Searching Google and YouTube for such Flipmode Squad apperances yielded several songs I'd never heard. Not including "Modern Day Gangstas," I now have a YouTube playlist of 10 tracks featuring Flipmode-era Roc Marciano. Some standouts are the ferocious "Set It On Fire" from Tony Touch's first Piecemaker album (2000) and the "Talk Too Much" freestyle, a Petey Pablo diss that appeared on a P-Cutta mixtape in 2001 (probably on a Kay Slay tape as well, though I'm not sure which one). Perhaps most unexpected is "What It Is (Part II)" off  the Dr. Dolittle 2 soundtrack (yes, Roc Marciano is on the Dr. Dolittle 2 soundtrack). The earliest cut, though, is "Whatcha Come Around Here For" from Violator the Album (1999). I'm betting there are many more, so I'll try to continue adding on to this list in the future. For now, enjoy Flipmode-Era Roc Marciano.

DJ Screw - 6:31 'n the Mornin'

Influence is a nothing word, like interest. Obviously, DJ Screw influenced a whole generation of musicians including Long Island's. But what of his influences? Time's fluidity is easier to catch when considering art that treats it as such. This compilation was sequenced over the course of a few late-night sessions, mostly during the week of August 25 in a condo near Savannah, Georgia. The tracks were pulled from various chapters of DJ Screw's Diary of the Originator series and blended using Audacity. The full track list with buy-links for the source materials appears below, but first a few observations on Screw's Long Island rap selections...

Among all Long Island hip-hop artists, Public Enemy and LL Cool J appear most frequently in DJ Screw's public discography. There are a few more PE tracks in total, but LL appeared on some of the most seminal Screwtapes, including Chapter 1: Don Deal and Chapter 108: 3 'n the Mornin'. It's worth considering that both artists could have been in Houston at some point around 1987 as part of the Def Jam tour, along with Eric B. & Rakim who also appear three times on this mix. Additionally, a DJ Screw edit of Public Enemy's "Gotta Do What I Gotta Do" was used in ESG's "Swangin' and Bangin'," and it's not hard to hear echoes of the Bomb Squad's discordant production style in DJ Screw's sometimes chaotic but always funky blends.

Popular Long Island rappers curiously absent from the Diary of the Originator series include Biz Markie and Mobb Deep's Prodigy. Keith Murray did appear on Chapter 60, but only with his feature from R. Kelly's "Home Alone."

Lastly, as many know, Screwed Up Records & Tapes has continued to release DJ Screw CDs long after the artist's passing. One of the most recent installments, Chapter 342: Club New Jack 91, features semi-obscure Long Island hip-hop act Resident Alien, the Prince Paul-produced West Indian rap group that released a little known EP on Paul's Def Jam imprint before it shuttered. The C&S version of Resident Alien's "Ooh the Dew Doo Man" is not yet available to hear online but can be purchased along with the rest of the chapters listed below. And as it happens, Chapter 342 also includes Public Enemy's "Shut Em Down."

Enough words. Long Island Rap Blog presents DJ Screw - 6:31 'n the Mornin', featuring:

1. De La Soul - Plug Tunin' (from Chapter 207: Goin All Out '96)
2. EPMD - You're a Customer (from Chapter 84: Straight Puttin It Down)
3. Busta Rhymes - Dangerous (from Chapter 147: N****s & Flys)
4. Public Enemy - Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos (from Chapter 301: Smoke One & Smoke Two)
5. Eric B. & Rakim - Eric B. Is President (from Chapter 222: My Block)
6. LL Cool J - Rock the Bells (from Chapter 108: 3-N-Da Morning)
7. A+ - Party Joint (from Chapter 287: Floss Mode)
8. Public Enemy - By the Time I Get to Arizona (from Chapter 245: Waitin on Slant)
9. EPMD - You Got to Chill (from Chapter 114: Bow Down)
10. Eric B. & Rakim - I Ain't No Joke (from Chapter 307: BC & Screw 97)
11. Method Man - I'll Be There for You ft. Mary J. Blige (from Chapter 295: Screw Dub '95)
12. LL Cool J - Who Do U Luv (from Chapter 1: Don Deal)
13. Busta Rhymes - This Is Serious (from Chapter 69: Southside Riders)
14. Public Enemy - M.P.E. (from Chapter 229: Thugs Nite Out)
15. Eric B. & Rakim - As the Rhyme Goes On (from Chapter 40: Yellowstone vs. The Nation)

Rakim Does Dubstep w/ Busta Rhymes & The Lox

Seven thoughts to end Rakim Week IV:

1) Ahhhhhh 2011;

2) Rakim has a Soundcloud, weird;

3) Holy shit, a behind-the-scenes;

4) A three-song live set;

5) And a pretty cool hat;

6) The non-dubstep version though;

7) Busta's definitely paying homage here with his flow and lyrics, a clear nod to "Microphone Fiend."

Busta Rhymes, Notorious B.I.G., Roc Marciano, J. Dilla - "Modern Day Gangstas"

Busta Rhymes, Roc Marciano, Knowledge the Pirate, and Rockwilder
(presumably backstage at Highline Ballroom),
December 26, 2017, via KP's Insta.

Strap in because there's some history behind this one ... or just scroll down to the track. Story goes that the original version of Busta Rhymes and Notorious B.I.G.'s "Modern Day Gangstas" aka "Dangerous MC's" aka "The Ugliest" was recorded over a J. Dilla beat in 1996 for Busta's debut, The Coming, but was shelved because Biggie went hard at Pac in his verse (like borderline self-incriminatory hard), and Bus didn't want to get mixed up in the beef.

Puffy retained the masters, because he's Puffy I guess, and then released a remix of the song over a Nottz beat on Notorious B.I.G.'s posthumous 1999 album, Born Again. This version featured Snoop Dogg and Mark Curry, whereas the original Dilla version features Busta Rhymes affiliate Labba. (Peace to The Lost Tapes for shedding light on the above back in 2014.) There's also a 12" promo release of "Dangerous MC's" on Bad Boy, featuring Mark Curry, Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes, with "Who Shot Ya" on the b-side. Discogs doesn't give a date for this release, it's not up on YouTube, and I'm not cracking the seal on my copy, so who knows when that came out or what it sounds like. Alas, none of these versions, as far as anyone knows, featured Roc Marciano.

Fast-forward to December 8, 2017. Roc Marciano Tweets, "Please tell my big bro @BustaRhymes to please find his unreleased song with biggie smalls on the dilla beat with my verse on it." Shortly thereafter, DJ, producer and friend of the late J. Dilla, House Shoes implies that he has the unreleased song in question.

Sure enough, five days later, Shoes kicks off the December 13, 2017 edition of his dublab program, Magic, with a track he lists as "Biggie Dilla Busta Rhymes ft. Flipmode – Modern Day Gangsters / Dangerous M.C.’s." The full program is available to download. All I did was cut out the first song, using Audacity. Stream/download Busta Rhymes and J. Dilla's "Modern Day Gangstas" ft. Notorious B.I.G., Labba and Roc Marciano below.


(P.S. It has been suggested, due to some differences in volume between the Roc verse and the rest of the vocals, that this track was Frankensteined using several different versions of the song. Note the DJ Kay Slay drops over Roc's verse and DJ Whoo Kid drops over Big's, which support that theory, as the Dilla version without Roc appeared on Busta Rhymes and DJ Whoo Kid's Surrender mixtape. But do you really care?)

***Update 2/13/20***
Roc Marciano's manager, Jazz, confirms on Twitter that the Roc Marciano verse comes from a DJ Kay Slay radio broadcast, hence the drops. He adds that it was played only on the radio and did not appear on any Kay Slay mixtapes.

***Update 4/14/21***

Props to Civilian3030 for pointing out that because The Coming was recorded before "Hit 'Em Up," it's highly unlikely, if not impossible, that "The Ugliest" was recorded for those sessions. Alternately it could have been intended for When Disaster Strikes or perhaps another project altogether.

Busta Rhymes - The Return of the Dragon (The Abstract Went On Vacation)

For the quasi-followup to his 2013 Q-Tip collaboration, The Abstract & The Dragon, Busta Rhymes teamed with a hip-hop who's who including fellow Long Island natives MF Doom, Roc Marciano and even Leaders of the New School who contributed their first recording together in 19 years. Of course, Roc and Bus have worked together numerous times, as the former was for a while in Flipmode Squad. Not familiar with any earlier Busta-DOOM tracks, but from the sound of it, this one was clearly a long-time coming, as the two effortlessly trade post-Native Tongue eccentricities over a Dilla banger that feels tailor-made for the occasion. "On the strength, she wasn't lent three cent / Got her own connect for rent off the cement."

Busta Rhymes Got Patchogue In Check

That's right. The dungeon dragon himself, the mighty Busta Rhymes will be performing at The Emporium in Patchogue this Saturday, August 8.

The party starts at 10PM and goes all the way until 4AM.

Advance tickets are still available via ticketfly for $22 or $60 for Express Entry. Come Saturday, they'll cost a minimum $35.

If you'd rather "Pass the Courvoisier"  than "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See," call 631-275-6200 to reserve your VIP table.

Yes, this is our first Busta Rhymes post to date.