LongIslandRap.Comp Volume 1

Today is the one-year anniversary of LongIslandRap.com, so to mark the occasion I decided to put together a compilation comprised of singles, b-sides and deep album cuts from some of my favorite lesser-known Long Island hip-hop artists. Download LongIslandRap.Comp V1 here, refer to the credits and links below for additional information, and most of all, thank you for continuing to support Long Island hip-hop and LongIslandRap.com.

Roc Marciano - "LI Stand Up" from Strength and Honor; DJ Prince - "Riddim Driven" from Test My Sound; Too Poetic - "Ruff Son of a Gun" from Droppin Signal; Darc Mind - "Get Your Hustle On" from Antediluvian EP Volume 2 released on Dope Folks Records; R.A. the Rugged Man - "Smithhaven Mall" from 50,000 Heads VLS; Punk Barbarians - "Hooptie Car (Street Mix)" from Hooptie Car CDS released on Lethal Records; Rumpletilskinz - "I-N-I" from What Is A Rumpletilskin? released on RCA; Horror City - "Pain" from Prince Paul Presents Horror City; True Mathematics - "After Dark" from After Dark VLS released on Select Records; Aesop Rock - "1,000 Deaths" from Appleseed; Grandmilly and SHOZAE - "Above Water" from Beneath the Mantle Vol. 1 (ShoCase Saga); Hard 2 Obtain - "Ism and Blues" from Ghetto Diamond VLS released on Atlantic; Sputnik Brown - "Spit Life" from The Seven/Twenty EP; Rozewood - "Passion Of The Roze" from Primer released on BLAK Fam Music Group; Megalon - "Rainblood" from A Penny For Your Thoughts released on Day By Day Entertainment; Hyenas in the Desert - "Can You Feel It Part 3 (Rezident Evil)" from Can You Feel It VLS released on Slow Jamz, Columbia; DJ Stitches & Rhyme Va-Lor - "These Are The Dayz" from These Are The Dayz VLS released on WaxWerkz Entertainment; Marlo DeMore - "Bittersweet Epiphany" from Still Dreaming.

Kenny Orlando - "Who's That"

Many an empty cup and rabid rap hand in this, the latest video off The BASSment Tape by Kenny Orlando. "Who's That" was produced by Misophonic and filmed on location in Manhattan.

Darc Mind - Outside Looking In 12"

Released on Loud Records in 1996, Outside Looking In was the first and only single Kevroc and X-Ray Da Mindbenda put out under the name Darc Mind. It's also the only Darc Mind song that isn't produced by Ray "X-Ray Da Mindbenda" Davis — Nick Wiz is credited as producer, mixer and engineer. Perhaps most notably, it contains the only known Kevroc acappella track, which is a jewel unto itself by virtue of the MC's vocal range. Stream that below and download the Outside Looking In 12" here.

***Update 5/7/26**

Above I'd mistakenly stated that "Outside Looking In" is the only Darc Mind song not produced by X-Ray da Mindbenda. Clearly, at this point, I hadn't heard the Nick Wiz-produced "We In This," which dropped in 2008 but was recorded around the same time as "Outside Looking In," perhaps even during the same session(s). In the years since this post went up, Nick Wiz has put out yet another Darc Mind song as well as alternate version of it. Read more about all of this in my recent post, "Darc Mind - The Cellar Session."

Marlo DeMore & Ra - Faded Black and Gold

As the prime directive of Long Island Rap Blog is documentation, we generally don't take sides or try to say this rapper is better than that rapper or that so and so is the best, but with just three songs Marlo DeMore basically proved he's the best MC on Long Island ... and it's not even close.

Brought to you by the creativity curators at Dinner Land, Marlo DeMore and Ra the Beat Archaeologist's Faded Black and Gold EP premiered May 1 at on3trackmindstudios in Freeport and is currently available for download.

Other rappers, catch up.

Sugar Bear - Don't Scandalize Mine / Ready to Penetrate

Though celebrated in clubs across the U.K. and Europe, Sugar Bear's "Don't Scandalize Mine" single is today perhaps most significant for containing the first studio production of Ray Davis aka GM Web D aka X-Ray Da Mindbenda, who would of course go on to produce Darc Mind, MF Doom and the Monsta Island Czars among others. The record was also co-produced by Shabazz, who'd go on to provide arrangements for Ice Cube, Public Enemy and Mobb Deep. Sugar Bear The Powerful Powerlord, on the other hand, was basically never heard from again. Ah well. Stream the vocal mixes below and download the full single, containing both instrumentals, here.

Kid Rah - "21 & Young" / "Loud Pack" / "Cold Shoulder"

Three new joints from Bellport's Kid Rah aka Midoriginal. Vocally, these continue the loose, mellow vibe of Kid's 2014 debut, Spectrum EP. However, the trap drums of Chicago's Loud Lord, who produced all three, are a slight change of pace. We ain't mad though.

Rodan - Amerikkkan Inquisition Mixtape

Of the Monsta Island Czars' many unique voices, Rodan's always stood out, so it's somewhat surprising that his solo discography consists of just one LP, one EP, one 12" and rarest of all, one mixtape. You'll find fans across the net asking each other about this release, but if anybody actually has it they're not telling. For now, all we have is a 20-song tracklist (below), a cover (at left), and a handful of songs that were posted in 2010 and 2012. With nothing more to go on, we've taken the liberty of zipping up the seven streaming songs that match titles from the tracklist*. Each of these was ripped from the RONOMICAL YouTube channel. Stream a few cuts below and download seven-twentieths of the Amerikkkan Iniquisiton Mixtape here.

   

1. PROTEUS (INTRO) 

2. GOTHAM* 

3. MONEY & FOOD* 

4. PRECOGNITION* 

5. TERROR_DAT_KILLZ {PTERODACTYL} 

6. MEMORIAL 

7. 3RD I 

8. METAL HYDROGEN* 

9. DARK ANGEL 

10. HOLIDAY BASH 

11. GRAND INQUISITOR 

12. RONOMICAL 

13. URANIUM 

14. RUN THE SPHERE V.2012 

15. SARAH PALEWHORE 

16. CROCODILES* 

17. DEFINITIVE ARTICLE* 

18. WARPSPEED 

19. B.O.M.Z. {BACK ON MY ZENITH}* 

20. PROMETHEUS {OUTRO}

Rozewood & Dirty Diggs - "Nickel Nine"

Catch Rozewood flagrantly flying blue and orange, like The Worm's hair style, in this video for "Nickel Nine" off Dirty Diggs' production album Rodman. Also featured on Rodman are The Winners starting players Hus Kingpin and SmooVth.

De La Soul & Nas - BBC Radio 1 Freestyle (1996)

Yesterday, De La Soul dropped a new track they did with Nas to continue building buzz for their Kickstarter-funded album, And the Anonymous Nobody. Though the song's great in its own right, it won't be included on the upcoming project. Regardless, that's where all De-La-related attention is focused right now, so it's only mildly surprising (if not further indicative of the modern music press' shortsightedness) that most hip-hop sites that posted the track yesterday failed to link to or at least mention this timeless recording of Nas, Pos and Dave sharing the mic on Tim Westwood's Radio 1 Rap Show back in 1996.
It's rare to hear multiple generation-spanning and -defining artists such as Nas and De La Soul paired naturally in any setting; rarer still to hear them trading off-the-head freestyles. So stream their first recording above, their latest below, and yes, don't forget there's still time to contribute to the And the Anonymous Nobody Kickstarter.

Grandmilly with Shozae & Theravada in Our Nation's Capital

In other Hempstead-related news, Zeroklique OG Grandmilly just co-headlined a show down in D.C. with Awful Records founder Father. Not listed on the bill but clearly in attendance as well were Theravada and Midnite Society's Shozae.

Below you can see some footage from their trip shot by Omar Jones with a Zeiss 50mm camera. The song playing throughout is "The Lords" off Grandmilly's Miseducation EP.

It's just test footage, so don't expect any video to come back in after the screen goes black.