Sunday, January 25, 2009

T.R.O.Y.

T.R.O.Y.

Resident Alien Discography

Posted: 25 Jan 2009 02:00 PM PST



A little while ago we told you about Wordbooty, a T.R.O.Y. Forum denizen on an unstoppable mission to compile the entirety of Prince Paul's discography in mp3 format. With the help of the Duchess of Downloads, Ho1ogramz, he was successful in compiling two volumes of remixes credited to Prince Paul. Not too shabby. With an assist from Holo1Ogramz once again, he has amassed for you the discography of Prince Paul's largely obscure Resident Alien project. Unfamiliar with Resident Alien? Check it:
In the early 1990s, at the ripe old age of 20, Prince Paulwas the man in demand after having produced hits for3rd Bass, Big Daddy Kane, and of course, De La Soul's 3 Feet High and Rising. Although rumor has it that Paul was quite happy to stick to producing, Lyor Cohenconvinced him to take on his own imprint at Def Jam/RAL - and hence the Dew Doo Man was born. Things were rocky from the start, with Russell Simmons' less than enthusiastic reception to this new label's name, but Paul took his advance and his A&R freedom and began to work on Dew Doo Man's first release.

The first release that Paul came up with was a concept album - It Takes a Nation of Suckas To Let Us In - based around the characters of three immigrants from the Caribbean who had recently relocated to Long Island. This idea didn't exactly scream "millions of sales," and Def Jam didn't react well to the product they were being delivered. Their vision of the label was one that would release radio friendly, pop influenced tracks, which was clearly not what Paul had in mind. The label didn't care for any of the other acts that Paul had waiting in the wings, either.

In the end, the only release to ever come out on the Dew Doo Man imprint was the Resident Alien 12" Mr. Boops. Paul had a meeting with Cohen to try and save the label, but Cohen opted to shut down operations, leaving the full length album languishing unreleased. (Source)
Typical industry polititrix, yo. No wonder Paul went on to conceptualize Gravediggaz. As for the album - fortunately we live in a wondrous future-topia where even shelved and lost album can see the light of day. It's been floating around the net for some time now. In my humble opinion It Takes A Nation Of Suckas To Let Us In is a fun, worthwhile listen, if not necessarily on par with the many, many great full-length releases helmed by Prince Paul. The concept is clever, there are some wonderfully absurd/beautiful musical moments, and there's a cameo by Dres, but Prince Paul is so much better off working with top notch lyricists. Still, it's a nice little curiosity from one of hip-hop's greatest minds. Peep the album, plus some related vinyl material.

Resident Alien - It Takes A Nation Of Suckers To Let Us In LP (1991) 

Resident Alien "Pum Pum Master" from DJ Red Alert's Dancehall Show (1994) [Download]

Horror City ft. Resident Alien 12" Marz Records (1994) 
A1 - Aah's & Oohh's 
A2 - Wine Fi Kill 
B1 - Moogler 
B2 - Freestyle Fiend 

-- Thun

Southern Series Volume 1

Posted: 25 Jan 2009 03:00 AM PST


Yesterday I went ski-biking. I removed the wheels from my bicycle, and put a set of short skis on. Great for downhill turns! What does this have to do with hip hop from the south ? Southern beats and rhymes keep me warm up here in the arctic north. The selection I am posting today is the 1st of a series of southern compilations I put together, starting back in 2005. Although a few of these tracks are not exactly T.R.O.Y. material, they are dope and deserve some recognition. Killer Mike's tale of betrayal is one of my favorite 'contemporary' tracks for instance. Track 3 is a mystery to me. I found this one about 10 years ago. It's a banger! To this day, I have been unable to find anything else by Camakazie. It's not an uncommon name, which is a bit of a hindrance to the search. If anyone out there can provide some background info that would be awesome.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5XOUU10J

01.(03:54) scarface - the white sheet [texas 1994]
02.(03:35) willie d - play witcha mama [texas 1994]
03.(03:56) camakazie - walk, Bounce, Shake [texas ?][1998 ?]
04.(04:35) mass influence - nightime groove [atlanta 1998]
05.(04:02) success n effect - ultimate drive by [atlanta 1993]
06.(03:59) t isaam and dj magic mike - nigga need a job [florida 1993]
07.(03:45) geto boys - no guts, no glory [texas 1992]
08.(05:46) akinyele - down south {from new york, with some southern rappers} [1999]
09.(04:12) killer mike - scared straight [memphis ?][2004]
10.(04:12) terror squad - hum drum [atlanta ?][2002]
11.(04:00) y'all so stupid - family tree [atlanta 1994]
12.(04:21) outkast - player's ball [atlanta 1994]
13.(05:20) witchdoctor - the ancient sahore [lousiana 1998]
14.(04:01) big gipp - history mystery [new orleans ?][2001]
15.(03:23) audio assault squad - streets of ftw ( texas 1993)
16.(04:10) dj magic mike & mc madness - slow draggin [florida 1992]
17.(04:44) tap, ghost and phobia - daddy mad skillz [florida 1992]

Hope everyone likes this one. Let me know!

--Schenectadyfan

at 5:09 PM