Rawkus Appreciation

CousinLarry

http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=4629Rawkus is back...skeptical of new shit but fond memories of the old shit.Is it time for a rawkus appreciation post? My vote goes for Body Rock. Q-Tip, Mos Def, and Tash I love that track. Im technically advancedTo turn you on like cybersex, so in less than two sec?sI blind mcs like thomas dolby with the science thatll leaveThey braincells fryin slowly

strikeski

Simon Says

faux_rillz

I wonder what Vitamin thinks of this development?

DJAck

Is it time for a rawkus appreciation post? My vote goes for Body Rock. Q-Tip, Mos Def, and Tash I love that track.

now this on the other hand...

jinx74

if someone can throw me one of those rawkus button up windbreaker jackets id be thankful... i gave mine to a girlfriend of mine years and years ago and told her she could have it. i kinda regret that shit now cause i only have the patchwerk records one.

i could also use another hoodie cause mine is pretty worn now...

music-wise: rose family

BigSpliff

Spinna

Goblah

Some of my favourite records from Rawkus include:

Fortified Live, Definition, My Crown (Black Attack), Universal Magnetic, Fire In Which You Burn, Krazy Kings, Mayor (Pharoahe Monch), 1-9-9-9.

PEACE
Goblah

DocBeezy

Im indifferent on this. I probably wont buy anything from this label. I did buy some records back then, and I really wish I hadnt. Even that company flow shit. Weak.

jinx74

db: careful what you write... theres a lot of rawkus lovers out there... i will say though that if you take away the music the promos were cool and the people were nice as well.

i was sent so many tshirts for me and my old lady at the time. jackets and all types of schwag. it was nice!

still friends with zvi, my homegirl sheila, and various other peoples that used to work for rawkus at one time or another... shit i even got checks from rawkus for manipulating charts

RAWKUS ROCKS!

TheeeCasualMale

only thing in that article i could really get into: "...starring Rosario Dawson."

peacefulrotation

Fauxers, I'm fairly confident you have harbored a raised Rawkus eyebrow at one point in your life...I have witnesses.

SouthCrackalack

Simon Says

mordecai

here are some i like...

Shabaam Sahdeeq - Side 2 Side b/w Arabian Nights
High & Mighty - Dirty Decibels feat. Pharoah Monche b/w Weed, B-Boy Document feat. Skillz & Mos Def
7xL - Sir Menelik feat. Grand Puba & Sadat X
RA the Rugged Man - Stanley Kubrick
Medina Green - Crosstown Beef
Kool G Rap - My Life
Skillz - Imagine

faux_rillz

Fauxers, I'm fairly confident you have had a raised Rawkus eyebrow at one point in your life...I have witnesses.

Let's get this straight: certain of your fellow Yay Area denizens have been responsible for a nasty rumor that I have either a Rawkus logo or the name Fondle 'Em tattooed on my belly with an arrow pointing downwards. Neither is true.










But seriously, I own and like the first Mos Def 12" and the first Reflection Eternal 12"--I have both of those guys' albums, too, although it's been a long time since I've listened to either one. Used to have the Company Flow album and some of the 12"s.

rootlesscosmo

jinx74

high and mighty were very nice dudes. i was staying at my parents house when they were out of town and i was taking care of the cats. hi/mi came to sf and came to my folks house so i could interview them for a magazine. friendly, funny, nothing outrageous, played with the cats out in the backyard, talked about music, etc...

same thing with monch. he was really personable but talked funny. like he had a weird lisp or something. nothing bad but thats what i remember most about him... and him wearing a big heavy leather jacket during the day here in sf on a sunny day.

talib was nice... mos was too until he gets around fans and/or black folk. then he becomes a bitch. two-faced like a motherfucker.

menelik was strange... weird dude.

the medina squad was nice. i had known them for awhile so it was always cool with us.

i met skillz once and he was okay. only got to talk to dude for a second but he was personable enough.

never met anyone else on the roster though...

the receptionist at rawkus was a bitch though... didnt care for her much. and that dirty ass elevator was THE WORST! first time i went to rawkus with jgrand and eric parler (?i think... or ralph white) i thought i was going to die in that elevator...

none of these stories matter... i was just remembering the past...

faux_rillz

Man, get outta here!

DOR

The thing with Rawkus was... Anytime I was there.. It looked like a circus. Everyone was kinda acting like they were away at college instead of pushing artist... I was only ever there maybe 4 times, but I just thought it was no way to run a label. Not saying the people that worked there were slackers or anything. Just the atmosphere...

I do think they were a very important indie label in the game mind you...

DocBeezy

Man, get outta here!

yes please get out of here. I will go for that BIg L though.

rootlesscosmo

Man, get outta here!

what can I say I was a backpacker when those shits dropped. haven't listened to them since. just reminiscing. though the co-flo album, Big L and Monch still get rotation in my house/ride.

faux_rillz

Man, get outta here!

what can I say I was a backpacker when those shits dropped. haven't listened to them since. just reminiscing. though the co-flo album, Big L and Monch still get rotation in my house/ride.

Well, I may have had a little backpackitis myself back then, but records like those two are exactly what cured me of it.

gloom

DocBeezy

whoa!


Pass (except for Diamond D's track)

CousinLarry

Yes, i agree, but we should all try real hard to forget Sound Bombing III.

mandrew

definitely not a dilated peoples fan ( -vidence), but the title track was real nice. in my head, there's some funky blues humming. anyone know the sample they used?

gloom

whoa!


Pass (except for Diamond D's track)

i guess i just have memories attached to this album...

DocBeezy

whoa!


Pass (except for Diamond D's track)

i guess i just have memories attached to this album...

and that is the problem.I have memories attached to bad music as well, but that does not make the music classic. People need to seperate their personal memories out when listing great albums. That collection of backpacker tracks is not a classic, and is not a classic out of the Rawkus catalog.

Vitamin

Notice Faux, that half the classics that people recollected here from Rawkus are on this record--crosstown beef, 1999, mayor, when it rains it pours, patriotism, etc...

I think the label changed the game and at its peak put out undisputed classic material. It's a shame that Talib and mos fell off. But black on both sides is one of hip hop's top ten records and sound bombing is clearly the best mix tape ever committed to commercial distribution. And as far as backpacker ish goes, Rawkus was never Dream warriors/arrested development/ blackilicious level. And don't forget Thurston Howell's Skillionaire or the first Lyricist Lounge four LP joint.

Cosmo

Best Rawkus shit - the pseudo drum&bass version of "A Horse With No Name" (this actually existst! IT's not my imagination!)

mordecai

(Diamond D's track)

When It Pours It Rains
...there's some high end shit in that track that always annoyed me. good cut though.
i really liked the mixing on 2. and the bonus track

gloom

whoa!





Pass (except for Diamond D's track)

i guess i just have memories attached to this album...

and that is the problem.I have memories attached to bad music as well, but that does not make the music classic. People need to seperate their personal memories out when listing great albums. That collection of backpacker tracks is not a classic, and is not a classic out of the Rawkus catalog.

well put. i would presume it is considered a classic rawkus release in many minds despite the fact that every track isnt a CLASSIC jam (i find myself skipping through the album....).