Very hard to believe, but it has been 7 long years since we lost Big Proof. Again, to celebrate the his life and share his art with the world, I've unearthed another lost track from P and J. Dilla called "Keep It on the Low". The track was produced by Dilla and that's also him on the chorus. Forgive the sound quality but as I've said before these are ripped from cassette dubs and it's the best that I have. I'm pretty sure the track is from 1994, when Proof and J were working on their Funky Cowboys side-project. What can I say? The world just isn't as enjoyable nor the same without you guys. Rest in peace.
Back when Ben Silverman, producer extraordinaire and principal of Electus, reached out to me and Em to created content for their Loud channel on YouTube I had an idea in mind that had been sitting around up there for a while. I always thought that a sneaker store would make for a good reality series given the culture and passion of sneaker-heads and the frequent crossover into the music world. A good sneaker spot can have bit of a barbershop vibe in the sense that people come their to buy stuff as much as they do to share opinions, ideas and basically shoot the shit.
When we threw the idea to Ben and his team, they loved it! One problem- I didn't really know the Burn Rubber guys that well yet. I had been in the store several times and have admired their designs and hustle from afar, but I never really kicked it with them. So my guy J.D. made the introduction, and Rick and Ro turned out to be even more interesting, funny and charismatic than I could have hoped for. We turned the cameras on, and the guys and their crew shined even brighter.
Please take a minute to check out the first episode below, and if you like it, walk with us in something exclusive for the 6 episode run of the first season. We are proud to shine the light on this story of successful and positive entrepreneurial spirit straight from The D. Burn Rubber, baby.
As reported on Rosenblog below, the Shady Records Brisk Bodega in New York City was a one-day-only event with performances from Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf with a pop-up "museum." The staff at Shady and myself searched our archives, homes, storage facilities and vaults to come up with a collection of artifacts, awards and memorabilia spanning the history of the label and Eminem's career. I was personally very concerned that some things might get damaged and/or stolen in the process but we hired the Shady Security crew to spend the night with the collection to make sure nothing got vicked or ganked. Special thanks to Riggs Morales, Marc LaBelle, Dro Genao, Alvon Miller and Craig Barnes for making sure everything went smooth and putting in overtime hours to make sure that this special collection came together. Below check out two different videos with narration from yours truly describing most of what was on display for those that couldn't make it in person. See you in another 12 or 13 years I guess? Shady Records, Established 1999. TRUST US. (P.S. I know I said "tooken" and that "5 Star Generals" isn't actually on Soundbombing 2 so shutup).
As promised, here is another previously unreleased (as far as I know) track from Proof & Dilla, called "The Fizzo." I heard about this track before I ever actually heard it from a very excited DJ Head back in '94, right around the time that F.C. (Funky Cowboys) was created. In his typical fashion when he had heard something that nobody else had, Head just giggled and said "man, Proof and Jaydee got this new record, man..." When I heard it I knew what Head was so amped-up about, these guys really had a crazy chemistry together. That's T3 of Slum Village on the chorus. I don't want to do anything but remember P and his music today, so hopefully this will put you in the same headspace. Don't ask about the photo, let's just say Proof went through a Spongebob phase! Enjoy- until next year: BIG PROOF FOREVER.
D 12's own Kuniva is back with another mixtape. Our guy is spittin' something fierce here. Click here for the link, and be sure to check out the clever artwork flip on the Quest classic.
A lot of people don't know how close Proof and J. Dilla were. Back in the early-to-mid-90's these two Detroit favorites started working together closely on various projects ranging from Proof solo material to songs for Proof's group 5 Ela to the hush-hush never to see the light of day due-group they had together, F.C. ("Funky Cowboys"). Seeing these two guys in a room together was always quite a treat, they communicated with very few words but always seemed like they knew something that you didn't- like they were in on some kind of joke or secret that you would never find out about... Jaydee, as Dilla was then known, began working as a producer with the likes of The Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul while continuing as a member of Slum Village. During the same period, Proof continued his hosting duties as the reigning battle champion of The Hip-Hop Shop while recording with 5 Ela and hatching the plans for D 12. Because they all had so much other stuff going on, a lot of the material that they created together never saw the light of day. I was such a huge fan of Slum Village, Dilla and Proof/5 Ela that any time I could get my hands on it I would dub cassettes of their material. Fortunately, I saved it all. A couple of years back I began digitizing it, and have just kept it close for personal listening pleasure. The sound quality varies, but the quality of the actual material remains high. A sign of what could have been had Dilla and Proof ever had the opportunity to create a full-length project together. I've decided that the world needs to hear some of this stuff. So, what better time to share it then now, on the anniversary of the loss of our dear friend, inspiration and the unofficial Mayor of Detroit: Big Proof. My current plan is to release a song every year around this time. Below, check out Proof's "On The Go" produced by and featuring J. Dilla. We miss you, P.
Tomorrow night at 6 p,m. EST on SiriusXM's Shade45 check out a special holiday mix of classic Detroit hip-hop, new and old, from the famous (infamous?) DJ Houseshoes. This isn't your average mix- we are talking deep crate digging from the late '80's to present, strictly Detroit status. Shoes and I go wayyy back to the St. Andrew's 3 Floors of Fun days in Detroit in the mid 90's and beyond. He was close with J. Dilla and carries the torch for Detroit hip-hop as a DJ worldwide. Above is a photo with myself from '07 when Shoes was on the Dilla Changed My Life tour in Berlin. Cop his "King James Version" on iTunes... and if you dare, follow him @houseshoes on Twitter. I'll post the audio sometime this weekend I hope. You hope.
I was saddened to hear about the very untimely passing of Flint MI's own MC Breed. In 1990 his "Ain't No Future In Yo' Frontin'" was THE song in The D (and a lot of other places too). Breed was a local hero and a nation wide celebrity early on in the rap game working with the likes of 2Pac and our friend Proof. I've always liked their collaboration from Proof's Searching for Jerry Garcia, so check it out below.
Check out this video for Detroit hip-hop artist Marqise Porter's song "Almost Lost Detroit". This isn't a high budget slick video, just a collection of pictures showing the blight and despair in The D along with some bleak, sobering statistics. I thought this would be a good companion to run with the recent article I posted below about the potential automobile industry bail-out. Imagine, if you could, that the situation could get much worse even.
Eminem footage from Detroit's legendary Hip-Hop Shop. This freestyle was against D12's Kuniva. Check out Proof in the background with his trademarked dreads. Can it be that it was all so simple then?
I keep a lot of random artifacts, and recently I came across this article from Detroit's Metro Times weekly free newspaper from October of '96. I'm posting this now to recognize the birthday and memorial of James Yancey a/k/a Jaydee a/k/a J. Dilla, who most of you know passed away a couple of years ago (2/74-2/06). Interesting analyses of the Detroit hip-hop scene at the time... No mention of Eminem which is funny. Historical trivia fact about J. is that he was originally known as John Doe, but abandoned the name when he realized it was taken- only to switch up to Jaydee (his middle name being Dewitt) and have that coincidentally adopted by Jermain Dupri. The game misses you, Jay.
This probably won't be very interesting unless your are familiar with or fascinated with the '90s Detroit hip-hop scene (isn't everyone?). The Rhythm Kitchen was the original epicenter of the rap music club scene in the early '90s in Detroit. Founded by clothing designer, clothing company owner, The originalHip-Hop Shop creator and Detroit music scene impresario Maurice Malone in (I'm guessing) 1991, The Rhythm Kitchen was Malone's Detroit version of New York's legendary Soul Kitchen. This weekly function was held at a Chinese restaurant called Stanley's Mania Cafe in the New Center Area. They cleared out all of the tables, brought in a heavy sound system and continued selling take-out Chinese food along with 40's of Colt45. The Rhythm Kitchen was the real inspiration for using The Chin Tiki as a hip-hop club in 8 Mile. This Rhythm Kitchen scene (which came before The Hip-Hop Shop, but was open concurrently with St. Andrew's Hall "3 Floors of Fun"/The Shelter) spawned the modern Detroit rap movement (Phat Kat, Black Milk, Guilty Simpson, etc.) as well as Eminem, Proof, D-12, Slum Village, etc. and earlier legends like Dope-A-Delic, 5th Chapter and my own Rhythm Cartel, of course (sorry to anyone I left out but this isn't meant to be exhaustive). More on the Detroit Hip-Hop scene to come here on Rosenblog...
