Strictly Summer pt III

It's the third & final (for now......) installment of Strictly Summer.
The weather's still shit, but fuck it.

 Another selection of dope tracks.
This time around tracks include -

De La Soul are here with 'Sunshine', chopping up (I think) 'Blow Your Head' & giving us a nice old school style singalong chorus.

I had a fuck load of versions of 'Ain't No Sunshine' to choose from but I went with the fat Harlem Underground Band cover of this classic track. As sampled by The Beatnuts, Tribe & Ghostface amongst others.

Next up it's John Wayne & Johnny with 'Rain Fall Sun Shine', Now John Wayne is one of your boy Flair's all time favourite Jamaican DeeJays, he never actually recorded much but his tracks are absolute classics. Look out for the amazing 'Boogie Down' LP from 1983.

No summer selection could ever be complete without 'Everybody Loves The Sunshine' by Roy Ayers Ubiquity. I have no idea how many times i've heard this track over the years but it's a lot ! Listening to it now still sounds dope, it's been sampled by everybody ever & it's still THE essential summer joint.

Finally it's Yellow Sunshine with the awesome (self titled) 'Yellow Sunshine'. They only recorded one LP & split up when Dexter Wansel left the band, but what they recorded is the tits blud ! This track is crazy dope & is obviously essential listening. The break is incredible & has been fairly heavily sampled, it sounds at it's finest on 'Whirlwind Pyramid' by The D.O.C. Awesome stuff.

Strictly Business present
Strictly Summer pt III

Central Line - Walking Into Sunshine
De La Soul - Sunshine
Demastas - No Sunshine (Remix)
Harlem Underground Band - Ain't No Sunshine
John Wayne & Johnny - Rain Fall Sun Shine
Osibisa - Sunshine Day
Rockers Revenge - Walkin' On Sunshine
Roy Ayers Ubiquity - Everybody Loves The Sunshine
The Mighty Rudo - You Are My Sunshine
Yellow Sunshine - Yellow Sunshine

Password - defandstupid

"Groove On A Rainy Day"

Strictly Summer pt II

For our second Strictly Summer collection we kick off with a pair who seem to turn up on many a Strictly Business compilation, it's Asher D & Daddy Freddy with the simply titled 'Summertime'. It's Mungo Jerry-Tastic. "Run come follow we".

'Summer Kicks' is a classic track from B-Boy Records, if I remember correctly KRS One produced it. It's wicked and it's by Camden Crew.

Fantasy Three give us the even simpler titled 'Summer' - "Let's all have a hip hop summer!". Fair enough, I will then.

'Summer Madness' by Kool & The Gang is absolutely essential as far as summer joints go, so it had to make an appearance here. Lovely tune.

I went for the Main Ingredient version of 'Summer Breeze', it was originally by Seals & Crofts, obviously the Isley Brothers version is a classic too, but I went for this version cos it was sampled on Biggie's 'Things Done Changed'.

The Quincy Jones version of 'Summer In The City' absolutely needed to be here, it's a lovely track & has been sampled to death.

Strictly Business present
Strictly Summer pt II

Asher D & Daddy Freddy - Summertime
Brick - Summer Heat
Camden Crew - Summer Kicks
Fantasy Three - Summer
James Reese & The Progressions - Let's Go (It's Summertime)
Kool & The Gang - Summer Madness
Living Funk - Silver Black Summer Day
Luis Bagalov - Summertime Killer
Main Ingredient - Summer Breeze
Peanut Butter Wolf - Summer's End
Quincy Jones - Summer In The City
Roots Radics - Summer Dub

Password - defandstupid

"The Sun It Haffi Shine"

Strictly Summer pt I

OK now, we're having a particularly wack summertime in the UK at the minute, in fact it's raining heavily right now, but i've been meaning to put this selection up for years now, so regardless of the weather we bring the summer vibes via music !
Grab it & put it away for a (non) rainy day.

This is part I of our Strictly Summer collection, it contains tracks such as -

Dorothy Ashby's 'Little Sunflower' from the lovely 'Afro Harping' LP is here, originally written by Freddie Hubbard. Smooth summer vibes.

'Sunshower' by Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band has been heavily sampled, the rain noise in the back is just a little taste of a British summer.

From the 'Truck Turner' soundtrack, 'Driving In The Sun' by Isaac Hayes is more summer smoothness. As sampled by Pete Rock on Freddie Foxxx's 'Mind Frame'.

The KPM library recorded & released many a classic tune, this is one of the mellower cuts from the awesome 'Afro Rock' album - 'Sahara Sunrise' by John Cameron & Alan Parker.

From the 'Doom' LP we have Mood with 'Illuminated Sunlight', not particularly summery, but it's got "Sunlight" in the title, so shut up.

'Stick It Where The Sun Don't Shine' also has fuck all to do with summer but it's a dope little joint anyways & it's by Original Flavor.

Simon Park's 'Sun High' is originally from the DeWolfe library, it was later chosen for the soundtrack of the original 1978 'Dawn Of The Dead'. Sampled by Cage & Camu Tao on the Nighthawks LP.

With 'Breathe In The Sun' from the Black Dialogue LP it's The Perceptionists - MCs Akrobatik and Mr Lif, with DJ Fakts One.

Finally be have bearded breakbeat goodness with ZZ Top's 'Cheap Sunglasses', Billy Gibbons said that he got his guitar sound on this track by using a Marshall Major amplifier with a blown tube & a Maestro ring modulator which added to the character of the song ! Nicely done Billy.

Strictly Business present
Strictly Summer pt I

5 Elementz - Sun Flower
Alphabet Soup - Sunny Day in Harlem
Dorothy Ashby - Little Sunflower
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band - Sunshower
Ghostface Killah ft Slick Rick, Raekwon & Rza - The Sun
Herbie Hancock - Sun Touch
Isaac Hayes - Driving In The Sun
John Cameron & Alan Parker - Sahara Sunrise
Kool G Rap - Tekilla Sunrise
Large Professor - Sunrise
Mood - Illuminated Sunlight
Organized Konfusion - Walk Into The Sun (Remix)
Original Flavor - Stick It Where The Sun Don't Shine
Ramsey Lewis & Earth Wind And Fire - Sun Goddess
Simon Park - Sun High
Sun - Sun Is Here
The Mighty Threes - In The Sun
The Perceptionists - Breathe In The Sun
Weldon Irvine - Morning Sunrise
ZZ Top - Cheap Sunglasses

Password - defandstupid

Up next - Part II of Strictly Summer.

"It's So Bright & So Smashing"

Sonny Delight - Extended Showreel

Here we have a nice little selection of work by the man they call Sonny Delight.
Original instrumentals, remixes, plus a couple of tracks featuring some of the Strictly Biz associated MCs.
20 odd minutes of pure (Sonny) Delightfulness, all smoothly blended together into one lovely little mix.
If anyone is interested in any of these beats, then email us and we'll see what we can hook up.
This selection is far too smooth to have Ric Flair rhyming on, but trust me, there's gonna be plenty of that soon enough, as well as the rest of the SB crew - Coming soon...........

 Download here.

Keep it locked right here - The Business !

Flight Of The Phoenix

Strictly Gems pt II

Here we go with part II of Strictly Gems, this time around we have another selection of quality joints from hip hop's glory years, again we have some well known stuff along with some not so well known stuff, but it's all killer material, believe that.

Some of our all time favourite shits are up in here, so beware
if you're scared of the boom bap.

Tracks include.......

The legendary Paul C utilises the 'Assembly Line' break combined with crazy samples on the hard hitting 'Years To Build' by 360°, everything about this track is the shit, this is a classic example of anti coffee table boom baps (word to Skar !) Without doubt a gem.
By track 5 you've already heard mad James Brown samples, and our boy Chubb Rock doesn't let us down, 'Bump The Floor' is a funky uptempo number, some would say borderline hip house, I say it smashes dancefloors & is dope.
Another prime example of a gem track is 'Holy War' by Divine Force, you should know this already, but if for some crazy reason you haven't, then you're in for a treat. Classic stuff combining 'The Funky Penguin' & 'Synthetic Substitution' breaks whilst Sir Ibu kicks some deadly rhymes, "My energy is flowing and it’s causing sparks & friction, I am called the scientist and you are science fiction". Love that shit.

'Fresh Commandments' by Fresh Gordon is an absolutely essential joint, the man Fresh tells us what to do to be a proper b-boy. Any track with a line like "Though shalt not wear fake cazels - fake fila suits, or you'll be sent to hell" is on some serious shit, listen & learn suckers.
JVC Force's 'Stop & Listen' is so dope I can't put it into words, it's already made an appearance here at Strictly Business, as has the amazing track the breaks are from - 'Foreigner Suite' by Cat Stevens. JVC were a phenomenal crew with many a classic track, but this is your boy Flair's favourite shit - Word !
Next up, the incredible Kings of Pressure with 'You Know How To Reach Us', this has already been featured on Strictly Beatbox but fuck it, you can't hear this track too many times, it really is the tits, Heavy beats, super heavy rhymes & Johnny Juice rocking the tables. This is the shit people, the original KOP crew split up early on, so this is a taste of what could have been. And you know I fucking love that "Yes, my name is MC Cracker......" bit. Completely superdope.

MC Sugar Ray & Stranger D make an appearance here with the fat 'Knock Em Out Sugar Ray', lovely rhymes and a sweet drumbreak from the 'Kelly's Heroes' Soundtrack !
OK - This next shit is ridiculous, it's 'Massacre' by Rockwell Noel & Poet, now MC Poet is still dropping rhymes in 2012, you know him as Blaq Poet. But back in the day he was taking rappers out left, right & centre, he started with BDP and kept going & going. This joint is as hard as they come and if you don't love it already you bloody well will.
With another contender for the "Best 10 Seconds Of Hip Hop Ever" we have Sir Fresh & DJ Critical with the ill 'Sir-Vere', The first 10 seconds are sick but it just keeps getting better, Sir Fresh just rocks it on the mic, sir-verely def.

From the 'Songs With Stupid Keyboard Bits' genre we have TC Islam with the drum machine heavy 'Sucker MC', TC tells us "This record here is rated fresh" and I for one am not gonna argue with him.
Then, from the 'Songs With Even Stupider Keyboard Bits' genre we have the long serving Almighty RSO Crew with the bumping 'The Greatest Show On Earth', It's rather silly, but the shit is dope, Doo doo doodoo-doodoo doo doo dooo dooo e.t.c.
And finally it's 'R.A.P' by Witchdoctor & The Dominating 3 MCs, plenty more James samples with quality rhymes.

By the way, if I haven't mentioned a track it doesn't mean it's not dope, they're all dope son, I just can't be arsed to write any more.

Strictly Business presents - 
Strictly Gems part II

360° - Years To Build
Bizzie Boyz - Say When
Black Rock & Ron - Getting Large
Castle D - Yo Cas Play It
Chubb Rock - Bump The Floor
De La Soul - Plug Tunin'
Divine Force - Holy War
DJ M.A.T.E. & The Latin MCs - Lets Jam
Doctor J.R. Kool - That's Deep
Fresh Gordon - Fresh Commandments
Heartbeat Brothers - Bring In The Bassline
JVC Force - Stop & Listen
Kaptain Jam & The Mighty Finesse  -  I Can't Stand You
Kings Of Pressure - You Know How To Reach Us
Magnetic Force - Unorthodoxism
MC Player - The Kid's A Wizard
MC Sugar Ray & Stranger D - Knock Em Out Sugar Ray
Mikey D & The LA Posse - Kill That Base
Nice & Smooth - Early To Rise
Rockwell Noel & Poet - Massacre
Sir Fresh & DJ Critical - Sir-Vere
Steady B - Certified Dope
Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud - Gets No Deeper
TC Islam - Sucker MC
The Almighty R.S.O. Crew - The Greatest Show On Earth
The UBC - Take It To The Top (Needle Drop)
Unique & Dashan - Versatility
UTFO - Mo' Bass
Witchdoctor & The Dominating 3 MCs - R.A.P

Password - defandstupid

More gems on the way soon from Strictly Business.

"I'm Down With Anybody That Does Breath Air"

Keep It Strict !

Maximum respect to each & everyone who turned up to the Strictly Business launch extravaganza at the Silver Bullet.
The event went down a treat, the crowd were well up for it & everybody did their stuff lovely.
We had a few technical difficulties, so shout out to the sound guy who turned up.
Big ups to the Silver Bullet staff, all the vinyl traders & all the artists who made it down, especially the writers who put up with the ropey weather.



Props to Sonny D & the rest of the crew that put up the watertight erection, EveR (who picked me up then fell asleep), Chestwigz who I missed by 5 minutes (sorry blud), Jim Crawley for saving the day with his chunky instrumentals, Loxli who made a surprise visit on the way to somewhere that I've forgotten, & in particular - Hayley for putting in mad work.

Keep watching for more details on upcoming Strictly Business events - Word !

Next up - Strictly Gems part II.

"Hummin' - Comin' At Cha..."

Strictly Business London

June the 3rd - bank holiday Sunday.
The Strictly Business crew take over the Silver Bullet - N4 2DH.
As the flyer says, 11 hours of non stop hip hop.
Lots of dope acts as you can see.
Plus DJ sets from the Strictly Biz DJs.
Some of the Strictly Business MCs will be present as well, so we'll have to see what we can kick off.......

As well as all of that niceness, the day is also a vinyl exchange, so bring your records & do the thing !
Me & Sonny Delight are gonna take a bag full, plus plenty other vinyl dealers will be in the house.
The whole day is gonna be double def, trust us.

The Silver Bullet is opposite Finsbury Park tube, & if you turn up before 6pm you get in totally free, a winner i'm sure you'll agree.

More details here.

The wicked Obba Supa will be in the house - Check him out.



Big respect to Hayley & Sonny D on the organisational tip.
If you're in London then you have no excuse, plus out of towners will be glad they made the journey.
Be there or be a sissy sucker - Strictly Business !

"I'm Hyper Than Pinocchio's Nose"

Strictly Gems pt I

 

Righty ho, this is part I of Strictly Gems, another fat Strictly Business compilation, this time it's all about gems, from the well known to the obscure, best believe that every track is straight up dope.

Some of these are your boy Flair's all time favourite shits, so be prepared for stupid def disabled goodness.

Highlights include -
Captain Rock with the super duper 'Bongo Beat', regular readers will already know how much I love the Captain & his Cosmic Crew. This track is as dope as they come, git widdit.
The Cold Crush Brothers with the amazing B side 'Heartbreakers Party', this is a hard track, superb stuff.
'B-Boy Style' from the DBL Crew is very nice, always loving the rhymes on this one.
The Geto Boys make an appearance with the fonky 'Trigga Happy Niggy', Classic ignunt stuff, Willie D robs the same mother fuckers 4 or 5 times. Word.

Headnodding shit with 'Seconds of A Dope Rhyme' by Intellectuals Of Rhyme, nice beats & as they say - dope rhymes.
An absolute club banger - Most Wanted with 'Calm Down', lovely stuff indeed, dope usage of the Commodores' 'Assembley Line' break.
Pretty much everything that the Skinny Boys did was mad nice, so you can't go wrong with the uptempo 'Get Pepped'.

'You Gotta Come Out Fresh' by Supreme Force is as classic as it gets, everything about it is just dope.
The incredible TDS Mob make their first Strictly Gems appearance with the awesome 'TDS Scratch Reaction', years ahead of their time with this track.
Finally, from the amazing Tuff Crew we have Von Love with the gigantic 'Momentary Lapse Of Reason', ridiculously nice rhymes over a beat based on (& sampling) Cerrone's 'Rocket In The Pocket'. Certified def.

  

Strictly Business presents -
Strictly Gems pt I

2 Live Crew - 2 Live Is What We Are...
Audio Two - When Milk Is On The Mic
Boogie Boys - U Ain't Fresh
Captain Rock - Bongo Beat
Chill Rob G - Ride The Rhythm
Cold Crush Brothers - Heartbreakers Party
DBL Crew - B-Boy Style
Diamond Shell - Make 'Em Say Huh
D-Nice - Call Me D-Nice
Freddy B & The Mighty Mic Masters - It's The Hip Hop
Geto Boys - Trigga Happy Nigga
Intellectuals Of Rhyme - Seconds Of A Dope Rhyme
Jungle Brothers - J.Beez Comin' Through
Kev E Kev & Ak B - Keep On Doin'
Levi 167 - The Other Side
MC Player - Heavy Metal Mic Maniac
MC Shy D - Atlanta That's Where I Stay
MCs Of Rap - Domination
Most Wanted - Calm Down
Raheem - The Vigilante
Scientific I & Grand Wizard Deadly T - Mathematics
Skinny Boys - Get Pepped
Steve D - Destroyer
Supreme Force - You Gotta Come Out Fresh
TDS Mob - TDS Scratch Reaction
The Terminators - Polo
Ultramagnetic MCs - A Chorus Line
UTFO - I'm The Master
Von Love - Momentary Lapse Of Reason

   

"A Mic From Radio Shack - You're Smoking Crack"                                                                                       

Sonny Delight - Feel The Noise

It's the man known as Sonny Delight once again.
Three dope live mixes for you, from 21\4\12 at The Finsbury.
A nice mixture of soul, funk, rock & hip hop.
Sonny keeps the crowd rocking to the sounds of  James Brown, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Average White Band, The Zombies, Syl Johnson, Ramsey Lewis, Sly Stone, Das EFX, plus many more.

Part I

Get Carter - Roy Budd
Dr Rubberfunk - Two Fisted Pianistics
Up, Bustle & Out - Hip Hop Barrio
Dr Rubberfunk - Break It Here
Dj Q-Bert/Mixmaster Mike - Art Of Beats 1
The Turtles - Buzz Saw
The Mar-Keys - Honey Pot
James Brown - My Thang
The O’Jays - Give The People What They Want
Breakestra Ft Aphrodite - Come On Over
Average White Band - Cut The Cake
The Fatback Band - Are You Ready To Do The Bus Stop
  
Part II

The Zombies - Time Of The Season
Syl Johnson - Sorry ‘Bout Dat
The Temptations - I Can't Get Next To You
Syl Johnson - Different Strokes
The Jimmy Entley Sound - Apache
The Turtles - You Showed Me
Joe Williams With Thad Jones & The Mel Lewis Orchestra - Get Out Of My Life Woman
Otis Redding - Wonderful World
Sly & The Family Stone - Everyday People
Lee Moses - Time & Place
Marlena Shaw - Brother Where Are You
The Isley Brothers - Its Your Thing
Clarence Reid - Nobody But You Babe
Carl Carlton - Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours
Jackie Wilson - Fairest Of Them All
Sam Cooke - Twistin' The Night Away
Ron Grainer - Man In A Suitcase
The Mar-Keys - Last Night
Dick Hyman - R.E.S.P.E.C.T
Ramsey Lewis - Soul Man

Part III

Terence Trent D'Arby - Dance Little Sister
Run DMC - Peter Piper (Instrumental)
Herbie Hancock - Rockit
Blondie - Rapture (Special Disco Mix)
Hard-Fi - Hard To Beat
Jumbonics - Last Night
DJ Shadow - Organ Donor
DJ Shadow & MC Divine Styler - Divine Intervention
Mr Lif feat Edan - Get Wise '91
Uptown - Dope On Plastic (Instrumental)
Coldcut - Give It Up
Coldcut - Beats & Pieces (Mo Bass Remix)
Handsome Boy Modeling School Featuring DJ Shadow & DJ Quest - Holy Calamity (Bear Witness II)
Pete Rock & CL Smooth - The Creator (Slide To The Side Remix)
E Da Boss Featuring Gift Of Gab & Lateef The Truth Speaker - Go Left
The Beastie Boys - Professor Booty
Edan - Mic Manipulator
Das EFX - Mic Checka (Remix)

"DJ's Spinning, I Said My My"

Strictly Rock - Part III

Here we go again with the final volume of Strictly Rock, just a quickie this time round, but one with some quality tunes.

Highlights include -
Aretha Franklin's massive party mover 'Rock Steady', what a tune this is, as large as the legendary lady herself. As sampled by Public Enemy, E.P.M.D, Masters of Ceremony & many others. One of my all time fave drumbreaks.

German funksters Breakout redo the classic 'Planet Rock' with lovely jubbly results, drum heavy & dope.
Library legend Keith Mansfield gives us horns galore & fuzzy guitars with a nice little drumbreak on 'Jazz Rocker'.

'Hula Rock' by Lewis Howard is definitely an interesting tune, demented Hawaiian grooves with a chunky bassline. Sampled by Madlib on Madvillian's 'Meatgrinder'.
Breakbeat royalty are here ! It's The crew that gave us the national anthem 'Apache', Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band with the gigantic 'Bongo Rock', as sampled by everyone.
Ray Bryant's 'Up Above The Rock' is worth a listen or two, it starts with a fat drumbreak, then the familiar sample from the 'not as good as the other version version' of Kool G Rap & Polo's 'On The Run'.

The Blackbyrds have some awesome tunes in their discography, the block party rocker 'Rock Creek Park' is what you get here. Classic stuff.
Finally we have 'Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll' by Vaughan Mason & Crew from the essential LP of the same name. The back of the sleeve says "This album offers Funk, Ballads & Roller Skating music". What more could you ask for ?

Srtictly Business present -
Strictly Rock Part III

Alan Hawkshaw - Rocky Mountain Runabout
Aretha Franklin - Rock Steady
Breakout - Planet Rock pts 1 & 2
Keith Mansfield - Jazz Rocker
Lewis Howard - Hula Rock
Lynn Collins - Rock Me Again & Again & Again
Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock
Ray Bryant - Up Above The Rock
Rufus Thomas - Rock Back
The Blackbyrds - Rock Creek Park
The JBs -  Rockin' Funky Watergate
Vaughan Mason & Crew - Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll

Password - defandstupid

"Let's Bounce Today"