Tuesday 14 March 2017

There's only a few bloggas in the town we really have to sweat about

The art of blending NorCal mob music with New York thug-rap is usually attributed to the Mob Figaz, but four years before C-Bo introduced Jacka, Husalah et al to the world in 1998 there was this song from the Luniz' pre-Rap-A-Lot independent EP where Yukmouth & Numskull formed like Voltron with Dru Down went in over a combination of Southside Movement's I' Been Watching You, a Raekwon vocal sample, and some choice mob music synthesizer squiggles:

Luniz ft. Dru Down - Doin' Dirt
(From the Formally Known As The LuniTunes EP; 1994)



You could argue it was an aesthetic accident à la Dre Dog's Smoke Dope and Rap or Brotha Lynch Hung's 24 Deep if the Luniz & Dru Down hadn't teamed up again for The Mobb over every Queenbridge thug's favourite Isaac Hayes break two years later in 1996. All of which probably explains why Yukmouth recently dropped a Nas remake and Dru Down was Jacka's go-to guest veteran.

4 comments:

turd butt said...

nice post, never heard ike's mood before, kinda distracted by revisiting streetz iz a mutha right now

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Rap songs with Isaac Hayes samples are invariably great.

Andrew Barber said...

you should actually consider doing a 'Best Luniz & Dru Down' collabs post

so many good ones

this is top 5:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6VgTK_wRqU

Kelvin Mack10zie said...

Definitely top 5.