Today we have another of The Lords Of the Underground's Undaground Butta 12"s, this time a Do It All solo joint... well, sort of. The first song, "Dangerous" is clearly labelled as being by just Do It All, but there's unquestionably another MC kicking the first verse. No, it's not Mr. Funky... maybe it's one of the Lunatic Asylum? Anyway, it's a pretty cool, understated little song, which picks up a bit more when Do It All takes the mic. The production is low-key but good... consistent with DJ Lord Jazz's production on the other Undaground Butta 12"'s; a cool, slightly sinister NYC crime-type record. Next up is Do It All and Jac Swinga's duet, "Which Side Iz Which." Now, you may be wondering just who this Jac Swinga character is... The only material he put out before this was a song on the b-side of the only non-LOTUG-related (well.... not entirely non-LOTUG-related, as you'll see) Undaground Butta 12" "On the Real" by Nas. Here, just to clarify by catalog #s, the Undaground Buttas label went like this:
UBLMT11 - L.O.T.U.G. "M.O.N.E.Y." b/w Lunatic Asylum "Lunatic Asylum" (already blogged about here)
UBLMT12 - Nas "On the Real" b/w Jac Swinga "Coast II Coast"
UBLMT13 - L.O.T.U.G. "Bring It" b/w The Infamous Backspin "Sing My Song" (blogged about here)
UBLMT14 - Do It All "Dangerous" b/w Do It All & Jack Swing "Which Side Iz Which" & The Infamous Backspin "Ready To Party" (the blog entry you're reading now)
...So, his appearance here kind of ties UBLMT12 in with the rest of the series. And when you actually listen to the song, he explains explicitly who he is and his connection: he's Do It All's little brother, who he thanks for introducing him to the scene. On top of that, he's actually pretty good... he sounds like a mix between UG and RA The Rugged Man, but a little less over the top. He and Do It All really compliment each other with their styles and voices as they trade verses back and forth, line for line, over a simple, bassline-heavy instrumental that pulls you right into their flows. This song is a definite winner. The instrumental is included for this one, though they make the odd choice of not just including hte ad-libs, but the "conversation" at the end, where Jac thanks his big bro.
The b-side, labeled "Party Joints," on the other hand, is an entirely different kettle of flounder. Backspin (who, after this record, has indeed earned the title of Infamous in my book) returns, this time without the safety net of a familiar, classic instrumental to ride on (read my post on his "Sing My Song"). Instead of being the "Uptown Anthem" instrumental with a few added vocal samples, this is a dull, plodding bassline and drumtrack with a few vocal samples just looped over and over. It's painfully monotonous and it's sooo slow... I was genuinely beginning to question if I was meant to be playing this side at 45bpm. I don't know who Backspin thought would be partying to this... ground sloths celebrating a retirement? Ridiculously, they then include an instrumental version of this song - yes, the main mix is already an instrumental - where they just remove the vocal samples from it. ...Except for some of them, which they leave. So it's not even like you just get the beat and bassline if (for some reason) you wanted it... it's still got vocal samples ("Say 'oh yeah'" and "ha ha" looped) stuck on it. It's just like the main mix, but... even more boring.
Now, I've already linked to their myspaces and stuff in the previous posts, but I should point out that LOTUG has a new full-length album that just came out now called House Of the Lords. I can't say anything about it, because I haven't heard it yet. But it's available from ughh.com and places like that.
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