South Central Cartel - South Central Madness

One of my all time favorite albums comes from the SCC. The album came out way back in 1992. The groups main members consist of Prodeje, Havikk the Rhymeson, Havoc the Mouthpiece, LV, Luva Gee, Gripp, and DJ Kaos. The thing I really like about this group is how well they all flow together. I enjoyed how they sampled artists such as NWA and Geto Boys throughout the album. Also, you can hear the Roger and Zapp influence as well. I used to listen heavily to all the songs starting with I Get My Roll On. That was my favorite side of the cassette that I own. Another great song that I liked was Hookaz. It sampled the the song Rumors by the Timex Social Club. I think they put a good spin on the song. LV, who most people will only know from the song Gangstas Paradise with Coolio, can really sing. He has a real soulful voice and was a perfect fit for the group.

The one song that I will play over and over is the title track South Central Madness. That song is great. It had a few artists feature on it such as the female rapper Boss and Mr. Wesside. It wouldn't be until much later that I would find out about a bonus song that was only on the cd version. That song is titled Livin like Gangstas and it just one more hit for the album. I think back in the 90s, record labels would add bonus songs to the cd version as an incentive to get you to buy it. Unfortunately for me, I only had money for cassettes which ran about $10 each and not to mention the fact that I didn't even have a cd player at the time.

South Central Cartel is one of my favorite groups here on the West Coast and of all time. They would go onto put out more dope music and I hope to speak about more of it at some point.

You can follow Prodeje on Twitter @mrhoodgood
You can follow Havikk on Twitter @ BigHavikk

dpgmarine

FTI

After Tech N9ne's Absolute Power album came out in 2002, I had the chance to go see him at a show. Back then he wasn't as popular as he is today. There wasn't too many people there and I had the chance to speak with him after the show. Also, I purchased my first Strange Music T-shirt. Check it out below.

dpgmarine

Where it all started

The first rap cassette that I ever purchased turned out to be the Bangin on Wax album back in 1993. I first saw them on the Maury Povich show. From what I can remember, I believe Big Wy, Little Stretch, C-Note, Sin Loc, and Ronnie Ron were some of the members on the show. Go figure! The funny thing about that is, Maury is still on TV to this day with the same show. Anyways, back to the matter at hand. After the commercial breaks, they would play little edited snippets from the album. I remember saying to myself that I had to hear that album. Prior to this, I had already been introduced to some of the West Coast rap legends such as NWA, Ice-T, Too Short, Above the Law, Spice-1 and from the South Geto Boys, 8ball & MJG, and UGK.

I finally scrapped together around eleven dollars and headed down to a music store called Music Plus which would later become The Warehouse. To this very day, Bangin on Wax is still one of my favorite albums and I can play the whole thing through which is a rarity. Nowadays, you’re lucking if you like 4 songs on a given album with exceptions. Even though the subject matter was explicit, I enjoyed listening to both sides and hearing their stories. I grew up very close to Compton, Watts, and South Central so I could understand some of their hardships.

From this album, more Bangin on Wax albums were put out, including full Bloods & Crips solo albums as well individual solo efforts.

To name a few of the albums:

Tweedy Bird Loc – 187 Ride By & No Holds Barred

G –Len – Woop Woop

Fo Clips – Eclipse

Young Soldierz – Self Titled

Relativez – (Several albums)

Green Eyez – High Blood Pressure & Me against the World

Ver-C-Tile – I'm a Hustler

Another little know fact is that Crips member Genuine Draft from the first album ended up becoming Domino and had some radio hits in the early 90s.

Unfortunately, a lot of the members have passed on or are locked up. However, there are some members that are still active in the rap game and are still keeping with the music.

Big Wy & Suga Buga as the Relativez @bigwy & @richboybuga

OYG Red Rum 781 @OYG_redruM781

Sin Loc- Who just released his album Smell the Smoke & See the Fire @og_sin

Tweedy Bird Loc – I believe he is still around somewhere in Compton

This cassette would be the first of hundreds more that I started accumulating over the years. Eventually, I turned to cds, but I still have a lot of my original cassettes.

dpgmarine

The Beginning

I'm creating this so that I can share my knowledge of rap music. It's something that has been almost a hobby of mine since a young age. I was introduced to it in the early 90s and I haven't looked backed. It's time that I share my thoughts, opinions, and ideas about where I first got hitched and where the music is now.

Hopefully I can keep actively posting and keep it interesting.

dpgmarine