Disco Scratch

Dust… that’s what I had on my fingers after doing the show tonight.  I should have had some snooker referee gloves on handling the wax for tonight’s show!  Some nice old slabs of late 80s US plastic, as usual digging into the US stack plus a couple of new cuts.  I’m now doing jam news every week, on the top of the hour at 10PM every week.  Starting next week I’m also going to do a Disco Scratch chart.  This will run as a post on the Disco Scratch Forum where you can vote for your favourite tracks of the moment, real basic, best tracks reach the top, those that don’t won’t!  It’ll probably take a bit of fine tuning, it’s not like there’s stacks of new material that appeals to the Disco Scratch audience, so I take it on myself to put say 20 tracks on the site and you can vote for your favourite.

I’ll just see how it goes, it’ll be interesting to see how much interaction there is, I mean I think of Disco Scratch like this… once a week at around ten to 9, old buggers shuffle into a darkened working mans club, put their coats on the stand revealing a faded T Shirt bearing the name of an old UK crew, order a cup of tea, break the seal on a packet of chocolate hob nobs and sit down to sift through the beats entering their domes!  At 11 O’clock, they all say their goodbyes in standard Hip Hop sign off format and leave the room with a warm glow, a tea induced high and a bellyfull of family circle biscuit selections… a happy soul to know that there’s life in the old dog yet! (To Quote Websta!)

I’m the barman, chatting with you all and providing the background music… the fire crackles away in the background while we smile at memories of B Boy battles, scarpering from the plod and rival crews after bombing the neighbourhood and doing pause button mixes…

But, for any hard rocks reading this, trust me, Disco Scratch is no pushover, if need be we’ll form like Voltron (whatever the HELL our yank cousins mean by that!) and throw our Hob Nobs in the air while we grab handfulls of import 12s to battle you with, DON’T test the Disco Scratch Sound System, we’ll draw tracks that’ll stomp the plop out of ya!  Just look at our tracklists from the past shows…

Ahem, anyway, got carried away there, download’s after the tracklist, Enjoy!!!!

DSR12 Dust Track List

1.Disco Scratch Radio Intro
2.DuckAlert – The Delta (Instrumental)
3.Majesta – Tough Scene
4.Black Sheep – Forever Luvlee
5.Black Sheep – Birds Of A Feather
6.MC Crash – Life On The Street
7.Majesta – Suckers Just Scam
8.Grandmixer DST – Rock The House In Japan
9.P.Gunn & Mr.I.Till – My Mic & My Handle
10.T.D.S. Mob – Crushin’ ‘Em
11.Tuff Crew – Philly Style
12.Just The 2 Of Us – Most Valuable Poet
13.Rapia – All The Zones
14.Killa Instinct – The Sparrows
15.Original One – Skillz n Grillz

***News & Jam events ****
16.DuckAlert – Auto Reverse (Instrumental)
17.DuckAlert – Down Wit Tha BKs

18.Majesta – Sneezin’
19.PHP – When The Wind Blows
20.Paradox – Soul Feels Free
21.2 The Top – The Matter At Hand
22.Rapia – Code For Doom
23.Def Tex featuring DPF – Synchronise
24.Microdisiacs – Deep Waters
25.Rammelzee – Beat Bop Part 2 (Ft. K Rob)
26.Edan – One Man Arsenal
27.Hostyle – Diane
28.Smooth Tha Hustler – Broken Language
29.Doug E Fresh – Play This Only At Night
30.Waxer – Thanet 808

 

 Disco Scratch Radio 12 - Dust [116:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (186)

Disco Scratch 9 MC Duke

The thing about having so much love for the old school UK scene is I am a fan as much as I am someone who runs a website.  These interviews are so fascinating and uncover so much stuff, I don’t think I’ll stop until I’ve unearthed every rock of UK Hip Hop!  MC Duke has blessed me with a couple of hours of his time and gone into serious depth about his roots in the Hip Hop culture.

For the uninitiated, MC Duke started with Hip Hop from it’s very first inception in the UK.  Before Hip Hop was even in the UK he was a record boy with his dad, learning the craft and being able to DJ and hold a crowd with just one turntable and a mic.  This was well before Rappers Delight even hit these shores.  From his early trip to the Bronx and return to the UK with his experiences in Covent Garden, through the golden era of UK Hip Hop, there’s practically nothing Duke hasn’t experienced or seen.

Duke unearths loads of gems about the old school sphere of Hip Hop in it’s fledgling years, discussing the formation of the early scene, his years on Music Of Life, events he attended and touches on the infamous situation with Overlord X.  He also answers the questions put in by members of the Heroes Of UK Hip Hop Forum and the Disco Scratch forum.  It was a pleasure to verbalise with Duke and I hope all the listeners to the Disco Scratch Show also enjoy this…

Big respect to Duke and his extended fam for the time, energy and love for the true school of UK Hip Hop. Download after the tracklist…

1.Disco Scratch Intro
2.DuckAlert – Project 88
3.Son Of Noise – The Mighty Son Of Noise (Instrumental)
4.SL Troopers – Systematic Terror (Instrumental)
5.Rude Boy Business – Cool Sailing (Instrumental)
6.Bushkiller – Troublemakers (Instrumental)
7.Duke’s Choice – Funkadelic – One Nation Under A Groove
8.Fission – Word (Instrumental)
9.Duke’s Choice – George Duke – Brazilian Love Affair
10.Afrika Bambaataa – Planet Rock (Beats)
11.Broken Glass – Street Style (Beats)
12.Einstein – Friday Night & Saturday Morning (Instrumental)
13.Derek B – Rock The Beat (Instrumental)
14.Demon Boyz – Vibes (Instrumental)
15.MC Duke – Jus Dis
16.Powerlords – British Mic Control (Instrumental)
17.Cash Crew – You Can’t Stop This (Instrumental)
18.The Principle ft Silent Eclipse – Your Rap Machine Is Broken (Instrumental)
19.MCs Logic – Get Involved (Bonus Beats)
20.MC Wildski – Warrir (Warrior Beats)
21.MC Duke – I Don’t Care Anymore
22.MC Duke – Free
23.Richie Rich – My DJ (Pump It Up Some)
24.Hijack – The Badman Is Robbin (Instrumental)
25.Blade – Lyrical Maniac (Bonus Beats)
26.2 The Top – Score To Settle (Instrumental)
27.Waxer – Based In Science (Instrumental)
28.MC Duke (Medley) Miracles/Throw Your Hands In The Air/I’m Riffin
29.Public Enemy – Shut ‘Em Down (Pete Rock Remix Instrumental)
30.ATL – Murder Rap (Instrumental)
31.Brand Nubian – Drop The Bomb (Instrumental)
32.Pete Rock – Classic (Instrumental)
33.Group Home – The Realness (Instrumental)
34.Master Ace – Style Wars Remix (Instrumental)
35.Overlord X – 2 Bad (Instrumental)
36.Afrika Bambaataa & James Brown – Unity
37.Gunshot – Children Of A Dying Breed (Instrumental)
38.Hijack – Syndicate Outta Jail (Instrumental)
39.Duke’s Choice – Sly & The Family Stone – Family Affair

 

 Disco Scratch Radio 9 MC Duke in Interview [148:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (248)

Yes that’s right, grab your Motorola flip,stick a few cold Red Stripes in a bag,  borrow your mums car and drive up a hill nearby as you move your aerial about to listen to the dulcit tones of WaxOnWaxOff as he defecates in your ear canals with the dopest flavours from the UK, 21 years ago!  This week I was dusting off some old tunes and I’d sorted out a load of stuff and the majority was from 1989.  Upon closer inspection it dawned on me that 1989 was probably the best year for the UK and decided to do a 1989 special.

The tracks I play are full of wicked lyrical skills, def production, I mean cutting up stabs on top of breaks, like James Brown & The Meters while top rappers deliver raps so sharp you imagine them in pain after they finish rhyming, cutting the insides of their mouths with the razor sharp verbals.

This show takes you back to a time when the UK were HUNGRY for Hip Hop and keen to split from the US and stand on their own.  The UK had by this time got a solid enough base of radio stations, venues, record shops, producers, labels, engineers, club DJS and such to be self supportive and this show proves that.  Listen to the shout outs at the end of the MC Mello tracks “Bizzie Rhymin” to hear a nice slice of who was making the most noise at the time.

The only downer with this show is that I had a few gremlins in the studio last night and couldn’t record it at high quality and for some reason the stream went out at a lower quality so it’s not as bright as usual… but maybe that was fate?  Maybe someone used the force to manipulate that to give it a dusty tinge to replicate those static filled tapes from 1989, with the odd burst of the local taxi firm overriding your tape recording.  Still, the Disco Scratch logo was shone into the night, and the red Scratch phone rang at Repo136′s yard, where a mighty voice from one of the generals of the UK Army’s front line on maneuvers told me it was OK… he was recording…  download is at the bottom of the post after the tracklist…. Enjoy this show and get on next week for UK LEGEND MC DUKE!!!

Tracklist:

1.Disco Scratch Radio Intro
2.Waxer – Where’s The Scratch
3.2 The Top – The Rhythm I Give ‘Em
4.Kinetic Effect – Beyond The Parameters Of Amateurs
5.Cash Crew – One Decade
6.Chris Biscuit – Rhymes To Kill
7.Cookie Crew – Born This Way
8.Dee Lawal – The D Don’t Play
9.Freshki Dames – Kickin It Live
10.JC001 & DJ D Zire – Bad Place To Get Hit
11.MC Martay & DJ DBM – Beyond Control
12.KCF Productions – Words N Music
13.MC Cardi & DJ 357 – Rough Potential
14.MC Buzz B – How Sleep The Brave (70s Funk Mix)
15.MC Groove – The Groove
16.MC Mello – Bizzie Rhymin
17.MC Untouchable – Back Street Blues
18.Shogun MC – The Struggle Continues
19.Hijack – Doomsday Of Rap
20.Normski – Easy
21.Goldtop – Introduction
22.Freshki & Mo Rock – Pick Up On This
23.DJ Mink – Hey Hey Can You Relate
24.Cue Tips & Dashy D – Control
25.Blade – We’re Going Independent
26.MCs Logic – We’re On A Mission
27.MC Duke – I’m Riffin’

 

 Disco Scratch Radio 8 1989 Special [117:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (245)

Joined live on the line by Ambush tonight.  For those that don’t know, he used to run the UK Rap Classics site and is a walking encyclopedia of information about UK Hip Hop since its’ inception.  He has been actively involved in the scene for a very long time and is still reaching events to this day, a true school soldier.  We cross some interesting ground regarding the live scene in the late 80s/early 90s and touch on many subjects older UK heads will relate to.

Enjoy this 2 hour ramble of stories and experiences of the golden era of the UK Hip Hop scene.  For those that listened live, the download here has the full interview, the live stream had gremlins chewing the wires and I freestyled the last 20 minutes… big respect to all the Disco Scratch supporters.

Tracklist:

1.Disco Scratch Intro
2.DuckAlert – Diamond Dust (Instrumental)
3.3 Wize Men – Refresh Yourself
4.Family Quest – Sleep Walking

Interview tracks:

5.London Rhyme Syndicate – Hard To The Core (Instrumental)
6.Freshski & Mo Rock – Pick Up On This (Instrumental)
7.Grand Groove – Let’s Dance (Instrumental)
8.Demon Boyz – Northside (Instrumental)
9.MC Duke – Miracles (Instrumental)
10.Ambush’ Choice – Faze One – Layin Down A Beat
11.Merlin – Born Free (Unrapped)
12.MC Duke – I Don’t Care Anymore (Instrumental)
13.Ambush’ Choice – Demon Boyz – Recognition
14. The She Rockers – Give It A Rest (Instrumental)
15.Overlord X – 2 Bad (Bonus Beats)
16.Ambush’ Choice – Prime Rhyme Masters – You Need Discipline
17.Ambush’ Choice – Black Radical Mk 2 – B Boys B Wise II
18.Ambush’ Choice – Severe Carnage – The Struggle Continues
19.Standing Ovation – Onslaught (Instrumental)
20.Son Of Noise – The Mighty Son Of Noise (Instrumental)
21.Deliverance – Up & Down The Country (Instrumental)
22.NSO Force – In 2 Deep (Instrumental)
23.Ambush Choice – Ambush – The Ambush (Westwood Demo Version)
24.Ambush Choice – Ford Coalition – Get On The Mic (Scrabble Remix)
25.Waxer – Organ & Bass (Instrumental)
26.General Levy – Dem No Wicked Like We (Instrumental)
27.Ambush Choice – London Posse – Money Mad

 

 Disco Scratch Radio 5 - Ambush [128:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (302)

These interviews I’m doing are revealing some fantastic information about the roots of the UK Hip Hop scene.  Scenes14 started in 1982/1983 and it wasn’t long before he was jumping fences at 3 in the morning with a sack of paint on his back.  Combined with a love of B Boying and all the elements, Scenes soaked up as much of the fledgling UK Hip Hop sphere as possible.  To this day he’s still rocking a dope custom graf Jacket & box fresh Puma kicks with the Suspekt crew baseball cap.

We spoke about the early jams and some of the pivotal events in the UK through the years that Scenes has attended.  Racking up some 28 years of living Hip Hop, this guy knows his onions, hope you enjoy the show and apology for slightly too loud mics causing some slight distortion, what can you do, we were gonna do it through headphoes to start with!!!  Enjoy & big respect to Scenes14, peep his site, The Underground Strikes Back.

Tracks used during the show:

1.Disco Scratch Intro
2.DuckAlert – Diamond Dust (Instrumental)
3.Kurtis Blow – The Breaks (Instrumental)
4.Mr Magic – Potential (Instrumental)
5.Kool DJ AJ – Ah That’s The Joint (Instrumental)
6.Scenes Choice – Twilight 22 – Electric Kingdom
7.Hashim – Al Naayfish (The Soul)
8.Africa Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force – Play At Your Own Risk (Instrumental)
9.Africa Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force – Planet Rock
10.Warp 9 – Nunk
11.Scenes Choice – Big Apple Productions – Genius At Work
12.Ice T – Tibetan Jam (Instrumental)
13.Wreckin Cru – Surgery (Instrumental)
14.Scenes Choice – Steady B – Fly Shante (Def Mix)
15.3rd Bass – Steppin To The AM (Instrumental)
16.Brand Nubian – Brand Nubiam (Instrumental)
17.Scenes Choice – Bushkilla – 92 Salute
18.Craig G – Shootin The Gift (Remix Dub)
19.EPMD – So Watcha Sayin (Dub)
20.Gang Starr – Manifest (Instrumental)
21.Scenes Choice – Blue Eyes – Soul Tip
22.PE – Bring The Noise (No Noise Instrumental)
23.ce T – Lethal Weapon (Instrumental)
24.Scenes Choice – EPMD – So Watcha Sayin’
25.Big L – Devil’s Son (Instrumental)
26.Stezo – To The Max (Dub)
27.Main Source – Think (Instrumental)
28.Scenes Choice – Def Tex – Run
29.Nas – It Ain’t Hard To Tell (Large Pro Remix Instrumental)
30.Gang Starr – Dwyck (Instrumental)
31.Craig Mack – Flava In Ya Ear (Remix Instrumental)
32.Scenes Choice – Hijack – I Had To Serve You

 

 Disco Scratch radio 4 - Scenes14 [156:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (356)

Last Thursday I went down to the Hare & Hounds in the South of Brum. Got a lift with DJ Cro (respect for the grub mate!), then into the venue to meet Pogo, Sparkii, Pritt, Mikey D, Maurizio (RSC) Beatmaster and a load of proper Hip Hop heads. Kosyne came up as well and we had a chat, nice one mate ( http://louisden.com )

So I got on stage to do my bit, a little LL Cool J “I’m Bad” intro, followed by the beat. I did 3 parts to the beat as there was loads of material on the records I bought to make a beat out of… and Pritt got back £9 change from a score!

Here’s some pics:

The night was wicked, with Cro dropping a bad boy underground set, followed by Ian Beatmaster rockin the wheels, then it was me (no one to battle, my opponent Darren Myers never showed up) followed by Sparkki rockin the mic, some beatbox and freestytles, then Pogo ripped it up with some B Boys out the crowd doing their thing, followed by Mikey D tering up the stage!

What a night and to top it off Mikey D announced we are going to do a track together! Can’t ask for more than that!

So here’s the track I made, props to Pritt for his ongoing support love & dedication to Hip Hop, to Mikey forblessing the mic and still slamming MCs on cement after nearly 30 years in the game!

To Pogo/Cro/Beatmaster for killing it on the wheels of steel, Sparkii for all his hard work & ongoing commitment to the scene, Keith for all the background work you did (respect to the molecule), and to all the heads I spoke to in the crowd nuff respect for turning up and supporting real Hip Hop!

Lastly sorry to the geezer who’s head nearly got taken off when I threw my breaks into the crowd!

For more information head to http://kingofthebeats.com

 

 Waxer - King Of The Beats 2009 entry [5:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (495)

AT LAST!

A rip of this has finally come to light, massive props to my man DuckAlert for ripping this and doing the editing, cheers mate!

This tape came about cos me, Jim & Stew (Panoramix) were all going to the Battle Of The Year 1996 in Germany and Jim & I decided to knock up a tape to flog at the event.  So Jim provided most of the Wax and I did the cuts and editing, and we ended up with a pretty fly tape!  The A side is a good mixed up 45 minutes of past flavours, loads of tracks mixed up in there, and the flip is all the latest import 12s that were out at the time.  It was so dope to hear this again as I sold all the tapes and lost the master!  Luckily DuckAlert had one kicking about and blessed me with it.  Here’s the cover with the tracklist:

So Much Class 1996 Mixtape

So I am really chuffed to be uploading this as I thought it was lost forever, and this was pre computers for me, so the A side was done on a Tascam Porta 05 4 track, and the flip just a straight mix on my 1210s done in one hit.

Try and pass the word round on this one, it’s a snorter… enjoy!

 

 So Much Class Mixtape 1996 [89:57m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (492)

Yes people, another track from the vaults of The Palace Of Villainy, this time a tune I never got finished, so I jumped on the mic for the final verse!  I came across Joe quite randomly back about ’98 or so,he came to my house back when I was living in Plaistow East London, as he was an estate manager and was going to manage the property as I was renting it out.  Lo and behold as I’m showing him round, I opened my upstairs landing cupboard up which I had converted into a vocal booth… then he saw the studio and it was on!  A while later him & Skillion Grimes came to my gaff to record Blagger, and 1 other tune which I haven’t even comped (but will soon!)

These guys are hot on the mic… you’ll know Skillion from his cut “Hot Gal” that featured on the Wordlab 2 copmpilation back around 2002.  I’ve just found Joe on facebook so maybe we can link and get some new tracks done, who knows?

Anyway, I wanted to share this Studio Mix with you, it’s unmastered but is mixed down, hope you like it!  It’s a warning to all those going down the paths of self destruction…

 

 Joe Blimey, Skillion Grimes, Waxer - Blagger [5:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (300)

Check the mic controllers here:  http://www.myspace.com/daoperation

I went to Battle Of The Year in Germany in 1996 with Big Jim & Panoramix from the OPM crew, meeting along the way some old faces like Aroe & Born To Rock, plus some new ones, like Disorda & Trix (well, new old ones!)

Me and Jim did a mixtape which we took to battle of the year to sell.  It was called “So Much Class” and had a megamix on the A side of old hip hop and the flip had all new cuts.  I used a 4 track recorder and my Amiga to knock it up.. it was pretty dope actually… Jim supplied all the vinyl for the tape and I knocked the mix up.

Here’s the cover:

Well.. the problem is… I don’t have the tape anymore, and neither does Jim.  In fact the only person I know who definitely has a copy is Kilo from the SIN Cru, who bought one and used the mix on a graf Video he was doing at the time.  SO you ask… what’s the point of this post?  Well, I’m asking if anyone that comes on DS has either got a copy of this tape, or knows someone that does, cos I’d like to rip it to MP3 and share it.

If you can help, either add a comment to this post or drop me an e-mail, thediscoscratch@gmail.com

Thanks all, and here’s a beat I made back in the day (around ’98) just for the hell of it, from an EP I did for my own label, WaxWorx Records, the Symbiosis EP… this cut’s called Anything IS Possible (Instrumental).  5 thou!

 

 Waxer - Anything Is Possible (Inst) Symbiosis EP 1998 [4:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (5)

I am always knocking up new beats, always looking to collaborate with vocalists, so I decided to start upping my beats for your listening pleasure.  I’ll be posting tracks from the current era and from the last couple of years.  They’ve been in the vaults but I always get to a point with a track and then kind of leave it, even though I know I could get it out… If you are interested in collabing I use Logic 8, or I can knock a beat up in Ableton Live 7 or Reason 4 if you want the full file.

I’ve upped beats to my Dope Tracks account, you can check ‘em out at http://dopetracks.com/Waxer

So this beat’s called Def Decibels, a slow grinder with a murderous bass line, so any MCs that wanna spit bars on it lemme know, or just download it, bung it in your DAW of choice, drop verbals on it and send me a mixdown.

Pass any beats you got to thediscoscratch@gmail.com

Here’s the audio (you might need to roll your bottoms off if you play this loud!)

 

 Def Decibels (Instrumental 192kbps/16 bit/stereo/44.1khz) [3:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (140)