It’s a song that you hear sampled in a lot of Hip-Hop songs by rappers like Biz Markie, which made a lightbulb go off in my head. “I bumped into Cut Chemist at a record store as him and DJ Shadow were playing a 45 of ‘Synthetic Substitution’ by Melvin Bliss. “Sometimes I dumb-lucked into situations,” says Merlis. Tracking down the cast of characters involved in this story could not have been easy, but the author’s tenacity and love for the genre pays off.
This in-depth oral history of the influential label that launched the likes of MC Shan, Marley Marl, Big Daddy Kane, Master Ace, and more allows the players themselves to tell the story, with an unobtrusive narrator guiding the way. ‘Goin’ Off: The Story of the Juice Crew & Cold Chillin’ Records’ by Ben Merlis Perfect for any head who has ever devoured the tiny print inside a cassette or wondered about the people behind the shout-outs. Coleman digs deep, interviewing artists, DJs, producers, and other industry insiders along the way. 1 in most ways.” Taking us from Biz Markie to X-Clan, Ultramagnetic MCs to Ice Cube, and back over to the Beatnuts, the author proves himself a doctor of rap genealogy. He soon followed it all up with Check the Technique Volume 2: More Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies (Wax Facts Press), which he attests “is better than Vol. Coleman crafted this 528-page masterpiece, then reprinted it with more goodies in later editions. Whether pheening for knowledge about methods to a certain sound engineer’s madness or the real story behind a famous cover shot, Check the Technique is every rap nerd’s dream. Most classic Hip-Hop records didn’t come with liner notes, but this obsessive fan/veteran journalist author set out to right this injustice. ‘Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies’ by Brian Coleman How is it that even news anchors today throw around the term “shout-out?” Why were white suburban kids buying gangsta rap? When did graffiti infiltrate the advertising world? How did a once-subculture transform and influence the dominant culture? It wasn’t always this way. In the words of KRS-One, “You must learn.” So beef up the brain and home library with these recommended reads about rhymes and life. From the birth of rap through its early days of evolution, much has been written by and about the musical masters of Hip-Hop. It’s hard to know where you’re going if you don’t know your roots.
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