Say hey. Welcome to the inaugural edition of Back in the Day, a forum for talkin’ ’bout days gone by. Of course, “back in the day” means different things to different folks. For me, “back in the day” refers mainly to the golden era of rap music released during my school years (junior-high all the way through college)…for me, that’d be roughly ‘87 through ‘98. You know, the Walkman years. This is not to exclude the eras prior or post, both of which were good to me and my music collection…it’s just a personal generalization.

At any rate, one of the important features of my own golden era was a diamond in the rough called the cassette single or maxi-single, known to all as the cassingle. Less glamorous than the 12-inch (DJ’s weren’t rocking these at the party), a quality cassingle could nonetheless get a lot of burn as you moved around the city, strapped in to your Walkman (the yellow Sony Sport joint was de rigueur in my neighborhood…that was like the best Christmas present ever). Plus, cassingles had remixes and b-sides and unreleased shit just like a 12-inch, but many of them were much cheaper or, even better, promotional i.e. free…and that was the key to my personal crate of cassingles. Because I didn’t have a free vinyl hook-up back then (and I still don’t, of course…although I did once, while working for my college radio station in the mid-to-late 90’s…sigh…but that’s the story of another crate, to be told another day). So I copped cassingles whenever I could. Sure, a lot of the free ones were what you’d call “snippet tapes”…they might have a full version of the single, but usually it was just like a handful of minute-long teaser cuts. You know, just the chorus and the first verse, or whatever. Still, I banged some of these for months in anticipation of their eventual release. It’s not like you could have downloaded them or something. This was a time when you had to buy music or tape it off a friend or off the radio, which lead to a lot of classic, one-of-a-kind tapes, tapes which would then be circulated hand-to-hand…the fabled “dub of a dub”. The way we interact with music is different now, for better or worse. But recently, digging through my box of cardboard-sleeved cassingles, I was transported back, and I’d like to share with you a couple of these old signposts on my journey through the past.

Our first stop: Heavy D & the Boyz (with friends)–Don’t Curse. As the credits state, this song was written by Heavy D, Pete Rock, Big Daddy Kane, Kool G. Rap, Grand Puba, C.L. Smooth, and Q-Tip. Now do you see why I bought it way back in 1992? This was a classic posse cut, and the line-up was stellar for that time (or any time). Produced by Pete Rock using Booker T. and the MG’s “Hip Hug-Her”, this is the sound of a bygone era in rap. Side two featured “You Can’t See What I Can See”, which was ” not available on LP, CD, or Cassette” according to the fine print. It has a co-production credit for one “Puff Daddy”. I don’t even remember it.

Next up: Geto Boys–”Six Feet Deep”. Off the album “Till Death Do Us Part”, this is one of my favorite funereal rap songs, from a time when not everyone had one. Now even I do. But back then, there was mostly Ice Cube’s “Dead Homies” and this song from your Fifth Ward favorites, both of which still stand up to any such song released today. 1993’s “Six Feet Deep” features heartfelt verses from the whole team (even Bushwick), whose roster at the time featured Big Mike. Mike kills it, too, with classic lines like

” So when I drink a brew for you I pour some on the block son/
you might be gone but you damn sure ain’t forgotten”

So simple, so real. That’s this song all over. But by far the best and most moving thing about this song is the track, a genius blend of the Commodores’ “Easy” and Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”. Damn. And the cassingle had the instrumental! Go listen to this one and reminisce…

What’s next? Here, I see two cassingles from lyricist extraordinaire Ras Kass, both from 1996. You know, when he was good! (Just kidding, Ras Kass. Please don’t kill me. Big fan…). One of these cassingles, I don’t remember which, I got at a free Ras Kass show during a Hemp-fest in Portland circa ‘97. He tossed them into the crowd, and I ended up wrestling some random girl to the ground for one. Or at least that’s what appears to have happened…it was all a blur. A low point for me as a human being, perhaps, but a high point for my collection. The first of the two tapes is Anything Goes b/w On Earth As It Is…, both clean versions. These are two of my favorites off his debut, “Soul On Ice”, and I don’t really mind the clean versions…sometime clean versions are tight! Check out the clean version of N.W.A.’s “Gangsta Gangsta” where, instead of “cold runnin’ shit”, Cube says “Ice Cube and Eazy E cold rockin’ it!” Way tighter.

The second Ras Kass cassingle I have here is titled “Sampler On Ice”, and its cover features the following disclaimer–WARNING: This tape contains lyrics which may be too intense for punk-ass MCs.

I assure you, having listened to it, that this precautionary notice is justified. If you’re a fan of spherical lyrical miracles, you are no doubt familiar with the snippetized songs appearing on this tape, all of which (I believe) can be found in full on “Soul On Ice”. I’m not sure whether you can still call 1-900-7RAS-KAS “for Ras Kass info”, as the cover also suggests. You should try it, though. It’s only $1.98 per minute.

From the Cali coastline (well, from Carson actually), we head east, all the way to Strong Island for a little cassingle called “Stakes and Potatoes from De La Soul”. I played this nonstop in my car radio when I got it in early 1996, waiting impatiently for June 18th (the release date, according to the tape’s sleeve, for their fourth album “Stakes is High”). This cassingle had the same content on both sides (as did many cassingles…”Six Feet Deep” is another one), but I didn’t care. It was all so hot, and this was the only way I was gonna hear it. It had snippets of Supa Emcees, 4 More, It’s So Easy (later retitled “Itsoweezee”…or mis-listed here), and Dinninit, plus full versions of The Bizness and Stakes is High, both classics (as are, for the most part, all the others…even “4 More”, featuring Zhane, sounds quaint now compared to today’s retardulous R & B crossover garbage-wrecks). These snippets and songs are intercut with phone conversations (all playfully praising the as yet unreleased record) between the album’s guest stars and famous fans, including Common, Busta Rhymes, Mos Def, and Renee from Zhane (also mistakenly referred to here as “Renee from Shane”). Long Island’s own Biz Markie even provides an original introduction. Using a creative approach to the snippet-based cassingle, this was a hot piece of chicken twelve years ago. Listening to it now, I can hear where the tape speeds up and slows down, a testament to me having played the shit out of it a decade prior. Thanks for the memories, De La.

Well that’s all for this time. As you can see, this is only the first part of my continuing cassingle chronicles. Future editions will include lost classics like Chino XL’s “Here To Save You All In ‘96″ Sampler, as well as Company Flow’s “8 Snippets to Perfection”. Until then…

This tape will self-destruct,

Grip

PS–I encourage you to write your own edition of Back in the Day, focusing on whatever you like: sneakers , king-fu flicks, drum machines…to quote Dres, the choice is yours. Let’s keep this hip-hop history alive, y’all.

Posted by Grip Grand on Monday, January 7th, 2008 at 7:00 pm.