I had no idea this ever came out - the first MC-fronted jungle album. 1996.
This later EP from 2002 has a title that nods towards - perhaps forms a matching book end with - an era-inaugurating album from 1991.
What Ragga Twins and Det had heralded was at that moment reaching fruition with grime
Wonder how this post-SUAD Ragga Twins effort from '95 sounds? Probably not very ragga-y.
As Carl acknowledges in his review, jungle MCs rarely worked as "feat." artists on record - their style was built for and around the live set at a rave on a pirate
What are the great examples of a jungle MC doing it in the studio?
MC GQ is grrrrrrreat on this but it's really just one lick. Well one hook-lick and a bit of chat.
This is an exciting performance by UK Apachi - it cuts back and forth between a singjay sing-song mode that's quite plaintive and jabbered fast-chat that's raggaruff.
This from Stevie Hyper D is very early - 1991 - but it's more like a dancehall vocal rather than jungle MC-ing
Likewise this from the next year
Fun but pales next to this
Stevie Hyper D also did EP called Junglist Hooligan and the track "Junglist Soldier" in '95 and '96
A take on "Rub a Dub Soldier"
Another very early effort - 1991 - is Killer Man Archer - on "Narra Mine"
But it is more like a dancehall deejay guesting than a junglist MC (okay it's points along a line but feels like there's a distinction )
I went looking and found that MCs featuring in jungle records seemed to happen more towards the end of the '90s (which surprised me) and that earlier quite often if I look for say a famous MC like Navigator, they'll appear in discogs as the producer of a track. Bit like with MC Duke.
update 7/28 - how could I miss this one? MC Lethal's "The Rave Digger"
Except there's no MC-ing on it - he's one of the rave MCs who moved into production
Ditto this
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Suggestions in comments
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MC Dynamite on Roni Size / Reprazent's "Brown Paper Bag"
DaveK in comments pointing out the Conrad remix of PFM - which features his uniquely smoov and serene style of chill chat - reminds me that I have been remiss about RIP-ing MC Conrad.
DaveK also mentions this early effort involving MC Fearless on the Boogie Beat label
That's rather good and I like the melodic interpolation from "Moments in Love" too
Here's the whole Weekend Rush Part 3 EP
He also mentions Bassman's contribution to this classic
That's more on the lines of GQ on "Roll Da Beats"
Going back to Fearless, here's a bunch of later 'feat.s" from around '96
Aha - bit later than the period I'm looking at - but in 2003 Fearless teamed up with Shabba D, Skibadee and Det for this release under the group name The Professionals
There's a great tune featuring Skibadee but it's UKG
uploaded by yourstrools 4 da commonwealth
Another one that doesn't really count - it's not a release, it's an advert - is this pirate ad for Telepathy, the MC whose name I'm blanking on is also the guy who ran the club, indeed he voiced all their ads
5 comments:
The vocal mix of Roni Size's "Brown Paper Bag" springs to mind.
....must....not....type..."Bombfunk MCs"....
Yeah like you say surprisingly few actual MC performances as artists on wax in the golden era. Maybe due to limits on technology available to a lot of producers at the time e.g. bedroom style setups where sampling a small vocal snippet was easier .
The main one I think of due to recent events is The Western track PFM with MC Conrad RIP
The others I can think of are more samples than actual artists collaborating I think. There’s Bassman on Bass II Dark. And sure MC Fearless did something called Jump Up Crew on Boogie Beat around 92-93. But he don’t say much on it.
I seem to recall buying Rinsin Lyric a couple of years after it came out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cvGYIS5qvY
It was... fine. A bid for mainstream acceptance and chart success that didn't pay off.
Telepathy ads voiced by Kenny Sting
There is a full-on tune featuring Sting from the Jungle Dons comp: https://youtu.be/yiTTIIRj2fA?si=vwGPxp3mztlm9eLG
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