Monday, May 4, 2020

Mixerr Album Reviews #2,099

Flint rap group Connoisseurs Of Groove ‎released an anti-drug single titled Free-Base City which was released on the Detroit label Arrow Records. Free-Base City was issued on a 12” vinyl single in 1986. Free-Base City is an example of early Flint hip hop and rap. This was probably the first hip hop/rap single out of Flint, Michigan! This was way before MC Breed, The Dayton Family, Top Authority, and Jake The Flake. This single has that retro electro sound.


Free-Base City is an anti-drug rap song which in turn is based off the life of a cocaine addict where the cocaine user turns into a cocaine abuser. Free-Base City also serves as a cautionary tale on why to not use cocaine and the effects using cocaine. The dangers of using cocaine are discussed too. Cocaine. You ought to leave it alone. Raw cocaine from an 8 ball can be highly addictive. Cocaine if it’s raw is highly addictive.

Now Flint was turning into cocaine central back when this song was written and produced. 1986 is the year when cocaine was becoming big in Flint.  Cocaine hit Flint hard more than any other place in Michigan. Cocaine is the most accessible drug in the city of Flint. Cocaine usually gets sold on Grace Street or McClellan Street. Those are the places where cocaine is sold the most in Flint. People were dying over just small amounts of cocaine and not just kilos.

The 1986 version of Free-Base City is different from the 1987 version of Free-Base City. The 1986 version is longer than the album version. This version here is the original version.

L. N. White and L. J. Reynolds of RAPP Studios produced Free-Base City in 1986.


Connoisseurs Of Groove tells us crime doesn’t pay on the anti-crime song U Can’t Be The Streets. The song also serves as a cautionary tale by sharing the dangers of crime. L. N. White and L. J. Reynolds of RAPP Studios produced this song in 1986.

A child was born into a broken home. This child has now grown into a man. He can’t understand why and how things are. So he solves his problems by using his gun which contributes to gun violence. The life he leads is dangerous and he won’t live too long. If you live by the bullet, you’ll surely die by the gun.

A fresh known dude is selling dope (cocaine) on the street corner where there is no hope. He makes $500 dollars a just by selling cocaine. He doesn’t know the ropes. He forgot about his boy who sent him through the game. Of course he owes him some money. This fresh known dude dropped out of school. Being a full time drug dealer is his occupation.

Now he is in a sticky situation as he is now using cocaine. He lost all his gold and everything else he had. The pusher is getting on him and he is mad. Now he is on the run from the drug pusher. But the pusher caught him. Now that person is dead. You can’t beat the streets. 

The second verse explains the story about man who slept all day and committed robberies by mugging people at night.

This man never did right. He who slept all day and committed robberies by mugging people at night. One Friday evening he was on the prowl, he found someone. He saw this lady cashing her cheque. So he put a gun to her head and choked her by the neck. Now homeboy’s in jail. You can’t beat the streets. 

I rate this single 5/5*****!

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