Felix & Jarvis album review
Felix & Jarvis - Felix & Jarvis is an album from the era of both early Detroit hip hop and Detroit rap during the early to mid 1980s. Yes this album is early Detroit electro rap where the sounds of electronic music meet hip hop and rap. Felix & Jarvis had performed songs that would make you want to get up and dance to. The duo made several appearances on local television shows such as “The Scene” and Nat Morris Show. The duo’s songs got heavy airplay on radio stations across Detroit, Michigan from 1982 to 1985. This album is a must have for both old and new heads!
Felix & Jarvis ruled Detroit rap and hip hop for much of the early to mid 1980s prior to 1986. Similar to how Smiley, K-Stone, Awesome Dre, Mac 10, Eddie D, Kaos & Mystro, DJ EZB & LOS, Danny K, and Detroit’s Most Wanted dominated much of Detroit rap and hip hop throughout out the 1980s.
Felix Morris and Jarvis Carothers Stroud came together as a duo in 1982 to release this much forgotten classic album on Quality Records. Their debut album was pressed on vinyl and cassette.
Flamethrower Rap was one of their biggest, well known hits to date that got them statewide stardom and eventually nationwide stardom across the United States along with Canada. The song has that early electro rap sound with a touch of hip hop. It sure is a funky party tune! The song was played heavily in rotation on many Detroit radio stations from 1982 to 1984.
Flamethrower Rap was recorded in 1982 when Felix Morris and Jarvis Carothers Stroud worked for a local television show that aired in Detroit called “The Scene” which aired from 1978 to 1987. Felix wrote the line "ARE YOU READY TO THROW DOWN" which was incorporated in to the Nat Morris Show just before the record was released and
Bounce is an electronic dance love song about a pretty girl who likes to have her way. The song uses funk synths on top of that boogie sound. The song is surprisingly mid tempo for such a title. The beats are laid down softly.
She knows she turns you on. Has you smoking hot like a chili pepper. You really want her body. She knows she has a walk that talks while in motion. One day she'll be in love with you. She said she wanted someone real deep.
The chorus has some catchy retro lyrics. However the chorus can be considered repetitive and annoying to some people. Read below.:
(Chorus)
Watchu gonna do when you get on top
I'm gonna bounce I'm gonna bounce
Watchu gonna do when you get on top
I'm gonna bounce I'm gonna bounce
Watchu gonna do when you get on top
I'm gonna bounce I'm gonna bounce
Watchu gonna do when you get on top
I'm gonna bounce I'm gonna bounce
During the date is where things start to get kinky but not to sexually explicit. This girl didn't hesitate during the date. The boy laid it down softly and started sweating. She looked into his eyes and touched him real gently. One day she'll be in love with him. She has nerve.
The theme is romantic in this verse. Read the lyrics to get an idea.:
(Verse 2)
I took her on date she didn't hesitate
I made a slick new pair (she said you won't last)
I laid it down softly, started sweating
She looked into eyes and touched me real gently
One day she'll be
In love with me
As I want her as I need her she says
She said to me
Watchu gonna do when you get on top
I'm gonna bounce I'm gonna bounce
Make It Rise is an upbeat funky party tune which is an electronic dance that will make you want to get up and dance. The sound has that early Detroit electro rap sound with a touch of dance music and soul. Think old school Detroit new wave when you hear this song.
Jam The House was an electronic dance that had everyone dancing in Detroit in the 80s. The song is an upbeat electro rap song produced and mixed by Don Was of Was (Not Was). A vocoder is used throughout the entire song. Jam The House got heavily played on a radio station called WGPR on the radio and The Scene on TV.
All Night Long uses heavy bass and electro synths to accompany the dance beats. This song, Make It Rise, and Jam The House should have been promoted as singles. Honestly this is where Quality Records dropped the ball. All Night Long had that upbeat funky electro sound that was dominating the 1980s. The song had funk and soul written all over it.
5/5*****!!
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Big Samad Sefiane - Spontaneous 2003 album review
According to Big Samad Sefiane from Casablanca, Morrocco, the Spontaneous album is and has a combination of heavy bass, disco, techno, trance, electronic, and comedy rap. His music is a mixture of white boy rap and comedy. These are catchy tune with entertaining lyrics. Rap that has a comedic sound with an upbeat rhythm. Most of these songs are top quality radio-friendly songs. His rhymes can change your mood. His image is unique. Spontaneous is for the big bass lovers out there. Where words fail, music speaks.
The production is top notch! Heavy bass compensates for the lackluster lyrics. He needs to work on his final master remixes and change the beats a little more. His raps don’t always match up with the beats or fit in correctly. If you enjoy the production side of things, then you will enjoy this album.
My teachers are horrified is a comedic track filled with heavy bass. The track has an upbeat rhythm and is funny. The song itself has got rhyme to it. My teachers are horrified has sound the big bass lovers will enjoy. My teachers are horrified and so am I. This is a song that will make you jiggle, wiggle, and giggle.
The main chorus is quite catchy. Read his verses to the chorus for this song below.
[Chorus]
My teachers are horrified
I can’t be analyzed
I’m critizied
Samad’s oak trees are full of rhymes and riddles. Go pick a a pickle. Make it jiggle and wiggle. Make it giggle. Now this is the portion of the song where you will want to jiggle, wiggle, and giggle. His rhymes will certainly make you giggle. Samad wants to piddle and diddle around with you. Make him giggle.
I Got The Crystals I Got The Pistols is a classic track among Big Samad Sefiane fans. In fact, I Got The Crystals I Got The Pistols was both a single and a demo. The I Got The Crystals I Got The Pistols demo is what ultimately led the track itself to be released as a separate single along with the track Rhymester.
This is the updated version with clean funny rap that is pure comedy. This is not the original version that was released in 2001. This is the 2003 version that was released on CD as a single.
Hip hop meets dance music on the song Cocoa Dance. According to Big Samad Sefiane, it’s a hip hop dance groove. House meets deep bass with a heavy percussion selection. It’s the type of song you would expect to hear while playing a Sonic video game trying to beat level 1 or level 3. It’s the type of song you would expect to hear while playing a Sonic video game due to its fast upbeat pace and rhythm that matches the sound.
The single Rhymester was his first release fooling around in a kids studio which was his well known clean classic rap song. Rhymester came from the single called I Got The Crystals I Got The Pistols in 2003. Now I Got The Crystals I Got The Pistols was one of Big Samad Sefiane’s first demos that included Rhymester. Time and energy was put into Rhymester obviously.
Big Samad’s Remixes is a mega melody of all songs on the Spontaneous album such as Cocoa Dance, Pure Base, and Spontaneous. It is a hodgepodge of electronic soundscapes.
Sound of Your Teardrops is a repetitive song with heavy bass that will tear up your speakers if you don’t use a sub-woofer. A heavy bass line overlaps the entire song. It is a hodgepodge of teardrops and rain. Ironically no rain sound effects were used.
4/5****!
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Bruno Mars - 24K Magic (Deluxe Edition) album review
It’s great to hear another album from a Hawaiian rapper (if you want to call him that). 24K Magic (Deluxe Edition) is an album that explores the genres of funk and R&B/soul. That is why his album has that 90s R&B sound and 90s influences with a 70s soul touch to it. Nevertheless, the album was a breakout success selling millions of units within its first year. Not only that, that album garnered many streams and downloads.
The song Versace on the Floor was a slow paced R&B song that written by Bruno Mars himself along with the usual frequent co-writers. A majority of the song is performed in D major with a tempo of 87 BPM. The track was originally released by Atlantic Records for digital download and streaming on November 4, 2016. Versace on the Floor was the song that made 24K Magic a mainstream pop album. Hawaiian rap at its finest with a Pacific Islander sound.
Bruno Mars vents about his obsession of Versace on this song. Bruno Mars himself is quite familiar with Versace brand as he has worn this design many times before. Remember what he wore for his halftime Super Bowl 50 performance in February 2016? Versace is an Italian luxury fashion company whose clothing is very expensive.
Too Good to Say Goodbye is a breakup song that written by Bruno Mars himself along with the usual frequent co-writers. The song gets very depressing.
He’s made mistakes. He could have treated her better but he let her get away from him. So much for his happy ending. At this point in the song, he has to face the face that he’s made some mistakes he needs to correct for his girl to come back in to his life.
In the pre-chorus, Bruno Mars makes reference to his 2013 song called When I Was Your Man. She is more than his girl. She is his best friend. It was them against the world. Nobody can love her the way Bruno Mars can. He knows she feels the same way. This is the chance so let's take it.
It’s her that he is missing. Girl won't you listen? He wants her to take that chance so she can come back into his life.
The remix of Finesse with Cardi B is super dope! The production and sound of Finesse (Remix) is even better than the original!
4/5****!!
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The Dayton Family – Dope Dayton Ave. album review
Dope Dayton Ave. was a demo pressed on cassette and released on GrayT Records (GreyT Records) in 1991. The Dayton Family had this tape circulating around Flint, Michigan. Only 500 copies were ever made and released. This demo tape is extremely and hard to come by or even find in retail stores. This album was released only in Flint. This demo cassette became a cult classic and a fan favorite in the underground scene of Flint rap amongst TDF fans. This tape was sold at Wyatt Earp’s Store in Flint also.
Some tracks from their demo cassette were from the albums FBI and What’s On My Mind. Most of these tracks are the demo versions which are different from the studio versions seen or heard from the albums FBI and What’s On My Mind. This demo is realistically more of an EP than an actual full length album due to its short duration. Steve Pitts mixed and produced the demo at Silver Sun Studios in Flint, Michigan.
Some versions of the cassette only have 5 songs while fans say they have copies that had either 6 or 7 songs. The amount of songs varies according to fans. It has been confirmed by Shoestring that a 5 song EP on cassette was released in 1991.
As with all Dayton Family albums the subject matter is pure gangsta with drug dealing being a reoccurring theme. The beats are excellent! This album is gangsta rap at its finest.
This version of Dope Dayton Ave. is quite similar to the 1995 version of Dope Dayton Ave. heard on the What’s On My Mind album. Only the sound is a lot less polished and unmastered in terms of production and sound quality. This version of Dope Dayton Ave. has a more ghetto underground sound. The beats are raw. This is where The Dayton Family gets real raw. They are constantly aggressive on the track.
Dope Dayton Ave. is named after the infamous Dayton Avenue, is known as one of the most crime-ridden streets in Flint, Michigan. Bootleg, Shoestring, and Backstabba rap about coming up from their own upbringings living in the hardest conditions of the United States of America. The trio’s name is derived from Dayton Avenue in Flint.
This was the first track The Dayton Family had ever recorded. Dope Dayton Ave. was recorded in 1991 and released on a cassette single that was a demo with Ghetto Thang included. Dope Dayton Ave. was re-recorded in 1994 with Mark Taylor and J Robinson producing the track. The group began working with local producer Steve Pitts and formed The Dayton Family later.
Backstabba gets hardcore and aggressive. The track is known for its patterns of aggressiveness. Read his verses used in the lyrics of Dope Dayton Ave.:
nobody fucks me
especially on Dayton Avenue
because all I do is smoke weed, sell crack, and screw
brew too
Ghetto Thang is a demo of Ghetto from the FBI album that dropped in 1996. This version of Ghetto is very much different from the version of Ghetto on the FBI album. Ghetto Thang samples Art of Noise - Moments in Love while Ghetto on the FBI album samples The Floaters - Float On. This song was recorded in 1991.
The lyrics are very much different from each other but have the same concept of living in a cycle of poverty. However Ghetto Thang has some similar lyrics to Ghetto from the FBI album. K-Mill (R.I.P.) of Raw Deal speaks at the end of Ghetto Thang.
Ghetto Thang provides emotional insight showcasing the life cycle of poverty. The mood is sad and mournful. The lyrics are very much different from each other but have the same concept of living life in a cycle of poverty. It's about survival. Hustling and trying to have a normal life in an impossible environment.
This version of FBI is much different from the version found on the 1996 FBI album. This version uses samples while the 1996 version does not. This version of FBI was produced by Mark Taylor instead of Steve Pitts FBI samples The Isley Brothers - For The Love Of You and Ludwig van Beethoven - Für Elise. The beats have different arrangements, persuasion selection, samples, filters, rhythm, and sound from the 1996 version of FBI. Mark Taylor used equal temperament while producing the track. Its enharmonic sound is quite notable. J Robinson laid down the arrangements.
Ludwig van Beethoven - Für Elise is the most the notable sample that used throughout the track being that the sample is looped itself over as the background music. Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor (WoO 59, Bia 515) for solo piano, commonly known as Für Elise, is the highlight sample for this track.
The piece is in A minor and is set in at 3|8 time. The song does not lack atonality (lacks a tonal center or key). Left-hand arpeggios are delayed by a 16th note with extra bars in the B section and finally last is the rising A minor arpeggio figure. It begins with an A minor theme marked Poco moto (little movement), with the left hand playing arpeggios alternating between A minor and E major. Then the pitch shifts to the C note (C major) descending into the A note (A minor).
The sample is played in A minor with pitch shifting to B using the ABA scale such as follows.: A-B-A
The ABA scale is the most noticeable music scale used on FBI. A brief section is based around C major and A minor. C major descends into A minor. The structure is A–B–A–C–A in rondo form. The structure is A–B–A–C–A in rondo form much of which is looped throughout the track.
FBI takes ride through one of the worst ghettos of in the United States of America with such gruesome imagery and powerful narratives. FBI is a classic without a doubt. The track itself is a cult classic for Dayton Family fans.
Musical arrangements and beats for the demo version of Flint Town are much different from the version of Flint Town that appeared on the What’s On My Mind album. The lyrics are slightly different with alternative verses not heard of the What’s On My Mind album. Treble is reduced on the demo version of this track as well. Flint Town samples the beat of Run DMC - Rock Box.
Mark Taylor produced the demo version while Steve Pitts produced the 1994 version. This version of Flint Town was recorded in 1991 at Silver Sun Studios and Reynolds RAPP Studio.
Flint Town is the track that made The Dayton Family a legendary rap ground in the streets of Flint, the state of Michigan, and throughout the Midwest US. This is the absolute highlight track for this demo!
The Dayton Family refutes the notion that race does not matter in American society. Flint is not a prosperous scenic town inhabited by celebrities. Michael Jackson says “Black or white, it shouldn’t matter.”. This is a reference to Michael Jackson - Black Or White where Michael Jackson says race shouldn’t matter.
Clearly Michael Jackson was living in an idealistic, magical place like Hollywood, California. Flint is a place where things are very rough and race matters. The Dayton Family feels there isn’t any way out of a bleak environment.
The city of Flint was once racially segregated by district zoning lines. These district zoning lines were politically structured and altered over the years. These district zoning lines were set up by politicians to keep minorities oppressed.
The movie industry pays no attention to the plight of Flint. Although, however, Michael Moore’s 1989 documentary Roger and Me shed light on the deindustrialization situation that hurt Flint severely.
Bootleg tried to go to college but didn’t feel he could fit in anyway due to his social, economic, and racial background. This indicates life in Flint is difficult and there is limited opportunity to receive higher education. There are several colleges in the area such as the University of Michigan – Flint, and Kettering University Bootleg makes commentary on discrimination in the college admissions process. University of Michigan’s Affirmative Action policies are often racist. This has been a big issue and still is.
Flint keeps people trapped in an impoverished environment. It is so hard to escape the drugs and violence that plague Flint. He refuses to work hard at a fast food franchise and still be poor. He can’t live in a nice condo as he would still be in the hood.
Flint Town is a track that made The Dayton Family a legendary rap ground in the streets of Flint, the state of Michigan, and throughout the Midwest US. The Dayton Family discusses to the listeners what’s on their mind while not holding back of course. Flint Town without a doubt is a classic track that still gets play to this very day by many people.
The Dayton Family comes with a “no holds barred attitude” in aggressive form on this track and several other tracks of theirs. Any fan of hardcore gangsta rap willing to accept the truth and daily reality will enjoy this track!
What’s On My Mind is another track that made The Dayton Family a legendary rap ground in the streets of Flint, the state of Michigan, and throughout the Midwest US. The Dayton Family discusses to the listeners what’s on their mind while not holding back of course. The Dayton Family comes with a “no holds barred attitude” in aggressive form on this track and several other tracks of theirs. Any fan of hardcore gangsta rap will enjoy this track!
The Dayton Family does not hold back for anything! For example, read these verses to the lyrics of What’s On My Mind.:
What's on my mind is a rape in progress
I got my dick in between some bitch’s breasts
What's on my mind is a knife at a hoe’s throat
I took her gold, her pussy, and her mink coat
Fantasies is a track that was recorded by The Dayton Family in 1991. This version of Fantasies was recorded at Silver Sun Studios and Bangtown Productions. The demo version of Fantasies samples The Isley Brothers - For The Love Of You. The demo version of Fantasies has more added flavor than the studio version. The demo version of Fantasies is a totally different version than the studio version of Fantasies.
Fantasies is a track perfect for a vacation on a tropical island or a long cruise down the road while traveling. But most definitely Fantasies is song perfect for a vacation on a tropical island for sunny weather or the summer season.
Jake The Flake is a hidden bonus track included on the Dope Dayton Ave. demo. The track is a Jake The Flake solo. The track Jake The Flake is both an underground classic and a Flint rap classic amongst Jake The Flake fans. Good hardcore shit right here.
The bass is quite heavy with pultruding bass lines with different musical notes. Mark Taylor arranged the heavy bass lines. Steve Pitts mixed the track. The song Jake The Flake was recorded at Bangtown Productions in 1991 before his debut single Time To Go Legit dropped. .
Jake The Flake was this kid from the Flint ghetto who was a drug dealer. He was selling kilograms of cocaine every week. He was the one pushing large amounts of weight in Flint at that time. The whole track describes his drug dealing past and run-ins with law enforcement.
5/5*****!!
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