First up is a South East London crew who released four 12"s back in the early 80's, and had a very strong stance on sounding British. They were MC Reu, Def G, Xtreme & GLK, aka Lords Of Rap.
I first heard of them on the BBC documentary 'Rapping - The Low Down' that aired around 1988/89, they caught my attention for 1.Looking fly as a crew all colour co-ordinated (yeah ok shell suits aren't that hot now, back back then, bwoy they were the lick). And 2.Sounding very unique, and British, you gotta remember that not a lot of crews took this stance back then, it was all new and exciting and everyone wanted to imitate the latest U.S. artist. Over here we were just realising we could rap in our own accent to stand out.
-BBC documentary 'Rapping - The Low Down' (featuring Lords Of Rap)-
So yeah there's a little flavour of what was going on with the Lords back then, repping Peckham to the fullest. As mentioned they sadly only released four 12"s, and from seeing them on 'The Low Down' film I made it my mission to seek out and buy everything they released...
This was their first outing on wax, which I only found by accident on the floor of in a very dusty record stall on a Lewisham market stall 6 years ago (now this has made me realise that the younger generation collecting their MP3 folders will have no memories like this of finding their music will they!). The 'Hip To House' track is kinda corny, and also featured on a Furious Fish Records compilation too. However the title track 'Lords Of Rap' shows them in their early development, with slightly yank twangs too. Still a dope cut though...
Next up was the 'In Effect' 12", which came in 3 mixes. I can remember the day I bought this too, it was at one of the early Southport South Weekenders many moons ago, one of the record stalls had it amongst some house tunes. Without knowing the track I picked it up and paid for it on the strength of the name Lords Of Rap, who I'd seen on TV recently...
Now i'm not sure which 12" came next, but by this time they'd hooked up a deal with the HUM label (Hardcore Urban Music), and their product came through this via their own (I think) Mad Dog imprint (which I recently found out had their offices in the same block in Camberwell that Suspect Packages used to operate out of), anyway... The 'Jazz It Up' 12" in 1991 came with the extra cut 'Where Are You Coming From?', however it was the title track that gained them some extra airplay and focus with its jazz fueled vibes...
They even performed it on Normski's 'Dance Energy' programme back in the day, this was the shit for those who remember it...
And finally there's the cream of the crop, for me anyway, the 'Stix N Stones EP'. The last official release they dropped and what a blinder it is. It was around the time CDs had just started making their way into stores and replacing vinyl, 'Where Does The Xtra 3 Quid Go?' deals with this issue, classic stuff. This 12" also came with a little cartoon 'Mad English' by Art Jazz, you can check it below with all the Lords Of Rap tracks mentioned above, enjoy, and educate ya'self...
Gotta give props to the Lords Of Rap for bringing some dope music into my life (and many others I imagine), I'm not sure what the rest of the crew are up to these days but Def G aka Soliheen is still active, hit us up bro. You must have some unreleased Lords Of Rap ya wanna play me?!
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10 comments:
i have all these still except the 'in full effect' 12", never saw that one around too much. i like 'where are you coming from' the best i think, also 'mc average' on the british underground ep. coincidentally i had the hip to house/lords of rap 12" on the wheel of steel just last weekend and i don't really know what to think of it now. i do remember seeing them on that TV show and i did, at the time, think they looked like a bunch of idiots. i was young then and am older now and do appreciate that time has made me feel that my first impression was incorrect and they were actually quite good. nice idea this mate, look forward to reading some more soon.
Thanx 4 dis, really enjoyed listenin 2 dose lords of rap trax! Reckon dey cuda made a dope lp!
Yo! Disorda i remember hearing that they recorded an album called something like '4 sides to a coin..' It would be dope to get hold of that there gem!
In that Lords of Rap clip up top, that is NOT 1980. They quote "BDP" and "My Philosophy," which came out in 1988.
Thanx for the comments guys, yeah I forgot about that 'mc average' joint, that's ill, if just for the intro alone!
Been chatting to Def G and there is indeed an album that never came out, and a lot more i imagine. Maybe he'll let it off if i pester him enough huh... Seems a shame that none of the fans will get to hear it.
And yeah, I stand corrected on the date of the Lowdown clip, i think I got that from its text on the youtube link... Anyway, I changed it. Thanx for pointing it out...
The Lords The Lords...
Woah... nice one Disorda, respect!
Lol @moyinka saying he thought we looked like a bunch of idiots!
Blokey... I'm impressed with your detective skills bro. The title was 4 Sides Of A Coin. 24 unheard choons!
Thanks everyone for the appreciation and dialogue. Maybe I'll sprinkle some tunes Disorda's way if you pester him enough.
Peace
Soliheen (formerly Def G)
btw... forgot to add the disclaimer that the record company instigated the idea for Hip To House. Let's just say it was a condition of the deal so we did what we had to do.
It was Furious Fish's offices in Camberwell, Disorda. Gotta say I'm impressed with your 'digging up history' skills! Most people know us for Stix n Stones and MC Average and that's IT!
Thanks for this. I loved that Lords of Rap stuff.
Where did the other 3 quid go?
well i must say first and foremost nice one to disorda its good to know there are people out there who appreciate what we were tryin to do back in the day and yes there is definately an album that we produced i intend to get the guys back together for a class reunion soon to see what happens and will keep you posted. xtreme aka reukiela
lords of rap founder
Re-release "Where does the extra 3 quid go?"!!!
Also, thank Mr Scruff for letting my find your stuff on his 1992 mix. I was only born in 88 so would have missed this otherwise!
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