Jazzy Sport

For all the (warranted) attention lavished on DWG's excavation of previously unreleased Juice Crew gems, fellow Golden Age archeologists Vinyl Addicts' latest limited edition "from the vaults"-style release has seemingly flown completely under the radar. Random rap and Paul C. fanatics (usually one in the same) are no doubt familiar with the works of the Bronx's Sport "G" & Mastermind, which 'til now amounted to all of two excellent 12s. This one:

Sport "G" & Mastermind "Live"

And another Streetwalk single, "Louder," that I never had the good fortune to catch in the field (nor the actual fortune necessary to $nipe and $pring for it on the 'bay). 

But with the arrival of the Let the Rhythm Roll EP the duo's output has suddenly quadrupled. Though maybe not the obvious slam dunk that The Juice Crew EP is, this similarly steeply priced (55 EU plus shipping) six-song offering nonetheless got the Paypal gremlins siphoning the funds from my bank account with the quickness once I checked the snippets. You see, there are a few sample sources that are pretty much undeniable to me when it comes to hip-hop beats. Number one is, of course, Bob James' "Nautilus" - which in my book is both unfuckwithable and unfuckupable, the King Midas of samples sources/breakbeats. (Show me an artist who's made a wack record out of "Nautilus" and I'll show you an artist beyond creative redemption. But you can't, because "Nautilus" is fool-proof, no matter how wack the artist. In fact I bet if Rampage da Last Boyscout had made a record off of "Nautilus" the record would have been awesome. And just think, if that had happened then the universal perception that Rampage sucks would never have caught on, he would have never been kicked out of Flipmode, never have been dismissed as Busta's sidekick, and today no one would have even heard of Spliff Star. In other words, the entire course of rap history would have been inexorably altered... Okay, bad example.) 

Well, as it turns out, there's no sign of "Nautilus" anywhere on the Let the Rhythm Roll EP anyways. But there are a few other sure-things conspicuously present. Namely, enough of Marvin Gaye's also unfuckwithable instro "'T' Plays it Cool" to put "Sport Could Get Fluid" safely in the 'W' column; plenty of "Cool's" ominous Trouble Man counterpart "'T' Stands For Trouble" on the fine legal hustle memoirs of "I Used to Be a Hustler"; and, most importantly, the heavenly break from Eddie Drennon & B.B.S. Unlimited's "Do What You Gotta Do" on the dope as hell "Catch My Lyrics." I was first seduced by "Do What You Gotta Do" when I heard Kool Herc drop it over the PA at the Roosevelt Record show years ago. If there was ever a piece of music destined to be looped it's here - the break when the strings hold that one note for what seems like forever over those "Wasp"-worthy drums while the electric piano line gently rises and falls. This needs to be continuously looping somewhere in the world at all times, it's that good. In fact, remember when Biz gave a bunch of shout-outs over it on the intro to Diamond Shell's album? (No, of course you don't.) Well I'd rather listen to that - Biz mushmouthedly talking, not even rapping, over the break from "Do What You Gotta Do" - than 99.9% of the bird-feed that passes for rap music nowadays. 

Let a good quality BX emcee like Sport "G" spit over it and voila! - you've unearthed yourself a would-be random rap essential. Frankly, I can't believe these guys didn't get another crack at a deal given the strength of these simple but really enjoyable demos. What can I tell ya - hip-hop really doesn't need to be all that complicated to be great. If by chance you feel as I do you can still order one of these bad boys for yourself, here.