Philly brought us some great rap records from day one. I've always been a fan of that Philly stuff – whether it's old school, random or indie records – Philly left his mark in the land of hip hop with tons of good artists and dope releases –
Jazzy Jeff & Fresh Prince,
DJ Miz,
Steady B,
Cool C,
Three Times Dope,
Another 1-4-U-2-N-V,
Phill Most Chill,
Tuff Crew,
Schoolly D, just to name a few. Get a taste of that Philly flavor on the amazing mix CD
"The Wreckshop Philly Golden Era Vol. 1" by
Aroe & The Soundmakers.
Let me tell you about a group that wasn't featured on the above-mentioned CD. There were a few different crews from different regions that went by the name of
"Legion of Doom" in the 90's, and Philly had its own
Legion of Doom too. That Philly Legion of Doom already released the very dope
"Gangster Boogie / Here I Come / Live Bait" 12" in 1989 or 1990 on Bill Collectors, which is a tough one to find. I've first heard about this group in 2003, and from then on I've started the mission to find out more about this group and their releases. Well, what I can tell you so far is that Philly's Legion of Doom released two 12" singles – the
"Gangster Boogie" and the
"Puttin My Thang Down" 12" – plus a
cassette only album with the title
"2 Hard 4 The Radio" (Distinctive Records 1993). I've also heard some LOD tunes on a mixtape cassette that weren't on any of their three mentioned releases... So where do these tunes come from? On which medium where they released? Until now, I still couldn't get any further infos and it seems that my mission ain't accomplished yet.
Phill Most Chill did a great review job on
Legion of Doom's "Live Bait" – an amazing track taken from their first 12" – on his blogsite
"That Real Schitt", so let me continue Phill The Soulman's work and give you some infos about this group's second, dope as hell 12" with the title
"Puttin My Thang Down / No More Music". The label already reveals what this 12" is all about: "Too Hard for the Radio!". While the a-side is packed with a funky and sample based beat, the b-side delivers some ruff rhymes with the chorus "I guarantee you no more music by the suckers". So you know the deal.
The Legion of Doom consisted of two members:
Live and
Charlie Bass. Production is handled by both, but you can only hear Live spitting lyrics. The statement
"Too Hard for the Radio" was also taken as the title for their tape only album that followed later in '93.
It took me some time to find this 12" in great condition for a reasonable price. Due to its rareness and quality this is a much sought after piece of wax amongst collectors and always fetches very high prices on auction sites.Philly at its best! ONE!
DOWNLOAD - Side A
DOWNLOAD - Side B
I don't know when this came out but sounds like late 80's to me. Let me know if u got any info on this release. Pretty nice 12" though.
This 12" dropped in 1990 and was produced by Howie Tee on Select records. The main reason i am posting this is because it has a mix, the "original vocal mix", that i have never heard before. It's pretty/different nice too.
This 12" is from 1997. Cant go wrong and the remix are prod. by Ogee. Dangerous is prod. by Da Beatminerz. Dangerously makin money and dangerous the sequel are prod. by Mr. Walt (i guess without help from Evil Dee). But as the song title states u can't go wrong with OC and Da Beatminerz!!
This 12" is from 1984 and produced by clark jay and jerry bloodrock. I'm sure most of yall have heard this somewhere before. I have more of their 12"s that i'll post once i dig them up.
This 12" is from 1991 and all joints produced by one of the most under rated, under appreciated, and slept on producers (IMO) Tony D (rip). It's on interscope records. Tony D did so much for hip hop and this 12" is gonna definitely please. Trenton seems to be, or at least have been, a mecca for hip hop music. It seems that everything that i have heard outta Trenton is nice and this is no different. Anyway, get your fix for some dope ragga style hip hop on this 12" here.
