Old School Mondays:: Raw Fusion & D-Nice

This week's edition of OSM features two awesome songs loosely tied together by a premise I've cooked up. Kind of sounds like what we do every week, but these songs are really two of my favorites and I'm happy to post them for your enjoyment. At some point last week, during one of the many important conversations the Ack and I engaged in, the Digital Underground spin-off duo Raw Fusion was referenced. Comprised of MC Money B and DJ Fuze, their 1991 debut Live From The Styleetron was highly anticipated, so much so that I splashed out on an import cassette version. This was mainly due to the awesome, caper-filled Throw Your Hands In The Air, which we're featuring today.

As a mate for this solid jam, we talked about finding another album by an MC who played second fiddle in their main group, but released one solid album of their own. A solid plan in theory, but I racked my brain and couldn't really come up with anything really suitable. Instead, I settled for someone that kind of fits the bill, but has an awesome song I wanted to post. This leads us to D-Nice. Before he was a blog/photography icon, D-Nice was a DJ/producer/beatboxer for BDP. So although he was an MC, as his two solo albums indicate, he wasn't really an MC for BDP. Anyway, today we're featuring D's classic Call Me D-Nice from his debut album of the same name.

MP3:: Raw Fusion - Throw Your Hands In The Air
I'm pretty sure anyone who knows about/remembers this song pretty much loves it. Just a really fun, really catchy song, the kind we had in abundance at this time period, yet are like trying to find this kind of song now can be rather difficult. It opens up with a Poison-esque machine-gun drum break before a record scratch gives way to a big, clanging, rattling beat. The solid beat and the scratched "throw you hands in the air!" along with Ricky D's sampled "pull this triggaaa" contribute a fair bit to the appeal of the song, but Money B steals the show. The three tales of his posse ending up mistakenly on the business end of a pistol are all rather comical, but his phrasing is top notch. This kind of thing:

I was spankin, a full tank and feelin' great, tape deck, Shabba Rank-in

He took all the money from the cash register
and gave it to the man with the six-pack
He turned to me and said, 'YO, BLACK
Act like you didn't see it...... so be it!
Now that was too much to take, it's like I'm in
a Nell Carter sitcom, please, give me a break

Somethin was real suspicious
"Aiyyo John, what's up with these bah-bies?"
He said, "I just can't know, I just met em"
And then I heard "Get em!"
I looked up, a forty-five at my head
And guess what she said...

Great stuff all around really, check it for yourself.

MP3:: D-Nice - Call Me D-Nice
As I mentioned in the intro, D-Nice is now known for his blog and his photography, but his debut was fairly solid, producing two pretty well known singles, this one right here, as well as Crumbs On The Table. Solid enough for me to purchase it on cassette, but I suppose I wasn't the most discerning when it came to certain group affiliations - down with BDP? Say no more. D-Nice was fairly solid on the vocals, but its this track that brings it home. The thick beat revolves around an excellent organ sample from the Turtles Buzz Saw, which is paired with steady drums and a syrupy baseline. The lyrics mostly just discuss all things D-Nice, why he's the best, and what you should call him. Which is D-Nice. Not much else to say about this one, it's just old school enjoyable, so enjoy it.

Video:: Raw Fusion - Throw Your Hands In The Air


Video:: D-Nice - Call Me D-Nice