#StoriesAboutSongs

11 Life's Pieces (Instrumental) by RedefineHipHop

12 Final Failure (Instrumental) by RedefineHipHop

3 Inherent Value (Instrumental) by RedefineHipHop

9 The Makings Of A Trap (Instrumental) by RedefineHipHop

4 Deep Cleanse (Instrumental) by RedefineHipHop

8 Reserved Skeptism (Instrumental) by RedefineHipHop

7 Poetic Art (instrumental) by RedefineHipHop

6 Absolutely Naught (Instrumental) by RedefineHipHop

5 Gracious Giving (Instrumental) by RedefineHipHop

Big L is regarded by many as one of the greats of his time, and rightfully so. This episode talks about Big L's skill as an MC, and how we first met, which included me being unintentionally dismissive...well it was somewhat intentional but I just didn't know who he was... As we go on a quest to trace some roots to his style, I talk about the Fearless Four, MC Shan, Juice Crew, & Lord Finesse. And...

This is a bit of an oddball one on here, but it does have a connection. This verse is originally from my first mixtape going by the name 7X3=21, titled "Imperfectly Flawless", where I rhymed over some of my favorite producer's beats; Sixtoo, Omid, TR Love, PMD, Thavius Beck, August Fanon, and Ski Beatz. The goal, or hope rather, was to drop these unauthorized versions, and shoot to one day working...

From their debut in '96, Non-Phixion dropped a countess number of dope tracks, and they had a knack for getting great production. This one's a great example, produced by Necro. This is one of the first things I wrote for this mixtape, but I never recorded it...and I don't remember why. But, it's fun to rhyme to this beat, so I decided to record it now just share these mixtape versions. I think lis...

This beat is produced by Longevity, who has been one of my favorite artists for many years now. I first became familiar from hearing him as a member of illest underground crews of all time, Darkleaf. And, he went on to a lot of great solo material, both as a producer and an MC. Ever since I started making music again, Longevity's been on my wish list of artists to work with. I originally recorded...

This version is a notably different feel from the album version. In fact, it took me countless tries to get the tone right on the album version, as this laid back approach wasn't going to work. I always loved this Peanut Butter Wolf beat! It's from his Peanut Butter Breaks record, which dropped just a short while before I started doing my Time Travel Radio show in Chicago, and I played this beat h...

This recording is my example demo for “MC Killers”, and there are a few things that stand out about it. It captures how much I was about PRACTICE, and preparing for the live show, because at some point, the record skips, but that was something I trained to prepare for, so I just adjusted and kept it moving. Also, after a quick intro, we do a harmonizing intro, which was directly inspired by Treach...

This is our DJ Quiet Killer doing a little mini-mix.

This song was inspired by Doctor Rocx & Co, who were on Slice Records, and our group was a big fan, especially "Boyfriends / Girlfriends" and "Take It To The Floor". Acapella Disclaimer: I used to come up my rhymes while walking around a lot, so I would rush home and record them acapella on tape to remember them, as it was faster than writing them down. that's why I always rush them, because I was...

"T-A-L-E-N-T-S" was arguably our "most popular" song...whatever that means. It was the basis for our routine at Skate Junction (Junction City, KS) in the Summer of 1985, where we won first at their second Battle of DJs/MCs. The song was inspired Cold Crush Brothers "Fresh, Wild, Fly & Bold", one of all-time favorite rap songs. ACAPELLA DISCLAIMER: I used to come up my rhymes while walking around a...

This is 3D Crew doing a soundcheck at DJ Pill's barracks on Fort Riley. DJ Pill is on the turntables, Burning Hot TNT is hosting on the mic, and I'm working the Boss DR-110 drum machine. We were just testing the levels before we started recording for real. Unfortunately, the real recording got lost over time...but we basically did a live performance of all of songs up to that point, pretty much fi...

This is technically before 3D Crew existed. This is me, MC Coolie, teaching MC Capri how to MC. I decide to teach him by having him learning Double Trouble's "Stoop Rap" from Wild Style, and then from there right his own solo verse. So this is actually us sitting on my front stoop in Manhattan, KS, where I briefly lived for approximately 3 months. For this short period, MC Capri and I went by the...

This is me, MC Coolie, of 3D Crew, and a song I wrote for the group called "Go Off". It's inspired by the unreleased song in Breakin' II with Ice-T, Chris The Glove Taylor and Afrika Islam, and I think Word Of Mouth's "King Kut" was on my mind at the time as well. There's one one blank spot in the lyrics, that I wasn't able to say in one take, as due to this process of recording then, I had to do...

This is practice tape of the short-lived group, Phase 3, an offshoot of 3D Crew, when I moved away. This has Burning Hot TNT (my MC Partner), our DJ Quiet Killer, and Eddie Love on the Human Beat Box. TNT is doing rhymes from two of the last songs we wrote, "Just Let It Rock" and "Rhyme Time".

Produced By M. Pines Artwork by M. Pines Mastered by AI (courtesy of Emastered) On 12-29-22 M. Pines randomly sent me a beat, saying he made it the day before, and thought it would fit my style. This came after us talking for a few weeks, and him sharing the music he'd been working on, and specifically me commenting on really digging the production that he was doing. Essentially, I suppose I was p...

Greetings y’all, all gall, pure advent garde Advantages are…you know what the damages are Immediate, see we get, signals from the start The brain or the heart, or some other mysterious part Discipline’s hard, most will never take that charge Make it that far, life just gets more bizarre I map the stars, find what attracts the gods Hack the source, hope they do not stack the odds Facts with flaws,...

Priceless Prizes (Dub Version) by RedefineHipHop