Chopped Herring Vinyl, CD & Tape 205 Items

Well it's been a while, but we are finally back in Bushwick for the latest installment in the Chbu5h Series. But what happened to Chbu5h09 I hear you say - and that's a very, very good question....hold tight and you will get the answer 1st week of June......



So after years of trying, I finally hooked up with the man like Rich Blak, one time member of Da Beatminerz extended crew. Rich is that dude, so we hit it off right away and he dug deep into his 90's demos and found this selection of unreleased heaters from the Shu-box Studio days.



Shu-box studios was located in the basement of Rich's crib around Decatur St & Knickerbocker Ace in the Bushwick [Darkside] section of BK. He recorded a bunch of material down there with local artists in the 90's and this selection of demos heard for the first time here, is what we present to you as another part of the much-loved Chbu5h series on Herring.



Many heads will know Shadez of Brookyn, but the rest of the acts are pretty obscure. Poetikal Thugz was Rich and Chocolate Tye, both Beatminerz affiliates at the time of these demos. Nothing was ever released by the PT's, until now, that is. Franc P was a local MC who used to hang out with the fellas. N.O.R was a Shadez spin off outfit and Kok/tna used to work with Rich on demos and nearly signed with Priority.



It's been 9 years since we dropped the last edition of the Chbu5h series [Poops], so I'm buzzin to take heads back on the L train as we dive deeper into the world famous Bushwick flava that underground headz have been feenin for for nearly 30 years.....

The flava never ends!! And we're back with another new Pseudo's project and this one is stupid fresh. All the samples are taken from one vintage source for this, possibly their dopest album to date. The artwork, by the excellent Julian Montague (Jazz is Dead) is a pastiche [yeah, I said pastiche!] of the art on the OG label, with even the logo flipped into Herring.



Cause of the crazy long post-covid lead times we've been sat on this pandora's box of flava for toooo long - but now it's time to share. I've given up on the superlatives with the Pseudos - the stuff just gets better and better. Concept, breaks, drums, art are all top notch, so please enjoy album #4 from the Pseudo/Herring collaboration.

A sick 10 track EP of material from Zimbabwe Legit's 2007 album House of Stone including a few instrumentals and extras, handpicked by myself for the heads. Cats will know ZL from their 1996 DJ Shadow mixed Mo Wax release 'Doin' Damage In My Native Language'. The original release dropped in 1991 on Hollywood Basic [Organized Konfusion!] and ZL are often touted as the first African hip hop act to get a US release.



This slept on project from 2007 only had a CD release and was fairly low key at the time. It is mostly produced by Raw Produce's Cadence [R.I.P.]. Little story for you. I was in Beat Street [Fulton Mall, BK] at the time of one of their massive sales. I found one of the Raw Produce EPs there for 10c a pop. I copped about 30 or 40 [!!!]. Flipped em on the bay and a few years later I was digitally accosted by Seth [Cadence] on the DWG Forum. He was like "Did you bootleg my record!!" etc etc. I explained where I got them and after a little back n forth we squashed the beef and agreed to work on something in the future. Shortly after he passed and shortly after that I hooked up with producer DJ Quazar from New England Hip Hop Massive and released the grail which included Seth's first ever recording from 1992. And here we are now...



The features on this one are massive: Mike G from the Jungle Brothers, Mad Skillz, stic.man from Dead Prez, YZ, Prince Po, Breeze Evahflowin, Apani, Emskee and Cadence himself. Beautiful, conscious, jazz infused vibes from the motherland. Stupendous stuff!!!



Big shout out to my man in Canada Gee Roc for putting Dumi [from ZL] onto Herring to make this one happen. Props to all involved!!

What a killer season that last one was and we are starting the new one with a beast. The underground Hip Hop world was left reeling from the passing of People Under The Stairs' Double K in January 2021.



Back in 2008 he was working on a sick project with our man in New Haven, CT, Dooley O. A couple tracks from the sessions had been leaked on the net but the majority haven't been heard before.



What we have hear are 5 joints from the collabo as well as 2 insts and an acapella for the DJs to play with. Production is fantastic and we have been blessed with a modern day anthem, entitled simply "Hip Hop" - a joint which laments the current state of the artform, something which most heads can relate too. Not to say that hip hop isn't alive and well, as we know it is - well, at least alive - but Dooley & Double K are heard laughing at and pointing to the joke that the culture has become, asking us "what happened" to the form. "It must be the music that's turning me off, be sounding so Tinkerbell, extra soft" - yup we hear you fellas!!!

Sweet 7" EP from current Herring darlings Pseudo Intellectuals including a stunning remix by none other than founding member of the jazz group Soulive (Blue Note/Concord/Stax) Alan Evans (drums) and member of his trio, The Alan Evans Trio, Kris Yunker. Also included is a Sick previously unreleasedJazz Spastiks Remix of Zillion Airs from the Only Built For Food & Drinks LP. All in all a killer 7" EP for the heads!!!

So Ed from the Phatheadz hit me up and said "Bob, we got some old studio reels transfered, you interested?" and i said, "Hit me!!!". And WOW - what a selection of unreleased material from 93-94. All previously unheard and unreleased. Been droppin snippets on Instagram and heads have been Flippin out. Enjoy yo!!!

Absolutely Killer project here outta Chi-Town 92-95. You MAY know the excellent 'Universal Language' from the 1995 cd/tape released entitled 'Talent Fest' but the rest from 92-95 are proper dope. Peep an interview with Coolout Chris in the Product Info section after the track list. Lots of tasty Chicago info for the heads.



Interesting tidbit - tracks A1 and A2 were engineered by Danny Leake, former member and producer of 100% Pure Poison (WIndy C) who later became Stevie Wonders in house engineer. So some pedigree there!!



Big shout out to Dust and Dope Recordings out of Canada for the hook up. Heads will be able to cop the CD version from them soooon.

Pretty crazy this one!! My man Brian Kayser [Chopped Herring Interviews] hit up MC Chadio with a book idea. He happened to mention Herring and the rest is history. These are the demos that attracted Violator Ent impresario ‘Baby’ Chris Lighty [R.I.P.]. Lighty hooked up the deal with Def Jam through a second set of demos, but these beauties are what started the ball rolling on the career of three man outfit Cru previously known as Rhythm Blunt Cru. The name was shorted by Russell Simmons who I can only assume thought the word ‘blunt’ in the name of a group was a negative [when we all know that it’s a huge positive!!!]. There’s not much more to say here – just take a listen to the snippets and dig that lost early 90’s NY flava that we feen for. Massive Fish!!!!

Dope 8-track 100% unreleased and unleaked material from the early to mid 90’s outta Texas, produced by Papa Chuk and Landlords of the Morgue producer Ashton “DJ Cassanova” Irons. You will know Teddy Lee from the group Project Crew but the rest are pretty obscure acts that passed through Ashton’s studio in the early to mid 90’s to record their demos. Check out the flava!!

So Joe City aka Third Eye Ent hits me up and says B, hook up with my man Strez, he might have some ish you are looking for. So outta Norfolk, Virginia, this is the Foundation Entertainment EP. Most of these tracks appeared on an extremely rare couple of cds from 97 & 99 as well as one off a demo tape and one unreleased from the House of Reps unreleased stash!!! Peep this short interview with DJ Strez for some background info:



Where did you grow up? “I grew up in the Park Place/Villa Heights section of Norfolk Virginia born & raised.”

What are your earliest memories of the culture? “My earliest moments of the culture are begging my mom to go to the record store to buy The Fatboys first album, LL Cool J “Radio”, Run-D.M.C. “Raising Hell” & Beastie Boys “Licensed To Ill” albums. When I got home that day I played these albums non stop. That’s when I knew I was in love with Hip Hop.”

Who were your fav beatmakers coming up? “My Favorite Beat Makers/Producers coming up was Marley Marl, Pete Rock, The Bomb Squad, DJ Premier, Large Professor, Diamond D & Joe City (VA Native)”

What was the VA scene like? “The VA Scene Between 1991-2001 was a great time to be involved with music.A lot of local artists that were coming out started making tapes and selling them at shows or in the clubs.We had so many outlets back then and the major artists were also coming down checking the scene out as well. We definitely had hidden gems as far as talent.”

When did you start making beats? “I started making beats when I was around 16 years old. I was always fascinated with making music and always wanted to learn. The music that was made between “87-99″ was always mind blowing to me. Once i realized that they were taking loops from old records,sampling and making beats out of them i knew that that is what i wanted to do”

What were your first bits of gear? “My first bits of gear was a Casio Sk-1, a Gemini Sampler Ds-1224, a Korg M1, a Boss Dr-5 & a Pair of technics belt drive turntables.”

When did you set up Foundation Ent? “Foundation Ent was formed around 93-95 through my partner Carlton Barnard and he was also my manager. We met at a mall out here in VA called Military Circle in 1996 and we chopped it up and immediately clicked. It all started and developed when he said he had equipment that wasn’t really being used and i asked him if i could use it and eventually it led to us getting a building for a studio and signing artists.”

How did you hook up with all the mcs? “Before Foundation Ent, I was in a group with a friend of mine named Stratagee Real which later became an artist on Foundation Ent so we were already connected. Carlton did beats and had the group Coalition & a female artist named Bad News already so we started teaming up and recording music together in the studio. The other artists that were on the roster were mostly people that we came across that rap and sing.”

Dope new album from Buffalo, NY crew Pseudo Intellectuals. Mad breaks and beats on a dare I say it, almost Prince Paul-esque tip. Dude’s hit me up with the demos and I was totally blown away. Loved the samples, the drums, the cuts, the vibe – the whole nine yards. It’s so Herring, it had to happen. Big up yourselves fellas – great work!!

Dope new album from Buffalo, NY crew Pseudo Intellectuals. Mad breaks and beats on a dare I say it, almost Prince Paul-esque tip. Dude’s hit me up with the demos and I was totally blown away. Loved the samples, the drums, the cuts, the vibe – the whole nine yards. It’s so Herring, it had to happen. Big up yourselves fellas – great work!!

Now on CD!

The incredible new album by Souls Of Mischief/Hiero member A-Plus, with ridiculous production from The Architect (Homeliss Derilex].

The brand new 2020 album from Napoleon Da Legend with crazy nice production from Onion Cuore [Italy]. And here it is – the brand new album from one of the nicest MC’s working right now, Napoleon Da Legend from Brooklyn, by way of France. All the [super-dope] samples on this project are from Japanese sources, the title is in Japanese, the track titles are in Japanese and we even have Japanese distro’, but there is no obi-strip in sight!!! Incredible production/digging comes from Italian beat maker Onion Cuore and this is definitely, without a shadow of a doubt, one of the dopest records of the year.

Written by Napoleon Da Legend. Produced by Onion Cuore.

Extremely rare 90s Florida action now on CD. Chopped Herring did the EP in 2014 and now added an extra joint for the CD version.

Oh yes – The Smoked Out Prod. EP on CD for the heads – ENJOY!!!

Incredible full album of rare and previously unreleased joints from QB’s illest, Killa Kidz.

Only 1 per customer! Black vinyl pressing. Well, what do we have here then! Unreleased Meyhem material from the same time as Self Induced Illness. Pre-the fame, the TV shows, the high profile producers and endless groupies. This is the pure unadulterated Outdoorsmen-era Meyhem Lauren. Never been leaked before, this project was held on the back burner once all the attention and work came Mey’s way in the late noughties. We are delighted to bring it to you on Chopped Herring, with features by Kool G Rap & KIlla Sha and all production by the man like Nickel Plated. Cop quick – colours will move in a flash.

So, True Force aka Tirrell (Killa Kidz old manager and exec producer) hits me up and says “Bob, I found more DATs!!!”. “No shit?” I said. And then the files started to come. Multiple versions and recordings of unheard and unreleased material from the early days of QB’s dopest undercover crew. Included was the 1995 bomb and first ever group recording “In The Mental”, the title of this excellent follow up to 2013’s “1996-1997 Phenomenon EP” on Chopped Herring. In total we have 7 joints from 1995-1997 off the original studio DAT’s. This is one of those ILL releases where maybe [just maybe] Vol 2 is EVEN doper than Vol 1. You can be the judge. But hurry the eff up – there are only 350 copies pressed. The early bird catches the funky worm, yo!!!!

This might be the first time we have dropped a release on Herring with brand new rhymes over unreleased and unheard early-mid 90’s beats. Here we have the extremely dope Long Island representers Horror City. We first hooked up in 2010 to release the crazy nice ‘Prince Paul presents Horror City 1995 Demos EP’ which included a bunch of joints that were later reworked for Prince Paul’s ‘Prince Among Thieves’ album.

Superstar the man behind Horror City has been recording since the 80’s and the fact dude has come up with something so fresh and so relevant almost 40 years later is a testament to his talent and commitment to the art form. This is definitely a contender for one of the albums of 2019, that was originally conceived in 1993. Includes production from the Original DJ Kaos [Artifacts].

Dope artwork by Mark 563

Large Colour Sticker

Debut vinyl release and monster underground hip hop producer-project from AJ Munson. Heavy new producer-project from west coast beat maker AJ Munson. Damn, the production on this one is out of control. MC’s Include Ruste Juxx , M-Dot, Pawz One, Recognize Ali, Reks, Supreme Cerebral, El Gant, Rapper Big Pooh, Verbal Kent and more. 19 of em in total plus 3 fly dj’s. There will be 350 copies pressed only. 230 are on traditional black wax and that is the version we got here.

Plain white no-hole jacket with 20 cm x 20 cm Black & Blue colour sticker

Limited edition vinyl!
Only one copy per customer!
Chopped Herring had to return to Bushwick on the L train to drop "God Bless The Child" & "Truth Hurts All Colours", two previously unreleased (prior to the recent Herring CD drop), mid-90's joints on wax for the very first time and included are two classic Dysfunkshunal jawns for those of you, who haven’t managed to pick up the original yet!!! Always a pleasure to have Da Dysfunkshunal Familee aboard the trawler yo...TIP!!

Limited edition vinyl!
Check out this dope LA material!

Stranger Danger from North East LA hit Chopped Herring up with a project and it completely blew them away. Ridiculous break selection from and drug-fueled, hedonistic comedy from MC's Denzer, X-press & Stranger. What a treat this one is. There is definitely more to come from Mr Danger in 2018, no doubt!!
Stranger Danger started producing in the year 2000 and his first beat machine was a Boss SP 505, but he always collected vinyl since as early as the age of five when his parents bought him the first Fisher Price, Toys R Us record player.
Danger started freestyling and writing rhymes in 1995, but didn't actually start recording or mixing until 2001. He formed tha Roach Killaz in 2016 after his younger cousin X-Press told him that he and his homie Denzer wrote and spit ill rhymes as well.
During this time Danger was recording at a friend’s studio called The Halfway House where he met a 20-year old MC and producer named Saker, who he took under his wing as his protege to help him with production on the album.
In another studio session shortly after meeting, Saker brought his homie named Duer, and that’s when the puzzle pieces aligned perfectly and they knew they had something special. All of their influences are very similar. If it sounds dope, then it is! Greatest influences growing up were MF Doom, Kool Keith, DJ Premier, Kutmasta Kurt, RZA, Apakalypse, Necro, and DJ's like DJ Shi'iteand DJ Rob One.
The recording process is simple, let Mc's go at it until you hear something that you feel can help them sound better, whether it be vocal fluctuation, vocal tone, cadence, or energy.
Too much pride is a “no no”, it's all about doing whatever it takes to make the illest records possible. Stranger Danger digs or listens to music from all era's and over the world and studies music for at least six to eight hours a day, so what keeps him inspired daily is the opportunity to find incredible samples to flip.
It's an obsessive disposer but therapeutic at the same time. He used to have small intense spurts of creating, but now it's an all the time thing as he works on three to four albums at the same time constantly and always tries to top the album he did last.
X-Press, Denzer, and Stranger Danger are all Highland Park natives, (North East Los Angeles). Duer and Saker are originally from the San Gabriel Valley, which is in Los Angeles county as well! - Tha Roach Killaz, Killin Roaches.

Straight out of Baltimore, Maryland we have a crew known as Afiliashun. This monster grail has been on indy-heads wants lists for a minute. It took a few years to get hold of the original studio DAT - big up to producer Reg E Ruckus for diggin through his storage unit multiple times before finally finding the crown jewels. 45 rpm loud pressing! Peep it, don’t sleep it!!!!