One Gud Cide - Contradictions [Scarred 4 Life] (1999)

This is one of the many fairly unknown but truly dope albums I downloaded from the old cocaineblunts forums a while ago when it were still up and running.. One Gud Cide is a hip hop duo from Fort Worth, Texas. Members are rappers Twisted Black and Evil Seed. The group was formed sometimes in the early ninties and released their first album in 1995, called Look What The Streets Made. I'm yet to hear either that or any of the members solo releases. But I've have heard their 1999 release Contradictions, and i really listend...

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As you might have noticed, my favourite tunes are often the storytelling ones. The ones potraying life in the rough life, poverty and urban violence. Somehow the ghetto tales does it for me, it sort gives the feeling the rapper really shares the story of his life. That's kinda what this album is about. Starting off with the first track contradictions (typing from what i can hear, not offical lyrics):

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twisted:

I aint feelin right / seems as tough I'm living split everything I do today tomorrow contradicts / can you help me out lord, am I just a hypocryt / is this the same feel that every real player gets / seems as tough my bad side got it's mind of it's own / want's to go back to the streets and play this baby capone / I know it's wrong, cause every man reaps what he sows, three times / ***** like the story of job

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seed:

nigga please, I aint tryin to hear your sad story / how you walking getting crazy giving God all the glory / I'm a playa, and I ain't been in change I was born in it.... (goes on)

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....well I'm not going to write down the enitire text to this song. All tough it would be worth it kinda. Mostly this text gives me the illousion of beeing really deep or whatever. Which is pretty much enough to get me thinking. The song tells something about contradictions, that everybody has a good and a bad side sort of. This is pretty much what the album is about, their view of hustlin and struggling trying to get away from the gutter, only they still do wrongs knowing it's not the best way to go. Also the beat on this track is really good. The second best to the asumingly Pimp C beat on the UGK collbao Down Here. That track is is the absolute banger of the record, having great verses from all rappers (inclunding a killer verse from Pimp C, something for his critics to listen too).

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The albums goes on with tracks just a little lesser then Contradictions, both lyric-wise and beat-wise. Which means it's a great album. I really suggest you give it a good listen, and of course support the album and buy it. I should probaly mention that more in my posts, always buy the album if you like it. I do! Really! If I can find it...

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Also....

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....Actually, not suprisingly i might ad, it's a group I had never heard of before reading the news last year saying Twisted Black was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sellin cocaine or something like that. I wouldn't know if he deserves the punishment or not since I'm not really familiar with the circumstances, So you will not hear me yell Free Twisted Black or something like that, but I have to say it's a damn shame when a talented artist like him gets his life thrown away like that... The group probaly got a whole bunch of new fans from the sentence, but what's that worth when you're about to spend the better part of the rest of your life in a prison cell....

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Producers credits: Ernie G, Pimp C, T-Mix, Twisted Black.

By the way I'm not sure which album cover is the right one so I just put up all the pictures I could find...

Ernie G, producer of most of the tracks on the record, commented on this post to let us know the above picture is the actual album cover. Thanks for showing love Ernie.

One Gud Cide - Contradictions [Scarred 4 Life] (1999)

1. Contradictions
2. Ride With Ya'll
3. White Girl
4. Terror In The Gulf 2
5. Scarred Pac feat. Eightball

6. Hell On Earth
7. Hogballin
8. Whatca Known Fo
9. Where Da G'z At
10. Down Here feat. UGK
11. Love And Hate
12. Bad Dreams
13. Imagine If
14. Systemized
15. Contradictions (Instrumental)
16. Hell On Earth

Enjoy!/hugo

Murs - Varsity Blues (2002)

According to me this album consists of some of the best story-telling I've ever heard in a rap record. Topp klasse, fo real. Good enough to be compared to records tales by say Masta Ace or Nas (altough Murs flow isn't as perfected, but hey it's still amazing). I'm not sure if it's really fair to call this an album since it's only six tracks on it, but whatever really. Finally an artist was smart enough to skip some of those fill out bullshit tracks you only listen to once or twice anyway.

Because there really isn't any tracks to skip here. All tracks have killer verses and on this album has the absolute best lyrics I've heard from Murs so far. The whole album has the same feeling of realness and honesty as that GREAT Morocco Mike track from his first LP F'Real. If you heard and liked that you're goning to love this as much as I do. The diffrence between Morocco Mike and this record is here he don't rap about another person, it strictyl about the man Murs. Not the rapper persona or the kid acting tough on the block. It's like he took a long look in the mirror and understood he wasn't a hardcore gangbanger or killer, and came to terms with that. Then decided to write a very personal and introspective record about it. Murs deals with everyday problems of being black in America, the struggles of a hip hop artist and simply being a young man. The highlights are Belief's Blues were Murs really lets his anger out. The producer samples some blues song which creates the for this track perfect chorus saying "Why, they just won't, let me be? Why, you and you and you and you and you, just won't let me be?". This followed by a Murs rhyming about his underlying towards any man who's acting tough to prove his manhood, pulling out guns because their scared to fight and such. He paints the picture of an everyday situation pulling up next to antoher man car at a red light and that other dude unprovoced decides to act tough (I'm not from LA so I'm not sure how likely an incident like this really is, but whatever). Check this out:

"You don't really want to kill me, you want to act like a real G / But living out your rap fantasies don't thrill me / But hey, whatever floats your boat / Go ahead and pull it out and I'll give you a quote / Like 'Oh, big homey, please give me a pass' / But ain't it sad you need another man to kiss your ass? / But my manhood is secure, so I'll bow and play the role / By the way your light turned green like thirty seconds ago."

A few words about the production. From what I figure after some google search each track has diffrent producers - according to undergroundhiphop.com: Mum's The Word; Belief; Ant; Bones; Justin Martin; Black Panther. I'm not sure if they produced the tracks in that order or who produced each track. Still it's a very cohesive album altogether. The sound is pretty much the same as any of the pre-9th wonder Murs records. A mix between the Rhyme Sayers sound (Ant) and the profilic Living Legends LA underground laid back sound, as on the tracks which features The Underbosses (whom I don't know anything about).

Well then.. Enjoy!/hugo


Murs - Varsity Blues (2002)


Tracklist:

1. Varsity Blues
2. Belief's Blues
3. County Blues
4. Writer's Blues feat. The Underbosses
5. A Friend's Blues
6. The Deepest Blues