By Ralo
If you just started listening to Rap Music when you began watching BET six months ago, there are some things you should know. There were some legendary Rap radio shows that will remain noteworthy forever, among them are "Mr. Magics' Rap Attack", "Pete Rock and Marly Marl In Control", "Rap This" with P- Fine, "P-5" with Jeff Foss, "DNA And Hank Love", "The World Famous Supreme Team" and "The Awesome 2" just to name a few. These shows played an endless number of Rap records that are no longer being heard or talked about.
Although vintage Rap radio and classic Rap records go hand-in-hand there are an almost infinite amount of underground classics that go unheard. When DJs play "so-called" Old School Rap, they seem to play the same handful of records, Special Ed "I Got It Made", Eric B And Rakim "Eric B For President", Doug E. Fresh And Slick Rick "The Show" etc. While all of these are great records, 80's and 90's Rap is so much bigger than one crate of really great records.
In Tru Skool Corner we aim to focus on more obscure records that have largely been forgotten about. Old heads will be able to reminisce on days long gone, and new heads will have a chance to learn about the records that laid the ground work for the very music they listen to now. while some of these records may sound dated, there is a lesson to learn in each one.
This week our focus is on Philly artist MC Breeze. In 1985 Breeze released an EP that he financed with money he earned delivering pizza. The EP featured the very song he is known for, "Discombobulatorbubalator". It gained negative attention because of it's portrayal of Chinese Americans. It was the first Rap record to be banned from the radio because it was considered disparaging to the Chinese community. The record however, got over 500 requests daily on local radio stations before it was banned from the airwaves.
Like fellow Philly legend, Schoolly D, Breeze did the artwork that appeared on his independent label himself. Most records of the time period didn't have artwork on the records' actual label, only text with credits. Breeze made it his business to have his own hand drawn art on his label.
The only known New York radio airplay "Discombobulatedbubaleter" got was on "Rap This" hosted by P-fine which aired every Tuesday night at 10:30 on New York Universitys' WNYU.
Years later Breeze was called on to write several songs for the soundtrack of Rocky 5. He was so respected for his creativity that even fellow Philly artist Will Smith considered Breeze ahead of his time. "Discombobulatedbubaleter" is number 18 in Complex Magazines' "50 Best Philadelphia Rap Songs".