Rhymefest "How We Chill" (1996)
The Chicago underground hip-hop scene has essentially been defined by the prolific output of the Molemen. This dope Rhymefest 12" was one of their earlier releases, and the record that established their rep to a lot of people:
This record remains my nomination for the definitive Chicago anthem (although my qualifications to annoint it may be dubious). The title track is introduced by J.P. Chill, legendary WHPK DJ, and Rhymefest proceeds to document the Chicago scene as it existed in '96, a Who's Who of the underground: Dirty MF, Steady Serv, Rubberoom, Ill State, Stony Island, Judgmental, DJ Ran, Tone B. Nimble, Ang-13, Verbal Disease. The spoken chorus spells it out: "This is how we chill with the boys/"C-h" is for Chicago, "i-l" is Illinois." If you're from (or give a f*ck about) Chicago, this shit is straight-up essential.
"How We Chill Pt. 2" is probably the most well-known track on this record, as it features Juice, in what is still one of his stronger tracks. Rhymefest and Juice rhyme well together, and the Molemen lace them with a lovely track (they were sampling a lot of old mood music at the time). "Much of Nothing" is ill as well, more of a story rhyme; altogether, this is still one of the best records the Molemen have put out...don't hesitate to snatch it if you see it. Included are the three tracks mentioned, as well as "No Matta'Hu U.R." (which is the "How We Chill Pt. 2" instrumental). If you're interested in more Molemen-related production, Leave Your Nine at Home has had some good Molemen-related posts recently you should check out.
[UPDATE, 7/13, 5pm: Re-archived, re-upped file]
This record remains my nomination for the definitive Chicago anthem (although my qualifications to annoint it may be dubious). The title track is introduced by J.P. Chill, legendary WHPK DJ, and Rhymefest proceeds to document the Chicago scene as it existed in '96, a Who's Who of the underground: Dirty MF, Steady Serv, Rubberoom, Ill State, Stony Island, Judgmental, DJ Ran, Tone B. Nimble, Ang-13, Verbal Disease. The spoken chorus spells it out: "This is how we chill with the boys/"C-h" is for Chicago, "i-l" is Illinois." If you're from (or give a f*ck about) Chicago, this shit is straight-up essential.
"How We Chill Pt. 2" is probably the most well-known track on this record, as it features Juice, in what is still one of his stronger tracks. Rhymefest and Juice rhyme well together, and the Molemen lace them with a lovely track (they were sampling a lot of old mood music at the time). "Much of Nothing" is ill as well, more of a story rhyme; altogether, this is still one of the best records the Molemen have put out...don't hesitate to snatch it if you see it. Included are the three tracks mentioned, as well as "No Matta'Hu U.R." (which is the "How We Chill Pt. 2" instrumental). If you're interested in more Molemen-related production, Leave Your Nine at Home has had some good Molemen-related posts recently you should check out.
[UPDATE, 7/13, 5pm: Re-archived, re-upped file]
posted by djespionage at 10:30 PM
3 Comments:
Thanks for all those dope tracks man.
I also checked out your homepage, you got some nice mixes and beats
thx i appreciate it. my site is pretty old, i'll be updating it with a lot of "old" mixtapes (made from '96-'00) in the next few weeks
Thanks for this. I'm a huge Rhymefest fan.
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