Saturday, July 08, 2006

Ras Kass "Won't Catch Me Runnin'" (1995)

Early Ras Kass was so f*cking dope. Vinyl of anything was initially so hard to find, you had to rely on cassette dubs that were generations deep. I managed to snatch up a few copies of this 12" in '97; it was shocking to actually see them available (ran into a stash of at least 10, and grabbed three of 'em). The story I was told was that they were discovered by someone in a warehouse...never learned if that was true, or if a repress or bootleg snuck some into the market.



"Won't Catch Me Runnin" is dope, but the banger here is "Remain Anonymous", the b-side. Produced by Vooodu of Western Hemisfear, this track is hella dark. The entire track is quotable, but I'll highlight the wordplay that opens the second verse:

I seen the scene from the outside lookin' in through a window pane
Pain; hypertension ruptured the varicose vein
The vainglorious breaks I be, perpetratin' omnipotent reign
I rain acid, grate your crew to steak meat
The stakes increase on break beats, your fleet fleets run
when I'm rippin ya Kubrick's, meaning deceased, rest in peace
Pieces of my nebulous flex paralyzes oblongatas
To witness my linguistics like a Muslim takes jihad or not


Includes "Won't Catch Me Runnin" vocal, instrumental, and Moet remix; "Remain Anonymous" vocal and instrumental.

UPDATE, 10:57PM: Re-archived, re-upped ZIP file; let me know if this one gives problems

UPDATE, 8/9:
Check this post at Wake Your Daughter Up for the Ras Kass "Soul On Ice" demo version.

11 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Every time i try 2 unzip i get error messages whats with that

10:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

worked fine for me, man this is dope, thanks a lot bro, u by any chance got any more vintage Ras?

1:06 PM  
Blogger djespionage said...

I think I fixed the problem and re-upped the files, so let me know if you have any more problems...glad you're digging the Ras.

Other vintage Ras? The only other "pre-Priority" Ras I have is "Jack Frost" (bootleg twelve) and a freestyle session with Vooodu (cassette); I'll up those in the near future, anyone else have vintage Ras?

9:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

any chance of a re up with that tony da skitzo?

thanks in advance

4:14 AM  
Blogger djespionage said...

no problem...reupped the Tony Da Skitzo file

8:09 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thanks man hopefully i wont get error when unzipping it this time

8:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I never realized this was so sought after - I bought doubles when this came out. Nice for cuttin back to back. The sleeves were printed for someone else and then painted black, but you can see the original artwork - guess he got a deal on the packaging.

3:33 PM  
Blogger djespionage said...

really? are you from cali? or was the twelve well-distributed in other spots? speaking for myself and people i knew at the time with "sought after"; shit was almost mythic to many, and not easy to come by (before the days of ebay and easy internet shopping)

4:04 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

oh hell yeah this was what I was hoping what Ras would follow but bar a handful of tracks and remixes he sadly didn't.

2:54 AM  
Blogger DJ Icewater said...

This is a repress. The real one has a picture cover. There is also a promo version that has Remain anonymous on one side and ETC. on the b. It came in 2 colors - one with a red label and one with a green label. Both very hard to fine but I managed to stumble upon them for cheap.

11:11 AM  
Blogger ron art said...

I have RAS - "ETC" / "REMAIN ANONYMOUS" in red. Sealed, 1994.

11:59 AM  

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