Red Foo & Dre Kroon "The Freshest" (1997)

Part 2 in the Red Foo & Dre Kroon series (Part 1 is here), and another piece of vinyl that is just plain dope. This one follows the formula for tight late-90's indie records: a couple of dope new tracks, a remix, collabo cut with a more affluent MC/producer. In this case, Evidence joins them on the mic in "The Freshest". If you're unfamiliar with this crew, don't be fooled by the silly name; their shit is uncharacteristically funky for mid/late-90's indie hip-hop. Must be that West Coast...

Red Foo & Dre Kroon "The Freshest" 12"

"The Freshest" is more laid-back (i.e. not as funky) as most of their tracks, but definately a solid cut, produced by Red Foo, and Evidence's verses dominate the track. Personally, I find the B-side "Hardcore Ish" more representative of Red Foo & Dre's sound, and the dopest cut on this record.

Red Foo's production always makes use of tight snares, and "Hardcore Ish" is no exception. "Hardcore Ish" opens by banging a snare into the first verse, which finds Red Foo casually rocking over a rolling groove. The verse transitions into a makeshift chorus, with Red Foo spitting:

I gets paid to rock a Mike like Evander...
Your body is the ship, and my beat is the commander...
We boom-bash, boom-smash, boom-bip...
'cause, we, we, we tha (hardcore shit)...

Another snare breakdown transitions into Dre Kroon's sing-songy rhyming, before the process begins again with another verse. Shit is dope, and should have gotten a LOT more play than it did. The 12" contains "The Freshest" (clean, instrumental, and acapella), "Hardcore Ish" (clean and instrumental), and "Life Is a Game of Chess Pt. 2" (which is also on the "Life is a Game of Chess" 12").

UPDATE: Hit Redfoo on his Myspace page or check out his website