E.C Illa "Mating Ritual" (1995)
Don't know if anyone else made this mistake, but I often confused E.C with capital D (All Natural's MC) in the mid-90's. capital D ended up breaking out a lot more than E.C, but E.C definately made some noise in Chicago in '95-'96. Both MC's are a bit more soft-spoken with a smooth flow that shines when complimented with the right beat and/or concept. For capital D, one of those records was "Que Sera Sera"; for E.C Illa, the record was "Mating Ritual", the flip-side to the 1995 single "No More":
Picking up this twelve was an easy decision; white vinyl was still a fresh concept to me at the time. There's a grip of cuts on this twelve, all of which appeared on E.C's album release: "No More", "On Ill" (nice Chi anthem), "Mating Ritual", and the "Ill Breakers Anthem". Ultimately, though, this record is all about "Mating Ritual".
'94-'95 were the years when everyone was personifying hip-hop music: Common's "I Used to Love h.e.r." and the Boogiemonsters' "Music Appreciation" come quickly to mind. But "Mating Ritual" has always been one of the more definitive cuts of that 'genre' because of how far it goes. Take the intro:
You ever muh'fuckin' feel so geeked about hip-hop, joe, that you just wanna muh'fuckin'...fuck the shit outta that damn hip-hop, joe?
...real muh'fuckas be feelin' that, joe...
This may seem like comedy, but E.C is NOT playin'. The beat, which drops rugged-smooth, rocks a Meth sample: "Hit the girls from behind with my ill-type rhyme/Got the style, make you want it like mad combine". Female groaning in the background? Check, got that too. E.C doesn't waste any time getting to the topic:
Sometimes when I be makin' beats, yo, I make my dick hard
I discard any loop that doesn't seem to discharge
raw flavor...
...this shit is fat, but still I wonder is it sane
to have these thoughts of bonin' music in my brain?
Includes "No More" (Radio, LP), "On Ill", "Mating Ritual" (Radio, LP), and "Ill Breakers Anthem". FYI, just discovered that the entire album has recently been upped over at Biff Reagle's site.
Picking up this twelve was an easy decision; white vinyl was still a fresh concept to me at the time. There's a grip of cuts on this twelve, all of which appeared on E.C's album release: "No More", "On Ill" (nice Chi anthem), "Mating Ritual", and the "Ill Breakers Anthem". Ultimately, though, this record is all about "Mating Ritual".
'94-'95 were the years when everyone was personifying hip-hop music: Common's "I Used to Love h.e.r." and the Boogiemonsters' "Music Appreciation" come quickly to mind. But "Mating Ritual" has always been one of the more definitive cuts of that 'genre' because of how far it goes. Take the intro:
You ever muh'fuckin' feel so geeked about hip-hop, joe, that you just wanna muh'fuckin'...fuck the shit outta that damn hip-hop, joe?
...real muh'fuckas be feelin' that, joe...
This may seem like comedy, but E.C is NOT playin'. The beat, which drops rugged-smooth, rocks a Meth sample: "Hit the girls from behind with my ill-type rhyme/Got the style, make you want it like mad combine". Female groaning in the background? Check, got that too. E.C doesn't waste any time getting to the topic:
Sometimes when I be makin' beats, yo, I make my dick hard
I discard any loop that doesn't seem to discharge
raw flavor...
...this shit is fat, but still I wonder is it sane
to have these thoughts of bonin' music in my brain?
Includes "No More" (Radio, LP), "On Ill", "Mating Ritual" (Radio, LP), and "Ill Breakers Anthem". FYI, just discovered that the entire album has recently been upped over at Biff Reagle's site.
posted by djespionage at 10:29 PM
1 Comments:
The first time I'd heard of E.C was watching Rap City back in the 9-5. The video was "On Ill". It was such a sick beat for being so simple and the video, I remember, was filled with shots of Chicago graff and b-boys. Its an unheard classic.
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