Chubb Rock "Just the Two of Us" (1991)

Favorite Chubb Rock joint? "Caught Up"? "The One"? "Treat 'em Right"? I'm going with "Just the Two of Us", uncoincidentally the first Chubb Rock cut I heard, and one of the jams that defines '91 hip-hop:

Chubb Rock "Just the Two of Us" 12"

Not sure if this one was ever re-released (came upon my slightly warped copy in a trade), but the retail twelve - posted here - contains the original mix as well as a Trackmasterz and Clark Kent remix. I'll admit I've never given the remixes much play; producer Howie Tee is fundamental to the cut in a way that goes beyond the production, and it just ends up making sense that his (original) mix is the tightest.

Includes the Original Vocal, Trackmasterz Remix (vocal and instrumental), and Clark Kent's Cool Out Mix (Vocal and Instrumental).

K-Otix "Do You Wanna Be an MC?" (1998)

K-Otix have never really gotten their props, despite dropping bangers for the last decade. There's a number of explanations floating around...their hometown (Houston) and their record company (Bronx Science) being a couple of the better ones. When the LP, "Universal" finally dropped in '01, it included most of the joints that had been released via twelves to that point, with the exception of this record:

K-Otix "Do You Wanna Be an MC?"

"Do You Wanna Be an MC?" was the first K-Otix record I was up on (having missed "Spontaneity"), and was one of the stronger indie records in a year of strong indie records. Like most K-Otix singles, shit is thorough from the production to the verses on to the chorus (in this case, a sampled Common line from "The Bizness"). The track here doesn't contain the energy that typifies some of their other bangers, but mirrors the reflective nature of the delivery, probably the pessimistic version of J-Live's "Hush the Crowd":

It ain't where you're from, or where you're at
It's about who you know and who did your track
So take a step back - to see what you made
'cause who's the last one to get paid?

The irony I guess is how K-Otix got jerked by their label despite shit like this years earlier. Oh, BTW, if you missed their Katrina response cut, "George Bush Don't Like Black People" in '05, it belongs in a playlist somewhere.

This record includes vocal and instrumental, as well as the b-side "7 MC's Pt. II" (vocal, instrumental, remix).