Did I ever tell you about Jay-Ski?

He was the first hip-hop DJ I ever knew (somewhat) personally. Way back in the late 1980s, I was in 7th grade and would call around to Bulletin Board Systems (don’t know what I’m talking about? You better ask somebody!) from my middle school’s computer lab. There was one I called into that was run by a metalhead, but I bumped into one other user on there named Gemini that was into hip-hop. That was Jay-Ski. We talked once about trying to work together (this was back when I was just starting to write lyrics), but that never came to be. Probably for the best since I was completely wack at the time.

I only met Jay in person once, when he was working at Sound Express (Jersey’s answer to Funk-O-Mart/Sounds of Market) in Willingboro. Then Jay got famous showing up all over Philly radio. We’ve caught up online a few times in recent years. He’s good dude. And crazy talented. Check Jay out these days over at PureElementz.net.

Anyway.

On this episode, they do a giveaway for an Erick Sermon/Def Jam show in New York. The winner gets to ride in a “a phat stretch limo with a television, VCR, and all that” and hang with Mike Elliott and Shelly Shel. This results in a pretty hilarious call-in section where people call in telling why they should be the ones to win the tickets.

There’s some outstanding music here, especially for fans of that 93 sound. Lords of the Underground, The Mexakinz, Original Flavor, PRT, post-Large Pro Main Source… it goes on and on. Some tasty remixes and lots of heavy signature Jay-Ski cuts. There’s one track called “That’s Life” from a Philadelphia group that seems to like to reference Sweden (I couldn’t make out their name when Mike Elliott said it… something Soul).

Fat Joe shows up in studio, but for some reason, I cut that part out. The real treat comes on side B when Souls of Mischief roll through to hype their upcoming ’93 Til Infinity.

Definitely worth checking out. Total runtime is a little over an hour.

After Jay’s set, for some reason there are a couple of Arrested Development tracks and then a brief set from Colby Colb‘s “Radioactive” show on Power 99 (there are a few of cool drops by LL, Tupac, and Run-DMC worth checking). Colby Colb’s set features a random kiddie group (a la Kriss Kross and Da Youngsta’s) named The Chronic (sp?) with a really mediocre track called “Sometimes It Be’s Like That.”

This is side B of the DJ Ran mix that I posted yesterday.

This is the B-side of yesterday’s DJ Kam mix. I suspect it came from Q102, but I’m not totally sure.

A quick personal interjection here. Jay-Ski was actually one of the first people I ever talked to online about hip-hop. Back in 1988, when I was in 7th grade, I remember talking with him via an old school BBS. Crazy. I eventually met him in person a number of years later at Sound Express in Willingboro. Zulu, on the other hand, I have a slightly different connection to. On Easter Sunday of 1994, I went to a teen club in Marlton, New Jersey to see Doug E. Fresh perform. Thing is, Doug E. never showed up. Zulu was the MC of the show and was talking up an open mic competition that was going on when all of a sudden, the crowd erupted into a riot. I remember Zulu trying to calm everyone down, but the place went nuts. I got clocked in the head with a chair and the two or three security people working that night were completely bloodied. Easily the most insane night of my life. The club never opened back up after that.

Though the show doesn’t feature any really spectacular rarities, there is a goofy Zulu skit worth checking (12 minutes in) and a short dis aimed at Power 99 (19:13 in):

Well chiggedy checks it, Q102 wrecks it, yes, every hour,
You didn’t pay the bills so we’re shutting down your power,
…
You down with hip-hop? Check what you sayin’.
You’ve got a “No Rap Workday,” stop perpetratin’.

At 26:24 is the “Street Sound Showdown,” a one-on-one battle of songs from local artists. This time around: “Blow My Mind” by Lady Fresh (kind of wack) versus “Keep It Goin’” by Tucannon (sp?), who sounds an awful lot like Shä-Key (now going by Hanifah Walidah). Same person, perhaps?

Side B is a forgettable set from “Downtown” Julie Brown‘s pretty terrible mainstream “American Dance Traxx” show. The only things really worth hearing are the ads, including a great one nine minutes in for Zulu/Jay-Ski’s show.