Memory Lane

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I've wanted to write some stuff about this, but haven't had time, and now the night is upon us, so here it is:

The Foundation was a long-running night started in the mid-'90s by Sureshot, Supreme, Soul and myself at a bar in downtown Seattle called the Art Bar. Sureshot, Supreme and I deejayed a bunch of different places (Re-Bar, Crocodile, etc.) to finance our record label, Conception Records, but with Soul promoting, it took off. At first it was called Nitty Gritty because we were playing rare groove, but after awhile it morphed into almost all hip-hop, and we called it The Foundation (the ad-lib at the beginning of the Group Home song "Tha Realness" made me think of it). A bunch of different people started spinning with us and the night got huge – I would always try to spin first so I could play underground stuff that wouldn't really work for the dance floor later on. At one point they showed the flyer (designed by Modern Dog) on MTV because it was one of the longest running hip-hop nights in the country. Anyway, long story short, Emily and I moved to New York in 1999 and it went on for several years after that. Tuesday night the original cast of characters re-unites at the Lodge. It will be a fun party, you should come over.


Nas "Memory Lane" (Prod. DJ Premier) from Illmatic, 1994

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Update: Thanks to everyone who came out, it was cool reconnecting with a bunch of different people from way back and dusting off some old cuts. Special thanks to Soul and Alonso for putting it together, to Marcus for hosting, and to Kutfather and J. Moore for emceeing.

Back At You With The Realness

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LPSD's "Back Atcha" – I first heard Kutfather play this at the Art Bar when we used to DJ there in the late '90s, and then it was sampled notably for "Thoughts I Generate," the b-side of his 12" we released on Conception Records. It's pretty much impossible to find an original of the LPSD record – the only recording I have of it is on an old Jake One mix tape, so in my mind this song always flows directly into Cru's "Pronto." Never knew there was a video for it, but there it is.

Still Nickle Plated but My Mind Obliterated from the Thai

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Nonesuch Records has released a collection of songs featured on HBO's The Wire, including the Sharpshooters/Fourfifths track "Analyze." I mention this because The Wire may certifiably be the best show in the history of television, and because "Analyze" originally appeared on a record released by Conception, the label I used to own with the Sharpshooters (Mr. Supreme and Sureshot). We had no shortage of tension here and there and all went our separate ways—I moved to New York in the summer of 1999—but I want to congratulate those involved, and I wish everyone the very best. It's not a big deal to be on a compilation, but to me it's a big deal to be on The Wire compilation.

I remember being kind of annoyed that after we recorded that song, the acapella on my copy of OC's "Time's Up" 12" pretty much had a hole in front of the word "Analyze"—the part that got scratched for the hook. Now, I wouldn't give it up for...well, let's just say I'm glad to have the damaged copy.

It seems like a million years ago but I remember Sharpshooters were signed to Instinct/Shadow Records at the time, and the label didn't want to release vinyl. We had lunch with one of the label owners at the Five-Spot and worked it out so we could put the vinyl out on our label, Conception. Before the real record came out, we pressed up 200 white label copies to bring to San Francisco for the Gavin. We stayed at Beni B's apartment and Jake, Shane, Danny, Shelli and I all passed out copies at various parties. It was dope to be putting out our first record together and promoting it.

After that we signed to Sub Pop and put out a bunch more records, which I am thankful for, even though it turned out that they were in turmoil and not really in the position to distribute hip-hop records too well at that point. Everyone we worked with there was great, especially Kerri, Lisa, Bob the News Guy, Megan, Jonathan, Eric—and Pat Riley and Kris Chen at ADA. The success we had was also largely due to the promotional efforts of Spyridon Nicon (proprietor of Spin's Barber Shop in Wallingford). I think we maybe put a few too many records out too quickly and could have benefited from retaining our own guerrilla tactics. Still, I look back now and think it was all good. It's all one big learning experience. (As a side note, it's great to see Sub Pop back on top again—it might be the best record label out there right now.)

Most of the Conception tracks have stood the test of time really well. Business-wise, I think each of us would probably have done some things differently, but I learned a ton from the experience, and I have immense respect for my old business partners and the strengths they brought to the table. I can say that every job I've done since then has been informed at least in part by my experience running a record label (yes, even working for Martha). It was an interesting time and I'm glad to have the records and knowledge to show for it.

Sharpshooters f/ Fourfifths Analyze MP3

Fourfifths Questions MP3
Unreleased/unmastered, produced by Jake One

The Wire soundtrack ...and All the Pieces Matter on Nonesuch Records