Wednesday, February 21, 2007

brother arthur keeps it real you suckers

this is going to be short today...the reason is i do not have a lot info on this one. heard it on a premier mix first, doubled my listening pleasure with a mix of hiphop's vinyl heaven internet radio and then hunted it down. brother arthur's 12" is a piece of wax i would never let go. co-produced by chuck chill out it should have seen the light of day in '94 on the c-ya entertainment label.

the famous line "such a pitty, that livin in the city is like livin in the times of frank nitti" had been used for the chorus of group home's "up against the wall" in '95. another hint, that the record should be from '94.

i agree with the phrase etched into the run out groove of this record
- keeping it real you suckers


again, i'm looking forward to any additional info on this group/release!

BROTHER ARTHUR 12" '9X

1. WHAT YOU GONNA DO
2. THE YEAR OF THE NINE



enjoy!

pz,
akutt

17 comments:

HokiDoki2 said...

very goood post ;)

Unknown said...

:o

I have only ever heard both of these joints on a shitty old tape, but had no idea who the artist was, damn you have knocked it out of the box on this one my man.

Anonymous said...

Daaam man that's a great record!

Anonymous said...

Premier also used a line of "what you gonna do" in the hook of gangstarr & m.o.p.'s "half n half" ("So what you gonna do since you know now"...)

Anonymous said...

yo !
Dope cuts
"what you gonna do" is also sampled in Jeru tha Damaja "come clean"..!
pZZzz&& & thx ag

Alkuttraz said...

thanks for the comments guys!

Anonymous said...

Brother Arthur 4X was from the Zulu Nation and obviously Nation of Islam. This was his only 12". I was on Tim Westwood's radio show with him and Afrika Bambaataa in London around 94. If anyone has that appearance on tape, please email me heist323@gmail.com

We got into a little disagreement with Westwood because he never played this 12" but he was insisting he did. A real cool brother with great skills.

AG keep up the good work.

Alkuttraz said...

great info! thanks a lot!

Big Geno said...

i'm D.J. Big Geno I produced not co-produced both "whatcha gonna do" & year of the nine." Bro. Arthur has since passed on so i won't speak ill of him. But i was not paid a dime 4 those tracks. i never mt Bro Sham because he was locked up @ the time. He did the skeleton to the track . Arthur brought me in when he got the deal with c-ya ent. i added all the cuts, horns, sound bites & anything else that wasn't bare bones on the tracks. That,s Farrakan sayin' whatcha gonna do. The sample comes from a nation ofislam family day speech. I had to re-sample everything Bro Sham did. Sham recorded the songs on 1inch. i had to take that to another studio and bump it up to 2 inch. re-sample everthing & add everything else. the songs were engineered by Rock @ the old i.n.s. studios. i'm on yahoo instant messegenger @ geno1968 or u can email @ geno.mckee@gmail.com if u have anymore questions about those records

Big Geno said...

Before I did the Brother Arthur records I worked with Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth. I was the D.J. 4 C.L. the summer of '93 before the official of the group.

Anonymous said...

This Is Lil' Shams, Son of Bro. Shams....aka Sham Rock, Right Hand Man of Larry Davis....Yo Geno, I Never Heard Of You...Why Do You Think???? My Pops Produced BOTH SONGS ALONE, No Co-Production, Nor Anything Things Else....He Found The Minister's Parts While Watching The Minister's Tapes With Bro. Arthur. If Anyone Doesn't Belive Me, Ask Bro. Arthur Himself, I See On A Weekly Basis...And Geno He Is Not Dead, And My Father Wasn't In Prision....Your Just A Liar!!!! LMAO Things People Do For A Name...

(Also Search For Other Songs Produced By Sham Rock aka My Dad... TIM DOG: DO OR DIE, RAPPERS ON A MISSION: S.O.L.O., AND IF YOU CAN FIND THEM: I Ain't NO Nigga (Which Also Sounds Similar To The Second Verse On 99 Problems, By Jay-Z) We Got To Counter This Plan Of Genocide, And Teach The You The Truth......OH I ALMOST FOR GOT...Ultra Magnetic's: The Basement Tapes Also Have Co-Production Credits Supposed To Be Given To My Pops)

www.myspace.com/lilshamsdabaron

lilshamsdabaron (AIM)

GET AT ME!!!!!

Anonymous said...

This is Big Geno. Lil Sham someone is lying to you about these records.Check the labels. My name is on both records. And I was told Arthur was dead.And Arthur told me your pops was locked up. Your father did the original. But I did the final recordings that got pressed up. Find out the facts before you call someone a liar. Ask Bro Arthur or ask Chuck Chillout.

Sham Rock said...

You may not have heard of me because, unfortunately, sometimes people forget you when you do things on the arm. Sure, they come back and give you a little shoutout after the fact, but damn, what about credit for the work I've done. This is the way we do each other.

My brother I will never deny you your credit but dont deny me mines. I played tons of beats for Bro. Arthur in my brother's room where my studio was at. Funny how he chose what I thought was my weakest beats and became the songs that we're talking about.

Let's not argue over who did what. That was many years ago. The bottom line is that we all did something good that other people joy. When it comes to dropping jewels, thats all that matters to me. Remember I'm the same guy who release "Teach The Youth The Truth" on my own Salaam Records label and "I Ain't No Nigga". This was in '91. That's what I'm about.

Anyway, much love and respect. Remember that what we did yesterday is a thing of the past, what we do today will set the stage for tomorrow.

PEACE
ONE LOVE
FAM 4 LIFE

Sham Rock said...

Wow, This is Brother Shams and I just came across the statements in regards to the Bro. Arthur songs. Geno, I think we communicated about this and I've spoken to Bro. Arthur about this.

I think there's been some confusion but there's no "beef". I remember giving Brother Arthur more than a basic beat. I'm not sure of every sample or whatever else, not the details because that was many beats ago. What I do remember is him coming to my house in Lincoln Projects and getting two tracks from me which we went to Paradise's studio (INS) to record. We did the Farrakhan sample there and it is The Black Family Day speech that I have the actual record for.

I may be wrong but I think you added that "water drop" thing that sounds like the Premo sample for Jeru The Damaga and I think you added the samples.

The bottom line is, and this is to clarify any misconceptions, the bottom line is that the record was a collaborative effort between, me, you and Brother Arthur. Who did what is something we may have to one day all come together and listen to the track or review the actual masters to find out, but the truth is that anytime I collaborate with someone, no amount of input is ever taking lightly. I have given co-production credit to people for adding scratches to a track because I think the scratches are significant.

I look on the record and see, I think a special thanks to me, or something and it's all good, but the fact is that without the foundation the rest would not have come into being. I think we must get to the point where we give credit when credit is due.

What I did for Brother Arthur, like I've done for so many others, was on the arm. I didn't recieve one red cent. It was from the heart.

I won't diminish your input because without that the song would not have been what it was and maybe one day we'll collaborate on something else. Just we may have to video tape the sessions so there's no confusion as to who did what?

I understand my son's position because I didn't know the details of your invovement until recently, but he understands now the work was a collaborative effort.

Now, to clarify something because words do have power. Brother I ain't never been locked up. At the time Brother Arthur recorded those songs I finished doing Tim Dog's Do Or Die album, and I did all but two songs on the album. I spent about $25,000.00 on my own studio and simply moved upstate to continue making music.

In case you don't know I'm a Hip Hop Pioneer who has been doing this thing since the 70's. I come up with Mean Gene, Theodore, Bambaataam, and all of them guys. I have an extensive history in Hip Hop and was release records on my own independent label since '85. My partner at some point was the infamous Larry Davis, who taught me how to produce music, and Ced G, perhaps one of the greatest producers of Hip Hop, is one of my mentors who taught me the art of BeatMaking. My engineering skills come from Paul C (RIP) from 12/12 and Jazzy Jay. Speaking of Paul C, Ultra came to use that studio after I told TR Love about it and once they began using it everyone followed trying to get that gritty sound Ced had.

Also, the original Ultra Lab, B Room, was actually my studio in Ced G house.

I wont talk about all the behind the scenes things that I've done, but suffice it to say that I've been around for a long time and I'm still gong strong, although I'm working more in the film industry.

Sham Rock said...

You may not have heard of me because, unfortunately, sometimes people forget you when you do things on the arm. Sure, they come back and give you a little shoutout after the fact, but damn, what about credit for the work I've done. This is the way we do each other.

My brother I will never deny you your credit but dont deny me mines. I played tons of beats for Bro. Arthur in my brother's room where my studio was at. Funny how he chose what I thought was my weakest beats and became the songs that we're talking about.

Let's not argue over who did what. That was many years ago. The bottom line is that we all did something good that other people joy. When it comes to dropping jewels, thats all that matters to me. Remember I'm the same guy who release "Teach The Youth The Truth" on my own Salaam Records label and "I Ain't No Nigga". This was in '91. That's what I'm about.

Anyway, much love and respect. Remember that what we did yesterday is a thing of the past, what we do today will set the stage for tomorrow.

PEACE
ONE LOVE
FAM 4 LIFE

9:08 AM

sham rock said...

Correction with this paragraph.

I may be wrong but I think you added that "water drop" thing that sounds like the Premo sample for Jeru The Damaga and I think you added the scratches.

Anonymous said...

Yo Sham Rock, can you contact me via email (thirsty_dragon@hotmail.com) ?

I got some things to talk about with you...

Cheers,
Philipp