En La Calle 10: Babylon dem try a ting but mi nah scare...

So I feel that a semi-apology is in order, it took me for-fucking-ever to get this post put together. Truthfully, the workload at Nature Manor has been insane. Lot's of pots cooking right now and they all need attention. Plus, blogger was acting like a little bitch this weekend, which didn't help things... So, sorry. Really don't feel THAAAAT bad about it, but have maintain a semblance of professionalism (for myself of course), so there's your apology. AND NOW...... As promised.....

ALL REGGAE WEEK!!!!!!!!! That's right bitches. I've been talking about this for a couple weeks now and we've finally reached the day... Let be known that if it were up to me, AT LEAST 3 out of four weeks would be all reggae week, but I'm not totally in charge over here so we do post other shit from time to time. But, mark my words, this flag will fly again.

I can't say enough about this first tune, so I'll try not to say much at all... Gyptian's "Serious Times" came out almost 2 years ago. I first heard the tune on June 3rd, 2005. Yeah, it's like that. It became a hood anthem in JA that year and after listening, you need to really stop and try and wrap your head around that fact. That tune was their "Everyday I'm Hustling". Imagine that tune booming out of windows in the pj's or jumping out of car systems or packing dancefloors, on some hood shit. Insane. This tune is also the title cut from the Ghetto Arc/XL Records reggae compilation that drops Nov 7th. THAT, we will touch on later. This tune is the truth, it's that simple.

Tanya Stephens is flat out my favorite female singer coming out of JA. Queen Ifrica is creeping, but Tanya owns this woman and the of the gal's from yard. Gal is toooo hood. It's A Pity, murder. Handle The Ride (on the lecturer riddim), murder. Her joint on The Cure riddim, murder... She tends to talk about the nasty shit (boyfriend stealing, stick ups, how good the pussy is, etc) and the flow is well, to be experienced. 911 is a tune that Baby G used to drop at the beginning of his reggae set's and it's been a bitch to hunt down. This tune, to my knowledge, only came out on 45 and if you didn't cop it back in 98, well, you became a hater of those who did. Here it is in mp3 form... Don't ever look back...

Sizzla Kalonji... That's like saying pure fire right there... It's a wrap with this dude. Just download the song, and call it a day. Sizzla may hold the keys on judgement day...

Put Down Your Weapon is one of the first tunes that really put me on the Culture Reggae bandwagon. Sober sent me this a week ago, and I gotta say, I got a little teary eyed. Capleton KILLS this. Awesome.

El gran Select hit me with these next two burners. TOK tune was the official 2005 Brooklyn street anthem. It was inescapable. Crown Heights rode HARD for this tune, and for a reason. It's fucking insane. Footprints poem at the beginning cements it straight into hoodclassicland. Bonkers.

Jah Cure is a whole post alone. Cop the tune, makes you hate the player in yourself, or not...

Prince Klassen is now officialy rolling with The Party. Yeah, really... Start hating. Our guy hit us off with these 2 joints. "Mamacita" is a dancehall burner from Collie Buddz, and "Nah Beg No Friend" is a relatively new joint from Beenie. The Beenie joint is on the Foundation Riddim which, let me tell you, has some fucking heat on it. Super hard tunes from Vybz, and Movado on this as well. Horns are out of control.

Last tune is really a 30min long soundclash that Riddim Magazine put out awhile back. Two sounds going head to head in Berlin. LP Soundsystem vs Supersonic Soundsystem. For those who don't know what a soundclash is, we are talking about 2 dj crews (sounds) battling record for record to see who has the nastiest original records (dub plates). It's a one for one showdown. This 30min clip is dead up the "most played" mp3 in my itunes. It wins by like 20 plays or something (make that 21)... It's more or less a recording of the party I would be at every night if we lived in a perfect world.

Quit note... Reggae, more than any other genre, survives on vinyl sales. All these tunes dropped on 45 before they ever hit the CD or mp3 world and alot of the tunes coming out of JA will never see either format. It's MEGA important to continue to supporting the stores/artists/and labels that are keeping this tradition alive. Record stores are closing down left and right now-a-days, and alot of dj's are just totaly skipping the vinyl thing all together in favor of cd's or ... ipods???? The artists, small labels and shops are really getting the short end of the stick on this one. If you're feeling this reggae shit, check for your local spots, or online and start digging, it's a whole other experience that limewire will never be able to compete with.

Deadly Dragon Sound

Deadly Dragon Sound 102-B Forsyth Street New York, NY 10002. Located between Broome and Grand Street in Chinatown. It is easily accessible by subway (B or D to Grand; J to Delancy, 6 to Canal). Hours of operation: 12-8 Tuesday -- Sunday.
These guys are killing it in NYC right now. They sell online, and they're sitting on heat....

I'll add some TX spots in a bit, not really sure who's fucking with it down here, I know Waterloo has some tings. Klassen told me that another shop just closed up in Atown though....People... -Nate