Ill Advised blog re-post...

[MGP]

Since I did a second group compilation with Channel Live I figured I'd upload the one that started it all...

One of the most slept-on groups ever to do it.

My favorite group of the Philadelphia underground is Ill Advised. Comprised of rappers Baby Blak, Mr. Lish, and occasionally Rasheed (aka the Rebel Rasheed aka Maylay Sparks) the crew put out a number of 12s in the mid-to-late 1990s on Quake City and later Eastern Conference Records.

Basically the story is this: Quake City is a label out of Philly. Ill Advised recorded two albums for them that were only released in Japan under the "Blue Dolphin" imprint. In the States Quake City Records a released number of 12s from the Ill Advised crew, the first being obscure "Against the Grain/Kwestions/Through the Eye," the second being the college radio hit "N.A.M.E.S./Encore," and the last two the 1986/Internal Affairs joint and another pressing with a remix featuring The Roots. Ill Advised were also featured heavily on the first or second Eastern Conference Records 12 with the songs "Captivating Cultivating," "All In Together Now" which featured Pauly Yams, and "Know A Little Nigga." Baby Blak is also featured on the original version of "Open Mic Night."

The crew fell off the map in 1999 when Mr. Lish went on a "judicial vacation" somewhere "up north." There were a lot of problems with Quake City Records, I believe that they went under in 2000 the the two albums they released in Japan (Wasabi and Can U Smell Me) never made it to stores in America. The problems for the crew only magnified with Eastern Conference Records. Milo Berger, aka DJ Might Mi aka DJ Mighty Bi, never paid Ill Advised a dime for anything. Word on the street (and straight from Baby Blak's mouth in an interview with Elemtree) was that they took Mi by force to an ATM machine and um, uh, well... "intimidated" him into draining his account for them on the spot. Also, Ill Advised affiliate Rasheed is said to have thrown a stack of Eastern Conference 12s into the Delaware River in the video for his track (and first release on Quake City Records for all you vinyl geeks out there) "Industry Party Bumrusha." I've never seen this myself, just read about it one the internet. If someone can hook that video up for me though that'd be dope.

Ill Advised has gotten their shit together somewhat as of late. Baby Blak put out a nice album in 2003 called Blak Is Back. Blak has also put out a lot of 12s with DJ Revolution. He's also done a lot of work with hip hop legend DJ Jazzy Jeff. Lish is supposedly out of jail and the duo are currently preparing their American debut on BBE records.

For all of you vinyl collectors out there I want to let you know that there are some seriously rare Ill Advised joint floating around that have never made it to the internet. The first two are the crew's Japan-only releases Wasabi and Can U Smell Me?. The third is a version of 1.9.8.6. (I think, not sure which song it is from their catalog, but it's from one of their 12's) with Mr Eon on it and a different beat. It was played a few times on 89.1 and 89.9 in NYC. I'm not sure if it's test-pressing only or just an isolated acetate. If anyone remembers the "Neuman" skit on High and Mighty's debut album Home Field Advantage that's what that whole thing was about; Ill Advised thinking Eon was wack and Milo not paying them what they were owed so they pulled Eon's vocals off of all their new songs. The skit kinda backfired on High and Mighty in my opinion because everyone from Cage to Tame One to Necro has aired out Mighty Mi for his sloppy business dealings. Also a word of warning for the vinyl collectors (and maybe Ill Advised if they are reading this), there are two versions of the Through the Eye/Kwestions/Against the Grain 12' floatring around out there. I am not sure if one is a bootleg but I've seen pictures of a version with a faded rainbow-colored label being sold in Japan. I have a different version with an off-white-colored label. I am not too sure which one is the original or if the crew knows about the second pressing because when labels are running low on money, and this is especially true of smaller indie labels, they normally start bootlegging shit in Japan. Wild Pitch did it. Ask that Oasis-looking faggot Cage about Bobbito pressing up some of his shit (The Muppet Show) and releasing it in Japan behind his back. It happens all the time so I'm not sure of one of the pressings is legit.

And now the good part, the music. I've ripped a number of Ill Advised tracks from the original vinyl and uploaded them here for all of you. A few people have the N.A.M.E.S 12', it hardly comes up for sale, and fewer people even know about the 12' they released before that. Most rap fans missed the great shit they did on EC because it was never released on CD (and it's the best material EC ever put out in my opinion). A lot of people know about the shit they did with the Roots.

Here's the tracklisting, and remember that the quality of the actual vinyl for a lot of these records is dodgey and unmastered. Don't expect CD-quality sound, just good music.

1.9.8.6. Remix with the Roots
Against the Grain
All in Together Now
Captivating Cultivating
Encore
Internal Affairs
Know a Little Nigga
Kwestions
Names
Push
Renaisance
Through the Eye

Ill Advised- Collected Songs from 1996 to 2000 by Mustafa Goodprose

One of the things I always enjoyed about Ill Advised is their ear for beats. A lot of these beats are heavy as fuck. I'm sure you'll agreee. The fact that they are great MCs helps a lot too.

I have a little bonus for you cats today too, an obscure Baby Blak joint called "Dangerzone." It's actually a DJ Sat One joint which features Blak and Babygrande rappers Outerspace.

DJ Sat One ft. Baby Blak and Outerspace- Dangerzone

Someday I hope that I can track down original copies of Ill Advised's Japan-only releases. If they are anything like the shit they put out here in the States on vinyl I'm sure they're great records. If anyone has it in mp3, I'll settle for that. Chances are I have whatever it is you might want in return. If you're sensitive about the prospect of me handing that shit out to people have no fears, I'm sitting on a lot of stuff that will never leave the crates that they are sitting it.

For now though, enjoy the music.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=A3DJM2WU