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> Artist: Father
> Title: 'Tell Me/Flippin' On Wha''
> Label: Luke Records
> Year: 1997
There are two reasons why I like collecting and writing about Father MC.
First of all, I think a lot of his stuff his genuinely underrated. Those hip to his debut, independent 12" with The First Fleet crew really can't front on it. It's more like an ill random rap record than anything he's done subsequently, but it's pretty nice. And then his first two albums are some quality rap music. I understand some heads are down on anything remotely R&B, but you've gotta admit, you can't ask for better hook singers than pre-fame Mary J Blige and Jodeci. And you had some quality production and song-writing, via collaberations with guys like Eddie F, Howie Tee, Little Shawn, Soul Convention... Even if they're not your thing, he put out two quality albums.
Then the second reason is how crazy and varied his career has been since then. He's gone from label to label, putting out albums and singles even people who consider themselves dedicated Father MC fans have never heard of. He's changed his name, his state, his style, his image. But through all that, in some ways he's actually pretty consistent. If you would've told me I'd still be discovering music I didn't know he had in 2009, I never would've believed you. But just the other week, I found this.
Oh. And also you can get all of his records dirt cheap. So that's a third reason.
So, as you may recall, after leaving Uptown (and Spoiled Brat, Moja Records and Echo International), Father MC made the surprising, and short-lived, move to Luke Records. He released 2-songs on Luke's Peepshow compilation, which were also put out on a limited 12" ('Worldwide' b/w 'Give Me Love'), and that was it. A few months later, Luke was no longer promoting Father as one of his artists (we don't know the story behind that, but it's not hard to think of several likely reasons), and Father moved on to one of his many subsequent deals. An oddly compelling but very short chapter in Father's career had closed.
Or so I'd always thought. But it turns out there was another 12" on Luke Records. It was never released, even promotionally, but there are test pressings out there. It's another 2-song single: 'Tell Me' b/w 'Flippin' On Wha''. So, how is it? Is it any good? Come on, man, that's beside the point; don't spoil the fun!
There's no information online about this at all, except for a short write-up on a Japanese website. So, keeping in the spirit of fun, I've run it through Google translator, and here's what they have to say about it:
"SOSBand staple stock only one of the rare Tesutopuromoonri panel with a story! 90??HIPHOP????Cheryl Lynn"Got To Be Real"???????"I'll Do 4 U"?????????????????????????????????????????! Golden Age 90's HIPHOP Cheryl Lynn "Got To Be Real" No, I'm hit "I'll Do 4 U" but he laid down a minor one period, starting a story with great pride in customer coup de! ???Mariah Carey"Always Be My Baby "?????????????SOSBand" Tell Me If You Still Care"?????! Neta is Mariah Carey "Always Be My Baby" was used in many other masterpieces of SOSBand "Tell Me If You Still Care" Manma use! 80'S?????????Dreamin?????????????????????????! 80'S best love is irresistible Dreamin Tappuri rust female vocalist sings in a great feeling to Oke! ??Luke Records?????????????????????????????????????????! Luke Records eventually released from the album is a masterpiece of vision in the press immediately mothball unable testing this single!"
I know they said "immediately", but before we mothball our copies, let's give 'em a listen and find out what we've got.
'Tell Me' is pretty much what you'd expect from a random Father MC 12". He was already (wisely IMHO) stepping away from the pimp image he adapted during his third album, and was coming back around to more romantic lover-type material. He's middle-of-the-road here, basically bragging about being a player in the most romantic way possible, with the prerequisite references to sipping on the Mo', etc. The instrumental, in fact, sounds completely like it was made for an R&B artist, but instead of a lady singing over it (except for the hook, of course), Father's rapping. It's a pretty basic, sample-free collection of R&B studio sound effects, and it kinda works. It's nothing impressive, but except for the corny lyrics (at one point he says he's "bungee-jumping out my g-string"), it's passable with an engaging little slow-jam groove.
'Flippin' On Wha'' is considerably more interesting. It's also sample free, but this song is like his attempt at a Wu-Tang record or something. It's a harder beat, of course, and he's rapping like a cross between a long-lost Killarmy member and the fifth Lost Boy. At first I thought he had some guest on the track with him, but no... it's all him. And there're no production credits on the label, but I'm guessing that's all him, too. He's on some scary killer shit:
"It's on you to act the fool,
Tough guy.
The Infared is on your eye;
What? You scared to die?
Your man told you, 'he don't play that;
I saw him before, live in the raw;
You don't want that!'
I ride dolo, but I have a team
I could have you touched... know what I mean?"
... It's certainly a unique entry into his catalog. Both songs come with Instrumentals, and in the case of 'Flippin' On Wha'', you get your choice of a Radio Edit or Street Mix. There's no date listed, but my educated guess is late '97, early '98.
So, like I said, this is only available on a test pressing, but somehow there's still several copies available on online at very low prices. I don't know how that's possible, but if you're curious, go for it!
> Reviewed by: Werner
> Title: 'Tell Me/Flippin' On Wha''
> Label: Luke Records
> Year: 1997
There are two reasons why I like collecting and writing about Father MC.
First of all, I think a lot of his stuff his genuinely underrated. Those hip to his debut, independent 12" with The First Fleet crew really can't front on it. It's more like an ill random rap record than anything he's done subsequently, but it's pretty nice. And then his first two albums are some quality rap music. I understand some heads are down on anything remotely R&B, but you've gotta admit, you can't ask for better hook singers than pre-fame Mary J Blige and Jodeci. And you had some quality production and song-writing, via collaberations with guys like Eddie F, Howie Tee, Little Shawn, Soul Convention... Even if they're not your thing, he put out two quality albums.
Then the second reason is how crazy and varied his career has been since then. He's gone from label to label, putting out albums and singles even people who consider themselves dedicated Father MC fans have never heard of. He's changed his name, his state, his style, his image. But through all that, in some ways he's actually pretty consistent. If you would've told me I'd still be discovering music I didn't know he had in 2009, I never would've believed you. But just the other week, I found this.
Oh. And also you can get all of his records dirt cheap. So that's a third reason.
So, as you may recall, after leaving Uptown (and Spoiled Brat, Moja Records and Echo International), Father MC made the surprising, and short-lived, move to Luke Records. He released 2-songs on Luke's Peepshow compilation, which were also put out on a limited 12" ('Worldwide' b/w 'Give Me Love'), and that was it. A few months later, Luke was no longer promoting Father as one of his artists (we don't know the story behind that, but it's not hard to think of several likely reasons), and Father moved on to one of his many subsequent deals. An oddly compelling but very short chapter in Father's career had closed.
Or so I'd always thought. But it turns out there was another 12" on Luke Records. It was never released, even promotionally, but there are test pressings out there. It's another 2-song single: 'Tell Me' b/w 'Flippin' On Wha''. So, how is it? Is it any good? Come on, man, that's beside the point; don't spoil the fun!
There's no information online about this at all, except for a short write-up on a Japanese website. So, keeping in the spirit of fun, I've run it through Google translator, and here's what they have to say about it:
"SOSBand staple stock only one of the rare Tesutopuromoonri panel with a story! 90??HIPHOP????Cheryl Lynn"Got To Be Real"???????"I'll Do 4 U"?????????????????????????????????????????! Golden Age 90's HIPHOP Cheryl Lynn "Got To Be Real" No, I'm hit "I'll Do 4 U" but he laid down a minor one period, starting a story with great pride in customer coup de! ???Mariah Carey"Always Be My Baby "?????????????SOSBand" Tell Me If You Still Care"?????! Neta is Mariah Carey "Always Be My Baby" was used in many other masterpieces of SOSBand "Tell Me If You Still Care" Manma use! 80'S?????????Dreamin?????????????????????????! 80'S best love is irresistible Dreamin Tappuri rust female vocalist sings in a great feeling to Oke! ??Luke Records?????????????????????????????????????????! Luke Records eventually released from the album is a masterpiece of vision in the press immediately mothball unable testing this single!"
I know they said "immediately", but before we mothball our copies, let's give 'em a listen and find out what we've got.
'Tell Me' is pretty much what you'd expect from a random Father MC 12". He was already (wisely IMHO) stepping away from the pimp image he adapted during his third album, and was coming back around to more romantic lover-type material. He's middle-of-the-road here, basically bragging about being a player in the most romantic way possible, with the prerequisite references to sipping on the Mo', etc. The instrumental, in fact, sounds completely like it was made for an R&B artist, but instead of a lady singing over it (except for the hook, of course), Father's rapping. It's a pretty basic, sample-free collection of R&B studio sound effects, and it kinda works. It's nothing impressive, but except for the corny lyrics (at one point he says he's "bungee-jumping out my g-string"), it's passable with an engaging little slow-jam groove.
'Flippin' On Wha'' is considerably more interesting. It's also sample free, but this song is like his attempt at a Wu-Tang record or something. It's a harder beat, of course, and he's rapping like a cross between a long-lost Killarmy member and the fifth Lost Boy. At first I thought he had some guest on the track with him, but no... it's all him. And there're no production credits on the label, but I'm guessing that's all him, too. He's on some scary killer shit:
"It's on you to act the fool,
Tough guy.
The Infared is on your eye;
What? You scared to die?
Your man told you, 'he don't play that;
I saw him before, live in the raw;
You don't want that!'
I ride dolo, but I have a team
I could have you touched... know what I mean?"
... It's certainly a unique entry into his catalog. Both songs come with Instrumentals, and in the case of 'Flippin' On Wha'', you get your choice of a Radio Edit or Street Mix. There's no date listed, but my educated guess is late '97, early '98.
So, like I said, this is only available on a test pressing, but somehow there's still several copies available on online at very low prices. I don't know how that's possible, but if you're curious, go for it!
> Reviewed by: Werner
