Battle Of Metropolis: I couldn’t start the intro off any better way. God’s favorite, DJ Clark Kent tells everyone the story about how we met and his take on me back then. He sets up a suspenseful way to sick me on the world like a vicious k-9 after giving me the subtle, but formal introduction. It was also produced by Clark. And there we have it, ‘Battle Of Metropolis’. If anyone knows about Superman and comic books, then they know that the ‘Battle For Metropolis’ was the showdown of all showdowns between all the super heroes and villains met in.
Intro: I teamed up with DJ Delz and DJ Dub Floyd out of pure, genuine respect for one another. Both of them had inquired about doing a mixtape with me and since they knew each other, I figured it would be dope for all of us to join forces. Delz is very infamous for his great verbal thrashings on tapes and Dub has been ‘dubbed’ the concept mastermind. What a dope combo! If you don’t know who those two are then you have been living under a rock. DJ Delz has done a lot of work with Max B and Funk Master Flex. Dub Floyd is responsible for the Hip Hop Doctrine and the series of ‘OFFICIAL’ Boondocks mixtapes in circulation.
Foreign Exchange Student: Foreign Exchange Student was actually one of the most popular songs I put out in 2010. This song is very materialistic and fun. I love shopping and I happen to be addicted to sneakers and denim. It only made sense to be a ‘Foreign Exchange Student’ since everyone else is fly, fresh, clean, swagged out, etc. I’m different, that is basically what the term means. People didn’t even know that this wasn’t an original record. The original record was ‘Magnum Opus’ by the artist named Top Quality. My business partner Sha Banga told me one day out of the blue that I had to rap over the instrumental. I remembered the record, loved it and proceeded to body it. The cover art for this record was amazing to me. Shout out to my man Gavin S.
Whatever You Call ‘Em: “Whatever You Call ‘Em” kind of became my catch phrase after I said it on the Red Café/DJ Envy Co-Op ‘Invincible’ record. The reason I had said it back then was because I always had a lot of different names that people would call me even though I went by Maffew. Some would call me Maff, some would me Ragazino, some would call me Sr. Sean Price even noted me as ‘St. Maffew’ on the “Weed & Hoes” track from his Kimbo Price mixtape. I felt like it was time to address it b/c people were starting to pay attention and getting confused. It was necessary to let them know that, yes, all those names belong to me and please get used to seeing ALL of them. NOW. This record was produced by Jaisu, who was introduced to me by my good friend OJ Loopz.
Can’t Stop The Prophet: Can’t Stop The Prophet was recorded for DJ Clark Kent’s collaboration mixtape with Lafayette for their seventh nniversary. The original was one of my favorite records from Jeru The Damaja with the same title. Clark told me to go fool on it, so that I went.
Rare Gems: Rare Gems was produced by Ski Beatz. It was kind of funny how that happened. I had been trying to do some work with him for months now and at this point I’m asking him everyday. Sha Banga and Istumbled into the studio in the wee hours only to find Ski Beatz alone. He looked sleepy too, but I told him I wanted play him some songs. Played a few, he liked them and then he drifted off and started to play some instrumentals. He even started to edit a few previous productions as if I wasn’t even there. I started to kick some bars to him over the tracks and then the rest was history. He saw the passion and proceeded to produce what would be Rare Gems. He ended up feeling the record so much that he called Creative Control downstairs at DD172 to record a video of the session.
Where I’m From: This is historical. I got a track from Nottz and Masta Ace obliged to feature. Both co signed the record after hearing the finished product. Brownsville theme music, first video Masta Ace ever did in Brownsville, my 1st single from the ‘Where I’m From: The Experience’ EP, my first music video ever. Classic, classic, historical, memories. Need I say more? This record has a lot of story behind it, enough for a 30 minute episode without commercials. Steady Pace, Sha Banga and Sean Price get kudos on this too.
Get It Together: Get It Together was also produced by Jaisu. This was the secong single from The Experience EP. This record kind of spawned a whole new sound for me. Once this record was recorded, it kind of messed up everything in a good way. All the records I had done prior were scrapped because I had set my bar pretty high on that song. The production was superior and the verses were razor sharp with a hook, silly, fun and catchy enough for anyone to sing along. Benchmark. This record was supposed to have a feature on it, but I got the run around unfortunately. But it did give me new mindset on totally being independent.
Gravy and Celery: This one was produced by my good friend Qwan (Memphis Bleek ft. MOP ‘First, Last and Only’, Joe Budden ft. Emanny ‘Happy Holidays’, Thug City ft. NOE ‘45’). He knocked this one out the park. This is one for the smokers and drinkers. It was featured on DJ Dub Floyd’s Chronic Illness Volume One. Simple concept, gravy is a metaphor for Hennessy and celery is a metaphor for.. Well, you know.
The Basics: I was inspired by an upcoming feature on Toca Tuesday’s with the legendary Tony Touch at Sirius/XM. I wanted to show my appreciation, the opportunity excited me. I wanted say thanks with a freestyle, so my partners and I chose to use an instrumental that Tony already used that was pretty obscure. Something basic also. What better than ‘The Basics’ by one of my favorite Queens representatives. Strictly beats and rhymes. Beats, rhymes, the basics. Back to the basics.
Pale Moonlight: Music circulates to places that you would least expect them to these days very quickly, thanks to the internets. But as an aspiring artist, there are times where you feel that it has fallen upon deaf ears. How reassuring and incredible is it to know that your art is being appreciated, especially when you were thinking otherwise. Apparently, some of my work traveled to Holland and sparked the interest of the incredible up and coming producers Vinyl Frontiers. They found me on twitter. They had complimented me and told me that they were interested in doing some work. I gave them my email and they sent a zip file full of tracks. Assuming that they were sending trash, I took a week to download the file. Low and behold it was an early birthday and Christmas present. Henceforth, Pale Moonlight. Brilliant production. We also are ye’ high in material preparing for a collaborative effort tentatively titled, Vinyl Destination.
Birdseyeview: Vinyl on the beat. I brutalized the instrumental. Just my thoughts on the game. I was a bit bothered by being slept on and overlooked because I know in my heart that I get busy. Venting is therapeutic. Take a look into my mind. I see it all from a birds eye view. Above it, meaning not from a haters standpoint. Enough said.
Shoeperstar: Shout out to the ATF bredren, Mayor and DJ Clark Kent. I had always loved this DJ premier track/Group Home ‘Superstar’ record in general since I was a kid. Mayor had asked me for an intro to his popular ustream show where he displays new sneakers, exclusive, unreleased kicks and just chops it up about fly footwear. I happen to be a fellow sneaker fiend so what better way to announce it to the entire sneaker cult/culture than with ‘Shoeperstar’. All Day I Dream About Sneakers. Literally.
247365: I love just listening to this instrumental. I had the track for over a year before I had done anything with it because I just fell in love with the instrumental. I didn’t even care to hear any lyrics over this track. I used to start my day with this, it motivated me. It was in the iPod while I worked out at the gym. It kept me going. Then one day the hook popped up in my head. I recorded the hook and wrote the song immediately. One of my favorites, 247365. Not just because it was produced by Sha Banga either. Superior production.
Even More Butter: I linked up with my man Meyhem on this track. It was actually intended for his album Self Induced Illness, but it was so hot that he ended up leaking it early. It caused mayhem on the web. No pun intended. Shouts to all my Outdoorsman peoples. Brooklyn/Queens shit.
Zen Master: If you have heard any of my material at all, then you could probably hear that I was heavily influenced by the Wu Tang Clan growing up. I thought Supreme Clientele was one of Ghost’s best albums and I was used to love watching the video to ‘Mighty Healthy’. I had always wanted to kicks bars to this track. One day I woke up out of my sleep at 4am to write to this track. I called it Zen Master because I feel like I’m at the top of my game right now and the Zen is the teacher or sensei.
Us: OJ Loopz very last beat that he ever produced right before he started managing the great acts that are S-Type and Jaisu. He did this track on Inauguration Day and titled it the same. I had this record for two years and it still seems new. Has a timeless lean on it. Classic.
Japanese Denim: This record was the first submission to my big bro Clark Kent’s collabo mixtape with Lafayette. He was ecstatic about it. Then he called me a day later and told me that he’d prefer to hear me over the original version (Jeru Da Damaja’s “Can’t Stop The Prophet,” produced by DJ Premier) which is track five on this tape. I ended up putting this version on the cutting room floor. This instrumental is the Pete Rock remix to “Can’t Stop The Prophet.” I love both versions of that record. It’s one of my favorite songs of all time.
Toxic Waste: Another Banger from Sha Banga. Damn, even the in house production at Cash In Cash Out Record is ridiculous. I started the year off in my bag! The spillage on this track is stupid. Slow Flow Zino. The track has so much room on it that you can hear every single word. And trust me, I meant EVERY SINGLE WORD. Not a believer yet, you will be soon. This track is nasty, putrid, awful, YUCK! Biohazardous substance, the odor is foul.
Outro: Self explanatory. See you guys soon. And remember: Rhyme Pays.
05/13 - 
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