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Samson & Swift - "Watch Your Words" Walkman Rotation by J-Rocc 1998 Hip Hop

Seattle underground hip hop duo Samson & Swift first started making some noise in '96 under the name of 22nd Precinct, but in order to really properly paint this picture for you all, I think we're gonna have to take this post all the way back to 1990 instead, because while the 206 has never really earned itself a reputation for having much of a hip hop scene, that's nevertheless the year when DJ Swift first appeared in The Source, as a member of a local five-person crew called Brothers of the Same Mind. BoSM had been written up as 'Unsigned Hype' in the magazine's October issue, which is a pretty big deal, because even though so little of a fuck's been generally given about Seattle rap over the years, that 'Unsigned Hype' conferral has still been known to carry some massive weight to it—Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, DMX, Common, Mobb Deep, and DJ Shadow have all earned themselves the honor, which then led each of them to achieve highly successful careers.

But it didn't turn out that way for DJ Swift and his group. They fizzled after '91, and Swift's wheels didn't appear to really start turning again until '96, when he and rapper Samson released their first song on a Seattle rap comp called 14 Fathoms Deep as 22nd Precinct.

But you know what else happened in '96? As Samson & Swift were just getting started, that aforementioned DJ Shadow ascended from 'Unsigned Hype' to an absolute force to be reckoned with. His landmark debut LP, Endtroducing..., was not just a great album among many to come out that year, but really a never-before-heard fucking hip hop revolution of sorts that earned itself some serious attention. And Samson and Swift were no exception to this, because while critics unanimously fawned over the album's crate-dug hip hop ingenuity, S&S were a bit peeved by it, and two years later, on their debut and sole 12-inch, they aired out their grievance on a song called "Watch Your Words."

See, there's a brief track on Endtroducing... called "Why Hip Hop Sucks in '96," and while it really just seems like a tongue-in-cheek thing about hip hop acts who sell out for the almighty dollar, it didn't seem like Samson & Swift were very amused by it. Against Swift's mellow-keyed-wavy and deliberately sparse boom bap backdrop, Samson slyly and smoothly rapped the following:

It's priceless The way I kick lyrics the nicest Who needs a hoale* to tell 'em hip hop sucked in '96? I'll battle And I'll position to get the paddle Leave 'em rattled Runnin' from his own damn Shadow I've never been affected with hip hop jungle fever Just because you do beats Now you's a regular Roger Ebert ("man, hip hop sucks") I'm serious, my eyes'll tell ya I'm not playin' I been choppin' up breaks when you was rockin' Iron Maiden So run to the hill, I feel No, I ain't no hip hop bigot Just speakin' how I feel So, next time ya come out, just watch ya words Just watch ya words Just watch ya words

[*for those unfamiliar with this term, it's basically the Hawaiian/Polynesian equivalent of 'gringo/a'—an annoyingly culturally ignorant white person who is also possibly arrogant too.]

Pretty lengthy diss telling DJ Shadow to mind his Ps and Qs over there in L.A. It's measured, nuanced, and clever, with a reference to an Iron Maiden song too. Samson's not telling Shadow to stop making music altogether—he knows he's pretty dope—but he's telling him to not have such a large ego and be so flippant by telling everyone that this genre that he, as a white man, participates in, sucks. Samson says he takes no issue with a white guy making hip hop, but wants him to show some respect and be more mindful of this predominantly black-made and black-founded genre whenever he chooses to drop his next release. Even though he's special, Shadow at that point had no right to assert himself as any kind of authority on hip hop since he hadn't been around for all that long—Samson says he's been doing it for much longer.

Unfortunately, this song appears to be the biggest thing that Samson & Swift ever made; a quiet, heel-nipping diss track that was aimed at a much bigger fish that probably raised their profile a little bit, but didn't enable themselves to sustain a lengthy career of any sort. Maybe they were hoping that their call-out of such a prominent figure would earn them some clout and springboard them into something greater, but ultimately, that didn't end up transpiring for them. To their credit, most diss tracks towards far more popular acts from relatively unknown ones are cynical, attention-seeking exercises, but this critique of DJ Shadow here was still nonetheless very well-executed, and with it being included on local label Conception Records' Walkman Rotation sampler that was mixed by World Famous Beat Junkie J-Rocc himself, one also can't help but wonder if J-Rocc was in agreement with these sentiments about DJ Shadow too 👀🤔.

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Today in Hip Hop History:

Rawkus Records released Soundbombing II May 18, 1999

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DJ Babu Ripppin The Do-Over!

The homey Glenjamin has got hundreds of party videos uploaded on Youtube. He stays on the grind with his. The videos below are of DJ Babu of the Beat Junkies getting the party poppin at The Do-Over this past Sunday. Babs was up there celebrating his birthday. The Do-Over is the Sunday jump-off that goes from 2-11pm. It is a seasonal party that lasts from May to November. There's always dope guest DJs. You never know who's gonna be rockin' the spot until you get there. It's at Crane's Pub which is in Hollywood. If you live in LA, or if you're visiting, you've got to be there! But..get there early, cuz you might have to wait like a cool hour if you don't! Even Eek-A-Mouse was in the house yo! Check the videos!

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Photos: The Gaslamp Killer Experience at the Regent Theater

Photos: The Gaslamp Killer Experience at the Regent Theater

[nggallery id=1008] The Gaslamp Killer Experience — the brainchild of William Bensussen, aka the Gaslamp Killer — brought their psychedelic, ritualistic, synergistic, manic live show to the Regent Theater on Friday night. If there’s such a thing as exorcising the ordinary, the Gaslamp Killer, leading an ensemble of 12, pulled it off, just as he did at Coachella. J Rocc, Teebs and Matthewdavid…

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Echo Park Rising: Around Saturday's festival with photographer Carl Pocket

Echo Park Rising: Around Saturday’s festival with photographer Carl Pocket

[nggallery id=971] The heat, the crowds, the music, the spectacle. And the bunny. Here’s what Carl Pocket found around Echo Park Rising on Saturday. Photos by Carl Pocket, courtesy of Spaceland Presents ||| Also: Day 2 diary.

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