Egyptian Lover – “Freak-A-Holic” (12 Inch Long Versionl)..

Artist: The Egyptian Lover
Title: Freak-A-Holic (12 Inch Long Version)
Year: 1986
Label: Egyptian Empire Records

Egyptian Lover – “Freak-A-Holic” (12 Inch Long Version) (mp3)

Music Video: The Egyptian Lover – “Freak-A-Holic”…

Since the Egyptian protests are all over the news lately, I’ve figured why not post some of Egytpian Lover’s oldschool electro hip-hop tracks.  The very first time I’ve heard an Egyptian Lover’s track was back in 1984.  A track titled Egypt Egypt on a DJ-mixed electro/hip-hop compilation record, released by StreetSounds, called Electro-5 on side-A — which is also available on this site. The second track I’ve heard by Egyptian Lover was My House On The Nile on StreetSounds Electro-6, side-B, which is also available on this site. And the third track I’ve heard by Egyptian Lover was Girls on StreetSounds Electro-7, side-A — again, also available on this site. After being exposed to those three tracks between 1984 and 1985, that was when I’ve decided to hunt and collect  as many Egyptian Lover 12″ singles as I could find on the market.  I’ve bought several of his 12″ singles on vinyl back then from Toronto, London and New York.

The Egyptian Lover is Greg Broussard — born on August 31, 1963.  He’s an American musician, rapper, vocalist, producer and DJ from Los Angeles.  Greg Broussard was one of the first men to pioneer the hip-hop/electro sound from LA.  One of his main influences was Man Parrish’s track track Hip-Hop Be Bop (Don’t Stop) — whom I’ve also blogged about on this site — so click here to read that article.

With just a Roland TR-808 drum machine among other flagship analog synthesizers and digital samplers, Greg Broussard rocked (and still can rock) the house.

Egyptian Lover – “Egypt, Egypt” (12″ Vinyl)..

Artist: The Egyptian Lover
Title: Egypt, Egypt (12″ Vinyl)
Year: 1984
Label: Egyptian Empire Records

Egyptian Lover – “Egypt, Egypt” (12″ Vinyl) (mp3)

The first time I heard LL Cool J was when I was at the movies.  There he was …right before my eyes …making his first film debut in Krush Groove and literally performing to the audience for the first time his debut track I Can’t Live Without My Radio.  It blew me away!  By the time the release of his first album Radio made it to Starsounds record store in Toronto, Canada, I was one of the first to get a copy.  The LP version of You’ll Rock is not as wicked as this remix posted here, but nonetheless it’s still good.  I considered LL Cool J to be one of my first serious, solid and harder/core rappers in the music scene of 1985, as he was the first rapper/artist to be signed with Def Jam Recordings (hence, the story of Krush Groove movie was somewhat like the real story of how Def Jam got started).

LL Cool J – “You’ll Rock” (Remix)…

Artist: LL Cool J
Title: You’ll Rock (Remix)
Year: 1985
Label: Def Jam Recordings

LL Cool J – “You’ll Rock” (Remix) (mp3)

Early LL Cool J’s film & music debut in Krush Groove (1985)…

The Original Concept members were Doctor Dré (the guy from MTV), T-Money, Rapper G, Easy G and Wildman Steve. This 12-inch from 1986 is one of the few singles not produced by Rick Rubin who produced pretty much every other track during the early days of Def Jam Recordings. Let me tell you how kick-ass this track is. It starts off with a backward turntable-scratch effect which then quickly scratches forward towards rev-up solo guitar riff which is then interrupted by a spoken word sample, drenched in dark-room reverb, “PUMP THAT BASS.” That sample should trigger your memory. Yes! You’ve heard it before on millions of other records, but it originated here — this track by The Original Concept (I think)! The vocal sample finishes it measure very quickly and then proceeded by the main beat, starting with a monster 808 kick and snare that sounds like a trash-can (probably sampled into an E-mu SP12 drum sampler). Very original track indeed. Absolutely killer scratching and freestyle MC’ing. Play the track now!

The Original Concept – “Pimp That Bass”…

Artist: The Original Concept
Title: Pump That Bass
Year: 1986
Label: Def Jam Recordings
Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.

The Original Concept – “Pump That Bass” (mp3)