This Old Rap Wednesdays column has fallen off lately, and I apologize. “Old rap” is the genre I’m most knowledgeable about and profiling an artist always spirals out of control—in my mind—and further when I sit down to write. So, truth be told, I put it off as being overwhelming.

But this, this is too nice to pass and no long-winded bios apply—just hours and hours of slammin’ rap jams. The also knowledgeable cats Ayers, Cosmo Baker & DJ Eleven, collectively known as The Rub, are back at it again with with the continuation of the “History of Hip Hop” series for BrooklynRadio.net, this time tackling hip hop’s “golden era”. The 1990s! We were all over the first installments of the mix series that broke up the favorite tracks of 1979-1989 into mixes chronologically, year by year. Now, beginning this month, the lesson continues! Here’s last Monday’s Brooklyn Radio installment: ‘History of Hip Hop Radio: Volume 15′. Digging deep into 1993. We love this shit. Mixed clean & professional.

Tracklist:

1. Souls of Mischief – 93 Til Infinity
2. Cypress Hill – Insane in the Brain
3. Black Moon – Who Got Da Props
4. Lords of the Underground – Chief Rocker
5. Wu-Tang Clan – Protect Ya Neck
6. M.O.P. – How About Some Hardcore
7. Beatnuts – Psycho Dwarf
8. Onyx – Slam
9. Run DMC – Down with the King (feat. Pete Rock)
10. KRS-One – Sound of the Police
11. Fat Joe – Flow Joe
12. Masta Ace, Incorporated – Born to Roll
13. Snoop Doggy Dogg – The Shiznit
14. MC Breed – I Gotta Get Mine (feat. 2pac)
15. De La Soul – Breakadawn
16. A Tribe Called Quest – Award Tour
17. Leaders of the New School – What’s Next + Large Pro Remix
18. Nubian Crackers – Do You Wanna Hear It (feat. Artifacts)
19. Funkmaster Flex – Six Million Ways to Die
20. KRS-One – Outta Here
21. Del tha Funkee Homosapien – Catch A Bad One
22. Casual – I Didn’t Mean To
23. Ice Cube – You Know How We Do It
24. Domino – Getto Jam
25. The Nonce – Mix Tapes
26. Freestyle Fellowship – Inner City Boundaries
27. BO$$ – Deeper
28. 2pac – Keep Your Head Up
29. Redman – All Night Long
30. Tragedy aka Intelligent Hoodlum – Grand Groove
31. Wu-Tang Clan – Can It Be All So Simple
32. Jeru tha Damaja – Come Clean
33. Big L – Devil’s Son
34. Ultramagnetic MCs – Two Brothers with Checks
35. Beatnuts – Reign of the Tec
36. KRS-One – Hip-Hop vs Rap
37. 2pac – I Get Around (feat. Digital Underground)
38. Snoop Doggy Dogg – Gin and Juice
39. Ice Cube – Check Yo Self (feat. Das EFX)
40. Too $hort – Don’t Fight the Intro
41. RBL Posse – Bammer Weed
42. Tha Alkaholiks – Only When I’m Drunk
43. LL Cool J – Pink Cookies in a Plastic Bag
44. Wu-Tang Clan – Method Man
45. Wu-Tang Clan – Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nothin’ to Fuck With
46. De La Soul – Ego Trippin’ (Part Two)
47. A Tribe Called Quest – Electric Relaxation

MP3: The Rub - History of Hip Hop Radio: Volume 15: 1993 [115:13 | 105.5MB]

It’s something proper that ought to be in a gold-foiled boxset and sold to sleepy-eyed credit-worthy B-boys on late infomercials—but they’re not! They’re free! And they’re some of the funnest mixes around. The Rub, thank you!

Be sure to check Brooklyn Radio to stay up ‘The Rub Radio’ and other hot mixshows.
And visit, The Rub on MySpace to tell ‘em they know their isht.

This begins a new weekly dedicated to one of my favorite things: old rap, focusing on hip-hop of the 1980s and 90s. Every Wednesday, I promise a somewhat-comprehensive profile on some old rap, right here! I’ve got a lot to work with so I’m just going to jump in and pick one. First up is the Divine Styler.

Divine Styler, the Brooklyn born MC and producer, came up as part of Ice T’s Rhyme $yndicate and soon after dropped his debut album, “Wordpower” on Epic Records in 1989. Wordpower’s first single didn’t find commercial success, but it did find success with critics and much love on the underground:

MP3:  Divine Styler - Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’ (1989) (Recommended)

You’ll hear the sounds and tempo of “Ain’t Sayin’ Nothin’” echoed later by another Rhyme $yndicate alumni—House of Pain on their seminal “Jump Around”. Here’s another track from “Wordpower” titled “Tongue of Labyrinth” which was the original b-side to “Ain’t Sayin’ Nothing”:

MP3:  Divine Styler - Tongue of Labyrinth (1989)

Divine Styler, on his 1992 sophomore release titled, “Spiral Walls Containing Autumns of Light” departed from a hip-hop sound for a more avant-garde, experimental, punk or new age sound. Influenced by his conversion to Islam and his need for innovation, this album was entirely different from his debut. This second album was released by Giant Records and was considered a commercial failure. Also, this album was dismissed by the hip-hop audience because it really isn’t hip-hop. However, like most things, this album did find an audience, and this album does have its cult following of people who love envelope-pushers and genre-benders. Here’s a track from “Spiral Walls Containing Autumns of Light”:

MP3:  Divine Styler - Mystic Sheep Drink Electric Tea (1992)

The Divine Styler released his third and last album in 1998, titled “Wordpower 2: Directrix” on DTX Records, and it was a return to a more conventional hip-hop sound. This record went out of print quickly, but was saved briefly by James Lavelle who re-released it on his Mo’ Wax (unofficial site) label in 2000 (albeit, with an slightly altered tracklisting and entirely new cover art). Now Mo’ Wax is defunct as well, meaning all four Divine Styler releases are out of print and hard to come across. But don’t let that stop you from trying eBay or amazon affiliates. Here are a few tracks from the album(s) and a b-side instro from a Mo’ Wax promo:

MP3:  Divine Styler - Before Mecca (1998)

Divine Styler - Make It Plain (1998)

MP3:  Divine Styler - Directrix (1998) (Recommended)

MP3:  Divine Styler - Directrix (Instrumental w/ hook) (1998)

Visit Divine Styler on what I believe to be his official MySpace.

p.s. If anyone has the bonus tracks from the Directrix Japanese release, you hook me up!