SALT VALLEY POSSE
‘SOUR TIMES’
(FURIOUS RECORDS)

Hip-hop history is littered with dis records, but few bovine historians are up on what might just be rap’s inaugural on-wax beatdown. While the Sugarhill Gang found fame with ‘Rapper’s Delight’, a bunch of kids from the North-West-by-North Bronx saw their effort as too poppy, too twee and too aligned with a scene where it was acceptable for males to wear make-up to really represent what was going on in the streets, the clubs, and outside the local Our Price on a Saturday lunchtime. So, faithful to Bambaataa’s plea for peace, they decided to put down their meat-cleavers and bring their beef to Big Bank Hank and friends on wax.

Disgruntled by the Sugarhill Gang’s use of a disco-rooted backing track, the Salt Valley Posse persuaded local Shakatak cover band Always The Right Time! to replay a loop from a hard funk cut, which worked to fine effect as the crew took delight in re-naming Big Bank Hank ‘Small Local Business Sam’ (Hank’s real name was actually Henry; Sam was his middle moniker), Master G as ‘Master Pee’ (“They can smell your sheets from the Bronx to Bombay!” ran part of the chorus), and Wonder Mike as Wonder Dyke (though an anatomically astute analysis of that particular dis suggests they were actually referring to a transsexual, not a lesbian).

Unfortunately, instead of striking a blow for authenticity with the song, the Salt Valley Posse’s effort fell on blind ears, probably due to its satirical cover art. Instead of showing an alternative grimy side of life in the North-West-by-North Bronx, they decided to slip into some tight-fitting leathers and ponce themselves up, parodying the fashion of Master G and pals – even the font used on the cover, Eurostile, was first found on the men’s room door at the Paradise Garage. Of course, the average record buyer saw the fancy cover and simply assumed it was another quick cash-in; so much so that it’s continually flown beneath the radar of all but the most serious collectors. Which is a shame, as it’s not just a great addition to the dis record canon, but a pretty accomplished slice of old school hip-hop in itself, and something almost akin to a chronologically mis-ordered bridge between ‘Planet Rock’ and the Miami bass scene. Trust us – when DJ Shadow puts this one on a mixtape it’s gonna go global.