Easy Mo Bee & Rappin' Is Fundamental -1991- The Doo-Hop Legacy (A&M Records)

• Easy Mo Bee, AB Money & Mr. Styles
   

Discogs page

Listen to that album

 

Tracklist :

1. Swing Of Things

2. Highway To Heaven

3. Now That You Know My Name

4. Them Boys Are Getting There

5. You Wanna Trip

6. Speak Softly

7. Rapping Is Fundamental

8. Ain't No Smoke (Without Fire)

9. Whenever You Need An MC / I'll Be Around

10. Figurin' To Get Ill

11. I Wonder If She Thinks Of Me

 

Produced by Easy Mo Bee

Rappin' Is Fundamental - Easy Mo Bee, AB Money & Mr. Styles

 

Easy Mo Bee, a well known producer for 2Pac 

Temptations feat. AB Money

Str8 Ballin'

Runnin' From The Police

If I Die 2Nite

My Block

So Many Tears (Unreleased Remix) feat. Stretch

Easy Mo Bee worked with 2Pac at two periods  : late '93 (cf. Out on Bail and R U Still Down '94) and in late summer of '94 (cf. Fuck The World). Less known, during the first period, his young brother LG Experience (not in the group, but well known for having produced Big L's "Put It On" and some remix for Nas and Naughty by Nature) also produced "Out on Bail" also featuring AB Money at the chorus... So Tupac got a full Rappin' Is Fundamental experience for what was his project of third solo album.

Easy Moe Bee : producer for the Juice Crew

Easy Moe Bee first produced two tracks in Big Daddy Kane's second album Big Daddy Thing in 1989 ("Another Victory" & "Calling Mr. Wellfare") for the classic Marley Marl Cold Chillin' label. Then he produced the b-side "Sexcapades" for Rza's first single Ooh I Love You Rakeem in 1991 and with his brother LG Experience the whole first album of Gza in 1991 Words From The Genius (still for Cold Chillin'). Alongside DJ Premier, he produced the first song of the album of Newburgh's MC J Rock ("Let Me Introduce Myself" in Streetwize) and the B-Side "I Get Rek" with his brother LG. A funny thing to notice is that J Rock's song "The Pimp" produced by DJ Premier has the same beat than "I Thought U Knew" where 2Pac raps with Ryan D (recorded in 1990 ?)... The same year he will also produce two singles for UK Electro Hip Hop artist Nikke Nicole (Nikke Does It Better and Silky Silk) and two remixes for french group IAM first singles Tam Tam de l'Afrique and Planète Mars.  

Rappin' Is Fundamental

Rappin' Is Fundamental is not a hardcore group but more a Doo-Wop thing mixed with Hip-Hop... So it gives something you can kind of compare to... Digital Underground !! Do Tupac likes what made the group ? When you know about the great versatility of Tupac (he loved reggae music, jazz, old rhythm & blues, Prince, rock & folk...), and his funky attitude (who can make a great contrast with his angry and provocative figure), you can be sure he was enjoying that kind of music.

Jazz/Hip-Hop with Miles Davis

In 1992, consecutively to the critical success of Rappin' Is Fundamental first album, Easy Mo Bee was in charge of producing Miles Davis Jazz/Hip Hop fusion album Doo-Bop (wordplay between "Doo-Hop" and "Bee-Bop"), with himself rapping on a few tracks ("Doo-Bop song" with also AB Money & Styles, "Blow" and "Fantasy").

That year, Easy Mo Bee also recorded a demo tape with his group, maybe planning for a second album... He also produced the eponymous track of Gladiator soundtrack by 3rd Bass.

From Big Daddy Kane to Biggie Smalls

He will again produce 4 tracks in Big Daddy Kane's 5th album Looks Like A Job 4..., published in May 25. That same year, he produced the very first single of Biggie Smalls (not yet The Notorious B.I.G. at that time), the street hit "Party & Bullshit" which was released in June 29, one month before Biggie & Pac first met and rapped at the Palladium. In September Biggie plays his hit live at a Thug Life concert with 2Pac and Live Squad...

When Big Daddy Kane giving a concert with Mr Cee at the Madison Square Garden, he invited Biggie who himself came with 2Pac... four days before Easy Mo Bee produced his first song "Temptations" for 2Pac... (cf. Out On Bail) Did Kane and introduced 2Pac to Easy Mo Bee after that concert ? Or Biggie did that earlier ? 

Easy Mo Bee was probably producing tracks for Biggie's first album Ready To Die (six songs are from him, maybe more with the unreleased tracks) when Biggie made him meet 2Pac. So he produced two tracks for his next album ("Runnin" and "Str8 Ballin") and his brother LG also produced one : "Out On Bail", again after "Temptations" with AB Money at the hook.

Fail to have a new Rappin' Is Fundamental second album

Rappin' Is Fundamental released a new single in 1994 : You Ain't Really Down / Helluva Guy. But nothing followed that single.

A funny thing to notice, Easy's brother LG Experience produced the Ill Al Skratch album Creep Wit Me with the successful track "This Is For My Homies" with an almost identical beat to "Runnin"... Did LG steal Easy Mo Bee's beat ? The reverse ? Were they working on it together ?

Released in September 13, Notorious B.I.G.'s first album received a huge success. Same day, Easy Mo Bee also produced tracks for Big Daddy Kane's sixth album Daddy's Home but it didn't receive commercial success. 

A few days before these two releases, Easy Mo Bee recorded two new tracks with 2Pac : "If I Die 2Nite" and "My Block", but only one of them will be released in Me Against The World, the second one being later given to The Show soundtrack.

Producing for the best rappers

Same year and next one, Easy Mo Bee will also produce for Slick Rick, Public Enemy, Da Brat, Heavy D, Craig Mack, Freddie Foxxx, Das EFX, Lost Boyz, Doug E Fresh, Channel Live, LL Cool J, Jamal of Illegal, Busta Rhymes, Blue Note, Queen Latifah, Rakim and Nas (the unreleased "Life Is Like A Dice Game", not retained for the album It Was Written)... 

Next, Easy Mo Bee produced for Tha Alkaholics, Nice & Smooth, The Notorious B.I.G., Lady of Rage, Ras Kass, MC Eight, Kurupt, Goodie Mob, Method Man...

He probably tried to record a new album with AB Money and Styles (Bee Mo Easy Ent sampler) before releasing his own solo/compilation album : Now Or Never : The Odyssee with Kool G Rap, Gang Starr, Cocoa Brovaz and Snoop Dogg among others...