Delicious Vinyl is giving new generations of hip hop fans a chance to have a piece of hip hop history in their hands, on colored vinyl no less!

This Red/Blue split colored 12″  features extended versions of both “Runnin’” and “Drop,” including their instrumentals.  It also includes accapella for Runnin,
for all remixing and mash up purposes.  Here’s something interesting, though.  On this record, both the Smooth Extended Mix and the Jay Dee Extended mix are the same, while Delicious Vinyl’s YouTube page has a Jay Dee aka J Dilla Remix, which utilizes the famed Gap Band sample that Nas used for “Life’s A Bitch.”  Now, the picture they use on the YouTube video is the same as the record we’re talking about now, and even includes a link to buy the record we’re talking about, but that version isn’t on this record.  I’m wondering if this is one of those “error card” situations.  Either way, you can’t front on the fact that you get vocal versions plus instrumentals of (the more memorable version of) “Runnin’” and “Drop,” so you can try to figure out how Dilla made these tracks.

“Runnin’” was the lead off single to The Pharcyde’s 2nd album, Labcabincalifornia.  Easily considered a classic,The Pharcyde clearly embarked on a more grown up approach with their sophomore effort, and “Runnin’” clearly showed that.  This was a coming of age track, no question.  The production is built around a simple guitar loop over crispy drums, which create a sense of urgency in the track.  A metaphorical “fuck that, it’s now or never, fight or flight” sort of feeling, matching the content of the lyrics, which seem a bit more mature this time around compared to their typical wacky, blunt inspired tracks of Bizarre Ride.

You might know about “Drop” from the iconic music video, directed by Spike Jonez.  This is just the guys having fun, straight up.  I was thinking about whether or not Spike came up with the concept of a “reverse” video because Dilla used a sample played in reverse for the beat.  Want to have fun with this track?  Play it in reverse to hear the sample in its original state, which I believe the origin is still unknown.  I’m thinking it’s a harp, though.  What do you think?

TO OUR READERS: (1) copy of this colored 12″ goes to the first person to tell us what personality was a bodyguard for The Pharcyde before landing a hosting job on Los Angeles radio?

Answers must be posted on our blog page in order to win.  Good luck!

—Frank Foreal