THE ULTRAMAGNETIC MC'S
Although a good chunk of the artists' bios/discographies in this
web site could very well be
considered their unofficial web sites, the Ultramagnetic
MC's have always been one of my
favorite groups, thus, they will recieve a MUCH more thorough
bio and soundclip (including
entire tracks where appropriate) section than the rest.
In addition, it should be noted that the
format of this page is somewhat different to the others
just to accomodate more detailed
descriptions of their material. NOTE: for additional information,
you may want to check out Kool
Kieth's page.
Well... it all started back in one of the most magical
years in hip-hop's history, 1986. At that time,
you had this sensation known as Rakim tearing up the microphone,
KRS and MC Shan were
right in the middle of one of the most prolific MC battles
in history, and a little known group called
the Ultramagnetic MC's (MC's Kool Keith, T.R. Love, Ced
Gee and DJ Moe Love) dropped the
all-out classic 12" 'Ego Trippin'/Funky Potion':
Ego Trippin' - Next Plateau 1986
Ego Trippin'
Ego Bits (Instrumental)
Funky Potion
Funky Extension (Instrumental)
[Thanks to Alexander Poulikakos at the Hip Hop
Vinyl Heaven for hooking me up with the scan of
this 12" cover.]
This first commercially released 12" from Ultra was (and still is) monumental for many reasons:
It was really the first record
to ever feature such an outworldly and complex approach to
rhyming, with Kool Keith
being largely responsible for this new style of rap.
It featured what was to
be some of the most innovative production ever heard, thanks to
Ultra member, Ced-Gee -
probably one of the most underrated and least talked about
producers in hip-hop music.
NOTE: he was not only the man behind a very good chunk of
Ultra's best material but
also played a very big role in the production of BDP's "Criminal
Minded", another classic
hip-hop album.
Most importantly, it introduced
us to the Ultramagnetic MC's, one of the craziest, strangest,
wildest, and most brilliant
hip-hop groups EVER.
Now, on with the show! Ego Trippin' starts out with the
hard-hitting beats from the classic
'Substitution' break, "Party peoples, in the place to
be...Just for you, it's the
Ultra---Maagnetic----EMMMM-CEEEEEEE'S". It's amazing,
but after 20 seconds, you're already
hyped, and Ultra hasn't even stepped up to the mic yet!
Soon, you get a very impressive
exchange between Kool Keith and Ced Gee on the first verse:
The jam is just movin'/(KK)
The crowd is steady groovin'/(CED)
To a supersonic pace/(KK)
With highs and stupid bass/(CED)
With some pep, in the step/(KK & CED)
Cause the beat is so funky, the place is well-kept/(KK
& CED)
Cause we're/(KK & CED)
Ultraaaa, Magnetic-Magnetic MC's/
Ultraaaa, Magnetic-Magnetic MC's....
After this, Kool Keith and Ced Gee each drop very memorable
verses followed by a brief interlude
by Ultra DJ, Moe Love, and then continue with yet another
verse each.
Kool Kieth
They use a simple back and forth/
The same old rhythm/
That a baby can pick up and join right with 'em/
But their rhymes are pathetic/
They think they're copacetic...
Sure, credit should be given where credit is due and, yes,
Ced Gee drops some great lines in this
song; however, it is that crazy Kool Keith who catches
the listener's ear. Line after line, he drops
verses that "will stun and amaze you", it is simply incredible!
All I can say, is 'Ego Trippin'' is 5:21
minutes of pure, classic hip-hop.
On the B-Side of this album is yet another great track
called 'Funky Potion'. The actual format of
the song is quite similar to 'Ego Trippin'': Ced and KK
start off with a brief exchange between
each other and then proceed to drop individual verses.
Naturally, it would be very hard for
ANYONE to match the quality and energy of 'Ego Trippin',
but Ultra did a very decent job with
this track. The opening verse between the two MC's was
really not that great but then the track
really picks up after that with Ced and KK continuing
to drop verse after verse of great lyrics. On
the production side, Ced-Gee comes through yet again with
a really bassy track that thumps
along at a furious pace. It's amazing, but after listening
to this 12", you really begin to feel that
Ultra is on the brink of something really big.
I've actually been told on many occasions that there was
a 12" Ultra released before "Ego
Trippin". A very helpful person by the name of Infinite
was able to provide the following listing &
title:
I'm Gonna Give You Love - Sutra/DNA 1985
I'm Gonna Give You Love
Ziggy-Zag
Apparantly, they released it under the name Bronx Vice
with Red Alert. I've never heard them
personally but they're supposedly on a more freaky sex
tip than most of the Critical Beatdown
material - somewhat of a prelude to KK's wierdness. Ziggy-Zag
talks about loving your vinyl and
shit...sounds pretty crazy!!! Again, this info is not
100% accurate but I'd say it's pretty damn
close. I'll probably never get sound files for these unless
someone wants to spread the wealth to
me...PLEASE!!!
Ultra's commercial release was another 12" which came out
about a year later and was called
"Travelling at the Speed of Thought":
Traveling At The Speed of Thought - Next
Plateau 1987 (50058)
Traveling At The Speed of Thought
Traveling Dub
M.C.'s Ultra (Part II)
B-Boy Bonus Break
'Travelling...' had a very different sound to it than 'Ego
Trippin'. It had much more of a party-like
feel to it and really didn't have much of the complexity
of their previous release. It's strange, but
Ultra really went back to the basics using an almost RUN-DMC
style of rapping; however, don't
get me wrong, this was still a great track. It featured
more of Ced-Gee's innovative production
highlighted by really cool sampling and it was interlaced
with some cool lines too.
The B-side to this 12", as most Ultramagnetic fans would
agree, was the real prize. 'MC's Ultra
(Part II)' was a very intense 5 minute track which sounds
as though it was meant to be some sort
of a sequel to 'Ego Trippin'. Anyhow, Keith and Ced drop
some incredibly hype lyrics over the
thumping tight beats in this song. In addition, there
were no real changes to the overall format of
the song in relation to their previous release (hey, why
mess with a good thing anyways!!): KK and
Ced start of the song together with a cool introduction
and then proceed to rhyme individualy for
the rest of the song.
Party people's in the place to be...
Just for you, it's part 2 of the Ultraaaaaa Magneeeetic
emceeeeeeees
(Kool Keith & Ced Gee together)
Now remember part 2
When we continue the groove
And too smooth
And truly confuse
As a scientist, advanced and technical
With a polygon
Forming def beats to your ears
Your ear canals are burning
While the techniques spin keeps turning
At a dominating speed...
I think you get the idea of what this song is all about...
The next record released by Ultra was the "Menatally Mad/Funky" 12".
Mentally Mad - Next Plateau 1987
Mentally Mad
Mentally Mad (Instrumental)
Funky
Funky (Instrumental)
Just when you thought the Ultramagnetic MC's totally outdid
themselves on their previous 2
records, they come in with a 12" that's equally as good
as "Ego Trippin/Funky Potion" and maybe
even better than the "Travelling..." 12". 'Mentally Mad'
is pretty much a self-explanitory track.
Ced-Gee and Kool Keith go totally nuts and tell us how
crazy they are. My only complaint about
this song is that their voices aren't very clear and it
really is quite difficult to make out what they're
saying. Yet this is LARGELY overshadowed by the complexity
of Ced Gee's production on this
track. He really is becoming a leader in the use of the
newfound sampling technology with a
collage of sounds that no one else would ever dream of
throwing together. Essentially, 'Mentally
Mad' is a must have for any Ultra fan.
The B-Side to this record is pretty much the second best
song Ultra has ever made next to 'Ego
Trippin'. 'Funky' reaches perfection in many ways:
Ultra continue to delight
the listener with their trademark complex rhyming style that really
shines through on this track.
Ced-Gee makes a brilliant
use of that famous Joe Cocker sample (the same one featured
one 'California Love' by
Dre and 2Pac) which makes for an excellent backdrop to Ultra's
furious wordplay.
The entire Ultramagnetic
crew further solidify themselves as one of the most innovative
groups ever known to hip-hop
music.
There really isn't much more I can say about this song
which differs from my descriptions of their
previous records. They continue to bring you hype lyrics
over great music.
I think by now, you pretty much get the picture of what
Ultra is all about. They aren't a Public
Enemy/De La Soul type of group which creates songs with
deep meanings and social
commentary nor are they a typical battle group which claims
they are the greatest MC's on the
planet. Sure, their style so far is very braggadocio,
but they just do things differently to other
groups. You really get this feeling that they are hundreds
of years ahead of their time with their
advanced lyrics and beat making. If it weren't for Ultra
paving the way for this new brand of
hip-hop music, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have legendary
MC's like Organized Konfusion,
Company Flow, and Rass Kass nor producers like DJ Premier.
In fact, "Criminal Minded" might
not have been the album it was if it weren't for Ced-Gee.
Ultra's following two 12"s, "Watch Me Now" and "Ease Back"
were starting to show a more
polished side to Ultra's music.
Watch Me Now - Next Plateau 1988 (50079)
Watch Me Now (Vocal Version)
Watch Me Now (Instrumental)
Feelin' It (Vocal)
Feelin' It (Instrumental)
Ease Back - Next Plateau 1988
Ease Back (Vocal)
Ease Back (Instrumental)
Kool Keith Housing Things (Vocal)
Kool Keith Housing Things (Instrumental)
Don't get me wrong, these are still two great records simply
because Ultra have really cleaned up
the production and their deliveries in these songs. For
now, the raw and uncut feel of their
previous records is officially gone as Ultra begin to
set themselves up for the release of their
debut LP "Critical Beatdown". Although most of my favorite
material from Ultra comes from their
first three records, I really feel that they've achieved
a perfect balance of complexity (both lyrically
and musically) and listenability with "Watch Me Now" and
"Ease Back". Each song features a
really deep, pounding bass combined with nice crispy highs.
With FIVE incredible 12"'s behind them, the Ultramagnetic
MC's decided to unleash one of the
greatest LP's ever made: "Critical Beatdown".
Critical Beatdown - Next Plateau 1988 (1013)
Watch Me Now
Ease Back
Ego Trippin' (MC's Ultra Remix)
Moe Luv's Theme
Kool Keith Housing Things
Traveling at the Speed of Thought (Remix)
Feelin' It
One Minute Less
Ain't it Good to You
Funky (Remix)
Give the Drummer Some
Break North
Critical Beatdown
When I Burn
Ced-Gee (Delta Force One)
This LP placed Ultra in the same light as Eric B. &
Rakim, BDP, and Run-DMC as being one of
the few artists in that era who have been able to give
their fans a solid album from front to back.
On the other hand, a few still viewed it as somewhat dissapointing
in terms of the selection of
some of the tracks on the album:
a "remixed" version of 'Ego
Trippin' which was merely the same as the original one but was
lacking Ced and Keith's
last two verses
a completely different remix
of 'Travelling...' which was essentially a two verse, 1:51 minute
track which was too damn
short
a weak remix of 'Funky'
- they should have just kept the original one IMO
Despite these minor flaws, the album is considered an all-out
classic piece of work by people all
around the world. Each song flows beautifully into the
next one as Ced-Gee and Kool Keith
continue to deliver wicked rhymes over very tight beats.
Although, a good number of the songs
on the album have been previously released in various
forms, 'Ain't it Good to You', 'Give the
Drummer Some', 'Break North', and 'Critical Beatdown'
are incredible new additions to Ultra's
portfolio of material. They fit in lovely with the rest
of their material and became instant hits with
hip-hop fans all around.
About a year later, after the release of "Critical Beatdown",
Ultra rounded out their barrage of
12"'s with two album cuts "Give the Drummer Some/Moe Luv's
Theme" and "Travelling at the
Speed of Thought":
Give The Drummer Some - Next Plateau 1989
(50091)
Give The Drummer Some (Vocal Remix)
Give The Drummer Some (LP Version)
Give The Drummer Some (Bonus Beats)
Moe Love's Theme (Vocal Remix)
Moe Love's Theme (LP Version)
Moe Love's Theme (Bonus Beats)
[Thanks to Alexander Poulikakos at the Hip Hop
Vinyl Heaven for hooking me up with the scan of
this 12" cover.]
Traveling At The Speed Of Thought - Next
Plateau 1989 (50103)
Traveling At The Speed Of Thought (Hip-House
Club Mix)
Traveling At The Speed Of Thought (Radio)
Traveling At The Speed Of Thought (Hip-House
Instrumental)
Traveling At The Speed Of Thought (Radio
Instrumental)
A Chorus Line (Vocal)
A Chorus Line (Instrumental)
Traveling At The Speed Of Thought (LP Version)
And as a special treat...here's an entire live performance
of A Chorus Line (Live from London).
Everyone except for Tim Dog did some nice freestyles...and
I included all of the performance
including Ultra's pre and post performace chatting on
stage. Oh yeah, I totally forgot the name of
the person who gave this to me...but if you come accross
this page...drop me a line.
"Give the Drummer..." was essentially an album for the
club and radio DJ's which featured a
radio version (remixes) and instrumentals of the LP versions
of the two songs. However, the
second release of "Travelling..." easily matches (if not
surpasses) the first release in terms of
quality and is considered yet another must have for true
hip-hop fans.
The A-Side to "Travelling..." features two different mixes
of the LP version but contain two more
hype verses by KK and Ced-Gee. The Hip-House mix was an
obvious attempt at getting them
some more radio play but still bumps along quite nicely
(same goes for the radio version). But
what most Ultra fans will tell you is that the real prize
on this record is the incredible B-Side track
called 'A Chorus Line'. As one of the hardest and roughest
tracks ever made by this group, 'A
Chorus Line' introduces us to two other Ultra members:
T.R. Love and Tim Dog. Tim Dog came
off pretty good on this song, dropping some pretty good
rhymes with his deep and abrasive voice
and T.R. Love managed to display some half-decent lyrical
ability as well. Still, it was Ced-Gee
and Kool Keith who stole the show with their incredible
chemistry and terrific word play. BTW, do I
need to mention that Ced put together yet another brilliant
track...
Whew...
There you have it, a complete breakdown of ALL of Ultra's
material up to 1989. As you can
probably imagine, nearly every one of their songs will
go down in history as being some of the
most advanced and innovative music ever made. It is very
important that you know about these
songs as not too many people have ever really heard about
them. I guarantee, they will probably
be forever forgotten if the newer generations in hip-hop
aren't given a chance to learn about
Ultra and the impact that they have had on hip-hop music.
Before we move on, I should point out a lovely little compilation
which featured one of the hottest
& most sought after Ultra track of the 80's, 'Bait'.
This was actually a song released off the
legendary Red Alert Goes Berzerk Compilation album (which
also included the full length 12"
version of 'Ego Trippin'):
Red Alert Goes Berzerk - Let's Go (2001)
My Mic Sounds Nice (by Salt N Pepa)
That's How I'm Living (by Black, Rock & Ron)
South Bronx (by BDP)
Bait (by Ultramagnetic MC's)
Armed & Dangerous (by Kings Of Pressure)
Ego Trippin'
I'll Take Your Man (by Salt N Pepa)
Cracked Out (by Masters Of Ceremony)
Don't Make Me Laugh (by Sparky Dee)
Oh yeah, there's apparently a promo version of 'Bait' which
features all four verses which were
later to appear on the "B-Sides Companion" compilation.
Anyone with info,
pleeeeaaaasssseeeee let me know!!!
After about a couple year's break, Ultra decided to break
off from Next Plateau and joined a
much larger label called Mercury. Although Next Plateau
were VERY supportive of all the work
Ultra had put forth up until now, the group felt it was
time that they try to gain a little more
exposure and finally tap into the large fan base that
hip-hop was starting to receive.
Their first release was the much anticipated 12" called "Make
it Happen". As most Ultra fans
would agree, this was a promising start for the group
on their new label. 'Make it Happen' was
very much liked by the underground and the B-Side, 'A
Chorus Line Pt. 2', was keeping in line
with the quality of the original 'A Chorus Line'. Still,
after the release of this very good record, fans
were becoming impatient with Ultra as it had been nearly
4 years since they dropped "Critical
Beatdown".
Make It Happen - Mercury 1991 (866 131)
Make It Happen
Make It Happen (Inst)
Chorus Line Pt. 2
Make It Happen (Remix)
[Thanks to Alexander Poulikakos at the Hip Hop
Vinyl Heaven for hooking me up with the scan of
this 12" cover.]
In '92, the group unleashed their second full-length LP, "Funk Your Head Up":
Funk Your Head Up - Mercury 1992 (314 510
893)
Introduction To The Funk/Intro
MC Champion
Go 4 Yourz
Blast From The Past
Funk Radio
Message From The Boss
Pluckin Cards
Intermission
Stop Jockin Me
Dolly And The Rat Trap
The Old School
Bust The Facts
Murder And Homicide
You Ain't Real
Make It Happen
I Like Your Style
Bi-Lingual Teaching
Poppa Large
Moe Love On The 1 And 2
Porno Star
The P.M.R.C. ID
Chorus Line Pt. 2
Sadly, though, many of Ultra's fans were very dissapointed
with the outcome of this album. Many
did not like the production or they felt Ultra had changed
their style way too much to appeal to a
broader fan base. In any event, this album was VERY different
to "Critical Beatdown". Sure, it
still had some great lyrics and pretty hype production
on quite a few of the tracks, yet it still
lacked the power and influence that "Critical Beatdown"
and many of their 12"'s had on hip-hop
music back in the 80's. With NWA, Native Tongues, Main
Source, and many others reaching their
prime, there was just no room for a group like Ultra anymore.
People were tired of their style and
were looking at other groups for inspiration. Oh well...
It should be noted that there were still
some great songs on this album that people should know
about. Of course, 'Poppa Large',
'Make it Happen', 'A Chorus Line Pt. 2', are obvious choices,
but 'Pluckin' Cards' and 'MC
Champion' were very well put together songs which featured
some classic rhymes and trademark
Ced-Gee production.
Before moving on, Ultra did manage to release a follow-up
12" to "Funk Your Head Up", "Poppa
Large".
Poppa Large - Mercury 1992 (866 733)
Poppa Large (East Coast Mix)
Poppa Large (East Coast Instrumental)
Poppa Large (West Coast Mix)
Poppa Large (West Coast Instrumental)
Poppa Large (East Coast Acapella)
What's truly remarkable about this record is not the fact
that it comes very close to "Ego
Trippin/Funky" in terms of quality and that they managed
to woo their long lost fans back with
these remixes, it was that Mercury all of a sudden dropped
them from the label just when they
started regain the respect of the hip-hop community. Anyways,
what made this record so good
was the incredible work of the almighty Beatminerz on
the 'East Coast Mix' and then the
slammin' DJ Pooh remix for the 'West Coast Mix'. Both
of the mixes are very nice but the 'East
Coast Mix' really kicks ass. The Beatminerz demonstrated
some of their early signs of brilliance
on this extremely hype remix, a wicked combination with
the flow of Rhythm X himself...It should
be noted that this was one of the first times that very
influencial players from both coasts came
together to work on an album together. Unlike some other
useless East/West pairings of late
(Nas & Dr. Dre comes to mind), this one actually works
really well, further showing what hip-hop
has been missing due to the useless coastal wars.
After being left out in the cold by Mercury's idiotic record
exec's, they managed to regroup and
sign on with a credible hip-hop label called Wild Pitch.
By '93, they released their third LP entitled
"The Four Horsemen":
The Four Horsemen - Wild Pitch 1993 (89917)
We Are the Horsemen
Checkin My Style
Two Brothers With Checks (San Francisco, Harvey)
Raise It Up
Saga of Dandy, The Devil & Day
Delta Force II
Adventures of Herman's Lust (Moe Love III)
See the Man on the Street
Bring it Down to Earth
Don't Be Scared
One, Two, One, Two
Time To Catch A Body
Yo Black
Big Booty
This album is a neat little piece of work for many reasons:
It gave the 4 man crew a
much needed spark after their miserable episode with Mercury.
It introduced us to a new
and much doper Ultramagnetic sound thanks to help from
up-and-comers like Godfather
Don.
From an 'edutainment' standpoint,
these guys shed some MUCH NEEDED light on the
subject of the Negro Baseball
Leagues that has essentially been ignored by many other
prominent MC's.
Lastly, it proved that the
greatest MC in the world, Kool Keith, can still hold his own on the
microphone (and then some)
after all these years.
With that being said, this album was NOT flawless. One
major concern of many fans was the
inconsistency of Ced-Gee's rhymes and flow. For some reason,
there were certain tracks where
his voice was really DEEEP and his flow was very disjointed
('Saga...' comes to mind) frustrating
the hell out of listenters. But then on others, he was
like the Ced-Gee of old. Another thing is
that this was still not the Critical Beatdown II that
everyone seems to expect from this group and
thus continued to get moderately slept on by the hip-hop
community. It's a shame because they
are missing out on some great tracks. But that's about
it for the negatives, for the most part,
you're looking at a very good LP.
The "Ego Trippin" of this album has got to be 'Raise It
Up'. With help from Godfather Don both
behind the boards and on the mic, Ultra managed to give
us a very smoooooth and jazzy track
with some very nice & polished rhymes from KK, Don
and Ced. We then move onto a funny little
track called 'Two Brothers With Checks', hmmm... I've
never really figured out what's going on in
this song but I still like it. Two other extremely tight
tracks have got to be the Kool Keith solos:
'Checkin' My Style' and 'One, Two, One, Two'. You really
begin to believe that Keith hasn't lost a
damn thing since the CB days when you hear him rip it
up over these tracks. Other notable dope
songs are definitely 'We Are The Horseman', 'See The Man
On The Street', and 'Don't Be
Scared'.
Oh yeah, as I mentioned before, there are numerous references to baseball
throughout this
album (they even mentioned my favorite team on 'Two Brothers...',
the Montreal Expos). The
excellent 'Saga of Dandy, The Devil, and Day' was a wonderful
(and THOROUGH) dedication to
some of the incredible players and events of the Negro
Baseball Leagues in the 40's. Even the
track itself was nice to listen to with its smooth, jazzy
production.
Well, I guess that pretty much sums up the album. In terms
of quality, it fits somewhere between
"Critical Beatdown" and "Funk Your Head Up". Again, mega
props have to go out to Ultra for
being able to come out of all that disasterous label mess
(which usually leads to the undoing of
95% of MC's these days) and dropping a very solid, yet
sadly underrated, LP.
After the release of this LP, Ultra released two 12"'s:
Two Brothers With Checks (San Francisco,
Harvey) - Wild Pitch 1993 (56277)
Two Brothers With Checks (San Francisco, Harvey)
(LP Version)
Two Brothers With Checks (San Francisco, Harvey)
(Radio Version)
One Two One Two (LP Version)
One Two One Two (Instrumental)
Two Brothers With Checks (San Francisco, Harvey)
(Instrumental)
Raise It Up - Wild Pitch 1993 (58056)
Raise It Up (LP Version)
Raise It Up (Remix)
Raise It Up (Instrumental)
The Saga of Dandy, the Devil and Day (Remix)
The Saga of Dandy, the Devil and Day (LP Version)
The Saga of Dandy, the Devil and Day
(Instrumental)
The Saga of Dandy, the Devil and Day (Acappella)
The "Two Brothers..." 12" was really nothing special, just
your standard LP versions with
instrumentals. However, they did manage to pick the two
most bugged-out songs on the entire
LP which pretty much saves the 12" from being a total
waste. I'm sure this would make a fine
addition to any DJ's collection.
On the other hand, "Raise It Up" was a very strong 12",
featuring nice remixes of both tracks.
Personally, I really didn't think there was much of a
need for a remix to 'Raise It Up' as it was so
good to begin with, but I guess it makes for a nice change
of pace once in a while. The 'Saga...'
remix is actually much better than the original track.
It would definitely take the title for being the
most laid-back track that has ever come from the Ultramagnetic
crew.
With the poor sales of this album, the Ultramagnetic MC's
pretty much went MIA for a couple of
years and I guess everyone went their seperate ways -
being the most underrated and slept on
MC's has got to take its toll. In '95, however, Kool Keith
re-surfaced on the solo tip doing a
rediculously large number of projects under different
aliases (Dr. Octogon, Big Willie Smith,
Sinister6000, Mr. Gerbik, Mr. Clean, 'Ultra' [with Tim
Dog], and Reverend Tom). Two other
members of the crew, Moe Luv & TR Love also had a
hand in a few of these obscure and
strange projects. Obviously, if I were to get into these
on this page, it would end up being over
50K (in text alone!!!) so be sure to check out the Kool
Keith page for more details.
On another note, there was still one Ultramagnetic member
who really hasn't done too much
since their latest album and he is Ced-Gee. Now, there
have been all sorts of silly rumours
floating around him, but the truth is that there has been
some sort of a break-up of the crew over
Ced's selling of all of Ultra's unreleased material to
Tuff City. Apparently, he did this without the
consent of the other members and it led to the creation
of 'Ultra' - since they obviously couldn't
use the 'Ultramagnetic MC's' name. Anyways, one LP and
two 12"'s (that I know of) were
released under the 'Ultra' name and then 3 LP's &
2 12"s were additionally released by Tuff City.
For all the controversy and contempt held against Tuff
City and the Ultra releases, "Basement
Tapes" is pretty good:
The Basement Tapes 1984-1990 - Tuff City
1994 (0618)
Make You Shake (Original Lab House Demo)
Space Groove
Get A Job
Smack My Bitch Up
You Got to Feel It
Crush Kill Destroy
Brainiac
Scientist
We're Ultra (Part III)
Ya Nobody
Ya Sleepin'
Smoking Dust
By far, the best songs are 'Make You Shake', a really eerie
distorted song recorded on a 4-track;
'Get A Job', a self-explanitory track; and of course the
very nice 'Brainiac'. Many Ultra fans would
also discover two songs on here which sound very similar
to existing material that they released
from CB. 'You Got To Feel It' could very well have been
a remix-type track for 'Feelin It' and of
course, 'We're Ultra (Part III)' was some sort of continuation/remix
for 'MC's Ultra (Part II)'. Ah
well, not bad, but all in all, this really is material
for the hardcore Ultra fan as most others really
couldn't (or wouldn't) appreciate these tracks very much.
On the other hand, "New York What Is Funky" as well as
the 12" were not that great at all:
New York What Is Funky - Tuff City 1996 (4021)
Grip The Mic
New York What Is Funky
Black Potions
Join The Party
Biscuits And Eggs
Catchin' Bodies
I'm F*ckin' Flippin'
Chuck Chillout
Poo Poo Wreckers
Here I Go Again
I Ain't Takin' No Shorts
I'm F**kin' Flippin - Tuff City 1994 (128083)
I'm F**kin' Flippin'
New York What Is Funky
Ya Not That Large
I really thought these were a waste of time, even for big
time Ultra fans. I don't know, it just
seems like total overkill to release more demo stuff (of
even lesser quality!!!). If you really wanted
to know, 'I'm Fuckin Flippin', 'Grip The Mic', and 'New
York What Is Funky' are pretty much the
only half-decent tracks on this...everthing else is pretty
awful.
And this brings us to the next slew of demo/basement/unreleased
Ultra stuff, "Moe Luv's
Basement Tapes" (for which I don't have any info right
now) as well as a 12". If 'Watch Your
Back' is any indication, you're probably going to get
more of the same old thing:
Watch Your Back - Tuff City 1997
Watch Your Back
Now as an interesting move by Next Plateau (to apparantly
equal Tuff City's slew of lost Ultramag
releases), they decided to release a little album of their
own, entitled "The B-Sides Companion":
The B-Sides Companion - Next Plateau 1997
(5482)
Ego Trippin' 2000 (rmx)
Watch Me Now ('97 rmx)
A Chorus Line 2000 (rmx)
Live At Tramps (July 11, '97)
Feelin' It (Radio Promo rmx)
Ultra Reunion
MC's Ultra Part II (rmx)
Menatlly Mad ('97 rmx)
Break North ('97 rmx)
Message From The Source (rmx)
I'm On
Bait ('97 rmx)
Kool Keith Model Android #406
Funky (12" Version rmx)
As you can see, it features a whole wack of neat little
b-side material. Unfortunately, they aren't
the original versions but kinda f*cked up remixed versions,
some of which have the vocals totally
re-recorded. But all is not lost, Next Plateau were able
to hook us up with some juicy never seen
before tracks like 'I'm On', 'Kool Keith Model Android
#406', and then 'Live At Tramps'. In
addition, there's a re-union cut featuring most of the
old Ultramag members all together on this
new track. It's not that bad either...
Well, although they are considered a different entity on
paper, "Ultra" is essentially Ultramagnetic
and that material should very well be covered on this
page too:
Big Time - Our Turn Records - 1996 (1001)
Super Luv
NYC Street Corner Battle
Big Time
Get Off The Dick
Who Rocks
Private Eyes
Industry Is Wak
Keep It Real
Ain't Nobody Happenin'
Fat Lady
Bizarre
No Face
If anything, this LP will remind you a lot of a track off
"Funk Your Head Up" called 'Pluckin'
Cards'. This essentially a big diss album with Tim Dog
& Kool Keith handing out beatdown to
anyone and everyone from NY to LA. It's pretty funny at
times although it can get a little
annoying after a few listens. As an interesting side note,
the back cover to this LP is hillarious
with KK & Tim Dog mocking some of the more familiar
celebrities in the hip-hop community
(Green Man = Red Man, No Face = Ghostface Killer, etc...).
Anyhow, a couple of surprisingly solid 12"s were released
off this album:
Big Time - Our Turn Records - 1996
Big Time (Radio Edit)
Big Time (Album Version)
Big Time (Dub Version)
Big Time (Acappella)
Big Time (Remix)
Big Time (Remix Instrumental)
Industry Is Wak
Industry Is Wack - My Turn Records 1997 (2012)
Industry Is Wack (LP Version)
Industry Is Wack (Instrumental)
Industry Is Wack (Evidence Remix)
Industry Is Wack (Evidence Instrumental)
Ain't Nobody Happenin' (LP Version)
Ain't Nobody Happenin' (Instrumental)
Outtatowniggaz (LP Version)
Outtatowniggaz (Instrumental)
The Big Time 12" was not bad considering it featured a
nice little remix & then a solid b-side off
the LP. But the real prize was the "Industry Is Wack"
12" with a phat remix of the title cut and
then a solid b-side in "Outtatowniggaz".
Wheeeewwwww........
That pretty much takes care of 99% of what the Ultramagnetic
MC's have done so far, pretty
amazing eh! If not one of the greatest and most brilliant
groups of MC's to have ever existed,
they are also one of the most dedicated and hard-working
groups I've ever known. To think that
after all these years, members like Kool Keith are still
extremely active and doing amazingly well. I
honestly believe that they will come together again for
good (they did a reunion show sometime
in July/Aug '97) and may very well drop another good album.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed
reading the Ultra page as much as I did creating it and
if you have any
questions/comments/corrections/additions to make, email
me at s733807@uottawa.ca.