M.C. Price and Double Trouble "The Price Is Right"

$

305

M.C. Price & DJ Trouble

"The Price Is Right"

side A:

1. "The Price Is Right"

side B:

1. "My Life Story"
    
   
   
   Label : Standin Tuff Records

Record Condition: VG + OR BETTER

WITH THE WOL FROM DJ TROUBLE

http://www.diggerswithgratitude.com/aReview.php?r=35

> Artist: MC Price & DJ Double Trouble
> Title: 'My Life Story/The Price Is Right'
> Label: Standin' Tuff
> Year: 1991

There are times, when writing a review, that an author knows very little about the artist. More of than not, it's because the artist was a one-hit wonder, never to be heard from again. Hell, even the use of "one-hit" is a bit liberal. Especially in the world of digging where the artist's celebrity status often extends no further than a half-mile radius from his block. 

In cases like these, an author is forced to delve deep into his bag of literary tricks for a list of clichés and funky one-liners - all in an attempt to blur the line between substance and style. After all, some records deserve the heaps of praise bestowed upon them. 

And that's entirely what I intend to do here. 

Or at least that's what I did at the time I wrote the piece. Little did I know DJ Trouble would find the review and graciously offer to fill in some of the details. 

MC Price and DJ Trouble's story begins in Brooklyn where Trouble used to hang with Price's older brother and sister on Sterling Street. People knew Trouble was a producer as he had been dabbling in beats since 1983 or '84. So when it came time for Price, a young MC (and drug dealer constantly in and out of state) to look for beats, it was natural that they hook up. What they didn't realize was that the only work they would ever do together would be immortalized years later. 

It all started thanks to Mr. Walker - one of Price's schoolteachers at PS210 who had taken a liking to him. He saw a trouble kid, but one that had good in him. So in an effort to show Price he was investing in him, Mr. Walker paid for a five-hour studio session in 1990. It is here where the details are blurred in their whirlwind of specificity. Trouble was 20 or 21 years old, Price was 17 or 18. The beats were laid down on the fly on a Digitech 7.6. And because there were no sturdy tables in the studio, Trouble put his turntables on the floor and recorded his scratches on his knees. 

In 1991, Price and Trouble learned that Mr. Walker had pressed 50 to 100 copies of the wax to pass out locally on his own Standin' Tuff imprint. While seeing the record pressed up on wax thrilled Trouble, he HATED that he was listed as "Double Trouble" on the wax. So much so, in fact, that he crossed out the "Double" on any copy he could get his hands on. 

But what about the record itself? 

DJ Shadow first brought the group to everyone's attention when he spun their B-side killer, 'The Price Is Right', on his 'Diminishing Returns' mix. Only no one knew their name as, in less-than-typical MC braggadocio fashion, Price wasn't giving clues. The one thing listeners DID know, however, was that the song was a face-melter. The MC rode the Meters' 'Cissy Strut' like few before him and anytime you add a hook by Rakim (and a dash of Mountain's 'Long Red') on the chorus, you have an instant winner. 

Witness the drift: 

Feel the wrath and then I'll scare you straight, 
People felt my blast shakin' 52 states. 
Brooklyn, New York is the place that I shook up first, 
You can't stand the effect that I have on the planet earth. 
Approaching the scene, the people scream my name, 
"Here he comes", they run for their life 'cause I'm a hurricane. 
Made it rain, then I created a flood, 
Because you gotta pay the price when you draw first blood 

It was only after months of secrecy that Shadow unveiled it to be MC Price & DJ Trouble's 'Price Is Right' on 'Diminishing Treasures', the wax accompaniment to his highly regarded mix. As a copy or two surfaced, it was learned that the DJ's name was actually "DJ Double Trouble" and the title was missing an insignificant "The" at the beginning. In the grand scheme of things, however, the unintentional (?) mistakes made no difference. Hundreds, if not thousands, of diggers worldwide were no closer to the elusive original. 

But eventually it did surface. And for those few, proud owners, the A-side turned out to be just as fierce. 

Calling 'My Life Story' the typical 'cautionary tale of the pitfalls of a life of crime' would be doing the song a disservice. First, the track manages to seamlessly blend four well-known staples of hip-hop sampling, The Turtles' 'I'm Chief Kamanawanalea' (drums), Funkadelic's 'You'll Like It, Too' (drums), Orange Krush's 'Action' (guitar) and ESG's slowed down, oft-sampled 'UFO' space intro. Listening to the final product and you can't help but wonder whether there was a greater design at work - as if the four seemingly disparate parts were created for this purpose... and this purpose alone. And MC Price doesn't waste the opportunity: 

God knows I tried to do the right thing, 
But the more I pushed, yo, the harder it seemed. 
When I went to school, I didn't have fun, 
I had to watch my back, in my sack was a gun. 
Not a choice of mine to let the jammy release, 
But if you try, you die, and then you rest in peace. 
I was on the go, kinda movin' too quick, 
But I was sold like gold by the neighborhood snitch. 

Studio gangster, Price was not - he lived what he wrote. 

Which brings us back to DJ Shadow. 

When 'Diminishing Returns' dropped, one of Trouble's friends brought him the mix to identify the songs. And who better to ask than someone who had remained in the industry since the record was released? Whether working at Downstairs Records, owning his own studio, or making a living in his current capacity as an engineer, Trouble has remained in the game. In the 90s, he mixed/engineered for the East Flatbush Project and later worked with another Brooklyn-based crew, The Candy Store. He also remixed Rhamel's 'Straight Out of Brooklyn' on Heated Records and produced for a crew signed to Chemistry before the label folded (Mental Castaways). 

Imagine his surprise when four minutes into the fifth track, Shadow drops his song! 

Unfortunately, the story ends on a more somber note. After reading our review, Trouble set off to reconnect with Price only to be greeted by a story much too familiar in hip-hop circles. Price was killed a year or two after their record dropped. 


> Reviewed by: Sureshot

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Record Grading

Here’s a brief explanation of the THE RECORD LOUNGE grading system,

SS Still Sealed - in factory-fresh condition

M Mint - New / looks unplayed.

NM- Near Mint -A Near Perfect record

VG++ Very Good Plus – with only superficial signs of use that don’t affect play. Only well cared for records will grade out to this

**Record Condition  Vg+ and below are SOLD AS IS NO RETURNS**

 VG+. Will satisfy all but the most demanding collector.

VG Very Good - a used, reasonable copy. There will be obvious signs of wear and the possibility of light surface noise between tracks or during quiet passages,  but plays fine

VG- Very Good Minus - significant wear and marks and usually quite noticeable surface noise.

G+ Good Plus. In the record world, 'Good' is not good! From here on down (Fair, Poor), we're talking about beat-up records.