Butter Team: You Never Knew

April 5, 2009

You Never Knew

NYC writer/DJ Jon Oliver recently featured Hieroglyphic's "You Never Knew" from their 1998 debut Third Eye Vision, and although the original is indeed a summer stoop classic, Hiero member/manager/beatmaker Domino's 2007 remix is way better. Make sure you grab that along with the original sample from Dom-produced "At the Helm" below, because as Pep Love says, "Those that know not doze, and it shows."

Hieroglyphics - You Never Knew (Domino Remix) (from Over Time, 2007)

Domino produced many of the songs on Third Eye Vision except "You Never Knew," but he kicked off b-side/rarities comp Over Time with this upgraded backpack banger almost ten years later. Crew leader Del tha Funkee Homosapien jumps in over a scratch break at the two minute mark: "Del - been rhyming for more than a decade - onto the next stage while MCs need aid - stay paid, I'm still grade A - none of that tomfoolery as you you can see this shit ain't nothing new to me." Since the original verse was already more than ten years old, we know Cube's cousin started flowing well before most kids started driving (his solo debut dropped when he was 18).

Southside Movement - I've Been Watching You (from Moving South, 1975)

Hieroglyphics - At the Helm (from Third Eye Vision, 1998)

RJD2 - Raised in the Ghetto (from Your Face or Your Kneecaps, 2001)

Unlike Pure Essence, Southside Movement's powerhouse funk was well known throughout Chicago (and the nation) in the mid 70s. The first minute of "I've Been Watching You," with an icy electric piano bit dripping over fuzzy guitars, stomping basslines, horn blasts, etc. was a perfect grab for "At the Helm." RJD2's instrumental redux (around 3:15) also includes a Jethro Tull mashup of "Pistol Grip Pump," The Watts 103rd St. Rhythm Band, Double Trouble, and three different versions of Sly & the Family Stone's "Sing a Simple Song."