B-boys rejoice! Put on some Icy-Hot on your arthritic knee and dance like it was 1996 (I know I will). It’s all about a B-boy staple of the 90s, Fondle ‘Em Records!
Started in 1995 by B-boy/ baller/ sneaker-head/ DJ/ general-Hip-Hop-ambassador Bobbito Garcia (a.k.a. DJ Cucumberslice), the Fondle ‘Em label was short-lived and had a relatively small roster, but its impact on underground Hip-Hop was immense. Epic.
Starting from release number one, this was the kind of label kids used to get every new thing the label pressed. What was record number one? A little project that Bobbito started with Godfather Don and Kool Keith (in his late Ultramagnetic MC’s / early Dr. Octagon era). Word is the project and label began as a joke—for promotional purposes. The songs were created as drops for Bobbito’s WKCR radio show with DJ Stretch Armstrong (of Konstant Kontact blog). The project was dubbed, The Cenubites (later The Cenobites, and even later The Cenobytes—rappers are notoriously fickle about spelling). The Cenobites EP and LP were the first Fondle ‘Em releases. Here’s a vinyl rip from the FE-00101, the LP:
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MP3: The Cenobites - Rhymes I Sniff a.k.a. Carlos Died (1996)
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MP3: The Cenobites - Kick a Dope Verse (feat. Bobbito) (1996)
Next up is pure perfection. Briefly signed to Electra, The Juggaknots were dropped from that label before their first release and Fondle ‘Em swooped them up quick, releasing their first self-titled LP in 1996. This vinyl only release is extremely rare and finding a copy nowadays is hard and/or expensive. Gemm’s got it for $150 and even if you can find it on eBay it still fetches a $60-100 premium. The Juggaknots were brothers Breezly Brewin’ (also of The Weathermen and the voice of Tariq in Prince Paul’s classic Hip-Hop opera, A Prince Among Thieves) and Buddy Slim (who primarily handled the production).
Smarter than your average rapper, The Juggaknots had an underground hit and a brilliant social commentary about racism that’s both bleak and incredibly hopefull at the same time with the track ‘Clear Blue Skies’:
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MP3: The Juggaknots - Clear Blue Skies (1996) [recommended]
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MP3: The Juggaknots - I’m Gonna Kill U (1995)
The Juggaknots mostly disappeared for 10 years, with sparse releases of mostly old material (2003’s ‘Re:Release‘, this apparent re-release of ‘Re:Released’ and one EP called ‘The Love Deluxe Movement‘). However, The Juggs have returned triumphantly in 2006 with their full release, ‘Use Your Confusion’ which added a new member to permanent lineup, Queen Herawin. Interesting part about this is that all three members are siblings. Fam. affair! The new album isn’t Fondle ‘Em, but it’s highly recommended. Get it from Amazon.
Another gem that Fondle ‘Em saved from the brink of extinction is KMD. KMD, of course is Zev Love X and DJ Subroc. And, of course, today we know Zev Love X by his new alias, MF Doom. As the story goes, KMD (just like The Juggaknots) was dropped from Electra after the label refused to distribute their second album, ‘Black Bastards‘ which was slated for release in 1994. Electra refused the record and disassociated themselves from KMD because of ‘Black Bastard’s black nationalist content and provocative cover art, which depicted a lynching of a cartoon Sambo figure in relation to the game Hangman (view it). Fondle ‘Em recognized the travesty that was KMD’s lost ‘Black Bastards’ album, and 4 years after Electra was supposed to release the album, Fondle ‘Em released a wax only collection of tracks and instrumentals from the ‘Black Bastards’ sessions. It’s titled ‘Black Bastards Ruffs+Rares‘, although not the complete album, it was huge for KMD and MF Doom fans. It wasn’t until 2000 that the original and full album was released on independent label, ReadyRock. Noticeably the track, ‘Popcorn’ was missing from all releases following the original Fondle ‘Em vinyl release:
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MP3: KMD - Popcorn (1998)
Another one that did appear on the subsequent full release:
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MP3: KMD - Get-U-Now (1998)
MF Doom also released all his first solo projects on Fondle ‘Em (before and after the KMD release mentioned above). His first singles and LP, ‘Operation: Doomsday’ are accepted classics! Here are two favorites from his first solo single that later appeared on his LP:
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MP3: MF Doom - Dead Bent (1997)
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MP3: MF Doom - Hey! (1997)
Sadly, ‘Operation Doomsday’ is currently out of print, but eBay can make it happen for you, with either an original Fondle ‘Em CD for around $50 or a post-millennium re-release for a bit cheaper… Or wait it out and it’s bound to be imprinted again.
To tackle the rest of the Fondle ‘Em catalog is way too ambitious for us to handle. However, if you have the interest, you ought to visit Fondle ‘Em’s official site (hosted by Sandboxautomatic, an online record shop that has got thousands of my dollars over the years).
Also, visit Bobbito Garcia on MySpace and see Fondle ‘Em’s discography and profile on Discogs and Wikipedia. If you’re looking to buy, try a “Fondle ‘Em” search on eBay.
If record hunting is scaring you away, know that there is one option to hear a wide range of Fondle ‘Em favorites for less than $9!—You can still cop the Definitive Jux released, ‘Farewell to Fondle ‘Em’ CD from Amazon. This joint has a grip of classic freestyles and underground hits from Bobbito’s Fondle ‘Em archive.
p.s. If you got some Fondle ‘Em wax go ahead and brag in the comments; you know that shit is like unicorns now a days.
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WOW! Really great post! Its amazing how many great artists came out of Fondle Em. Dead Bent is one of my all time favorite tracks, and I’m happy that Money Studies reissued it a year or two ago (bside- Doomsday, and the reissue is now out of print!).
EVERYONE should check Bobbito’s interview in the magazine STOPSMILING (Nas and Madlib and PBWolf on 2 covers). He talks about his radio show and one paragraph in particular was ridiculous. Basically, every great rapper, underground (Company Flow, DOOM) and mainstream (Biggie, Mobb Deep, Nas, etc) from the mid/early 1990s, came through and kicked rhymes on the show before they were well-known. REALLY great interview, and that magazine has a really good issue for all the hiphop fans.
Damn I also didn’t realize Agent Orange came out on Fondle Em…classic underground track that has made the rest of Cage’s career hard to live up to
@ LAndon:
Thanks for reading! Glad you liked the article.
I’m happy that Money $tudies is doing re-issues of the vinyl, Money Studies (and, anything having to do with Turntable Lab, really) is always on point.
Doom and KMD’s Re-Release label Sub Verse Records also was short lived and had a great roster of underground heavyweights. It pressed up the most recent batch re-releases of all his Operation:Doomsday and Black Bastards (I think). Sadly that label folded too, there’s an brief and interesting stub on Wikipedia that tells a little about it.
STOPSMILING is a great mag. If you or anyone wants to hear a lot of these rare WKCR freestyles from Stretch and Bobbito’s show, Stretch posts ‘em on his blog Konstant Kontact (link in the blogroll). One of the best blogs out if you love Hip-Hop.
Nice to see Fondle ‘Em getting some love. I remember walking out of Fat Beats with M.F. Doom, Lord Sear and (my favorite) Siah & Yeshua 12″ in one trip. Not a bad trip.
Thank you for giving Fondle ‘Em the props they so rightfully deserve. I’ve got the 12″ version of “Dead Bent” ripped, if you want it. I’ve always favored it over the CD version, for it’s dropouts. Word booty.
@schlarb:
I used to frequent Fat Beats myself, the L.A. location that used to be on Vermont (which is now on Melrose).
Siah & Yeshua was one of the best thing to come from Fondle ‘Em. Also underrated is Scienz of Life and Lord Sear.
I debated posting a track(s) from each artist on the roster, but that’s a grip of work and bandwidth. Besides, http://www.sandboxautomatic.com/fondle/ has samples of everything and that might better support the artists.
The Vermont location was THE location! Such a shady neighborhood too but I loved it. I used to drive all the way out from Long Beach just to pick up the ill stuff. I also picked up some Phil Blunts (remember that?), Funcrusher Plus on clear vinyl and Organized Konfusion instrumentals there. I remember DJ Nu-Mark and J-Rocc were working there back then too.
It’s funny but in this new day and age, which is only a few years removed, it’s nice to rap with someone who frequented the same spots and was digging for the same tracks.
oh man you are bringin me back to my backpacker phase with clear blue skies , great stuff as always keep up the good work
@mumra:
Thanks! I’m not kidding when I said the brand new Juggaknots is hot too. Give it a listen when you can.
yay… good post. I recently bought the Cenobytes 12inch, it was dope. I also found a J-Treds freestyle 12 at my local FatBeats (I live in Amsterdam). I did not cop it, which i regret now, because the FatBeats store has closed down recently, the shop manager apparently ran off with multiple thousand dollars that belonged to the U.S. owners. I don’t care about that, but killing the store like that was a nasty thing to do (this was the only Europe store, and there are not many record stores that are so dedicated to vinyl and to hip hop specifically).
They were selling a heap of records that were personal second hands of Bobbito himself, ha.
@ ookai:
Sad to hear about Fat Beats Amsterdam. Good record stores are falling by the wayside everywhere.
I have some J-treds and Indelibles on wax. Maybe I’ll post it here in the future. ‘Crate digging’ is becoming less and less literal as record buying is moving more and more to online only—for better or worse. Sigh.
I can’t imagine stopping record/CD collecting. Audio files are not the same, and my number one gripe about them is there is no equity in them. My Fondle ‘Em records I bought for 5 bucks 10 years ago I can sell for 10 fold. Any digital file I ever bought can’t be resold for any amount of money ever. That’s why we link to Amazon and other sites that sell tangible music. Buying from iTunes, Beatport and similar audio file sites is really a waste of money in comparison to a tangible record. A bit of a tangent, but somewhat related. Thanks for bearing with me.
wow, you did your homework! good lookin’ on the love, homepiss . . .
bobbito garcia aka kool bob love formerly known as the barber
@ bobbito garcia:
You’re welcome! And thank you for Fondle ‘Em!
-missingtoof
I not only have fondle ‘em wax but also have a few of those fondle ‘em baby tees! footwork ny & illadelph - may ya’ll RIP