We’re in a giving mood, so we’ll be pulling out a lot of the old cassette gems from the vaults on the regular for a while, just to change things up a bit. Here is a classic session from The Wake Up Show, that took place around 1996. This session has been chopped up for the show’s freestyle CD series, but here is the full, uncut session which features each Jurassic 5, Al Tariq (Beatnuts), Grav (Correct Records), and Mykill Miers. Some of the best beats of the era are featured in this session, and Chali 2na outshines them all.

Jurassic 5 + Al’ Tariq + Grav + Mykill Miers Wake Up Show Freestyle (MP3)

Maybe he’s taking a step back in the right direction by teaming up with the foul-minded Necro on this new 12″. Tarq’s still an effective MC and proves that on both sides, having mastered a firm little flow that gets m mileage. Sure, it’s not very deep – this guy’s not trying to be Mos Def or Common - but it works for what it is. The bonus is that Necro keeps the beats pretty slick on this one. “Feel This Sh*t” is a little too shrill and uptempo, but the slower “Black Nasty Muthafu**a”, with its long organ vamps, sets the done just right for Al Tariq to come in some kind of anti-Shaft. And oh yeah, Necro’s up to his old tricks by throwing in some sexual moaning on the hook and outro.