ED O.G.: $280 HIP-HOP?



Ed O.G.:Love Comes and Goes & Go Up and Up
From Roxbury 02119 (Polygram, 1994)

Look – we all know that eBay is outta control, ESPECIALLY with hip-hop records these days. The whole random rap craze is inflating prices to insane level, not to mention indie label gangsta rap and other such goodies. But jeeeeesus – I saw that Ed O.G.’s second album on promo-only vinyl just sold for $280 and I had to scrape my jaw off the pavement.

Provided, this was a rare album on vinyl but it’s not like we’re talking about, say, De La Soul Is Dead on promo-only double-vinyl or Diamond’s Stunts, Blunts and Hip-Hop, which I’ve seen break $200 in the past. This is Ed O.G.’s second album. I mean, what’s going on here? Provided, this does have a handful of Diamond D productions but I needed to know what the big deal was.

So, I went over to the shelves and pulled the LP off, slapped it down and started listening to it. And…

It has its moments but it’s not that great of an LP. Even Diamond says so himself: My least favorite is ‘Roxbury 02119’. I had some dope stuff on there but I had some ‘whatever’ sh*t on there too. The production was good but Joe Mansfield came up with just as many good tracks as Diamond (if not more).

I pulled off two songs from the album – one which I was familiar with, one which I had long forgotten. “Loves Comes and Goes” was one of two singles released for the album – I think Diamond did this track and it’s…nice. Soulful, melancholy, catchy. It’s sort of in the vein of “Be a Father” – consciously driven, with a touch of “T.R.O.Y.” if you ask me.

I don’t remember listening to “Go Up and Up” but damn, this beat (by Mansfield) is the bump: take the bassline from Gene Russell’s “Get Down,” then filter out the breakbeat from “Blind Alley” and there you go. Hot stuff (even though it does sound a lot like the beat for Gang Starr’s “Comin For Datazz”).

Is this worth $280 though? I’ve found myself staring at my copy of the record thinking, “well, I could use the cash…” but I’m such a pack rat that I just shelved it back in the “E” section and pay it no mind.


Speaking of eBay…

My man Hua over at Sticker Shock and I have both been cleaning out our record collections after years of pack-ratting it. I’ll be honest – it’s been a humbling experience for me since I’ve realized how many records I own that, honestly, I really don’t need. It’s going to take me another few weeks to get everything together but Hua’s already ahead of the curve and is selling off a nice batch of records on eBay already, including a few titles that the Soul Sides audience would probably be into, including the infamous Port Authority LP, Steve Davis’ Music (which I mentioned the other day), Johnny Jenkins’ Ton Ton Macoute and a sprinkling of random rap singles (hopefully, less than $280 but you never know).

When my recs are ready for the sales block, best be sure I’ll let ya’ll know.