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Jewel T - I Like It Loud
My coworker Mike put me up on this six minute lyrical assault from Jewel T, a rapper who managed to put out a handful of amazing tracks in the late 80's alongside DJ Dollar Bill that have since been consigned to obscurity. If you listened to this without first checking the credits, you'd be forgiven for thinking this is one of L.L.'s unreleased demo tracks. Yet as a label mate of Boogie Down Productions on B-Boy Records, it's likely Jewel's main source of inspiration came from a young KRS-1.
Details are hard to come by for both Jewel T and the B-Boy Records label, though what little that can be found is fascinating. Founded in 1986 by Jack Allen and Bill Kamarra, the label's best known for discovering BDP after KRS-1 responded to an ad that Kamarra had placed in a newspaper seeking "new musical talent." After recording an anti-drug PSA for the label, Say No Brother, KRS-1 designed the logo for the label, took up temporary residence in a meat locker below the label's offices, and stayed signed just long enough to release the classic Criminal Minded before bolting for Warner Brothers.
Though none of the other artists signed to the label ever found the success that BDP did, their roster is something of a "Who's Who" list of the Random Rap movement; included among them are Sparky D, Levi 167, Spyder-D and JVC Force. Alas, being at the forefront of independent hardcore rap was not the top priority for Bill Kamarra who, it is alleged, was using the label as a way to launder money for his (illegal) side business in pornography. Whether or not that accusation is true (Wikipedia references AllMusic as its source, but little else), Kamarra was sent to prison in 1988, and the label folder shortly thereafter.
As for Jewel T, I could find virtually no information on him. The best I could come up with is an offhand comment from Illseed of Allhiphop, who mentions that he hailed from Philly. If anyone has any more details about him, I'd love to hear them.
Finally, here is perhaps the best non-BDP single to ever come out of the B-Boy Records label:
JVC Force - Strong Island
7/27/2010 6:45:50 PM posted by Fresh