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Pic taken from here. Those aren't the Latin Rascals, but it was the oldest photo I could find of Rush on google.
From my coworker Mike comes a pretty rare track, the Latin Rascals' Big Mouth featuring a young Russell Simmons in the very early days of Def Jam. This was recorded as a promo for the Latin Rascals' mix show on 98.7 KISS, soon after Russell Simmons joined up with Rick Rubin (did you know director Vincent Gallo introduced Rick to Russ? That bit of trivia comes courtesy of wikipedia). Admittedly, it's a bit of a stretch to call this an actual rap, as there's not much more to it than the Latin Rascals cutting up a few vocal samples from Russell, which were recorded live on air. It does offer a bit of insight into Russell's future as a record industry executive, as he suggests that they might be able to make more money if they were somehow able to keep the MCs off the record (a sentiment that Jerry Heller devoted his entire career to). As far as I know, this is one of only two times Rush got behind the mic, the second time occurring on L.L. Cool J's first album, Radio:
Russell Rush - Big Mouth
Those of you over a certain age no doubt remember the Latin Rascals' club radio show from the early 80's, which was extremely popular out here in the NY/NJ area, though I was still rocking Osh Kosh B'Gosh at the time so I have to admit I don't have a great recollection of it. Though Albert Cabrera and Tony Moran, the two djs that made up the Latin Rascals, became famous for their Latin Freestyle music, they played a big part in the early days of Def Jam. They even got their names listed on the production credits for Def Jam's first two records, L.L.'s I Need A Beat and The Beastie Boys' Rock Hard.
To catch up with the Latin Rascals, stop by their MySpace page.
And if you have a minute to spare, head on over to OhWord and show your boy some love.
9/13/2007 10:01:29 AM posted by Fresh