Found this pic of Cue Records in my Polaroid archives. Summer 2004. BAM!

I’m working on a new album cover and was trying to hunt down photos of the front facade of Bobbito’s Footwork Illadelph store. This was the cornerstone spot for indie hiphop in Philly during the mid 90’s: Heads would roll through, talk, there would be shows and of course records and gear to buy. But in 2009, finding pictures of the store online was turning into a true challenge. So I went to the source – Mr. Bobbito Garcia himself – and asked if he had any flicks. He dug up this great pic below with “Big Rich” Medina sitting on the stoup:

There was only one other photo I could find, courtesy of my homegirl Stef Tataz. Peep:

So there you go. Hope they come in handy. Felt like I needed to chronicle them somewhere.

See also:
• Miscellaneous Footwork Illadelph flyers courtesy dubplatestyles on Myspace.
• A sort of working version of footworkilladelph.com from 1999 at Archive.org

Theron Shelton, drummer of the Philadelphia-based band, The Blue Method passed away suddenly this week and the news hit me pretty hard. I grew up with Theron’s brother and would always be amazed at how well Theron played the drums at such a young age. As he got older, he got doper, and I can honestly say he was the best drummer I have ever known. He was also a person you could genuinely not say a single bad thing about. He lived and breathed music. He was absolutely passionate about it.

A talented and brilliant musician, brother, son and much much more. Theron, you will be sorely missed.

Please be sure to check out the amazing music Theron was able to bless us with by visiting his band’s website and MySpace pages below.

Rest in peace, Theron.

• The Blue Method Myspace

• The Blue Method

I received this album cover and email today from my homeboy Richie Dees back in Philly. Here’s his email:

Forgot I had this album. It features the smash hits “Tootsie Rock”, “Let Me Come Inside” and my personal favorite “Bubble Gum (I Chewz You)”. Its on TEC Records out of Philly which was located on the S.E. corner of 13th and Spruce streets in the heart of the Gayborhood.

Captain Sky is actually Chicago-born bass player Daryl Cameron who under the Captain Sky banner lead a group of revolving artists beginning in 1979.

Titles under Cameron’s belt include Pop Goes The Captain, The Adventures Of Captain Sky, 1980’s Concerned Party No. 1 [featured above in picture] and The Return Of Captain Sky in 1981.

That oft-sampled “Super Sperm” vocal clip in hiphop (Method Man, Redman, Sugar Hill Gang)? Yea, that’s Captain Sky:

Captain Sky on Soul Train? Oh yea, we got you:

Cream and Sugar:

The good news is Captain Sky is well represented online, as I managed to find his Wikipeida page, his Discogs.com profile, and this great background on Captain Sky.

How the movie Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow fits into all of this, I am not sure. But thanks to RIchie Dees for sending in the pic.

I’m on a Philly potato chip roll, apparently, following up on my entry last week about Chumpies.

This week I found a bag of RAP SNACKS featuring Bell Biv DeVoe on the cover. The chip flavor? “Back at the Ranch”!

Rap Snacks, like Chumpies before it, was started in Philadelphia. Created by James Lindsay in 1994 according to Wikipedia, the company is currently headquartered out of Greensboro, North Carolina. In 2007, Lil Romeo bought the company for an undisclosed sum.

Philadelphia still represents heavily on the company’s website, with the Philly skyline draped in plain view and pictures of Allen Iverson sprinkled throughout.

Here’s a scan of the back of the packaging, with a little description about BBD and record stores in Philly, Baltimore, DC and Los Angeles where to pick the album up.

Be sure to check out this dope photo gallery of the various Rap Snacks covers. And here’s a great article with Lindsay discussing the company’s genesis, and how Poor Righteous Teachers fits into the equation!

I was browsing through some old things around the crib, and oh snap! — look what I found: A bag of Chumpies!

Chumpies is a brand of potato chips started in Philadelphia in 1991. They were still around when I left Philadelphia and you could pick them up in bodegas and the like. They were fairly common and I took them for granted as a Philly thang (in other words, I assumed they were available nationwide which is not quite the case).

Chumpies, aside from having the flyest graphics on a bag of chips ever (not to mention the dopest name ever), were also positively-inspired: each bag has anti-drug messages, as well as no pork byproducts (non-cipher, kid). You should definitely check for them in your local markets.

UPDATE: I scanned the back of the bag in too, but the shiny packaging didn’t take well to the scanner, making it rather unreadable. But I wanted to transcribe the literature on the back of the product as well. It’s represented below:

Home Boys (H-Boys)

This product is an acknowledgement of our American urban experience, and culture. This experience can be found in the term “Home Boys”.

Many youth today are unaware that this term has been used in our community for over 25 years. And many of our “Home Boys” have gone on to become the pride of their neighborhood.

A lot of the time we weren’t the best kids on the block, but many of us went on to become Doctors, Lawyers, Judges, Ministers, and even Police. We salute the “Home Boys” of the past and dedicate ourselves to taking back the corner of today, from the dealers of drugs. We have to make the corners drug free again.

Also, be sure to check out my latest article about Rap Sancks, another Philly-born potato chip brand.

It’s a sad day for me, honestly. After 10 amazing years of providing unbelievable service and music in Philadelphia, Cue Records is closing its doors.

Cue Records, located right off of Philly’s renown South Street on 4th, was not just a record shop with everything from hiphop, to dance to soul and funk (and even hardware and rentals!), but it was a cornerstone for Philly’s independent hiphop music scene. You could roll up in there on any given day and talk it up with amazing local artists and djs, as well as the record shop’s purveyors and owners (shouts to Stef and Botany 5000!!).

I mean, shit, for real, there’s a lot of history for me in that store. It was right across the street from Josh Wink’s 611 Records, not to mention a grip of other record stores around South Street. And it was next door to Fluid nightclub. It was just always popping around there.

After Bobbito’s Footworks Philadelphia store closed in ‘99, Cue stepped into that role of the Philly bedrock meeting spot for indie hiphop — in arguably “indie hiphop’s” most prolific and vibrant time, globally speaking.

So thank you, Cue Records for 10 years of service in Philadelphia! You have undoubtedly affected hiphop and electronic music on a worldwide stage. One love!