Photobucket

November 7, 2007

Natural Elements

The Natural Elements are/were one of my favorite hip hop groups. It's a shame they never released an LP (officially) on Tommy Boy. From what I hear they got jerked, or dropped, or the label shut down or whatever. To read a little more about them you can check this write-up.

I first heard them on New York Live/Halftime (where they were regulars). L-Swift and A-butta would always bounce off each other lyrically, finishing each other's rhymes, and they were up there among people who were able to go off the top and sound good. Personally I like their early shit the best (isn't that always the case), stuff they put out pre Tommy Boy and even pre Dolo. The discogoraphy link on Discogs.com doesn't include their earliest 12"s. Mr Voodoo's 'Come off hard/45 kickin it live' and 'Lyrical Tactics/Hemlock/Shine', as well as L-Swift's 'How it's goin down', were all classic independent label hip hop records. Charlemegne, the producer for the group, is really talented, and the stuff he did with Natural Elements was off the hook. I don't think too many people give him the credit he deserves, if they know about him at all.

Charlemegne made an appearance on the New York Live show in September of 1996, and he played 5 or 6 unreleased tracks from the Natural Elements which were all bangin. I never heard these tracks again anywhere else, and I feel blessed to have been able to hear them.



Natural Elements - Do Your Thing


This one here I'm assuming is called 'Do Your Thing',
and it features Charlemegne (I think), Pacino, and Mr. Voo.




12 comments:

  1. why did i think jean gae was part of this group for a long time?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jean Grae was formerly 'what what' in the group Natural Resources, Essence was the female in Natural Elements, can't remember what she did after the group

    ReplyDelete
  3. thanks for the 411. just did a quick search, and i always grouped what what with a-butta cuz i musta seen 'em live together many times, but that was the nyc 90s.. i knew there ws natural elements/resources, but never took the time to differentiate much about the 2. l-swift, a-butta, jean grae stick out cuz they did more afterwards.

    ReplyDelete
  4. good lookin on the gems
    can u post more old natural e joints.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Very good post. Natural Elements are one of the most slept on groups. Definitely needed joints.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Early shit is definitely their best shit. 92-96 Dolo and TommyBoy was ehhh. Very slept on.

    ReplyDelete
  7. GOT THIS TRACK CALLED "LIFE AINT FAIR"....PICKED IT UP IN ABOUT 97...WHITELABEL VINYL....ALSO HAD THIRD AND FINAL VERSION OF ""KNICK KNACK"" AS A B-SIDE.....

    ReplyDelete
  8. PLUS I STILL GOT ALOT OF LIVE FREESTYLES I USED TO TAPE WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY NIGHT OF 89.1 & 89.9........LIKE THE CLASSIC CHRISTMAS FREESTYLE.......A-BUTTA'S LIVE PHONECALL TO RHYME WHEN HIS NAME WAS "AUTOMATIC" AND L-SWIFT WAS A GUEST ON THE SHOW,(BEFORE THEY KNEW EACH OTHER)........L-SWIFTS FIRST TIME ON THE RADIO WHEN HE WAS LIKE 15 OR 16.............AND A TRACK FROM 80'S FREESTYLE SINGER "SAFIRE" OFF HER ALBUM "ATTREVIDA" CALLED "I DONT CARE-FEATURING A-BUTTA"....PROBABLY THE FRESHEST VERSE IVE EVER HEARD A-BUTTA SPIT

    ReplyDelete
  9. I REMEMBER L-SWIFT TAKING A STAB AT ""NATURAL RESOURCES"" LIVE ON THE AIR IN A FREESTYLE...

    STARTED HIS VERSE...
    ""NIGGAS CLAIM THEY NATURAL BUT GOT LIMITED RESOURCES.....""

    N.R WAS A WEAK F%CKIN GROUP ANYWAY
    JEAN GRAE OR NOT THEY WERE TRASH.

    ReplyDelete
  10. no doubt you should hook up some of those freestyles, I have freestyle from the same night das efx were up on WNYU, bunch of others. natural elements were dope, resources were just alright IMO.

    ReplyDelete
  11. could you re-up " do your thing " please ???? i really need it ;)

    ReplyDelete