K-Def :: The Way It Was

How many of y’all remember Real Live?

The rap duo had a brief shelf life back in 1996 with the single “Real Life” and a better remembered WILD remix thanks to guest appearances from Cappadonna, Ghostface Killah, Lord Tariq and Killa Sin. For the hardcore Wu-Tang Clan heads in the 90’s this made Real Live feel like an unofficial extension of the fam, while Tariq’s verse was just the cherry on top of this hip-hop sundae. (If the ice cream man was COMING we would have gotten Method Man and Raekwon too.) What I failed to realize back then and only recently figured out is that Real Live’s K-Def was the same man who was part of Marley Marl’s “House of Hits”, he who helped lace up the classic sound of “Here Come the Lords” for Lords of the Underground.

“The Way It Was” finds K-Def waxing nostalgic about the days gone by, as the album’s title itself describes the CD as “A collection of rarities and unheard tracks from the vaults plus a handful of new vocal collaborations.” The original instrumental demo for “Lord Jazz Hit Me One Time (Make It Funky)” is one such rarity, but for my money it sounds largely the same as the version LOTUG would make a hip-hop jam, save for it being a little bit longer. I feel the same way about Def’s remix of Tragedy the Intelligent Hoodlum’s “Street Life”, better known as the “Return of the Life” mix.

Hearing the uncut original versions of these classic rap instrumentals is highly welcome. It’s the “handful of new vocal collaborations” that will be of most interest to the heads though. It’s clear K-Def has a strong friendship with Blu as he appears on three of those collabs — “The Boys”, “Fundamentals” and “Strawberry Lemonade.” The latter is a piano-fat-nastee jazzy joint that also features Damu the Fudgemunk and Kunal.

At first glance I though K-Def’s “Uneke” was going to be an instrumental for AZ’s “Rather Unique,” then I remembered that Pete Rock produced that song for The Visualiza. Instead “Uneke” is a chance for K-Def to flex on his two turntables and prove he’s nice, a “dedication to the deejays of the world” who are in the same business he is of cold rocking parties and mixtapes.

And that’s what “The Way It Was” is. It lives up to the billing and presents you with 40 minutes of things you’ve heard, things you haven’t, and things you never knew you even wanted. By the time it wraps up with the K-Def remix instrumental for LOTUG’s “What I’m After” the presentation has been a solid, shock absorbing ride from hip-hop’s past all the way to present day. While the group Real Live may have ultimately been a commercial failure that’s little remembered today, K-Def’s credentials are as rock solid now as they were back then. He’s not a one trick pony in hip-hop — like Diamond D or J-Live he’s a “triple threat” who is clearly capable of doing it all (pun most DEFinitely intended).