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![Lower Level/Burn UNI – Split EP Vol 2 [VINYL]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/290edc_d46653f8f8f543e38972691145c2bf10~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_600,h_852,al_c,q_85,enc_auto/290edc_d46653f8f8f543e38972691145c2bf10~mv2.jpg)
The long awaited Vol 2 of the 5PL1T EP Series takes us first to Charlotte, North Carolina and the 4 man group Lower Level. [Some] Cats will know Lower Level from their huge grail “Top Notch/F[l]avourable Fluids”. Impossible to find and mighty dope, this heater has been eluding grail hunters for a minute. Unfortunately those masters are almost certainly gwann. But these undercover southern B-Boys were on some ill shit back in the day – check the interview below for more info and just so you know, several of these jawns were recorded in 1994 at the legendary D&D Studios in NYC.
On the other side is a selection of tracks by NJ Ghettolandz/The Madness affiliate The Burn U.N.I. Produced by our man Izniz….
How did The Burn UNI get started?:
“I (Izniz) was in Rock and Soul Records [NYC] one Saturday putting the GhettoLandz “X-Files” record on consignment. The store DJ played the record and another dude who also was getting a record consigned came over to me and said “Yo, the beat on your joint his hot”. I asked him what his name was and he answered ” La La The Lyrical”. I’d heard La La’s track “Tell Me” plenty of times on Hot 97 and plenty of times on Red Alerts ” 5 o’clock Free Ride” so I knew who he was. We spoke on doing a collabo and exchanged #’s. I called him two days later and told him I had 2 tracks for him to check out. He called back and said “These beats are DOPE – I got 2 other cats I rhyme with so I’m gonna throw them on the tracks too” and I said “Aighhht, to balance it out i’ll bring Naji from Ghettolandz, so it’s 4 emcees. The four emcees wrote two tracks which became my “Time To Shine” and “Conflict”. The rest of the joints came from me sending La La the beats and he would say “yo…. lets hit the studio i got some songs/lyrics for these tracks”….”
What does The BURN U.N.I. stand for?
The Best Under Rated Ni&%as UNIfied
Lower Level/Burn UNI – Split EP Vol 2 [VINYL]
Tracks:
A Side
Lower Level
A1 Maintain
A2 Break It Down
A3 Fly Shit (Remix)
A4 Dats Dat ShitAA Side
The Burn U.N.I.
AA1 I Work Mad Hard
AA2 Conflict
AA3 Spittin
AA4 Two Tales
AA5 My Time To Shine
AA6 Upward SpiralA short interview with Jay Flav from Lower Level:
Tell us a little about the group:
Lower Level came together as a group in 1992: the members are Joseph Caldwell (Jay Flav); Milton Smith (Money Milt); Willie McDuffy (Wil-Nice); Barry McDuffy (KHB). All recording on this EP were recorded at D&D studio (NY) and House of Music (West Orange NJ).
Did you all grow up in Charlotte?
We all grew up in Charlotte myself, Wil & Barry grew up in Hidden Valley and Money Milt grew up in Earle Village. Milt was the only one that didn’t grow up with us, we met in another street capacity.
How did you end up recording at D&D Studios?
We were working with Mark Spark at D&D on the production side and stumbled on an engineer by the name of Joe Quinde….he was a beast at mixing. That was around the time we were working with a label out of Newark called Brick Boulevard that had a production deal with Elektra Records. We were going to be the first act off that label, but when Busta left the Leaders of the New School, Elektra went on a all out campaign to promote The Coming album by Busta, so the label along with other groups on Elektra, such as 3 Boys from Newark [which had another NC native Omniscience] got dropped by Elektra. Unfortunately they let alot of good music go to waste.
What was the scene like in North Cackalacka back in the day??
The scene in NC was crazy, we had mad talent with groups like SoHo (Southern Hospitality) my brothers they were dope, Omniscience the Funky One Liner, Ski Beats (produced Reasonable Doubts for Jay Z) and was also the founder of Original Flavas, Nasty Fruit. ….and many more. Dopeness brother!!! Alot of notable producers such as Fanatic, Mark Spark, Laquan, Skazz Daddy, Wil-Nice and many more….
Who did you look up to growing up?
Locally I looked up to all the cats on Payroll Records such as the Bizzy Boyz and Supreme Nyborn, nationally I looked up to Large Professor, KRS One, Cold Crush Brothers (Almighty K.G) my man, Big Daddy Kane who has been in NC for over 20 years and actually came to a couple studio sessions.
Did you do cats do the support slot for acts touring down South from the North East?
We opened a lot of shows back in the days. NC was different than other parts of the south because we banged Hip Hop and artists would come down to perform and be amazed that we sounded professional and on the same level as they did. A lot of groups came to perform in NC and left with a new found respect for NC. Even recording at D&D, up north cats would come in the room spark up and pop their neck to the sounds, such as Guru, Sadat and many more.