Me Vs Me
By
DJ Too Tuff
Now, there is a bit of a story behind this review, which
I’ll try and keep short for you, but it is definitely worth mentioning here. On
the 28th September 2024 I got the chance to go to a gig in
Southampton as an old friend was unable to go (Thanks to Mr John Mac for that).
The gig was a 50th birthday gig for one of Southampton’s legendary
figures Stevo, and if you know, you know. I knew Stevo from back in the days in
Southampton when he was a part of Movement Records etc. The headliner for this
gig was none other than Tuff Crew Legend DJ Too Tuff. So, alongside my brother
Scott and mate Matt, plus the likes of Whirlwind D, Specifik, Soul 45 DJs, and
so many more, we enjoyed an awesome gig with some cracking DJs rounded off by a
stunning set from DJ Too Tuff.
It was as the gig drew to a close that myself, Scott and
Matt were able to go backstage and chat with the man himself, and you can’t
find a more humble and stand-up guy than Too Tuff. It was during this chat that
I mentioned my reviews, to which Too Tuff handed me his phone to put my contact
details in, and to say I was buzzin’ is an understatement and, to cut a long
story short, the rest is history.
Just for those who might not know much about DJ Too Tuff,
here is a little bit about his background. DJ Too Tuff aka The Deuce Ace
Detonator is a DJ/Producer and emcee from Philadelphia USA and exploded on to
the Hip Hop scene with Tuff Crew, especially on the legendary hit My Part of
Town from 1988. He became known for his lightning-fast cuts and scratches
and is now one of Hip Hops most skilled DJs. The Tuff Crew released a number of
albums including Phanjam (1987), Dangerzone (1988), Back To The Wreck Shop (1989),
Still Dangerous (1991), and most recently Back By Dope Demand (2023). Beyond
his work with Tuff Crew, DJ Too Tuff has released two albums back in 2022 with
Behold The Detonator (SpitSLAM) and DJ Too Tuff’s Lost Archives Part Too
(Hip-Hop Enterprise), it was 2023 that saw the release of his third album Me
Vs Me, which was also released through SpitSLAM Records.
Too Tuff toured extensively in the US with the Tuff Crew
seeing them share the stage with some amazing Hip Hop legends including Roxanne
Shante, Big Daddy Kane, Ultramagnetic MCs, 2 Live Crew, Salt-N-Pepa and Kid ‘N’
Play. Tuff Crew also headlined the Urban Matterz event in 2022 alongside Jeru
The Damaja, Dres (Black Sheep) and Philly legend Schooly D (who Too Tuff also
deejayed for). 2023 saw Too Tuff as the house DJ for the Urban Matterz event in
Helmond Netherlands, where he teamed up with another legendary Hip Hop DJ
Mantronik for a legendary performance. Earlier in 2024 Too Tuff was the tour DJ
for the Ultramagnectic MCs on their Year Of The Ultra European Tour. 2024 also
saw Too Tuff as tour DJ for OT The Real and Benny The Butcher for the Everybody
Can’t Go Tour.
Too Tuff is currently working on solo projects for SpitSLAM
Records (owned by Chuck D). He has also featured on Chuck’s 2023 album Summer
of Hahm album for the track Bringing Back 88. 2023 also saw him team
up with UK producer Cobra P.I. from Rapid Fire to release In Danger.
So, if reading through all that little lot has wetted your
appetite, join me now on a deep dive into DJ Too Tuff’s most recent album,
2023’s Me Vs Me, produced, scratched, created, arranged and recorded by
the man himself it features guest appearances from Tuff Crew, OT The Real,
Class B and Phoenix Jordan, as well as some feature production from Cobra P.I.,
Alca, Obvious Bane and DJ Brown Bum. All this with Chuck D as the Executive
Producer.
So, let’s go…
Me Vs Me is some twenty tracks deep and kick’s off with Cold
Blood. This one hits hard and heavy from the get go with this pounding that
gets the adrenaline pumping, but over this is a John Carpenter Halloween piano
that gives the whole thing a darker edge, just like your standing in the
shadows, watching everything happening around you. Too Tuff brings his
trademark style skills to bear perfectly here cutting up and scratching in
frantic razor-sharp style, leaving you almost breathless in just under two and
a half minutes. Next up is the short skit concerning facemask head coverings or
Shiesties which could be just a skit or could be a reference to there
being no masks being used here. This is Too Tuff and he don’t need no mask. He
Gots 2 Die hits with a battle style routine as Too Tuff seems to battle
himself with all his skills over this heavy piano and flute drive beat. There
is this sense of the cuts going back and forth, just like you might battle
between the light and shadow self to see which will win out. Pillowcase
sees Too Tuff bring a classic Public Enemy sample and then cut it to great
effect over the drumbeat. This one is a perfect example of how you can
effectively use a single sample to pound the ears of the listener over and over,
bringing them into submission.
Someone To Beef With hits with vibe where the beat is
almost softened into the background by the frantic and intense nature of Too
Tuff’s turntable skills. The more you listen to this one, the more it puts you
in mind of the old skool battle rap records, DJ Battles and more. It brings you
to thoughts that, always having someone to test your skills against, keeps you
at the peak of your skill level; and sometimes that means you have to battle
yourself just to make sure you are consistently at your best. Stalker
takes us in a new direction as Too Tuff drops us into the mean streets of
Philly. Here, heavy bass notes and pounding drums create the background as he
cuts up vocal samples to create a narrative that looks at some dark times on
the streets. There is also a deeper aspect here that asks you never
underestimate your opponent; always expect the unexpected and that goes for
yourself too. Now it’s time to Salute The Sample with a short track that
celebrates that famous Rocky sample that was used in Going The Distance, the
opening track of Back To The Wreck Shop, and if you know this album you will
know that this is one of the most legendary openings to a Hip Hop albums. Call
Me The Deuce finds Too Tuff joined by the one and only Tuff Crew, with
additional production from Cobra P.I. (Rapid Fire). Too Tuff’s rapid fire cuts
merge with Cora P.I.’s intense beat, guitar samples and much more to bring you
a vibe that ramps up the adrenaline levels. It’s all about bringing in the Tuff
Crew to celebrate just who is DJ Too Tuff, The Deuce Ace Detonator. If you
still had any questions, this one answers them and leaves you hungry for more.
Come To Pass features production from ALCA with a
pounding drumbeat, strings, and cymbals, which all come together to bring this
somewhat laid-back sound, but one that has no less impact. Too Tuff’s cut’s up
the vocal sample to bring you something that makes you think intently about the
words you hear. The message here is that what you spend your time focusing on,
is what will manifest in your life. If you look around you and all you see is
fear, pain and suffering, then that is what will come to pass in your life. You
have to turn it around and focus on the good things, the positive things. It is
a profound message delivered in a way that hits you a little differently than
if you were just listening to someone speaking. With those words still ringing
deeply in your awareness, your focus is drawn away to the emotive piano sound
of 9mm, where this short sees a youngster (Phoenix Jordan) speaking on
different firearms. The context seems a struggle to grasp until you realise it
is the intro to School Shooter; where Too Tuff brings our attention to
the disturbing facts of children taking guns to school and engaging in
shootouts over this pounding beat that is mixed with this nerve shredding
electronic organ sound. It also looks at the connection between violent video
games and the behaviour of these children. This does bring the focus to the
availability of guns in the US and the fact that children are able to freely
obtain and play violent games such as GTA. Everyone will have their own
opinions on gun control and video game availability and the effect those may
have on children, but the fact is that it happens, and these things do need to
be addressed, it is the same in the UK; we might have more gun control in the
UK but, here it is knife crime that is the worry. These are worrying facts that
impact our lives every day and something else that impacts us is drugs; and Too
Tuff brings this to our awareness on The Recipe, that sees someone
describe the process used to create Crack Cocaine. There is a heavy sound of a
heavy drum beat with this eerie piano that has all the hallmarks of John
Carpenter.
2 Nicks is a skit that continues the focus on the
drug problem and where a nick refers to a nickel bag which holds about a
quarter gram of weed. Next up, OT The Real joins Too Tuff on The Burning,
A heavy pounding beat over a sample of the theme tune from John Carpenters ‘The
Fog’ with more of Too Tuff’s frantic, razor-sharp scratching that sees him
bring our focus to drug related gun violence. There is this deep juxtaposition
here between the almost brutal nature of the scratching and that deep melodic
sound of The Fog Sample, mirroring the violence of gun crime mixed with the
peace of the night and the drug induced calm. The focus switches once more to
the incredibly heavy beat and ferocious cuts of Pitbull. This is another
that hits incredibly hard and seems to be just an incredible display of how
adept Too Tuff is on the turntables. In fact, from the title you almost get the
feeling that this feels like a musical sound adaption of what it might feel
like to be caught in the jaws of a Pitbull. Scratchin’ #’s Off
(Scratchin’ Numbers Off) features production from Obvious Bane (Sum
Entertainment) and has this heavy sounding beat with keys and guitars etc, and
provides the perfect platform for Too Tuff to drop another display of his skills,
something I’m never gonna get tired of…
Shake The Devils Hand has this piano vibe over the
beat that gives this one heavy sound that kind of takes you back into the
streets; and here Too Tuff uses that blistering pace to great effect as he
focuses on the violence of the inner-city areas of Philadelphia. Giving you a
sense that those involved in this, do so with little concern for others, only
focusing on their own ends. One of the outcomes of the violence is looked at on
Died At The Hospital. The beat raises the adrenaline levels once more as
Too Tuff uses classic IceCube vocal samples to highlight the sad end to another
night of violence in the city. We move into the penultimate track of the album,
Trip To Flatbush, which features Class B and production from DJ Brown
Bum. Drums, bass, and guitars to bring you this raw dirty sound that reflects
living life on the other side of the law. Class B drops a gritty expose of the
life of someone on the other side of the law, fitting perfectly with the tone
of the track. There is no silver lining to this one it’s just telling it how it
is. The albums outro is a short skit that puts Too Tuff as the defendant in The
Peoples Court. Sampling the theme from the UK TV series The Professionals,
this one leaves you thinking that DJ Too Tuff is both innocent and guilty; he
is innocent of any and all charges but, also guilty of being exactly who he
says he is, so let him do his thing already…
After such an intense rollercoaster, across around 40 mins,
what can you say about this album overall?
Well, you could say a lot about this one because what Me Vs
Me does is to highlight just how good a DJ and producer Too Tuff is. This is
Hip Hop to the core that shows what a legendary DJ can do when they put their
minds to a project. Here we see that it is not just Too Tuff’s DJ skills that
take the limelight but, also how he deftly uses that skill to take you on a
journey, telling you stories along the way by cutting up sound bites, news
stories and so much more. It proves that you don’t necessarily have to be
skilled on the mic to be able to tell people how it is and to take them to the
kind of emotive places that only someone who truly knows the truth can do. Having
said that, I know that Too Tuff also has the skills as an emcee too, courtesy
of his performance in Southampton so, maybe we might get to see more of that
side of him in the future…
I found this album to be solid from top to bottom as it
mixed hardcore and emotive stories with incredible cutting and scratching,
alongside the kind of production that will have Hip Hop headz old and new
bouncing and punching the air. It takes a lot to be able to draw focus to such
topics in a way that is unapologetic and still entertaining, while not
lessening the impact it has; and this is the kind of display by a legendary
figure that not only takes you back to the golden age of the eighties but, also
shows that people like Too Tuff can keep it 100% real Hip Hop in a time where
so many feel that Hip Hop has lost its way. You also get a sense of just how
much of an impact Philly has had on Hip Hop music too. I could easily go on for
ages about just how much I enjoy scratch DJ routines and albums like this
(trust me, I never get tired of watching scratch routines and skilled DJ’s are
at doing what they do) and I could even dive deeper into Philadelphia, Too Tuff
and Hip Hop but, the best way for me to show how much I enjoyed this is just to
say, go get it.
Me Vs Me shows there is only one winner and that DJ Too Tuff, The Deuce Ace Detonator. So, now that we have settled that one out of court, it’s time to Rock On…
Additional credits go to Thoro215 (Soup Kitchen, Thorobred Bangerz LLC) at Rocco Records Philidelphia for mixing, editing and co-arranging the album. Design and photography comes from Brent Suleman at Gazelle Design Studios, Bristol UK.
My huge and humble thanks to DJ Too Tuff for giving me the chance to review this stunning album.
I’ll see ya next time.
Peace,
Steve.
LINKS
Check this one link for DJ Too Tuff purchase and streaming:
DJ Too Tuff Socials:
https://www.facebook.com/sodamtuff
https://www.instagram.com/dj.tootuff/
https://www.youtube.com/@djtootuff/videos
SpitSLAM Socials:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063944384470
https://www.instagram.com/spitslamrecordsofficial/
For Merchandise check the Dangerzone website:
https://dangerzonemerchandise.bigcartel.com/
VIDEOS
Cold Blood
Call Me The Deuce ft Tuff Crew (Prod. Cobra P.I.)
The Burning ft OT The Real
