MC Shan - Beat Biter

I remember buying this record as a 13 year old back in the day. I think "The Bridge" is still one of the most exciting 12"'s I ever bought. Marley had been running things for a couple of years before this came out and I had a lot of his stuff on the Street Sounds 'Electro' albums, but this 12" came out around the same time I first started buying import records from Bluebird's in Luton. I bought "Jane Stop This Carzy Thing" by Shan around the same time too and that was also a killer, but this 12" was absolutely massive and remains one of the most classic records of that era.

Even back then just holding this 12" and looking at it on the bus home it was like holding a piece of history in the making. The LL Cool J diss 2Beat Biter" was also dope, but "The Bridge" was the one on here. I loved this record so much that when I first heard "South Bronx" by BDP I was like 'What? Someone's dissing Shan"! I obviously didn't know so much about Hip Hop back then and had only read about KRS and Scot La Rock in one of the music papers (?Echoes, but I couldn't beleive there was a diss record (or records, as the other classic that is "The Bridge Is Over" soon followed) as "The Bridge", Marley and Shan just seemed unbeatable to me at the time.

I remember buying this record as a 13 year old back in the day. I think "The Bridge" is still one of the most exciting 12"'s I ever bought. Marley had been running things for a couple of years before this came out and I had a lot of his stuff on the Street Sounds 'Electro' albums, but this 12" came out around the same time I first started buying import records from Bluebird's in Luton. I bought "Jane Stop This Carzy Thing" by Shan around the same time too and that was also a killer, but this 12" was absolutely massive and remains one of the most classic records of that era.

Even back then just holding this 12" and looking at it on the bus home it was like holding a piece of history in the making. The LL Cool J diss 2Beat Biter" was also dope, but "The Bridge" was the one on here. I loved this record so much that when I first heard "South Bronx" by BDP I was like 'What? Someone's dissing Shan"! I obviously didn't know so much about Hip Hop back then and had only read about KRS and Scot La Rock in one of the music papers (?Echoes, but I couldn't beleive there was a diss record (or records, as the other classic that is "The Bridge Is Over" soon followed) as "The Bridge", Marley and Shan just seemed unbeatable to me at the time.

On a hip hop documentary MC Sham went on one about The Bridge sayin the record was about where "they" came from meaning the track was about what happened in the bronx.Yet there`s no mention in the track of the bronx or any MC from the bronx.Trying to make out that insults the intelligence of anyone who knows the bronx vs queens story.The rhymes are sooo weak even compared to similar efforts of that time.Tellin us about how ruff it was in his neighbourhood "gettin frisked just to get in" well that happens everywhere.As the rhyme goes on by the third verse it starts to stray away from what the record is about and shan goes on tellin us "the morals of the story" why we should stay in school shit like that.The Bridge is a point in hip hop history but when you think about it a groundbreaker it is not.Beat Biter is Shan vs Cool J it turns out LL`s nicked beats off Shan and he`s not happy. I`m really amazed someone like marley marl even put this record out stole my beats? Daffy Duck / Porky Pig samples? more weak rhymes.

Best hip hop record ever? Quite possibly. It's a stunning diss record, all the more important due to the fact that the diss target was none other than LL Cool J.
Shan was upset that he heard his beat used on Cool J's original 'Rock the Bells'. And he's right! It was a blatant copy (from Shan's earlier 'Marly Marl Scratch')so MC Shan and Marley Marl saw an opportunity to release a hardcore diss. Including an inspired use of Foghorn Leghorn cartoon samples....."and I say woah, back up boy!" etc..

On the flip, 'The Bridge' is one of the most loved and important hip hop cuts of all time. And for good reason: Shan giving props to the housing project in Queens that he, Marley Marl and others grew up in. Musicaly it's GENIUS.

Legendary....and essential.

Taken from Freddy Fresh's Book "The Rap Records":

The reissue says the wrong phone number on the label! 212-878-226 (this is a New York number) the original was from Philly hence the original will have number 215-878-2266!). also note that the bootleg/reissue has 2 etchings on the run out groove a matrix number and a signature while the original ONLY HAS A MATRIX NUMBER!).