Diggin' in the Crates

There are quite a few used record shops around downtown Madrid, and there was one right down the street from our hostel that had been tempting me every time I walked past it.


It turned out to be a lot like MSMG, minus the video games and piles of useless shit. They had a ton of records and CDs, most of which no one would probably ever buy. I couldn't risk the chance letting a Fondle Em' pressing of Operation Doomsday sitting on the shelf, so I forced myself to flip through the "Rapp" section.


I found one gem-the soundtrack to the Street Fighter movie.


Most of the album is filled with songs by a bunch of early nineties emcees that you have never heard of, but there are a few tracks that made the three euros absolutely worth it. This includes some good exclusive shit from Nas, Ras Kass, Ahmad, Saafir, and Pharcyde. Right now I am listening the the hilarious Craig Mack cut in which he directly references every character in the game. I am very proud of my find.


Bonus: The copy I have is a promotional one, littered with savory "not for sale" warnings. Campcom special offer indeed.


Here in Alcala I repeated this process when I stumbled upon a shop that offered a challenge even more formidable than the last. The CDs weren't separated into genres so I had to sit there and rapidly thumb through literally every CD that they had. Glenn insisted that I was wasting my time, and I partially agreed given the incredibly dismal selection.

Despite my low spirits, I was determined to walk out of there with something in my hands. What I eventually stumbled upon was far better than I ever expected to find. I have no idea how it found it's way in there, but there sitting on the shelf was The Foreign Exchange, the album with Phonte from Little Brother (and several other Justus League affiliates) produced by Nicolay. It was the kind of find that would be exceptional even in an American record store, and how I managed to find it in some hole in the wall place in Alcala is beyond me.

Unfortunately though, CDs apparently don't release simultaneously in America and Spain so I am going to need someone to send me a copy of American Gangster ASAP.