For
his one hundredth mixtape,
deejay-slash-producer-slash-rapper-slash-radio show host Tony Touch
decided that he needed to do something special. So over the course
of two years, he took his time compiling beats and securing verses
from some of his favorite rappers, and the end result is The Piece Maker 3: Return Of The 50 MC's, a collection of tracks and bars that
serves as a throwback to an entirely different era in hip hop, an era
most of us (including myself) have been missing greatly.
Back in 2000, Joseph Anthony Hernandez, who performs under the name Tony Touch on his millions of mixtape releases, dropped an official compilation album, The Piece Maker, on Tommy Boy Records. As a mixtape veteran, he used the many connections he had built up over the years to his advantage, recruiting many of his famous friends (such as Royce da 5'9", the Wu-Tang Clan, and Gang Starr, among many many others) to contribute to one of the best compilation projects from a mixtape deejay in recent memory. While it failed to sell many copies, The Piece Maker was (and remains) highly regarded within our chosen genre, thanks to its mix of head-nodding production, guests who actually gave a fuck about their contributions, and, most of all, the charisma of producer-slash-emcee Tony Toca himself, tying the room together successfully. So the idea of a sequel wasn't all that surprising.
What did shock some folks (and by "shock", I mean it wasn't shocking in the least bit) was that it took Tony four fucking years to pull The Piece Maker 2 out of his ass. The long delay wasn't entirely his fault: Tommy Boy Records has a long history of pretending that they're all about hip hop culture while screwing over its artists, as evidenced by the fact that the label failed to absorb the medical costs of the upside-down guy in their own company logo after he landed on his head wrong during a mall appearance, resulting in irreversible brain damage. So Tony Toca made the same mistake that a lot of artists did at the time: he signed with the Koch graveyard, and The Piece Maker 2 finally made it out of the starting gates in 2004.
With The Piece Maker 2, Tony Touch tried to stick with the same formula that made its predecessor so entertaining: namely, choosing collaborators at random out of a black top hat, crafting several radio-friendly numbers so as to assist the label with making its initial investment back, and honoring his Taino heritage and his Puerto Rican bloodline with more attempts at reggaeton, a musical sub-genre that nobody appears to be sick of yet. The main difference between the two projects lies with Tony himself: content with keeping behind the scenes for the most part on the original, Toca steps out front and center on the majority of The Piece Maker 2's tracks, rhyming alongside his more famous friends who were too nice to refuse.
The Piece Maker 2 ultimately sold zero copies, attributable to the fact that not many people realized it was even released (Koch wasn't so skilled in the marketing department, you see). Tony Touch moved on from this project to split his focus between our chosen genre and reggaeton, with no third installment in the series in sight. I can't even recall reading any critiques of this album anywhere online. Is The Piece Maker 2 so bad that everybody simply ignored it, or could this possibly be a diamond in the rough that deserves recognition?
Um, the first one.
1. TONY NAVAJA (FEAT RUBEN BLADES)
Starts off as precious as the first volume in this two-part (as of this writing) series did, but then actor-slash-activist-slash-but-mostly-singer Ruben Blades decides to jump on and sing. Tony's own rhymes (thank God that he seems to feel that rap album intros should consist of more than just a sound bite) are deliberately spoken, which is a euphemism for saying that he spits slower than what I'm used to hearing from him, and as a result, his brief few bars aren't very impressive.
2. NON-STOP (FEAT P. DIDDY, BLACK ROB, & G-DEP)
I still haven't figured out why Black Robert had to say “We got rice and beans in the house tonight!” during the intro to this track: in the wrong circles, that can be seen as racist (and in other circles, it can be seen as a recitation of the evening's special), although I should note that a lot of cultures eat some form of rice and/or beans. Tony's beat is fairly interesting, in that it comes across as the skeletal remains of a typical blinged-out Bad Boy instrumental, and Rob, G-Dep, and Tony Touch all sound suited for it (at least until Tony delivers his final verse). Puffy Combs is reserved for hook and ad-lib duties only, and for that I am thankful. Diddy is easily the most commercial artist that appears on The Piece Maker 2, but this song doesn't suffer that much for it, which was nice.
3. HOW YOU WANT IT (FEAT DEF SQUAD)
Erick Sermon's beat is underwhelming, but it is enjoyable to hear Reggie Noble, Sermon, and Keith Murray rhyme together again, especially since they all sound really good (although E-Double loses points for lifting a line from a Noreaga song at the end of his verse). Keith comes off much better on here than he has on his own fucking albums. The only weak link apparent on here is Tony Touch himself: his verse should have been left on the cutting room floor. Otherwise, this wasn't bad.
4. BATTLE SKIT 1
Kind of funny the first time around, I guess.
5. CAPICU (FEAT JUJU, FAT JOE, & N.O.R.E.)
Tony Toca sounds completely at home on here, as the beat fits around him like a glove. Juju, unsurprisingly (considering this is his own beat), sounds good, as does Noreaga (now that was kind of shocking). Fuck, even Large Joseph came across as halfway decent, even though his verse is admittedly pretty stupid. This was entertaining in an entirely ignorant kind of way.
6. ROCK STEADY (FEAT WU-TANG CLAN)
For this Wu-Tang Clan contribution, Tony called upon the members of the crew who did not have the opportunity to appear on “The Abduction” from The Piece Maker: as such, this track complements its predecessor. The Rza's faster-paced beat allows Rae, Meth and even Baby Uey to shine. Thankfully, Tony hides in the background, as he would be voted the artist most likely to get lost within the instrumental. The track also ends in a goofy way, true to form for Prince Rakeem's best work.
7. DIMELO
Tony goes for dolo on what could possibly become his signature song. His beat is pretty catchy, and the Tony whose rhyme skills I praised on the first installment makes a triumphant return. He isn't the best rapper by any stretch of the imagination, but he does alright for himself. This wasn't bad.
8. CLICK BANG (FEAT DOO WOP)
Tony's beat is simple, but very effective. Tony Touch's rhymes, however, struggle to fit into the menacing concept. Doo Wop manages to make it work, ripping shit the fuck up, making this an interesting follow-up to “Return Of The Diaz Bros.” from The Piece Maker. It's also nice that they didn't opt to create another radio-friendly effort as they did last time.
9. AY AY AY (FEAT SEAN PAUL)
Tony invites Sean Paul, who was popular at the time, to join him on a track. I just noticed that, save for the Wu-Tang track, Tony has appeared on every single song thus far, which is a shift from what he did on the first album. I suppose he wanted a larger role in front of the camera this time around. This song is pretty terrible, by the way, thanks for asking.
10. JUST BE GOOD TO ME (FEAT SONI)
Actually, Tony doesn't appear on this song either, a cover of The S.O.S. Band's “Just Be Good To Me” over a breakbeat and scratched-in samples. It fills the role that Keisha and Pam from Total originated with their “I Wonder Why (He's The Greatest DJ)” from the first volume. While I didn't want to immediately skip over it, I still never need to hear this track again. Soni's vocals were too flat to make these lyrics as engaging as they originally were. Oh well.
11. SPANISH HARLEM 2 (FEAT COCOA BROVAZ & HURRICANE G)
This sequel to a song by Smif-N-Wessun the Cocoa Brovaz (from The Rude Awakening) is much darker than the original track, at least when it comes to the music. And just as she did the first time around, Hurricane G pays absolutely no attention to the constructs of the “beat”. Tek and Steele sound alright, but Tony doesn't seem to do much on here. This was interesting in a “curiosity piece” kind of way, but I'm going to stick with the original, thanks.
12. BATTLE SKIT 2
This is the same joke from “Battle Skit 1”. You really couldn't come up with something else, Tony?
13. SPIT 1 (FEAT Q-UNIQUE)
Q-Unique produces his own interruption to today's regularly scheduled programming, and it sounds really good. He commands the mic while Tony goes out to pick up some bottled water and Tampax for his girl. I have to say, he isn't missed at all on here.
14. OUT DA BOX (FEAT PETE ROCK, MASTA ACE, & LARGE PROFESSOR)
This collaboration was an interesting surprise. Pete Rock's beat is alright, if a bit more sparse than what I'm used to (where the hell are the horns?), but this track is more about the guest appearances anyway. Tony and Peter sound as decent as they can, and Extra P always sounds good on the mic (even when his lyrics aren't up to par, which, let me be clear, does not describe his contribution to this song), but Masta Ace swoops in for a final verse that blows everybody else out of the, well, box.
15. TROUBLE ON THE WESTSIDE HWY (FEAT SLICK RICK)
Slick Rick,'s one-verse wonder weaves a pretty effective tale, even as I found Ricky's “terrified” act to be more funny than harrowing. The man just has a way with a story that most other artists lack, and whenever he's paired up with a worthy instrumental, such as Domingo's on here, he fires on all cylinders.
16. A BEAUTIFUL DAY (FEAT NATURE)
Nasir's one-time homeboy-slash-Cormega replacement supplies a one-verse interlude. I wasn't impressed with the words, but the Psycho Les beat was okay.
17. TOUCH 1 – TOUCH ALL (FEAT DEAD PREZ)
I'm surprised that Tony's rhyme skills seem to have degraded as much as they have. Even when he stacks the deck as much as he can against guest stars stic.man and M-1 of dead prez (by supplying a beat that should have been a better fit for himself), he still comes off as the weakest link, and not only that, he sounds like a charity case, as if dead prez were doing him a favor by allowing him to get down on his own fucking song. Sigh.
18. COMO SUENA (FEAT DON CHEZNIA)
After hearing this song, the fact that Tony Toca decided to capitalize on the reggaeton movement is hardly a surprise: it just sounds like a good business move. But while this isn't all bad (unlike most reggaeton, which can be all bad), once again, I'm not the target audience.
19. SPOKEN WORD
Meh.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Aside from a handful of good tracks, The Piece Maker 2 is a disappointing follow-up to its predecessor. Tony Touch tries his best to replicate the formula of his first project, but the entertainment value seems to have been left behind this time around. Listeners will find themselves skipping ahead more than they would like, especially with the boring skits, the spoken word outro, and the R&B crossover effort that self-destructs before it even finds a way out of your speakers. Even though Tony Toca has attracted some big names this time (such as (shudder) Puff Daddy, Def Squad, and Pete Rock), The Piece Maker 2 fails to give everybody something meaningful to do.
BUY OR BURN? Burn this is you must. The tracks listed below are the best ones on here, sure, but there is no need for you to go out of your way to hunt them down. Life goes on, folks.
BEST TRACKS: “Rock Steady”; “Spit 1”; “How You Want It”; “Trouble On The Westside Hwy”
-Max
RELATED POSTS:
Tony Touch – The Piece Maker
Tony Touch, real name Joseph Anthony Hernandez, is a Brooklyn-based Puerto Rican deejay who has released tons of mixtapes over his career. He started out as a b-boy, buy quickly moved behind the turntables and then, a little bit less quickly, behind the mic: in 1998, he released The Rican-Struction EP on his own Touch Records, featuring production from DJ Muggs and a guest spot from Greg Nice. But the man still remained most known for his mixtape series 50 MC's, a multi-part saga that, literally, featured at least fifty verses from fifty separate emcees: this breakthrough in the mixtape circuit (at the time, nobody had ever thought to simply include all-new freestyles on a tape) has resulted in many awards for the man. Tony has also released a collaboration with DJ Premier, Evil Dee (of Da Beatminerz), Mister Cee, and PF Cuttin' (later of Blahzay Blahzay) titled Five Deadly Venoms Of Brooklyn, which is considered to be another master's piece. To simply say that the man has earned his spot in deejay history is an understatement.
Predictably, as mixtapes were growing in popularity, record labels began to take notice, and in an effort to eat into the profits that mixtape deejays were seeing with their product, deejays were signed on to release mixtapes under an official imprint, and Tony Toca was no exception. In 2000, he inked a deal with Tommy Boy Records and released The Piece Maker, a collaboration with many of the emcees that populated his mixtapes, including big names such as Eminem, the Wu-Tang Clan, and Xzibit, although, to his credit, Tony skewed toward lesser known rap acts such as Heltah Skeltah, D.I.T.C., and The Beatnuts. (He also co-produced a song for Tim Dog's second album, but, thankfully, did not extend an invite to that guy.) The primary difference between Tony Touch's The Piece Maker and, say, any of Funkmaster Flex's mixtapes on Loud Records, or DJ Clue's on Def Jam, was that Tony could also spit some fire behind the mic, and his passion for the genre also led to a couple of other hip hop deejays laying down verses, as opposed to simply scratching and blending, but I will discuss that later on.
The album cover and liner notes of The Piece Maker emphasize Tony Touch's Taino roots, and a short history lesson is also provided for the uninitiated. This little touch (no pun intended) provides more of a context for Tony to reside within: while he is proud of his Puerto Rican roots (and displays his pride in one key way toward the end of the disc), he also wants his fans to dig a little bit deeper and catch up on some history that you probably will never learn in grade school. SO he has that going for him, which is nice: when was the last time DJ Drama gave anybody context?
The Piece Maker allegedly sold almost four hundred thousand copies worldwide, which would be respectable numbers for any artist, but not for the cheapskates at Tommy Boy, who promptly dropped Tony from the label. At least the man had something to fall back on, though: being ranked as one of the greatest mixtape deejays of all time tends to mean that someone will be checking out your future endeavors.
1. TOCA'S INTRO (FEAT BABY TOUCH, BONZ MALONE, & PEDRO ALBIZU CAMPOS)
This rap album intro starts off overly precious, but eventually Tony Touch starts rhyming, showcasing a much better flow than one would expect from a deejay. The dude's actually pretty good, and he can spit in both English and Spanish, which is pretty impressive: how many of your favorite rappers are bilingual without repeating well-known phrases oft used by tourists and/or those trying to purchase quality time with a native prostitute?
2. THE PIECE MAKER (FEAT GANG STARR)
Tony Toca doesn't appear over this DJ Premier-laced gem, but Guru fills in with his homage to his host, which could have made an effective introductory track had Tony not performed one himself. Even though the scratched-in vocal samples on the hook reach a bit too much (as most of them have nothing to do with Tony), Primo still manages to make it work.
3. SET IT ON FIRE (FEAT FLIPMODE SQUAD)
Why the fuck would Rampage brag about watching CBS? Unless he's a fan of How I Met Your Mother (which is hilarious), there is nothing to watch on that network, unless you absolutely love police procedurals. This Flipmode Squad track is passable, even though Rah Digga contributes a horrible hook and the crew itself seems to have slimmed down to only five members (I miss Lord Have Mercy).
4. U KNOW THE RULES (MI VIDA LOCA) (FEAT CYPRESS HILL)
This sounds like a Cypress Hill song from the Black Sunday era (minus the rhymes from Tony Touch, obviously). The hook is terrible: Sen Dog would have been put to better use if he had picked up some lunch for the crew. But other than that, this song was enjoyable.
5. THE ABDUCTION (FEAT WU-TANG CLAN)
Over some moody True Master production, the Wu (represented here by Gza/Genius, Masta Killa, Funny People's The Rza (with a really long verse), Inspectah Deck, and Ghostface Killah) both shout out their homey Tony Touch and further their own bizarre agenda, which means that I love this fucking song, as will other Wu stans, but those unfamiliar with the Clan's work will walk away nonplussed.
6. LIKWIT RHYMING (FEAT DEFARI, TASH, & XZIBIT)
While J-Ro is missed, his Alkaholiks bandmate Tash, along with Defari and Gridiron Gang's Xzibit, completely rip shit over the simple and effective DJ Scratch instrumental, which sneaks up on you with its dopeness.
7. ROYCE THE 5'9” (INTERLUDE) (FEAT ROYCE DA 5'9”)
Ryan has spit freestyles on Tony's mixtapes for years, so it makes sense that the man had a slot reserved for him on The Piece Maker. It's just too bad that his appearance lasts for less than a minute, but the current Slaughterhouse point guard kills it, as per usual. And for those of you confused by why I listed the man's name two different ways in the title, Ryan happens to use “da” these days, but back then, he was more grammatically aware.
8. RETURN OF THE DIAZ BROS. (FEAT DOO WOP & PAIN IN DA ASS)
Two mixtape deejays take to the mic? The hell? This was actually a single, if I remember properly (I suppose it was easier for the label to corral Tony and Doo Wop for the video than it would have been to get any of the guests to appear in the same place for any period of time), and strangely, this is much more entertaining than I recall. I don't agree with Doo Wop's assessment that he and Tony constitute a “Puerto Rican Rae and Ghost”, but they're both still fairly strong in the booth.
9. NO, NO, NO (FEAT HELTAH SKELTAH & STARANG WONDAH)
Tony Toca has enjoyed a good working relationship with the Boot Camp Clik (see: the Cocoa Brovaz collaboration “Spanish Harlem”, also featuring Hurricane G), so of course they would appear on The Piece Maker somewhere. On here, Starang Wondah and both halves of Heltah Skeltah spit alongside Tony about women, arguably the number two topic in hip hop today (the first being “keeping it real”, which has many different interpretations).
10. I WONDER WHY (HE'S THE GREATEST DJ) (FEAT KEISHA & PAM OF TOTAL)
This jacking of Sister Sledge's “He's The Greatest Dancer” is just goofy, but it is radio friendly enough to be a single (which I believe it was, at one point). The vocals of Keisha and Pam are lacking, but I've always liked the source material, so I'll write this off as entertaining piffle and move on.
11. BASICS (FEAT PRODIGY)
Prodigy and The Alchemist provide a track that could have been subtitled “Keep It Thoro II” based on the slow-building intensity alone. Cellblock P used to be a skilled rapper, and this song is proof that there is still some talent residue remaining.
12. PIT FIGHT (FEAT GREG NICE & PSYCHO LES)
With a title like that, I can't help but recall that goofy Pit Fighter arcade game that Atari and Tengen put out in 1990, the one that used actors to portray the characters a few years prior to Mortal Kombat. Greg Nice and Psycho Les kick standard Beatnuts rhymes alongside Tony, but the results are only okay. Kind of disappointing, really.
13. WHAT'S THAT? (¿QUE ESO?) (FEAT MOS DEF & DE LA SOUL)
Mos Def's boast about having taken Spanish I four years in a row is pretty funny, but he launches into a credible bilingual verse that sounds fairly convincing (of course, this being hip hop, he throws in a “Y'all n----s wack in one language, I'm nice in two”). De La Soul doesn't continue with the Spanish trend, though, so while their verses are all decent (and having the chorus performed in Spanish and then in English was a nice touch), the song ultimately falls kind of flat.
14. THE CLUB (FEAT D.I.T.C., KID CAPRI, & PARTY ARTY)
This D.I.T.C. posse cut was interesting, even though AG's fourth verse almost crashes this truck into a school bus full of nuns. Having deejay Kid Capri spit a verse was pretty fucking inspired, as was Lord Finesse's line “bought your album, that's how I broke the 'eject' button”. Party Arty (R.I.P.), credited on here as Party Artie, has a verse that will throw off most listeners, as he sounds as gruff as Twin Gambino, but the song still sounds nice.
15. CORMEGA (INTERLUDE) (FEAT CORMEGA)
Mega Montana gets twice the airtime as Royce to kick his freestyle. It was alright, but it wasn't my cup of tea, and chances are pretty good that you two will feel the same way.
16. THE FOUNDATION (FEAT BIG PUNISHER, REIF-HUSTLE, & SUNKISS)
The beat is nothing to brag about, but the weirdest aspect of this track is that both of the no-names (okay, Sunkiss has worked before, but still, do you really claim to know the guy?) outshine the late Big Punisher. Can't say I saw that shit coming.
17. GET BACK (FEAT D-12 & EMINEM)
Back when I was an Eminem stan, I loved this Alchemist-produced song, but now I'm ambivalent. Both Em and Bizarre spit verses for mere shock value's sake, which means that they aren't saying anything of substance. Also, Em's “chorus” (which never deviates from him saying “Get back”: even The Beatles, who had a similarly-named track, were able to wrangle some other words together to accompany that phrase) is fucking terrible. Al's instrumental would have been the saving grace had the song featured any lyrics worth mentioning, but as it is, I'm going to pass on this shit.
18. ADOLF '8-OFF' AGALLAR (INTERLUDE) (FEAT 8-OFF)
I only remember this guy because I read about him a long time ago in an issue of The Source, and he also has a song that pops up randomly on the radio while you're driving around San Andreas. He's been in the hip hop game for a while, but hasn't done anything lately (to my knowledge). His freestyle on here is pretty entertaining, though most of his contributions to The Piece Maker are of the production variety.
19. CLASS OF '87 (FEAT BIG DADDY KANE, KOOL G RAP, & KRS-ONE)
This song is actually hilarious, but not intentionally. This union of two Juice Crew members and KRS-One starts off strong, with Kane and G Rap spitting their shit to an 8-Off beat that should have maintained the high dramatic level throughout that it displays early on, but whatever. But prior to KRS taking to the mic, he deems it necessary to tell listeners how Tony Touch asked him to contribute to the song, and the fact that they left that shit in the final cut is fucking ridiculous. The song still kind of works, though.
20. P.R. ALL STARS (FEAT DON CHEZNIA, LA QUEEN, MEXICANO 777, REY PIRIN, & WINCHESTER YANKEE)
Tony Touch would have probably been credited with bringing reggaeton to the hip hop masses, had anybody actually paid any attention to The Piece Maker upon its initial release. This song isn't bad, but I'm not the target audience. For those of you who are interested, Winchester Yankee would later switch monikers to Daddy Yankee, a name you may or may not be more familiar with.
21. BORIQUEN OUTRO (MAYOWAKAN DRUMS) (FEAT NIXIWEI & WARIBONEX)
Mostly instrumental, but I found this shit relaxing as hell. It was a nice way to end the festivities.
FINAL THOUGHTS: The Piece Maker is actually one of the best deejay compilations in hip hop history: it's consistently entertaining, and Tony Touch sounds pretty sure of himself on the mic. The only downside is that Tony didn't produce every song on here (there are several tracks that he seemingly had nothing to do with), so this sounds more like a compilation than an album-length project. The second half also pales in comparison to the first, but all in all, The Piece Maker features some really fucking good music. So there.
BUY OR BURN? I urge you two to buy this shit. The outright great songs on here overshadow the weaker tracks, and as a fan of the genre, you will be glad that you got this one.
BEST TRACKS: “The Abduction”; “The Piece Maker”; “Royce The 5'9” (Interlude)”; “Class Of '87”; “Basics”; “No, No, No”; “Likwit Rhyming”; “U Know The Rules (Mi Vida Loca)”; “Return Of The Diaz Bros.”; “The Club”
-Max
