In 1991, I heard a slower love type rap song and it was a whole new sound to my ears. I don’t remember where I first heard the song though. I was 11 years old… thinking summer ‘91 so I was 11 but on the steady creep. Late night San Diego DJ’s were different than the ones during the day. I would always play the radio while fidgeting things in my room because I just wanted to hear the beats being played on 90.3 and on a gooooooood day, 92.3 in LA, and on the best day everrrrrrrr maybe 105.9 in LA. As a kid, I was exposed to the world through the eyes of these artists that I looked up to. In 1991, I was introduced to the South Central Cartel.
This beat was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard or seen. I had no idea who even sang this song that I heard one night in the early 90’s The beat just got me… the raps got me… the chorus got me… those drums… this is literally the example of a perfect song. i would literally be hanging out in my room with the door closed for hours just listening to music and flipping through sports cards. by the 3rd time I had heard the track, “U GOTTA DEAL WIT DIS”, I had it written down in the paper card insert inside my blank cassette from TDK. South Central Cartel aka the S.C.C. had been stamped since ‘91…
I remember looking through all of the cassingles at The Wherehouse record store. My eyes were always conditioned to sift through large amounts of data quickly so I could sift those cassingle shelves like a g… and there it was… $1.99… S.C.C. with “U GOTTA DEAL WIT DIS” in 1991. These dudes were the coolest looking crew I had ever seen. NWA were dope… But then this crew of 6 posted up in their gangster b-boy stances… yup… i’m here for all of this….
The South Central Cartel includes Havoc, Prodeje, L.V., Havikk, and a gang of other dope artists from Los Angeles, CA. I loved their style on “U Gotta Deal Wit Dis” because it was some gangsta rap love type shit… I was 11… I had zero idea what was going on but I knew every word to this song. Little did a young me know that South Central Cartel was this dope though… They had hits… Why aren’t they talked about more?
Their photoshoots from their album covers were always a movie…
these guys had the dope Starter button ups… Pinstripe fire 90’s button ups… These guys were g’s.
listen to this right here… S.C.C. weren’t heard on the radio much but you for sure knew who they were… but man, I listen to these songs now and it’s wild to me that they never got a big push… these kids had different styles with dope production from Prodeje, Jamorama, and others from the crew.
I own 2 South Central Cartel cassettes… I got the sealed cassingle for “U Gotta Deal Wit Dis” and then I have their debut album, South Central Madness. That has the song “South Central Madness” that is a upbeat west coast banger.
Yup… This is the South Central Cartel article fam… If I have been sleeping that means you have been too. Here’s another track off of their debut album you should have in your ear drums… this is on some LL Cool J west coast type shit… too smooth for the cruise with the crew.
I tried to research more about these albums and the artists in the crew but I couldn’t find a lot… I’m left with so many questions… why didn’t South Central Cartel ride the Death Row wave into national love? The sounds were there… The vibe was there… These guys were so dope… I think it’s time South Central Cartel got their flowers…. they are one of the best 90’s rap groups out of the west coast of all time… right? riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight???
