LL Cool J - I Need A Beat
Label: Def Jam Recordings – none, Def Jam Phactory – none
Format: Vinyl, 7", Single, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1995
Genre: Hip Hop
This piece was written by Oxygen and originally featured in the Hip Hop special edition of DIG – copies of DIG Mag can be purchased here.
Thinking back on those days when I scored something remarkable in the field, I would say MOST of the time there was a feeling deep in my gut it would happen at some point in that day. Some refer to it as the "Spidey senses tingling". Others might say it's just having the hot hand or whatever. This particular morning, I just wasn't feeling it. At this time in my life, things weren't going too well for me emotionally or financially. I was working a part-time job making very little money & only scheduled at 17 ¹/₂ hours a week, so the normal weekend routine was hustle and try to find anything of value to sell & supplement my income. I had just enough dough in my pocket for a round trip LIRR ticket from Long Island to Manhattan, and a couple to invest in the grind. It was an early Sunday morning before dawn, and I was off to the 25th St Flea Market in the city.
Those who know about this spot knows its survival of the fittest, and you HAVE to get your ass out there before the vendors set up or leave empty handed. Me trekking from L.I. gave me a huge disadvantage against the diggers who lived closer to the flea market and as suspected, the pickings were bone dry by the time I got there. It was the summer, the sun was up, it was starting to get hot, and I was already frustrated & disappointed...but not defeated. As a collector, I don't only just dig for vinyl. So while everyone else was preoccupied in the crates, I was a few booths down looking through books and mags. This old lady had a serious collection of classic books from Black authors, which is right up my alley. Diggin' deeper in her stuff I noticed boxes of documents – old mail, photos, some sheet music, and more magazines. Then I see something wedged down in the bottom of all that junk which caught my eye. Mainly because it looked like the size of a 7-inch record but it was puffed up. I grabbed it, brought it out to get a better look, and the first thing I seen was the Def Jam logo on the back. I had never seen this before and didn't know anything about it but when I pulled the record out of the sleeve, the flyer and the 'credit card' for entry hit the ground. My heart sank to the floor when I read the flyer and I was thinking to myself "What in the hell IS this, and WHY is it in this box?". Random as hell, but this seems to be common with my finds. Like certain stuff was just waiting there for me to claim it.
Anyway I took the 45 and the couple of books I found & went home. On the train ride, I did some online research to discover this was something very special – one of my main Hip Hop inspirations, DJ Jazzy Jay scratching doubles of L.L.'s I Need A Beat. Years later, I seen Jay would be DJ'ing the Tools Of War Park Jam in Harlem, so I had him sign this for me as well as my Cold Chillin In The Spot acetate. I didn't find anything to flip that day because this 45 is STILL with me and will always remain until I figure out who will inherit my collection.