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Vintage: Big Pun & Fat Joe’s Freestyle For Stretch & Bobbito

blame it on Meka November 10, 2015
big-pun-fat-joe

The year was 1995. OJ Simpson had been acquitted after an 11 month-long criminal trial for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and waiter Ronald Goldman. A baby, Jo-Vaughn Scott was born in Brooklyn, NY; he would soon adopt the moniker Joey Bada$$. And eBay was founded, inspiring legions of counterfeiters to expand their shady business practices.

On August 31st, 1995, Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Garcia aired another episode of their acclaimed radio show on 89.9 WKCR, and a few special guests were in attendance: Fat Joe and Big Pun. DJ Eclipse was the special guest turntablist during that show, and in honor of what would have been Big Punisher’s 44th birthday he revisits the momentous occasion:

I always recorded my guest sets on KCR so I couldn’t for the life of me understand why I wouldn’t have the one Riz and I did when Fat Joe brought up Big Pun for the first time (along w/Armageddon & Keith Nut). Come to find out I forgot to label the tapes with the date. Anyway, seems only fitting to post this today on Pun’s birthday. Joe starts the interview (151:40) and plays some joints off his album before introducing everyone to the mic (167:42). I threw on “Broken Language” and Pun set it all off. Other dope moments were the Pumpkinhead, Natural Elements and O.C./Poops promos that Bob started off the night with before Riz got on (10:20) and showed off (see Nas Remix). Bobbito plays a demo set in the middle of the show (113:15) before Terror Squad arrives and then I close it out (179:22). And what would a Stretch & Bobbito show be without comedy from Lord Sear (228:30) For more insight on this Pun appearance check out the movie Stretch And Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives.

The Stretch & Bobbito Show w/DJ Riz, Eclipse, Fat Joe & Big Pun 89.9 WKCR August 31, 1995 by Itsdjeclipse on Mixcloud

This back-and-forth from Pun and Joe has remained my favorite moment between them: