Craig G - Sneekin’ Up On That Ass II

Uptown’s own comes through with some B.I.G. exclusives.

Craig G and DJ S&S were known to team up and flame the streets with unheard fire on the regular. They’d drop tapes together, and alternate their own solo releases, becoming two of the most known and reliable DJs in the mixtape game for fans who would fiend for new music.

Sneekin’ Up On That Ass was a three part mixtape series, beginning in ‘94 and ending in ‘96. And with it, Craig G delivered a steady helping of exclusives.

On Sneekin’ Up On That Ass I, Craig had some serious Ready To Die joints nice and early, along with now-classics and underground gems by Redman, O.C., Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Organized Konfusion, and more. Even a pre-Reasonable Doubt Jay-Z (listed as J.Z.) shows up on the posse cut “Show & Prove.”

But on Sneekin’ Up On That Ass II, which Craig G dubs at the beginning “the long-awaited tape,” he ups the ante with more B.I.G. exclusives, including a crazy Clark Kent-produced “Player’s Anthem” remix to set off Side A and the never-before-heard original version of “Dead Wrong” to set off Side B.

Here’s Craig on obtaining the ultra-rare “Dead Wrong” original, which to this day has still never had a proper release, only in remix form on Born Again:

Craig G: You know what, I don’t think I realized what I had until years later. I just thought it was another B.I.G. song. I still play these records to this day, but you would never think that when I played it twenty plus years ago that it was the craziest record. Now Eminem done remixed it. But you never think about these records until later on. Who knew? I don’t remember who I got that from, and I damn sure don’t remember how I got it. 

And here’s Craig speaking on the famous live freestyle clip of B.I.G., Pac and more that he played at the end of Side B:

Craig G: I still have the test press record of that. I had that on vinyl. I was one of maybe twenty people that had a copy of that. Also, I used to work in Brooklyn, downtown at the Music Factory. So I would go to the West Indian side of Brooklyn and get my shit put on dubplates, so I could play shit at parties and at clubs when I was traveling. Because you couldn’t play cassettes at the clubs. But I had the test pressing of that.

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Stream Sneekin’ Up On That Ass II below, and stay tuned for more 50 TAPES drops as we celebrate the release of Do Remember! The Golden Era of NYC Hip-Hop Mixtapes, available now via Rizzoli.

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Craig G - Sneekin’ Up On That Ass II (SIDE A)

Craig G - Sneekin’ Up On That Ass II (SIDE B)

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