Whatever happened to Vinnie Politan (Metropolitan Records)

[ronnie d]

Totally love April. I think 5 or 6 tracks off "Magical" are flawless. Laissez Faire- awesome! "In Paradise" brings back good memories of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn circa 1991. Or was it 1992? Who gives.

laissez faire holy shit totally awesome

 

[ronnie d]

you know i'am not sure but i think metropolitan is the same label that produces all these jazz artisits. metropolitanrecords.com

 

[ronnie d]

and actually there is a vinnie politan who is a lawyer and does some court show. and is also on sirius radio. could it be the same vinnie politan ?

 

[ronnie d]

yes i just confirmed it it is the same vinnie politan lawyer/ recording producer, he founded metropolitan records in 1989. and then pursued a career as a lawyer.

 

[Putana]

There were a few "disses" on Metro records a few pages back, but I favored their freestyle tracks 2nd to only MicMac in the early 90s, etc.
Sebastian's Santa Li was my fav freestyle track for the longest.

Denine was also hot.
There should be some sort of Metropolitan reunion or some shit. That would be great.

Yes, that would indeed be "the shit"!

 

[crypticreign]

Metro was THE freestyle label in the 90s. They put out Viper, Tazmania, Ti Amo, and other labels stuff as well.

 

[Putana]

Metro was THE freestyle label in the 90s. They put out Viper, Tazmania, Ti Amo, and other labels stuff as well.

True that! And Collage's I'll Be Loving You was to Freestyle what Scream was to slasher movies...brought it back from the dead (to a degree).

Given your statement above, I 100% agree with you...too bad they got into the genre so late in the game. They could've strived in the early to mid 80s.

 

[Kid Heartbreak]

They had some dope tracks, but they put out a lot of crap also. Way too much "assembly line" or "cookie cutter" freestyle (a lot of the viper stuff). Many blame that stuff for killing freestyle. As if it wasn't bad enough that most of the songs had the same exact beat, but then on top of it they're making it seem like there were all these new and different artists when really it was Adam Marano under a different alias. Like they were trying to insult the intelligence of the consumer. How could they disrespect the music like that? I liked "I'll Be Loving You" under Collage, but wasn't really feelin' anything he did after that. All his other stuff seemed so phony and lacked genuousity.

 

[Putana]

... then on top of it they're making it seem like there were all these new and different artists when really it was Adam Marano under a different alias. Like they were trying to insult the intelligence of the consumer. How could they disrespect the music like that?

Ha...hilarious comment! Some artists that come to mind are Shayme, TPE, Old School Brothers, 1A.M. and of course Collage....ALL SOUNDED THE THE SAME SINGER. I guess it couldn't just be "Adam Marano"...that would be too EZ...make up a bunch of aliases (and DON'T blow your name up...why do that?!?!?)

 

[Kid Heartbreak]

I forgot about TPE. However, those songs came out on Mic Mac and were pretty good. It was the stuff on Viper after "I'll Be Loving You" that ruined freestyle. Could they at least have changed the beat up a little. Much of this is the fault of the freestyle industry in general. This could never have happened in rap with those songs actually making some noise within the genre. How could this Marano guy insult the fans and the djs like that and get away with it? It's like the artist was saying that he just wanted to turn a quick buck or else he would make it at least good enough that he'd want to put his artist name to it. Then they started mixing it in with euro, thus making freestyle look even worse on the streets. Some of the Tazmania stuff was good, but why did they stop hooking it up with accapellas and breaks? Did they not want djs to play their records?

 

[nvanygirl]

I liked the first two Metropolitan Freestyle CDs (Freestyle Extravaganza 1 and 2 or something like that?) and bought at least the next one or two but didn't like them much.. I also bought at least one of the Viper CDs and thought it was pretty crappy. I gave up on them at that point. The stuff that I didn't like was so, hmm, don't know how to describe it, bubble gum-ish? If that makes any sense at all. Just seemed like it was just put out there to sell something, but it was awful.

Cheryl

 

[crypticreign]

Ha...hilarious comment! Some artists that come to mind are Shayme, TPE, Old School Brothers, 1A.M. and of course Collage....ALL SOUNDED THE THE SAME SINGER. I guess it couldn't just be "Adam Marano"...that would be too EZ...make up a bunch of aliases (and DON'T blow your name up...why do that?!?!?)

Adam Marano is even doing the same thing today in other genres. His production company puts out comps with names like "90s reggae hits" (not that exactly, but similar) with adam re-doing songs like "Here Comes the Hot Stepper" and "It Wasn't Me". It's hilarious.

 

[Putana]

So I take it there isn't a lot of love for Adam Marano on these boards. And calling him the "killer" of freestyle is pretty harsh.

I think the biggest mistake was him getting his own label on Metropolitan...he seemed to take that as a greenlight to go crazy in the studio, churning out a gazillion Viper Freestyle Parade Volumes. A shame too cause there ARE some hidden gems among those volumes...but, like most of you said, most of it is just "cookie cutter" freestyle & you wouldn't look cool playing it at high volumes in the car compared to some of the freestyle that was KNOWN throughout la calle. If Miami Freestyle was considered "happy" music, Viper Music was definitely "WAY TOO happy, bring it down a few notches" music.

 

[crypticreign]

So I take it there isn't a lot of love for Adam Marano on these boards. And calling him the "killer" of freestyle is pretty harsh.
I think the biggest mistake was him getting his own label on Metropolitan...he seemed to take that as a greenlight to go crazy in the studio, churning out a gazillion Viper Freestyle Parade Volumes. A shame too cause there ARE some hidden gems among those volumes...but, like most of you said, most of it is just "cookie cutter" freestyle & you wouldn't look cool playing it at high volumes in the car compared to some of the freestyle that was KNOWN throughout la calle. If Miami Freestyle was considered "happy" music, Viper Music was definitely "WAY TOO happy, bring it down a few notches" music.

I like Adam a lot and I love the early Viper stuff. The first 7 or so volumes had a lot of slammin' material and the stuff he did with Chris Phillips was IMO some of the best freestyle ever produced.

 

[Joey Gold]

It has been very interesting reading all of your comments about Metropolitan Records. I was there from the beginning and wrote and produced the April album, Laissez Faire, Cheree and various other artists. In the beginning it was great fun, but by 1992-93 - how did BB King put it - the thrill was gone. I never considered myself to be on the same level of the great freestyle producers like Elvin Molina or Andy Panda, but I loved the music and was pretty good at coming up with a catchy hook. The problem was that the money was not so great. I stepped down as A&R guy and head producer to attend law school, and Adam Moreno essentially took over. I really did not know Adam, but he seemed like a very nice guy. Other than the Collage song, and another remake he did of some I think 80's love ballad put to a generic Planet Rock beat, I don't recall his material. I do agree with many of your comments - alot of the Metro stuff was inferior, due in large part to serious budget constraints. But I enjoyed writing and producing the songs, and it really was a good experience that I now can share with my kids. It's still fun to be riding in the car and hear IN Paradise on 103.5. Long Live Freestyle!

Peace

 

[CultureKlashJEFF]

Wow, If it isn't "Devil In My Heart" Joey Gold!

Well I think you contributed to the original 'true' sound of MetroPolitan. The early records of the label (some of which you produced) remain classics of the genre till this day. April, Laissez Faire, Cheree, Sebastian, Deniz, etc were all great!

Thanks for the great music, and great memories!

 

[ronnie d]

joey thanks for some really great stuff, for a lot of us here on the site life as we know it would not have been the same without the metropolitan sound, and thanks to vinnie as well. funny too cause i just saw vinnie on one of those reality shows.

 

[freestylegreek]

Adam Marano was A&R? Thats the last person who should be doing that.

 

[ronnie d]

adam moreno was joeys predecessor, when joey left the company in the early 90's he went on to become a lawyer like vinnie did.

 

[freestylegreek]

Ya and Adam Marano is the last person I would expect to do that.