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Regular readers already know I loves the hip hop. Thinking of a topic for my Zany Charts at-bat, I began to wonder about the build up to hip hop chart success. I mean, the pre-history between, say, Debbie Harry fashion-rapping on “Rapture” in 1980 and before the 1986 cross-over success of “Walk This Way” (Run-D.M.C.) and the Beastie Boys’ Licensed To Ill. I’m talking about the five or six years after hip hop was already firmly rooted in the inner cities and when it spread into a wider national and international consciousness.
What were some of the key moments and trailblazing tracks that lead to rampant chart success in the 90s and Naughties? Not necessarily what were the best tracks (though most of these are undeniable classics) or what were the most successful within a slice of the American cultural pie. I’m talking about what were some of the keys that really launched hip hop to a wider audience when there were still industry insiders, commentatories, average joes actually saying, “This is just a passing fad.”
The first emcee to sign to a major label (Mercury), Kurtis Blow released “The Breaks”, his second single, in 1980. The song broke into the Billboard R&B Top 5, eventually went gold, and Blow’s appearance on Soul Train would be the first nationally televised performance by an emcee.
The Funky Four Plus One became the first hip hop group to appear before a national television audience, performing their Sugarhill classic “That’s The Joint” on the 1981 Valentine’s Day broadcast of Saturday Night Live hosted by none other than Debbie Harry.
Funky Four Plus One - That’s The Joint
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five need no introduction and the 1982 single “The Message” is a big part of the reason why. Among the first hip hop tracks to speak to inner city life and problems, “The Message” peaked at #62 in the Billboard Hot 100 and has since been sampled many times over.
Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five - The Message
Herbie Hancock and Grand Mixer D.ST’s “Rock It” and Kurtis Blow’s “Basketball” (off the 1984 Ego Trip) are the two earliest hip hop tracks I can remember. I wasn’t completely hooked just yet, but I clearly remember these as the start of my hip hop journey. “Rock It” would be the first solid hit to prominently feature serious wheels of steel.
Herbie Hancock - Rock It (ft Grand Mixer D.ST)
Considering the style of Blow’s relatively popular “Basketball” in 1984, to hear “The Show” by Doug E. Fresh and the Get Fresh Crew, featuring Slick Rick, in 1985 marked the sea change coming in hip hop. This was the dawn of the future.
Doug E. Fresh - The Show (ft Ricky D a.k.a. Slick Rick)
And, if “The Show” was the dawn, then Eric B. & Rakim were the true morning of hip hop, blowing the doors off with “Eric B. is President” in 1986. This was the new benchmark by which hip hop albums and emcees would be measured. From there, there was no turning back for hip hop and its growing legions of fans.
In May 2007, I posted an Aesop Rock Mini-Sampler Backtrack. R.A. The Rugged Man is not Aesop Rock. In fact, The Rugged Man is to Aesop Rock as turds are to brownies. Aesop is a cerebral underground hip-hop lyricist. The Rugged Man is often filthy and rudely vapid, which should come as no surprise given he holds Kook G. Rap as one of his primary influences. He’s the seedier side of underground hip hop and is not for the easily offended or those of delicate constitution.
And The Rugged Man is one of my favorite emcees.
With only two full-length albums made a decade apart (Night Of The Bloody Apes in 1994 - never released - and Die Rugged Man Die in 2004), it says a helluvalot about his skills that R.A. is as well as known as he actually is among the hip hop community.
To introduce R.A. The Rugged Man to the uninitiated, three tracks from between 1999-2006 for your consideration. First, “Stanley Kubrick” (Soundbombing 2 1999). Next, “Lessons” (Die Rugged Man Die 2004), a capsule biography without unnecessary apologies and one of only two singles from his only full release. Finally, a superb example of his explosive skills at internal rhyming in his verse for Jedi Mind Tricks’ “Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story” (Servants In Heavan, Kings In Hell, 2006), the story of his father in the first person.
For those possessing the aforementioned delicate constitution, only “Stanley Kubrick” contains anything remotely as crude as The Rugged Man has been known to spit.
R.A. The Rugged Man - Stanley Kubrick
R.A. The Rugged Man - Lessons
Jedi Mind Tricks - Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story (ft R.A. The Rugged Man)
During a visit to Rough Trade East last weekend, I picked up Best Of Grand Royal 12’s, a collection of, as the smart folks at Rough Trade note, “not strictly legit” Beastie Boys remixes released in September 2007. Beasties? Yes, please. Remixes? What more could a remix whore like me want?
Michael (Mike D) Diamond, Adam (MCA) Yauch and Adam (Ad-Rock) Horovitz have been making The Music - in one guise (punk) or another (hip hop) - since 1984. After two and a half decades in the biz, having sold in the neighborhood of 20 million albums (20,000,000, otherwise known as alot) and sprouted more than a few gray hairs, the trio are giants of music, yet still manage to maintain their independent streak and underground sensibility and respect.
Between 1985 and 2008, these three goofballs have made their presence known with 14 Top 50 singles in the United Kingdom (three of them Top 10) and six Top 100 (four Top 50) singles in the United States. I have to say, having observed U.K. charts since my days spent lounging around WPTS in the early 90s, they’re just that much more adventurous over here. What is usually underground or college music in The States has a fighting chance for wider success in Britain. Example: Singles off Ill Communication didn’t really get a sniffle in the U.S., but reached #19 (”Sabotage”), #19 (”Get It Together”) and #27 (”Sure Shot”) in the U.K.
It always fascinates me when artists have mega-multi-platinum album success over the course of decades while not hitting huge peaks of singles chart success. These always seem to be the most respected performers. Year-in, year-out they practice their craft, honing, refining and expanding what makes them legends. The Beastie Boys fall into this category. They jumped into the public eye with Licensed To Ill in 1987 and haven’t looked back. And, while they haven’t torn up the charts, a new Beasties album is always anticipated.
All Hail! those Boys from the Boroughs!
Intergalactic (Strawberry Bath And Jelly Soles Instrumental Version)
(Original #28 U.S., #5 U.K.)
The Negotiation Limerick File (Handsome Boy Modelling School Makeover)
(Original #29 U.S. Modern Rock Chart)
Sure Shot (Green Mix)
(Original #27 U.K.)
“WARNING: Moderate impact coarse language and/or themes”
While 2 Live Crew were busy fucking around and acting the fools on Move Somethin’ [1988] and As Nasty As They Wanna Be [1989], something happened in the world of hip hop. … Boom! N.W.A. moved from relative obscurity to (inter)national prominence with Straight Outta Compton [1988] and 100 Miles And Runnin’ [1990]. I say relative obscurity because N.W.A. And The Posse [1987] went gold. That’s chicken feed compared to the double platinum blowup of Straight Outta Compton, an album that, now, seems mild, but, back then, walked up and smacked you in the face demanding a place in music history whether you liked it or not.
N.W.A. was pretty nearly a supergroup in reverse, with most of the members later taking separate roads on their way toward moderate-to-massive success via platinum solo releases and/or branching out to other areas of the entertainment industry. Ice Cube and Dr. Dre pursued widely successful careers. Eazy-E kept his mug in the limelight enough to garner attention when he succumbed to AIDS. The D.O.C. released the superb No One Can Do It Better before having his larnyx damaged in a car accident. MC Ren went platinum with Shock Of The Hour and cemented a place in hip hop’s underground with his collaboration with Public Enemy and Paris on Rebirth Of A Nation. Only Yella, from among the more prominent members, didn’t see much post-N.W.A. success, though he’s now leveraging his involvement with N.W.A. to pursue his DJ Yella Entertainment porn directing career.
N.W.A. - Express Yourself (Remix)
N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton (Extended Mix)
Yeah, so what. I start all of posts with excuses about why my post might (probably) sucks eggs. This week I have yet another excuse. A good one. For me at least. I bought a refurbished MacBook Pro from Apple and, hot damn, it’s sweet! So, I phaffed about for the past four or five days setting it up. What this meant is I had to export and import all my RSS feeds and all the entries was zapped to Kingdom Come.
Anywho, onto this edition of my disjointed and disconnected collection of news-ish tidbits … a.k.a. some stuff that comes from the Interweb into your feeder reader for people that don’t know the news too good.
I may have nuked my backlogged feeds, but you couldn’t have missed the blow-up over what seems to now be known as the ‘Barack Obama Race Speech’ or ‘A More Perfect Union’ or Obama really taking on the elephant in the corner of his campaign or Obama taking on the even bigger elephant crushing the United States with his big ass. Predictably, the Right - in this instance, the White Right, most notably - is all up in tizzy.
(Beware: This video is the FULL speech, running nearly 38 minutes.)
From the inspiring to the painful. Submitted for your approval, two tales about the pathetic and their attempts to mean something to someone somewhere:
Tale #1: The Smashing Pumpkins are suing Virgin Records over the licensing of their tracks to Pepsi and Amazon.com. Their reasons? Negatively impacting the credibility they worked ever so hard for years to build with their fans. … They still have fans?
Tale #2: NME, the infamous rag that loves a band or artist one week and hates them the next, is making a Robbie Williams-style attempt to become relevant in the U.S. Good luck. Prediction: NME will fail miserably and then write off the U.S. as musically useless.
This month’s 100best of … selection, Elvis Costello, is opting to release his upcoming album (Momofuku) via digital download and vinyl only. Interesting. Somewhere a record exec just pooped herself a bit.
Undoubtedly, the number and variety of reality crap (*COUGH*), I mean, shows is just out of hand and definitely, somehow, at the heart of the decline of Western Civilization. Even so … Oh. My. God. Let this be shown in the U.K.! The concept is so cringable I can’t not look. I’m so gonna be thuggin to this.
Weezer, Justice, The Klaxons, Mars Volta, DJ Shadow. No, that’s not the lineup for an indie/underground festival. That’s a selection of the artists on the Gran Turismo 5 soundtrack, scheduled for release for the PS3 in April.
On March 16, tamboosh clued you into the existence of hip hop at SXSW with some cuts from The Cool Kids. Well, here’s another I bumped into on my travels along the musical backroads of this so-called Information Superhighway (shout out to The Rap Up) …
The Carps (ft The Cool Kids) - Heaven’s Gates & Hell’s Flames
(Warning: 12.28 MondoBites!)
Want to know more about The Carps? Check out their CarpSpace.
That’s it. I’m done. Out.
I can feel myself entering a hip hop phase again, having drifted away for a few months. In my regular pre-post scramble, the Geto Boys popped into my head. When it comes to the Geto Boys many (if not most) hip hop heads will immediately think of their only truly big time single, “Mind Playing Tricks On Me”, off We Can’t Be Stopped (1991).
This isn’t the best rap track ever. In fact, “Mind Playing Tricks On Me” is very much of its time. But, damn, if it ain’t catchy. Listen to it once and it’ll be looping through your head incessantly, especially if your memory is seeded with it already.
Geto Boys - Mind Playing Tricks On Me
As a special bonus, here is the irrepressible Isaac Hayes’ “Hung Up On My Baby” from the 1974 Tough Guys soundtrack. Listen to it for 10-15 seconds and it’s obvious why I’ve thrown this up as well.
Isaac Hayes - Hung Up On My Baby
Just when I thought I could not get more jealous of all you people who get to go to South By Southwest. The AP tells us that Hip Hop has gotten more and more of a foothold on SXSW. Ice Cube, Bun B, The Clipse, Dizzee Rascal, 2 Live Crew, Talib Kweli, The Cool Kids are just a selection of the mouth-watering acts that grace the festival’s stages. For those of you who are missin’ out as well, let the amazing Cool Kids rub-a-dub-dub some more salt in the wound. Damn, that smarts.
The Cool Kids - Pump Up The Volume
The Cool Kids - ‘88
Released together with “Phuncky Feel One” as a double a-side, “How I Could Just Kill A Man” was the first single off Cypress Hill (1991) and the absolute B-O-M-B back in 1991-1992. For me at least, it’s one of those tracks which, even at the time, marked the end of the Golden Age of Hip Hop and the start of 1990s Gangsta. Sure there were other albums prior to that, but, for good or ill, releases from Ice Cube and Cypress Hill in 1990 and 1991 seemed to just smack the Golden Age into the history books.
I bought every Cypress Hill release after being grabbed by them back then and have seen them in concert twice. Some albums are better than others, but, for the nostaglia factor alone, nothing beats tracks off that first album. Today you can taste the late-Golden Age production of the original 1991 vintage, the Spanish version from Los Grandes Exitos En Español (1999) and contrast both those with the visceral Rage Against The Machine cover.
Cypress Hill - How I Could Just Kill A Man
Cypress Hill - No Entiendes La Onda
Rage Against The Machine - How I Could Just Kill A Man
Now you know this shiznit is gonna slam when the emcee is Kevie ‘Waterbed’ Kev (a.k.a. Kevin Strong) from The Fantastic Five. He’s a ladies man and that’s all there is to it.
Don’t believe me? Check this 1983 track out …
Kevie Kev - All Night Long (Waterbed)
Touch it, why don’tcha.
Argh! Carnage! Was WordPress upgraded? It doesn’t matter. The net effect was that, somehow, my ‘Use the visual rich editor when writing’ setting was checked when normally it isn’t. Of course, I only double-checked this after screwing up a few of my older posts - deleting one in utter frustration. So, you all can just pretend my Muse post still exists. All of which is a perfect segue-way into today’s Classics post. Some late-Golden Age Brand Nubian to play while ass-whipping Internet gremlins.
I didn’t go for the standard selection, something from One For All, instead opting for a track off their 1993 second album - In God We Trust - which pushed its way to #12 in the album charts and #4 in the R&B/Hip Hop Chart (making it Brand Nubians biggest chart success even if it wasn’t as acclaimed as their debut).
“Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down” helped In God We Trust and Brand Nubian achieve wider notoriety for its openly homophobic lyrics. Yes, hip-hop has flaws. Please, let’s not start a debate about this. Irrespective of its homophobia, this post-Grand Puba Brand Nubian track, produced by Diamond D, still flows.
Brand Nubian - Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down
You will notice the sound quality on this track, or, rather, the lack of it. I have no clue why that is. I purchased it from an online music store (a real one, though it remains unnamed) as a replacement for my long-gone Golden Age tape collection. The quality was this disappointing. Just pump up the volume and pretend you’re listening to a well-loved old tape.
Not too long ago the Macarena came up in a recent post and the subject of dance fads brought along the Soulja Boy Dance craze that’s been sweeping the world lately. I didn’t know it was as popular as it is until I saw a ten minute segment on a BBC show about it the other day, which involved a man, who probably is a bit more mature than Soulja Boy’s target audience, doing the dance in a Flashdance type outfit. It was special. Anyway, it got me thinking about all the Hip Hop hits that came out lately that had some sort of dance especially designed for it.
Fear of looking like MC Hammer, or worse, a teeny bopper and consequently losing their hood membership card, made the head-nod and the C-Walk the only approved moves among serious rap artists of the early and mid-nineties. Hip Hop purists, who look back fondly at that time when ‘Hip Hop had something to say’, are less than amused with the new wave of fun, flighty rap songs who encourage all the zany dancing. Especially, Hip Hop from the South of the US has been accused of “killing” the industry with the introduction of Crunk and Snap. Their songs are said to be low in quality and lyrical content, but why can’t there be a serious, deep side as well as a simple, booty shaking side to Hip Hop and everything in between? Such a versatile medium surely can contain the full spectrum of entertainment? I like that many recent artists just want to see their audience dance to their music. It’s part of a grand tradition of songs that set off dance crazes. The Twist, the Jerk, the Mashed Potato were all great songs with great dances and I’m glad that our generation will have some dances to look back on as well to mark the time other than that darn Macarena.
I’m gonna try to list most of the biggest songs that sparked dance crazes from the last three years. Most of these dances are mixed and matched, and combined with the dancer’s own personal styles. Now, I’m sure I’ll miss a lot of the dances around but I’m no dance expert so don’t take it personally if I don’t mention your favorite song or dance. Alright, here they are with either a link to the video or an mp3:
Huey - Pop, Lock & Drop It (video)
I suspect that Pop, Lock & Drop It from the summer of 2006 like “Laffy Taffy” and “Salt Shaker”, is just another way to have girls shake their stuff, but cleverly disguised as a fun dance move. The dance is not that complicated, but it is hard on the thighs.
DJ Webstar & Young B - Chicken Noodle Soup
The Chicken Noodle Soup dance, originally from Harlem, inspired this song and it became last year’s summer hit. It sounds a bit like a cross between The Buckwheat Boyz’ “Peanut Butter Jelly Time” and anything by Fatman Scoop, but both the song and the frantic dance are soso catchy.
Terror Squad ft. Fat Joe & Remy Ma - Lean Back (video)
Released in the summer of 2004 “Lean Back” fast became HUGE, and one of the few moves here that everybody can do, all you gotta do is lean back and rock away with some attitude.
Jason Foxx & The Hood Presidents - Aunt Jackie
A hit from earlier this year and my absolute FAVORITE song and dance in this list. It has an old skool flow, it’s funky and contagious and it makes me yearn for those days when I was little and we used to have block parties just for us kids in the summer in my neighborhood. Growing up sucks.
Dem Franchize Boys - Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It
This group from Atlanta popularized The Snap Dance. I’m not sure this song counts as a dance fad song, since the Snap Dance came first, but it fast became so popular when the song first came out in 2005 that the move is now also known as the Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It.
Lil’ Mama - G-Slide (Tour Bus) (video)
I loved the strong beats of Lil’ Mama’s poppy, high school themed hit “Lipgloss” from this summer, which also had a dance of the same name, but “G-Slide” actually calls on the people to do the dance. A beat is set to the children’s nursery rhyme “The Wheels On The Bus” and in a cute, fashion Lil’ Mama tells us how to do The G-Slide.
Crime Mob ft. Little Scrappy - Rock Yo Hips (video)
This song has the familiar booty glorifying lyrics, but it has a really cute dance for the ladies and those brave men in touch with their feminine side.
Unk - Walk It Out
Yet another Atlanta native who came out with a catchy song and dance at the end of the summer of 2006. The basics of the Walk It Out steps are fairly simple, but once people add their personal touches it can become a pretty spectacular dance.
The Cupid Shuffle came out at the start of this year and actually looks a lot like the Electric Slide when danced with a bunch of people. It’s pretty easy to follow, just let your feet do what the lyrics tell you and you’re there.
Down aka Kilo - Lean Like A Cholo (video)
Leaning like a cholo looks an awful lot like leaning back and doing the rockaway, except with your elbows out. But far be it for me to criticize a cholo, so lookin’ good and keep on leaning!
Young Dro - Shoulder Lean (video)
Yet another way to look cool while leaning and swaying.
3rd FLO aka Heizman Boiz - Do The Heizman (video)
The Heizman uses an American football move and is named after John Heisman, a famous American college football player and coach who also lends his name to a trophy that looks like a little bronze guy doing that move. This dance should be used when the person you’re hitting on has a bad case of halitosis if you go by the lyrics. I couldn’t find out a whole lot more about 3rd Flo, but I did learn that they’ve been signed to J Million Records and are working on their debut album.
Luch Millions - Bunny Hop
I’m almost scared to talk about Da Bunny Hop, not to be confused with the wedding dance from the fifties by the way. People seem to be very territorial when it comes to the origin of dances. Anyway, I hope I got this right, this dance originated in New Orleans, but other cities including Atlanta have put their own twist on the move as well. Luch Millions’ “Bunny Hop” is the more popular song, but it should be noted that Da Entourage from Louisiana also recorded a song with the same name. Luch Millions’ version uses the Oompa Loompa melody, which sounds weird but it works as a dance song. Though this is a big local hit the man hasn’t been signed yet, but I’m sure that’s only a matter of time.
Soulja Boy - Crank Dat
And finally the song that started me thinking about this post. Since its release in April this year, it’s been taking over the globe and it has the potential to become as cemented in popular culture as the term Bling, to the point where your great-aunt Esther knows how to ’superman that ho’. Yuch. That’s not gonna be a pretty image, but in the meantime enjoy it. And all you party poopers out there stop your moaning and get dancing. Hip Hop isn’t dead, it’s too busy having fun to care about dying.
The Go! Team unleashed their sophomore release - Proof of Youth - in September and I’ve had it in the CD changer on and off for a few months now. However, I never took the opportunity to shout out about how thoroughly enjoyable the follow up to their 2004 debut (Thunder, Lightning, Strike) is.
Well, damn it, it is enjoyable! If you’re one of the cadre that have their first release, then you’ll definitely need to buy yourself a copy of this new album. If you haven’t yet partaken of their bountiful and deliciously upbeat musical fruits I highly recommend you treat yourself to both. Though there isn’t an incredible amount of difference between both albums you can easily chalk it up in the ‘never too much of a good thing’ category!
For more about the band and upcoming gigs head over to the official site of The Go! Team.
If you are unconvinced by the 100b recommendation, further proof can be obtained at The Go! Team presence on MySpace.
The Go! Team - Titanic Vandalism
I can’t even remember buying this 25-track, RZA-produced soundtrack. It must have been an informed impulse purchase. Samurai? Black samurai with an afro? RZA produced the soundtrack? Cool. Sweet. Cha-ching. Going through the collection for Backtrack preparations Afro Samurai jumped up and down until I gave it another listen.
For the uninitiated - like I originally was - Afro Samurai is an anime adaptation of a manga series. The five-parter originally aired earlier this year in the U.S. (on Spike TV) and U.K. (on Adult Swim). Not only is the soundtrack produced by the RZA, Samuel L. Jackson is the voice of Afro Samurai.
Sadly, I haven’t seen it yet myself. The soundtrack was enough to get me started. However, having listened to the album again, I think I may have to get me a little some of that. Even more fun - if true and if it ever comes to fruition - there may be an actual Afro Samurai movie starring Jackson. Ladies and gentlemen, the hardest working man in showbiz!
You can get yourself a copy of the DVD at Amazon (U.S.). Denizens of the U.K. need to wait until next month (according to the page at Play.com). I’ve just pre-ordered mine.
While you wait, find the way of the warrior with these tracks from the soundtrack and peruse the Afro Samurai website for goodies:
The RZA - Certified Samurai (ft Talib Kweli, Lil Free, Suga Bang)
The RZA - Just A Lil Dude “Who Dat Ovah There” (ft Q-Tip, Free Murd)
The RZA - Fury In My Eyes / Revenge (ft Thea)
With Nina Sky due to release their delayed second non-mixtape album (The Musical) later this summer, I thought I’d make public that the duo is one of my guilty pleasures. Yes, the soundtrack of my life features groups and artists of the softer, female-based variety. Of course, I make this confession in confidence, so you shouldn’t spread it around.
There’s something about their simple harmonization that’s just plain ol’ catchy and easy to listen to. Oh, and they have the obligatory ’sex appeal’. That helps, too. To prove it on the harmonization front, I’ve dug around in my bucket-of-fun for some collaborations they’ve done. Tell me you aren’t mesmerized. Of course, if you’re not a hip hop fan - and the samples below are pulled from my hip hop collection instead of their more R&B solo tracks - then definitely pick up their self-titled debut while waiting to buy the second album.
The Alchemist - Hold You Down (ft Prodigy, Nina Sky, Illa Ghee)
Garcia - Let Me Hear You Say (ft Pitbull, Nina Sky, NORE)(Hood Remix)
Pitbull - Turnin Me On (ft Nina Sky)(Remix)
Sean Paul - Connection (ft Nina Sky)
Visit the Nina SkySpace to have a listen to other tracks and, even better, the Official Nina Sky site, at which you can download a few 100% free mixtapes.
C.L. Smooth is a legend based on his collaboration with Pete Rock at the beginning of the 1990s (think “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)”). However, following the break up of the duo in 1995, Smooth sunk away into the musical background, releasing isolated tracks here and there and rarely even appearing as a guest on anything. In October 2006, he returned with the release of his first solo album, American Me.
The initial single was the title track, “American Me”, with “Smoke In The Air” as the b-side. Available for your review is the digital version of the “American Me”/”Smoke In The Air” vinyl 12 inch, which I downloaded more than a year ago but never really had a chance to properly listen to until recently. For those of you that remember enjoying Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, you shouldn’t be disappointed by the mature flow of one many wrote off after a decade in the musical shadows. For those of you new to C.L. Smooth, welcome. This is definitely not a man ready to be kicked to the curb, as the politically-colored “American Me” and the heavier “Smoke In The Air” aptly demonstrate.
Check it.
C.L. Smooth - American Me (American Me 12″)
C.L. Smooth - Smoke In The Air (American Me 12″)
Visit the official C.L. Smooth site to hear more.
Individually, the 30-year-old DJ Yoda (aka Duncan Beiny and pictured above) and Mr. David Viner are excellent artists. The former is a DMC DJ of the Year (2001). The latter an indie-folksy-bluesman guitar player reminiscent of Eric Clapton and Leon Redbone.
The magic begins when you put these two goofy-looking London-based musicians together. They almost work better than peanut butter and jelly with bananas. And, hot damn, if they aren’t poptastic as all get out for their collaborative track on the 2006 album The Amazing Adventures of DJ Yoda. Just the right amount of hipness and cheese.
DJ Yoda - Pussy Cat (ft Mr. David Viner)
For comparison by those unfamiliar with Mr. David Viner, here’s the title track from his 2004 This Boy Don’t Care, which has the added zest of flute-jams.
Mr. David Viner - This Boy Don’t Care
Check out DJ Yoda and Mr. David Viner on the Intertubes.
This one isn’t one of my recent purchases (naturally). I’m throwin’ it up since I’m listening to some stuff and catching up on some this-n-that and, snap, if Joe Budden’s “#1″ isn’t a memory jolt. Not the song itself, but what he covers.
Listen to the song.
If you were born between 1970-1975 you really (I mean really) remember exactly what he’s telling you in this track about back in the Golden Age between 1986-1992.
Mike Fox and Deloreans
Asics
Brass knuckles
New Edition
Commodore 64
Colleco
Kwame
Breakdancing (before it was retro)
Low top Converse
Flava Flav clocks
X-Clan medallions
Notes in class
When “Warm It Up Kane” was released
8-Ball jackets
Columbia rainsuits
Decepticons
Sheepskins
Two turntables and a mic
Public Enemy
The Pee Wee Herman
The Roger Rabbit
Fila
Gazelles
Kangols
Gold teeth (when it was one or two caps before grillz)
The Real Roxanne
Kool Mo Dee
Run DMC
Lord Finesse
Black Sheep
Bobby Brown (before he thugged Witney)
The Ultimate Warrior
Jimmy Fly Snooka
Knight Rider
NWA
Quincy Jones
When hip hop had a message
Damn, I think I might be getting on for sure now. I remember when they said hip hop was a passing fad.
So, hell yeah, it feels good to see hip hop say it’s #1.
Check it.
Joe Budden - #1
And, since I’m here anyway and that’s just how I roll, “Pump It Up” a lil’ bit.
Joe Budden - Pump It Up
I got my hands on some serious iTunes voucherage last month and bought a mountain of albums, singles, and one-offs. Now I’m not working my way through them all and bringing a few here and there to your attention (if you didn’t already know about them, that is).
The first up to bat is The EP from Frank N Dank. One music review site (not Bitchfork) actually said there were two ’serious flaws’ with Frank N Dank’s The EP - Frank N Dank. Now, I can see why these two dudes might not be what you get down with, but, damn, saying Frank N Dank are the two biggest problems with a Frank N Dank CD. That’s just cold. And unfair.
Repping Detroit, Frank N Dank (aka Frank Bush and Derrick Harvey, aka Frank Nitty and Dankery Harv) aren’t the source of uncool on their own album. In fact, the album just ain’t uncool. With Dutch producers I.N.T, Kid Sublime, and Wouda on the scene, The EP - released by Dutch label Dopeness Galore last month - is light years better than a lot of the mass-produced Shit Hop making the rounds out there. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it Touch (the site with the review I mentioned at the start of this post).
For your sampling I chose the Werkmix of “Spitkicker” because the beat is simple, stripped down, head noddin’ excellence. The original is very good, too, the Werkmix shows what you can do with so little. And, yes, I purchased the dirty version of the album, so the bleeps are intentional and part of the song.
Frank N Dank - Spitkicker (Werkmix)
Frank N Dank - Why?
For more, check out The Official Frank N Dank site and Frank N Dank on MySpace
When you get release sneak peaks there’s a secret unspoken hope it’s something you’d want to buy anyway. Making it a gift of sorts. It doesn’t always happen. In fact, more often than not, it’s like you opened a Christmas present and Santa really did bring you a lump of coal.
No lumps of coal when 100b got a knock on the door and were handed access to a few Iller Than Theirs tracks from the upcoming ILLer Than Theirs.
Tone Tank and Krayo hail from Embedded by way of Brooklyn NYC and are part of the Nuclear Family. Produced by J. Howells Werthman - with beats from Junk Science’s Snafu and appearances from Nuk Family fellows, as well as Jah-C from The Project and Masta Ace (both from Glow In The Dark Records) - their debut, ILLer Than Theirs, will drop when the leaves turn gold and brown later this year. Keep an ear to ground.
On “It Is What It Is” Cool Calm Pete (also on Embedded and Definitive Jux) glides in to make a typically smooth appearance. This is underground, my friend. Sah-weet-tah.
Iller Than Theirs - It Is What It Is (ft Cool Calm Pete)
Go see if your space is IllerThanTheirSpace.
Here’s how I imagine it going down at Elektra Records.
Peon: And next on the agenda, um, the new KMD album.
Executive: Is it good?
Peon: It sure is.
Executive: What’s it called?
Peon: Black Bastards.
Executive: What? That could be a problem. Let me see the cover.
(Peon hands album mockup to Executive)
Executive: Jesus H. Christ on fire! Fuck that bullshit! We’ll be massacred! Pull it!
In my head I see the reaction being similar to the apoplectic fit Flick’s mother goes into in A Christmas Story. You know, when Ralphie’s mother tells her Ralphie learned the eff-bomb from Flick. Unfortunately, the Elektra decision was probably much more cold, calculated, and corporate than that.
So an excellent album by Zev Love X, DJ Subroc, and Onyx the Birthstone Kid was sent into virtual exile when Elektra decided the cover art of the follow up to Mr. Hood (1991) was just too much for this fragile world to handle. What Elektra missed out on - and Subverse picked up and released in 2001 - only began to emerge from obscurity as fans of the reborn Zev persona - MF DOOM - started diggin and dustin off in an effort to learn more about the enigmatic man in the iron mask.
If you’re accustomed to the current MF DOOM style, it may be strange (for non-3rd Bass fans) to hear his early flow. But, it’s good stuff and you really should pick up the album if you call yourself a hip hop aficionado
Dig in …
KMD - Black Bastards
KMD - What A Nigga Know
Selecting the best - ever - of anything is a bold move. But, it helps when you share the burden with others. Byron Crawford gave me a heads up on two bloggers who collaborated in ranking the best hip hop albums - ever. Based on the votes of a ton o’ bloggers, Straight Bangin’ and The Passion of the Weiss ranked the top hip hop albums of all time. Hell, they even made the ranking spreadsheet of the votes available and everydamnthing.
Ah, a spreadsheet, rankers in my own style.
Here is the Top 10 of their All Time Top 25 hip hop albums:
1. Nas, Illmatic (1994)
2. Wu-Tang Clan, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
3. Notorious B.I.G., Ready to Die (1994)
4. Raekwon, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx … (1995)
5. Dr. Dre, The Chronic (1992)
6. Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back (198
7. A Tribe Called Quest, Midnight Marauders (1993)
8. A Tribe Called Quest, The Low End Theory (1991)
9. Eric B. & Rakim, Paid In Full (1987)
10. Mobb Deep, The Infamous (1995)
A formidable lineup and all very very highly recommended if you don’t own them already. I’m not sure my list would be exactly the same as the consensus results. It’s maybe a bit heavy on 1991-1995, but the list is strong enough you can’t really argue with it too much.
To be honest, I can’t really add much more than the collaborative run down on both their sites. But, I can share three of my selections from among them in an effort to get you to skip a couple coffees and a lunch or two, save up the cash, and chase up some of the greatness of these albums for yourself.
Wu Tang Clan - Bring Da Ruckus
Raekwon - Knuckleheadz
Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full
Let me say right off the bat: If you’ve stopped by just to get all of Aesop Rock’s biggest numbers for free, then you’ve come to the wrong place. My role isn’t simply to dump free music into the Intertubes, clogging them up and shit. My role is to nudge and prod visitors in directions they might enjoy - especially if they’re not already enjoying them.
So, with that out of the way, I thought I’d backtrack to Aesop Rock, one of my favorite underground hip hop artists … who’s been buried under the piles of music I’m always wading through. The nudging and prodding part is achieved by sharing some tracks that give you a taste of what makes Aesop Rock and the Definitive Jux label so unique. (Def Jux is home to some of underground hip hop’s best known names, including C Rayz, Cage, Cannibal Ox, Mr. Lif, RJD2, and The Perceptionists, among others.)
Our man in question has been recording strange, obtuse, and interesting tracks since 1997 (check out Music For Earthworms), but really established himself as an underground name with Float (2000) and the classic Labor Days (2001). Aesop’s next full release, Bazooka Tooth (2003), received less acclaim, but, personally, I enjoy it just as much for different reasons. Between and around those releases are a number of quality EPs and albums I highly recommend picking up.
This write up doesn’t really do the man justice, as I need to rush off to work. But, you don’t really want to hear me describe him anyway. Do you? You want to describe him yourself. The following three samples should give you reason to dig up and buy more with your hard-earned cash.
And, of course, you can hear even more by finding Aesop Rock on MySpace.
From the 2005 Definitive Jux Presents Bucket Of B-Sides Vol 1:
Aesop Rock - Kill Em All (RJD2 Remix)
From the 2005 EP Fast Cars, Danger, Fire & Knives:
Aesop Rock - Rickety Rackety (ft CamuTao, El-P)
From the 2005 Cage album, Hell’s Winter:
Cage - Left It To Us (ft Aesop Rock)
In the universe where George Clinton rules funk, Sa-Ra Creative Partners are, as one of their sites describes their totality of sound and production, the hip hop ambassadors of “Afro Magnetic Electronic Spiritualism”.
The resumes of Sa-Ra, collectively, or individually, as Om’Mas Keith, Shafiq Husayn, and Taz Arnold, encompass mixing and engineering, managing and producing for and with the likes of Kanye West, John Legend, Jurassic 5, Ice-T, Lord Finesse, Foxy Brown, Mobb Deep, Jam Master Jay, Pharoahe Monch, Heavy D, Bilal, Dr. Dre, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, Hit Man, 8 Ball, Mobb Deep, Jesse West, and Grand Mixer DXT.
In case you can’t tell, that’s serious experience and clout. And it comes in handy as hell when you decide to do step up and do an album yourself. Enter The Hollywood Recordings, out this month on Babygrande Records. You will go right 8 or 9 times out of 10 when the featured artists on your debut include - in order of appearance - Rozzi Daime, Ty (from Ty & Kory), Talib Kweli, Capone-N-Noreaga, Lord Nez, Bilal, Erykah Badu, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Kurupt, Erika Rose, Pharaohe Monche, and the late J Dilla.
If you’re ready for a new hip hop experience, you need to give this 19-track opus a spin. You can’t pigeon hole the Sa-Ra influences, but the selections below give you a glimpse into the specturm of sound you can expect to flood into and swirl around your adventurous dome.
Sa-Ra Creative Partners - Glorious
Sa-Ra Creative Partners - Feel The Bass (ft Talib Kweli)
For more, visit the Sa-Ra site and their MySpace page.
Update: I didn’t complete the mp3 URL correctly in the original post. This has now been corrected. Sorry about that! I’m only human!
Just over a month ago I wrote about Balkan Beat Box’s self-titled debut and noted their follow up, Nu Med, was due out this month. Of course, I purchased an advance release. The verdict for those hungry for quirky music? It’s a cracker!
This offering has more instrumental tracks and leans more to the Mediterranean compared to the Eastern or Southeastern European sounding Balkan Beat Box. Tracks that immediately jumped out and grabbed me by both ears: “Hermetico”, “Digital Monkey”, “Mexico City”, “$20 For Boban”, “Habibi Min Zaman” and “Balcasio”. But, the entire album is an organized cacophony that slaps you like one of the Three Stooges and plasters a tremendous smile on your face.
Don’t trust me? Give “Mexico City” a try and then get yourself a copy of Nu Med.
Balkan Beat Box - Mexico City
If you visit Jdub Records you can hook yourself up with downloads of “Hermetico” and “Digital Monkey” … if they’re still available by the time you read this. Whaddya waiting for? Geez.
In hip hop circles the new leak around the Intertubes is Common’s new Kanye West-produced “The People” off the forthcoming Finding Forever.
I’ve had a few listens. Using a method gleaned from artsy-fartsy wine-tasting types, I cleansed my musical palate by firing up the Cold War Kids’ Robbers & Cowards (ah, refreshing) and drinking a large-ass coffee between multi-listen samplings.
Definitely a sound, um, common to Common. Soft, smooth, and yielding, but with a hint of a gritty vein twisting its way through the production. This is what we’ve come to expect from the maestro of smooth hop. While I haven’t heard anything else from the album, I’m concerned it might follow the formula that produced success for Be in 2005. Not that anything is wrong with that exactly. It’d just be quenching to get something completely different from the Windy City’s best known hip hop export this side of collaborator Kanye West.
“The People” definitely benefits from muscular volume. Could be the not-so-subliminal message kicking off the song. So, if you listen through headphones, (carefully) increase the volume to reasonable levels, ensuring your ears don’t begin to bleed. If you’re at home or in the car, pump it and do your best to disturb others as much as possible.
Common - The People
No person or group left an early hip hop impression on me like the uncompromising Carlton Ridenhour (bka Chuck D) and the crew of Public Enemy. The first PE album I bought was the 1988 It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back around the time of its release. There was no turning back.
I must have listened to It Takes A Nation Of Millions … a sonnuvabitchin lot back because I can still hear it banging in my head. You know, back in the day, when we used tapes? And we listened to them so often the track listings and information would rub right off? And how you’d pop it into your Walkman and it’d be the wrong side and you’d have to pop it out again to get to Side A. Unless, of course, you had one of them fancier Walkmans that let you switch directions on the fly to listen to the other side.
Sweet.
As one of the most influential and historic hip hop albums of all time - and, more importantly, one of my favorites - the album features prominently on the soundtrack of my life.
Then rock these bells.
Public Enemy - Night Of The Living Baseheads
Public Enemy - Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos
Finally, close the circle by picking up your own copy of the album.
It’s worth it.
Mmm, M.I.A. Sexy in a raw way before. Now, with the ‘official’ leak of “Hit That” off her late-Summer release, Kala, she just got dirty hot. I mean, come on, she says ‘chocha’ for fricksake. (If you’re wondering, look it up in the Urban Dictionary.) I haven’t heard that in the rotation since I last listened to Clipse and, before that, Missy Elliot. Not perving, just making a point. And one I think she’s making herself anyway. So, I’m actually just validating.
From what we’ve heard so far, it looks likes Kala isn’t going to be a sophomore dud of a follow up to Arular. If this is any indication, Kala will definitely be a must buy.
M.I.A. - Hit That
You can catch “Birdflu”, another post-Arular track, at her M.I.A.Space.
I’m ashamed - teetering on the cusp of appalled - I’d never heard of Brother Ali until three days ago. It’s like I’ve been living in a cardboard box in my living room for a few years. No, seriously, it’s embarrassing now that I’ve stepped blinking into the light.
You see, I’ve been getting NewsFire up-and-running on my laptop and am now reading Oh Word regularly. Catching up on back posts I read a write up about a Brother Ali remix there (more on that in a sec). The voice really pulled me in, so I dug around for some more samples.
Based on what I found, I bought Ali’s most recent album, The Undisputed Truth, yesterday. After a few times through it, I bought the (I now know) acclaimed 2003 Shadows On The Sun and 2004 Champion EP, all on Rhymesayers Entertainment. (That sound you hear is me crumpling up my cash and flinging it in the face of Big Music.)
Try these two examples of what make this man a great underground rapper. Visit Brother Ali on MySpace. Do a search and read more about him and his story.
Then pick up the albums.
Brother Ali - Truth Is (Clean)
Brother Ali - Whatcha Got (Clean)
(I don’t normally like clean versions of anything. However, the clean versions of the two tracks above are well done and don’t completely distract from the listening experience.)
The ROBOTOBOTS remix of “Truth Is” Oh Word turned me onto completely transforms the sound. It’s turns it into a Boxing Anthem, those songs you can imagine yourself, the challenger, head down and hidden beneath the hood of your robe, entering the arena in order to walk away with the title.
The remix is available here because I’m scared you might miss your chance to download it. Head over to ROBOTOBOTS and pay your respects.
Brother Ali - Truth Is (ROBOTOBOTS Remix)
Yesterday an article I read some time ago rolled out off the bed inside my noggin and got naked busy. The article was about the history of “Apache”, which, unless you’ve been wandering the musical wilderness for more than two decades, you probably know as the Sugarhill Gang’s semi-classic.
But, do you know where it evolved from and where it went to?
If not, this is your chance to sample some of that evolution.
From guitarist Bert Weedon’s 1960 original to the …
Incredible Bongo Band cut, progenitor of hip-hop bombs, to the …
homages in The Roots’ “Thought @ Work” and NaS’ “Made You Look”.
And you’d be a fool not to school yourself on this bit of musical history by heading to Soul Sides and reading the complete “All Roads Lead To Apache” by Michaelangelo Matos .
Bert Weedon - Apache (1960) Your Pop Pop’s Poptastic
Incredible Bongo Band - Apache (1973) Your Daddy’s Poptastic
Sugarhill Gang - Apache (1981) Your Poptastic
The Roots - Thought @ Work (2002)
NaS - Made You Look (2003)
And for those that just can’t get enough of the ever-poptastic “Apache”, here is the longer than a frickin block party Grand Master Flash remix:
Incredible Bongo Band - Apache (Grand Master Flash Remix) (2003)
Sometimes I try to recall how and when I got switched onto hip hop. I can clearly picture Grand Mixer DXT on Herbie Hancock’s “RockIt” and Kurtis Blow schooling us about his favorite sport while in fourth or fifth grade at Liberty Elementary in Pittsburgh. But, that ain’t special; a lot of those at the tail end of Generation X can probably conjure up the same memories.
Overlapping fifth and sixth grades was a rock phase. While I had posters and pictures on my walls and wore a Van Halen t-shirt, I can’t really recall listening to any specific groups outside of Van Halen, Quiet Riot, and, yes, Ratt, though only because I got a promotional copy of Out Of The Cellar a few years old even then. It must have been a very short-lived exploration because the Beastie Boys arrived and I can clearly remember listening to them all the time and memorizing their lyrics. Then I tried to learn to breakdance. Breakdancing is especially difficult to learn from How To books. Believe me, I tried. Like millions of others, the soundtrack of my high school freshman and sophomore years was written by U2, primarily The Joshua Tree and Rattle And Hum. So far, hip hop didn’t really have a hold on me yet.
Then, from what I remember, hip hop just kicked the door of my musical world in, set up shop, and never left. I don’t only listen to hip hop now, but there was a period beginning in early-1988 and running through 1992 or so where I rarely listened to, let alone spent my meager student earnings on, anything outside of hip hop. Four years of buying tapes meant I accumulated an impressive collection encompassing much of the Golden Age.
Regrettably, I don’t have those well-worn tapes anymore, having lost them in a 1995 break up. Sometimes I think about the groups and artists I listened to nearly two decades ago. One of them was 3rd Bass. If you don’t already know, 3rd Bass was fronted by two white guys (MC Serch and Pete Nice), which inevitably lead to a bit of mild derision from those who felt, being white, they had no place in hip hop and clearly influenced their lyrics and style. However, they had a place and I, for one, felt they deserved it. From my sophomore year in high school to well within the year off I took mid-way through my second season of college I worked in a public library. I can remember shelving books in the restricted areas of the library with The Cactus Album pumping out of my chunky yellow Walkman Sport. The old 3rd Bass stuff is a bit dated now, but it plays well and brings back the smell of the dusty shelves and the heat of those past summers.
Being realistic, I wouldn’t say ‘Prime Minister’ Pete Nice is one of the all-time greatest MCs. Back then, though, he was the fucking bomb and I still think his flow is strong. I don’t know if it was his shtick or what, but those smooth, gangsteresque clothes and the menacing walking stick seemed to accentuate the grip he always had on both his mic presence and verses. Following the release of the second 3rd Bass album, Derelicts Of Dialect, the Serch went his own way and Pete Nice continued to work with 3rd Bass DJ, Richie Rich (Daddy Rich), releasing Dust To Dust in 1993. That’s the last I heard of him. Recently, I wondered what happened to the ‘Prime Minister’. Powered by the Internets and earphones thumpin out vintage 3rd Bass, I did some digging.
So, what happened to ‘Prime Minister’ Pete Nice, Nice, Nice?
Pete Nice, born Peter J. Nash, was apparently no dumbass. Before his 3rd Bass career, he attended Columbia University on a basketball scholarship. After 3rd Bass broke up and Dust To Dust was released, Nash created a short-lived record label - Hoppoh Records - and continued working behind the boards. As music seemingly slipped into the background, another of Nash’s passions moved to the fore - baseball history.
Nash now lives in Cooperstown, New York, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, where he worked to get the Cooperstown Dreams Park started and, based all I could find as recently as 2006, was well-underway on founding and building the Baseball Fan Hall of Fame, where the game’s greatest fans would be enshrined. He’s also written two books, Boston’s Royal Rooters and Baseball Legends of Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetary, the former of which he’s produced as a documentary (Rooters: The Birth Of Red Sox Nation) likely to air this summer. This is a man after my own heart. A life grounded in hip hop and a true passion for baseball!
And that’s what happened to ‘Prime Minister’ Pete Nice.
3rd Bass - Product Of The Environment
3rd Bass - Microphone Techniques (ft Nice & Smooth)
If you dub yourself the, um, rap Morrissey, you deserve attention. If you walk around with a mustache lifted from Dali or the Kaiser and a shaggy lion’s mane, well, you crave attention. If your brit hop has a unique sound, damn it, you demand attention!
I bumped into Welsh hip hop artist Akira The Don’s site around a year or so ago in the midst of a post-iPod-acquisition downloading frenzy. Because he had free samples of his music available, I gave him a whirl, naturally. I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy his work immensely. Even better, he regularly updated both his blog and his music page. By the time his debut was released I was pump-primed to purchase When We Were Young. (Note to the Big Music companies. Most of us want to actually buy the music! We simply like to know what we plan on spending our hard-earned ducats on and we can’t carry MySpace with us!)
As an aside, The Don was apparently dropped by Interscope after concerns about the content of “Thanks For All The AIDS” on the debut. If true, we can’t accuse Interscope of having a spine. Their loss and Something In Construction’s gain.
If you’re interested in hip hop that comes at you from a different angle and has a message without being overly bludgeoning, be sure to give Akira The Don a test drive. The man is creative and different, exactly what you expect from the underground. For those that like to sample before purchasing, here are a few of The Don’s older tracks I enjoy the most.
Akira The Don - Dreams (ft Nasty and Swiss)
Akira The Don - Gitmo! (ft Narsty)
Akira The Don - Living In The Future
If you like what you hear, you can catch more on The Don’s MySpace page. And you can read about his adventures on his blog, as well as downloading some of the mix-tapes still available. Akira, you need to make more available!
If you’ve never heard the can’t-put-your-finger-on-it sound of Gogol Bordello, then you’re in for a treat from Ori Kaplan, Tamir Muskat and the up-to-nine man crew of Balkan Beat Box supplemented by various featured artists. Kaplan used to be the saxophonist for Gogol Bordello and both he and co-founder Muskat are originally from Israel while now calling Brooklyn, New York their home.
I happened upon Balkan Beat Box’s inaugural 2005 album of the same name while surfing around the editor’s picks on emusic and, based on the previous association with Gogol Bordello and the description of the music, couldn’t resist downloading. And it’s worth it.
Want to feel transported to a time and place not quite the Old World and not quite the New? Like your music captivating for reasons you can’t quite explain while being nudged along by brass, woodwind and bass woven together in a superb tapestry? Then Balkan Beat Box is surely a can’t miss. It’ll invade and tickle your musical subconscious. Some tracks lean more to the traditional, which clearly informs their adventurous sound. Others are certainly more non-traditional without leaving you shrugging your shoulders wondering what you just listened to.
The second Balkan Beat Box album, Nu Med, is due out in May on JDub (U.S.) and Crammed (Europe). The group is on tour all over the place in the U.S. and Europe as I type.
Balkan Beat Box - Adir Adrimi (ft Victoria Hanna)
Balkan Beat Box - Meboli (ft Vlada Tomova)
Enjoy what you hear? Try more at the Balkan Beat Box site and Balkan Beat Box on MySpace.
