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Common Sense Stretch & Bobbito Freestyle 94 · by Rafi Kam
via the much appreciated Golden Age Hip Hop Youtube Channel
Comment [3]
Oct 15, 2008South Bronx Future Shock · by Rafi Kam
by artist John Fekner via Wooster Collective.
Comment [2]
Oct 12, 200820 Incredible Links You Should Click On ... Right Now · by R.H.S.
Would OhWord ever steer you wrong, fam?
Large Professor Discusses Main Source, Nas, New Album (Video)
The Sample From Nas’s “Life Is Like A Dice Game” Revealed
Junior Mafia “Player’s Anthem” Beat Deconstructed
A Buyer’s Guide For Out Of Print Rap Albums
Pete Rock Discusses Sampling Techniques (Video)
The Entire Fondle ‘Em Discography Available For Download
A Guide To Assessing Vinyl Rarity
Seven Volumes Of KRS-One Songs Not Included On His Albums
RZA Breaks Down The Science of “Bong Bong” (Video)
4 Hours Of Biggie Songs Mixed By Mr. Cee
DJ Clark Kent Discusses Crate Digging, Sneakers, Jay-Z
Large Professor Interviews @ Cocaine Blunts
Latin Party Starters Selected By O-Dub
Cypress Hill Temples Of Boom Reviewed Track By Track
An Audio History of NYC Hip Hop Radio
DJ Evil Dee “Pure Dope Mixtape” (Podcast)
Rosenberg Radio – De La Soul mix & Interview, Large Pro Interview
Source March 1995 Issue w/ Slick Rick (downloadable .pdf)
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Oct 03, 2008New Blog - Philaflava T.R.O.Y. · by R.H.S.
Don’t let the name of the blog fool you – it isn’t a Philly-centric take on rap, or an ongoing ode to CL Smooth, though you should not be surprised if rare 3XDope b-sides or unreleased Pete Rock tracks show up in the mix. The blog is actually an outgrowth of philaflava.com’s “T.R.O.Y.” forum, a popular destination for bloggers, college radio DJs, vinyl junkies, and assorted rap nerds. At the forum, the denizens stay busy uploading entire forgotten discographies, verifying the existence of sought-after demos and alternate takes, and performing impressive detective work on sample sources. The blog will provide world outside of the forum easy access to the end results of these inquiries and discussions, so point your browsers over that way and fire up the external hard drive. Add the blog to your feed reader to keep up with all the downloadable goodness.
If anything, peep this post by yours truly to get a sense of how a message board community can make big things happen through teamwork.
Comment [3]
Oct 02, 2008The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same (Only Different) · by Thaddeus Clark
Brandon Soderberg, one of my favorite writers, makes an excellent argument that we are in the midst of a new era of hip hop.
The “Post Lyrical” Era, where rappers are paradoxically no longer “rapping”.
It makes me wonder: what if “lyricism” is just a code-word for rappers not from the 5 Boroughs?
Brandon himself says that beside denoting a certain era of artistry (using only East Coast rappers as examples), “lyricism” doesn’t…really…mean…anything (and yet you and I both know it means everything).
I know Brandon isn’t being malicious. He’s merely extending a concept that critics and listeners have been using for a long time now.
As vague as “lyricism” and now “post-lyricism” are as ideas they both share one thing in common: the East Coast’s #1 export: regional bias.
NEWS FLASH: New York is the birthplace of hip-hop.
THIS JUST IN: New York is also responsible for spawning regionalism.
New York centric fans tend to self mythologize their “golden era,” while also complaining about the current divisive and regional nature of hip-hop.
And they want Saigon (or somebody) to “bring New York back!”
While some of my East Coast folks were focusing on activities that “kept things [perpetually] real,” the rest of America was doing all kinds of interesting and “post-lyrical” shit.
The difference between now and then is that Lil Wayne and Kanye West are bringing their music to New York instead of waiting for you to come to them.
Sometimes I feel that growing up on strictly NY hip-hop actually handicaps your ability to appreciate the music.
The fans of everywhere-else grew up on NY hip-hop, just like some of you.
But we also had our own swing.
While one time zone was promoting an inner-circle exclusivity, the rest of the country was engaging with this music in an all-inclusive manner.
With these competing methods a rift was inevitable.
Now ask yourself…over time which philosophy will push the art form forward?
And who’s going to be more willing to adapt, adopt, and celebrate the new dudes?
What appears to some as new is merely part of a long progression and the result of what happens when you grow up with diverse influences.
And this progression was happening with or without your attention.
It’s extremely hard to put things in perspective if you’re map doesn’t extend beyond the Hudson River.
This is a classic example of someone doing “you” better than “you,” but you don’t think it’s better than you because it’s not…you.
But truly this isn’t a post about lyricism, Lil Wayne, or Mr. West, it’s really about how we misattribute what makes something “classic.”
Brandon uses the Illmatic/Nas Formula as a compare and contrast of the “classics” of then vs. the “classics” of now.
This type of thought-exercise is something we all do.
We think a “classic” is “classic” because of external factors that are no longer present.
We’ll cite the era, the superior nature of the fans of then vs. the cave-people who support hip-hop now, and lastly the production style.
We then hold onto those frames of analysis and compare everything after using the same literal lens.
You can sell me insurance, just quit trying to sell me Lil Wayne
The “Nas Formula” isn’t about delivering rhymes with words in close proximity (because people are still doing that ).
Nor is the Nas Formula about relying on break-beat, sampled, 4/4 production.
The Nasir Jones Formula TM is actually about making an album with exceptionally narrative and visual language while using some of the best producers in the game.
So many of the classic hip hop albums since have been doing this as well.
Nas was one of the first to combine the focused narrative with pick-of-the-litter beats.
Great song writing + stellar production is what makes great-audio-art regardless of genre or era.
If you’re not holding onto a static sense of what makes “classic” hip-hop, then you might see that the visual/narrative album is alive and well?
It’s just that the visuals and the narratives are changing.
The topics seem to be shrinking as the stage gets bigger:
From city, neighborhood, block, and now home (or if you prefer, mansion Son!).
From moving the party, to rap-battle skills, to gun-battle skills, to cash-spending skills, and now a combination of all-of-the-above.
And the perspective went from this, them, we, and finally I.
Time will sort out which new “classics” become old classics.
But the fact of the matter is: the more things change, the more they stay the same (only different).
Comment [21]
Sep 22, 2008Black Milk - Give The Drummer Sum... · by Sach O
Black Milk – Give the Drummer Sum
Easily one of the hottest singles I’ve heard this year. Anthemic without being overblown, dusty without losing its energy, timeless but not a tired retread , soulful but more importantly, FUNKY: this track has it all and THEN throws in a horn solo. Oh and it lives up to its title, this features some of the hottest drums on a rap beat in a minute (anyone else sick of 808’s? No? fine just checking…)
Someone give Jay-z this guy’s number, maybe he can save the Blueprint III.
Comment [5]
Sep 18, 2008YOUNG RAP MIXTAPE (Wale, Kid Kudi, Mickey Factz, more...) · by Sach O
Drivin down the block…Low End Theory bass hittin
DOWNLOAD THE YOUNG RAP MIXTAPE
1. The Cool Kids – 88
2. Kidz in the Hall ft The Cool Kids, Pusha T, Bun B & El-P – Drivin Down the Block (Mix)
3. FKI – Iggy Fresh
4. Pac Div – F.A.T Boy
5. The Roots ft Wale – Rising Up
6. UNI – K.R.E.A.M
7. Mickey Factz ft Skyzoo – Incredible (Mix)
8. The Knux – Cappuccino
9. B.o.b – Grip Yo Body
10. Mickey Factz ft The Cool Kids – Rockin n Rollin
11. Lil Wayne ft Fabolous – You ain’t got Nuthin
12. Kid Kudi ft Wale – Is there any Love
13. Jay Electronica – Retro Electro
14. Wale ft Bun B & Pusha T – Back in the Go Go
15. Lupe Fiasco – Paris Tokyo
16. AC – Freestyle
17. Elzhi ft Fat Kat – The Reason
I’m not telling you anything new when I say that 2008 has been a bad year for Hip Hop full lengths, even by recent standards. While I’m actually more optimistic about the state of rap than I’ve been in a while, that’s because of new emcees, most of whom haven’t had the chance to drop an album yet. And while I enjoy my near-hourly perusal of Nah Right as much as the next guy, mp3-singles rarely make the iPod since they’re devoid of context and I’m an album-lover at heart. Solution: the new Ohword mixtape.
No lame dance music, no corny “ironic” rap, just a bunch of songs spotlighting the next generation of emcees at their best with some help from vets like The Roots, Bun B and Pusha T.
All tracks cut, mixed, chopped and arranged by yours truly for Ohword.com
Check it out, comment and spread it around.
Comment [17]
Sep 17, 2008Death Star Over San Francisco · by Rafi Kam
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Sep 12, 2008Children of Production Live · by Sach O
RHS (via Drizzle in the comments to my last post) is right. Even WHEN white people get down to Funkadelic, they usually fail to grasp the Parliament side of things. I’m going to assume this is why it’s such a bitch to find the latter group’s stuff on soulseek when all the wah-wah driven rock material is just a click away. Well I’m not having it, I’ve got a possible Beastie Boys post on the way and I need to shore up some cred. Children of Production is my favorite track from the group’s brilliant Clones of Dr. Funkenstein album. Predating everything from Kool Keith’s space+booty obsessions to X-Clan’s Original Man teachings to all things Outkast, you don’t need The Breaks to tell you that a hell of a lot of rappers owe their career to this period of George Clinton’s output. While I tend to roll my eyes when presented with mid 70’s “concept records”, as usual P-Funk puts the focus on the grooves first and lets the listener decide just how much he’s willing to invest in the narrative. Not that it’s a bad idea, if black futurism can fuel a thousand blog posts 30 years later, best believe that it made for some potent funk records.
This live version finds the group pulling back on the record’s stacked arrangement, putting the vocalists front and center and using the keyboard line and horns as icing on the cake. Of course, youtube clips can never replicate the sheer volume created by a stack of 70’s amps so maybe the instrumentation is lost in translation. Either way, a great alternate take on a real gem from the P-Funk catalogue.
Enough for now, I gotta get back to making bounce tracks out of James Brown drums.
Bonus: Dr. Funkenstein from the same show.
Comment [1]
Sep 10, 2008Cosmic Slop Live · by Sach O
I will not rest until white people crown Funkadelic king of all rock bands. Which is to say I don’t ever plan on resting considering how criminally underrated George Clinton’s excellent psych group is among acid heads. Maybe it’s because they totally ignored the pop-radio school of song-writing in favor of extended jams built around simple turns of phrase, maybe it’s because they were just too “out there” at a time when everyone was in 70’s come-down mode and getting all rootsy. Or maybe it’s because they were too black, too strong and more than a little frightening to audiences whose exposure to African-American performers was mostly limited to suit-wearing Motown acts and that one Hendrix guy (5$ on the last one, all respect due to Jimmy). Whatever the case, for all the white accolades and deification that George Clinton’s empire received in the wake of the 90’s funk revival (Flea, Shaun Ryder and Beasties: you’re welcome) they never got their due from the patchouli and hummus set.
It still boggles the mind. I’m not one for Jam Bands (Phish, it ain’t my favourite dish) but videos like this live take of Cosmic Slop make me want to take acid, fuck, wear a diaper and burn something down all at the same time; you’d think Deadheads would be all over it.
On the other hand maybe it’s for the best, I still gotta see P-Funk live and I don’t want anyone driving up ticket prices.
Comment [19]
