As a fan of hip hop I have listened to many DJ Premier productions and seen some of his interviews, from reviewing both I think the voice and feel of the music he makes matches the beliefs he stands by in spoken word. His work is inspirational in the importance of discovering and embracing underground hip hop first, because it's where the true essence of the music, talent and artform is born from. Part of the legacy of Gangstarr to me is their career example of how to stand by your beliefs in life and build upon them towards your own success and freedom of voice, no matter what obstacle or odds may exist that threaten to knock you off your path. I imagine it was no easy process to release consecutive classics on commercial labels the way they did, with albums speaking in rebellion against record companies and the corporate machine that threaten hip hop culture.
Premier has and continues to release gems independently, also bless the radio airwaves with quality material, here are a few I've listened to recently. This first one was a visit by him up at Stretch & Bobbito's show a few months before Moment of Truth was released, Premier was filling in for Stretch on this episode. I remember '98 as a period of great production output by Premier and a time when independent hip hop releases and artist careers were emerging against the mainstream hip hop machine. I still go back and find songs from this era I like from many unheard-of artists.
Killah Priest stops by to promote his Heavy Mental album and kicks some rhymes for Bobbito, Premier runs through some quality underground hip hop cuts of '98, such as Neek The Exotic's "Exotic is Raw", Tame One and Fatal Hussein's "Everyday", N.O.T.S. Click featuring Big L "Work Is Never Done" and a world premiere of "New York Straight Talk". If you manage to find radio sets by Premier or Pete Rock from this period online, expect to hear quality material spun by them every time.
DJ Premier & Killah Priest visit Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito (1997)
This next one is from an episode of the CMFamalam show, featuring Premier, Just Ice and Mike G of the Jungle Bros. There is alot of comedy in this one, Just Ice and the co-host start snappin on each other at the end like high school students, one of the great entertaining features you were bound to hear at this show. Premier and Just Ice were there to promote the independent single they had out which featured Big Daddy Kane, if you weren't buying vinyl in '98 you might have missed that one. Enjoy the interview, freestyles and the comedy in this one, it's one of the rare moments you hear these guys in a diss competition.
DJ Premier, Just Ice, Mike G interview and freestyles
4 in the morning phone call antics at the end of the show
My favorite song from the NYG'z album:
Nygz - Get 2 Tha Point - Dj Premier
and one of my favorite Premier productions of the moment: Bun B ft Royce Da 5'9 - Hood Love
Here's a look at some great artists in hip hop history just chillin on some down time, all who were on the verge of dropping some serious heat for our eardrums. You'll get a brief look at Biggie before he became a star, and was enjoying moderate success + recognition, Tek & Steele kicking a blunted freestyle and Large Professor messing with a beat on his drum machine in the studio. I sometimes imagine what the atmosphere is like behind some of my favorite artists as they take a chance in their lives with little-to-no resources to create these classics, I think this clip is a good example of that vision.
The albums Ready To Die by Biggie, Dah Shinin' by Smif N Wessun and The LP by Large Professor are important parts of my collection and at the top of my memories of loving hip hop in the mid 90's. Some albums just have a certain sound that always bring the feeling and visions of NY life, aside from just being great creative works of hip hop in general. These 3 stand as the some of the greatest examples of NY sound to me, it also marks a period where I felt very proud of NY hip hop overall, with excellent releases comin at me from all directions on the underground and mainstream.
Beanie Sigel - In The Ghetto produced by Buckwild of D.I.T.C. Another new release you need to hear from Beanie Sigel. This song is a dark vision of the ghetto to make you reflect on current America and send chills up your spine, Beanie provides visions of the hood from his eyes over some impressive Buckwild production. The piano arrangement on this beat is deep and well orchestrahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifted, dark keys feeling like a 70's drama soundtrack, while Beanie's lyrics express the depressing economic and social state of inner city America.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/645718961c645f6d/
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UIRDSRQG
http://www.myspace.com/niyat
Del featuring Souls of Mischief - Burnt: Had to take it back to the early 90's with this great posse cut, it's one from the Hiero catalog that is overlooked due to it's rareness. Every now and then I miss the sound of full, layered drum breaks and jazz loops as hip hop, plus rhymes that come of as real poetic and clever as these guys displayed on this track. It's a nice look back at the style and standard of writing/creativity MCs were on back then, such as UMCs, Zhigge, ATCQ, Fu Schnickens, Black Sheep etc.
http://www.mediafire.com/?nym30minqmn
Cal Tjader - Solar Heat (1968): One of my feel-good, summer jazz songs of the week. I love the uplifting, mellow vibraphone sound heard in Cal Tjader's music and many other jazz artists who released work in the 70's, this is a large element of the jazz-fusion sound found in Solar Heat. There is a little Latin influence when I hear this due to the rhythm and percussion work used by Ray Barreto, this sets a nice vibe and energetic pace for the song which balances well with the other traditional jazz elements presented. Bump this one on a nice summer day, that's the image I get from listening to the song and the title is also an example of this feeling.
Personnel: Cal Tjader, Gary McFarland (vibraphone); Joao Donato (organ); Mike Abene (electric piano, harpsichord); Bobby Rodriguez, Chuck Rainey (bass); Grady Tate (drums); Ray Barreto, Orestes Vilato (percussion).
Da King & I is one of those groups I wish would've stayed a little longer in the game to make a greater contribution to hip hop, if they released more than one album. 1992's Contemporary Jeep Music is a powerful work, I remember it being one of the stand-out albums of 1992 along with many other works of that time. Izzy Ice is a very talented MC who rips through this album with great rhymes and storytelling ability to the jazz-laced production of DJ Majesty. Although this is the only album they've released since 92, it stands as an example of two creative minds to combine and create great, classic hip hop music. I think this is one of the last rapper/DJ duos to come out that I can remember who had a strong creative impact in the tradition of Gangstarr, EPMD, Special Ed etc.
The video is from an episode of Rap City where they are promoting Contemporary Jeep Music, with the single and video Tears out at the time, the reggae dude who was singing the hook on the remix is there with them. Check out the mind-bending rhymes and slick metaphors of Izzy and Majesty is this clip.
Inspectah Deck shows great visuals of New York streetlife told through lyrics on this new one over a nice 80's R&B music sample of Anita Baker. This is one of those great matches of vivid poetry by a street lyricist to a smooth musical backdrop that I miss, in the tradition of Rakim (What's On Your Mind), Kane (The Day Your Mine) and Slick Rick (Teenage Love).
I grew up on many female vocalists of 80's R&B, this song is reminiscent of those days and fits nicely with his stories told. I expect the amount of musical depth presented and departure from current trends to be too much for many new hip hop listeners, but all my fans of 80's hip hop up 'til now will already know what time it is. I appreciate Deck using this type of sound today, I wish I knew who produced it! It sounds like a mix of live instrument replaying and sampled parts, especially the intro.
In receiving many new songs to my inbox off the net daily, this song by Inspectah Deck is a great and refreshing separation from current trends, a good example in carrying on traditions of sound and writing standards of great Golden Era lyricists through creativity, originality and skill.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/640925704e7421e4/
Funny interview where Deck gives his straight up, unbiased opinions on today's standards of lyricism, saying all it takes is for someone to come out combin' their sh_t to the side to be the next hottest rapper
I loved 1995 as a resident of New York and listener of the many great shows out on FM radio at the time. Everyday was another show I had to have a tape ready for, I remember going to school the next day tired from checkin all these damn shows, lol. I'm happy to find additional tapes nowadays that I might have missed and hopefully many more to turn up in the future.
The first recording is from a live set by Pete Rock from him & Marley's Pirate Radio show on WBLS. This was New Years morning, they used to come on at midnight and bring many quality songs from the underground, sometimes play some breaks or have a live guest. Listen to this for a flashback to that era as Pete takes you on a journey through songs by Ol Dirty, Smif N Wessun, Channel Live, Bush Babees and others.
Hip Hop Rare Radio Cassette Rips by cratesorjr.blogspot.com
The second is a live appearance by Group Home and their crew Brainsick Mob up at Stretch & Bobbito's show, I think this was just before Livin' Proof came out. This was another good period of the NY underground, especially with Premier's amazing creative output, I think that Group Home album is one of the heights of this period of his work.
This is a short list of some songs and other media I've had on rotation this past week. Although there is alot of hip hop on this blog, my listening varies between different genres, hopefully I can present a nice discovery and variety of something you end up playing heavily too.
Inverse: Beautiful City and Rise & Shine off the So True EP. I was very impressed by the feel good vibe of this album, it is refreshing to hear talented MCs Tunji and Toby put a strong effort like this into songs that can make you feel good about life. Great production by Cook Classics, I like songs like these which have good live instrumentation used that I can listen to and get more emotional depth in the listening experience, and at the same time as all the feel of what I know as a dope hip hop beat.
They have more music I'm still going through aside from the EP. Between the EP and other songs they've done, they show a diverse array of sound as a group but their root seems to be in the traditional hip hop sound. Listen to more Inverse here at http://www.imeem.com/inverse
Beanie Sigel featuring Freeway & Young Chris: Ready For War. New music from the Broad Street Bully album. This is one of those songs that is a displays the standard of excellence in lyrics and production in the form of street representation that is the Rocafella sound. After hearing this and knowing Bean's past work, I look forward to the new album. http://www.zshare.net/audio/637791303daa1f48/
Roy Porter: Panama. This is one of my favorite jazz songs by this great drummer from his 1975 LP called Inner Feelings. I like the sound of horns layered with a flute for the chorus, it's something I recognize instantly whenever the song comes on and adds a great feel to the rest of the song unlike anything I've heard in 70's jazz fusion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVNPALW4314
Jay-Z & Marvin Gaye: Brooklyn Soul (American Gangster LP remixed by Shuko & Gunna). This is the my favorite out of the few A.G. remix LPs so far, I think it's an outstanding effort by Shuko and Gunna using all samples by Marvin Gaye combined with instrumentation to create a very polished and compelling sound. They provide the backdrop to Jay's lyrics very well with each song while keeping some of the feel of soul music that you heard in the original album.
http://sharebee.com/69463380
Visit Shuko at www.myspace.com/shuko
I remember a number of video/radio promotional appearances by Black Moon from '92 to '93, from the release of Who Got The Props as a single and video, and the time I waited for a full length album to drop, it felt to me as if Enta Da Stage would NEVER come out! At least these appearances and performances and a few b-side songs were enough until then. Here is Black Moon performing an unreleased cut from their classic debut, with Smif N Wessun in the background. This is one of my favorite loop choices of Da Beatminerz, taking a nice dark, mysterious part from Quincy Jones' Summer In The City to create the backdrop for their visions of New York streetlife.
Along with Mobb Deep, these guys were a spark of new light to me on the NY underground scene at the time, bringing new creative vision and emotional depth to New York street lyricism through an original image, and the ability to bring about darker moods through their song writing and production.
Behind The Sample: Quincy Jones - Summer In The City
I have learned about more record stores I need to visit in recent years by discovering an address or through word of mouth online, but one new interesting source for me of stores on the internet has been from video documentaries. From watching a tour of some little-known shops that carry a vast treasure is a convenient look at the extent of the inventory in size and style of music they carry before I leave my house. If the video is well-produced enough (like those on Vimeo) I find it also to be a nice look at that part of society where the store is located. I don't just like to travel to buy vinyl, I like to come away from the trip with a new experience of life and memories, having seen a different place and people from where I live. These videos give me an idea of the type of place I'll be traveling to, so I hope to help others by me posting them here.
Q-Tip Afternoon Beat Digging from joseph monish on Vimeo.
Here is Q-Tip in a short documentary of one of my favorite stores in New York: Big City records. They carry so many rare hip hop releases I've wanted over the years it's hard to leave the store without a good stack. Such a nice mix of that and jazz, funk soul and rock in a little space. There are some nice places to eat nearby and other good vinyl shops within walking distance like A-1, Gimmie Gimmie, Good Records and Turntable Lab.
http://www.bigcityrecordsnyc.com/ Map
Groove Store Record Shop / Disquaire Paris France
Uploaded by groovestore. - Watch more music videos, in HD!
and here's Groove Store Records Shop Disquaire Paris, it looks like a nice, comfortable spot similar to Big City with a nice selection. I've checked their blog and they have good stuff, 70's jazz fusion and soul. Visit them at http://www.groove-store.com/
29 rue des Dames 75017 PARIS
M° Place de Clichy - Rome
Tel. +33 1/44 90 09 46
Mardi au Samedi 12h-19h30
(Tuesday To Saturday 12-7.30pm)
In these good times of Wu Tang Clan music emerging back in mainstream media with Blackout 2 and Raekwon, I felt like posting this freestyle from years ago. This is from a promotional run of their How High single and the movie Soundtrack for "The Show" where Red & Meth visited Funkmaster Flex at his show for a freestyle and short interview.
Enjoy this one from my collection:
The Show is an alright movie if you haven't seen already, a behind the scenes look at some classic artists of the mid 90's, Biggie, Onyx, Wu, Treach & others. The soundtrack had a few bangers that I remember, standouts such as Onyx "Live", the original, darker version of How High, Mary J. Blige "Every Day It Rains" and that Q-Tip solo song "Glamour & Glitz", .
I think you people who were in high school and remember radio in the mid 90's will like hearing this, to me it marks a special period of hip hop representation on New York radio for the amount of good shows that were out at the time. Check for other blogs that post a wealth of material from this era here:
This is a short piece from a show called The Box which aired in NY in the early 90's, this was when Erick was about to release his first solo album No Pressure, and Dare Iz A Darkside hadn't come out yet. I remember at this point being uncertain what was to come from individual members of the Hit Squad after the breakup of EPMD, years later I can look back and say these two have done a good, consistent job in releasing quality work on their own.
Erick Sermon speaks about his production company he had with Redman (E.A.R., Erick & Reggie) and goes in depth behind the meaning of "Crossover" as it relates to artists in the hip hop industry. I like to go back and hear artists predict truths about the industry that are still relevant today, back then.
EPMD Crossover remix 1992
Erick Sermon - Rock The House (unreleased from No Pressure) 1993
This is one of many great appearances by Ol' Dirty during his promotional run months before his crazy first solo album release, Return To The 36 Chambers. It was a period I remember where he was most entertaining: straight off the streets and hungry for success without fear of expressing himself through comedy or wild inner frustration. Be sure to check YouTube for a number of videos of him from this era, his features on MTV News were hilarious.
Members of Brooklyn Zu 12 0' Clock and Buddha Monk join Stretch & Bobbito in this freestyle session back in 1995 when Mobb Deep's Shook Ones Pt. 2 instrumental was inescapable on the underground airwaves. Enjoy!
http://www.zshare.net/audio/636261467925a84a/
Ol' Dirty & Brooklyn Zu on 89.9FM
http://www.zshare.net/audio/636261467925a84a/
Visit brooklynzu.com for information on their 2008 album produced by RZA and others, bios, and more music
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