"Alright" is featured on Starlito's newest release, Renaissance Gangster, which you can buy here. I did. I recommend you do, too.
All 11 songs were produced by DJ Burn One and though not every beat fits Starlito as perfectly as "Alright", many come close. I love how Starlito's flow has evolved into a style of rapping so low-key and conversational it's almost not rapping, much like late-period Mac Dre.
Related stuff:
Kalefa Sanneh's 2008 NYT piece on Starlito's stalled career is poignant for at least two reasons.
Casual's one of my favorite Oakland rappers. He hasn't put out an album since 2005, but lately he's stayed busy with YouTube videos.
His recent clips are all lo-fi flip-cam things. In some, he raps. In some, he studies Egyptology. In a couple, he does both.
Although my eyes and ears kinda glaze over when he gets into a lot of the Kemetic stuff, I find it charming somehow-- I guess I'm interested in the fact that he's interested in the stuff. It's cool to see a gifted rapper who's on some totally different shit from every other rapper out.
Here's a sampling of some of my favorites.
Rapping over Three 6 Mafia's "Ridin' Spinners":
With weights, guns and subtitled commentary:
Nothing but a song, but I really like the song, "N.A.G.A.S.":
Rocking kufis, rapping about the Town, filming the cops filming him:
Rapping over crazy 8-bit beats:
Driving, punchlines:
Ancient Egyptian vocab:
Favorite line: "But I don't really know how to say that, though."
Watching all the clips inspired me to rip Casual's cassette-only Meanwhile... album. This is one of my favorite songs from that. I'm guessing on the title.
2 Busy Saying Yeah - Why you gotta keep bringing up old hits?
In this episode I play and talk about some of my favorite songs that got reissued in 2009. The bulk of it is soul and funk, although there's also disco, psych, gospel, rap and weird foreign hybrids of many of the aforementioned styles.
Most of the selections are from releases that are legitimately licensed and carefully assembled, with proper mastering, handsome packaging and thoughtful annotations. I have a lot of respect for those who take the time and effort to do it right. I hope you support them so that they can continue the work that they do.
1. Man: “And In the Beginning” Revelation 2. Little Francisco Greaves: “Moving-Grooving” V/A - Panamá! 3: Calypso Panameño, Guajira Jazz & Cúmbia Típica on the Isthmus 1960-75 3. The Blue Rhythm Combo: “Take the Funky Feeling” V/A - Tropical Funk Experience 4. Kukumbas: “Respect” V/A - Psych Funk 101 5. Chocolate Snow: “Inflation” V/A - Eccentric Soul: Smart's Palace 6. Lyman Woodard Organization: “On Your Mind” Saturday Night Special 7. Nite-Liters: “Valdez In the Country” A-Nal-Y-Sis 8. Demon Fuzz: “Disillusioned” Afreaka! 9. The Pretty Things: “You Might Even Say” Philippe Debarge 10. P.E. Hewitt Jazz Ensemble: “Bada Que Bash” V/A - Spiritual Jazz - Esoteric, Modal + Deep Jazz From the Underground 1968-77 11. Lizzy Mercier Descloux: “Hard-Boiled Babe” V/A - Ze 30 - Ze Records Story 1979-2009 12. Gichy Dan's Beachwood No. 9: “On a Day Like Today” (Todd Terje's Friendly Children Edit) V/A - ZEVolution: ZE Records Re-Edited 13. Chemise: “She Can't Love You” V/A - DJ Spinna Presents the Boogie Back: Post Disco Club Jams 14. Cubie Burke: “Down For Double” [JM After-Session M&M Mix] V/A - John Morales - The M&M Mixes 15. Herman's Rocket: “Hanged in the Universe” V/A - Jean-Pierre Massiera - Psychoses Discoïd (1976-1981) 16. Chorus Reverendus: “Dans Son Euphorie” V/A - Wizzz! Psychorama Français 1966-70 17. Apostles of Music: “Wade In the Water” V/A - Local Customs: Downriver Revival 18. The Metros: “Since I Found My Baby” Sweetest One 19. Willie Hutch: “A Love That's Worth Havin'” Soul Portrait 20. Ronnie McNeir: “In Summertime” Ronnie McNeir 21. Andrew Brown: “You Made Me Suffer” V/A - Light: On the South Side 22. Sugar Pie DeSanto: “Use What You Got” V/A - Go Go Power • The Complete Chess Singles 1961-1966 23. The Daughters of Eve: “Help Me Boy” V/A - 2131 South Michigan Avenue: 60s Garage & Psychedelia From U.S.A. & Destination Records 24. Brigitte Fontaine: “Il Pleut“ V/A - Dirty French Psychedelics 25. 24-Carat Black: “I Want to Make Up” Gone: The Promises of Yesterday 26. Sensational Saints: “How Great Thou Art” V/A - Forge Your Own Chains 27. Amazing Farmer Singers of Chicago: “I Got a Telephone In My Bosom” V/A - Fire In My Bones: Raw Rare + Otherworldly African-American Gospel (1944-2007) 28. The Relatives: “Don't Let Me Fall” Don't Let Me Fall 29. John Heartsman & Circles: “Up From Down” Music of My Heart 30. Azambuja & CIA: “Tema De Azambuja” V/A - Black Rio 2: Original Samba Soul 1968-1981 31. Tafo: “Karye Pyar” feat. Nahid Akhtar V/A - The Sound of Wonder! 32. The Animated Egg: “Sock It My Way” Guitar Freakout 33. Natural Elements: “Tri-Boro” 1999 34. Sport "G" & Mastermind: “Live” V/A - Random Rap 35. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou: “Koutoulié” The Vodoun Effect - Funk & Sato From Benin's Obscure Labels 1972-1975
I just got around to listening all the way through the homie DJ B.Cause's tribute to Roger Troutman, Playin' Kinda Ruff: The Troutman Legacy and it's a really enjoyable listen.
Although I know and love most of Roger and Zapp's hits, for whatever reason I never listened to much beyond the first 2-3 LPs. Josh's mix draws together all of the much-played, much-sampled classics, some of the rap songs that stem from them and a whole lot of other stuff you probably haven't heard, from pre-fame recordings with the Human Body to oddball collaborations from the 90s. Josh is an incredibly skilled DJ and knows his way around a multi-track, so he's able to make all kinds of transitions that I would never attempt sound smooth and natural.
Speaking of Roger, a recent Soulstrut post reminded me of this, which is one of my favorite performances by him:
Vontel: "4 My Homiez" feat. Roger Troutman (Fo' Life, 1998)
Vontel's an Arizona rapper. The album this is drawn from was partly produced by Battlecat, but this track was produced by Dre LeSean and Robert "The Professor" Anderson. Troutman's ad-libs are gorgeous.
This is not a great record, but it's an important one-- I'm fairly certain it was the very first rap record from the West Coast. Both tracks are traditional toasts dressed up with a little blues/funk backing. It's really derivative of the style of Rudy Ray Moore, who recorded a lot of traditional toasts, sometimes also with a beat. I'd be curious to know if Too $hort heard this, since it anticipates both his nasty subject matter and his spelling, although not his musical or lyrical style.
Given the way pop culture seems to constantly get more vulgar, I'm always a little surprised when I hear nasty lyrics that predate $hort, 2 Live Crew, etc. I guess songs like that were always being written and performed, if not necessarily circulated in the mainstream.
This recording, from 1964, has some of the filthiest, most vicious lyrics I've ever heard:
The recording comes from an album called Get Your Ass in the Water and Swim Like Me!: Narrative Poetry from Black Oral Tradition, which was compiled by Bruce Jackson as a companion to his 1974 book of the same name. Most of the recordings were made in Texas state prisons; this one is credited only to a man named Henry on the Ramsey, Texas prison farm. The last minute or so gives me chills; it's colder than even anything Suga Free ever recorded.
Since my last new rap show back in November there's been a slew of major rap albums released, as well as some great indie and mixtape stuff. I've sifted through as much as I could find time to listen to and gathered some gems.
It's a diverse selection of songs, covering Oakland, Alabama, Tennessee, New York, Louisiana, Houston, Atlanta, D.C., Virginia Beach and other places, and featuring everyone from buzz favorites to past-their-sell-date superstars. A disproportionate share of the music comes from Huntsville, Alabama, but that's just because they've been making a disproportionate amount of great rap music. Enjoy.
1. Yelawolf: Box Chevy Pt. 3 feat. Rittz 2. Juicy J & Project Pat: Ike Turner Pimpin' feat. Slim Thug & New Generation 3. MJG: Dope Track 4. Webbie: Money Getting Taller feat. Pimp C & Lil Phat 5. G-Side: This Is Life 6. DJ Paul: Hi Way (I'm Gone) 7. Mia X: Grown Woman Shit 8. R. Kelly: Put Some Money On It feat. Rick Ross 9. Whitefolkz: Take a Picture 10. Wyld Money: G-Spot (Remix) feat. Gucci Mane 11. Korleon: Ray Charles feat. Bohagon 12. Mac Shawn: And You Do Know That 13. Drag-On: Money feat. Neo Da Matrix 14. Proton: Fuck the Economy 15. T-Boz: Get It Get It feat. Yung Joc & Too $hort 16. Tabi Bonney: Duhh 17. Souls of Mischief: Fourmation 18. Mos Def: 24 Hour Karate School 19. Kanye West: I'm So Appalled 20. Freeway & Jake One: Know What I Mean 21. G-Mane: 5th Wheel feat. Spyda, PT & Bentley 22. Z-Ro: Bottom to the Top feat. Mike D 23. RapTite: That's My Shit 24. J. Stalin: Pot of Gold feat. Mistah FAB & Kaz Kyzah 25. Messy Marv & DJ Fresh: In My Bloodline feat. J-Stalin, D-Lo & J-Mo 26. The Knux: Fuck You 27. Josie Stingray: Gotta Get It 28. Natural Elements: Off Beat Bop 29. Clipse: Counseling feat. Nicole Hurst 30. Jay Electronica: Glass Everywhere (Act I Encore) 31. Redman: Coc Back 32. OJ Da Juiceman: Frank Sinatra 33. Lil Jon: All the Way Crunked Up feat. Pastor Troy & Waka Flocka 34. Project Pat: Burglar Bars feat. OJ Da Juiceman 35. Cam'ron: Ooh Baby feat. Vado 36. 50 Cent: Strong Enough 37. Black C: Stay With Me feat. Hermanata 38. Betta Half: Cruisen 39. G-Side: In the Rain feat. Bentley 40. L.E.$.: Sittin' Low 41. Starlito: Magic Carpet Ride 42. Dude 'N Nem: McDonalds
Statistical shits & giggles
Songs by artists who were more popular in the 1990s: 12 Songs from the Bay: 6 Songs from New York: 6 Songs from Huntsville: 5 Songs from Atlanta: 5 Songs from Memphis: 4 Songs ripped from videos: 3 Songs by artists from New Orleans who don't sound like they're from New Orleans: 2 Songs featuring artists who were platinum in the 1980s: 1
I spent part of the morning checking out Starlito a/k/a All Star's latest free album, the really enjoyable I Still Love You: Live from the Back of the Class. (Download here.)
I like Starlito's sleepy flow, he's a good lyricist and he chooses beats well. It's just good rap music.
The album was assembled by Atlanta's DJ Burn One, who runs the excellent BLVD ST blog, which rides about as hard as anybody for country rap tunes. Burn One has put together a number of great unmixed artist mixtapes this year, like KD's Soul Inn and G-Mane's Sunday on Da Porch and Smoke Some Kill.
He has also has made some of my favorite beats this year under his production alias, Mick Vegas, producing for rappers like G-Side, KD, Pill and P.Dukes. A lot of his productions are sample-based and sound pretty simple, but he chooses great loops and hooks them up well-- they frequently send me running over to my record room to track down a song I haven't listened to in way too long.
Case in point, this one from G-Mane's recent Sunday on Da Porch, which was entirely produced by Mick Vegas:
I recognized the Hi Records snare sound but couldn't remember who the artist was, which gave me a great excuse to revisit some records from Ann Peebles, O.V. Wright, etc. until I heard what I was looking for:
BTW, I'm super-juiced for the Numero Group's forthcoming 4-CD/6-LP anthology of Syl Johnson's 1959-1972 output. Apparently they've got 20 unreleased songs and I trust the booklet, packaging, etc. will be up to their usual, stellar standards.
(Still available for free download here and here!)
Anyhow, Aye Jay is a pretty well-connected guy and he started offering Cohen's watercolors to various art world friends for further embellishment--art stars like Shepard Fairey, Barry McGee, Frank Kozik, Matt Loomis, David Choe and lots more took Cohen's pictures and dressed them up with further layers of words, images, character, colors, etc.
A lot of the resulting pictures are pretty great but my favorite part is usually Cohen's interpretations of what the new pictures represent in the blurbs that accompany some of them. While these comments could easily succumb to cuteness or preciousness, many are perceptive and I find them endearing because they remind me a little bit of what it was like to be a kid and to constantly try and make sense of the world from whatever fragments of information drifted down to me.
To choose one more or less at random (i.e., I was able to scan this one in full without messing up the binding):
I take it that Cohen's orginal drawing is the colorful part; the remainder of the picture was contributed by Brent Rollins, who designed Ego Trip and too many great album covers to mention. Cohen's blurb beneath reads: "'Big up Cohen.' What does that mean? Respect? Respect Cohen? Hmmm... this one makes me think it is raining crayons. An umbrella is needed. Yeah, an umbrella. Just a regular umbrella is all that is needed. I am the person holding the umbrella-- I did not get damaged. I am the only one who has not gotten damaged yet." I hope he never does.
So, uh, not really the same thing, but sort of the same thing, The Rest Is Up to You got me thinking about songs where one artist has taken another person's music unaltered and just layered something new on top. These were the three that came to me off the bat:
Ice-T: "Soul On Ice" (Sire, 1988)
"Hustler's Convention" + "Harlem Buck Street Dance" = the best.
Ghostface Killah: "Holla" (Def Jam, 2004)
Ghostface Killah: "Big Girl" (Def Jam, 2006)
When I first heard that Ghost was releasing an R&B album, Wizard of Poetry, I was halfway hoping it would be along the lines of these.
This week's 2 Busy Saying Yeah is a mix of 38 Christmas songs, mostly rap, but with some soul, too.
As a genre, Christmas releases tend toward the superficial, the exploitative, the quick cash-in, but they can be pretty entertaining. This week I play a lot of seasonal-themed crap and also some of my favorite Christmas songs.
The rap portion of the show (roughly the first 70 minutes) features a lot of stuff I enjoy because it is so clearly throwaway product-- strip-club songs dressed up with tinsel (the Ying Yang Twins x2!), Xmas trees flocked with filth (Jiggie Gee), perfunctory remakes (Jim Jones, H-Town) and stuff that's only connected to the holiday in the most arbitrary way (the Jacka & Husalah). In many of the songs, the disconnect is gleeful.
The latter half of the show features some more traditional holiday music. There are plenty more throwaways, many of which nonetheless hit a nerve, like the Miracles' gorgeous take on "Merry Gentlemen", Sun Ra's goofy doowop or James Brown's "Let's Unite the World at Christmas", a song that never fails to put me in a more benevolent mood.
1. Run DMC: Christmas In Hollis 2. Jim Jones: Ballin' On Xmas 3. Ying Yang Twins: Deck Da Club 4. Hard Call Xmas: My Christmas Bells 5. B-Boy All Stars: B-Boy Christmas Shout Outs 6. Dana Dane: Dana Dane Is Coming to Town 7. C-Murder & Master P: Christmas In Da Ghetto 8. Kam: Holiday Madness 9. Poison Clan: Christmas Spliff 10. The Treacherous Three: Xmas Rap feat. Doug E. Fresh 11. Kurtis Blow: Christmas Rappin' 12. Super Jay: Santa's Rap Party 13. Jiggie Gee: Christmas Fuckin' Day 14. Juice Crew All Stars: Cold Chillin' Christmas feat. Big Daddy Kane, Roxanne Shante, MC Shan & Fly Ty 15. Sweet Tee: Let the Jingle Bells Rock 16. K-Nock: Where Dey At Yo! feat. 24-K 17. Snoop Dogg: How We Kick It On Christmas feat. Kokane 18. The Cold Crew: Rappin' Christmas 19. Audio Two: Christmas Rhymin’ 20. Outkast: Player's Ball 21. Trick Daddy: Ain't No Santa 22. Ghostface Killah: Ghostface X-mas 23. Ying Yang Twins: Carol of Da Bellz 24. Snoop Doggy Dogg: Santa Claus Goes Straight to the Ghetto feat. Bad A$$, Daz, Nate Dogg & Tray Dee 25. The Jacka & Husalah: Halloween Christmas Gremlins 26. The Jackson 5: Christmas Won't Be the Same 27. Marvin Gaye: Purple Snowflakes 28. James Brown: I'm Your Christmas Friend, Don't Be Hungry 29. James Brown: Hey America 30. James Brown: Christmas Is Love 31. Chocolate Snow: Let Me Be Your Christmas Toy 32. The Emotions: What Do the Lonely Do at Christmas? 33. Lou Rawls: Christmas Will Really Be Christmas 34. Stevie Wonder: What Christmas Means to Me 35. Sun Ra: It's Christmas Time 36. James Brown: Let's Unite the World at Christmas 37. Smokey Robinson & the Miracles: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen 38. H-Town: Knockin’ Boots For Christmas
Natural Elements is one of my favorite rap groups simply on the strength of a half-dozen mid- to late-90s 12"s and an EP. I was geeked to walk into the record store yesterday and see that after 15 years, they finally have a full-length album out:
1999 isn't their shelved Tommy Boy album, although it features many of the better tracks from it. It also features both sides of their Dolo single, their song from the Nervous comp, a great posse cut from a Mr. Voodoo 12" and a bunch of unreleased tracks. The credits say that everything was recorded in 1999, but a few of the tracks were released before then and a few sound like they might be more recent.
I hope it sells well enough that they release more material. There's a ton of great tracks Natural Elements did that still have never seen a legitimate CD or digital release, like the 2Face 12", Mr. Voodoo's 12"s, L-Swift's 12", the Fortress EP or this, which I would love to have a decent-sounding version of:
Here are a couple of rap covers that also would have made nice additions to 1999. I think the first was done as a promo for Stretch & Bobbito; although it has appeared on bootleg vinyl, every version I've heard sounds like a radio rip. The latter actually made it to a legit promo 12".
I'm really late in doing this but I've been meaning to offer big thanks to all who made my recent trip to NYC such a blast, including those who hosted me (Chairman Mao, mOma, Stimulus, Jared Boxx, Old Chris, Pablo & the rest of the Lost & Found crew, Radio Rios, Oskar Mann & the Never Not Working crew), those who passed through gigs (Amir, Jessica from Spectre, David Griffiths, Dave Tompkins, Mr. Finewine, Jonny Paychecks, Brian Coleman and everyone else) and, last and first, DJ Eleven, who is the most generous host and friend anyone could ask for.
I meant to key this post to Thanksgiving but got caught up actually celebrating Thanksgiving and then got sidetracked trying to find a copy of a record I was pretty sure I had stashed somewhere but evidently don't, Big Boe Melvin's version of "Thank You (Falletin' Me Be Mice Elf Agin)".
Anyhow, here's another version that's not really well-known. Aside from Sly's own remake, which on some days is my favorite song ever, this is about as close to good as covers of "Thank You" get:
When I was in NYC I picked this 12" up at Big City Records because the b-side is hilarious, but this is kind of a grower. The beat and Kangol-inspired flow are kind of whatever but it got me thinking about rarely rap songs offer any kind of realistic perspective on romance and wondering if the genre is somehow just fundamentally not engineered to do that.
December 4, 2007 was going to be about the best day ever: my lady and I had fancy reservations to celebrate our first 6 months together, I had gamed my Netflix queue to get the first 3 discs of Season 4 of The Wire in the mail and two of my favorite rappers had albums coming out (Ghostface's Fishscale and Scarface's Made).
That morning I turned on the computer and saw that Pimp C had died and it knocked me sideways. The news hit me harder than most rap deaths because it was so unexpected and it seemed so unfair.
I've been meaning to do some kind of tribute mix ever since. A few days after Pimp C passed, I devoted a full KALX show to his music, but due to technical constraints, time constraints and the goddamn FCC, it wasn't what I wanted it to be. This is.
This week's show is not a best of or a greatest hits, it's just a mix of some of my favorite songs featuring Pimp C. I spent a fair amount of time on sequencing but mixed it live, so pardon me if it's occasionally choppy. Also, to keep the mix short and maintain the focus I had to omit a ton of great verses by Bun B-- don't forget him.
1. One Day (UGK) 2. Playaz from the South (UGK) 3. Suicide Doors (David Banner) 4. Like That (Remix) (UGK) 5. Pourin' Up (Pimp C) 6. Chunk Up the Deuce (Lil Keke) 7. Sippin' On Some Syrup (Three 6 Mafia) 8. The Game Belongs to Me (UGK) 9. Big Pimpin' (Jay-Z) 10. Gravy (UGK) 11. Something Good (UGK) 12. Pregnant Pussy (UGK) 13. I Left It Wet for You (UGK) 14. Use Me Up (UGK) 15. I'sa Playa feat. Bun B (Pimp C) 16. Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You) feat. Outkast (UGK) 17. What Means the World to You RMX feat. Trina (Cam’ron) 18. I'm In Love With a Stripper RMX feat. Paul Wall (T-Pain) 19. Cause I'm a Playa (Project Pat) 20. 3 in the Mornin feat. DJ Screw (UGK) 21. I'm So Bad (UGK) 22. Freaky Deaky (Willie D) 23. Swang (Trae) 24. It's Supposed to Bubble (UGK) 25. Ridin' Dirty (UGK) 26. Swishas & Erb (UGK) 27. Comin' Up (Pimp C) 28. Ain't That a Bitch feat. Devin the Dude (UGK) 29. Havin Thangs (Big Mike) 30. Havin' Thangs feat. Big Mike (Pimp C) 31. Let Me See It (UGK) 32. Dirty Money (UGK) 33. Da Game Been Good to Me (UGK) 34. Get Crunk (Crooked Lettaz) 35. Murder Man Dance (Spice 1) 36. A Thin Line (Pimp C) 37. Cocaine in the Back of the Ride (UGK) 38. Talkin Smart (Project Pat) 39. Front, Back & Side to Side (UGK) 40. Used to Be feat. E-40 & B Legit (UGK) 41. Fuck You (Lil Boosie) 42. Choppin' Blades (UGK) 43. Murder (UGK) 44. Pocket Full of Stones (Port Arthur Remix) (UGK) 45. Overstand Me (Pimp C) 46. Look at Me (UGK) 47. I Don't Owe U feat. Ronnie Spencer (918) 48. Akickdoe! (C-Murder) 49. Family Affair (UGK) 50. Holdin’ Na (UGK) 51. Knockin Doors Down (Pimp C) 52. Bumpin’ My Music feat. Project Pat (Ray Cash) 53. They Down With Us (Scarface) 54. Pinky Ring (UGK) 55. Heaven (UGK) 56. I Miss My Homies feat. Silkk the Shocker (Master P)
Back to funk, freak the funk, hype the funk, swipe the funk and all that junk
Dr. Dre: "Puffin' On Blunts & Drankin' Tanqueray" (Death Row, 1993)
This long-unreleased video has been floating around for about a week but I'm still trying to process it.
I don't know which is most astonishing to me: that Dre looks even more awkward than his ad-libs sound, that Lady of Rage is wearing jeans at rib-height, that Daz waves around two different guns, that Kurupt looks to be about 15 or the possibility that a lot more stuff like this exists and might actually see a release. (Please, please let there be an unreleased DJ Quik album in better shape than the boot from a few years ago.)
The "Puffin' Blunts" beat always sounded to me like it was a built around an interpolation of this single, although who knows since this track was a little below the radar back then:
Robert Lowe: "Back to Funk" (Eastbound, 1974)
I've embedded the song but not posted a download link because the song is in print on Searching for Soul, the excellent Michigan soul and funk compilation that Scott Craig compiled for Luv 'n Haight a few years ago. The flip side is not commercially available, so you can have that one.
This week's 2 Busy Saying Yeah is a mix of 37 new songs that remind me why I love rap music-- an ATL ex-stripper goes ballistic, Huntsville does what it does, a few old favorites show they can still rip, 50 Cent and Plies drop songs I can't front on and I finally stop sleeping on Curren$y and play four of his songs. In short, just another week of 2 Busy Saying Yeah.
1. DJ Benzi: Pop Them Thangs feat. Donnis
2. Brisco: Thinking to Myself feat. Lil Wayne
3. Curren$y: The Jets Son feat. Dee Low & Jean LaPhare
4. Young Dro: Don’t Know Y’all feat. Yung L.A.
5. Pill: Coastin’
6. All Star: Weed Smoker Music
7. WarrenJae: Sleep feat. Playboy Trae
8. Gucci Mane: Follow Me
9. Z-Ro: Rollin’ On Swangas feat. C-Ward
10. Freddie Gibbs: Iodine Poison
11. G-Side: I Remember
12. B.o.B: Paper Chase
13. Aisha Sekhmet: White Man’s Bitch
14. 50 Cent: So Disresepectful
15. Beanie Sigel: All For It
16. T.D.: Going Off 2009 feat. Peedi Crakk
17. Fashawn: Bo Jackson feat. Exile
18. DoDat: Hot Spitter
19. De La Soul: La La La
20. Phil Adé: Try Out
21. KD: Someday
22. Curren$y: 16 Switches
23. Hit Boy: Ahh Shyt feat. Chase N Cashe
24. Kurupt: Bacon & Eggs
25. A.P.B.: Betta Chick
26. Del the Funky Homosapien & Tame One: Special
27. G-Side: My Aura feat. PT of Untamed
28. GLC: Let the Pimpin Commence feat. Cory Mo & Mistah F.A.B.
29. Curren$y: The Seventies
30. Jay Electronica: Suckas
31. Sean Falyon: Wonderful Life feat. Playboy Tre & Scar
32. Sandman: Here & Now
33. Plies: The Letter
34. Natureboy Rowe: Thanking Thowed
35. Bentley: Where I’m Comin From
36. Fly Gypsy: 2 Step
37. Curren$y: Rapper Weed
After a great 8 days in NYC, I've been trying to catch up on life and soaking up G-Side's excellent, free new album, the Huntsville International Project.
G-Side is two rappers, ST 2 Lettaz and Yung Clova. They're from Huntsville, Alabama and part of the same scene as the PRGz, Mali Boi, Jhi-Ali, Jackie Chain, etc. that was showcased on last year's excellent Fear & Loathing in Hunts Vegas.
Like those artists, G-Side's music has a really distinct feel to it-- melodic, heartfelt and usually slow. I think of it as sounding like UGK minus the blues, a more blissed-out Organized Noize or maybe like Three 6 Mafia without Satan and Tiesto.
Regardless, the beats (mostly by Block Beattaz, but with a few from Mick Vegas, Bossman and others) are strong throughout and G-Side hold their own lyrically. They don't entirely escape trap, strap or rap riches cliches but they mostly come across as the kind of thoughtful, down-to-earth underdogs you'd want to root for. It's good-ass rap music.
G-Side: "Bandz" feat. DJ Cunta (Slow Motion Soundz, 2009)
1. Intro – Rob Breezy 2. Huntsville International ft Sound of Silence(produced by Block Beattaz) 3. So Gone (produced by L-Don) 4. What It’s All About (produced by Johnny Juliano) 5. Bandz ft DJ Cunta (produced by Bossman) 6. Paradise (produced by Mick Vegas) 7. Matthew Africa Speaks 8. Aura ft. P.T. (produced by Mick Vegas) 9. College Chicks (produced by Block Beattaz) 10. This Groove ft. P.H. (produced by Block Beattaz) 11. Feel The ft 6 Tre Gangsta and AC (produced by Block Beattaz) 12. Who’s Hood? Ft Yelawolf (produced by Block Beattaz) 13. This is Life (produced by P.T.) 14. In the Rain ft Bentley (produced by Block Beattaz) 15. Rising Sun ft Kristmas (produced by Block Beattaz) 16. So Wonderful ft Chrystal Carr, G-Mane, and SupaKing (produced by Block Beattaz)
By the way, track 7 is a lengthy excerpt from one of my 2 Busy Saying Yeah shows, where I blather about Huntsville for eons longer than I would have if I thought it would ever crop up on somebody's album. I'm flattered to be associated with G-Side's album but bummed to be responsible for the dullest 90 seconds of their discography.
The other day I opened the mailbox and was geeked to find an advance promo of Edan's new Echo Party CD. I admire a lot of Edan's previous releases both as a rapper (Primitive Plus, Beauty & the Beat) and DJ (Fast Rap, Sound of the Funky Drummer, his radio show), but this is something else altogether.
Echo Party is a 29-minute mastermix of dozens or maybe hundreds of late 70s/early 80s lo-fi disco and disco rap tracks drawn from the catalogs of labels like P&P, Paul Winley, Chocolate Star, Sound of New York, etc. Apparently Edan got access to everything licensed by Traffic and, in some cases, multi-tracks.
He then proceeded to freak the shit out of everything, with liberal use of vintage echo, sampler, keyboards, and a lot of stuff I wouldn't know to recognize. (Every song and effect he used and what he did with them is described in the liner notes to the full CD release-- I suspect I could spend a long time nerding out on those notes.) My head hurts just visualizing the work that went into this.
I usually hate mastermixes and cut-and-paste records-- even Double Dee & Steinski's lessons really have never moved me-- but this is mind-blowing. It's so vast, so detailed and weird that it makes me feel like a really shitty, lazy DJ.
Stones Throw has pre-orders on limited-press vinyl with custom sleeves by Edan. According to their site, CDs are already sold out. I really, really recommend it.
Just in time for Halloween, the homeboy DJ Day and Exile got busy with "Thriller" last night at the Root Down in LA:
Their live routines are incredible.
Here's another from a few months back in which they go in on D-Train's "You're the One for Me":
Incidentally, Exile's most recent album, Radio, is very good. The concept is wild-- he made an entire album out of sounds sampled from the radio (voices, static, buzz, tones, instruments, etc.)-- and the execution is even better. I prefer it to a lot of the other more-hyped dublab stuff from L.A.
He also produced the entirety of Fashawn's Boy Meets World, which I bought the other day but haven't got around to digesting yet. Fashawn's free Alchemist-produced mixtape was pretty enjoyable (Leon Ware! Jackson Sisters! Sammy Nestico! etc.!).
A few months ago my friends over at Southern Hospitality approached me about contributing to their Twelve Twelves series, a weekly showcase of live, vinyl-only mixes, each comprised of 12 12" singles.
I said "yes" right away but it took me a while to actually get something together-- I pulled a lot of records and then wrestled with what to include, before settling on twelve songs spanning 1987-2007. (Unless I'm mistaken, I've bought exactly two new rap 12"s in the past 2 years-- the one I put in the mix and this.) About half of the mix is from the Bay Area and about half of it sounds like "Funky Worm" and about 98% of it is great rap music.
In keeping with Southern Hospitality's steez I won't provide a track listing, just a picture with the covers of the 12"s. (Scanning the 8 previous installments I can say my contribution is by far the least visually interesting one; the downside of getting lots of free 12"s in the 90s is owning lots of generic sleeves instead of picture sleeves.)
You can get the mix free here. While there, check out other installments in the series from folks like DJ Ayres, Rob Breezy, DJ Dub and Superix. You also ought to soak up some of the great new selections they feature from Huntsville, the Bay Area and elsewhere.
Oh, and, if this mix had been done for a series called Thirteen Twelves, it would have ended with this:
Flipping "Assembly Line" or "Dance to the Drummer's Beat" is pretty much gonna make me love any record. Flipping both at the same time with the latter on slow? Game over.
For the latest installment of 2 Busy Saying Yeah I tried to catch up with a backlog of new rap music I've been listening to. People whine about where rap is now but if you pay attention there's a lot that's worthwhile. In this show I play some of my current favorites plus a couple older things that wormed their way into the mix. Oh, also, I talk a lot more than I have been doing lately.
1. Big Boi: Shine Blockas feat. Gucci Mane
2. Illie: Oh Noo
3. Phat Mob: Wrong Number
4. Raekwon: Ason Jones
5. Spank Pops: Beautiful Noise
6. Dizzee Rascal: Chillin' Wiv Da Man Dem
7. Frank Nitt: L.O.V.E. feat. DJ Quik & J. Black
8. Beanie Sigel: Don't Stop feat. Snoop Dogg
9. People Under the Stairs: Trippin' at the Disco [DJ Day RMX]
10. Kurupt: I'm One feat. Terrace Martin
11. Dam Funk: Hood Pass Intact
12. Meek Mill: Make 'Em Say
13. 5th Ward Weebie: Bend It Ova
14. Peedi Crakk: Smile (You Mad)
15. The Game: I'm So Wavy
16. Ghostface Killah: Guest House feat. Fabolous
17. G-Side: Be There
18. DJ Cunta: Bands on My Wrist
19. Rudi Deville: Yea Tall
20. SwagZilla & Stackamil: Wut2dayiz?
21. Mr. Marcellus: Think It Over feat. ST 2 Lettaz
22. Stanza: Amilliondollars
23. Big Boi: Fo Yo Sorrows feat. Too $hort & George Clinton
24. Remi: Phone Codes
25. Lil King: Bet She Can't Do It
26. Jay Electronica: Exhibit A (Transformations)
27. Mistah F.A.B.: Follow Me
28. Rhymefest: Angry Black Man feat. Lil Jon
29. Mac Meezy: New Boy (Cool Kid Flow)
30. Roach Gigz: Gassin' Em
31. Sam Bostic: Get Away feat. E-40
I skipped Sunday's VH1 Hip Honors show but understand there was a lot of hoopla about Def Jam's 25th anniversary. Today I was looking at this commemoration of Def Jam's 10th anniversary and getting misty:
This slipmat commemorates so many timeless Def Jam artists: 116, Mokenstef, Code 3, Da 5 Footaz, DG, Hostyle, Kali Ranks, Dos of Soul, Mel-Low, Shug, Josiah, and Interstate to name just some of the more prominent ones. All of them made records that changed each and every one of our lives forever. Thanks for the memories, Def Jam-- you're the best.
Just when I thought I was done with gangsta rap for a little while, I opened my mailbox to find this bomb:
Sac: Nine One Classix is the latest mix from r8r & L-Wood, who previously did a great San Francisco mix that I posted about, as well as a few I didn't (i.e., two mix CDs devoted to Northern Cali cassette-only rap and one collecting Kansas City rap).
Sacramento occupies a weird position in relation to the Bay Area rap scene. It's far enough from the Bay to seem really remote (90 minutes from SF and Oakland, about 60 minutes from Vallejo), but also close enough to share a lot of similarities and connections. As someone put it before, Sacramento might not be the Bay, but it's also not not the Bay.
Bay Area mobb music heavily influenced the sound of 90s Sacramento rap-- there are lots of slow tempos, sinister synthesizer basslines, some 80s R&B interpolations and very little sampling-- but lyrically, Sacramento rap seems a little darker. There's more shooting, less pimping and partying.
The mix seems really comprehensive. It's got tracks from Sac's bigger names, like Brotha Lynch Hung, C-Bo, Marvaless & X-Raided, but also 60 tracks from 58 other artists, almost all of whom were new to me. Even so, the selections are high quality throughout. It's the kind of mix that makes me a little nuts because I wind up wondering "if someone can pull together this much good stuff I've never heard from just this one little micro-genre, how much other great music is out there that I will never hear?"
Here are two excerpts from the mix:
r8r & L-Wood: Sac: Nine One Classix Disc 1 Sampler (Double J Promotions, 2009)
r8r & L-Wood: Sac: Nine One Classix Disc 2 Sampler (Double J Promotions, 2009)
You can also download both excerpts in a zip here. Ordering details on this and their great San Francisco mix are below:
