#6.......Hot Tracks of the Day-Main Source "Fakin The Funk" b/w Souls Of Mischief "93 Till Infinity"

"Fakin the Funk" for whatever reason is the holy grail of my hip hop mixtape. This track was contained on the White Men Can't Jump soundtrack in 1992- I had trouble buying records back then because my folks would check 'em for PARENTAL ADVISORY stickers. I couldn't cop the soundtrack b/c of that label, and I couldn't find the song on cassette single. which was quite a popular format back in the day. Anybody remember those cardboard tape sleeves with the open ends? I do. Extremely well. As the legend goes, The only time I'd hear this would be on BET's Rap City, and, if I got lucky MTV would air it on YO! MTV Raps. "Fakin" would fade into obscurity for years. Flash Forward about 8 or so months ago...I hear about a movie called "The Wackness" ...a boderline art film about a teenager growing up in New York City in the mid/late 90's. He comes of age to Biggie, Nas, Wu-Tang, Etc, much like my coming of age. I did some research and noticed that "Fakin" was on the soundtrack. I proceeded to download the track and have been bumpin' it regularly ever since. This track is an absolute gem in every way; The rhymes by Large Professor and Mikey D are slick and flashy and the beat/production is even flashier...the scratching on this track is some of the best I've heard anywhere or any time. The flute solo that plays simultaneously almost makes the scratching sound like a guitar solo.



Rounding out today's post has some west-cost flavor; I don't think I've covered anything west side since I've started blogging, which I regret. Souls of Mischief were a quadrant of MC's from East Oakland. Phesto, Tajai, Opio, and A-Plus, as they were known, made one mainstream indent in 93 Til Infinity, the album bears the same name as the track. They would make an appearance on A Tribe Called Quest's Hip Hop Classic Midnight Marauders as part of the Native Tongues and would later go on to round out the Hieroglyphics crew w/ Del the Funkee Homosapien. These cats could rhyme tough and this beat soars in almost an anthemic kind of way. From the early 90's to present day there would be a lot of hip hop to come out of the bay area. The Hieroglyphics crew would represent the cream of the crop then, and in my opinion still do.

-Marv.

#5...NEW SCHOOL ALERT!! Aesop Rock-"Labor Days" (2001)

While some of you may live under the delusion that I stopped listening to Hip Hop for the better part of the 2000's, well, nothing could be further from the truth. While I did stray around the turn of the century and found another love in Punk Rock, I listened to hip hop all the way through and still kept my head in the game enough to know who was making great records even though there were a slew of cats who weren't.

Post '99/2000 were not good times for Hip Hop. I saw it as the beginning of the end. Labels like Master P's No Limit, as well as Cash Money Records turned Hip Hop into more of a business and less of an art form. While there was still good music to be made, these were truly dark days-I found myself clutching my De La, Nas, and Biggie records until my hands bled. I wasn't ready for what the state of the music would become and part of me knew it wouldn't ever be the same.


Ok, Ok, I'll get off of my soap box for now. If it had not been for Hip Hop totally turning itself inside out during this time, we would've never seen an underground revival. The 90's brought the music into your living room; the decline of the early 2000's got people off the couch. It was an important time; we risked total devastation. There were a few who saw past the trivial elements that encompassed what hip hop had become and still had love for what it used to be. Thus spawned an unmistakable underground. Several great MC's/Artists would emerge: Atmosphere, Sage Francis, Talib Kweli/DJ Hi-Tek, Dead Prez, Dialated Peoples...the list goes on and on. Hell, even Eminem could've at one time have been considered underground.

One of the most Gleaming diamonds in the rough was Ian Bavitz, AKA Aesop Rock. Not only could he rhyme. but he proved himself to be a mammoth talent behind the boards. He would self produce much of his early work; His first effort Float along with Labor would find him splitting production duties (not always evenly) with indie colleague Blockhead. Labor Days conceptually wrought out the rag of the working class in a way that precursors never did. AR rips through his carefully crafted beats like a quirky, funky Bruce Springsteen in a telemarketer's uniform trying to find art in the monotony of a banal cubicle existence. Songs like "9-5er's Anthem" and "Bent Life" make us all feel like we're not the only ones who've had crappy jobs that wear us down and drive us to drink. Labor also made me feel like I could conquer the world through art instead of commerce. After the great artform we know and love began to decimate, I think we all needed feel like this again.

-Marv.

#4....Hot tracks of the day: Lords of the Underground "Funky Child" b/w Smif-N-Wesson "Bucktown"

Today's hot tracks probably couldn't be any more different. One of the things I love about Hip Hop music is the little differences you can notice in two tracks like this. One bombastic and over the top, while the other assuming, calm, and collected.

Lords of the Underground were a group of MC's, 2 parts Newark, NJ, and one part Cleveland, OH. they came to know each other while attending Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. Their seminal record was arguably 1993's Here Come the Lords. The beats were loud and bombastic and the vocals had a layered/echo affect. The video for "Child" revels in silliness as DoItAll appears in a Diaper. the Lords had a few more singles from this record; the title track for "Here Come the Lords" as well as "Chief Rocka". The follow up to Lords came the following year in 1994 w/ Keepers of the Funk, while their signature bombast remained intact, it still was no match for Here Come the Lords, lyrically, as well as from a production standpoint.



Entry numero dos on today's breakdown of hot tracks comes deep from Brownsville, BKLYN NYC's boot camp click, "Bucktown" off of Smif-N-Wesson's 1995 inaugural release Dah' Shinin. I think the reason I like this track so much is that there's not anything made like this anymore, underground or mainstream. The silky smooth flows of Tek and Steele along with unassuming Boot Camp production make for a near-classic. Dah' Shinin, to many, (especially in Brooklyn) is seen as a Hip-Hop classic and has been mentioned in the same breath as records like Nas's 1994 masterpiece Illmatic. S-N-W would continue to make records well throughout the 90's, after getting dropped by Priority in 1999 they made an independent single, aptly titled "Super Brookyln" which ultimately landed them a deal with then-indie stronghold Rawkus Records.

Both tracks today exhibit a fusion of old and new styles, however, only made a small indent on the mainstream. While I could sit here and whine about how sad it is that these groups never reached critical mass, I'm glad I can still see the videos and listen to the songs. Like all music, it lives on.

-Marv.

Biblio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smif-n-Wessun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lords_Of_The_Underground

#3...Gang Starr-"Daily Operation" (1992)

While the 1980's were certainly the most important decade for Hip Hop, As that decade ended there were no bookends to be found and the seas of creativity were highly uncharted. In My Opinion, the first natural progression happened around 1991. Hip Hop artists and groups began to explore the meduim in a more musical fashion. Beat makers and producers started to incorporate elements of Jazz and Swing. At this time, we started to see a paradigm shift as the focal point strayed a bit from the lyrics/rhymes being the most important part of the package...While having skills on the mic was still an integral bullet point, production began playing a more prominent role within the realm of hip-hop, especially east-coast styles. DJ's began paying homage to other older forms of black music. The Result resonated in several great records throughout the 90's...one of the foremost examples is Daily Operation. Pound for Pound this is Gang Starr's best record as well as Dj Premier's Swan Song. Preimer was a unique talent because not only could he make great beats but he could scratch with some of the best. "Take It Personal" belongs on any top 10 90's hip hop mix...."Ex Girl to the Next Girl" and "Soliloquy of Chaos" are also standout tracks. Daily also boasts one of the first appearances of a highly underrated MC, Jeru the Damaja on "I'm the Man".

Gang Starr would go on to make other great records in Hard to Earn and Moment of Truth, however, Daily Operation is truly Guru and DJ Premier's masterpiece as well as a Hip Hop Classic that holds up extremely well over time.

-Marv.

Biblio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Operation

Video-"Take It Personal":

#2...Hot tracks of the day: Pete Rock & CL Smooth "Appreciate" b/w The Roots "Stay Cool"

Today's entry finds a focal point with two amazing tracks. The first is a track from Pete Rock's 2004 Soul Survivor II Record. Essentially this is a comp with Pete Rock's production and other folks rapping...for the most part Pete Rock stays behind the boards and lets his beats do the talking, and MAN, they talk. The record itself boasts guests appearances from some of the most well respected MC's in the game; RZA & GZA, Talib Kweli, Little Brother, and Dead Prez, to name a few. The track itself has a great jackson 5 sample (2-4-6-8 who do we appreciate) in the refrain and has Pete's old bandmate CL Smooth rhyming and he absolutely KILLS it. I have CL Smooth's recent solo record American Me in the iPod and I've just been sitting on it...It's gonna be time to give that one a spin before long. CL's flows are still clean, concise, and to the point.



The second track I wanted to share was The Roots "Stay Cool". whenever I put this record on my iPod I was driving around listening to it, and I knew I had heard the beat before. after racking my brain for a few minutes I realized it was nearly the exact same beat as "Ego Trippin" (Pt. 2) off of De La's 1993 masterpiece Buhloone Mind State. This was and still is one of my favorite all time beats, and Black Thought never dissapoints, so this track makes for a match made in Hip-Hop heaven. You can find this song on The Roots' 2004 record The Tipping Point. I love all of the roots' work and this record as a whole doesn't falter. As soon as thought kicks in w/ "Bass for your face High for Your Eyes"... you know this song is destined to make it on your party playlist or one to bump in the ride while driving around on a nice temperate night w/ the windows down and the sunroof open. I was rocking this song at a stoplight on the corner of Barton Springs and S 1st street here in Austin last night and nodding my head accordingly, and I think the people that saw me thought it was a little weird to see a bearded white guy rocking it to this track.

-Marv.

Biblio:

http://www.amazon.com/Buhloone-Mindstate-Soul/dp/B000000HJ3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Survivor_II

http://www.amazon.com/Tipping-Point-Roots/dp/B0002A2WAY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1257550280&sr=1-1

#1....J Dilla-"Donuts" (2006)

The inaugural posting finds me sifting through the madness however I can, as well as mine and roomate Nick's record collections, and writing about some unbelieveable beats bestowed upon us by the late, great James Dewitt Yancey, more commonly known as J Dilla in the world of beats and rhymes. I had not really heard Dilla nor his beats until my roomate, Nick, turned me on to some of the things he had in his humungoid book of CD's over a year ago. I immediately ripped Ruff Draft as well as Donuts onto my iPod. while I haven't gotten a chance to listen to Draft as much as I'd like to, I've been rocking Donuts A LOT lately. Nick also has Donuts on vinyl too, which is always a great spin.

To call these pieces of music "beats" is an understatement...these are works of art. There's so much depth and layering it's almost as if he's playing live instruments and recording as if this weren't a hip hop record.

Every producer/MC is influenced, usually by the school of thought that came before them, but In my humble opinion Dilla was a trendsetter; He did things no one had ever done and nobody has really done since. If you had to compare his style to anyone, Pete Rock would probably be the most sensible means to an end, however, Pete Rock was more on the level of peer than mentor to J, although J may have seen it differently. He ended up working w/ De La Soul, Common, Busta Rhymes, Janet Jackson, and countless others. He did the best beat the kids in De La ever rhymed behind in "Stakes Is High". The Pharcyde's "Runnin" is also another Dilla beat...and it's second to none. It's also rumored that he had done work uncredited early in the 90's as well...supposedly the beat for A Tribe Called Quest's "We got the Jazz" is a Dilla cut. I can't say that it's true but it wouldn't at all surprise me as it was; the drums and the horn on the beat have a multi-track feel that works beautifully w/ the flows of Tip and Fife.

J had a touch for not only rhythm but composition and he knew how to taylor make beats for any rapper/singer he worked with. J also had moderate success w/ his own group, Slum Village, before breaking off to pursue a solo career.


As fate would have it Jay would succumb to an ultra-rare blood disease called TTP in 2006. Supposedly, while in the hospital, he had stacks upon stacks of records along with an MPC drum machine bedside, at all times. He was working on music upon his death, and much of his solo material was released after he passed. During a television appearance in 2004, producer/rapper Pharrell declared that Jay Dee (Dilla) was his favorite producer. As much as I don't care for Pharrell's production, I'm glad he can give props to J and possibly hip more people to his body of work; supposedly the audience on BET's 106 & and Park had no idea who Dilla was. It's a shame that no one in Detroit really knows who he is and he never really touched the mainstream...had he lived the sky would've been the limit and I'm sure the the results would have been not only aurally satisfying but uncompromising in every way.

-Marv.

Biblio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J_Dilla

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:dbfpxqtgldse~T1