Spotlight: D&D Studios

I always contend that our artform came across hard in the 90's and had a very raw, cerebral appeal. from '92-'96, Hip Hop could be classified as "Hardcore"; a term that's usually reserved for heavy rock music with howling vocals and bar chords. You'd be hard-pressed to find anything "hardcore" in the realm of Hip-Hop today; reason being, if you ask me, is because of the artform becoming more popular and more watered down. I guess it all depends on what you consider "hardcore" ...To me, it goes beyond using extreme content, lurid subject mattter, and foul language. The hardcore hip hop of the 90's had thumping, complex beats, and for me, that's what gave the music hardcore sensibility.

One of the primary studios that happened to be churning out this style was the D&D. To my knowledge, there hasn't been a studio more prolific, which sat on E 37th street in Flatbush, BKLYN NYC. Known informally (and when I say informally, I mean I'm probably the only one who's ever used this tag line) as the house that Primo built, Everyone from hot underground MC's such as Black Moon and Jeru the Damaja to Jay-Z and Biggie have recorded here, the latter two obviously going on to reach iconic heights, not just within the realm of hip-hop.

From what I was able to dig up online, D&D lives on as DJ Premier's swan song; he purchased it outright and renamed it HeadQCourterz in 2003. It's a little tragic the amount of intel on D&D is few and far between, especially online. There's a couple of good vids online featuring Yo! MTV Raps roving reporter Fab Five Freddy on location, they can primarily be found here. Places like D&D have helped create a visual history in the evolution of our artform.

-Marty.

BREAKING: D & D lifer engineer is making a documentary...please lend your support at his kickstarter page if you can at The D&D Studios Documentary.

Album Review: Grieves "Together/Apart" (2011)

Over the years, Independent hip hop has done a great deal of re-imagination. The repertoire of kids in a skate park can be just as much NWA as Operation Ivy or Rancid; Many of the cats today crafting beats and rhymes are part in parcel of the progress of our artform.

Seattle's Grieves is a bit of a newcomer but is doing something far different than his contemporaries. He sings a lot of his hooks, and some of the tracks are all melodic vocal. This is a stark contrast to most of the heavy hitters that have encompassed the backpack era.

Opener "lightspeed" doesn't so much as charge out the gates as it lights the candle, as Grieves cautiously steps his way through his sometimes joyous, sometimes trite, suburban upbringing, and comes to with an addiction and failed relationship. Subject matter stays indelibly "emo"; the delivery is tantamount with Rhymesayers' labelmate, Slug, tightly declaring "FUCK YOU LUCY" within the confines of his earliest work. Grieves isn't doing anything that hasn't been done before here, but thanks to his approach and style, he makes it work. A few tracks later, "On the Rocks" treads heavily to new melodic ground, borrowing from influences that you might not expect from anyone on the RS roster.

The album itself does run a little long, the production begins to take chances on tracks like "Bloody Poetry" which blends infectious horns with a striking piano melody. "Prize Fighter" shows us a hardcore, everyman persona. Of the 16 songs on Together, 2 or 3 probably could've been cut. Producer Budo's bag of tricks is exciting at first, but does fall a little flat towards the end. His tracks are solid, but from a formulaic standpoint, they don't really change or evolve much. Even so, Together is still a solid release, if only because of the chances it takes and the ground it dares to cover.

-Marty.

Video: "On the Rocks":

Wugazi. (Wu-Tang X Fugazi Mashup)

Those of you that know me know and understand that while I love hip hop more than most things, I still have a lot of love for other genres, and styles. Honestly, I think the only way music can be categorized is by good and bad, and while this is a subjective arguement, I find it to be true in most cases. Musicians and bands from two completely different hemispheres can have much more in common than meets the eye, or even the ear.

When I was 13, I discovered the Wu-Tang Clan and couldn't get enough of the gritty rhymes and raw beats. When I was about 20, I discovered Fugazi, and I would find it to mirror my experience with Wu-Tang; it was some of the most raw, uncompromising music I had ever heard. From first listen, the Wu-Tang and Fugazi may sound like polar opposites, but if you peel back the old wallpaper you start to expose the wall of sound that both of these legendary acts share. I've found that after magnifying, Enter the Wu-Tang and Repeater both blow the doors off of convention and carry redefinition to another level. The walls that encompass this brick house that both of these acts reside can easily be found in either DC or Killah Hills. With this ethos, Wugazi was born.

Doomtree's Cecil Otter and Swiss Andy saw potential in a Wu/Fugazi mash up homage; I honestly treaded lightly when I first heard about this project a few weeks ago. I had first heard a Fugazi/destiny's child mash-up years back and remember thinking that it teetered the line of gimmicky and poorly done. I was scared that the Wugazi project would hit and miss. I think it's pretty safe to say I was dead wrong. These mash ups are more than something special, they are a historical document that not only solidifies both acts' prominence but bridges gaps. Hearing Ghostface's intro over the opening riff of "Last Chance for a Slow Dance" gives me chills.

The Wugazi final product reaffirms what I've been saying in numerous posts throughout onlyhiphopblog; Simply, music can be whatever you want it to be. The more things blend together the more we find out how much we have in common with one another, not just on a musical, but a human level. I remember saying once that 2011 is an exciting time to be alive, and it is, because regular people are realizing what they're capable of-and other regular people can see sincerity and craftsmanship and appreciate the hell out of it.

-Marty.

"Sleep Rules Everything Around Me":

SXSW 2011 Music Teaser: Das Racist, Binary Star, Black Milk, Talib Kweli and more...

So it's that time of year again....everyone that owns a pair of tight jeans has once again descended upon Austin, as they do every year around the second or third week of March. SXSW usually boasts some great hip hop, and this year is no exception.

I'm really stoked to see the Brooklyn collective, Das Racist, on Wednesday. Any act that can speed up Billy Joel's "Movin' Out" and make it the beat to a Hip Hop song is ok in my book. These guys are playing about 3-4 times, I plan on catching them on Wednesday at Speakeasy.




Pontiac, Michigan lays claim to a once looked-over click that goes by Binary Star, who have recently reunited and are again playing shows. There is little known about this crew other than their swan song, 2000's Masters of the Universe. There had been past speculation the 1/2 of BS, One Be Low would continue making solo material without the help of Senim Silla, as Be Low cited creative differences. It seems that if these two have decided to yet again hit the stage and give it another go, lucky for us Austinites, these chose SXSW to showcase their comeback.




I'm currently sitting at Halcyon coffee bar, getting ready to hit send on this post, and then go check out Das Racist at Speakeasy!! Yes, Wednesday has come. I also plan on seeing Black Milk, who's nearly heir to J Dilla's throne, and word is Talib Kweli is playing sometime this week as well. Also just heard that DJ Premier is doing a set before Binary Star plays tomorrow. This is like the holiday season. I just caught a really cool trio of MC's called the UPPERCLASSMEN. tons of energy, really fun crew of younger kids from Brooklyn. Now that I'm in the thick of it, it's time for me to do my 'thang, as they say.

More to come...

-Marty.

Hot Tracks of the day: Atmosphere "The Best Day" b/w Blueprint "Keep Bouncing"

The first Hot track of today comes from Minneapolis' own Atmosphere. This cut can be found on the double EP To All My Friends, Blood Makes the Blade Holy. Really great piano riff that has a faint but yet powerful Doo-Wop feel gives this track an unmistakably original sound, as only Ant can do. The video is a great photo montage of Atmosphere and some of the great Rhymesayers' crew on tour. It looks as if this video/song was made as a sublte tribute to Mikey (eyedea) Larsen, who passed away last year.




Rounding out today's Hot Tracks brings us another member of the prestigious Rhymesayers crew, Blueprint. The seminal track off his new offering, Counter Cutlure, due out in April. Bombastic Akai-drum machine tracking shines through as only Blueprint can do. The last I looked into Blueprint was his record 1988 which contains the classic raw indie cut, "boombox". Looks like he's still ripping through tracks and making some of the most original hip hop music around.

The Rhymesayers label pulls no shorts when it comes to the talent they sign and the records they put out, I'm always excited to see what's up and coming on an already packed roster full of unassuming and idealistic talent.

Both acts are pulling into Austin in may, with Atmosphere headlining. I am more than hyped for this show. See y'all cats at Stubb's!

-Marty.

Rare Vinyl/Break: Eugene McDaniels' "Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse"

The best thing about music of any form or genre is that it can have whatever life you want it to have. It doesn't matter how mainstream or obscure that particular piece of music is/was. What a lot of people tend to gloss over, is that, Golden Age Hip Hop, (roughly 87-96) is part and parcel proof that music can take on a life of it's own and be reborn at any minute.

My biggest beef with the Hip Hop that the kids are listening to nowadays is that it's overproduced, too loud, and lacks samples. this isn't suffice to say that all overproduced/nonsampled hip hop is bad, there are certainly exceptions to the rule. What I am saying is that samples/breaks used in hip hop songs gave the genre depth and made it inspiring.I know I may sound like the crotchety, single 65 year old man that lived down the street from you growing up, I promise there's a genesis to coincide with this sentiment.

If you look back a few posts to ?uestlove's record collection youtube, you'll notice he pulls this record off the shelf and breaks down how this was rare and has since been repressed. I made a mental note of some of the stuff he pulled out; This record seemed that it was, in many ways, the crown jewel of his collection. He had an original press of this record, which he said he paid about $300 for while on tour w/ The Roots in Japan. When I saw a repress on the shelf at local vinyl compound End of an Ear, I couldn't pass it up.

As ?uesto states this LP has some undeniable source material. of the 8 songs, I believe 7 have been sampled in hip hop songs. Pete Rock sampled the hell out of this record on their seminal LP. Mecca and the Soul Brother, Ali Shaheed from a Tribe Called Quest fed off this record for various tribe cuts, and The Beasties took "Susan Jane" and made it into "Get It Together" which can most certainly be found on Ill Communication.

Luminary producers used to have a tight-knit digging community, looking for breaks to round out their tracks and make them special. From what I understand, there's still some producers that do this, it's just not as widely practiced, as, suffice to say, the artform has taken a pretty dramatic paradigm shift within the last 10 or so years. While this may not be a bad thing per se, It's great to revisit the days when a $2 find at a brooklyn record shop could burn up the charts for another moment in history.

So there's the rest of the story.

Now get off my lawn.

-Marv.

Back Again....

It's late, i'm feeling a bit neurotic, and have decided that, not only has it been WAAAY too long since I've posted, I figure a short post may be just as foolproof as counting sheep. As long as they're black sheep, and I can spin A Wolf in Sheeps Clothing on the turntable. Who am I kidding. I'll be up for at least another hour.

Within the depths of my insomnia, I came across the Prince Klassen's tumblr; http://princeklassen.tumblr.com/ and began reading/listening, he posted an awesome J Dilla tribute done by DJ Pump. Great stuff. Klassen said something about a spiritual friend of his talking about how people pass on when they've achieved what they were put on earth to do. I don't know why, but that hit me super hard while listening to this.

Jay Dee Tribute. by DJ PUMP


I've got a lot to say about hip hop and what I've been bumpin' lately, in these inaugural weeks/months of 2011. expect more soon.

Enjoy, and good morning.