Category Archives: hip-hop

hip-hop, remix, vinyl

Run-D.M.C.: You Be Illin’ (remix)

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rundmc.jpg

I’m not sure what I’d do if I ever lived near an Amoeba Records. I imagine going broke would be a possibility.

My latest trip to the Hollywood location wasn’t as fruitful as I would have liked, but how can I argue when one of the pieces is an original 12-inch of Run-D.M.C.’s You Be Illin’? First side has a remix — albeit a somewhat conservative definition of a remix – and the second side has Hit It Run and the You Be Illin’ instrumental.

The remix doesn’t stray too far from the original save for some additional horns and substituting the third verse (“The other day around the way I seen you illin’ at a party”) in favor of a more traditional instrumental bridge. Regardless, whenever I listen to this song it reminds of how much I listened to the cassette as a kid. Though I’ll likely go to my grave claiming Tougher Than Leather as a desert-island disc, there’s no denying what an influence Raising Hell had on me, a cornerstone of my collection … still.

And where the hell do I get one of those dookie rope chains with a gold adidas charm?

  • Run-D.M.C. | You Be Illin’ (remix)
hip-hop, i used to love h.e.r.

I Used to Love H.E.R.: A-Trak

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The 18th installment of I Used to Love H.E.R., a series in which artists/bloggers/writers discuss their most essential or favorite hip-hop albums (read intro), comes from DJ A-Trak, a champion turntablist who now works with Kanye West. I cornered A-Trak at the 2006 Pitchfork Festival to ask him about his favorite hip-hop record.

Pharcyde
Labcabincalifornia (Delicious Vinyl, 1995)

I love Bizarre Ride (II the Pharcyde) but Labcabin was really my joint. They grew a lot on that album and they got darker. That progression makes me think of De La going from 3 Feet High to De La is Dead. Some people still love the first album. Just me working with Kanye … I saw that with Late Registration where a lot of people love College Dropout for its innocence, but I really like the second album for just being more grown-up and deeper and a little more complex. And Labcabin was one of those albums I listened to to death because, I mean, that came out in ’96 (’95 actually) … I started DJing a year earlier.

For many reasons I really love that record. Just on some straight hip-hop shit – just beats and rhymes, everything was on point. And that’s one of the records where I first heard Jay Dee (J Dilla) and Jay Dee is my favorite producer. That was one of the albums I first heard his production and I was floored by everything.

You know when you’re talking about a good record … where on some aspects you can really break it down to many elements. And on other aspects you can say it was just dope period. There’s some records you could be like, it’s got good beats and good cuts. But by the end of day it might not be your favorite joint. Other albums you like it but it might not necessarily satisfy every one of your urges. That record (Labcabincalifornia), I feel as a DJ, I love all the scratches. It’s not even on some technical shit. It’s just really tasteful, everything just sounded good.

Runnin’ is probably my favorite song ever.

What drew you into that song?
It’s just everything … I think something you can say about Pharcyde, you can’t really pinpoint it down to one mood. It’s a song that’s really open and kind of candid but without being over the top, without being oversensitive to the point where it feels awkward in the hip-hop context. It still bangs as a hip-hop beat. I love the cuts in it. It’s got kind of an eerie vibe to it with the sample. It’s not too jazzy … it’s a jazz sample that sounds a little eerie and just right. The lyrics are awesome. One thing with Runnin’ as a producer that always bugged me out with that song … is the drum programming. It’s crazy to me. The drum pattern always sounds just right, but you can never predict where it’s going to fall. I think it’s at least like an eight-bar pattern. You know on a lot of songs you just know the drum programming, you can sing out the drum patterns. To this day, I can’t remember, where the next kick is gonna land. But it always sounds like it’s supposed to be.

I love Bizarre Ride … it’s one of the records I got into hip-hop through. But Labcabin, it aged really well. It left an impression on me. Just from the depth of it. I like stuff that’s a little darker, too.

It’s funny because I don’t even listen to it all the time. But I know I can go back to it and get into it.

  • The Pharcyde | Runnin’

    • BONUS:

  • The Pharcyde | Runnin’ (Jay Dee remix) (vinyl rip from Drop 12-inch)
hip-hop, video

Kanye West: Good Life video

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Really diggin’ the shaved stripes in Kanye’s hair in this one. Please tell me pegged jeans are coming back in style, too.

I dig this track, a feel-good party jam. But I’m not really sure how I feel about T-Pain. Didn’t Roger Troutman do all that with the effects-drenched voice trick?

hip-hop

10 lines I can’t stand on Kanye’s Graduation

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I’m seriously conflicted about Graduation. I love it and I hate it. I haven’t stopped listening to it for the past week. No doubt, it’s Kanye’s leanest album yet (thank you, God, for no “skits”).

Yet, I can’t get over some of the flat-out horrible rhyming on this record. I’ve never thought of Kanye as an elite MC, but damn … he’s had some gems in his day (“Look back on my life like the ghost of Christmas past / unbreakable / what, you thought they called me Mr. Glass?”).

My boy Royce thinks I should let it go lest these feelings fester and, ultimately, ruin Graduation. So, I’m going to just get it all out here, a little blog therapy. Because, honestly, I am really digging this album (especially Barry Bonds and Flashing Lights).

Inspired in part by Tom Breihan’s Ten Favorite Moments on Kanye West’s Graduation, these are, in no particular order, my 10 least favorite lines from the album:

“I’m like the fly Malcolm X / buy any jeans necessary” (Good Morning).
Kanye’s insistence on perpetuating/celebrating his “Louis Vuitton don” image in verse won’t do him any favors, especially when his reputation as an award-show whiner already precedes him.

“Just a lil’ somethin’ to show you how we live / Everybody want it but it ain’t that se’ious” (Champion).
Look, I don’t care how many letters you take out of the word “serious”, it just doesn’t rhyme with the word “live.” No, it doesn’t.

“Do you even remember what the issue is? / You just trying to find where the tissue is / You can still be what you wish you is / It ain’t happened yet, and that’s what intuition is” (I Wonder).
If you didn’t notice, Kanye rhymes the word “is” four times there. This is a recurring theme. Keep reading.

“I feel the pressure, under the scrutiny / and what I do? Act more stupidly” (Can’t Tell Me Nothing).
“Act more stupidly.” Irony, right?

“Don’t ever fix your lips like collagen / Then say something where you gonna end up apolog’in.” (Can’t Tell Me Nothing).
I know. I’m white. But “apolog’in”? That’s a reach.

“Top five MCs you aint gotta remind me / top five MCs you gotta rewind me / I’m high up on the line you can get behind me / but my head so big you can’t sit behind me” (Barry Bonds).
Me, me, me, me. That’s about right.

“You more like ‘love to start shit’ / I’m more of the / trips to Flor-i-da” (Flashing Lights).
The delivery here really gets to me, and it probably only makes sense if you hear it in the context of the song. But the way he chops up Florida (sounds like FLOOR-I-DUH) to make it rhyme with “I’m more of the” makes me convulse. It’s agonizing.

“In two years Dwayne Wayne became Dwyane Wade / and ‘ay / Please don’t start me / I’m like Gnarls Barkley meets Charles Barkley” (The Glory).
I … I … I don’t even know where to start. Someone tell me what Dwayne Wayne and Dwyane Wade have to do with each other? Please?

Chris Martin’s verse (Homecoming).

“But he got me out my mama crib / Then he helped me get my mama a crib.”
This whole song, this worshipping of Jay-Z is just … kinda creepy.

hip-hop, video

Cut Chemist feat. Edan: Mean Gene

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gene.jpg

I’m not really sure why, but I thought about Cut Chemist on the way home from work on Wednesday. I think my eye caught his name on my iPod, so I figured I’d give his MySpace a check to see what’s new because it’s been more than a year since he released his great solo debut The Audience’s Listening.

Though he didn’t have anything new to offer, Cut did have a downloadable track – Mean Gene, a B-side from the What’s the Altitude single.

How does this work with Edan? Does he tell every producer/DJ to just make the illest, dirtiest beat ever and he’ll throw a few raps down? Whenever I listen to Edan – especially on Beauty & the Beat (get it at eMusic) – I feel like I’m listening to him through some janky AM-only radio. Really, it’s kind of endearing. If lo-fi hip-hop needs a posterboy, Edan is the easy choice.

And, oh, Cut Chemist pretty much rips it here, too. But you already knew that.

  • Cut Chemist feat. Edan | Mean Gene

What the hell … here’s the video for What’s the Altitude (feat. Hymnal).

hip-hop

New Aceyalone: Eazy (feat. Chali 2na)

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At this point, I think Chali 2na has surpassed Q-Tip in his prime as the go-to cameo rapper. The former Jurassic 5 baritone – named one of the top 10 underrated rappers by Passion of the Weiss – shows up here with Aceyalone, who is set to release his new full-length Lightning Strikes (Decon) on Oct. 2.

If I find the time, I might have to put together a Chali 2na mix similar to the one I did with Q-Tip (Side A and Side B).

Anyway, Eazy shows Aceyalone branching out into some dancehall-style grooves. And after listening to the new Kanye West album for the past five days, which I’ve quite enjoyed, it’s hard not to notice Acey’s superior flow. He has feel inside and out of a beat, and even on the unfamiliar terrain here produced by LA’s Bionik, Acey never stumbles or sounds lost.

  • Aceyalone feat. Chali 2na | Eazy
  • Aceyalone | Eazy (instrumental)
hip-hop, vinyl

Meanest Man Contest 7-inch

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goldrobot.jpgIt’s time for a little honesty: I’m on the take. Yes, my man Hunter at Macktronic just hooked me up with a T-shirt from his 7-inch label, Gold Robot Records. And now I’m going to post on the label’s latest release with Meanest Man Contest, due out Sept. 1. It’s shameful, but I’ll do anything for a free T-shirt (a pretty cool one at that).

But seriously, I’d already done posts on Gold Robot’s previous two releases – Panther, Roman Ruins – and I have a little fetish for 7-inch/45 records anyway.

To be honest, I’d never heard of Meanest Man Contest before Hunter tipped me off. The duo consists of Noah Blumberg (aka Quarterbar and formerly of Jim Yoshii Pile-Up) and Eric Steuer (aka Ericsolo). Maybe you’ve run across Quarterbar’s stash of remixes.

Anyway, this 7-inch’s focal point is Throwing Away Broken Electronics (love the title) with a B-side remix by COPY, which can be heard at Gold Robot’s MySpace page.

Broken Electronics balances a dusty, old-school beat with the fractured edge of experimental sampling, a contrast that seems to fit the theme of the chorus: “I’m throwing away broken electronics.” Basically, it’s a jam.

Pre-order the 7-inch here, which has two cover options and includes a code for digital downloads of all four tracks.

Read Hunter’s contribution to Circa 45.

  • Meanest Man Contest | Throwing Away Broken Electronics
general, hip-hop

Galactic with Z-Trip: Bounce Baby

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galactic.jpg

On Wednesday, I went with a couple friends to see DJ Z-Trip with Aceyalone and Gift of Gab at the Brickhouse in Phoenix for the final stop on the tour to promote Z-Trip’s All-Pro Soundtrack (previous post No. 1, previous post No. 2).

What do I even say about this guy that I haven’t already? This tour was a spectacle: visual elements, a live drummer (Pete McNeal, who has worked with Mike Doughty and the Breakestra), MCs … there was even a temporary sound outage, which isn’t really surprising seeing as how the bass was making the hairs on my arms shake.

We even went to an after party at a small art gallery where Z-Trip and DJ Tricky T, a Phoenix boy Z took on tour, spun even more – a great time that upstaged the real show.

Z-Trip’s feel for an audience always has been his greatest strength. He’s a guy that can make hip-hop fans like rock and rock fans like hip-hop without them even thinking about it. He got the crowd jumping to Rage Against the Machine’s Killing in the Name just as easily as he did laying down a hip-hop track.

And, oh, he played the drums just for good measure. As Tricky T said: “How many DJs do you see doing this shit?”

That’s why it’s not a surprise to see him working with New Orleans funk band Galactic on the group’s newest CD From the Corner to the Block (Anti), an album that features crazy guest spots: Mr. Lif, Gift of Gab, Lyrics Born, Chali 2na, Boots Riley, Juvenile, etc.

I haven’t absorbed the album in full yet save for a couple tracks – Bounce Baby with Z-Trip and Think Back with Chali 2na (mp3 available at Chali’s MySpace).

An instrumental exhibit in funk, Bounce Baby is so tight Z-Trip just seems to effortlessly blend in without disrupting Galactic’s flow.

Here’s a story I just wrote on Z-Trip, previewing his Phoenix stop.

Pick up From the Corner to the Block at eMusic.

  • Galactic with DJ Z-Trip | Bounce Baby
hip-hop, vinyl

The Pharcyde: Pork

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I had quite a day on Sunday stumbling upon old 12-inch hip-hop gems. A DJ must have unloaded his collection at Zia Records (on Indian School and 19th Avenue in Phoenix), and I came in like a vulture to pick it apart.

pork.jpg

Of the seven 12-inches I grabbed (list below), I listened first to the Pharcyde Passin’ Me By single for the B-side I’d never heard: Pork. I already own one Passin’ Me By 12-inch, but it’s an import with three remixes and a Ya Mama remix. So I was more than happy to snag this one for $1.49.

I can’t believe this is from 1993 – 14 years ago. The hip-hop I grew up listening to is feeling very vintage these days. Sigh. Nevermind that I’m turning 30 in less than a month.

Anyway, Pork (it’s what’s for dinner) might not be Pharcyde at its best. For starters, it’s about a six-minute track and the guys seem far less animated than they do on Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde. And instead of the witty interplay on Bizarre Ride, Pork (produced by L.A. Jay) follows more of a verse-verse-chorus-verse-verse pattern.

Still, I can have a collector’s/completist’s mentality, so I’m happy to have it in my library now (though I still haven’t figured out the difference between the OG version and the Cosby edit).

Note: Dusty Groove has the cover image of this Pharcyde single.

  • The Pharcyde | Pork (OG version)
  • The Pharcyde | Pork (Cosby edit)
  • The Pharcyde | Pork (instrumental)

My Sunday haul:

The Pharcyde, Passin’ Me By 12-inch b/w Pork (1993).
Ultramagnetic MC’s, Give the Drummer Some 12-inch b/w Moe Luv’s Theme (1989).
OutKast, Player’s Ball 12-inch b/w remix and instrumental (1994).
Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, Straighten It Out 12-inch b/w T.R.O.Y. (remix) (1992).
De La Soul, Me Myself and I 12-inch (three sided) with three “but-out bonus cuts” (1989) (I already owned a copy, but for $1.49, I wasn’t about to pass it up).
The Pack, I’m Shinin’ 12-inch b/w Candy (2006, marble vinyl).

And the grand daddy of ’em all …
MC Hammer, Turn This Mutha Out 12-inch (the Mutha Mix) b/w Ring ‘Em (two mixes), (1988).