Category Archives: hip-hop

hip-hop, remix

El-P: Flyentology (Cassettes Won’t Listen remix)

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Tasmanian Pain Coaster?

I gotta say, I’ve never been a huge fan of Nine Inch Nails and/or Trent Reznor, but his pairing with El-P on Flyentology is pretty great.

And this might be a rare instance where I prefer a remix to the original. This mix, by Cassettes Won’t Listen, seems to drop the tempo by just a notch, making it more of a head-nodder. The vocals feel more out in front of the mix, and the synth line underneath it all is slightly ominous, sorta what you’d expect from an El-P track.

Reminder: El-P at the Clubhouse in Tempe on May 23.

  • El-P | Flyentology (Cassettes Won’t Listen remix)

Also, El-P performing The Overly Dramatic Truth live at SXSW (via M+TV)

EDIT: Looks like video not working. I’ll check back later and embed again.

hip-hop

The Shadow Sessions: a tribute to Endtroducing

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I got caught up on my Sole Sides news yesterday, and the site pointed to a project I’m going to follow with great interest.

The Shadow Sessions, which I’m assuming is the group’s name, is a live band performing DJ Shadow’s classic Endtroducing … in its entirety. Details are sketchy, but the group’s MySpace notes that it’s targeting a June release and that the project is for charity.

Nothing is downloadable yet, but the group is streaming “Phase I” of the recording: drum tracks. That only makes sense seeing as how Endtroducing … is built on the foundation of drums and beats.

I’ve been trying to match up the beats the Shadow Sessions posted with the corresponding DJ Shadow song. I’m pretty sure that Track 4 of the drums matches Building Steam With a Grain of Salt. I think Track 1 might be Changeling/Transmission 1. Track 3 could be What Does Your Soul Look Like (Part 4)??

It’s neat to see this come together piece by piece. Also, think about what’s going on here: A DJ samples live instrumentation, which then is pieced back together by, uh, live instrumentation.

On that note, does anybody have the deluxe edition of Endtroducing … ? Worth it? Yay? Nay?

Anyway, go check out the Shadow Sessions on MySpace.

hip-hop, video

Paid Dues Festival: Aug. 10

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Holy hip-hop lineup … the Paid Dues Festival is hitting Mesa Amphitheatre on Aug. 10. It starts at 1:30 p.m., which poses one small problem: It’ll probably be about 115 degrees. But it’s hard to deny the lineup:

• Felt
• Atmosphere
• Sage Francis
• Living Legends
• Brother Ali
• Mr. Lif
• Zion I and Grouch
• Cage

Tickets ($35) on sale Friday via Ticketmaster.

In honor, here’s a video of Felt’s Early Morning Tony featuring art by former Phoenix homeboy Jim Mahfood.

controversy, hip-hop

DJ Jazzy Jeff: Brand New Funk 2K7

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I wrote a few weeks ago at Circa 45 about Brand New Funk, one of the many great tracks off He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper by DJ Jazzy Jeff (the DJ) and Fresh Prince (the rapper).

I praised the song’s production/sampling value and even gave props to Fresh Prince’s lyrical prowess (shocking, I know). Then last week, a comment was left by Ready Rock C (born Clarence Holmes), part of the production team who was pictured inside the liner notes for the album, a tip-off that he might have had a big hand in the album’s creation. There appears to be bad blood, from some cursory research.

Here’s what Ready Rock C had to say in the comment at Circa 45:

THe reason Jeff used the Original Bass Line and Beat is that He never did the original to begin with. So rather than be creative and make a new version He used the same track that I produced on the original Hes THe Dj Im the Rapper album. I am also behind the Lyrics Parent Just Dont Understand, The Music of ITS TIME TO CHILL, JUST ROCKIN, ROCK THE HOUSE, HUMAN VIDEO GAME, JUST ROCKIN, TAKING IT TO THE TOP, MY BUDDY, and a few more. I was discredited for alot of work that I performed and wrote. These guyz have particularly Will Smith has made it big time and never thought once to act on Helping me back in the music game. Its hard to get back in after being severely discredited. THier music simply has not been the same since my departure. Peace and Blessings to All.
Ready Rock C

Now as Jazzy Jeff reintroduces the track – Brand New Funk 2K7, though not really brand new because it’s mostly the same musical foundation – I’m not sure what to believe. If Ready Rock C lost his lawsuit for unpaid royalties (per Wikipedia), then maybe Jazzy Jeff has free reign on the catalog and would use it to spite Ready Rock? It’s weird, though these sorts of dealings likely are the norm for the music industry.

Of course, I meant no disrespect to Ready Rock C – if he is, in fact, the producer of the track, then the man deserves his credit. And I applaud him for commenting to speak his mind. (Somehow, I don’t think we’ll get Will Smith to weigh in on the issue.) The label on my vinyl copy of the album offers production credits to DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince, though that doesn’t mean Ready Rock C didn’t play a major role. Who knows?

In any event, Jazzy Jeff has revived Brand New Funk with lyrical stylings from Peedi Crack for his new album Return of the Magnificent. It’s not terrible, but it’s awkward to hear a familiar song coupled with an altogether different emcee and rhyming scheme. Jazzy Jeff seems to be making a play for the nostalgia factor while at the same time updating its relevance. I’d just hate for this version to somehow cheapen the value of the original, which I hold in high regard.

  • DJ Jazzy Jeff (feat. Peedi Crack) | Brand New Funk 2K7
hip-hop, remix

Busdriver: Sun Shower (edIT Club Remix)

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Epitaph hooked us up something awesome today, providing us with an MP3 off Busdriver’s new iTunes-only single for Sun Shower that I touched on here. Let me just tell you: Your mother was right – always say please and thank you.

The four-song EP has two remixes of Sun Shower, including one by So Much Silence favorite and recent Epitaph signee Cadence Weapon. The other Sun Shower mix, provided below, comes from LA’s edIT.

There’s also a Thavius Beck remix of Less Yes’s, More No’s (possibly my fave track off Busdriver’s RoadKillOvercoat).

Pick up the Sun Shower EP at iTunes ($1.99). eMusic has RoadKillOvercoat, that I’ve only written about once or twice or thrice.

  • Busdriver | Sun Shower (edIT Club Remix)
hip-hop

Mike Relm: Body Rock

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mikerelm.jpg

When future lifeforms sit and analyze the hip-hop songs we have left them – and, please, they totally will – they may wonder why so many songs are titled Body Rock. It will be a valid question, and one nobody can answer, other than to say that in hip-hop vernacular “body rock” just sounds inherent to the culture, a phrase that no doubt sprang from B-boys and B-girls. (And hopefully not this movie. Lorenzo Lamas as breakdancer Chilly D? WTF?)

in any case, we’re adding a track to the list – and a stellar one at that. Bay Area deejay Mike Relm drops his first single from his forthcoming debut album of original material (title and release date TBD). Relm is incredibly versatile, nearing the end of a 62-date tour with the Blue Man Group before appearances at Coachella and Rock the Bells (a lineup that has me drooling).

He’s also taking taking this art of scratching/mixing to some next-level style by incorporating video in his show. Check this out – and press rewind if he hasn’t blown your mind! (I personally love the Charlie Brown mix.)

Like most great deejays, Relm is making a name by hooking up with respected artists for tours (Del the Funky Homosapien, for example) and remixes (Dr. Octagon, to name just one). And he seems to have branded a clever keyboard logo – oo~ – that looks like his pair of glasses. Smart guy.

So check Body Rock, an up-tempo number (with Blackalicious’ Gift of Gab) truly deserving of the name – organized chaos on the top levels all underpinned by a nice, almost hidden, bass line.

  • Mike Relm | Body Rock

AT CIRCA 45: A Beastie Boys B-side, She’s On It.

hip-hop

Sage Francis: Human the Death Dance

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sage.jpg

In all honesty, I’ve always been somewhat ambivalent about Sage Francis. And I’m fully prepared to admit my apathetic role in that lukewarm sentiment. Sage’s stance as rapper-cum-activist is both commendable and, unfortunately, sometimes cumbersome.

It’s probably short-sighted and shallow to say, “It’s just not my thing.” And without indicting myself as some disconnected slacker (because, dude, I totally read books and stuff), I think it takes a certain amount of patience and a certain mind-set to absorb Sage’s intellect and message. He’s smart, literate and high-handed – all of which is either the appeal or turn-off.

But in listening to Human the Death Dance, his new album due on May 8 on Epitaph, I’ve come to appreciate his anger and embrace of the independent/DIY model he champions. Maybe what I’ve mistaken as his resentment is actually his badge of honor. On Underground For Dummies (it’s the jam, y’all), Sage, as is his wont, pits his indie upbringing against mainstream excess, a point he’s hammered home from the beginning:

“Before the Freddie Foxxx conflict with DMX/
around the time when Jay-Z and Nas’ girl had sex/
I used to wake up every morning on a hard wooden floor /
living in Brooklyn with a car I couldn’t afford”

That’s what I think I’ve missed in his music before: It’s personal and real. An everyman role model in rap. He says it himself: “This is hip-hop for the people / stop callin’ it emo / roooaaaah.”

Sage Francis (with live band) comes to the Clubhouse in Tempe on June 12.

Pre-order Human the Death Dance, which comes with a 36-page booklet, an instrumental CD (pre-sales only) and other goodies.

  • Sage Francis | Underground For Dummies

For the record, my favorite Sage Francis-related project is Hope, the LP by Non-Prophets (Sage and Joe Beats).

hip-hop

Busdriver: Sun Shower single

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12475_b.jpg

Busdriver’s RoadKillOvercoat (Epitaph) is one of my favorites of this short year so far. Released in January, it’s time to start looking out for remixes, and Busdriver announced on his MySpace that a single for Sun Shower is coming out in digital-only format sometime by the middle of April. The best part of the news? A remix by Cadence Weapon. Oh, snap.

In the meantime, Busdriver is streaming a remix of Sun Shower by edIT. Go to Busdriver’s MySpace to check it out.

Pick up RoadKillOvercoat at eMusic.

hip-hop, radio rips

El-P: The Overly Dramatic Truth @ SXSW

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el_p_121.jpgThere is no show I am looking forward to more right now than El-P’s appearance at the Clubhouse in Tempe on May 23. His newest LP, I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead, is the record for me right now. It’s fierce, intelligent and held tight in a frighteningly paranoid/grim tension.

As previously noted, I missed out on SXSW. This time, Minnesota Public Radio’s the Current picks up the slack, offering a stream of a couple live tracks by El-P (128 kbps, to boot). I was really pleased to see The Overly Dramatic Truth was one of the songs he performed, a track that grabbed me from the get-go with its slow-burning synths and fist-clenching tempo buildup while El plays the cynic: “I wish I could trade your place / so romantic, full of faith.”

Man, May 23 cannot get here soon enough. Pick up I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead at eMusic. Visit the Current for more information.

  • El-P | The Overly Dramatic Truth (@ SXSW)

In more El-P news, check out his definitive video picks at MTV Overdrive.