Category Archives: hip-hop

hip-hop

The RZA Presents: Afro Samurai the Soundtrack

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Photobucket - Video and Image HostingI have yet to watch Afro Samurai, a new animated series on Spike (television for men! … boobs, blood, bullets, hundreds of CSI reruns a day!), but I can’t imagine a more perfect musician to oversee/produce a soundtrack for it than RZA, he of Wu-Tang Clan fame.

Afro Samurai, per the Anime News Network (yeah, I know), is “the tale of a black samurai futuristic, yet feudal Japan who is on a mission to avenge the wrongful death of his father.” Naturally, Samuel L. Jackson – executive producer/Jedi – voices Afro, the title character. His samurai sword is the one that says bad motherfucker on it.

Enough of the show; I’m more interested in this soundtrack, which features Q-Tip (you all know I’m a fan of his), Talib Kweli, GZA and Big Daddy Kane (on the same track!) and more. As the de facto head of Wu-Tang, which always has played with loose analogies of its crew to kung-fu warriors, RZA was made for this project, just as he was the Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai soundtrack.

The Afro Samurai soundtrack is a combination of vocal and instrumental cuts. RZA’s theatrical leanings always make for intriguing choices, and this is no different. It’s cohesive, and like many Wu-Tang projects, it incorporates dialogue from the show for a little dramatic effect.

The soundtrack comes out Tuesday on Koch Records.

  • RZA feat. Q-Tip, Free Murder | Just a Lil Dude (Who Dat Ovah There)
  • RZA | Ninjaman (instrumental)
hip-hop, i used to love h.e.r.

I Used to Love H.E.R.: Jonah Matranga

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The contributions have been coming fast and furious of late, and I’m more than pleased to offer up the ninth 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). Jonah Matranga (ex-Far, New End Original, Gratitude, aka Onelinedrawing) takes a stream-of-consciousness approach in discussing two seminal hip-hop groups, the type of entry I love about doing this series because of the freedom contributors have to shape their thoughts.

(Note: Jonah will appear March 18 at Modified in Phoenix with Joshua English and Frank Turner.)

Jonah Matranga
On Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions

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PE, BDP, Youth Speaks — San Francisco, late-night, 15Jan2007

“I put this together to…”

Not sure what was holding, resistance is quiet sometimes, just digs in and somewhere you just stop wishing, but tonight at YouthSpeaks all different melanin counts surrounded resistance and took it down.

My favorite remains the girl in the ‘Philippines’ shirt, humility without affectation, the first person to speak before she spoke, and be more reforming than performance. There was, though, someone I missed half of, and an older guy that actually reminded me of KRS, which is as good a place to jump as any, though we’ll come back to this thing that got me coming back to this, this ode to PE and BDP, these people that keep reminding me of that great place between chaos and too slick, between boring practiced licks and bricks through windows for no better reason than cos you miss someone.

Chuck did really sound like Martin in the best way (Luther King, the reason for the thing tonight that got me thinking), and in the last poem by the host, she spoke so eloquently about King’s humanity and taking the shackles of archetype off — just like Johnny Appleseed in The Botany Of Desire, these wires running through our very nervous systems — but Martin Luther King was that huge and beyond and the duality is inevitable, the myth-making and immature disappointment when the people we drape our dreams on turn out to be people.

Continue reading I Used to Love H.E.R.: Jonah Matranga →

hip-hop

Tim Fite: Over the Counter Culture

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“All the best rappers get shot by guns,”
– Tim Fite, I’ve Been Shot

I received my promo copy yesterday of Tim Fite’s new album Over the Counter Culture, which isn’t all that much of an insider’s get considering Fite is making the entire album available for free on his Web site on Feb. 20.

Over the Counter Culture is many things: a statement, a concept, a satire. Mostly, it’s brilliant in its execution and follow through. Fite, an experimental-folk eccentric signed to Epitaph/Anti, is getting promotional backing from the label even after his insistence of making the album available for free. How many labels are going to support that? (Though, it is a swift PR move in that Epitaph/Anti no doubt will ingratiate itself to fans who rail against the major-label model.) Really, Fite probably had no other choice than to give it away, lest he be labeled a hypocrite. As Fite told Billboard, “You cannot address politics about consumerism and put it out in the same way that any record would come out. It would be wrong. It is not classy.”

Over the Counter Culture is a hammer over the head of consumerism, specifically the way it has influenced hip-hop. The mainstream vs. independent/underground tug of war is never going to die, and Fite certainly wasn’t the first to call out the glitz-and-glamour way of rap; De La Soul’s De La Soul is Dead (1991) is mandatory listening in this regard.

The highlight, for me, of Over the Counter Culture has to be I’ve Been Shot, a parody obviously inspired by 50 Cent, who we all know by now doesn’t go anywhere without his bulletproof vest. The song is preceded by a 14-second skit in which an interviewer is asking kids who their favorite rapper is; the answer, of course, is 50 Cent. Again, subtlety has no place here.

“Every now and then I ask somebody to graze me/
Just shoot me a little bit, man/
Make it look good/
Well, not every rapper does it/
But every rapper should”

The album is an admirable and important message – from both Fite and Epitaph/Anti. Here’s hoping all the fans who cry about label politics put some faith in this (free) record.

  • Tim Fite | I’ve Been Shot
  • Tim Fite | Place Your Bets

Get Fite’s great 2005 release Gone Ain’t Gone (unfortunately, not for free, but only $5.20 at Insound).

Related:
Tim Fite resuscitates Trunk Federation

hip-hop, i used to love h.e.r.

I Used to Love H.E.R.: Douglas Martin

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The eighth 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 Douglas Martin, a blogger who used to go by the name the Armchair Novelist and is now heading the folk/experimental act Fresh Cherries From Yakima (Web site / MySpace).

Douglas thoroughly deconstructs an early Wu-Tang solo classic, so much so that I had to invoke the “more” link to jump his contribution. That said, I strongly suggest taking in what he has to say about an album that, in no small part, influenced the modern game of “cocaine rap.”

Photobucket - Video and Image HostingRaekwon
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (Loud/RCA, 1995)
Note: Cassettes of this album were produced in a purple-tinted plastic, an idea that is analogous to how drug dealers mark their items (via). (And, for what it’s worth, Ghostface Killah was named the all-too-Caucasian-sounding “Ghost Face Killer” on this album.)

“Let’s cut to the chase: concept albums and “coke rap” are two of the most furiously popular musical trends of the past two years. being a fan of not only the album-length narrative, but also of the street-level workings of the drug trade (my next book purchase is the autobiography of “nicky” barnes, one of the most notorious snitches in history), i should let it be no secret that only built 4 cuban linx by raekwon (and co-starring the most brilliant wu-tang clansman, ghostface killah) is my all-time favorite hip-hop record. when sequencing my forthcoming debut album (also an album-length narrative), i took a few cues from cuban linx, which is probably something you don’t hear every day from a folk singer.

Continue reading I Used to Love H.E.R.: Douglas Martin →

hip-hop, remix

Wu-Tang Clan & Friends: Unreleased

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Photobucket - Video and Image HostingRemixes? Rarities? Wu-Tang Clan? Yes. Yes. And yes. It’s almost impossible to keep up with all their projects. But it’s fun to try.

The latest is Mathematics Presents … Wu-Tang Clan & Friends: Unreleased, a collection of – yup – previously unreleased tracks, including remixes and such. The album, on Nature Sounds, was compiled by Wu-Tang’s DJ, Mathematics. As if you haven’t had your fill of Ghostface with Fishscale and More Fish, this collection brings you remixes of Maxine, Wu-Banga and Wise.

Every Wu member, and then some, is on this album, available on Feb. 6. Seriously. What better way to say “I love you” to your significant other on Valentine’s Day this year than with some Wu-Tang?

I’ve got a couple mp3s, though I can’t promise both will be around for long. There’s some hot Raekwon action on this album, though you’ll get your share of Raekwon on Monday (foreshadowing!).

  • Ghostface Killah, Raekwon | Maxine (Remix)
  • GZA, Method, U-God, Raekwon, RZA | Da “W” (Remix)

Cover art via Nah Right, where you also can see the tracklisting.

hip-hop, video

De La Soul: 3 Feet High and Rising (press kit)

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Fumbling around Google the other night while pretending to do some “research,” I came across this amazing piece of hip-hop history via YouTube. It’s a video press kit (about seven minutes in length) for De La Soul’s seminal debut 3 Feet High and Rising.

It’s a cheesy yet pretty inventive (for the time) way to introduce the group and the record. It starts simple enough, with the guys introducing themselves and giving the explanation for their names (“Trugoy is yogurt backwards … yogurt, I enjoy to eat yogurt. I mean, I eat it a lot”).

The main theme of the clip, though, seems to center on the group almost defending the album, which probably earned as much abuse as praise for its out-there mentality of peace, love and medallions. De La takes umbrage with being labeled “hippies,” a topic that becomes the driving inspiration behind 3 Feet High’s follow-up, De La Soul is Dead.

Regardless, Posdnuos, Trugoy and Mase break it down in the clip. Check for great guest spots near the end.

hip-hop

Living Legends: Legendary Music, Vol. 1

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It’s hard to imagine a more prolific crew of musicians than Living Legends, an eight-man hip-hop collective from LA and Oakland.

I like to think that I’m up on the trends, yet every time I check it seems the Legends have put out a group album or something solo. Murs’ Murray’s Revenge was one of my favorites of 2006. For the record, Living Legends are: Murs, the Grouch, Eligh, Luckyiam, Scarub, Sunspot Jonz, Asop and Bicasso. If it isn’t a Legends release, the guys are splintering and forming different combos, like 3 Melancholy Gypsys (Murs, Eligh, Scarub).

Anyway, Legendary Music, Vol. 1 features previously unreleased and soon-to-be released material (all for only $8). I had trouble deciding which track to share, but I’ve been diggin’ on the Sunspot Jonz song Purple Kush, as good as any mainstream beat … guaranteed. Or if you go to the group’s Web site, you can stream 2010 by 3MGs, which samples Nirvana’s cover of The Man Who Sold the World.

  • Living Legends (Sunspot Jonz) | Purple Kush
hip-hop, remix

Busdriver: Kill Your Employer (Daedelus remix)

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I can’t imagine the challenge of producing beats/music to keep pace with Busdriver’s autobahn-like delivery. But Daedelus has put together a remix that is assaulting (in a good way), a sonic orgy of drums and skewed tempos and time signatures.

In case you missed it, Kill Your Employer (Recreational Paranoia is the Sport of Now) is the first single off Busdriver’s RoadKillOvercoat, due out Jan. 30 on Epitaph.
Check it out. And buckle up.

  • Busdriver | Kill Your Employer (Daedelus remix)
hip-hop, year end

Pigeon John’s Top 10 Cities to Rock Shows

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Our friends at Quannum wanted to let us in on Pigeon John’s top 10 list for 2006: Top 10 Cities to Rock Shows. I saw PJ and Busdriver in Scottsdale, which, unfortunately, did not make the list. But Tucson did. Big ups to the Old Pueblo.

This list is pretty hilarious, especially when he gives shouts out to Montana. Montana?!? OK, when Phoenix/Scottsdale is falling behind Missoula, Montana, I know we have our work cut out for us.
Be sure to check out PJ’s Pigeon John … and the Summertime Pool Party.

1. Whittier, CA
Why? All the boys look like Morrisey and all the girls look like they dropped out of heaven in the 50’s…

2. Missoula, MT
Why? Unsuspecting mountain people with huge brains and hands filled with beer mugs hug you and make you feel special.

3. Tuscon, AZ
Why? Haunted youth stroll the streets lost and amused. The prettiest sunsets on Earth and the underage drink scary amounts of Bud Lite. Busdriver and I sat back and gawked.

4. Memphis, TN
Why? The South did rise this year. Me and Slim Kid Tre drove in expecting 20 but were blown away at the hundreds of pirates that came. The girls are pretty Janis Joplins and the boys wear Gucci shoes…with no socks.

5. Colorado Springs, CO
Why? The bleek and grey industry town warms my soul. Tea and Vodka greet my hands and the people that come to the shows are thirsty for truth and will not take lies for an answer.

6. Orlando, FL
Why? The Social. The scene is young enough not to be stuck up. Flynn from LA Symphony lives there and if you’re single, this place will put you in a choke hold.

7. NYC
Why? Its the old gangster grandfather who still dates 23 year old lawyers from Sweden. You have to prove yourself … to him … but not to the transplants who slip on the NYC culture like cheap fake designer coat. … screw them.

8. Seattle, WA
Why? The city dwells in a thick history of slickness. The people will always be cooler than you without trying. Chop Suey’s the best place to play. Its small, red and filled with danger.

9. Aspen, CO
Why? The rich and homeless live together. The women wear furs as big and flowing as the sea. The mountians sing praises to their king and the shows are always solded out.

10. Sydney, Australia
Why? Oz is like a huge California. The food is good, the drinks are good. Everything is good. Jam Recordings (my Oz label), treat you like Wesley Snipes in 1995. I met great friends out there and got lounge with with guys from Silverchair at The Establishment. The 2007 black Range Sport speed fast following the silver 2007 BMW M3 through the wet street of Sydney. It was beautiful.

hip-hop

Natural Selection 2.0

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All of a sudden, Talib Kweli is everywhere. Rappcats.com is offering a free download of Kweli’s latest release, Liberation, a nine-song collaboration with Madlib (via). Kweli also appears on Natural Selection 2.0, a digital-only compilation from Nature Sounds, which released Masta Killa’s overlooked Made in Brooklyn last year. By the looks of it, Natural Selection 2.0 puts together some great collabs, including Pete Rock with Styles P and members of the Wu-Tang Clan, among others.

Someone may string me up from their backpack here, but I’ve never been a huge Kweli guy. Something about his voice bothers me — it’s a little high-pitched and, in this case on Project Jazz, distracts from the looping horn sample.

Now, Viktor Vaughn (aka MF Doom), on the other hand, well, what can you say? He’s like butta, baby.

Buy Natural Selection 2.0 from iTunes.

  • Hell Razah, Talib Kweli, Viktor Vaughn | Project Jazz