Category Archives: hip-hop

Sunday Grab Bag: R.I.P. Jay Dee

Roger Erickson/Stones Throw
Sad news in the world of hip-hop that I first found out at Analog Giant: Producer Jay Dee (aka J-Dilla) died Friday of kidney failure (Detroit Free Press story). He was only 32.

Without even knowing, you probably have heard something by Jay Dee, even if you just listened to a sliver of hip-hop. He was a member of A Tribe Called Quest’s production team the Ummah, and he’s worked with artists like De La Soul, the Roots and Common. Stones Throw lists his extensive resume.

My knowledge of Jay Dee (born James Yancey) is fairly limited. But his name is, quietly, everywhere in my collection, especially on vinyl b-side remixes. Also check Stones Throw’s J-Dilla page for links to praiseworthy reviews of his latest Donuts, released just last week.

For more on Jay Dee, I highly recommend:

Here’s a few remix cuts culled from my collection.
Jay Dee/J-Dilla: 1974-2006, R.I.P.

De La Soul | Stakes is High (remix by Jay Dee)
From Itzsoweezee 12″ single; De La, Mos Def and Truth Enola on one track.

The Pharcyde | Y? (Be Like That) (Jay Dee remix)
From Drop 12″ single; a great example of Jay Dee keeping the flavor of the original but coloring it with a stuttering bass line and more pronounced backing vocals.

The Pharcyde | Runnin’ (Jay Dee Remix)
From Drop 12″ single; a cooled-out mix of one of my favorite Pharcyde tracks.

Run-DMC reissues/contest revision


Slowly but surely, I’ve been repurchasing my Run-D.M.C. collection because of the Legacy reissues of the seminal hip-hop group’s catalog. Each reissue CD contains bonus tracks, either live or instrumentals or remixes. There are few groups I would rebuy CDs for, and Run-D.M.C. definitely is one of them. At this point, I’m only missing the Raising Hell reissue.

It’s pointless to get into some celebratory spiel about the group’s greatness (the repackaged liner notes do that quite well), but every time I listen to Run-D.M.C. I’m astounded. There is something very simple and pure about what they were doing. Listen to the beats. To the lyrics. There is nothing dressed up about them.

Not to sound like a bitter traditionalist, but revisiting these albums makes me long for something better from hip-hop. How is it that something so elemental in its function was so groundbreaking in its vision? I think that’s a rhetorical question.


Run-DMC | Rock Box
Run-DMC | Sucker M.C.’s (Live)

(Both taken from the self-titled Run-D.M.C.)

Contest update …

So my wife thought it would be “easy” for you to guess my two favorite hip-hop albums. It doesn’t appear that way, seeing as how only four people took a stab. So I’m going to pare it down. One of the two albums is A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders. Now, you must guess the other. Here’s a hint: It was released in 1988.

Here’s the contest post. Keep in mind: If you don’t want to find out about cool parties, bands or other Vice Records or addVice stuff, just say so. Otherwise you’ll be added to their e-mail list.

Also …

I’m probably gonna go check out Jax on the ones and twos tonight at an afterparty for Oh Shit! A Fest? in downtown PHX. Check it out if you live in AZ.

Contest! 12″ vinyl for The Con and Jak X soundtracks

OK, y’all, it’s contest time involving two of my favorite pastimes: music and video games. Some of the hottest tracks have been coming from video-game soundtracks, and I got some exclusive remix goods for ya.

New music inspired by Sony PlayStation games THE CONâ„¢ and JakX: Combat Racingâ„¢ are available. Here’s the track listing:

Music from and inspired by THE CONâ„¢ (exclusive tracks):
I Declare – Blackalicious
Danger Room Feat. Casual – Dan the Automator
The Champ Feat. Ax – Alchemist
Swing First Feat. Graph and Mujah – DOC
Music from and inspired by JakX: Combat Racingâ„¢ (exclusive remixes):
Reborn Feat. Cage – El-P
Tempest – John Digweed
Run the Table – Overseer

Tracks for The Con can be purchased here; tracks for The Jak here.
(Notice: Links only work with Microsoft® Windows® 98 SE, ME, 2000 or XP; Internet Explorer 5.5 or later.)

But lucky for you, if you’re not running on Windows, addVice and Sony hooked me (and you) up with the Blackalicious and El-P tracks:

Blackalicious | I Declare (from The Con)
El-P (feat. Cage) | Reborn (from Jak X)

Now, about that contest … The prize is a pair of 12″ records (that’s vinyl, yo) – one containing the four songs from THE CONâ„¢, the other with three songs from JakX: Combat Racingâ„¢.

So, how do you win? Because we’re dealing with hip-hop … there are two hip-hop albums I would grab first in a fire or I would need if I were stranded on an island. Can you guess them both? Leave your guess in the comments. A winner will be selected randomly among the correct entries. Contest cutoff is midnight Saturday.

Note: If you don’t want to find out about cool parties, bands or other Vice Records or addVice stuff, just say so. Otherwise you’ll be added to their e-mail list.

Giant Panda “Fly School Reunion”


Always on the hunt for hip-hop on the positive tip, I recently picked up Giant Panda’s Fly School Reunion. I had good feeling before listening just because the LA-based trio is on Tres Records, along with one of my favorites, People Under the Stairs.

Fly School, the group’s first full-length album, proved my instincts correct. Without being overzealous in my defense of “backpack” rap, the album nails everything I love about a good hip-hop album: the lyrical interplay is seamless, production is consistent and the beats maintain a good-time vibe from start to finish.

Not to mention, Giant Panda is a walking example of social harmony, even if it wasn’t their intention. The trio is diverse (black, white and Japanese), which makes a track like Racist – a sarcastic yet sadly necessary statement on racial stereotypes – all the more sincere.

Giant Panda | Diggin’ in the Tapes
Giant Panda | Racist

Also …

  • Question: Did everyone download Colin Meloy’s concert from NPR? I will consider splitting it up into separate mp3s if there’s a big enough demand (leave it in the comments).
  • The Big Takeover makes note of a promising trend: purchase albums on vinyl and receive a coupon to download it digitally for free. The fantastic Merge Records has made this deal available on the Clientele’s Strange Geometry and Robert Pollard’s From a Compound Eye.
  • Be sure to check out two new additions to the blog roll: Black Balloon and the newly launched Cable and Tweed.
  • You’ve gotta be kidding: An iPod owner in Louisiana is suing Apple, alleging the mp3 player has the potential to cause hearing loss. Story here.

Blueprint “1988”


Local concert promoter Charlie Levy of Stateside Presents has just booked a slew of great upcoming shows for the Phoenix area, including Reubens Accomplice, The Elected, Band of Horses, The Life and Times, TV on the Radio and Devendra Banhart. Also in the mix is a hip-hop gem: Soul Position, featuring RJD2 and Blueprint.

I’ve yet to see RJD2, who is a busy boy of late, and Blueprint has dominated my iPod with his 2005 release 1988. If it wasn’t obvious by his style, Blueprint says in his liner notes: “The year 1988 gave birth to a lot of classic hip-hop records, so I named this album 1988 to pay tribute to those artists and records.”

He’s right, too: N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton; Public Enemy, It Takes a Nation of Millions… ; Eric B. and Rakim, Follow the Leader; Run-DMC, Tougher Than Leather … to name just a few.

Blueprint reminds me of a young LL Cool J: a little rough around the edges, but with a fearless flow that’s hard to ignore. And he avoids what, in my opinion, is a major plague in hip-hop: guest artists. Albums have become so watered down by this guest and that guest, it’s hard to tell whose LP it is. Blueprint limits it to two (including a great spot from Aesop Rock).

Blueprint | 1988
Blueprint | Fresh

The Procussions


On Wednesday, the reunited Digable Planets return to Arizona for a show in Flagstaff. We’re debating about whether we’ll take the two-hour drive north for the show, which also costs a steep $25. Having already seen the DPs last summer, I’m not so hot on spending 25 bones. BUT … it is the Digable Planets.

Last summer’s excellent show was where I first heard about the Procussions, who opened that tour and apparently made such a good impression that they’re on the road with the DPs again. (Arizona’s own Drunken Immortals also are on the bill.)

I can vouch for the Procussions’ energetic live set, and the Colorado trio’s full-length As Iron Sharpens Iron is a lively throwback of emcee interplay and bouncing beats.

The Procussions are touring behind the news of a recent deal with Rawkus and expect to drop their next LP – 5 Sparrows for 2 Cents – early this year. All I can say is hallelujah for groups like the Procussions for revisiting hip-hop’s glory days without sounding stale or like copycats.



The Procussions | Wegotta
The Procussions | Make it Happen

Fatlip “The Loneliest Punk”


Funny story: So I’m digging through my random odds and ends in my music collection when I stumble across a Delicious Vinyl sampler from 1998. The disc has tracks by Born Jamericans, The Whoridas, The Flys, etc.

There’s nine tracks in all, and there’s supposed to be a 10th. Except the 10th track says “Fat Lip … is currently on a walkabout and could not be reached for comment at this time! Check for the Fat Lip album Revenge of the Nerd in summer ’98.”

Well, by now you probably know we finally got that Fatlip album … seven years later. The Loneliest Punk (NOT Revenge of the Nerd) was released this past November. As a big Pharcyde fan I was a bit wary about solo Fatlip (kinda like solo Phife Dawg), although it couldn’t be worse than the Pharcyde being reduced to two members.

Anyway, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by what I’ve heard, especially Writer’s Block, a bit of a self-deprecating jam in which Fatlip raps about the long-awaited album:

“One out of every two people that see me in industry /
Ask me about my CD /
What style will I create /
And what’s the delay on the release date?”

Fatlip | Writer’s Block

BONUS (from Delicious Vinyl ’98 sampler):
Pharcyde/Sublime | Summertime in the LBC (remix)

Aceyalone: “Heaven” (new track)


We’re hittin’ you off with a second track from Magnificent City, the forthcoming Aceyalone long-player that is produced/overseen by the esteemed RJD2. (Miss the first track, Fire? Just click.)

Where Fire is a bouncing, good-time jam, Heaven takes a U-turn in both production and lyrical content. The considerable contrast in sonic moods between the two songs shows RJD2’s versatility. Heaven is wrapped in an electic guitar loop that might call to mind Rick Rubin’s salad days (circa LL Cool J’s Radio or Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill.) but with a darker vibe. And that bassline will sneak up on you during the verses.

Lyrically, Acey seems to be contemplating the afterlife, carrying on a conversation with the devil, which leads to the chorus:

“Heaven aint’ got no stairs /
Heaven ain’t got no ghetto /
Heaven ain’t got nothin’ to do with you /
cause you a devil.”

It feels like an atypical Aceyalone track – and took me some time to warm up to – yet that seems kinda the point by working with RJD2.

Aceyalone | Heaven

In case you missed it …
Aceyalone | Fire

Remix Week: A Tribe Called Quest


(Note: All links to mp3s from Remix Week will expire by midnight Sunday.)

I said on the first post of Remix Week that there are few remixes that I like better than its original. Well, here’s one of the few exceptions: A Tribe Called Quest’s Scenario remix. The remix isn’t necessarily better. After all, few songs are better than Scenario. But the remix is pretty much a wholly different song, but with the same cast: Tribe and Leaders of the New School (oh, how I miss the young Busta Rhymes).

And if you ask me, the Scenario remix offers one of Phife’s best verses, including this gem:

“So roll out the red carpet ’cause I’m gettin’ this / Vanilla Ice platinum? That shit’s ridiculous.”

And …

“Let it be known, I’m not the one to step to / You’re better off calling D-Nice to your rescue.”

The Oh My God remix is one of my favorites. And check that I Left My Wallet in El Segundo Vampire Mix, which was remixed by Norman Cook (better known to you and I as Fatboy Slim).

A Tribe Called Quest | Scenario (Remix)
A Tribe Called Quest | Oh My God (Remix)
A Tribe Called Quest | I Left My Wallet in El Segundo (Vampire Mix)

BONUS:
A Tribe Called Quest | Oh My God (Know Naim remix)

(I still have no clue who Know Naim is, but they kill it on this mix, especially the lines: “I cramp your fuckin’ style like you ate before you swum” and “They got my back like a Jansport.”)

Also …

Had some cool instant messaging with Garrison over at Indie Interviews on Thursday. Check out his new Insider Program that gives you, the fan, a chance to ask questions of your favorite artists.

Remix Week: Oodles and oodles of De La Soul


If I planned it right, I could dedicate an entire week (or two) to De La Soul remixes. I have more remixes from De La Soul than any other artist in my collection. I have remixes I haven’t even listened to yet, including a full-length Japanese import CD simply titled Remixes (part of liner notes below).


I have no real explanation for this massive De La library, other than they’re one of my all-time favorites and I simply know no boundaries when it comes to buying their music. Picking out just a few was a complicated task, although I noticed most of the remixes come from the early days: 3 Feet High to Buhloone Mindstate.

So, until that De La Remix Week, these will have to tide you over:

De La Soul | Keepin’ the Faith (Fly and Funky Mix)

From: Keepin’ the Faith CD single import.


De La Soul | Ego Trippin’ (Part Three) (Egoristic Mix)

Note: New beat, new music, new verses. Fresh!

De La Soul | Buddy
From: The Magic Number CD single; not really listed as a remix, but it’s a different version with different guests: Tribe, Jungle Bros., Monie Love, Queen Latifah

BONUS
De La Soul | Ain’t Hip to Be Labelled a Hippie [sic]
From: De La Soul Remixes Japanese import.


Catchin’ up …

  • Hey, look who came back. Better than ever.
  • OK, people. There are other options than iTunes out there. You know about eMusic. Now check out Audio Lunchbox. Files are 192 kbps and have no digital rights management locks, and the indie selection is pretty large. Available artists: Tim Fite (personal favorite), Blackalicious, DangerDoom and Okkervil River, to name a few. Get a subscription or buy tracks individually. Looks like album art is included with downloads. Check all the record labels available here.
  • The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (where I once interned way back in 2000) has a nice article about mp3 blogs. (via Largehearted Boy)
  • Thanks to Matthew, K. and Jennings, all of whom have been active commentors (is that a word?). Keep it up, and thanks!
  • And you should probably visit Dodge because, well, he’s Dodge. And he rules.