Category Archives: hip-hop

cassette, hip-hop

By request, more Atban Klann

9 Comments


Because of popular demand — yes, two comments is considered “demand” in these parts — I’m continuing to offer tracks from the never-was-released Grass Roots from Atban Klann (now known as Black Eyed Peas).

This lot offers one of my faves, Mountain Top, and the anti-cop track Lord of the Flies. Again, I’m trying my best to clean up the sound with Audio Hijack Pro, but gimme some feedback — too much bass? too much treble? — and I’ll try to correct it. There’s about seven or eight tracks left, which includes my No. 1 favorite on the album. (Ahem, I’m not above bribery to polish this project off; worth a try anyway.)

Atban Klann | Lord of the Flies
Atban Klann | Quid Pro Quo
Atban Klann | Jugglin’ My Nuts (a little jokey interlude; not sure if that’s actually the name of the song)
Atban Klann | Mountain Top

cassette, hip-hop

Atban Klann (aka Black Eyed Peas)

9 Comments


We all know who the Black Eyed Peas are (I have to bite my tongue about how I really feel about them now). But did we all know before Black Eyed Peas there was Atban Klann?

Formed in Los Angeles in the early 1990s, Atban (A Tribe Beyond A Nation) brought current BEPs Apl.de.ap and Will.I.Am together to produce some cuts that might surprise you. It might surprise you also to know that Atban Klann was signed to Ruthless Records, run by none other than Eazy-E. Unfortunately, the album, Grass Roots, was shelved and never found its way to the public. Story has it that Ruthless was unsure how to market a group whose positive vibes ran contrary to Ruthless’ gangsta image.

Alas, all that exists are bootleg cassettes of the album, like the one that I own. I converted a few of the tracks to mp3 from the cassette. I tried to clean the sound as best I could; keep in mind, my copy is probably the copy of a copy of a copy. But if demand is high enough (hint: leave a comment), I’ll convert the rest of the album. These are the first three tracks.

Atban Klann | Open Your Mind
Atban Klann | Going for a Ride
Atban Klann | Adidas (Put on your adidas and step off!)

hip-hop, remix

Digable Planets fall tour

1 Comment


According the unofficial home page of the Digable Planets, the recently reunited trio will be heading out this fall — dates here — to support the release of Beyond the Spectrum: The Creamy Spy Chronicles, a best of album due for release on Oct. 4.

Although there’s no Az. stop on this tour, I highly recommend going to see these cats. I caught ’em in Tempe in June, and I couldn’t be happier that they’re back together.

If you’re jonesing for new material, you can peep Ladybug Mecca’s solo offering Trip the Light Fantastic.

Digable Planets | Graffitti (Noise) (TV mix)
Digable Planets | Califlower (Spiddyocks Go West)

hip-hop

Ugly Duckling — new tracks

2 Comments


Underrated — or maybe just underexposed — group Ugly Duckling is one of the most refreshing acts to tackle a hip-hop genre that just takes itself too damn serious. The three-man group from Long Beach, Calif. — emcees Andy and Dizzy and deejay Young Einstein — create fun and (gasp!) lighthearted tracks that never pretend be more important than the culture they represent.

One of my favorite UD tracks — that epitomizes how they keep everything in perspective — is Opening Act, off their last LP Taste the Secret. Self-deprecating (not to mention brilliant, as well), the song details the woes of their first-on-the-bill concert status : “Maybe one day we’ll ride the tour bus and you’ll come out to see us.”

UD is preparing to drop a new LP, and the group has been generously offering tracks to preview on its MySpace page. (Thanks to Chris for the heads up.) I ripped a couple into mp3s using Audio Hijack Pro.


Ugly Duckling Lower the Boom
Ugly Duckling | Smack

BONUS BEATS:
Ugly Duckling | Opening Act

hip-hop

Brainfreeze auction

Leave a comment


Well, I had planned on offering a one-day special on a download of Brainfreeze, a 50-minute mix of funk 45s by DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, as a Labor Day treat. However, the Solesides Web site is auctioning off an original pressing of the CD, with all benefits to be donated to the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The CD is for auction here at eBay.

Brainfreeze was recorded as practice session by Shadow and Cut Chemist before a 1999 Future Primitive gig in San Francisco. I was fortunate enough to find the CD last weekend in LA; I don’t know if it’s a first or second pressing, but I really don’t care. The music and mixing is absolutely fantastic. For a history and breakdown of the samples, visit this site.

I highly suggest placing a bid on this CD. It’s for a good cause and you get something out of it, too.

DJ Shadow (feat. Zack de la Rocha) | March of Death (via Solesides.com)
Cut Chemist | Lesson 4: The Radio

hip-hop, vinyl

Flashback Friday: Nobody beats the Biz

1 Comment


Of all my music purchases last week in Los Angeles, this 12″ vinyl single of Just a Friend — in pristine condition — is perhaps the standout gem.

Whether or not you’re a hip-hop fan, everyone has heard this song, and it’s almost impossible to say you don’t like it. The piano loop is classic and Biz’s off-tune singing in the chorus is almost laughable, if the song weren’t so damn good.

Listening to it now (I was 12 in 1989 when it was released) I can appreciate the song for more than its nostalgic value. I really like Biz Markie’s story-telling ability; that just seems to be a really underrated style of rap. (Slick Rick was the ruler, of course.) But I think it’s safe to say Just a Friend made it OK — even cool? — to rap about relationships (see also, The Pharcyde’s Passin’ Me By).


Biz Markie | Just a Friend (LP version)
Biz Markie | Just a Friend (instrumental)

hip-hop, remix, vinyl

Gorillaz remixes

2 Comments


Relax. I don’t have anything from Demon Days. But I did find a Clint Eastwood promo single on vinyl at my favorite independent local record chain. The B-side included two remixes, supposedly “for promotion only.” If you ask me, Clint Eastwood was one of the best songs off the first LP, if only because Del the Funky Homosapien was featured on it.

Gorillaz | Clint Eastwood (Ed Case Refix)
Gorillaz | Clint Eastwood (Phi Life Cypher)

hip-hop

One Block Radius

5 Comments


Had I been able to catch Hieroglyphics in Tempe earlier this month, I also would have had the opportunity to see One Block Radius as a support act. The California-based trio is just another reason to think that hip-hop is cycling back to the good-time vibes of the early ’90s while pushing the genre in new creative directions.

Producer/singer Marty James, turntablist MDA (both formerly of Scapegoat Wax) and Hiero-affiliated rapper Z-Man make up One Block Radius, which recently dropped the LP Long Story Short.

James says on the group’s bio: “I hope the album sparks people’s creative sides. I want us to keep progressing in the fashion of an OutKast where you have the first record and it just grows and when it’s fully developed, it’s a beautiful thing. We are dudes that want to push the boundaries creatively.”

Creativity isn’t in doubt here. These guys are chameleon-like, going from the totally danceable Loud and Clear to the beatbox basics of Champion.

The links come via the group’s Web site. Check ’em at MySpace, too.

One Block Radius | Look Out Below
One Block Radius | Loud and Clear
One Block Radius | Black Mercedes
One Block Radius | Champion

Check out the video for Loud and Clear here.

hip-hop, vinyl

Flashback Friday: Goin’ Back to Cali.

6 Comments

Well, I’m headed off to LA today for the weekend and figured this would be a perfect time to bust out this vinyl 45 flashback: LL Cool J’s Goin’ Back to Cali.


When you’re talking about greatest rappers of all time, LL’s name has to come up, and I’m speaking strictly pre-Mr. Smith era (though I’d guess LL could take out any young whipper snapper … hello, Canibus). For raw beats and brash lyrics, LL’s Radio and Bigger and Deffer are hard to top. Radio stands atop my hip-hop collection with the likes of Run-DMC’s Tougher than Leather and A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory.

As for Goin’ Back to Cali. (on Walking With a Panther and the Less Than Zero soundtrack), it’s interesting to note the cultural influence the title alone has. If you google the title, you’ll find a lot of links to newspapers that used the headline “Goin’ back to Cali.” for some story relating to the state. I’ll never forget the video, all black and white with LL rollin’ in his ride when he drops the line: “Bikini small / heels tall / she said she likes the ocean.”

The B-side to the 45 single is Jack the Ripper, which I don’t believe appeared on any studio albums (but does show up on multiple Best of Def Jam compilations). It’s classic LL: in your face with a funky James Brown guitar sample and production by Rick Rubin.

LL Cool J | Goin’ Back to Cali.
LL Cool J | Jack the Ripper

(Note: Vinyl to digital conversion completed using Audio Hijack Pro.)

See y’all Tuesday, and get your captions in for the Rex Grossman photo below!