Re: Tokyo 1995 Hip Hop Report

Yuuta Sasaki (utah@interlog.com)
Tue, 2 Apr 1996 15:00:47 -0500


At 01:09 AM 3/29/96 +1000, you wrote:
>This is true... although I think this is less an act of intentional
>"emulation" than a lack of exploration of other forms. Twigy in particular
>plays with rythms extremely well, jumping in and out of the beats, etc.
>Ironic, but this sort of rapping is relatively recent to the scene, with
>representative older artists such as ECD, You the Rock, SDP, etc. being
>a little "loose" with rhythms in general. Buddha Brand is often referred
>to by Egaitsu as "new old school," though, so you're not far off...
>Although I tend to think that Twigy is beyond this and Shakka is perhaps
>aiming for a Shakkazombie vibe...
>
>I have to say this is definitely a matter of taste... I've always felt that
>a rapper best proves his skill with "deftness of tongue." Lyrical skills
>aren't just about lyrics.

As you say, its a matter of taste. And in terms of mine, I thought certain
rappers were less impressive compared to others. So, again no disrespect
was intended towards any of them. Apologies all around.

>Soul Scream is rumoured to have already recorded a couple tracks for
>an album sometime this year. I'm looking forward to it, but it was
>interesting to hear one of the guys from King Giddra talk to me the
>other day about what's wrong with Soul Scream's rhymes...

You seem to trail off there. Considering their divergent styles, I almost
shudder to ask but what pray tell did the guys from King Giddra have to say
about Soul Scream's rhymes?

NT Others have commented glowingly about the disc and its multi-vinyl
predecessor so I went out and got DJ Food's 'Refried Food.' I must say it
is much stronger than 'Recipe;' on that disc only 'The Dusk' and 'Spiral'
(remixed on RF twice) stood out. I especially liked the funky Herbaliser
mix of 'Mella,' the YMO-esque mix of 'Half Step' and the big beats and
blurps on 'Dark Lady.' Couldn't say how much of a radical departure the
mixes are aside from the 'Recipe' tracks (four). Of the 'Recipe' tracks,
the original seemed to remain fairly intact but strengthened in one way or
another, ie. the increased cheeze on the 'Half Step' remix. All in all, a
decent disc. Cheers.

@@:-Q yuuta sasaki
utah@interlog.com