Well with all this talk about hip hop I have to chime in with some props for
Chi-Town's very own All Natural. We're actually listening to their new album
right now while we work on the new list...the CD is out on ....Thrill
Jockey???!!! (the LP is on Fat Beats which makes MUCH more sense). It's a
very nice album with some jazzy touches, but it's a lot ruffer than say
Common. FYI: All Natural's first album was released by Cup Of Tea (which
alas is no more--though we do have all their stock if you're looking for
anything :).
And I also give big ups to Blackalicious' Nia album--that record is
fantastic. On the Gangstarr tip, I love Premier's production but alot of
Guru's raps leave me cold. I was really disappointed by the last Jazzamatazz
album... And of course the Roots are top of the food chain (IMHO). We just
repressed their first album again on vinyl (and promptly sold out) and you
know it still sounds fresh as hell like 9 years later...
On a slightly different tip can anyone recommend any good r&b ala Jill
Scott, Musiq Soulchild, etc. The last buying binge I was a few months back
and I guess I due for another... I've heard the Res (sp?) name but haven't
heard any of the music--is her album worth picking up? How about Sunshine
Anderson?
Dirk van den Heuvel
President/GM, Groove Distribution
"Your Guide To The Underground"
http://www.groovedis.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Beau Young [mailto:bjy07@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, April 27, 2001 7:21 PM
To: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
Subject: Re: Hip hop quick hits
Looks like I can't keep quiet about hip hop either. I've spent a little
too much time around the computer today. Still got a little running off at
the mouth left... Anyway, all of Primeridean's stuff is tight. His first
12" was the first record I bought from Guidance, and it won't dissapoint.
I know what you're talking about as far as american artists shying away
from the jazzy flavors, but thats cool, cuz I'm shying away from them.
It's nice to see the UK getting into american hip hop. I mean, you can't
deny it if you have an ear to weed through the bullshit as with all other
genres of music.
(runs of on a tangent)..... I wonder if anybody is picking up that Geto
Boys reissue "mind playing tricks on me". That was a major major hit when
it was out (at least here in California). I could easily recite it from
beginning to end and remember the video vividly. It's a good example of
quality gangster rap ( very gangster). I still listen to Scarface every now
and then, but his new stuff can't touch the old (there's only 3 good tracks
on his latest cd). On a gangster note (push stereotypes aside kiddies...)
some real high quality production came out in the early to mid 90's. DJ
Quik was almost always on point (except for Jus Lyke Compton album... I see
his stuff being worth something in the future), Ice Cube always did it for
the underground and the masses, Outkast's first album is classic (not too
gangster, but thugged out and one of my all time favorites, nobody can deny
that A++ production on nearly eve! ry track), Dr. Dre's "Chronic" and
Snoop's first album still sound phenomenal after all this time of jazz,
house and import sounds. Even dirtier yet, Jayo Felony put it down on his
first cd, and South Central Cartel was the shit around here.
The above are definitely more Rap than Hip Hop and are only recommended if
your interested in Rap. Musically, nothing like De La, or the Roots.
I'm with Marco on Blackalicious and Guru / Gangstarr. Black's NIA album
is excellent, and all of Gangstarr's stuff is already classic.
Later.
>From: Marco Pringle
>To: acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
>Subject: Hip hop quick hits
>Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2001 14:58:18 -0700 (PDT)
>
>
>--- Dave 'n' Val wrote:
> > Care to provide a description of these folks?
> >
> > On Fri, 27 Apr 2001 19:20:10 +0100 Dave Haynes
> > wrote:
> >
> > Also do check out the following
> > The Nextmen
> > Primeridian (on Guidance Records)
> > Unsung Heroes
> > Ty (on Big Dada records)
> >
>
>I haven't heard the Primeridian yet, nor the Ty, but I
>heard Big Dada labelmates Gamma, and I thought they were
>horrid. Nextmen and Unsung Heroes are pretty damn good,
>though. I think Nextmen have been around longer, but
>they're both duos of UK hip hop producers. Generally they
>team up with well-respected members of the US's (and
>sometimes Europe's) hip hop underground. The beats are
>always thumpin', and generally fall towards the jazzier
>side. I really like Unsung Heroes' album opener,
>"Magnificent", but the album's got other great tracks as
>well. As for the Nextmen, their collaboration with Grap
>Luva for Break the Mold is one of my favourites, especially
>the 12" remix.
>
>In the same vein, but from across the pond, da Grassroots
>are a production duo out of Toronto, and their 1999 release
>'Passage through time' was probably one of my favourite hip
>hop releases of that year.
>
>It seems to me that a lot of american rap artists are
>concerned with their rep, and since they get seen as 'soft'
>when they put out jazzier stuff, they tend to shy away from
>it (of course, this is a huge, gross over-generalization,
>but i'm saying it anyways). Artists outside the US seem a
>little less concerned with this, so sometimes their
>releases are unabashedly funky (i'm thinking of France's
>Alliance Ethnik's first record) or jazzy (MC Solaar - I
>loved 'Prose Combat', but that's going back a few years)
>
>--- Beau Young wrote:
> >
> > Further more, on a hip hop note, some other cool shit
> > thats out (for my
> > taste) is the Mike Ladd 10" on Ozone (real, experimental
> > shit), a Rae &
> > Christian 12" with Pharcyde on one side and probably my
> > favorite cut right
> > now on the otherside... At jazz Remix of Not Just Anybody
> > (not hip hop
> > though). Hmm... Yah Supreme - Alone; Street Smartz -
> > Problemz; Sound
> > Providers on Quaternote; Common/Macy Grey - Geto Heaven
> > Remix; Jay Dee's
> > 1st 12 from the Beat Generation Series... Just a few
> > tings to check if ya
> > like hip hop... and damn, what's up with all the UK
> > reissues of dope ass hip
> > hop tracks from years back. All sorts of Pete Rock & CL
> > Smooth, Brand
> > Nubian, De La. "Love me or leave me Alone"...
> > memories... would pick it up
> > in a second if it wasnt like 13 bucks. Anybody heard
> > Moka Only's LP yet?
> >
> > Beau
>
>I'm totally feeling the Jay Dee album right now as well.
>And i'm also drooling over all the reissues. Don't forget
>EPMD. When this stuff first came out, I was clueless, poor,
>and living in an area which lacked good hip hop service.
>Luckily now that my old school tapes are pretty mangled,
>I've got a bit more coin and I've pretty much managed to
>fill out my De La back catalogue, and I've got some Pete
>Rock & CL stuff, too. I noticed some old geto boys (a
>guilty pleasure, i'll admit) just got re-released, but
>ultimately, I'm still waiting for the early Gang Starr and
>Roots stuff to get proper 12" reissue. Speaking of
>re-issues, anyone got any word on Keb Darge/Pete Rock's
>Funk Spectrum 3?
>
>Anyways, about the Moka Only - For those who don't know he
>started out as being part of Vancouver's Swollen Members
>but stepped out on his own quite a ways back. Calling
>himself the West Coast's Most Prolific, he spits out more
>cd's than a broken jukebox. I picked up "Road Life", which
>I believe is the release just before "Lime Green". When
>he's on, he's fantastic, with a lyrical flow that could be
>mistaken for Common. All the beats on that albums 21
>tracks (!) were created by Moka on a Korg keyboard, and
>they come off sounding like some crazy funky stuff from the
>eighties. I think he album could have been better had a
>few tracks been left on the cutting room floor, but some of
>the tracks are stellar (Good Times Stack, Major Gap).
>Check our mokaonly.com for more info.
>
>--- adario wrote:
> > that was the most talented Pharcyde on the Rae &
> > Christian, check out their
> > early works, "Bizarred Ride II" (an absolute classic!)
> > and
> > "Labcabincalifornia".
> >
>I bought Bizarre ride at the same time as the Souls of
>Mischief's '93 'til infinity', so for me the two albums go
>hand in hand. Excellent blunted, jazzy beats from the left
>coast. Maybe add in some Hieroglyphics for good measure.
>
> > keepin things on a similar vibe, this is just the tip of
> > the iceberg of
> > artists/collectives well worth your money:
> >
> > Common
> > Mos Def, Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek
> > De La Soul
> > A Tribe Called Quest
> > The Roots
> > Digable Planets
> > Outkast
> > Slum Village
> > Quannum
> > ...
>
>Just to add to the tip of that iceberg, because I can't
>seem to shut up about hip hop right now... Definately some
>Blackalicious, DJ Spinna, J-Live's phenomenal "The Best
>Part" album, Gang Starr and most DJ Premier produced stuff.
> And I heard MF Doom's Doomsday track the other day and I
>can't get it out of my head. Keep in mind that for De La
>and Tribe, earlier is better.
>
>Phew.
>
>=====
>Marco Pringle, host of
>the Fat Beat Diet - Thursday evenings, 10:30-Midnight
>CJSW 90.9FM (Calgary) - in real audio at:
>http://www.cjsw.com
>
>__________________________________________________
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