Funny thing about hip hop is that it's everywhere now (with the possible
exception of Hefner.) In fact, I don't think it'll be long before there's a
country act (Shania Twain, or someone) with a turntablist!
But, here's some essential hip hop records of recent vintage.
1) Mos Def. Black on Both Sides.
Extremely musical album, tremendous lyrical content.
2) The Roots, Do You Want More? and Things Fall Apart.
The first one is about 8 or 9 years old, and is definitely AJ related, what
with its nice mix of jazzy instrumental backing to the hip hop vocals.
The second one is alot sparser musically speaking, more "conventional" hip
hop, but it's got mad funky beats (Check out "Double Trouble" f. Mos Def,
"Adrenaline" "The Next Movement.") A great album. These guys seem to have
the ability to make albums that still sound hot after 8 or 10 years (unlike
Prince?)
3) Jurassic 5. EP, and Quality Control.
4) Digable Planets. Blow Out Comb. (Another oldie but goody. Also, check out
Arrested Development.)
5) Bahamadia. Kollage. Really awesome, if you can find a copy.
Of course, you can go into more mainstream releases, like Mystikal, who
sounds alot like a hip hop James Brown, Lauryn Hill, who won multiple
grammys for her debut a few years back, or the Notorious B.I.G., who, say
what you will, could set rumps to shaking.
Of course, elements of the hip hop sound have been co-opted by almost
everyone nowdays. Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit, Madonna and Brittney, Roni Size
and Amon Tobin, Portishead and Sneaker Pimps, everybody's throwin' in a
little hip hop style.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon Jul 09 2001 - 15:57:02 CEST