May 30, 2011

Falling from the sky.

These Campers were a couple of smooth fellows. Fresh from a meticulously planned armed robbery, resplendent with pre-purchased masks, straight into your local greasy spoon for a cholesterol caper that is so dangerous that the staff go back into the seventies to serve it! That is how they spent Saturdays. Makes my lay in until three o'clock seem like a complete waste of time!

Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede must have been pleased with the reviews their first album "Uptown Saturday Night' garnered. It was a slice of Bronx dopeness that didn't trouble heads with yet more of the grimy plagiarism that seemed to plague the era and leave you feeling like one one rapper was at work in the whole of NY for that particularly period, and he was gargling with gravel. Funk, funk funk was the order of the day; props from peers and critics alike flowed, no doubt seduced by the charismatic duo's effortless rhyming and the sheer variety of instrumentation/samples used. If you don't have a copy, i would suggest that you head over to your local record shop, curse that you completely forgot it closed, and succumb inevitably to the great CD rack in the sky at Amazon.

The link below will furnish you with a copy of their crossover hit 'Lucini' that troubled the Billboard charts as i recall at the time. Sadly a couple of mediocre albums followed, with only the odd guest appearance to remind us of what was. However rumour has it that they are still recording and a certain Peter Rock is behind the boards!!

Download video:

May 20, 2011

Kool G Rap - Interview


This is a corker of an interview, a blog review and a free download all in a single update.  Don't say that we don't spoil you every now and then.

If you're not already aware of Werner Von Wallenrod's Humble Little Hip Hop Blog then you need to check it out.  Werner is a hip hop nerd, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.  He knows his hip hop inside out, back to front, upside down and from many other angles that you've never seen.  Think of him as a human hip hop encyclopedia - a Wernerpedia!
If there are various versions of a single, then Werner is the type of guy who will track down each version and draw his comparisons.  He is a true collector, so he knows the minuscule details of every item within his collection including the writing and production credits, the different labels, the history etc.  You get my point.
He also publishes his videos on his Youtube channel so that you can hear for yourself some of the rarer and more obscure releases from his collection before you track them down for yourself.

Now in case that wasn't enough inspiration to go and visit his blog, then this might persuade you.  He has just interviewed Kool G Rap.  Thankfully Werner stays away from all the usual interview cliches and gets down to some really interesting stuff that seems to surprise Kool G himself.  But I'm not going to spoil anything here, go check it out for yourself.

And to top things off, if you follow the interview right to the end, you'll find a link to download G Rap's Offer You Can't Refuse EP for FREE!  So what are you waiting for?

http://wernervonwallenrod.blogspot.com/2011/05/competive-spirit-kool-g-rap-interview.html

May 15, 2011

I'm a light Sleeper.




Another fine artist who never seemed to attract much attention or recognition, Saafir seems destined to be passed over only to be mentioned in the occasional footnote of Hip Hop articles.

I think this might be because he went a little against the grain of what was perceived to be West Coast modus operandi at the time, you know, irritating high pitched breaks shoehorned into a sampler with the G-funk conversion button firmly depressed, while someone with access to khaki trousers and a checked shirt arrhythmically shouted something incomprehensible about Doz Hoez and their cars suspension settings. Saafir eschewed this approach, he controversially went with a non adjustable suspension with standard MacPherson struts. Idiot!!! Musically he championed a far more organic sound with an endearing on beat off beat style that really makes the track bump.

Hope you like it.

May 10, 2011

Wild Style Breakbeats

DJ Black Steel pulled this album of breakbeats together having taken the beats from the original Wild Style film.  Anyone who is a fan of the films original score will certainly appreciate this compilation, but for me what is more important is the flashback to that era that this type of breakbeat collection provides to the listener.  So if you loved Wild Style, then download, press play and reminisce on just how funky that era was and just how classic Wild Style is.  I can't think of another film from that era that has stood the test of time, or was as true to the culture as Wild Style.

Download (Hotfile - 52Mb)
http://hotfile.com/dl/88097340/05b78a1/DJ_Black_Steel_-_The_Original_Wild_Style_Breakbeats_Album.rar.html