July 24, 2013

A Nice Interview Pete

pete nice 7

Following on from last weeks footage of the 3rd Bass reunion gig, I thought some of you might like this.  

If you appreciated 3rd Bass in their heyday and have half an hour to kill, then let me recommend this excellent interview with the Pete Nice to mark the 20 year anniversary of his solo album Dust to Dust. The interviewer, Ryan Proctor, really gets into the detail during his extensive chat with raps Prime Minister, and uncovers a wealth of interesting history. Pete really opens up and reflects on the formation of 3rd Bass, the origins of the MC Hammer beef (which was several years before either artist were really famous), their verbal attacks on the Beastie Boys, who their original DJ was (before Daddy Rich), the affiliate who coined the termGas Face and plenty more besides. This is one of those rare interviews that most artists never give.


Long time followers of FoaWP will probably remember that 2 years ago I posted an incredible MC Serch interview that the P Brothers had conducted back in 2003. That interview gave by far the best insight into 3rd Bass history, and this interview with Pete Nice is the perfect compliment to it, providing the counter balance that it deserves.  If you haven't read the Serch interview, I highly recommend it as it's just as compelling 10 years later and goes over the history of Nas, O.C., Non Phixion etc.

July 17, 2013

Settled Differences?

After many years of separation and consistent comments from both artists that a reunion wasn't ever likely to happen, I was pleasantly surprised to see this video clip of 3rd  Bass surface this week. 

Last week they performed at SRB's in Brooklyn NY along with their DJ, Daddy Rich.  Besides the usual addition of a little middle age spread (it gets to all of us eventually), the only noticable difference was Pete Nice's use of an umbrella instead of a walking stick.  It's not quite as stylish and looks a bit daft when your indoors :)
It'd be interesting to see whether this reunion progesses into anything more, maybe a tour, new material etc.  In the meantime, enjoy two of hip hop's most loveable charaters tear through most of their hits.


July 10, 2013

New York's Finest


In recent months I've been trying to start uploading some stuff to the YouTube channel, but I've not got around to sharing it all on here (yet!).  So I'll start playing catch up by sharing this mini documentary from beat maestro Pete Rock.

It's a 20 minute behind-the-scenes look at the making of his 2008 album NY's Finest.  It's much of the usual stuff that you'd expect, but there's also some unexpected highlights, like Chip Fu from the Fu-Schnickens laying down Ready For The War and Do-It-All from Lords of the Underground in the studio.

New Del

Deltron_City_Rising

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien is back as Deltron with a new single from the forthcoming Deltron album Event II due out soon.  The old school beat meets futuristic melodies and combine to make an infectious track.  It's good to see the return of Del.


July 1, 2013

Flashbacks


Here's a few interesting finds from around the web that you might not have seen, enjoy.

Old School & Golden Era Mixes

A big shout to Scenes for finding this little gem.  First up iled hour long mix of tunes from 1988 and '89 mixed by BrettJayB.  Nicely balanced, it covers everything from Uptown to Steady B and 3 x Dope to N.W.A.!  All styles are covered and there are some forgotten gems hidden amongst the classics.


The next edition in the series covers 1990 to '92.  Again, the representation of all styles of hip hop makes for a really nice mix.  If you like these, then check his SoundCloud page and look for parts 1 and 2 which cover the earlier years of electro and hip hop.




Reminiscing over T.R.O.Y.

Complex.com continue their Magnum Opus series of mini documentaries reflecting on the history behind some of hip hops greatest tracks, and this time around they've picked an undeniable classic.  Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth give insight to how such a memorable track came to be, and the importance of it's dedication to Trouble T-Roy.



Prelude to a Classic


I know this isn't anything new, but if you haven't previously copped a chance to download this little gem then now's your chance.  We all know what this is and what it led to, so I'll save the waffle and provide the tracklisting instead:

1. Understanding (feat. AZ & Biz Markie)
2. Life Is Like A Dice Game
3. Just Another Day In The Projects
4. Deja Vu
5. Back To The Grill (feat. MC Serch, Chubb Rock & Red Hot Lover Tone)
6. Everything Is Real (feat. Shapelle)
7. I'm A Villain
8. Number One With A Bullet (feat. Kool G Rap & Whiteboy)
9. Nas Will Prevail
10. On The Real (Original) (feat. Kamikaze, KL & Cormega)
11. Live At The Barbeque (Bonus) (feat. Main Source, Akinyele & Fatal)