Words By Rakim

At only 5 minutes in length, this stylishly shot mini documentary feels more like a trailer for an upcoming movie.  Unfortunately that's not the case, but the stripped back and slowed down recital of Follow the Leader provides a dramatic soundtrack to accompany the visuals.  Rah also talks briefly about his creative process.

Unsung: Heavy D

TV One continues the Unsung series with a history of Heavy D and the Boyz.  It follows the usual format of tracing their roots through to their success, but with 2 members of the 4 piece outfit having their lives cut drastically short, it's a little more of a tribute, and rightfully so.

I was never much of a fan of Heavy D, or his absurd wardrobe of outfits that didn't flatter a bigger man's figure.  But having watched this episode, it did remind me just how much Waterbed Hev (I still can't believe he actually called himself that!) contributed to hip hop, and that he never compromised his unique style.  It's also good to see that Eddie F gets his props too, such an underrated producer in his era.

Straight Buck Wylin In The Place To Be...

November has been a busy month for me, so I've not been keeping up with all the goodness that the internet has to offer, but that doesn't mean that there hasn't been a few things that caught my attention.  So here's a few things that you may want to check out if you haven't spotted them already.

Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See!

In 1997 Busta Rhymes' solo hit confirmed that he'd evolved, he could cut it on his own and that his Leaders of the New School era was firmly behind him.  The latest edition in the Magnum Opus series goes back in time and uncovers the history of this iconic track in this short documentary. 

Can't Lose

Elzhi is back with this smoothed out new track.  He was also seeking some funding for his LP, but appears to have already exceeded his target, so hopefully a new solo LP will be on the way sometime soon.

Guru Tribute Gets A Video

It's been a while since Marco Polo and Talib Kweli collaborated on this joint, and now it's got a video.  As tribute tracks go, this isn't bad.  RIP Guru.

Memories of Mr C.

A couple of years back I did a piece on Paul C using Dave Tompkins biography, Paul was one of the unsung elevators of early hip hop. To this day it still defies my belief that this guy rarely gets a mention, let alone enough credit for his contribution, despite there still being so many people still active within the world of hip hop that worked with the man.
So to my surprise, I then see two Paul C related articles pop up in the same month! And both are outstanding!!

The first offering is from film maker Pritt Kalsi, who has produced a 3 part documentary that in his own words is "not the definitive documentary or story of Paul C McKasty". But considering it runs for almost an hour and a half, contains interviews from friends, family and artists that he worked with, and given that there has been virtually nothing before it, its as good as we're ever likely to get and it goes way beyond my own expectations.

This is not your average film, it’s a little slower in pace when compared to most documentaries and it doesn’t contain any of the music that Paul C produced, but this provides space for the contributors to talk in more depth.

The personal reflections and stories from his collaborators - Pharoahe Monch, CJ Moore, Casanova Rud, O.C., Dr Butcher, Breakbeat Lou, Mikey D, Rakim and Ultramagnetic amongst others - really get into the history of that era, what it was like to work with Paul C and the way he influenced/mentored Large Professor. This film has clearly been a labour of love for Pritt Kalsi, and all credit goes to him for the hard work that has gone into making this documentary and for sharing his passion and work with us.

To watch the movie you’ll need to visit Kalsi’s own site:
Part 1 & 2 
Part 3


On the same day, the StrictlyBusinessHipHop blog published a compilation list of Paul C productions. Due to the lack of acknowledgement given to engineers and producers back then, it is probably impossible to pin down all of the productions he did, or had a hand in. So this list is a massive step towards a fairly definitive list.

So you've now got a list of Paul C productions to go and hunt down, but wait, the StrictlyBusiness boys went one better and have provided downloads for the majority of this list. I'm sure you’ll appreciate that a lot of work has gone into this and some of the tracks are hard to find, so this is a real gift.

Check it out here - http://strictlybusinesshiphop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/strictly-paul-c.html

Get The Lowdown

This is probably a bit niche, but if you’re somewhere around the age of 35-45 and grew up in the UK, then you’ll probably enjoy this old episode of the youth TV series The Lowdown that attempted to explain this new thing called hip hop to the uninitiated British youth. Originally shown in the late 80’s (89?), this episode isn’t going to teach you anything about UK hip hop history, but it does provide a window into the world that so many British kids grew up in.

Refresh your memory on some of those hideous outfits that your whole crew used to wear, the shabby social housing, the kid in your class who thought he could rap/beatbox/breakdance and didn’t want to be left out of the current craze etc.  It's cheesy, it might even make you cringe, but it's hilarious viewing.

Watch out for contributions from Ice-T, and an early appearance by MC Spee who later went on to have success with Dreadzone and the dance music scene. But my personal favourite is the discussion about the essential need to have a posse, it’s priceless and had me in stitches.

Better Late Than Never...

Thanks to some helpful fool who left a comment on an old post, pointing readers to their bullshit website that contained malware, I've been struggling to access my own blog for more than a week.  It's all sorted now though, and unless you were curious enough to look at some spurious old comment that didn't make any sense you wouldn't have been affected (or maybe that should read infected!).

So apologies for the delay in posting this, but better late than never.

Big Daddy Kane - Uncut

The latest interviewee on The Combat Jack Show, is Juice Crew legend Big Daddy Kane.

King Asiatic Nobody's Equal. It's not every day we get to sit with a legend. Kane goes deep with his history, what he thinks about Mr. Cee, how he produced the majority of 'Long Live The Kane' with no credits, how Doug E Fresh taught him how to rock the crowd, how some cats from The Juice Crew wasn't fuxin with him, how he really wanted to battle KRS-One, what Madonna smells like, how he shopped a young Jay Z with no success, why he started wearing purple silks and such... This one is a marathon, but with Kane, there's no half steppin'.

An essential and intriguing listen for any Kane or Juice Crew fan.

What Time Is It?

Well according to Marco Polo and Organized Konfusion it's 3 O'Clock.  This dope new tune from Monch and Po features on the Port Authority 2: Directors Cut album from Marco Polo.



And since I originally wrote this post, a video has now dropped for this track too.  It's not that exciting and Mr Monch's coat is somewhat questionable, but some peeps prefer to have a visual with their audio.

Light Years

DJ Skizz hooks up Roc Marciano, A.G. and O.C for this rugged banger.  It's nice to see DITC emcees collaborating, but even nicer to see Roc Marci doing something different.  I'm not a fan of his uber laid back doze rap, but he kills it on this track.

Street Photographer Documents Early Hip Hop Culture

Charlie Ahearn (the director of the hip hop classic Wild Style) has made a new film called Jamel Shabazz: Street Photographer.  Shabazz was already well respected following his 2002 book Back in the Days which contained a catalogue of photos straight from the streets of NY city at the time that hip hop was evolving.  This film appears to take the book a stage further and adds more narrative to the history that Shabazz captures, and also contains contributions from graf legend Chino BYI who has a great personal connection the photos.  Prepare for a trip down memory lane, the fashions, the art, the attitude, the swag of early b-boys, this has the lot.

And lastly....

There seems to be a new documentary on UK hip hop surfacing every few months recently, and now we have one dedicated to The Twilight Firm.  They were two producers from London that made their mark in the late 80's and early 90's.  

I'm going to reserve judgement on this one.  The topic seems too narrow to warrant a whole documentary, but that hasn't stopped Kamanchi Sly, Rodney P and other notable UK hip hop veterans adding their commentary.

Yo! Stussy

Many of you will probably know that last month, clothing manufacturer Stussy released a line of t-shirts to celebrate 25 years since the launch of Yo! MTV Raps.  Whilst most of the designs are fairly unimaginative and disappointing, Stussy took the time to create two mini documentaries to accompany the collection and these are certainly worth a watch.

If you grew up watching Yo! and appreciate the impact this programme had on bringing rap music into the living rooms of thousands of hip hop hungry teenagers, then you'll probably agree with many of the views and opinions expressed by the contributors (which include Ed Lover, Shock G and Humpty Hump, Rakim, DJ Premier and plenty more).

History Continues To Be Uncovered

It feels like the resurgence of interest in pre 2000 hip hop just keeps growing and growing, as this months round up will testify.  Once upon a time we waited for what seemed like an eternity just to see something hip hop related grace our TV screens.  Now it feels like every month there is a new project that is turning out a new insight on a part of our culture.
I'm all for it, so long as we don't get saturated with recycled clips and retold stories, but so far, it seems like most of what is being produced is a fresh perspective.  And long may that continue!

Unstoppable

First up in the latest documentary-that's-soon-to-be-released category is Unstoppable  which looks at the evolution of London's hip hop scene.  I normally reserve judgement until the final film is released, but this looks quite promising as they're focusing on all elements of hip hop, have unearthed unseen footage and UK hip hop history that hasn't been properly documented yet.  

PTC Mix - Naughty By Nature

Zulu Nation's DJ Lord Ron keeps preserving the culture (PTC) with his latest mix.  This time he's done a special mix dedicated to Naughty By Nature.  It's a nice little blend covering Naughty's best tracks, and it's available for download too, enjoy.

Much more after the jump

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.

Unsung Business

If you've seen any of the previous episodes of Unsung that spotlight a classic hip hop artist/group (and I've featured most of them on this site), then you'll know what to expect.  This time around it's the turn of EPMD.

Both Erick Sermon and Parrish Smith contribute to this, along with DJ Scratch too, so it's a balanced view of their history.  Starting at the school where they first met, they document the creative recording techniques from their first album, JMJ hooking them up with DJ Scratch, forming the Hit Squad and much more besides.  But it's when things started to fall apart that it gets really interesting.  Both artists talk openly about the fallout, the reasons, and the subsequent reformation.

A Smooth Operator's History

I've had the privilege of seeing Big Daddy Kane perform live twice in the last year.  Admittedly, I would have loved to of seen him in 1988 or 89, but that didn't happen.  So instead I have to be content with 2012 and 13.  But that's no hardship, Kane is a true performer on stage.  The big difference between BDK and most of these other old school artists who are reforming and touring, is that Kane has never stopped performing.

When I saw him last year in London, he tore it up with Biz Markie.  Not only did he rip through every one of his classics that you could wish for, he even did verses from cameo spots on other peoples records!  Kane covered every significant release in his career.  And to top it off, his interaction with his audience and his sheer ability to entertain (even attempting to dance like he did back then) makes him one of the best performers I've seen in a long time.

And so I realised that I've not really given Kane much shine on this blog.  He's easily up there as one of the greats and is often recalled as being the only real challenge to Rakim's crown in the late 80's.  So to put that right, here is the TV One documentary on the Smooth Operators history.  There's some great stories in here, and a good explanation of why he went all R&B for a period.  But then they bring it up to the present time (well, up to the point it was recorded, which is before his latest Las Supper venture) and Kane shows he's still got what it takes.  Check out the track that plays when he's performing with Connie Price & The Keystones (towards the end of the documentary), this material needs to drop and re-establish Kane as a current artist.

Who said it's nearly 25 years since his peak?  Shut up!

Mike Check

Tony's Influence

Def Jam Presents Scarface: Origins Of A Hip Hop Classic

I only recently came across this short documentary that looks at the immense impact and influence the movie Scarface has had on hip hop.  With contributions from many of the major artists who have used Scarface references within their rhymes, the film takes a look at the parallels between the life of Tony Montana and many of those who create hip hop.

There Be Pirates!

This is only a 10 minute mini documentary, but it begins to spotlight the importance of UK pirate radio in the early 80’s and how it brought black music to the masses. Anyone who grew up in a major city during these times is likely to know the importance of pirate radio. It was the only way most of us could hear hip hop music in its early days and right up until the shift towards internet radio, it remained a key method of keeping up to date with the true underground scene. 

As someone who was raised listening to these stations, and was then later a part of them, it would be great for me to see something like this expanded into a full length documentary. These early innovators who set up the masts, funded the equipment and took the risks are as critical to our hip hop history as the original DJ’s and emcees. For the UK, pirate radio was the equivalent of a Bronx DJ throwing a party in their local parks.

More Bounce Than Spring

Well March has been a busy month for me, and it still feels more like winter than spring, so this is a brief wrap up of my internet travels over the last 4 weeks.  Despite my lack of free time, there are still some gems to bring to your attention in case you've been sleeping (or hibernating from the extremely cold temperatures!).

Rubble Kings

No, this isn't the new TV series on Discovery that follows demolition guys blowing up buildings, despite it sounding like it could be.  This looks like it could be a really interesting documentary when it comes out, as it looks at the New York city street gangs of the late ‘60s & ‘70s and their influence on hip-hop culture.  If you grew up watching films like The Warriors then this is the era and events that influenced them.
Unfortunately the film needs financial support before it can be released, but I'm sure after watching this short trailer you'll agree it's an essential chapter of history that needs to be told.  Thanks to 238Beats for promoting this.

More goodness after the jump......

28 Days Later

There may only be 28 days in Feb (excluding leap years of course!), but the internet has been a busy place.  Here the latest crop of stuff that grabbed my attention over the last 4 weeks.  Follow the jump link after the first item for much more.

The People's Champ

R.A. The Rugged Man has begun promoting his new album (due April 30th) with this blistering track which sets expectations pretty high.  Despite his own Demigodz album about to drop, Apathy still finds time to get on the production boards and conjure up this perfect backdrop for R.A.'s tongue tying, verb flipping style.  

Its been 9 years since R.A.'s last official release, so he's had plenty of time to work on this long overdue (and long promised) follow up.  Let's hope this is a sign of things to come.

Jam Jay Crime File

US television channel, TV One, recently covered the death of Jam Master Jay as part of their Crime File series.  But before looking at the tragic death of Jam Jay, the episode begins by documenting the formation of Run DMC, them getting signed to Profile Records and the influence Jay had on his band members. 
Also covered is the demise of Run DMC in the late 80's, supposedly caused by Russell Simmons' law suit against Profile Records, although I'm not sure that I'd entirely agree with that perspective.  Run DMC had a distinct sound, but the late 80's saw the hip hop landscape change dramatically.  To me, the group no longer fitted so neatly into this new era and they failed to adapt.

Other angles explored are Jam Jay's signing of Onyx and 50 Cent, and the financial difficulties he later faced.  Then we get to the night of the murder.  Don't expect any revelations here, we see the well documented links to Kenneth 'Supreme' McGriff touched upon, but then dismissed!  The occupants of the studio that night are all named and we see a reconstruction of the events, but ultimately we're not given anything new or led to any different conclusions.

But don't let this put you off, this is still a good documentary that, for the most part, explores Run DMC's history and influence and only the last 10 minutes is given to examining the night of the murder.  It contains contributions from a range of industry associates and his friends Eric B and Fredro Starr.

When Philly Met Brooklyn

This is the recently made documentary about Freshco & Miz, the emcee and DJ duo who won their respective titles as the Battle for World Supremacy Champions in 1989. For those too young to remember, the Battle for World Supremacy was the competition to win back in the day, and winning had always ensured that a prosperous career lay ahead.

Previous winners of the DJ battle had been DJ Scratch, Cash Money and Jazzy Jeff. So when Miz won in 89 and teamed up with Freshco, the emcee champion from the same year, they looked set to follow in their predecessors shoes, but that wasn’t to be. This documentary explores their journey to, and beyond, the Battle for World Supremacy. Why it didn’t work out and what happened to masters of their craft.

There’s some really nice nuggets of history shared through the narrative of this documentary. Miz in particular highlights some of the evolution that was taking place at that time in terms of DJing techniques and how the music industry was changing around them. Keep an eye out for appearances by MC Serch (BfWS host), MC Lyte, Guru, Ice-T as well as early performances by Treach, Dres and Yo-Yo and several others.

As a side note, I’m not sure what happens to Monie Love at 57:30, she suddenly decides to speak like someone with learning difficulties, very bizarre!

World's Most Dangerous Group

It's been a minute since I blogged something from the west coast, and I've never really touched on one of the west's biggest names, N.W.A.  And with all the current hype surrounding Kendrick Lamar, and Compton being put back on the hip hop map, it seemed like a good time to reflect on the history of the original dudes that made Compton famous (even if it was for all the wrong reasons).
I should also acknowledge that this month saw the 20th anniversary of Dr Dre's The Chronic LP.

This hour long documentary on N.W.A. begins by portraying the L.A. environment and music history that gave birth to the formation of the band.  It then follows the groups journey into the mainstream, the controversy that followed, and ultimately the break up of the group and Eazy's death.  That's all to be expected of a documentary like this, but they also cover stories like Eazy-E's intent to kill Suge Knight, so it's not entirely what you might expect!
Overall it serves as a good reminder of the music, the press coverage and what made N.W.A. so great, the controversy.

As with everything that was once controversial, it's comical to look back and contemplate what all the fuss was about.  There's some good contributions from the band members along with Jerry Heller, Eazy's wife Tamica and The D.O.C.

Originally shown on VH1 and narrated by Chris Rock.

What's been out there...

November's been a pretty dope month for classic material and historical hip hop trivia, as this months round up hopefully demonstrates.  Amongst the collection is an unreleased mix of a Rakim classic, some Pharcyde craziness, and a monster collection of rare old school radio rips.  Check it out after the jump.

A Life of Rhyme

Some of our readers based in the UK may have seen the excellent Channel 4 documentary Life of Rhyme that was originally shown last summer.  For anyone who missed it, it can now be seen on YouTube and is certainly worth watching. 

I recently shared with you a copy of Ice-T's documentary Something from Nothing: The Art of Rhyme.  Although this film went some way to exploring the art form, it failed to properly recognise many aspects of American rhyme styles (dirty south, mid west, bay area etc), and it completely overlooked the rest of the world.
The UK scene has long been established and constantly at the forefront of hip hop outside of the US.  It's created many interesting sub genres and for decades it's continuously carved it's own sound (well OK, there was a period where some people sounded like the yanks!).  This documentary helps to show a different perspective.

Hosted and narrated by UK emcee Akala, he explores rhyme and the evolution into emceeing through various forms of poetry and rhyming.  There are numerous well known artists (Wiley, Blak Twang, Giggs, Rodney P,  Wretch 32, Sway and many others) spitting 16 bar acapella's to demonstrate their own styles or discussing what emceeing means to them and their approach to it.

Watch out for a rare and informative interview with the highly under rated Lowkey, and then possibly skip forward a couple of minutes when the grime section kicks in, lol.

There's been very little (if anything) in recent years to document the UK rap scene and showcase it on mainstream TV.  This documentary made a pretty good job of pulling together the key players and enrolling an intellectual and respected rapper to pull it all together (instead of a random black celebrity).  Well done Channel 4.

Unfortunately Channel 4 don't want me to embed the video here, so you'll have to head over to YouTube using the link below to watch the film.  It's last approx. 45 mins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-bjCXi13W8&feature=player_embedded