Old To The New

Several tracks have emerged recently from golden era heavyweights, that I think are worth giving some shine to. 

Infamous Sessions

First up is a track from the bonus CD that accompanied the recently released Mobb Deep album.  For those who no longer pay attention to Mobb Deep (you're not on your own!), the bonus CD contains original/alternate versions from their 2nd LP The Infamous.  I'm surprised that this particular version ended up on the cutting room floor, and that Ghostface was trimmed from the final release.  This should have been a 12" remix.

The Blastmaster Returns

Whoa, KRS is back spitting like it's 1994 and Premo is on the production!  Ok, so there's no Premo, but this is Kris back in full effect and doing what he does best, braggadocios, arrogant rhyming, with some knowledge dropped in for good measure.

"I'd rather make one righteous dollar on my level, than make a million dollars spitting rhymes for the devil".

Cookin Soul

The original version of this tune was a bit bland and certainly an album track.  But this remix does it plenty of justice, and breathes new life into a 2Pac track that pays homage to the artists that influenced him, and reflects his early days growing up on the east coast.

Young Dirty Bastard

Whilst ripping some videos off of an old VHS I came across this great bit of nostalgia from the Wu-Tang Clan.  It's an episode of Yo! MTV Raps from 1993 with Fab 5 Freddy and was filmed on the production set for the video Da Mystery of Chessboxin. 

I think most people can reminisce about the Wu in their heyday, but watching this episode took me straight back to that era, and seeing Ol' Dirty in his formative days as a fresh faced, raw, crazy and highly entertaining character is priceless.  RIP ODB.

Grown Man Comic

I've been a fan of Ed Piskor since the first time I saw his online comic the Hip Hop Family Tree and I've already blogged about it several times (it really is that good!).  But a couple of months back it transversed from the web to paper pages when the first edition was printed as a book.

If you haven't already copped it, then it's highly recommended.  No matter how tough you think your knowledge of hip hop is, you are almost certainly guaranteed to learn a thing or two from reading this book.  The combination of acute historical detail with a traditional style comic interface makes this essential, enjoyable and no doubt collectible.

Peep this mini preview with Ed for more details, or just head over to Amazon (or your preferred retailer) and buy it now.

Fresh Like A Winter Morning

Well its been a slow start to the year, and let's be honest, January never has been a great month!  But there's always something to entertain us in the blogger-sphere, however dull the real world seems.

A White Boy MC's Photo Album, 1986-1991

Prime Minister Pete Nice has shared some of his photo collection along with the memories and insights for each picture.  This provides a revealing look into 3rd Bass' history, but also many of the other artists they worked and toured with.  Check the story about Flavour Flav's fake seizure at an airport, classic Flav.

http://deadspin.com/5843406/when-rap-ruled-the-world-a-white-boy-mcs-photo-album-1986+1991/

Prince Paul Ill's Out

Back in 2005 Prince Paul started his World Famous Illout Show on XM radio.  Eight shows later, it all came to an end for unknown reasons (which also meant that it never really became 'world famous').  But Paul has now shared the first episode, and it's great for throwing on in the background whilst you're doing something and packed with a broad selection of 90's nostalgia.  Its also laced with anecdotal tales about many of the tracks or artists he's worked with, and not always in a positive light, which just adds to the entertainment!

 

Prince Paul's World Famous Illout Show archives ! Show 1 Part 1 2005 by Prince Paul on Mixcloud

Prince Paul's World Famous Illout Show archives ! Show 1 Part 2 2005 by Prince Paul on Mixcloud

You Should Know

Spotted this little gem over on Repo's Ageing B-Boys blog, and if you haven't seen it already then its a highly recommended viewing.  This track epitomises everything that was great about UK hip hop 20 years ago and stays true to the classic styles and techniques that made UK hip hop such a potent genre.  And it's great to here some proper cutting up on a chorus again, nice work guys.

If you want to support them, buy the single for £5 here - http://www.blinerecordings.bigcartel.com/product/chrome-illinspired-you-should-know

Mi & Shecky Take It Way Back.

I’ve just been listening to this mix and thought that some of you would appreciate it.  DJ Might Mi (Smut Peddlers) and Shecky Green (co-founder of the The Source magazine) drop a two hour session of golden era hip hop.  “So what” I hear you say, lot’s of people do these kinds of mixes, why is this one any better?

Well, apart from it feeling like it was actually recorded 15 years ago, the track selection is top notch with a good number of forgotten gems thrown in, and the mix choices of instrumental and acapella kept my interest throughout.  But the cream of the crop has to be the Juice Crew vs Wu-Tang section.  On paper it sounds like it should be awful, but some of these mash ups work exceptionally well.  If only the radio was still like this….



Full track listing after the jump....

Yo! International - UK

When the Saturday edition of Yo! MTV Raps used to air, when Fab 5 Freddy was the host, he toured a variety of locations to meet rappers, usually in their home town or on the location of a video shoot.  On one of those occassions, the MTV budget stretched a little further than usual and they paid for Freddy to grace the shores of the UK and present this edition of the series.

I would love to know the reasoning behind the selection of artists for this particular show.  MTV had shown the London Posse some love and previously played several of their videos, but to present Black Radcal Mk II to the international stage was a surprise to me.  I'm not saying they shouldn't have been there as they'd put out a lot of good material at the time, but in the early 90's there were so many excellent and successful artists in the UK, I just feel some others should also have been given a chance to shine and better represent the UK's hip hop diversity.  On the up side, it's was great to see MTV recognise some of the more underground groups.

Nevertheless, this little selection of interviews is still interesting and it's great that MTV took the time to explore hip hop beyond the US.

Rebel C & L.A. - Funky Music Is My Style

I heard this years ago but can't remember where and I had forgotten about it until I heard it again a couple of years ago, tracked one down for a very reasonable price and bought it. I really got in to UK hip hop fairly late due to the fact that I was a little prejudiced towards the British accent. Yes, I am British, English if you want, from the third best place in the world if you believe what you read in the paper but the accent still troubled me until Gunshot, Hijack, etc blasted on to the scene at 100mph and it was probably then that the interest / obsession really began. I had a few early electro 12"s like Hardrock Soul Movement, Mutant Rockers and so on but they were different. No lyrics. Still, let's not dwell on that now as this tune is a belter. You may have noticed that it's the B-side yest again that wins, hands down in my opinion. Good sample, boingy 808 bass, what more do you need? An interesting fact too is that it's on a US label which is unexplainable at this moment. The other side is decent also, JB sample, tough beats and worth anyone's money if you ask me but it's this one that I played the most. Disorda had one in a few weeks back which was the reminder I needed to go dig it out and do a fresh 320kbps rip for y'all. I didn't pay any where near that for mine, just in case you were wondering.

Download

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).

That's Slammin'

I've recently started getting on top of ripping some of the many old videos I have and getting them up on the YouTube channel, but there's still a long way to go!  One of the rarities I was going to rip was the 4 part collection of Slammin' Rap Video Magazine, but YouTube user MusicMan1470 has just saved me a job and ripped the first 3 editions.

These VHS videos are extremely hard to come by and I've never seen them on the web until now, so don't sleep on them.  Originally released in 1990 and 1991, each video was around an hour long and filled with numerous short interviews, videos and clips from the biggest artists at the time.  The first edition was hosted by Alex Winter (the dude who played Bill in the Bill & Ted movies) which was an odd choice, but one that thankfully didn't last into the subsequent editions.

At times it tried to be cutting edge and jump on the latest big signing (like Tarrie B, Smooth Ice), only to find that by the time the video was released, they weren't as big as their labels expected or hoped they'd be, or by including artists on the edge of the genre like Daddy Freddy or the Urban Dance Squad.  But at the same time there was also many little gems to be found, like an interview with a very young Dave Mays and Jon Shecter (co-founders of The Source magazine), a rare Schoolly D interview, MC Ren with CPO etc etc.

I've uploaded the video covers for each volume to show the featured artist on each (click on the image for full size version), but each volume is worth skipping through for some full on early 90's nostalgia.  I've also uploaded the cover for volume 4 and if a few people leave comments requesting it then it might just motivate me to get it uploaded sooner rather than later :)  It'd also be good to have all 4 volumes on YouTube.

Volume 1:

Volume 2:

Volume 3:

Volume 4:

Game of Survival

The Live Squad are best remembered for their outstanding track Heartless and their early association with Tupac.  Unfortunately the group were deemed 'too violent' by their label Tommy Boy Records and their LP never saw the light of day.  Lead vocalist Stretch was later murdered in what is widely believed to be connected to the shooting of Tupac in NYC the year before. 

But before all the problems and tragedy, they made this home movie to accompany their album.  This was released officially, but it seems that many people missed it as it was never properly promoted.  It's essentially the three videos for their early singles, loosely held together by some 'hood' acting (you know what I mean!).  It's maybe not the greatest of these promo videos, but it's a classic bit of early 90's hip hop that's rarely seen, and a great introduction to the Live Squad's all too short catalogue of music.

Quinine 2 - Part 2

In my previous post, I skimmed through Nine's career history and shared with you some of his rarer material.  So you should be reasonably up to date, well, up until as far as 2009.

I recently stumbled across Nine again on Soundcloud, and it was refreshing to see that he's still making relevant music.  But most notably, I spotted that his web page is titled called Quinine 2!  Some of the tracks are numbered as though they are tracks from an album.  So whether these are tracks from a shelved Quinine 2, or tunes that haven't made the final cut, who knows?

Either way, it's good to see another artist from the 90's continuously active in the game.  And if this is the material that he's sharing for free on Soundcloud, then there is surely some even better stuff in the vaults, possibly ready for release in the not too distant future...

I've embedded a couple of the tracks below, but check out Nine's Soundcloud page for plenty more:
https://soundcloud.com/quinine-2. 

Quinine 2 - Part 1

What ya want Nine? Phat beats for my rhymes!  I remember when those lines first blasted from an episode of Yo! MTV Raps.  With the somewhat infectious baseline, Nine's gruff voice and a style that epitomised 90's NY hip hop, this was surely a new talent destined to go far.

Well to my surprise Nine's career was fairly modest.  Two critically acclaimed albums and signing to a major label should be considered successful, but to me, Nine never really had the recognition he deserved.  And then he disappeared from the scene after his 2nd album was released in 1996.
Well, that's not entirely true.  He did do a couple of guest spots for some unheard groups, and in more recent times he had a little MySpace thing going on, but even that went quiet a few years back.

But Nine has always been active and you may be surprised to know that he's released several albums since his MTV days in the 90's.  In 2007 he released Return of the Hardcore and followed it up in 2009 with Quinine.  Return of the Hardcore was nowhere near to the same standard as his early work and feels more like a mixtape or cuts that didn't make an album, but Quinine is a good album, more cohesive and a return to his previous form, so it's well worth a listen.  If you were a fan of Nine back in the day, then I'm sure you'll enjoy both albums, but Quinine is by far the better choice.

And whilst sharing some of Nine's hard-to-find back catalogue, you might also be interested in the Bootleg & Unreleased album.  This is a compilation of tracks that aren't on the first two albums, including the mighty Famaldahyde 12", his smash single with Funkmaster Flex (under the 'Nine Double M' moniker) and various remixes etc, this is golden era Nine at his finest.

But the real rarity here has to be his 1991 debut on Warlock records.  It's a 3 track single, all of which were produced with Funkmaster Flex.  It's fair to say that Nine sounds much different (he was much younger and still mastering his craft) on this 12" and he certainly hadn't fully evolved the distinct gruff and grimy voice that later became his trademark.  I've got to give thanks to Juicy over at the 1994 HipHop Blogspot for recently uploading this.

So why is the title of this post Quinine 2?  Good question, and I may not have a definitive answer, but hopefully all will become much clearer in part 2 when I bring things up to the current day.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/r6jdi7015dypmyu/Nine_-_Bootleg_%26_Unreleased_Shit.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/download/hjzp1lcakf1vybh/Nine_-_Quinine.rar
http://www.mediafire.com/download/9t21ui7aad5nhsa/Nine_-_Return_of_The_Hardcore.rar

Funkmaster Flex & Nine Double M - F.A.L.L.I.N. (And Y'all Can't Get Up) (VLS) (1991) (320 kbps):
http://ad08aa84.linkbucks.com/url/http://ad08aa84.linkbucks.com/url/http://ul.to/kt6siag5
http://ad08aa84.linkbucks.com/url/http://rapidgator.net/file/e9de9964601019a6b95a6af1468e4613/(1991,_Single)_F.A.L.L.I.N._(VLS)_[320].rar.html

What do you ask god?

It's been an interesting month on the internet.  Aside the drama around Tim Dog's supposedly fake death, and the passing of one half of Kris Kross, there's also been some retro goodness.  Here we go....

The Microphone Master

The Red Bull Music Academy has been consistently representing good hip hop for a few years now, but now they bring us nearly 2 hours of discussion with hip hop's greatest emcee.  I don't think I need say any more, let Ra do the talking.

NYC Live Throw Down: 1979-1985

Just take another look at that image!  26 hours!!!  Props to Janka-man for sharing this.  It turned up on one of the best websites there is for finding obscure and out of print records.  I'd never seen it before, so I'm assuming many of you won't have either.  Here's the description:

Over 1 full day (33 live performances) of vintage and official live throwdowns, spanning from 1979 to 1985.  New York City's original school together in one complete set.  This collector's set includes one data DVD containing 3.5 GB of high quality (320 Bit Rate) mp3's.  Each show is ID'd and sequenced, resulting in convenient use and enjoyment, as opposed to each show being one thirty to ninety minute-long continuous track.  

No collection is complete without the infamous Kool Moe Dee / Busy Bee scuffle, or the notorious routines of the Force MCs, Treacherous Three, and Cold Crush 4 MCs.  The list of essentials on this disc is endless. Includes a 24 page full color booklet of vintage NYC show flyers and artwork.

If you're an old schooler with a passion for this type of stuff, then download, buy some food supplies and lock yourself in a room for a couple of days whilst you reminisce.  All the links and a detailed track listing can be found here:

http://1994hiphop.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/nyc-live-throw-down-1979-1985-2007-dvd.html

G.U.R.U.

Last month was the 3rd anniversary of Guru's death.  Somehow this tribute track from Marco Polo, Talib Kweli and DJ Premier completely passed me by, which is a shame, because it's pretty nice.  See what you think.

Would You Like a Demo of ESP?

Nope, I'm not offering to read your mind, or bend a spoon.  I'm talking about the demo tape of Tha Alkaholiks when they went under their previous name, the Educated Street Poets or ESP.  I've previously covered this demo (and 29 others) here, but the tracks were embedded and were not available for download, whereas this downloadable version contains all 6 tracks.  Props to Warlord for sharing this rarity.

http://www.fileswap.com/dl/OuO8V1ygRV/Tha_Alkaholiks_aka_E.S.P._Demo.rar.html

More of the God MC

Producer Dominic Owen has released the 3rd instalment of his unreleased Rakim tracks.  This time round we're blessed with Get Visual (which eventually made it onto Rakim's debut LP The 18th Letter under the title When I'm Flowing).
For me, this is an interesting piece of history that adds another layer to this track.  As you can see from the Soundcloud title, Dominic produced this track in 1995, but the LP wasn't released until 1997!  This version is far superior to the album cut, but then I've always hated the LP version.  Why?  Because there is another (bootleg) version that ranks as one of my all time favourite Rakim tracks.  Both versions are presented here, you decide which is better, but don't waste your time with the LP version.

End of Arsenio

For those that don't remember it, here is a clip from the last Arsenio Hall show which received a major hip hop send off from some of the biggest names in the game at the time.  Let's not forget that Arsenio Hall gave a lot of air time to rap music when many major television networks were not interested.

The line up includes, Yo Yo, MC Lyte, Naughty by Nature, A Tribe Called Quest, Fu Schnickens, CL Smooth, Guru, Das EFX, GZA, Method Man and Ghostface Killah, KRS-1 and Mad Lion.

Akapel

A couple of months back, I was digging around in a forum when I came upon a request list from one of the admins. Most of the requests were for records that are difficult to come by, but one of them stood out to me as it’s a virtually unknown gem from 1992 that I didn’t think many people knew about. Since seeing that request list, my fellow blogger Moyinka included exactly the same 12” on his wish list, so given the current demand, I decided to rip it and upload it so that you can all appreciate it too.

However, since I made that decision, I've had unplanned encounters with two of the main contributors to this collaborative project, so I'm able to shed some light on the people behind this EP and make links back to artists that you probably already know about.

This 12” is most commonly listed under the name Akapel. But you’ll have to bear with me on this one, because there's more to Akapel than first meets the eye and as I've already said, there are several other contributors to this 12”. First off, the single is split into two sides, one is titled Akapel, the other is credited as DJ Use. Let me start with the DJ Use side first.

There are 4 tracks on the DJ Use side, and 3 of them are credited as being produced by Dominic Owen and Paul S. However this isn’t quite right, as Paul S only produced two tracks. I recently spoke with Paul S about this 12” and he confirmed that he was only involved with tracks 2 and 4. For those who don’t know, I should mention that Paul S is better known as being one half of the dope production duo, the P Brothers along with DJ Ivory.  For P Brothers fans, this is probably the earliest example of work from either of them.  

The other producer at work here is Dominic Owen (formerly known as DJ Quick), who like Paul S, is a well known and respected producer hailing from Nottingham (UK), but is now doing much greater things across the pond (more on that later). So the DJ Use side is an all Nottingham affair, and DJ Use is another aka for Dominic Owen aka DJ Quick.

The flip side is the main event and holds the single that will catch your attention. The main track is called Pick It Up and as you may have guessed from its title, it uses a familiar Black Sheep sample to very good effect.  
The emcee on this track is Akapel, but this is the only single he released under this name.  Previously he was known as Fizal Eff (more on that later).  This cut is also produced by Dominic Owen
The 2nd track is Stick Your Big Dinky In, which is more of a chugger than the jazzy main track, but it allows Fizal Eff to show a different style and drop some knowledge.   Its produced by DJ Bizzness, but what's most interesting is that he also drops some lyrics.  I never knew this until Dominic Owen told me!  Another piece of trivia I recently found out about DJ Bizzness (first hand) is that he can still bust some decent b-boy moves.

DJ Quick & Fizal Eff in 1988

Photo provided by Dominic Owen

Some of you may remember Fizal’s name from his time as a b-boy with the London breaking crew the Zulu Rockers.  I'm sure I don't have to introduce DJ Bizzness, if you don't know who DJ Bizzness is then shame on you!  So Stick Your Big Dinky In is an all London affair.

But there is a greater connection between the two sides of this single. Dominic Owen and Fizal Eff had worked closely together previously.  In late 1988 they created Sing-A-Song records and released material together. You may remember that about 2 years ago I did a couple of articles on Sing-A-Song records, so if you want to know more then check them out as they include some of the history of the label, links to the artists music and a review from an early Hip Hop Connection magazine.

So that’s most of the history behind the people who made this single. But what about the music? Well, the main track is a typical early 90’s tune with an up tempo beat, and a jazzy hook coupled with that infectious Black Sheep sample I mentioned. Most tracks like this tend to sound quite dated nowadays and lack their original appeal, but for me, this one stands the test of time much better than most. I still love it as much today as I did 20 years ago and I would recommend you take a listen.  I'm sure you will see why this single is being sought after by collectors and those in the know.

The B side of the 12” is a collection of different breakbeats/instrumentals. The first actually reminds me more of early 90's dance music (a genre that Dominic has also ventured into) and may not appeal to many of you, but the other tracks are great breaks, and track 4 sounds like classic Ultramagnetic MC's pitched up a little.  Typical of what influenced Dominic in his early days and later became the P Brothers Heavy Bronx style. 

Speaking of the P Brothers, Paul S told me that this 12" sells for a pretty penny these days, and a quick internet search confirmed that.  It's currently on Amazon US for $113. 

I'd like to say a big thank you to both Paul S and Dominic Owen for taking the time to fill in some gaps in my knowledge around this release, I'm sure some of the hip hop historians among you will appreciate the extra detail.
I'd also recommend you check out Dominic Owen's website.  Like many producers, he's not a household name, but he's worked with some major artists and I think you'll raise an eyebrow when you see some of the artists he's produced for (Raekwon, Das EFX, Rakim, Chubb Rock, Special Ed, and a Notorious B.I.G. classic to name a few).  There are some great stories and history to be found over there, so check it out.

And one last thing, the record label is Phlange Records (another of Dominic's labels).  For the uninitiated, this is old, and now seldom used, English terminology for a woman.  Usually used in a derogatory way, e.g. "I need to get some phlange tonight".  It made me smile when I saw it again as I don't think I've heard anyone use that word since about the time this record came out.  

Download the full 12" (7 tracks) in 320kbps MP3 format (52mb). 

https://hotfile.com/dl/174318444/6204ada/Akapel.rar.html

Crazy K.I.D.

 

I wanted to do this post a few weeks ago, but due to my NAS drive dying on me and a lack of time to fix it, it’s taken me much longer than I would have liked. The saga with my NAS drive was the main issue, because the rare footage I’m going to share below was residing on that drive, and doesn’t exist anywhere else. I’ve therefore had to rip it apart and retrieve the data, but hopefully you’ll appreciate the work involved (for the techies out there, why is there not a simple way to copy data from an XFS formatted drive to NTFS or FAT32?).

Earlier this month, I heard the tragic news that Lloyd McDevitt (AKA Crazy K.I.D.) had been found dead. He had been missing for more than a month. Although the causes of his death have not been made public, it was not suspicious. This is another tragic loss of young life and another fallen hip hop comrade.

K.I.D. was a UK legend. In the 80’s he was a key member of the world renowned Rock City Crew and recognised as one of the UK’s finest b-boys. In the 90’s he became one of the most talented, yet underrated, emcees the UK has ever had, and was sometimes referred to as a British Rakim. His most successful track is his collaboration with DJ Mink and Carruthers on the underground hit Hey, Hey, Can You Relate. I’ve previously stated that this is one of my all time favourite tracks, and more than 20 years on it stands the test of time. K.I.D. was ahead of his time and it’s a great shame he never blew up like he deserved to. There is rumoured to be an unreleased LP in existence, but whether this will ever see the light of day remains to be seen.

Now, I mentioned earlier that I had some rare footage of K.I.D. I call it ‘footage’ rather than a video because it’s important to keep this in perspective. In the early 90’s K.I.D. released an EP called Killin' MC's that was only available as a demo cassette. This is before he signed with Kold Sweat Records. The footage below is raw and unedited and was shot for a video to promote the Killin' MC's EP.  To my knowledge the video was never completed. So the sound isn’t perfect and it’s by no means a final product. However, I feel this clip shows K.I.D. flowing at his finest, taking his rap shit serious but also shows his fun loving side at the end.

I have more of this footage, and in time I may edit it down and share it with you, but for now, this is how I remember K.I.D., he was killin emcees. 

After the video, I’ve added some links to some of my fellow bloggers tributes to K.I.D. In their posts, you can download most of his back catalogue and hear for yourself what a talented emcee he was.

Lloyd McDevitt (K.I.D.) 1969-2012 - Rest in peace

 



 

http://tothebreakofdawn.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/kid-raw-flavours-volume-1.html

http://stylewarriorzrevenge.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/in-memory-of-kid.html

And some of his early work under the name 2wice The Trouble can be found here http://fearofawackplanetblog.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/sing-song.html

Art of Rap

Well, after all the hype, opinions and criticisms, if you haven’t yet seen Ice-T’s rapumentary Something From Nothing: The Art of Rap then here is your chance. Although a minority have criticised it for one reason or another, the majority seem to have welcomed its presence and feel that it fills some of the gaps that previous documentaries have failed to cover. And, it does attempt to cover the art of emceeing, rather than being a collection of interviews with old schoolers talking about how hip hop got started.

For me, this film is a welcome addition.  No single film is ever going to document hip hop perfectly, or explain the art form in consierable detail, and no matter how many people you interview there will always be an alternative opinion from someone.  But hey, it's that complexity that makes hip hop so compelling and captivating to such a broad audience.

Given that this is Ice-T’s directorial debut, I think he’s done a pretty good job. Yes it could have been better and yes it could have included so-and-so. But in fairness to Ice-T, I guess this is what happens when you have to make the film a certain length and appeal to broad enough audience that you can justify the filming costs and get it onto the big screen. With that in mind, I think we’re onto a winner. After all, when was the last time you saw a rapumentary hit the big screen like this one did?

The DVD was released yesterday and although I can’t confirm it, it appears to be longer than the film, so I’m guessing it will contain additional footage and interviews, which may go some way to pleasing the critics.

Peace
Mike Check


Note: - To get the film to play without the advert, make it full screen. Alternatively, you need to click a little x that usually appears somewhere beneath the green 'download' button.  This will close the advert and allow you to play the film at the smaller resolution.  Don't download the advertised software as you don't need it and it'll probably screw up your computer.

Scratch That

I'm sure many of you will already have seen Scratch, the feature length documentary on DJing and turntablism released in 2001.  But whether you've seen it already, or missed it the first time around, it's an excellent film that truly captures the world of the DJ and is certainly worth another watch.

The most poignant moment for me was seeing DJ Shadow sitting in the basement of a 2nd hand record store surrounded by towers of vinyl and telling how it's a humbling experience being a part of the big pile of people's broken dreams, and how every artist will eventually end up there.  So true, and it also highlights the many dedicated, lonely hours that go into making those beats and giving those broken dreams another chance at being heard, even if it is only for a few seconds.

Mike Check

It's A Demo

I'm often found digging around in the bowels of the internet trying to find rare and elusive stuff that I've failed to obtain over the years, and sometimes I find things that I didn't even know existed until I stumbled upon them.  It's much like crate digging, but I'm not restricted to vinyl, I'm not seeking any holy grails and I'm not in dusty old record shops inducing frequent fits of sneezing!  Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking crate diggers.  I've happily spent many months of my life in those dusty old dungeons, but that was the old days, I'm mostly digital now. And besides, there isn't a high street store or online retailer that sells that old TV clip, concert footage or demo tape that I'm looking for, so alternative methods must be adopted.

While researching hip hop archaeology via the power of the internet, I usually wind up on some defunct blog page that once shared a rare gem, but the download link is now dead.  This sets me off on a wild goose chase to find that item elsewhere.  Successfully finding what I want is currently about 50/50 (it was higher before the demise of Megaupload!).

There is one minor problem with this hobby and the techniques I employ.  Just like a crate digger, you tend to overlook the main retailers.  This rarely concerns me, but every once in a while I find that hidden gem sitting somewhere fairly obvious and easy to find, which brings me to this post.

I was recently digging around when by fluke I came across a gem of an article on the Complex.com website.  Now maybe in the week this was published I was heavily dozing or on holiday or something, but whatever the reason was, I completely missed it.  What surprises me most though, is that something this good wasn't blogged or tweeted much more widely [if someone tells me it was, then I'll have to admit to being in a self induced coma!]. 

So what is this little gem that I'm banging on about..... well, it's only 30 demo tapes from some of the biggest and most influential artists in the rap game!!!  Each of these tapes has been digitised for your listening pleasure and most of them are essential listening. 

Demo-lition

 

Yesterday there was a lot of buzz around the web about this awesome mixtape from Rock Steady DJ, JS-1. It’s 3 hours of demo’s from major artists, most of which were big in the 1990’s. Don’t get me wrong, the line up looks stellar and there are quite a few that I’m eager to hear, but when you take a minute to consider some of these joints, I’m not convinced they are all true demo’s.

For example, we know from many different stories how Eric B & Rakim’s early material came to be, and there certainly wasn’t a Rakim demo tape kicking around. So what I think we really have here is a collection of tracks that are either cuts that didn’t make the album, unused remixes, or early versions before they were fully mixed down etc, with a few demos thrown in for good measure.

Don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t make the mix any less interesting (in fact it probably makes it better as demo tapes can, understandably, sound very amateurish), but it’s good to keep things in perspective. I’ve included the full track list after the jump, along with the download link.

And if hearing a demo from your favourite golden era artist is your kind of thing, keep an eye out over the next few weeks as I’ll be posting 30 more demo tracks, and this time they will be the proper original demo tapes!

Mike Check.