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....

Which Authority?

As the weather begins to heat up, so does the music.  With several decent albums having dropped this month (more on this in my next post), and potentially several more in the near future, hip hop is looking quite good right now.  The winter drought appears to be over, and here are a few pieces of interest from around the world wide webz that reflect this.

Somewhere In between 1 and 2!

Next month Marco Polo releases his follow up to his 2007 debut LP Port Authroity that is imaginatively titled Port Authority 2 (I guess it tells you what to expect from it!).  As expected nowadays, some early marketing and hype is required in the form of a mixtape, so Marco has released the free to download Newport Authority 2.  It's slightly confusing as there isn't a Newport Authority 1.  

Well aside the confusing and effortless titles, the mix contains some better tracks than I've come to expect from these promotional releases.  This is due to the fact that these tracks were only left of the final cut because of legal issues around sample clearances etc.  I found the Tragedy Khadafi track particularly head nodding (and it's good to see Trag back in action), but there's a few others that are worth a listen too, not to mention the already leaked tunes from Big Daddy Kane and Rakim.  

Zoned Out

I've been a fan of J-Zone's production from the beginning, so it was nice to watch this short clip of him crafting something new using a well known break and chop it up with some more unusual samples.  And if you've ever wondered where all those retro movie sound bites come from, well he answers that too!

Mister Warz Taking Over

If you're over 35 years old and haven't yet stumbled across the Disco Scratch site and its frequent radio shows, then you're missing out.  Disco Scratch is dedicated to providing suitable hip hop to B-Boy's of a certain age.

This month saw Mista Warz make his debut appearance on Disco Scratch with an eclectic showcase of music that was all held nicely together with crazy snippets and sound bites.  For me this show has that unique balance of playing classic cuts that are familiar, but still rare enough for you to say "hell, I've not heard that in ages".
Check out the show (embedded player or download link) and the full track list here: http://discoscratch.co.uk/2013/04/18/warz-takeover-show-1/.

An Educated Mind

A friend brought this to my attention, and whilst it might not be strictly hip hop, it's urban poetry which is only one step away.  I'd highly recommend you watch this as the message is delivered with good punchlines and thought provoking ideas that most of us can relate to.  This is the type of message that hip hop used to convey to the kids, what happened?

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 Kiss Goodbye

With the recent closure of New York’s 98.7 Kiss FM it seems like a good point in time to reminisce about it’s heyday, and there’s probably no better way to do it than to listen to one of the stations legendary DJ’s/pioneers, Koooooool DJ Red Alert.

This recording is labelled as being from 1988, but any knowledgeable listener will know that this can’t be right. Red Alert plays tracks like: De La Soul’s Plug Tunin, several BDP tracks from the By All Means Necessary LP, Biz Markie’s Vapours etc, all of which were released in the fall of 1990. Therefore I’d say this is most likely a show from late 1990.

As you would expect from Red Alert in this era, he plays a good selection of east coast rap including JVC Force, Jungle Brothers, Chill Rob G, BDP, EPMD, Doug E. Fresh, P.E, B.D.K and more.  He's also joined by DJ Sammy B from the Jungle Brothers who shares the mixing boards.

One of the great things about this rip is that it’s of exceptional quality as there’s no hiss like many cassette rips have. It runs for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, so you get two sides of what a standard TDK D90 cassette would’ve recorded (old school heads know what I mean)!  It's also a great reminder of the era when you could happily listen to the radio for several hours without wishing there was a fast forward button to skip the numerous adverts, the bullshit rap or the DJ's verbal drivel.  This is just back to back quality hip hop.

All that’s left to say is - R.I.P. 98.7 Kiss FM.

Mike Check.


If using RSS, you might not see the embedded audio player.
Alternatively, download the mp3 file: https://hotfile.com/dl/156220807/f0357dd/Red_Alert.mp3.html

Blogwatch - November 2011

Mike Allen interviewing Run DMC 22nd May 1987

Here's a nice little piece of radio history.  The great Mike Allen interviewing Run DMC in 1987 on Capital Radio whilst they were on their European tour with the Beastie Boys. 

http://old-school-hiphop-tapes.blogspot.com/2011/11/mike-allen-interviewing-run-dmc-and.html


MF Doom breaks down his early catalogue
Egotripland have uploaded another lecture from the recent Red Bull Music Academy events in Spain.  In their own words:

Bear witness as Doom discusses the early ’80s episodes of Afrika Islam’s “Zulu Beats” radio shows on WHBI, which would provide the inspiration for his signature audio collages. Listen as he explains the defining characteristics of his plethora of performance personas (Zev Love X, Doom, Viktor Vaughn, King Ghidra). Marvel as he dissects the makings of classic recordings such as KMD’s Mr. Hood and Black Bastards, Operation: Doomsday, and his essential collab with

Blogwatch - July 2011

Apologies for the brief hiatus, it's that time of the year where holidays get in the way of blogging :)  Still, it's better get something late than not at all, so here goes.

July was yet another month of blogging goodness, with lots of rare rap vitamins and golden era minerals for your consumption.  As usual, I've scoured the blogging fields to find the best organic produce and then I freshly picked it for that perfect flavour.  Enjoy!

Rare Mixtapes
DJ Manifest has recently started a blog to share his vast collection of mixtapes.  There's some pretty rare, and old, stuff on there (Kid Capri, Ron G, Lord Finesse etc) and a promise of plenty more to come, so instead of me listing it here, why not go and check him out for yourself. 
http://onestopmusicplace.blogspot.com/

From Mambo to Hip Hop
My man Battlechasers has found a copy of the film "From Mambo to Hip Hop" which in his own words is a "Documentary on the creative adoption of Cuban rhythms to create the New York salsa sound, which laid the foundations for Funk and Hip-Hop."  Its directed by Henry Chalfont (Style Wars & Spray Can Art).
http://pieandears.blogspot.com/2011/07/from-mambo-to-hip-hop-documentary-film.html

Pacewon & Mr Green
It's always nice to discover new releases that are worth sharing with others, and this new video from Pacewon is no exception.  Props again to Battlechasers for digging this one up.
http://pieandears.blogspot.com/2011/07/pacewon-and-mr-green-ever-since-2011.html
Also, if you didn't catch Pacewon's last single Can you hear me (A tribute to the people of Tunisia) then you need to catch that too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYGfxOP9dQs

Non Phixion Promo Tape
Philaflava over at T.R.O.Y Blog has shared this Non Phixion sampler tape.  It is essentially their debut album that they produced for Geffen but was never released.  The track listing is kind of strange as it contains old tracks like legacy (their debut 12", see my earlier post) and then Black Helicopters which didn't come out until their 2nd LP.  It's also got gems like 14 Years of Rap feat. The Arsonists and They Got which weren't on either of the albums.
http://www.thetroyblog.com/2011/07/06/non-phixion-the-past-the-present-and-the-future-is-now/

Fat Boys Documentary
This is a great watch for any old skool fan.  A 40 minute documentary on the Fat Boys that charts their beginnings, their rise and ultimately their
Commentary comes from many legends including their producer Kurtis Blow and band members Prince Markie D and (a very slim!) Kool Rock Ski.
http://pieandears.blogspot.com/2011/07/fat-boysthe-true-story-great-watch.html

The Conspiracy is back!
If you weren't a listener previously, then I strongly recommend you check out Mr Montana's show on Conspiracy Worldwide Radio.  The latest episode has interviews with: DJ premier talking about the early Gang Starr days, Canibus talking about his new album Lyrical Law, MOP, and much more. 
Conspiracy Worldwide Radio is dedicated to conscious underground artists with a so you won't find any of that mainstream bullshit we all run a mile from!  And the best bit.... if you can't check the show when it's live, the podcasts can be downloaded from the site or via iTunes.  So, what's your excuse for not checking them out?
www.conspiracyworldwide.podomatic.com