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.

SBX - Holding Down The Tradition

Classic mini documentary from the D.I.T.C crew.  Featuring clips from the infamous freestyle battle between Lord Finesse and Percy P (the whole battle is on YouTube so check it out), and the friendly rematch that was made specifically for this DVD.  R.I.P. to Party Arty.

Also features performance of the tracks:
1. A.G. - Inspiration
2. D-Flow - Don't Know Me
3. Party Arty - Everyday
4. G.D. - Ghetto Dwellas
5. A.G. - Little Big Man

Nobody is on holiday!

 

I thought this was the holiday season when everybody went away and the internet hit a periodic lull.  Nope.  The US heatwaves and the UK washout seems to be keeping people indoors, so there's been plenty of interesting stuff to keep me entertained this month, and here are a few things that I think you might appreciate, read plenty more after the jump:

 

Eventually - Show & A.G. LP Is Coming

For nearly a year it's been talked about, leaked, hyped, pre released etc etc, but it seems that it's now actually going to happen for real.  This is the first track from the full LP and if it's anything to go by then the LP will be some real grown man rap (at last).

 

Total Eklips

French beatboxer Eklips gives us a Hip Hop history in 4 minutes of top notch beatboxing .  He covers everything from Planet Rock, to Tupac, Public Enemy to Dr Dre and everything significant in between.  It's good fun trying to name the tunes and keep up with how quickly he flips them.

Latest Bloggings

Here is this months round up of goodness from around the web and bloggasphere.  As is often the case with my highlights from the web, it's a mixed bag of old and new, but hopefully it's still full of the realness that us true hip hop heads are in need of (if not, please let me know in the comments section).

Before I get into some of these gems, I want to welcome Moyinka to the FoaWP team. He's an experienced blogger who shares many of his old school rarities (1986-1991) over at the To The Break of Dawn blog (which I recommend you check out). I think he's got something slightly different planned for this blog, but I don't want to spoil any surprises.

Up North Trips Presents The 10s

The fella's at Up North Trips have paid homage to one of the most significant album releases of the 90's, Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth's Mecca and the Soul Brother which celebrated it's 20th anniversary earlier this month. 
They've picked 10 tracks from the album and focused on the samples and beat construction to highlight the complexity and ingenuity of Pete Rock's production and thus the major influence his work has had on other producers ever since.  The end product is a brilliant mix of the original samples blended with the finished tracks.
You can listen to the mix on the Soundcloud player below, but I'd strongly recommend reading the full article to gain the full appreciation of this mix. 
 

Large Professor - Part 2

Following on from last months update, Extra P continues to break down his classic records in part 2 of Complex's review.  He not only talks about his productions, but also the tracks he featured on as an emcee working with people like Nas, Pete Rock, Beatnuts etc.  He also gives insights behind Nas' groundbreaking track Rewind (the one where he tells the story in reverse). 
http://www.complex.com/music/2012/06/large-professor-tells-all-the-stories-behind-his-classic-records-part-2/

Kurious & A.G.

Kurious is back with a new joint which features A.G. on the mic and Diamond D on the boards.  It's not what you might expect from Kurious or the DITC veteran, but it's still funky all the same.  Thanks to the DJ Premier Blog for sharing this.



Mike Check

Show and A got the Flava!



Bronx heavyweights Showbiz & A.G. return with a new release and are back on top of their game. You may remember that back in November I spoke about their highly anticipated new LP Mugshot Music and shared some of the leaked tracks. Well the LP is still in production and scheduled for a late summer release, so to keep fans happy and to fill the interim gap they have released a free taster album called Pre Loaded.

Unlike most pre releases, this is a full length, top quality album. It’s not a mixtape, there are no DJ’s hollering all over the tunes, and its 15 tracks long. Okay, I acknowledge that most of the tracks are only 2-3 minutes long, but I’d rather it be that way than having some well known DJ shamelessly doing self promotion with an annoying voiceover.

And if you’re a die hard Show & A.G. fan that really can’t miss anything they release…. well, you can purchase a deluxe version from iTunes or Amazon. So what do you get for your extra bucks ($8.99)?  Just three more short tracks!
I’m not sure on the marketing strategy here; surely a free EP would have given listeners a greater incentive to part with their hard earned dough for the full length album. But I’ve only been buying records for 30 years, so what would I know!

Anyway, go and check out the latest offering from one of hip hop’s greatest duos, I’m sure you’ll be glad you did.

Free download: http://www.sendspace.com/file/emzn23

Mike Check.

Free Downloads

[Note to readers using RSS etc - You may need to come to the site to see the embeded music players etc]

There's a ton of free music out there, but finding the good stuff that is worth listening to can feel like a full time skilled profession.  Well hopefully we can help out a little by providing you with some great new tunes to bump in your iPod.

Has-Lo
First up is a new joint from Has-Lo.  Hot on the heels of his highly rated LP In Case I Don’t Make It released earlier this year, he now releases the follow up Conversation B. 
This free promotional track Light Years has been remixed by J-Zone.  It's not quite the usual style of J-Zone production that we're used to (although it still has his trade mark sound to it), but it's just as distinct and inventive.  It's also great to heat that J-Zone has returned to the production boards, as the news that he'd retired was almost like a bereavement.