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.

Month in Review

 

September has been a good month.  Maybe not for everyone, but for those of us who crave old school and golden era nostalgia, it's been a bumper month.  What's been most surprising though, is that much of this little collection is kind of new, despite being old (bear with me and you'll see what I mean).  Ah heck, to save me explaining it, just peep the first item and you'll see where I was going. 

 

Be sure to follow the jump link as there are mixtapes, break beats, new music and much more for your eyes and ears.  I told ya, it's been a monster month.

 

Bizarre Tribe

 

No, I've not found a previously undiscovered group of cannibals deep in the Amazon rain forest!  But if you haven't heard this mix yet then you must have been deep in the Amazon yourself.  Amerigo Gazaway (who previously fused Fela Kuti and De La Soul to critical acclaim) has been hard at work again, this time reinterpreting the music created by A Tribe Called Quest.  Using the original soul, funk and jazz samples, Gazaway recreates the instrumentals from some of ATCQ's classics, and then drops vocals from the Pharcyde over the top.

What is Cydeways?

Well, there's a clue in the title.  Yup, you probably guessed it, The Pharcyde are cydeways, and it's a pretty good way of describing their musical style.  As it happens, I own very little of the Pharcyde's catalogue, but there's no denying that they are one of the most original hip hop groups ever to hit the industry.

The Pharcyde are often cited as one of 'the greats' and their debut LP Bizarre Ride to the Pharcyde is an agreed classic, but too often it is forgotten that The Pharcyde's creativity doesn't stop with their music.  Their music videos have been consistently innovative since day one, and if they don't opt for a zany concept, they do something with the visuals to keep an otherwise simple video very intriguing.