Hip Hop Is Read: 6/1/11

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Unreleased 2Pac Tracks Got Me Feeling Like...

2Pac - Watch Ya Mouth (Dr. Dre, Nas & De La Soul Diss)
&
2Pac - New York '87 (Dissing EVERYONE In New York)
(feat. DJ Quik, Kurupt, Deadly Threat & Daz Dillinger)

Previously: "Nasty" Got Me Feeling Like...

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Wu-Tang Clan - Live at Glastonbury 2011

Time flies by, huh? It seems like it was ~~only yesterday~~ significantly less than three years ago when I made both Jay-Z and Lupe Fiasco's sets at the Glastonbury Festival available for download in track-by-track mp3 format. Back by popular demand (and by that I mean just a tweet from BHYPHEN), I present to you: Wu-Tang Clan's June 24th performance at Glastonbury. Enjoy... and turn it up!!

The Tape Deck '11: Volume #46 (Instrumental Edition)

The Tape Deck '11: Volume #45

Friday, June 24, 2011

Rap Round Table, Week Ending 6/24/2011

Music Analysis & Reporting:

The Unauthorized Story of Haitian Jack by Black Pacino

Earl Sweatshirt's Coral Reef Academy Friend Says "New Yorker" Story Is False by Ernest Baker & Jacob Moore

Blue Note Records' Ten Best Sample Sources by Phillip Mlynar

Revisiting the Classic Commercial Rap Album Template by Mobb Deen

I Was Making Lupe Fiasco Look Stupid Back Before It Was All Trendy by Byron Crawford

Great Songs from Forgotten Rap Albums #18 by The Great Gats, B

The Dopplegangaz by Werner von Wallenrod

WOAT Albums: Mobb Deep by GuttaBoyJihaD

7 Reasons Why 'Blood Money' Is Mobb Deep's Worst Album by HL

RE: RE: WOAT Mobb Deep Album by GuttaBoyJihaD

Nasty Nas in Your Area, About to Cause Blog Hysteria by Evan Nabavian

Return of Nasty Reign Drops by HL

The 50 Cent Resurrection by Noz

"If I Can't" Gets Cue From Sampling by Amir "Sa'id" Said

Jay Rock Reveals Single 'Hood Gone Love It,' Aided by Kendrick Lamar by Jeff Weiss

The Origins of Screwed Music by Galvatron

Success & The Hip Hop Hypocrite by Tony Grands

On 2Pac’s Forgotten Battle Record by J. Tinsley

Company Flow Reunite by Tom Breihan

Kreayshawn Is the Latest Controversial White Rapper by Nitsuh Abebe

Tha Chill (Compton's Most Wanted), Gangsta and Other Rap Veterans Form Supergroup, '1st Generation,' Play First Show on July 23 by Jeff Weiss

Rapper 10th Ward Buck Explains History of 'Bounce' Music in New Book by Roman Wolfe

Publicists Ask ‘What’s Your Gimmick,’ I Said ‘Going In’ by Jeff Weiss

Hoodratz - Sneeke Muthafukaz by C-Dub

Hindsight Is 20/20: How Scarface Made Me Realize I’m an Adult by J to the Aap

Ice Cube’s Autograph Saves Lives by Beware

Immortal Technique: The Psychedelic Soul of UMO by Jeff Weiss

Hey Drake, Man Up! by Jonathan Hailey

Drake Tells Universal Music to Stop Taking Down the Music He's Leaking by Mike Masnick

Weird This Way by Jeff Weiss

Turntable.fm: Music and DJing Meets Gamification by Alex Pham

Album Reviews:

Shabazz Palaces - Black Up by Jeff Weiss

Action Bronson - Dr. Lecter by Tom Breihan

Big Sean - Finally Famous: The Album by William E. Ketchum III

Tech N9ne - All 6′s and 7′s by Ericka Simone

Blaq Poet - Blaq Poet Society by Amanda Bassa

Open Mike Eagle - Rappers Will Die of Natural Causes by Fred Castano

Grieves - Together Apart by Edwin Ortiz

DJ JS-1 - Ground Original 3: No One Cares by Francisco McCurry

Blue Scholars - Cinemetropolis by Steven Potter

Silkie - City Limits Volume 2 by Nate Patrin

Black Lips - Arabia Mountain by Chris Bosman

Bon Iver - Bon Iver by Randall Roberts

Bon Iver - Bon Iver by Mark Richardson

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Unknown Mortal Orchestra by Ian Cohen

Jay-Z - Unplugged (December 18, 2001) by Dag Diligent

Profiles & Interviews:

Raw Sh!t: An Interview With Random Axe by J to the Aap

5-10-15-20: DJ Quik by Tom Breihan

DMX's 1st Jailhouse Interview by MikeyFresh

DJ Quik Talks Sampling John Travolta, 'The Book of David' and Powerhouse Appearance by Nate Jackson

Q&A: Big K.R.I.T. on Making People React to His Lyrics, Crate-Digging And Crafting Playstation Beats by J. Pablo

Canibus & Keith Murray (The Undergods): Hip Hop Bounty Hunters by Chris Richburg

Metal Lungies Hollers @ Co$$ by KnobbzXL

A Q. & A. With Skyzoo, Mixtape Master by Chris O'Shea

Producer's Corner: Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis by William E. Ketchum III

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Talib Kweli on The Colbert Report

Talib Kweli visited the Colbert Report to discuss Arizona Senate Bill 1070, as well as to perform "Cold Rain" off his newest album Gutter Rainbows. He also performed one of my all-time favorites, the Nina Simone-sampling "Get By", offered as a web exclusive on Colbert Nation (above). Enjoy.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Ten Summers Ago...

"Hip hop, I damn near hate y'all/
I'm sick and tired of all these Auto-Tune-ass n****s, I miss Nate Dogg/"
- Freddie Gibbs; "Flamboyant (Freestyle)"

Summer begins today, I'm proud to announce. As the City of Angels attempts to shed off the June Gloom cloudiness we've been having - we've got it sooo rough - I've found myself revisiting DJ Steve1der's Nate in '08: The Best of Nate Dogg mix for some reason. Summertime and Nate Dogg hooks simply go together like gin and tonic. And it got me thinking about what hip hop was like just ten years ago, specifically what I was listening to on the radio - you know, like, when I actually used to listen to the radio. The summer of 2001 was a big deal in so many ways. It was special for me because it was the summer before I entered high school. On a national (and international) level, it was the last summer we could fly on an airplane without being molested by airport security. Thanks a lot ~~Osama Bin Laden~~ ~~Saddam Hussein~~ George Bush! But back to hip hop, it was a summer totally dominated by Nate Dogg. Most strikingly, it wasn't a west coast/regional thing.

In December of 2000, Snoop released his final full-length release with No Limit Records, Tha Last Meal. That album spawned a monstrous street single titled "Lay Low", produced by Dr. Dre (and Mike Elizondo), and featuring Nate Dogg, Butch Cassidy, Tha Eastsidaz and Master P. As he often did, Nate Dogg stole the show. That single dropped in March, but it stayed on heavy rotation - at least on my local radio stations - for months, in a similar fashion to Dr. Dre's 2001 singles which preceded it.

A few weeks later - on Juneteenth to be exact - Fabolous unleashed a beast of his own, the bi-coastal anthem "Can't Deny It", featuring Nate on the hook (with backing vocals by Lil' Mo). The track was produced by Bay Area legend Rick Rock and drew its inspiration from 2Pac's opening track on All Eyez on Me, "Ambitionz az a Ridah". Suffice it to say that record received extensive radio play on the West Coast. "Can't Deny It" was Fabolous' first officially-released single.

Just two weeks afterwards, another Nate Dogg-assisted single burst onto the scene: Ludacris' "Area Codes". The promotional value of "Area Codes" was two-fold: 1) it was practically the theme song to Rush Hour 2, the summer blockbuster film starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker which grossed $67 million in its opening weekend, and 2) it was the first single for Ludacris' highest-selling (and overall best) album, Word of Mouf, released a few months later on November 6, 2001.

That is sheer dominance. In just one summer, Nate held his own on home turf on the West Coast, at the same time lending his vocal chops to the South (Atlanta) and East Coast (New York/Brooklyn). In addition to the three aforementioned tracks, Nate also collaborated with Jermaine Dupri on "Ballin' Out of Control", all while readying his own solo LP, Music & Me, boosted by the street classic "I Got Love". The phrase "hit-or-miss" had no place in Nate's playbook. He cranked out nothing but hits. Much is said about Nate Dogg's phenomenal hooks. We ought to praise his work ethic too which was, clearly, impeccable. If you wanted to take a capsulated snapshot, a highlight of Nate's greatness, the early-to-mid '90s are a great place to start. But no one, absolutely no one, was touching Nate in the early-to-mid aughts. No one. Long live Nate Dogg, the king of hooks. Turn off the radio © Ice Cube

Sunday, June 19, 2011

The Tape Deck '11: Volume #40 (Instrumental Edition)

Michael Rapaport's Beats Rhymes & Life | Review

A couple of nights ago, I included Werner von Wallenrod's review of Michael Rapaport's ATCQ documentary, Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, on the latest installment of the Rap Round Table. Between then and now I've seen the documentary and thought I'd share my two cents. (I suggest you read Werner's take on the film before proceeding further.)

Spanning just over an hour and a half, Beats Rhymes & Life begins with footage from Tribe's 2008 concert in Seattle, followed shortly by the backstage scene of a visibly frustrated Q-Tip commenting on the end of the group. "It's over." Rapaport hits you with that initial sequence of conflict leaving the viewer asking him/herself "why is it over?" The film progresses with the story of Tribe being pieced together, recollecting a young Phife Dawg getting into emceeing and convincing his childhood best friend, Q-Tip, to follow suit. The film documents the rich legacy of artists hailing from Queens, New York, all the way up to hip hop pioneers Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J - Tribe's "idols." In the words of Jarobi: "Queens puts out legends." The film goes on to detail Tribe's first encounter with the man who helped put them on, DJ Red Alert.

The film's got plenty of great footage that a rap nerd would enjoy. One key segment shows Q-Tip waxing nostalgic over a record, Lonnie Smith's 1970 LP Drives, sampled on Tribe's debut album and third official single, "Can I Kick It?" Tip wistfully recollects snagging the record for five bucks at a shop on W. 26th St. called Jazz Record Center. Other insightful moments include a portion from an interview with producer Pharrell Williams, who discusses the impact "Bonita Applebum" had on him, commenting: "I was obsessed with it. I had never heard nothing like that in my whole life. And that's where I changed." The breakdown of Phife's "Seaman's Furniture" line on "Electric Relaxation" provides plenty of laughs as does his support for the L.A. Lakers in lieu of the N.Y. Knicks. Tip jokingly chides in "a lot of New Yorkers can take this as an offense", to which Phife responds "that's 'cause we've been losing for quite a long time."

To Werner's credit, there's a lot of seemingly crucial information that isn't addressed in the documentary, including each artists' solo ventures, with exception to a brief mentioning of Q-Tip's Renaissance album. Also, as pointed out by Werner, involvement by Tribe pals Jay Dee (a.k.a. J Dilla) and Consequence are no more than hinted at during the film. The latter point doesn't disappoint too much since, after all, the film is really about the relationships between the four members of the group, with the conflict between Q-Tip and Phife Dawg taking the front seat, leaving Ali and Jarobi in the back or, more appropriately, caught "in the middle." In Werner's review, he comments that "it seems like the second half of this documentary was discarded in favor of celebrity gossip." He continues: "I feel like the great documentary has been switched off, and somebody's changed the channel to a trashy reality TV show made for the E! channel instead." I couldn't disagree more. Dissecting the group's genesis and conflict is the thesis of the documentary. I believe this what is meant by The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest. It isn't fair to critique a project for what you expect it to be like.

I suppose I was ignorant to the conflict(s) that led to ATCQ being disbanded for all these years since The Love Movement. The film certainly hipped me to the root of these problems though, going to great lengths to flesh out the causes of Tribe's collapse, noting Phife's battle with diabetes, his move to Atlanta, the emergence of big egos and the overall reduced unity amongst the members. There's a significant moment in the film in which Phife compares A Tribe Called Quest to The Supremes, accusing Q-Tip of taking a Diana Ross-like role above the group. The film goes on to feature footage of a verbal dispute between Phife and Q-Tip. I'd assume that the film's inclusion of Q-Tip's use of the word "faggoty", directed to Phife, would be his number one critique of the film. Was it gratuitous on Michael Rapaport's part to include this segment? Not at all. As the viewer, I actually appreciated Rapaport's attempt to shrug off the candy coating one might expect from a film documenting a music group with the perception - justified or not - of being "soft", at least as far as hip hop goes. The film doesn't shy from getting its hands dirty and cut to the heart of the subject: why can't Tribe get it (back) together? Again, I appreciated the brutal honesty.

Beats Rhymes & Life leaves the viewer with more questions than questions answered. I believe this was entirely intentional. At one point in the film, Phife Dawg languishes: "I love hip hop but at the rate it's going right now, I could do with or without it." Conversely, the film concludes with the following captions: "A Tribe Called Quest has not released an album since 1998. They still have one album remaining on their original 1989 contract with Jive Records." Will they? Won't they? Probably not. But maybe... The film leaves the door wide open - as it should.