UKFF Hip Hop Thread

[Chest Rockwell]

Yeah baby face killa is shite. Cold day in hell and miseducation both have some highlights though and are worth checking out.

[Arch Stanton]

On 29/01/2021 at 3:21 PM, SuperBacon said:

You heard the stuff he released at Christmas? Loved it. https://fourtet.bandcamp.com/album/parallel

Just seen that there is some hip hop themed bits on BBC Four tonight, including a programme called Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America and tonight features Jesus Walks by Kanye West and Alright by Kendrick Lamar.

Then next week has Rock Box by Run DMC and Elevators by Outkast, followed by The Bridge by Marley Marl and Ladies First by Queen Latifah. 

Produced by Questlove and Blackthought, I'm hoping this goes beyond the usual tired stories of "Well, Jam Master Jay used to play this break and one day he let the record run and we heard ROCK MUSIC" so am looking forward to this.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000rpms

Then after those two, is Hip Hop At The BBC, which has been a million times, but is worth watching for the bizarre sight of Rakim and LL Cool J (with lots of screaming girls)  on Top Of The Pops, and great performances by Dizzee and The Roots. 

 

Watched the first two episodes of Songs That Shook America last night after you mentioned them here and really enjoyed them so thanks for the heads up. It blew my mind a bit to realise that Jesus Walks is 17 years old by now. It feels so much more recent in my mind. I also never really appreciated the cultural impact that Alright had in the States before. They are fascinating episodes, I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the series.

[SuperBacon]

36 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said:

Watched the first two episodes of Songs That Shook America last night after you mentioned them here and really enjoyed them so thanks for the heads up. It blew my mind a bit to realise that Jesus Walks is 17 years old by now. It feels so much more recent in my mind. I also never really appreciated the cultural impact that Alright had in the States before. They are fascinating episodes, I'm looking forward to watching the rest of the series.

As I had nothing better to do, the girls were with their Mum and it was raining, I watched the whole lot today and had a great time doing so.

Yep, as I said earlier, the Jesus Walks one was superb and to be honest, was probably the highlight of the series.

As I have a bit of a blind spot with Kanye, I forgot just how much of a massive, and rapid, breakthrough he had and just what an incredibly well crafted song that is.The background story of the composition was really interesting and I hadn't really appreciated just how ballsy the song was before, with America being such a conservative Christian country.

They're all really well made episodes, didn't realise Alex Gibney and Shea Serrano were involved until the credits rolled, so there is strong documentary making credits and also a real love of hip hop from everyone involved. However...

...apart from Jesus Walks and Alright, the series really is 'Songs That Shook Hip Hop' rather than America.

As much as I love Elevators and Outkast in general, that song didn't 'shake America' (Rosa Parks or literally anything off Stankonia would've been more appropriate) and outside of hip hop, did/does anyone care about The Bridge and the borough wars?

But this is me really nitpicking as I suppose if they were to focus on songs that 'shook America' and created a cultural shift (like Jesus Walks and Alright), they would have to focus on the mega crossover hits and those stories have been told a million times.

I was trying to think of songs that I would've liked to have seen featured and came up with Noreaga "Superthug" ,Lil Jon "Get Low"  (although both The Neptunes and crunk were covered in the last series of Hip Hop Evolution) and Dead Prez "Hip Hop" as to me, they are absolutely 'reset' songs when it comes to hip hop, but like I say just nitpicking.

I'm just glad they went with Rock Box as, despite the 'rap came to MTV and white people took notice' tale being told again and again, it's a million times better than fucking Walk This Way.

It's always good to see footage of Run DMC in the 80s though as their style was unparalleled. Also, MC Shan seems a lovely guy and I want to take him for a coffee.

[SuperBacon]

Double K from People Under The Stairs has passed away, aged 43, which is incredibly sad.

A massive favourite of mine when I was getting more into 'indie' rap when I was around 15, and hearing Youth Explosion on Prime Cuts monthly show on Westwood. An absolute funky/jazzy hip hop classic.

That album, Question In The Form Of An Answer and OST are excellent, but their masterpiece has to be San Francisco Knights, from The Next Step.

I have a memory of this playing at sunset whilst I was sat outside Cafe Del Mar in Ibiza and just zoning the fuck out. One of the prettiest hip hop songs of all time.

Beautiful.

[Chest Rockwell]

Acid Raindrops is the one for me.. Lot of memories.

 

[SuperBacon]

This is rather sweet. 9th Wonder and Bob James in conversation. 

I remember reading something about Bob James years ago, where he came across as really dismissive and bitter over the sampling of his music, but he seems to have done a full 180 and now appreciates his legendary status within the genre.

I suppose he was just protecting his art and creations, which is fair enough. And he does have a point about Peter Piper.

One think I don't think I ever realised was that he was sampled on Regulate (the little whistling bit). Anyways, the rest of the vids on the channel are interesting if a little shilly for this Tracklib thing ( @Chest RockwellNot sure if you've seen this or if it's something useful to you; Seems like a service you can join to legally use loads of samples, including Bob James)

Of course, someone went and did this off the back of it, which is superb. 

This is probably my favourite use of a Bob James sample, as it's just so simple, funky and Guru uses the lyrics "Wack crews lick my balls". 

Gang Starr  - The ? Remainz

 

The sample.

Also used for Edan - Emcees Smoke Crack which is a great track off a great album, so listen to that too. 

Any other examples of excellent use of Bob James samples? Daytona 500 is banned for being too good.

[wordsfromlee]

It’s not hip hop but Adam F’s use of Westchester Lady on Circles is a favourite. 
https://www.whosampled.com/sample/503/Adam-F-Circles-Bob-James-Westchester-Lady/

I don’t think he’s done a complete 180, as such. I watched some of the other videos of him on the Tracklib channel and he likes to bring up the fact that he never saw any money from the use of his music at every opportunity he can. He’s definitely not against it, just wants to be part of the creative process, as you would be. 

Also, Angela being sampled in Cab Fare fits the Souls of Mischief sound so well. 
https://www.whosampled.com/sample/6980/Souls-of-Mischief-Cab-Fare-Bob-James-Angela-(Theme-From-Taxi)/

[SuperBacon]

6 minutes ago, wordsfromlee said:

It’s not hip hop but Adam F’s use of Westchester Lady on Circles is a favourite. 
https://www.whosampled.com/sample/503/Adam-F-Circles-Bob-James-Westchester-Lady/

I don’t think he’s done a complete 180, as such. I watched some of the other videos of him on the Tracklib channel and he likes to bring up the fact that he never saw any money from the use of his music at every opportunity he can. He’s definitely not against it, just wants to be part of the creative process, as you would be. 

Sure, perhaps I wasn't clear enough. The interview I read was years ago and maybe just came across as pissy.

Like I said, I completely get WHY he would've had an issue, even if it wasn't a 'creative' thing.

Rick Rubin on Peter Piper is a perfect example. I get that when young producers were making beats (especially in the 80s and early 90s), the understanding of copyright law was not the number one issue for them. Someone like Rubin, fairly or unfairly, should've known better, and James says he is happy for their success, but unhappy he didn't make money off Raising Hell.

That Adam F one is wicked. I also never knew Eple by Royksopp sampled him also until I saw one of those videos.

[SuperBacon]

This 'new' Phife song is the most 90's sounding song to be released in 2021 surely. Great shit though. Love for all of this lot, and I love a Busta feature.

 

Also had a run through of the Judas & The Black Messiah (an OK film, nothing special) soundtrack which features some alright songs and a few that I really enjoyed (the Nas one, BJ The Chicago Kid) and this from ASAP Rocky.

Also, really liked this, and Page Kennedy is someone I don't think I've ever heard rap (seen him act though). Method Man keeps popping up in these little cameos (the recent NORE one was great too) and it's nice as I don't think I need a full Method Man album these days.

And finally, a lot of love for this. Ocean Wisdom keeps evolving as a rapper and an artist (although I didn't like that recent Maverick Sabre tune) and this is just effortless rapping.

Oh, had a spin through the new JPEGMAFIA one which I enjoyed and the Slowthai one, and I still don't get the hype over him. Maybe he's just not for me.

[wandshogun09]

Today is 22 years since Big L’s death. Easily one of my favourite rappers. This is pretty nice;

 

[SuperBacon]

That whole documentary is great by the way.

A few thoughts and songs here on L (absolutely not just promoting my Twitter as its embarrassing just dont have the energy to retype it all)

Probably my favourite rapper of all time.

Edit: Just seen this, a well told tale but should be worth a watch.

 

Edited February 15, 2021 by SuperBacon

[Marc Ambush Solo]

Prince Markie Dee of the Fat Boys has died aged 52:

The Fat Boys' Prince Markie Dee Dead at 52 - Rolling Stone

[wandshogun09]

Tek from Smif N Wessun’s got an album coming out next week. This tickled me;

 

[SuperBacon]

Late to the Ghetts album, but I really like it. Not as strong as Ghetto Gospel, and you can tell it's his first major label release (I didn't actually mind the Ed Sheeran track), but he's still head and shoulders above everyone else. He is an absolutely ridiculous rapper.

This was for me, the highlight. Aggy.

Also, a big fan of this and what Ocean Wisdom has been doing recently.

I wasn't a big fan of the last album, but his recent output has shown an evolution that he didn't show (IMO) on that LP. Top shit.

Finally, I have high hopes for this. 

 

[wordsfromlee]

Been really enjoying the new Your Old Droog & Tha God Fahim record. I still haven't actually got round to listening to 'Tha Wolf On Wall St' that came out a month or so earlier, but I heard it's good but a lot darker. This has more 90's vibes to it.