Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Radio & Music >

Easy Goin' & Flowin' Hip Hop

23:25 / 14.09.01

In short, "Hip Hop for people that don't know shit about Hip Hop".

First of all, props to Ty Stix for reminding me about MC Paul Barman! That will definitly by my next CD purchase. Anyways, I got a new job that 1) is pretty dull & mentally taxing, but 2) allows me to wear a walkman as I'm doing my duties. Normally, I listen to a lot of rock music, but for some reason I can't concentrate on my tasks when I'm listening to rock music. But when I listen to groove/beat-heavy stuff, I just flow all throught the day &, more importantly, it makes the time flow much faster. Lately, I've been listeneing to a lot of Beastie Boys & The Wise Guys, so I'm kinda looking for that kind easy going Hip Hop (seeing as I hate Gangsta Rap). Suggestions, please?? And what can y'all recommend from Schooly D?

23:25 / 14.09.01

Jurassic 5?

De La Soul?

23:25 / 14.09.01

MC Solaar.

10:36 / 15.09.01

I'd reccomend pretty much anything that Quannum or Solesidesare involved with: in the UK, Ninja Tune released a compliation CD last year (I think), 'Solesides Greatest Bumps' which still gets heavy play on my stereo; I reccomend 'Swan Lake.'

They had a Quannum Projects CD out on Mo'Wax which was pretty damn good, too.

As Rizla says, De La Soul, but also don't forget A Tribe Called Quest

10:44 / 15.09.01

Ecologyst by Dr Octogon.

Thee Outer limits psi-funk, ruck 'n' roll.
Rap as sex-magik, Automator on the controls...

14:09 / 15.09.01

Yes! Quaanum, Solesides, Ninja Tune all the way.

The Roots, and Dynamic Syncopation are WELL up that list. DS are a fab Ninja Tune act, well chilled and funky. And Solaar is wonderful, even if you don't get the French; I've only got Paradisaque, but it's great.

23:52 / 15.09.01

Definitely backing the Quannum/Solesides recommendation. If you can find it (I think it’s been deleted), Latyrx’ eponymous debut album is an all time classic. The best thing Blackalicious have put their name to is the “A2G EP” - every song is a winner, there other stuff is mostly good but with a few patchy tracks.

Souls of Mischief’s “93 ‘Til Infinity” is one of the best hip hop albums ever. Heiroglyphics’ “Third Eye Vision” also rocks. Recommendations for De La are always wise, as are Tribe Called Quest.

I have to say, I enjoy the hard edged stuff myself. Either biting, political, beautifully made and told, or with a sound like it was recorded inside my anus (PE, Co Flow, Organised Konfusion, Wu-Tang, Techno Animal, Cannibal Ox, SW, Channel Live, Roots Manuva).

Whatever turns you on. It’s all good.

jUne, a sunshiny month

07:23 / 16.09.01

first, props to the uk scene :

labels as Big Dada (ninja tune hip hop inprint) with Roots Manuva (both albums are brilliants, nd the 2nd one just came out), Ty, TTC, clouddead,and 2 real great compilations (damn, the first one even got bestSaul Wiliams track ever...)

Jazz Fudge, dj Vadim's label, with nice sweeties like Pelding (album out now, amazing), the Isolationnist (a collaboration between the scratch perverts's mr thing -uk dmc champion 2000-, vadim and the Anti Pop Consortium), etc...

i'm a lot into "hard edged stuff", as wrote by Expressionless, but myself, i find hard to not concentrate on this shit while listen to it.even if it's going deeeep between your brain as it's so different, it's maybe too interesting and asking you some effort to look at it better for work, uh ?
but hell yeah, Cannibal Ox, anti Pop Consortium, all the Anti Con crew, labels/distributors such as Def Jux, Ozone, 75 ark, ...

haven't we talk about this kind of shit before ?

mc solaar was my best hope into french hiphop a decade ago. fresh, different, with brilliants lyrics ; but he felt, and do bad commercial easy shit for 16 girlies, with wanna-be-poems that just sucks (my opinion).
his best effort is indeed his 2nd album ("Prose combat",94) and maybe his first is still ok ("Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo", 91).
for french stuff, it looks like at last, some newbies want to redesign this whole bad rap scene, as uk made examples ! check out La Caution, TTC, and freshly nice soundin' Karlito. they deserve it.

well, while working (computer graphotizm), i work with a friend who's into metal/hardcore.
so we split our listening time, this give me opportunities to listen IG Culture 's New Sector Movements before Limp Bizkit, Soul Jazz Compilations after Sepultura, dj Krush after Soulfly...

07:23 / 16.09.01

Mmn, Roots Manuva. Not quite as chilled out, but dead impressive - just bought Run Come Save Me and loving every minute of it.

Also (how could I forget):

Rae & Christian. Fantastic.

(Ninja Tune's Xen Cuts compilation is a great bargain, lots of good stuff in this vein, a disc of downbeat, one of hiphop and one of allsorts. Great stuff, several Big Dada artists on there...).

That's all I can think of. God bless the Infesticons.

12:48 / 16.09.01

Is anyone else here into Princess Superstar? Her last album ("Last of the Great Twentieth Century Composers") was wicked. Is her other stuff as good?

15:18 / 16.09.01

i'm a lot into "hard edged stuff", as wrote by Expressionless, but myself, i find hard to not concentrate on this shit while listen to it.even if it's going deeeep between your brain as it's so different, it's maybe too interesting and asking you some effort to look at it better for work, uh ?

Yo, June! ca va?

Y'know, I can't explain it. The thing is, when I'm at work, I have a heavy responsibility upon my shoulders. So my consciousness is upon the task at hand--and the one that's in the other room & the one that's downstairs and etc, etc. Ant any rate, you get the idea. Anyways, I've found that groove/beat-heavy stuff gets me though the day faster. Just because my mind is already taxed, I need something to help me keep my internal metronome alligned & flowing through the day. So to speak. What can I say? it est mon ca...

[ 16-09-2001: Message edited by: Margin Walker ]

19:46 / 16.09.01

quote:Originally posted by Paleface:

God bless the Infesticons.

indeed.

This seems a convenient time to ask - have they put out an (or more than one) album?

Cos if it's half as good as the track on Xen Cuts, I want it bad, but I've not seen anything by them...

09:40 / 17.09.01

The Infesticons do have an album out. It's called "Gun Hill Road" and it's great fun.

jUne, a sunshiny month

22:36 / 18.09.01

yeah, god bless da infesticons
only one album, but al the people wh're in it are already huge in this hip hop shit : the infesticons are the project of the mad man Mike Ladd (scratchie records, at least 3 albums), with the help of anti Pop consortium, co flow, and many, many more...

No star here laces

11:21 / 19.09.01

Hip-hop for the non, huh?

Difficult request - personally I usually buy 12"s for club play, but...

You might like Black-eyed peas "Bridging the gap" which is very easy listening.

I'd also recommend Black Star - Black Star (Mos Def and Talib Kweli) which is very easy listening. Talib Kweli - "Reflection Eternal" is a much better album but more for the heads than Mos Def's stuff. Rewarding listening though.

You could do a lot worse than getting in a bunch of old LL Cool J albums ("mama said knock you out"), Boogie Down Productions, EPMD and Stetsasonic. Older stuff like that tends to have a softer mc style, and groovier production. Plus I think hip-hop is all about history and recycling, so starting with old records is a good way to get into it.

Schoolly D? What can I say. My favourite MC ever, with possible exceptions for Uncle L, Biggie and Guru, the main difference being I can listen to Schoolly when he's not on top form whereas I won't with the others. Best tracks are "PSK" which has possibly the biggest drum sound ever, "Saturday Night", "Am I black enough for you?" (which samples the Billy Paul classic, and soundtracks a memorable scene from "King of New YOrk"), "GAngster Boogie", "Housin the Joint", "Can you feel it?". Most of the albums and best ofs are pretty patchy, with the exception of "PSK - what does it mean?" (the album, not the single, obviously).

Talking of Guru, Gangstarr's "Hard to earn" is probably their best album (though all the albums have shitty moments) and either that or the "Full Clip - a decade of gangstarr" comp are essential pieces of hip hop history and fucking good quality.

14:12 / 19.09.01

…and as if by magic, Princess Superstar crops up in NME, with a new album on the way.

jUne, a sunshiny month

18:19 / 19.09.01

"keith 'n me" by our princess and the poet kool "octagon" keith is a real nice track.
the remix is even better, even if it's just called "remix", uh. "wet wet wet" is maybe too... well...

22:27 / 03.10.01

quote:Originally posted by Rizla Year Zero:
Jurassic 5?

De La Soul?

[BlackAdder]Rizla, I love you and I want to have your babies.[/BlackAdder] Man, J5 is the coolest shit I've heard in, like, forever. I absolutly can't thank you enough, dude. Thanks for the suggestions everyone. You might've just saved my sanity.

Lazlo Woodbine [some call me Laz]

23:10 / 03.10.01

Try a bit of Phar-psyde, or if your lucky and can find it 'Parlor Talk' the funniest and lyrically supiria hip-hop group i've heard for time.

"My nan can rap betta than that, far supiria cuts!"

Regrettable Juvenilia

07:52 / 04.10.01

Princess Superstar is... incredible. Why was I not informed?

10:09 / 04.10.01

Try some old-old-skool, the real rap music...
Grandmaster Flash
Grandmaster Melle Mel
The Furious Five
Duke Bootee
Scorpio

put on some plims and get body-poppin....electric boogaloo styleee...

11:26 / 04.10.01

quote:Originally posted by Flyboy:
Princess Superstar is... incredible. Why was I not informed?

Do you have the new album? I’m really looking forward to it.

Which one you got?

11:30 / 04.10.01

Can anyone remember when Melle Mel was promoted to the rank of Grandmaster? I’m sure he wasn’t to begin with. Wasn’t it some crappy legal thing? Or was it his universe-sized ego?

The Return Of Rothkoid

11:54 / 04.10.01

From Histories of Turntablism page on Grandmaster Flash: quote:Following 1983's anti-cocaine polemic "White Lines," relations between Flash and Melle Mel turned ugly, and the rapper soon left the group, forming a new unit also dubbed the Furious Five. After a series of Grandmaster Flash solo albums including 1985's They Said It Couldn't Be Done, 1986's The Source and 1987's Ba-Dop-Boom-Bang, he reformed the original Furious Five line-up for a charity concert at Madison Square Garden; soon after, the reconstituted group recorded a new LP, 1988's On the Strength, which earned a lukewarm reception from fans and critics alike. Another reunion followed in 1994, when Flash and the Five joined a rap package tour also including Kurtis Blow and Run-DMC. A year later, Flash and Melle Me also appeared on Duran Duran's cover of "White Lines." So yeah, a personalities thing. I do think there was a legal aspect, though, also.

I bought the 3-CD Grandmaster Flash set that came out last year - for about £7, I think. It's pretty good, but; three discs' worth of "Birthday Party" can get a bit much after a while.

[ 04-10-2001: Message edited by: Rothkoid ]

12:34 / 04.10.01

On a Japanese tip:

Rhymester rock hard. So do Soul Scream.
Anything with Twigy on is a safe bet - he's pretty much the most proficient japanese MC.
Zeebra's probably a close second.

also : m-flo, shakkazombie, king giddra.

16:42 / 09.10.01

Yo son I know hip-hop. You wanna listen to some shit that flows smooth than a bitch peep
Digable Planets. Thats some chill shit. Kool Kieth has some chill shit like 'Blue Flowers'
Wu-Tang has some mad chill'n beats and rhymes
M.F.Doom has a bunch of dope shit some of its chill. The Arsonists are fucking amazing they make your head spin and shit. Del and Heiroglyphics and Souls of Mischeif are the shit. A Tribe Called Quest is smooth. You wanna hear some crazy shit peep the GraveDiggaz. And if you wanna start a revolution or something check out Company Flow.

..

16:46 / 09.10.01

The digable planets fo' sure!

The Rascalz first one, "Cash Crop" flows pretty smooth too yo.

18:43 / 09.10.01

I'm making Rothkoid and [YNH] tapes and reminding myself exactly how damn good Latyrx are. They can do anything, their skills know no bounds. I've never heard any other hip hop group with this broad a range of styles and sounds. They're funny, funky, clever and just swagger .

Red Cross Iodized Salt

18:51 / 09.10.01

If J5 floats yr boat, you might want to try and get your hands on some stuff by The Unspoken Heard, an NYC based collective who are putting out some great stuff on 7Heads.

Also well worth tracking down are Chicago's Primeridian. The Reverse Angles EP on Guidance is the only thing I've managed to pick up by them so far, but an LP is supposedly just around the corner.

Primeridian Real Audio:
Ring Around the Lyrical
Reverse Angle

00:29 / 10.10.01

Hey, keep 'em coming, y'all. Last weekend, I played the last track off of J5's last LP ("Quality Control"), a turntablism track piecing together old Swing records--to my Grandmother. I explained that these guys were taking old records and creating something completely new with them, like an aural quiltwork. And she dug it! She was bouncing around & everything. So now, thanks to y'all, my Grandma knows about Hip-Hop. I mean, how fucking cool is that?!