Metal Lungies

“Drop” was a single released by the Pharcyde, in support of their second album, Labcabincalifornia. It was produced by J Dilla, still going by Jay Dee at the time. Dilla employs his soon-to-be signature crisp, neck-snapping snares and claps. He uses a haunting, spacey backwards sample and a scratched chorus of Ad-Rock from “The New Style”: “Feel the beat….mmmmm…DROP!” I’ll be honest, most of the lyrics to this song don’t really make a lot of sense to me. Nevertheless Bootie Brown kills it, and just reading the lyrics doesn’t do his verse justice:

My name is Bootie Brown and I’m proceeding, leading,
they try to follow but they’re shallow and hollow
I can see right through them like an empty 40 bottle, of O.E.
they have no key, or no clue
to the game at all, now they washed up
hung out to dry
standing looking stupid, wondering why
(why man?)
it was the fame (fame!), that they tried to get
now they walking around talkin’ about represent
and keep it real, but I got to appeal
cause they existing in a fantasy when holding the steel

The song also got a fantastic video courtesy of one of my favourite directors, Spike Jonze. If you haven’t seen it before, see if you can figure out what’s going on before the video finishes:

You can read Jonze’s one-page treatment for the video at Delicious Vinyl’s blog, it’s really interesting.

Da Beatminerz did a remix for the song that appears on the  12′ for “Drop”/”Y?”, as pictured at the top of post. The Ad-rock sample remains but it’s placed low in the mix, and there’s a new chorus:

Believe it or not/it’s all divine/I got the super phat shit that will blow your mind

The backwards electronic-sounding sample is gone; instead the remix compliments a filtered bass line with thudding drum hits.  Lyrics are unchanged but the song’s intro and outro is different: Bootie Brown introduces the track as a Beatminerz remix and Tre adlibs a bit at the end.

It’s an interesting take on the track, and in lieu of new Pharcyde material from the original quartet, any material from that era is welcome. Though the original lineup is reuniting for Rock The Bells, maybe new material will come from it. This interview with the group seems to indicate so.

So, you guys gonna make a record?
Slimkid3: We’re gonna go to the lab and work it out. We don’t want to jump the gun, we just want to let it happen.
Is there a lab to go back to?
Slimkid3: Hmm. Uh, I guess we need a lab. Just got back together, uh, yesterday, so… If a lab just so happens to pop up, that would be great.
Fatlip: Yeah. I mean of course it’s hard to say, but the way things have been for the last day, I have to say yes. Things are good.

Listen to both and tell me which version you like better:

The Pharcyde – Drop

The Pharcyde – Drop (Da Beatminerz Remix)

The legendary Brooklyn producer Easy Mo Bee, whose production credits most notably include a series of classics with The Notorious B.I.G. and the rest of the old Bad Boy Records camp, gives a great interview where he touches on moments from his long and storied career and talks about rap music today.

A wise and humble master of his craft, Mo Bee always makes for a great interview. His deep, friendly voice is the kind that makes you want to curl up with the last of your matzah and listen to him tell stories for half an hour. And the giant gap in his teeth makes him all the more charming.

Some highlights:

• Bought his first turntable and mixer off the $62.51 he made every week from working at a health food store
• Got his start producing for Big Daddy Kane on It’s a Big Daddy Thing
• Diddy was “like a slave driver”, calling him at two in the morning when working on Ready to Die
• Went to NYC Tech for one year and quit after getting a job at Con Edison; to this day he wishes he had gotten at least an associate’s degree: “College never ever hurts”
• Almost went to Kingsborough Community College to train to become a radio announcer
• Made Flava In Ya Ear in his underwear
• Says there’s less emphasis on the DJ today
• Has a Razr
• Misses being in the studio with artists as opposed to emailing tracks; interaction in the studio means better records
• Greatest strength is in God, greatest weakness is women
• Biggest achievement is working with Miles Davis
• Current state of hip hop: “It’s OK”
• Interview takes place in Unique Studios, where Biggie and Tupac recorded Runnin’ (From tha Police) together; ever since they died, it hasn’t been the same
• Currently: “You could say I’m going the independent route”

You can hear Old Man Easy tell more stories in the Notorious B.I.G. Bigger Than Life documentary. He recently co-produced the best song by far on 8 Diagrams.

Download: Wu-Tang Clan – Take it Back

via Crate Kings

Great interview with Professor Griff over at Buffalo’s Artvoice paper. The part that really messed with me:

Griff: No, not at all. There’s a gentleman who wrote a book called Hip-Hop Decoded, and his name is The Black Dot, and it really opened my eyes. And then Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney pointed things out to me that were just mindblowing…[she] gave me documents showing that we were under surveillance, that black rap and hip-hop artists were under surveillance. I went to go look into it, thinking that, okay, I’ll find one article, maybe two. I started uncovering document after document after document, not only on myself and Public Enemy but just the average artists—hell, Chingy. Chingy? I’m like, he’s the cutest little guy in music, man. What is he threatening? You know if they’ve got a file on his ass, you know what they have on me.

Seriously—they don’t want strong black intelligent men in the industry, that’s not going to sell out, that’s actually going to do right by the people. Some white people look at this, they say, “Well, if he’s doing right and making a sacrifice by his people, we ain’t got nothing to worry about.” But there are some segments of the human family that’s not looking at it like that. They looking at this thing like, “Griff is a threat. Public Enemy is a threat. We can’t have too many Public Enemy groups out there like that.”

It goes much further than the Hip-Hop Police my friends, we would love to see someone get a hand on these files (any lawyers good with the freedom of information act out there?). Read the rest of the interview for PG’s thoughts on topics like NWA, current artists and his documentary project Turn Off Channel Zero. (Artvoice gets a pass on butchering the names of Jean Grae & Snoop Dogg (?!)).

I’m back from my hiatus to resume writing again and of course I needed to write a new instalment of the weekly Remix Tuesday. I had to take some time off from blogging. I had a huge amount of school work and just didn’t have the time. Shouts to Buhizzle for keeping this feature going while I was gone, along with the rest of the ML crew for holding down the fort.

Today I’m covering a classic by Camp Lo, the Bronx-based duo of Sonny Cheeba & Geechi Suede. “Black Nostaljack (AKA Come On)” was the third and final single released off their still-great debut Uptown Saturday Night.

The original rocks an smooth loop of Curtis Mayfield’s “Tripping Out”, and is produced by Camp Lo’s primary producer Ski and Ill Will Fulton. I can’t tell you too much about Fulton as a producer; I think he was an in-house Roc-A-Fella Records producer at some point, judging by his Discogs entry.

You can listen to the original sample below:

Ski and Fulton slightly sped up the intro of the Mayfield song and looped it for that amazing bassline and stuttered guitar. The horns from about the 30 second mark are interspersed at intervals into the main loop. Some nice strings pop occasionally as well. The backing track provides the perfect instrumental for Geechie and Cheeba to floss their blaxploitation-era slang steez over.

Of course, the song becomes even better once you hear it in the context of the music video:

The video sees the group joining an episode of Good Times, (a la Weezer’s video for Buddy Holly), complete with a cameo from JJ Walker! I really want one of those leather caps. Look for the cover of Uptown Saturday Night appearing as a painting in the Evans’ house.

Geechie Suede’s opening verse is one of my favourite Camp Lo verses, simply in terms of enjoyably surreal imagery (is there any other kind of Camp Lo verse?) :

Now here we are star apport a sarsparilla
I’m the Don Ezetti on the Veric Express
We got the Imperio and vino just for the keeper
And yes he be the Cheeba
And yes I be the Sueda
So gimme zigga zigga
And we can get with Kiki
The seventh heaven cloud is for my kufi and dashiki
So you see me on the upper
But it’s always the Lowa
We make it Hollywood cuz diamond crooks is takin’ over

Now, here’s where the remix comes in. The chorus of the album version of the song goes like this:

If you from the BX connects nigga
Nigga come on
If you from the BKs souffle nigga
Nigga come on
If you from the cherry QBs nigga
Nigga come on
If you from the NY you fly nigga
Nigga come on
Nigga come on

In the radio edit (used for the music video), the title of Nas’s next album in the chorus is replaced by “sugah”, which actually works pretty well without seeming forced. And a melanin-deficient individual such as myself can participate in the chorus!

But the radio edit evidently wasn’t enough for Ski and Ill Will Fulton, because they remixed the radio version for it’s own 12′, the one pictured at the top of this post. The remix is amusingly titled the “Xenobia Mix” , presumably for the removal of the n-word in the chorus.

The Xenoboia remix takes most of the original beat, but seemingly beefs up the bass and drums. It replaces the funky guitar line from the original with some ill layered strings. Rather than immediately starting with the beat, the song begins with only the aforementioned strings. Geechi and Sonny go through the modified chorus once, backed solely by the string sample. Just as the chorus finishes, the beat kicks in with that thick bassline and the strings drop out. The strings are integrated into the beat for each chorus and appear again in the outro.

I like them both equally, but it’s amazing how much of a difference the strings make in the remix. Ski deserves more credit for skills behind the boards.

The original “Black Nostaljack” 12” featured a remix produced by Kid Capri on the b-side, that beatjacks Run-D.M.C.’s “Beats To The Rhyme”. The remix features new verses from Camp Lo, Reverend Run and Kid Capri. It might considered a bit of a stretch to call it a remix; the only thing that remains from the original is the chorus, which is shouted by Rev. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Capri remix without him adlibbing over it.

The Lo actually sound pretty good over the Bob James’ sample. “Nautilus” never gets old, does it? You can listen to it on YouTube for comparison’s sake.

Listen to all the versions and let me know which is your favourite in the comments.

Black Nostaljack (AKA Come On)

Black Nostaljack (Xenobia Mix)

Black Nostaljack (Kid Capri Mix Tape Remix ft.Kid Capri & Rev Run)

BONUS BEATS: I would be remiss to not mention Dan Love’s excellent 2-part interview with Camp Lo producer Ski. Read the first part of the interview here at From Da Bricks, where Ski talks about making Camp Lo’s first album, among other things.

Props to Twelve Inchers for the hookup on the Xenobia remix, along with the image at the top.

WOW. Via a Pitchfork Media interview with Rivers:

Pitchfork: Can you elaborate on what a more experimental Weezer record might sound like?
RC: Longer songs, non-traditional song forms, different people writing and singing, instrument switching, TR-808s, synths, Southern rap, and baroque counterpoint– for starters.

When asked for clarification on the rapping part:

Pitchfork: Oh, and who’s doing the rapping?

RC: Moi.

Now, I love both the Blue Album & Pinkerton very dearly. But that sounds like a fucking awful idea. Is he taking a page from Cosby’s book? What would “Buddy Holly” sound like with 808s?

(amusing picture at top from Cuomo’s graduation, via Merry Swankster)

Via Idolator via NY Daily News

“It’s a special day. It’s a day to understand the person who means the most to you.”

So how to celebrate?

“I’m the type of dude who may be in a helicopter over the city having sex.”

Love that the title of this article is “What beautiful single celebrities do on Valentine’s Day.”

Don’t forget to check out Know The Ledge‘s Valentine’s roundup, too.

Let me introduce one of the top 5 daddies in hip hop, Trick Daddy.

This is so fucking funny. Damnit Mayer, you’re making it hard for me to hate you right now.

A Plus says the long-promised new Souls of Mischief record is finished, and talks a bit more about his album with Del. Watch the video for the whole scoop. Not a word mentioned about Prince Paul’s involvement in the album though- fingers crossed that was more than a rumour.

Move Pt. 2

For all y’all loyal ML readers, sorry I couldn’t come through with a Remix Tuesdays this week. Instead, I offer you this 2005-era gem, a fierce posse cut featuring Oh No, Roc C & J Dilla, produced by Dilla himself. Oddly enough, the music video for subtracts Jay Dee’s verse but he still figures prominently, lip syncing to the pair’s verses and nodding. This is was filmed after Jay was diagnosed with his illness but he seems to be in good spirit. Check out Ma Dukes rocking gently to the beat too!

A very underrated Dilla donut, with a brilliant sample. As with all departed hip hop legends, we learn to appreciate these little moments after they’re gone.

The J Dilla Beat Drop is on its way and will be posted soon.

In the meantime, go read Hip Hop DX’s excellent Dilla tribute in two parts, featuring interviews with brother Illa J, Jay’s mom, Maureen Yancey (aka “Ma Dukes”), Talib Kweli, Phat Kat, Busta Bus & more. The interview with Ma Dukes is absolutely heartbreaking but well-worth your time.

The most eyebrow-raising quote: “I’m the Ali of today. I’m the Marvin Gaye of today. I’m the Bob Marley of today. I’m the Martin Luther King, or all the other greats that have come before us. And a lot of people are starting to realize that now.”

source

Did he forget Malcom X? I respect R. Kelly as an artist and all that but someone should take a copy of the magazine that ran the quote. Then proceed to smack him with it to bring him to his senses.