Benz and a Backpack

Call them Kleptomaniacs or Robin Hoods, the Lo-Lifes influence on the hip-hop and rap game has been well-documented– they defined New York City streetwear in the 90′s, an era from which a lot of contemporary streetwear is derived in some form or another. The vestiges of the Lo-Lives movement can still be found, whether it’s in the form of a blogging Lo-representative or one of today’s most popular streetwear brands recreating an entire collection based on a Lo collection.

Skilligan’s Island (Landscape, 2002) was probably Thirstin Howl The 3rd’s (get it?) most famous record. Thirstin was a founding member of the Lo-Lifes, along with Rack-Lo and a couple others with whom I’m not familiar. Skilligan’s Island is marked by appearances from Lifestylers as well as a key guest spot from Eminem on “Watch Deez,” a sinister cut that contrasts two technically opposed but similarly warped emcees. Clutch and I have only ever met Rack-Lo, who came to Providence dipped out along with Sean P and Sadat X for a concert two winters ago. Major shouts due to Pistol Pone and Jap for making that happen! Hit the skip for the the Lo-Life documentary trailer, plus a few other Lo-related goodies.

Thirstin Howl III ft. Eminem – Watch Deez by BenzAndABackpack5
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New York’s Finest. On “Mo Money, Mo Murder” AZ and Nas benefit from DR Period, one of the most talented and prolific producers in hip-hop history. DR flipped The O’Jays’ song “Cry No More” for the beat, but his sample selection is very diverse. For Public Enemy’s “He Got Game,” DR turned to the classic Buffalo Springfield song “For What It’s Worth.” The Divine Ruler’s variety spawned work with everyone from P.E. to M.O.P., Queen Latifah to Cormega, as well as soundtracks for several feature films. In other words, DR’s resume is crazy. Hit the skip for more on DR, and keep a look out for AZ’s DOD2 due out this year!

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While critics across the board have been celebrating the groundbreaking nature of Kanye’s new album, as an old-school fiend I’m a bit more interested in illustrating the ways Kanye has managed to sneak in some long-standing traditions through sampling.  But it’s not just his use of blues and soul samples that intrigue me— let’s explore where these recurring samples have showed up in hip-hop in the past.

Backyard Heavies “Expo ’83” [1971]

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Sampled in Kanye’s “Runaway”, but previously sampled in Pete Rock & CL Smooth’s “The Basement” off Mecca and the Soul Brother, their 1992 debut album…  SO CLASSIC.

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Cold Grits “It’s Your Thing” [1969]

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“Power” is Kanye’s second release that samples “It’s Your Thing”— the first use was “Crack Music” with The Game off 2005′s Late Registration.
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The Original Flavor Unit, formed in the 1980s, was a NYC/NJ-based crew of MCs and DJs that quickly became legends in the hip-hop game under the rule of Queen Latifah. Originally, the group was centered around DJ Mark the 45 King– the man who quickly caught recognition for his ability to make next level beats by pulling the most obscure 45 RPM records from the crates. Some kind of genius, the 45 King created some of the dopest breakbeats of the late 1980s, particularly immortalizing himself as the producer behind the heavily-sampled “The 900 Number” (a track Kool Herc used for the classic party jam “Let Me Clear My Throat”). Read the rest of this entry →

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So I have this theory…:
3rd Bass

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When taking a comprehensive look at hip-hop of the early 90′s, it’s difficult to ignore the far reaching influence of groups like Das-EFX, whose ragga-influenced flow and stream of consciousness delivery came to dominate the genre for a couple of years.  Their nearly incomprehensible lyrical style, which included excessive use of suffixes like “iggity”, tapped into the characteristically light-hearted nature of pre-1994 hip-hop.  Although the lyrics didn’t always make sense, people were too busy enjoying the fast-paced rhythms and their fresh styles to mind.  In 1992 and 1993, more artists began appropriating Das-EFX’s style, often adapting similar elements into their own joints.  Eventually, in 1996, Blackstreet released “No Diggity” in homage to the bizarre rapping style that Das-EFX referred to as “sewage”, creating an awareness of the style within the mainstream (and, ultimately, prompting several Chappelle’s Show skits).

Jay-Z: I Can’t Get Wit That (1994)

Jay-Z’s infamously calm and reserved demeanor served as a stark contrast to the livelier group street shots even in some of his earliest solo videos. My favorite verse in the Das-EFX vein appears around 2:16.

Das-EFX: They Want EFX

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Fu Schnickens feat. Phife Dawg: La Schmoove

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Lords of the Underground: Funky Child

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Keith Elam (a.k.a. Baldhead Slick, b.k.a. Guru), 1966-2010. R.I.P.

“Your head’ll bop when I drop my crop / of pure bomb, just like the seashore I’m calm / But wild, with my monotone style / Because I don’t need gimmicks / Gimme a fly beat and I’m all in it”

(“Mass Appeal”, 1994)

Gang Starr ft. Nice & Smooth- DWYCK

Off Hard to Earn (1994).

Guru feat. Bahamadia:  Respect the Architect (Remix)

From Buckwild’s compilation of rare and remixed hip-hop tracks, Diggin in the Crates.

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DJ Cam feat. Guru: Espionage (DJ Cam Street Remix)

This joint is off the French DJ’s Liquid Hip Hop.  Guru played a small role in DJ Cam’s return to his hip-hop roots (while maintaining a well-balanced jazz/hip-hop fusion characteristic of both DJ Cam & Guru) around the time of this album’s release (2004).

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Guru: Trust Me

Off Jazzmatazz, Vol. 1, the first of a series of “jazz rap” albums Guru released that combined a live jazz band alongside rapping and hip-hop production.

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Guru feat. Erykah Badu: Plenty

Off Guru’s Jazzmatazz, Vol. 3: Streetsoul. Two of my favorite voices united on one track!

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The last thing I want to do right now is start one more apocalyptic diatribe on how pop-culture and mainstream rap music have ruined the face of hip-hop as we know it.  The overlapping space where cannabis culture and the culture surrounding hip-hop music have morphed into one embarrassing cliché (see video) is best left ignored.  So, no, I’m not going to start denouncing appropriations or portrayals of hip-hop (counter)culture in movies and other media, nor will I begin describing how this helped give hip-hop a bad rap/ruined weed/ruined hip-hop/ruined it for all of us… or something.  The fact of the matter is: any effort to intellectualize what is ultimately a collection of hip-hop songs about smoking weed would be futile.

This video is both terrible and amazing.

Cypress Hill: Stoned Is the Way of the Walk (1991)

In 1993, Chuck Phillips reported the success of Cypress Hill’s second full-length album, “Black Sunday”, which had just surpassed U2 and Barbra Streisand for a spot as No. 1 album, in the L.A. Times article, “Rolling Up the Charts Cypress Hill Parlays Pot to Album, Merchandise Success”.  The author notes “Cypress Hill’s stoner image certainly hasn’t hurt the group any. The pro-pot rhetoric has transformed the self-proclaimed former gun-toting gangbangers into a multimillion-buck merchandising machine–appealing primarily to a new wave of weed-toking white suburbanites”.   Whuteva!  Almost 20 years since their debut, we know that Cypress Hill’s music has influenced a much broader range of people than that.  I mean, who DIDN’T pay homage to the group in the mid- to late 90’s? And who’s not digging this in 2010?

Smif-N-Wessun: Shinin… Next Shit (1995)

Smif-N-Wessun’s 1995 joint, “Shinin… Next Shit” plays homage to Cypress Hill, recapitulating the notion that “stoned is the way of the walk”.

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Tone Loc: Cheeba Cheeba (1989)

I’ve heard several arguments that Cypress Hill was the group that really made the glorification of weed smoking one of the most prominent motifs in hip-hop music.  But check out this Tone Loc track from 1989.  The man goes in on this track.  Sure, the entire song is about weed, but in terms of content, his anecdotes are far more complex than most rhymes recently released revolving entirely around reefer… Right?

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You know there’s more…
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I’ve mentioned Native Tongues Posse and I’ve definitely discussed ATCQ’s ability to put me on a natural high, but I have yet to dedicate a Thursday to the man who is arguably one of these groups’ most illustrious members.

“If you can’t hear it, then get the wax utensils”

Jonathan Davis aka Kamaal Ibn John Fareed aka The Abstract claims he got the name Q-tip during his youth because he was skinny and had bad hair. He made his first on-record appearance on The Jungle Brother’s first LP, ‘Straight Out The Jungle’, in 1988. Super talented as a rapper, producer, singer, actor… (His role in Spike Lee’s “She Hate Me” just made him that much more appealing in real life… Just completely sweet and naive and adorable… Def makes you say “aww”.) Always good-natured, positive, light-hearted, and virtuous, but never self-righteous. I’m totally swooning now, but he’s just fuckin’ dreamy. And for real, who doesn’t love him? This man is a 10. Why can’t more boys be more like Q-Tip?

This Thursday’s throwbacks are a selection of some of my favorite Q-Tip appearances on non-Native Tongues tracks.

The Roots feat. Q-Tip: Ital (The Universal Side) (1996)

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Organized Konfusion feat. Q-Tip & O.C.: Let’s Organize (1994)

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Slum Village feat. Q-Tip: Hold Tight (2000)
“It’s The Ummah shit for real”…

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Pete Rock & InI feat. Q-Tip & Large Professor: To Each His Own (1995)

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Mad Skillz feat. Q-Tip & Large Professor: Extra Abstract Skillz (1996)

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While many of the tracks I chose for the Spring Fever editions are well-known classics, I’m thinking maybe it’s largely the fact that so many of us know and love them that make the joints that much more perfect when the weather is oh so fine.

Essential.

Pete Rock & CL Smooth: Tell Me

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De La Soul: Eye Know
This song…. is perfect on so many levels.

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AMG: Jiggable Pie

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Digable Planets: Where I’m From

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You know how hard you’re trying to make sure that North Face stays at the back of your closet.
It’s finally spring and it feels like people have finally started coming out of hibernation… Everyone’s on the streets chillin, people seem to be way friendlier, and we’re all smiling!
And… uh.. Apparently, “Spring Fever” is starting to come around to get the best of us…
Everything is just lovely.
This week’s joints all are liable to cause euphoria. There is nothing that can compete with listening to Tribe outdoors on a beautiful day, either in the park or on the parkway, with your crew… (maybe sparking something up? Just saaayin…)

Enjoy!

Apache: Gangsta Bitch

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Jurassic 5: Action Satisfaction

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Brand Nubian: Love Me or Leave Me Alone

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The Beatnuts: Rik’s Joint

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De La Soul: Breakadawn

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This past Tuesday marked 13 years since the last breath of the man we have come to celebrate as one of the hip-hop’s greatest of all times. I don’t think I’ve ever not heard a person mention his name when prompted for their “top 5, dead or alive”. And if they didn’t choose to drop his name, chances are they are giant. fucking. liars. Or seriously deranged. Seriously.

There has never been a hip-hop artist who appealed to more people across the boards, whether hip-hop heads or haters, as The Late Great. We all know certain individuals who absolutely loathe the genre, yet somehow have come to possess the knowledge of multiple verses off of Ready to Die. And then, there’s all of the post-hardcore bands that have covered his songs, despite the fact that post-hardcore and hip-hop don’t usually play nice together. In the recent years of contemporary hip-hop, there has been an influx of mixtapes over his joints and songs that pay hommage to his legacy by dropping his lyrics (sometimes, but not always, flipped). But given what day of the week it is, let’s take a look at throwbacks by artists who have further immortalized Mr. Christopher George Latore Wallace through sampling. And there’s a surprise gem or two after the jump, so you’re welcome in advance!

Miilkbone: Where’z Da’ Party At? (1995)
Samples from “Party and Bullshit” start around 0:50.

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Originoo Gunn Clappaz feat. M.S., The Representativz & Bad Vybes: Elite Fleet (1996)
Samples from “Flava in Ya Ear” start around 0:30.

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Lil’ Shawn: Dom Perignon (1995)
Samples from “Party and Bullshit” start around 0:50.

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SWV feat. Puff Daddy: Someone (1997)
Samples from “Ten Crack Commandments” start around 0:05.

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Lil’ Kim feat. Puff Daddy: No Time (1996)
Samples from “Gettin’ Money (Remix)” start around 0:30.
Kim also drops the line “How preposterous is that?” around 2:20. Reference to “The Wickedest” freestyle?

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Cam’ron: Sports, Drugs and Entertainment (2000)
Samples from “Things Done Changed” start around 1:15.

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