One thing about 50 Cent - he was one of the pioneers of the mixtape thing. Every month or so he'd put out another mixtape with freestyles on old beats, new songs, skits, whatever. Some of them were better than any of his albums. But it was a clever promotional tool that came at just the right time, when labels were starting to crumble, MP3s were taking off, rap music didn't have the live touring opportunities. Then the market got flooded and 50 Cent burned himself out around 2005.
Thanks to waxpoetics and their emails for this reminder: A Tribe Called Quest "Check The Rhime" (Live On Late Night With David Letterman-1993) (Love Dave's introduction with the CD longbox and the band's live horns on the Average White Band "Love Your Life" sample)
Aside from a Star Wars and Norman Mailer reference there are a couple Beatles ones as well. They need something to rely on We get high on all types of drug When, all you really need is love To get by, just to get by Just to get by, just to get by Our parents sing like John Lennon Imagine all the people watch We rock like Paul McCartney From now until the last Beatle drop
Back when Doug Fresh and Slick Rick were together Looking at the crew, we thought we'd all live forever You know it's hot, don't forget what you've got Looking back Thinking back, thinking back, thinking back You know it's hot, don't forget what you've got Looking back
KEXP in Seattle is having a all day Paul's Boutique programing day with every song played from every sample on the album and interviews with the Dust Brothers. http://blog.kexp.org/kexp-steps-inside-pauls-boutique-on-friday-july-24/
I asked this in a dedicated Beastie Boys thread and don't think I got an answer so I'll try asking here: Does anyone have both the original and remastered versions of Check Your Head? CD or vinyl. If so, is there a significant or even noticeable difference in sound? The original CD sounds incredible to me and I can't imagine it sounding any better.
I continue to listen only to hip-hop/rap, almost exclusively 90s east coast. It's been about six months now. I'm obsessed to say the least. And gosh darn it - I've even started making my own beats! Here are some of the better recent acquisitions and discoveries: Cella Dwellas - Realms 'n Reality Diamond D - Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop DITC - various compilations KRS One - Return of the Boom Bap Lord Finesse - Awakening Main Source - Breaking Atoms Mobb Deep - Murda Muzik (not as good as the previous two albums, but still good) O.C. - Jewelz; O-Zone Originals Pete Rock and CL Smooth - Mecca and the Soul Brother Show and AG - Runaway Slave; Full Scale And then there's Group Home! Oh dear...Basically, anything you might have heard about this is spot on: top-notch beats, horrible rappers. You have Lil Dap who has a funny lisp but has half-decent flow, and then you have Malachi the Nutcracker (!!) who has a decent voice but can't rap to save his life. I was listening to it in cab the other week and started laughing uncontrollably, it was so bad. I hate to say it, but the horrendous rapping supersedes Primo's beats, and as such this release will get only sporadic subsequent plays from me. There are still a few obvious releases that I need to acquire (Organized Konfusion's "The Extinction Agenda"; Jeru the Damaja's "Wrath of the Math"), but it's getting increasingly difficult to find releases from this time frame and in this grity, dark, grimy style.
I have both versions on CD and don't think there is much of a difference (if any). So unless you are interested in the bonus material, keep listening to the original CD, which I too think sounds great.
Thank you very much! Pretty much what I figured. I bought the limited edition vinyl of CYH (with all the bonus tracks on wax!) from the Beastie Boys website when it was released and couldn't tell any difference so I always wondered if it was just me.
More Talib Kweli and Hi Tek for me this week. Love Language and Soul Rebels have been getting non stop plays. Classic album.
So I found this sealed OG copy of Ill Communication today. Anyone know how to tell if it's black or green vinyl without opening it? I have the 09 remaster on vinyl already, so of it's black imma look into flipping it.
Nice find! I don't know the answer about the color of the vinyl, but I have an original pressing of Ill Communication and prefer it to the reissue. I'd recommend giving it a listen.
I actually figured out the barcodes (mine is black). Thinking I might keep the OG and resell the repress.
Revisiting Step In the Arena right now. This is essential, classic hip hop. Premier and Guru are really unbeatable on this disc. I'm listening to the Chrysalis CD and unfortunately the sound ain't great. I'm enjoying this so much I'd definitely spring for an LP when I find one (have Daily Op on LP and it's also crucial). I find myself straining to even hear Guru in the mix. Not that I don't like Premier's cuts - he's a master - but you gotta hear them both in the mix. And throwing some appreciation DJ Premier's way. The guy is incredible. One of the best DJs and beat makers ever. He simply kills it on Step In The Arena. If you've never heard this, are new to hip hop or came to it late in the game, grab this. You won't be disappointed.
I posted in the Vince Staples- Summertime '06 thread w/ no luck so thought I might be more likely to get a response here. http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/vince-staples-summertime-06-incredible.447886/ To me it truely is a great hip-hop/rap album. Might be worth checking out, it's on his soundcloud page. Hopefully it's not inappropriate to post a link here: https://soundcloud.com/vince-staples-1 The album has been available for some time on cd , but it appears that the vinyl came out with in the past few days. From what I can tell it is available as two separate (gatefold single record) releases or as a double lp "deluxe" set. Has anybody taken the plunge on this one, it sure looks interesting. I'd love to hear a review or any info you could add about the vinyl release. Thanks I just checked discogs, the deluxe is described as: "Special edition buttercream vinyl pressing with gatefold sleeve and 3D lenticular cover." The albums sold as seperates are on black vinyl. The packagng looks neat in the pictures, but w/ the price of these lp's I'd really like to know more about how they sound.
I'm not familiar with a ton of Hip Hop, but I stumbled upon Jeru the Damaja - Wrath of the Math that I like a lot. Can anyone recommend something similar that I might like? I like Deltron 3030 amd Dr Octagon also. Any recommendations like these?
I've owned the original CD, the original LP, the 1998 Grand Royal reissue, and the 180-gram reissue circa 2010-ish, and I never felt that any of them sounded inferior...though I never did critical A/B comparisons. FWIW I decided to keep the CD only.
I love this track. Domo did a great job but I absolutely love Tyler's verse! Tyler > Domo > Earl on that one
OGs have the Capitol logo on the spine and the Capitol catalog number...IIRC OGs should also have a promo sticker on them...does this copy check out? I actually liked my reissue from a few years ago a lot. The vinyl was much heavier, and a couple copies I owned of the original had a skip on the first side of the first record, during the "If it's gonna be that kinda party..." skit. After two copies I gave up on the original. The skip was subtle because it happened during the sound of a crowd laughing but it was there on two different copies...anybody else have the same experience?? @johnnypaddock...mighta been my setup at the time and it just being a more difficult cut in the groove for a needle to track...?
I'm aware that Step in the Arena gets massive clout as a classic album, but growing up with later Gang Starr albums (Hard to Earn and Moment of Truth), this album will always sound dated to me. I could write an essay on the evolution of Premier's sound over the years, but to cut to the chase, though I love Daily Operation, I still think he was finding his legendary sound and production style at this time. I think the first Gang Starr album where he started really nailing it down is Hard to Earn...but around that time he was making beats in that style for so many other artists as well. The legendary Premier style is really cemented around '96-'98 IMO, though I love it all going all the way back to Daily Operation.
@JohnnyQuest You heard this yet? He goes off in a way that reminds me of "Rusty", but where he sounds uplifting on "Rusty" he sounds straight angry on here...which I love.
