This one is all about the hiphop - which I loved from the Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight onwards - 'I got more clothes than Muhammed Ali, and I dress so viciously', lost track of when it seemed to appeal only to teenage boys, what with Public Enemy's Uzis and combat gear and humour-free shouting from Chuck D, picked up again with the wit and daring of De La Soul, and though I don't really know what's going on with it these days, just occasionally someone will appeal, like Missy Elliot maybe, to remind me the genre is still alive and kicking.
PS: There's a little bit of talking on this one.
track listing
Boomin' Back Atcha - Phoebe 1 and Freq Nasty
Sci-fi hip-hop! Phoebe 1 is great, and it gives me a warm glow when I hear a woman rapping just as well as the men.
How Hard Is It? The Fugees - I think I've written before about how their first record was phenomenal, but for some reason it was the weak second album that went on to succeed.
This name-checks John Coltrane, and deservedly so.
Humpty Dance - Digital Underground
Digital Underground were hilarious, and this one has a monster bass-line. Humpty Hump speaks up for big-nosed ugly guys everywhere "People say Humpty, you're really funny-looking..." and also for the joys of "getting busy in a Burger King bathroom."
Fallin' - De La Soul & Teenage Fanclub
This came from a film soundtrack. Apparently Judgement Night was a rubbish film but someone had the good idea of uniting hiphop and indie bands of the day. This is unusually wry and self-deprecating from the hiphop fraternity.
Can't Do Nuttin' For Ya Man - Public Enemy
Despite his image as a fool, Flavor Flav is a classically trained pianist and multi-instrumentalist, and this is undeniably great. I love the way he insults his hapless friend at the end "You're on welfare. You got a rip in your couch. Your mamma's got no nipples..."
Fugees - Vocab
Featuring a fabulous acoustic guitar loop which will put you in a trance
George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People - The Legendary K.O.
Remix of Kanye West's Gold Digger, this has got to be the best political tune ever made. So articulate and angry.
Cock the Hammer - Cypress Hill
Don't usually have much time for gangsta rap but Cypress Hill really knew how to build an atmosphere of paranoia. (I think this samples Black Sabbath.) Also like the way they updated the old call-and-response of the blues.
Stand Together - Beastie Boys
A return to sweetness and light with the Beasties. There really should be more chicken impressions on hip-hop tracks.
Get Ur Freak On - Missy Elliot
It sounds like she says "Venga!" at the beginning, which is (kind of) the Spanish for 'Come on!' Can anyone confirm? First heard at a friend's wedding. The band had just finished and jumped off the stage to dance with us on the dance-floor. It is irresistible.
hiphoppodcast
17 comments:
Will listen on my return. Does have digital underground there so good work, also I like that De Le Soul / Teenage Fanclub track a lot.
Wow, Billy, I'm honoured you dropped in whilst in Oz :-)
I do most of my blog reading at work, in an open plan office, which is why I don't listen to podcasts in general. I imagine this is true for many readers - some work PCs are rigged so there is no sound.
Same goes for vidcasts.
Yeah, my work pc has no sound. I'll download this tonight as I'm partial to a bit of ip-op!
Hiphop not usually my thing but I do like Get ur Freak On so I am downloading as we speak. I like talking so that's good too.
do you talk on it? or do you rap?
I know Anxious, only joshing. (I can't read blogs at all at work, and it pains me deeply.)
Rad - Hip Op - rap for the over seventies.
Realdoc, I knew you wouldn't let me down.
The Curve - I rap - it's my finest impression of Salt n'Pepa, in preparation for when Em and I storm HipHop Karaoke with 'Push It'.
Not a hip hop fan, but kudos to you for putting all that together :)
I love your podcasts. Keep em for posterity n all. Great to hear your take on the hip hop, we don't stop.
I always thought Missy said "Headbanger", but your interpretation is far more fun. So let's go with that.
Thanks Viking. Go on, give it a try...
Thanks Del, I value your opinion highly...
Sorry Annie, I've got all your podcasts/mixtapes in my iTunes, but really really REALLY busy at the moment so haven't had a chance to listen to them apart from the first one. When I have a minute, I'm going to record my next one, and after that, I'll listen to yours, k?
It's not that I'm indifferent to the podcasts, but I tend to read the blog on the sly at work then forget to look again at home so I can go through the multimedia stuff.
Although saying that, I seem to be having a lot of trouble becoming a listener: it's alternating between MySQL 'too many connections' errors and authentication errors (!). It doesn't want me to hear :-(
This might just tempt me, not a huge podcast fan (I don't listen to the radio much either, can't concentrate if someone is talking at me!).
Nice Beasties track.
Ah, thanks guys. I wasn't meaning to sound quite so pathetic but appreciate the reassurance!
Annie, the one podcast I downloaded won't play on my iPod for some reason. It's only a Shuffle (handed down from my daughter) so perhaps that's why...?
Personally I never listen to music while at my computer because I'm almost always writing/working and it interrupts my concentration. But I applaud your efforts!
Alda, bah! I have no techie knowledge, but that is puzzling, as it should be in mp3 format and (I guess) this should be okay on an iPod shuffle. Thank you for your applause - my computer IS my stereo at the moment, so I'm used to listening to music on it...
Maybe I need to re-install it... :-/
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