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Whoa, has it been six weeks since our last installment? Since our last check in, I managed to get through all of my alphabetized collection and now have about 500 or so unfiled promos from the early ’00s to go through before this phase of the purge is complete. In the time since, I also put aside about 20 singles for the series and since I had that much music, I whipped together a pithy mini-mix:
Great Rap Purge Part 7 Mini-Mix
Rubbabandz: Purple Rain (Messenger, 1995)
Shyheim: One’s 4 Da Money (Mad Dollaz Remix) (Virgin, 1994)
Red Hot Lover Tone: #1 Player (Select, 1994)
Smooth Ice: Smooth But Def (JDK, 1990)
Mr. No No (Saafir): In a Vest (Hobo, 1997)
Slum Brothers: Stop Fronting (Michu, 1996)
Sauce Money: Against the Grain (Roc-A-Fella, 1997)
Outfit: Why I Don’t Know (Oblique, 1997)
Sanuhtayshun Duhpartment Muzik: Never Ending (Sanuhtayshun, 1999)
A few thoughts: “Purple Rain” is one of better post-Beatminerz style productions to have come out of NY in that era. This one should have been bigger than it probably was, maybe because the Rubbabandz weren’t the top-billed song. Still feeling it after all these years. RNS, purportedly one of RZA’s mentors, hooks up the remix for Shaolin’s kid rapper, Shyheim. Always wondered if he got put on partially because Mobb Deep’s deal at 4th and Broadway.
Red Hot Lover Tone is one of those rap names that couldn’t have survived too far into the ’90s (which is probably why he switched his name to Tone once he hung up the mic and devoted himself to production as half of the Trackmasterz) but he wasn’t shy about making his steez obvious. And for the time, you could easily get away with positioning yourself as a #1 player, especially when your production skills are at least (if not better) than your rhymes. On that tip, I mostly included this Smooth Ice track because it’s an interesting precursor to Black Moon and Da Beatminerz flipping the same Barry White loop four years later. These kinds of re-visitings happened all the time in that era but ultimately, as we can see with Smooth Ice and Black Moon, it’s not necessarily the “first to market” who scores the most memorable usage.
I’m still not sure why Saafir released “In a Vest” under Mr. No No but I’m assuming it was some contractual situation with Qwest. Regardless, one of my favorite Hobo-related tracks from that era, especially with that hook: “if you aim for my head/and you miss/then you dead.” Ill.
Slum Brothers roll with their own brand of shit-talking on “Stop Fronting,” a follow-up to a personal fave, “Sure Shot.” Very similar tracks in terms of the sparse production but “Stop Fronting” is funnier (perhaps unintentionally) with a series of braggadoccio rhymes (many aimed westward) that don’t always work but are always entertaining: “so if you want to battle with that g-funk sound/best to act like hokey-pokey and turn that black ass around,” “n—-as can’t see me like Stevie Wonder with cataracts,” “you better jet so like that dog named Astro/your style is fucked up like Patrick Ewing’s afro.” Comedy for dayz.
Sauce Money was probably one of the first (besides Bleek?) to get signed to Roc-A-Fella once Jay-Z blew up but his career with the label didn’t last long. Pity – I always liked his style…reminded me of some cross between AZ and Phife and when you have DJ Premier flipping some Watts 103rd, hard to go wrong. I still don’t know jack about The Outfit except that, presumably, they were out of Newark, Delaware (or at least, their label was). I’ll be honest – I was on the fence with this EP and almost purged it but then realized I owned doubles and liked “Why I Don’t Know” enough to keep one and sell off the other. This is one of those music-over-rhymes cases (you’ll notice this is a huge trend in my purge decisions).
Lastly, we come to the most awkwardly spelled group in this batch, the Bay Area’s Sanuhtayshun Duhpartment Muzik. Maybe it’s because no one could frickin’ spell their names. Maybe it’s because their EP was hyper-regional. Maybe it’s because the rapper on this song sounded a lot like Del. Maybe it’s because they were named after garbagemen. Whatever the reason, this EP has flown way under the radar (at least outside the Bay) but for me, it really hits a particular moment in Bay Area hip-hop that I’m still fond of.
Part 8 will have another 9-10 songs (don’t know about a mini-mix though).
It’s probably self-evident that people connect to songs on a personal basis (duh) but nowhere else are the stakes higher than choosing songs for a wedding. I don’t presume this is the case for every couple but for me, I know I’d probably agonize over what songs to choose for the processional, recessional, first dance, last dance, etc.
As such, I’m always curious to see what couples go with and very often, I learn something new along the way. For example, for DJ Phatrick’s wedding last summer, their processional was the “Suite for Ma Dukes” version of “Fall In Love” which was perfect on so many levels.
For the wedding I just DJed this past weekend, their processional was this:
The Decemberists: Red Right Ankle
From Her Majesty (Kill Rock Stars, 2003)
Love, love, love this pick. Wistful, with just a touch of melancholy; beautiful-sad but not quite as “let me weep into my hanky” sad as “In My Life.” And honestly, I’m a total sucker for folksy rock like this; that may not be obvious given what I typically write about but there’s something achingly affecting about a distinctive voice, crooning over a simple acoustic guitar, regardless of genre. To wit:
Neil Young: Harvest Moon
From Harvest Moon (Reprise, 1992)
This was the first dance song and again, another perfect call, especially with the subtle elements of steel guitar and the back-up singers adding such quiet depth to the song.
I also DJed a wedding up in the S.F. the weekend before and their first song: Bettye Swann’s “Make Me Yours.” Classic.
10/24 Update: I was listening to “Harvest Moon” and “Red Right Ankle” back to back and one thing that struck me is that while the two have much in common musically and even emotionally, they’re aimed at two different age demographics. “Red Right Ankle” screams “young love,” the kind of anthem that you’d expect being written by someone in their late ’20s, full of dreaminess (imagined “gypsy uncles” with spots in the Pyrenees for example), and a weighty kind of idealized romantic pathos that could only come from youth (talking about “all the boys that loved you.” No one over the age of 35 would 1) use “boys” and 2) more importantly, would really even care about the past lovers someone had).
In contrast, “Harvest Moon” is some old/grown-man shit in its wistfulness. This isn’t young love being expressed – it’s metaphorically autumnal in its maturity given the whole “Harvest Moon” angle. It’s not a song you play outside someone’s window, Dobler-style. It’s an ode to someone you’ve already been waking up next to for most your adult life.
Tyrone Davis: Knock On Wood
Can’t Keep a Good Man Down
Can I Change My Mind
From Can I Change My Mind? (Dakar, 1969)
Late pass. Yeah, I know, I should have posted about this album years ago, especially since its title track is a favorite. But truth be told…I never owned the album; just had the 7″.
And no doubt, the title track is delicious but the LP is no one-tracker. For starters, the version of “Knock On Wood” is a rather radical departure from Eddie Floyd’s original Instead of an uptempo monster, Davis completely transforms it into a deep soul ballad that is barely recognizable compared to its source material. Pretty damn killer.
And on the same tip, “Can’t Keep a Good Man Down” is just as good. The arrangement here is a thing of beauty; I don’t think I properly appreciated it until I threw on some headphones for it but the bassist started killing me softly and the way Davis emotes on the hook had me all clutch-face.
And then there’s the title cut. If you don’t already think this is awesome, I can’t do nothing more for you.
Page Turner is an Asian American literary festival going down on October 29th and besides celebrating the 20th anniversary of NY’s Asian American Writer’s Workshop, it also benefits up-and-coming authors who have made use of the Workshop’s resources for years.
Because I support the Workshop and I’m good friends with folks connected to it, I’m participating in their Kickstarter campaign by donating a custom pack of my mixes.
This will include:
1) My limited edition Aretha Franklin mix I did a few years ago.
2) A resurrected mixtape from my hip-hop days, never on CD before. (Still deciding which one).
3) And there will be a third mix in there – possibly the Asian diaspora soul/funk mix I had shelved. Seems apropos here, no?
In any case, for $75, you get all three and will support a great cause. I’m only going to make five of these so don’t sleep!
As promised, here’s part two of our interview with Thes One (recorded in August). If you haven’t peeped part one yet, please do!
And don’t forget that the new PUTS album, Highlighter is now out.
The Sidebar #20: Thes One, Part Deux
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Music used in this episode:
Aaron and I have corresponded through the years – we’re mutual fans of one another’s musical interests – and he was in Los Angeles in late August to screen the (hopefully) forthcoming documentary on Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace, her best-selling 1972 gospel album. It’s a topic very close to Aaron’s heart, especially as the author of the new 33.3 book, Amazing Grace, which examines the album through exhaustive historical research and interviews.
Aaron and I chatted in my kitchen about the album, his book and the documentary (plus a bonus podcast of a few of his favorite gospel songs).
The Sidebar #19: Aaron Cohen
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Music used in this episode (all songs from Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace unless *otherwise indicated):
- Amazing Grace
- *Aretha Franklin: Precious Lord (Take My Hand)
- Mary, Don’t You Weep
- Give Yourself to Jesus
- How I Got Over
- Climbing Higher Mountains
- Old Landmark
- Remarks by C.L. Franklin
- *The Gay Sisters: God Will Take Care of You
- God Will Take Care of You
- What a Friend We Have In Jesus
- Precious Memories
- Wholy Holy
Bonus beats: Aaron Cohen on a few gospel favorites
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Music in the bonus round:
Don’t forget to check out Aaron’s book!
My parents were PC folks (still are) so I spent most of the 1980s, staring at a profoundly ugly, tan IBM computer and jealous of my cousin who had an Apple IIe. When I went off to college in 1990 though, I broke out and got my first Mac, one of the compact series with its 20MB of hard drive memory
In the time since, I’ve owned somewhere around…8 other Macs, to say nothing of iPhones and iPads. And in thinking about how the creations of Jobs and Woz have intersected with my life, I realized that since 1990, an Apple product has been behind:
- every piece of journalism andscholarship I’ve written as an adult.
- every email, IM or text I’ve ever exchanged in correspondence with friends and peers.
- (almost) every love letter I’ve written.
- every song I’ve ever digitized.
- every blog post I’ve written.
- almost everything that documents the birth and life of my daughter.
Basically, most of the content of my adult life has been created and/or stored on an Apple device. That’s kind of crazy.
All I know is that my creative, professional and personal life has been deeply intertwined with craft and vision that Jobs played a heavy hand in. I doubt I’ll ever say that about any other entrepreneur for the remainder of my days. I mourn the passing of a man (too young at 56), celebrate the epoch he helped bring about and I thank him for helping make what I do possible.
This morning, Will Holland, aka Quantic, dropped by the studio and I couldn’t be more pleased since I’ve been a massive fan of his work for years and though we’ve corresponded via interweb and have some mutual friends, this is the first time I’ve met him in person.
Quantic has had a remarkably prolific and diverse career over the last decade, all now captured in the new 32-song double-CD anthology, Best of Quantic. With that in mind, I asked Will about his history as a producer, beginning in his early years, recording sample-based beats for TV licensing, up through the formation of the Quantic Soul Orchestra, with his collaborations with Alice Russell and Spanky Wilson, and into his major shift into Afro-Latin styles of the last five years.
The Sidebar #18: Quantic
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Music in this episode:
All from Best of Quantic unless *otherwise indicated
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- Time is the Enemy
- Absence Heard, Presence Felt
- Transatlantic
- *Fresh Rhythm
- Super 8
- Pushin On
- I’m Thankful
- Enough Said
- *Los Melodicos: La Murga
- Mi Swing Es Tropical
- *Ray Santos: La Costa Brava
- Cumbia Clash
- Step Into a World
- *Cumbia De Dilla
- Death of the Revolution
Update: Just saw that J-Rocc has an official “best of Quantic” mix.
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