Holding it down for angry loners & the unemployable
Eighteen stellar moments from Godfather Donnie Brasco, who demonstrated fairly distinct styles throughout his numerous creative periods. From his ‘fast rapping’ techniques from the Hazardous LP to his experimental demo period through to his ‘singles’ phase at Hydra Entertainment (which I consider to be his peak), he then began to channel a slightly ‘jiggy’ street…
‘Yo, Pooh, man, what you build in there, man?’ ‘Ah, one of those hypso-change-o-calypso-beat-a-matics.’ Download: A Salute To DJ Pooh Productions
Sir Jinx came a long way since his role in a second-rate Beastie Boys karaoke group. Here are sixteen of his finest moments behind the boards. Download: A Salute To Sir Jinx Productions [re-upped]
The Strong Island legend still puts it down to this day. Here are my sixteen favourite I Dot U Dot songs as of today. Download: A Salute To Grand Daddy I.U. [re-upped]
Finishing up Just-Ice Week with fifteen choice cuts from the man who can ‘bench press anything.’ Download: A Salute To Just-Ice
Big shout to Irish Craig for lacing me with these and saving me buying a tape I can’t even play until I figure out where I left my Sony Megabass Walkman. Interesting to note that they brought back the Force MD’s a few years before Ghostface did it as well.
The only tradition more ingrained into hip-hop than Brag Rap is, of course, Songs About Chicks Rap. These ditties take on many forms, from cautionary tales about the local skeezer, tributes to the one’s who got away or just a general celebration of a particularly enthusiastic groupie. Please note: both ‘Bonita Applebum’ and ‘Roxanne, Roxanne’…
Following the huge response to the question ‘What is the greatest story rap ever?’ it’s become clear that there was no way that one compilation could do the genre justice, so for starters here are some lesser known but still (largely) recognized tales about sumptuous stunts, trips to the bing and tearing the heads off…
Another sure-shot treat from Troy L’s tape collection, demonstrating how advanced DJ Whiz Kid’s turntable techniques were in 1981. Part 2:
With the surprise passing of David Bowie aka The OG Rappin’ Duke, I thought I’d assemble some notable rap tracks that drank from his expansive musical well. Disappointingly, it seems that only ‘Fame’ and ‘Let’s Dance’ got any sample love outside of the infamous riff from ‘Under Pressure’ with Queen, which means that this is…
Here’s a soundtrack to yesterday’s interview, presented in approximately chronological order. Download: A Salute To Pumpkin
Little is known about the legendary drummer/producer behind classic rap jams from Enjoy, Profile and Tuff City, so when his nephew Koolie Kookoo hit me up this past December I jumped at the chance to find out more about the great man. Here are some of Koolie’s favourite memories and anecdotes of his uncle. Robbie:…