Ronan was kind enough to invite me back to the show this week to celebrate the works of O.C. for two hours. Apparently the Jewelz album was released this week back in 1997, which is a happy coincidence I guess? Stream: Hippopotamus Rex (106.7 PBS-FM) – 18 August 2025: A Salute to O.C. Download: Hippopotamus…
Demo versions you can’t afford to igNORE
Take 6’s silky smooth harmonies set off the opening scene in Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing as ‘Don’t Shoot Me’ played behind Señor Love Daddy’s morning wake-up routine1, but thanks to the work of The 45 King, they also become part of an essential hip-hop breakbeat. ‘Spread Love’ was a popular a cappella single…
Monkee business
Eric B.Is Never Scared…to take your music
Taken from an episode of Kool DJ Red Alert’s KISS-FM show from 1988. Not sure if this is a radio blend with a 45 King instrumental or something he cooked-up for Red exclusively – either way, it’s a good time. Is this a lost 45 King remix or am I bugging? It sounds like one…
Cheers to Ronan for inviting me to play some music on his long-running rap radio show 1, Hippopotamus Rex, this past Monday. Just for kicks, I burnt some of my home-made remixes onto a CD and grabbed some white label records to play. We also talked about stout! Download: Hippopotamus Rex, Monday 14th July 2025…
Sir Vicious was not Chillin’
The origins of the first white label hip-hop remix can be traced back to a long forgotten film titled Running Scared, which starred Gregory Hines (who, amongst his credits as a top-shelf tap dancer and actor, dropped a solo album in 1986 with assists from Luther Vandross) and Billy Crystal (his first co-starring role in…
In both a good and a bad way
Salutes to Richie1250 for spreading the good word of the Conservative Rap Coalition and playing some of my CRC remixes on his long-running PBS-FM radio show last Friday, you can catch the audio here: A handful of copies of the first Summer of Stout 7″ are still available from Big Cartel and Bandcamp.
“You’re three feet and sinking/The tribes are lost and everyone’s breath stinkin’” – Kool Keith on Ultramagnetic MCs ‘Pluckin’ Cards’, 1992. As pointed out in Angus Batey’s revisit of Funk Your Head Up in 2012, Keith continued the Ultramag party line – first witnessed on Tim Dog’s ‘I Ain’t Takin’ No Shorts’ – that the…