I’m late on this one but shit happens. Lord Finesse is the blueprint of modern Punchline Rap, no question. This also reminded me that ‘O’ Lord’ might just be be the greatest skit with rapping ever… Lord Finesse feat. O.C. – ‘O’ Lord’
Producers – Why Are You Rapping?
Respect to the great Diamond D, but he has to shoulder some of the responsibility for the glut of Producer On The Mic artists that seem to be clogging up the game. Stunts, Blunts & Hip-Hop worked because because the beats were incredible and the lyrics were straight-forward and amusing, but it also seems to…
Searching For The Perfect Remix: By Request
Before I wind-up the Perfect Remix polls with The 45 King edition, I thought I’d give all the remixes that missed out a chance to make the final cut. Whether it was a favorite of yours that didn’t make the original eight per artist (Large Pro‘s Resurrection remixes, for example), or something from a producer…
Kanye Lost
Artwork: The Home Office RE: ‘Monster’ ‘Power’ [Remix]…
Album Review: Celph Titled & Buckwild – Nineteen Ninety Now
When this was first announced, I thought, ‘Sure, this might be decent’. I mean a new album of Buckwild beats from the 90’s sounded good on paper, but these things have a habit of failing to deliver more often than not, so I kinda forgot about the whole thing after hearing the initial leak. The…
Is Marley Marl The Most Important Producer In The History Of Hip-Hop?
Once upon a time, around 1985 at Unique recording studio in New York city, Marley Marl accidentally sampled a snare drum. It was a mistake, initially, as he’d instructed the engineer to grab a vocal snippet for the Captain Rock song he was remixing at the time. When he played the sound on the keyboard…
Searching For The Perfect Remix: Marley Marl
Engineer All-Star Marley Marl came from the era when a remix often meant turning-up the drums, dropping out the main loop occasionally and adding a horn blast and some echo, but even when the additions were relatively minor, they proved to be incredibly effective. The remixed versions of ‘Vapors’ and ‘Shootin’ The Gift’ both maintain…
Rick Ross’ Simple Simon Rhymin Kit
Any parent that doesn’t cop this for there kids this Xmas is a Bad MotherFuckin’ dad… Another Odds & Ends sure shot.
Did Russell Simmons Blackball Marley Marl?
Last week I received a book in the mail to review, called The BeatTips Manual, by Amir “Sa’id” Said. I haven’t finished it yet, since I’m also in the middle of reading How To Wreck A Nice Beach, but one of the first sections I checked-out were the interview transcriptions at the back. One in…
The Unkut Guide To Rap Battles That Never Happened
If there is one tried-and-tested topic of talk to get rap addicts animated, it’s imaginary battles. You know, shit like, ‘What would have happened if the Fu-Schnickens had squared-off against Das-Efx, yo?’ OK, maybe not so much that example, but you get the idea. Here are a few to chew over: LL Cool J vs…
The ‘Lo-End Theory In Real Life
Last year Timeless Truth created a watershed moment for Hip-Hop, for ‘Lo heads and for NYC in general. Their ‘Priceless’ video shoot at the Brooklyn Bridge brought together a few dozen hardbody collectors of the lifestyle and more importantly it was the first time I had ever politicked with Thirstin’ Howl the 3rd on some…
The ‘Lo-End Theory In The Streets…
I learned some crazy shit doing my thing in New York City over the past forty years. Basically, the world is a huge place, but the people that vibe along the same frequency is the smaller subset and y’all will always find each other. That is what used to happen at record stores when you…