Flash Back 30 years - Mr. Magic

Happy 2011! -Ol' Skool Joe

Visionary hip-hop dj/producer plays SF, DJ's, drinks Viña Ardanza

This is my idea of a really fucking good time. Great music, musicians, and fine wine, particularly a magnum of 2000 La Rioja Alta "Viña Ardanza" (a bit fuzzy, but shown in the above photo). There was also some Occhipinti Frappato in the building. Though it was fun, playful and inviting, it's so different from, and as a result not as easy to appreciate on its own merit, the heavily oak influenced (in a good way) 2000 LRA Viña Ardanza (which was showing amazingly out of magnum I might add). It was the first vintage that they released magnums for sale, a format that I hope they continue to bottle going forward. Oh yeah, the record selection and overall crafting of Madlib's set was quite skillful as well. Unfortunately we had to take off early, though I suspect that the crew might be back later in the year since everyone seemed to really be enjoying themselves.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that DJ Shortkut was working the one-ses and two-ses as well. Incredible skills. Check out the 1998 DMC Finals here. Dude does Daly City proud!

Friday PM Hip-hop returns with Pete Rock

I'm going to do my best to get back on track programming real hip-hop every Friday afternoon, just like I did back in the day, circa '07. Pete Rock, one of hip-hop's greatest producers, proves here that he's also got some mic skills. He's accompanied by one of the most promising MC's at that time, Inspectah Deck along with west coast by way of Philadelphia rapper Kurupt. From the 1998 album Soul Survivor. For the record, a 10 year-old record in hip-hop definitely qualifies as OLD SCHOOL.

Brand Nubian - 'Slow Down'

Obvious classic here, going way back to 1990. Brand Nubian in their prime, with the terrific, chopped up Edie Brickell sample providing an ideal backdrop for Sadat X, Lord Jamar and Grand Puba (in that order) to rip it. CLASSIC.

Group Home - Supa Star

A classic mix show staple, not to mention a great instrumental track to freestyle over. Thanks to David D for reminding me about this one earlier today.

Nas - Illmatic

In 1992 Queens resident and 3rd Bass member MC Serch was busy transforming into EP (executive producer) Serch, having recently undertaken as his newest project a young skinny kid from the Queensbridge projects, located just a short ride across money making Manhattan on the 59th St Bridge, but otherwsie worlds apart. Known as one of the city's toughest projects, QB also has spawned many of hip-hop's elite, starting with the likes of Marley Marl, MC Shan, Roxanne Shante and the Juice Crew in the early 80's, moving through to Capone and Noreaga, Nature, Cormega and Mobb Deep in the '90's.

And then there was Nas, the 19 year-old prodigy who started appearing on tracks, most famously Main Source's 'Live at the BBQ,' and Serch's 'Back to the Grill,' showing that perfect combination of distinctive, instantly recognizable, world weary vocal timbre, narrative talent, and infectious, confident style that only the best MC's possess. Serch had himself a jewel, a once in a lifetime talent (thanks Q-tip) that no doubt would have emerged successfully on his own, but nevertheless was carefully and quickly ushered into the limelight with the success of Illmatic.

Illmatic is a hip-hop purist's holy grail, the ideal synthesis of music, rhythm, and gifted MCing. To make a brief analogy apropos to this site, it was like the perfect combination of terroir, grape variety and winemaking ability. Even further, a vinous equivalent to Illmatic might be putting together and marketing a case of Loire (Loire representing hip-hop here) wine: 3 bottles each of Huet Vouvray, Luneau Papin Muscadet, Olga Raffault Chinon and Clos Roche Blanche Cot.

OK, back to the music. Four of the best producers of the sample based school of hip-hop beat production were set to task to patch together the perfect canvas to inspire and complement Nas. And that they did. Many consider the contributions made by Q-Tip, Pete Rock, Large Professor and DJ Premier to be amongst their most inspired work.

Opening with a brief cinematic interlude, then segueing into the Subway theme from Wild Style, the album begins with Nas and others ad-libbing a hangin' out in the hood type scenario, with Nas' observing that 'Niggas don't listen.' From there, Nas slides into the character of a money hungry, drug dealing resident of a New York ghetto, trying to take care of himself. With lines like 'Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined,' and a refrain such as 'I never sleep, 'cause sleep is the cousin of death,' this is some serious, serious writing. Delivered with perfect timing in Nas' inimitable voice, this is MCing of the highest order. Combinining a keen narrative sense with an intensely personal autobiographical perspective, Nas hits homerun after homerun, perhaps culminating with 'One Love,' a letter to an incarcerated friend, updating him on what's going on in the hood, and set to a mellow, jazzy, vibraphone based sample from the Abstract (Q-Tip), who also lends his voice to the chorus.

Never before had a hip-hop record been so anticipated and hyped by the masses as when Illmatic was released. In this rare case, the hype was to be believed and justified. Illmatic is easily one of the three best hip-hop records of all time and amongst the best records released in the 1990's. It remains one of my favorites of all time.

AWARD TOUR

It's Friday I'm feeling pretty good, so why not run some ATCQ?

'Super Brooklyn,' or 'The Mario Bros Beat'

What's up former (and current?) original Nintendo players?

Is BROOKLYN in the house?

The battery is re-charged

After a busy week of cinema, Pro Tools, quarterly inventory at work, and an irregular sleep schedule, I think I should be back to normal.

Great day today (Sunday), without any wine consumption, wine reading, or contemplation - well, not quite. The exception was some cheap, warm climate sangiovese (2007 F. Mantellassi 'Maritma' Maremma Toscana IGT) with linguini marinara at dinner. I awoke having had 9 hours of sleep and then drank Gyokuro green tea. Headed up to the garden, saw The Killers on the big screen, decided to go on an impromptu afternoon bike ride to the Golden Gate bridge and up the Marin headlands, watched the last 2:30 of the superbowl, and for all intents and purposes finished up my first full song on Pro Tools. It is untitled for now. The song functioned as an introduction to beat production: find a terrific sample, loop it, and add a bit of additional instrumental color. I'm pleased with it. Not the most original work, as it seems to be right out of the mid 90's (it brings to mind early Mobb Deep in particular), but still I like the results.

Attention qualified, skilled MC's.

Spread the word - Old World Old School's gonna soon have some killer beats.

Dem Boyz from BMORE Represent

'Brother Sport,' the last track on Animal Collective's recently released Merriweather Post Pavillion LP, is undoubtedly an homage to Baltimore club(essentially sped up house music). I'm guessing that the band listened to their share of hip-hop station 92Q growing up.

Would be awesome if some of the city's club DJ's were actually spinning this track, somewhere between whatever Lil Wayne and T.I. remixes are currently floating around out there.

Mobb Deep - Temperature's Rising

What a classic track from the Infamous. I was trying to decide between this and the Q-tip produced re-mix. A tough choice, but ultimately this version won out. Somethin' to kick back and nod your head to.

Hip-hop Friday, featuring Ice Cube

What can I say, it's a video Friday kind of day. Sometimes you just want to post music videos, you know? The hot summer weather really gets me in the mood for laid back west coast jams like this one. And yes, today was a good day....

Spoonie Gee/Treacherous Three - Love Rap

This beat is contagious. Simple, infectious, conga driven perfection.

And Spoonie Gee just going off, non-stop. In the words of Prodigy, "Heavy air-play all day with no chorus."

The Art of Hip-Hop Sampling Vol. IV, part 7

While Kanye West popularized sped-up rock samples, in particular the Alvin and the Chipmunks style, high-speed dub sounding vocal snippets, other producers were developing the style before him. Check out the Foreigner song and classic rock staple ‘Cold as Ice.’

Now listen to MOP sampling ‘Cold as Ice,’ in their hard, typically rugged ‘Cold as Ice.’ Well, maybe this would be less of a sample and more of a re-working of the song. Not quite a cover. Incidentally, MOP really used to get me energized and ready to do stuff. Nothing too aggressive or destructive, mind you, just chores, working out, mundane daily activities. It all somehow seemed much more enjoyable while listening to Brownsville’s finest.

Nas - The World Is Yours - Illmatic

[I would like to dedicate this video post to my great-grandmother me-ma Jenny, who would have surely loathed this song, but inspired me to play the piano with her amazing ability to play beautifully by ear. She was never afraid to offer encouragement and praise, peppered with some good old constructive criticism.]

To this day, listening to Nas' album Illmatic still delivers an immediate emotional impact. It is amongst the best hip-hop albums ever produced. There is minimal fat: no skits, only a few guest appearances, and a mere ten tracks clocking in at under forty-five minutes, produced by four terrific artists with great ears and the uncanny ability to source and arrange beautiful samples.

'The World is Yours' was the song that introduced me to one of the most gifted MCs to ever grab a mic. The dark, sparse Pete Rock production features a jazz piano sample from Ahmad Jamal and rugged drums which resemble the instrument's sound in a band's practice room. During the chorus the music is punctuated by life support beeps and crisp record scratching. The music provides an ideal inspiration for Nas to provide his incomparable braggadocio laced narrative, replete with an amazingly worldly view and impeccable timing.

The wide screen parabolic, black and white video is beautifully shot and a real treat to watch.