I’m back home in London this weekend to catch up with the fam, so no full post unfortunately. However, I did come across this video which sees Premier, Pete Rock and 9th Wonder kickin’ it with Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg, who incidentally was mentioned by Gerald Walker in my interview earlier this month. I also noticed that Kev Brown has been throwing up links to Rosenberg’s shows over at his blog which I am yet to check out, but they are most certainly on my ‘to do’ list over the next few days. Check it:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaeprTp532Q]

Imminent Pete Rock Banter

I’m not someone who has ever got involved in the world of forums, having found them a little confusing in the past. This one’s an exception though as it’s Pete Rock themed, so I’m going to get over my reservations and go for it. Thanks to Jaz for pointing me in the right direction, this could be cool if enough people get involved with the promise of some proper treats for those who engage in discussion. Hope to see you there…

http://peterocksp1200.16.forumer.com

Pharoahe Monch - The Light, The Truth feat. Common & Talib Kweli & The Ass feat. Apani B
taken from Internal Affairs (Rawkus, 1999)

George Benson - Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams
taken from Bad Benson (CTI, 1974)

Harvey Mandel - Cristo Redentor
taken from Cristo Redentor Plus Selected Sessions Reissue (Raven, 2003)

If you were to ask me to list in quick succession my top producers of all time, I know that Diamond D is a name that would always spring to the forefront of my mind. However, when I stop and try to qualify this position, I find myself struggling a little bit, because in terms of output and truly consistent quality he does fall short of some of the other most prominent beat-makers in the game (see Pete Rock, Premier etc.). Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve got a lot of love for D Squared, not least in the wake of the recent release of the Ultimate Force LP, but there isn’t quite as much fodder to argue his case as perhaps my gut instinct feels that there should be in the ‘greatest of all time’ stakes. Admittedly, I think my feelings here are tainted by his unfortunate demise towards the end of the ’90s, and there is little doubt that he has struggled to stay involved in the game in the same way that other long-term contributors to the genre have done. Perhaps an apt point of comparison would be his DITC companion Buckwild who has maintained a presence in contemporary hip hop in a way that Diamond D has not. It also doesn’t help that some of the beats on his MySpace page are questionable to say the least.

Having said this, his production work on Pharoahe’s seminal debut solo LP proves that in the 1-9-9-9, he could still pull off a beat with serious style. Now for the sake of this argument, I’m actually going to ignore ‘The Ass’ because it is way short of the mark in comparison to his other two credits in the shape of ‘The Light’ and ‘The Truth’ (him and Pharoahe obviously had a mild obsession with the definite article here). I am fully aware of the possible negation of my argument, but I’m going to be daring and focus on the positives in this instance: deal with it.

‘The Light’ and ‘The Truth’ show Diamond’s skills in two different and yet equally resounding ways. ‘The Truth’ is a beautifully soulful beat that feels introspective and relatively sophisticated, but in terms of production techniques it is less complicated a composition than ‘The Light’. Although there is a slight manipulation of the sample from Harvey Mandel’s ‘Cristo Redentor’, this really is a case of taking a loop and simply adding drums and bass (check the sequence from 1.18 onwards). Of course, this notion of apparent simplicity could be levelled at many a great hip hop track, and as a certified drums and loops man, I am in no way suggesting that this should be seen as something to quibble about: this is a sensational piece of production work that oozes quality. The combination of vocals, heart-wrenching strings and harp is truly beautiful, and it ranks amongst one of Diamond’s best works. Interestingly, he thinks so too, stating that this is his personal favourite within his own catalogue in the documentary film ‘Deep Crates’. To say that this beat comes highly recommended would be somewhat of an understatement.

‘The Light’ is a slightly different kettle of fish, and sees Diamond go to work on chopping up George Benson’s ‘Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams’ and delivering a beat that renders the sample unrecognisable. I assume that Diamond lifted his guitar track from Benson’s solo near the beginning of the song (0.28 to 0.53) and modified the pitch to give him a spread of notes to play with, but with my limited understanding of production techniques it is difficult to tell. Of course, it is Diamond’s chopped up guitar riff that forms the central focus of the beat, and it does so emphatically, drawing the listener in to one of the best joints on ‘Internal Affairs’. The case for this cut is aided by the fact that this was an anthem for myself and friends in the summer of ‘99, and it takes me back to warm summer days that resonate strongly in my memory. Ah, the nostalgia…

Both of these cuts seemed to put forward a more mature and introspective Diamond D, a man who no longer relied on heavy horns and slammin’ drums to make an impression (always welcome, mind) and it’s a shame that he wasn’t able to manage this shift more effectively going into his own solo releases post-millennium, with both ‘The Diamond Mine’ and ‘Grown Man Sport’ making very little impact on the scene. Wherever he may go in the future there remains little doubt for me that even as late as ‘99, Diamond D was still one of the best producers out there, and both ‘The Light’ and ‘The Truth’ are testament to this fact. A fading legend he may be, but I doubt there are very many serious heads out there who will forget his contributions to the culture in a hurry. Although he may no longer be the genre’s ‘best kept secret’, these two joints certainly rank amongst his.

Lalo Schifrin - The Danube Incident
taken from Mission: Anthology (One Way Records, 1994)

Portishead - Sour Times
taken from Dummy (Go! Beat, 1994)

Heltah Skeltah - Prowl
taken from Nocturnal (Priority, 1996)

Rawcotiks - Live Your Life
taken from Live Your Life 12” (First Try, 1997)

As with David Axelrod, Lalo Schifrin was one of the first names I came across when beginning to develop some understanding of sample sources, largely because I read a feature on him in Nottingham’s now defunct b-boy magazine ‘Big Daddy’. An Argentine pianist, composer and conductor, Schifrin’s music has seeped into the popular conscience via the medium of the soundtrack, perhaps most notable for his work in composing the theme tune for the original ‘Mission: Impossible’ television series and for scoring films such as ‘Bullitt’ and ‘Enter The Dragon’. His work has been sampled by numerous artists within hip hop circles including De La, Heltah Skeltah and Big Pun amongst many others as well as more ‘beats’ orientated outfits such as Cinematic Orchestra and the Herbaliser. His prolific output and musical originality led to many a Grammy and Oscar nomination and his influence on popular culture has been acknowledged with his own star on Hollywood’s ‘Walk of Fame’.

‘The Danube Incident’ is one of his most easily recognisable and often used samples, taken from the television series of the same name. Lightly skipping snare hits form the percussive backbone of the break and are teamed up with a descending bass guitar riff and a cimbalom, a Hungarian instrument that is played by striking two beaters against a set of strings. Both the Rawcotiks and Portishead cuts also incorporate what I think is a french horn section which does not appear until later in the track (the two bars in question start at the 1.33 mark). The end result is a moody and haunting break that feels understandably cinematic, and it is easy to see why it has been incorporated into the brooding soundscapes of the tracks by Portishead, Rawcotiks and Heltah Skeltah.

Of the three, there is little doubt that ‘Sour Times’ is the most sophisticated musically, using elements from another Schifrin composition in the construction of the beat and featuring the incredible vocal performance of Beth Gibbons whose voice soars with a paradoxical sense of both power and vulnerability. Here it is performed live for Portishead’s legendary gig at Roseland, NYC:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuUYZJuzie0]

Both the Rawcotiks and Heltah Skeltah joints are great, but I would opt for the latter with its slightly meatier drum track and the menacing vocal deliveries of Rock and Ruck. I also feel a little lukewarm about the chorus hook on the Rawcotiks cut that takes Junior’s ‘Mama Used To Say’ as its source of inspiration, but it manages to work in this context (just). What remains constant throughout all three selections is that they are all heavily indebted to the imagination and creativity of Schifrin, and it really is ‘The Danube Incident’ that gives these tracks their flava and atmospheric quality.

As you will know, one of the things I have particularly enjoyed of late is unearthing whole worlds of music as a result of a bar or two that has been used in hip hop, and Schifrin is a prime example of this, with a prolific career that has spanned close to 60 years. Make sure you check out some of the links below for a more comprehensive overview of his work and pay your respects to a man who has been an inspiration to rap artists as well as making a significant contribution to popular culture as a whole. You gotta give the credit y’all, where it’s due…

Links to check out:

Lalo Schifrin official website
Lalo Schifrin @ Wikipedia
Recent interview with Lalo Schifrin
Lalo Schifrin @ The Breaks

Rawcotiks - Hardcore Hip Hop (Freeze, 1996)
DJ Honda - For Everyday That Goes By feat. Rawcotiks
taken from HII (Epic, 1998)

Hip hop is a culture plagued by the typically brief careers of all too many of its most promising artists. Notions of the ’sophomore slump’ are rampant in the genre’s golden ages, as are crews who managed one of two popular singles before fading rapidly into obscurity, never to be heard from again. Washington Heights’ Rawcotiks crew avoid falling into either of these categories, but they do so somewhat by default. Having never released a full length album means that they dodge the pitfalls of the troublesome follow-up LP, and they have done enough in terms of 12” releases and guest spots over the years to become a part of the collective hip hop conscience, but for me, they are one of the genre’s greatest underachievers. Even with decent mic skills, some heavy hitting affiliations and a classic single all in their favour, they still failed to make a serious impression on the game, and will largely only be remembered by enthusiasts. Bottom line, it’s a damn shame.

I first came across the crew around ‘99, when I copped Kenny Dope’s first installment of the ‘Hip Hop Forever’ series which featured their smash single ‘Hardcore Hip Hop’. There is no doubting the quality of this track, and I believe it ranks amongst the best cuts of ‘96. The sweeping strings, rolling yet subtle drum track and anthemic chorus loop make for an absolute banger, and Buttah Lee and Jeff Valentino come correct with the rhymes as well. They even scored a Primo remix, making this a 12” of serious stature.

Of course, this wasn’t the last of their appearances on wax, albeit in small doses as guest MCs on other artists’ releases. Affiliations with the Beatnuts meant that they cropped up on Al Tariq’s much slept on ‘God Connections’ LP as well as a couple of Nuts’ remixes that feature on ‘The Spot (The Remix EP)’ that saw a release in ‘98. Their reputation even saw them hook up with Japan’s DJ Honda who subsequently became one of their most regular and long-standing affiliations for whom they provided verses on several tracks in the run up to the millennium. On the solo tip they put out a few decent 12′’s spanning a five year period that took them up to 2001, but these made relatively impact and are the reserve of committed hip hop heads and vinyl addicts. Ultimately, their actual output never seemed to match up to the air of significance that the crew undoubtedly radiated towards the end of the ’90s.

So what exactly went wrong? The connections were in place and their profile was large enough to warrant being picked up by a label to record a complete album. You can even picture it: ‘97/’98, Beatnuts production with a couple of Premier joints thrown in for good measure and Jeff and Buttah kickin’ it with some Dominican flava. It could have been a banger, but for whatever reason, it never materialised. Indicative of their ‘underachievement’ is the fact that their presence on the internet is also incredibly limited. I’ve spent hours trying to find out a little bit more about these boys, but with little success beyond Discogs and the odd mention of the Premier ‘Hardcore Hip Hop’ remix here and there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t like the bulk of their material because I really do, but my point here is that there remains a lingering sensation that they could have achieved so much more given their pedigree. There are of course plenty of groups that have followed a similar path, but very few have seemed to promise quite as much. According to their MySpace they ‘are ready to go all out in 2007′, but I can’t help but feel that to some degree, their moment has passed. Maybe they’ll prove me wrong, but Rawcotiks go down in my book as a crew that could have been significant players in the rap game, but who ultimately failed to deliver in the manner that I would have anticipated. Just another factor in the trials and tribulations of being a hardcore rap fan… ain’t it a bitch?

Stumbled upon this randomly today and thought it was worth sharing:

This was taken from a site that specialises in comedic video clips called Super Deluxe which hosts loads of stupid videos to help you in your quest to kill even more time on the internet. This actually reminded me of something that the Oh Word boys could have put together. Not exactly one of the greatest singles of the year, but I’ll take this over Lil’ Wayne and Jeezy any day. It’s true, people really don’t know no more…