Peep some of the highlights on YouTube.

I don’t know how much of the furore surrounding Jay-Z’s placement as Saturday headliner at Glastonbury Festival has made it across the pond, but over in the UK it’s been impossible to get away from the controversy of an American rap artist occupying a spot that has been traditionally reserved for guitar-led anthemic rock. For whatever reason, people seem to have ignored the fact that despite two years of mudbaths and a growing proliferation of cheaper festivals avaliable to British punters, the struggle to sell all avaliable tickets for Britain’s most high profile festival has fallen firmly on Sean Carter’s shoulders. Jigga’s response? One of the most electrifying and original performances in the history of the festival.

Sadly, I wasn’t in attendance (if I had been, this post would be almost completely incomprehensible), but even from the comfort of my own living room in front of a 20″ screen it was clear that Jay-Z’s set was nothing short of extraordinary. Opening with a cover of Oasis’s ‘Wonderwall’ was a stroke of genius, sending a veritable fuck you to Noel Gallagher who in the run up to the festival has been particularly outspoken about his opposition to Jigga as headline act, a diss served up with a knowing smile and a sense of inimitable grace.

From this sarcastic and intelligent opening it was a non-stop rollercoaster through the more commercial hits, with beautifully delivered acapellas and numerous other elements thrown into the mix to keep the crowd hyped. The backing band’s renditions of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’ and the Jackson 5’s ‘ABC’ sample flip provided exciting platforms for Jay to rip through a couple of sixteens, and these weren’t the only references to music outside of the hip hop realm, with Prodigy’s ‘Smack My Bitch Up’, U2’s ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ and Rhianna’s ‘Umbrella’ also cropping up during the set. It was really the pace of the performance that was most striking, with swift transitions and these multiple musical references maintaining an almost unstoppable momentum that had even the crustiest hippies waving their hands in the air and hollering like they were at a dingy basement somewhere in Brooklyn circa 1994. White people with dreadlocks can bounce and grind with the best of them, don’t ya know…

Top all this off with dazzling visuals and perfectly judged interactions with the crowd and it’s fair to say that this was a defining moment in the festival’s history. What really landed the sucker punch was that apart from Memphis Bleek acting as hypeman, this was Jay-Z and Jay-Z alone: the temptation to throw in a duet with Beyonce to ensure the crowd stayed happy was categorically eschewed and allowed Jigga to shine firmly on his own merit.

Thought that a group of muddy, largely white Brits wouldn’t appreciate the work of arguably the greatest rapper alive? You couldn’t have been more wrong: hip hop music has officially just been taken to another level. Glastonbury Festival in the house, y’all!

That’s right, there have been rumours kicking around for a little bit now on the sneaker blogs concerning the return of the classic Air Max 90 Infrareds, but a release (although not a date) is now concrete.  These have to be some of my favourite sneakers of all time, so I can’t wait to get my hands on a pair.  Drool over the picture above and then head over to The Shoe Game for a whole gallery of pant-wetting pics of this iconic Nike kick.

Of course, if any avid readers have been toiling with the idea of a gift for all my hard work over the last year and a half then a pair of these would suffice nicely.  I’m a size 11 US: thanks in advance.

I’m relatively pushed for time this evening, so I’m falling back on the classic blogger’s quick fix by throwing up a couple of choice treats that landed in my inbox this week. I gotta say that for the most part I’m not really on top of things that people send me by e-mail, all too often feeling liking I’m being used for easy promotion by whoever is apparently ‘hot’ at the moment coupled with a general acceptance on my part that FDB is never going to be that go-to spot for up to date news and releases. However, the following is more than worthy of your attention and it means I feel like I’ve fulfilled one of my weekly posts without too much effort. Bonus!

Smeko - Arsenal For The Streets Vol. II

Hailing from France, DJ Smeko’s Arsenal For The Streets Vol. II is proof positive that when it comes to turntablism the boys from the continent continue to be on top of their game. A tightly constructed 50 minute mix, this is worthy of your attention for two key reasons: tight skills and juicy blends. Featuring beats and acapellas from some of the ’90s most respected underground players, it’s the transitions that work particularly well here, with various beats and verses melting into each other as the mix progresses. Don’t sleep, this is what a decent hip hop mix should be all about.

Tracklist:

1- Intro
2- Evil Twinz - ‘Evil Twinz Glocks’
3- XPerado feat OC - ‘Watch Ya Step’ (Blend)
4- J Zone - ‘No Consequences’
5- Attack - ‘Stikken Mov’
6- Ruthless Bastards - ‘Murder We Wrote’
7- Bahamadia - ‘Uknowhowedo’ (Blend)
8- Busta Rythmes - ‘Woo Haa’ (Blend)
9- Big L - ‘Put It On’ (Blend)
10- C Rayz Walz - ‘Whodaf*Kareyou’
11- Big Shug - ‘The Way It Iz’ (’96 Blend)
12- One Be Lo - ‘Rocketship’ (Blend)
13- Mike Zoot - ‘Chess Bumpin’
14- Krs One Feat Channel Live - ‘Free Mumia’ (Blend)
15- Masta Ace -’Always’

East Flatbush Project- ‘A Day In The Life’ (10/30 Uproar, 2008)

It was good to hear from Spencer Bellamy recently via MySpace who had some new material to share from his upcoming EP entitled First Born. ‘A Day In The Life’ features rhymes from Stress and guitar work by Peter Pallis of Brooklyn-based metal band Anaka. On first listen I wasn’t particularly taken, but after a few rotations the beat started to grow on me and it definitely represents a progression from a producer who still lives in the shadow of the undisputed classic ‘Tried By 12′. See what you think and don’t forget to peep my interview with Spencer in the archives.

Scientifik - ‘Downlo Ho’
taken from Criminal (Definite, 1994)

John Klemmer - ‘Touch’
taken from Touch (ABC, 1975)

After getting into a little John Klemmer a little while back care of the magnificent ‘Free Soul’, I’ve been keen to explore the man’s discography in more depth. Unfortunately this exploration led me first to his Touch LP from 1975, a release that I didn’t really connect with and which quashed my initial enthusiasm, meaning my acquaintance with his wider body of work has been fleeting to say the least. However, the purchase was salvaged for me by a combination of the title track itself and my insatiable sample-spotting geekery, an unfortunate affliction that has inevitably led to some duff buys on my part in recent times. But then that’s all part of the fun: I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Jacked by Buckwild for one of the less celebrated cuts from Scientifik’s fantastic Criminal, ‘Downlo Ho’ rarely seems to receive a mention when discussion of the album comes up, but for me it’s one of the clear standouts. Whereas the beats elsewhere on the LP tend to be a little darker in tone, ‘Downlo Ho’ manages that perfect equilibrium between the raw and the smooth, an infectious combination that never fails to instigate a healthy bounce of the cranium. The sample itself is a straight loop of the first couple of bars of the song slowed down, thereby falling in line with the majority of Buckwild’s production aesthetic during the period where big drums and loops prevail. When it’s this dope in the first place, the man knows as well as anybody else when to leave it alone and let the groove shine.

There’s plenty of other touches to the beat with various vocal stabs, sax loops and other somewhat unidentifiable noises thrown into the mix to give it a little extra flava, but it’s the bang of the drums that ultimately set the groove off so well. The snare hits are particularly prominent in the mix, with a healthy dose of reverb allowing them to breathe for nearly a quarter of a bar before fading, and to avoid the mix getting too messy Buckwild keeps the kick drum pattern pleasingly restrained and straightforward. It’s these simple yet incredibly effective moments of flair that certify the man’s place in the boom bap hall of fame (if only such a place existed).

Ultimately, Klemmer’s original is well worth a listen as well, but it is in all honesty one of those songs that I would probably very rarely choose to listen to if it wasn’t for the hip hop connection. With so much other music to explore I don’t imagine I’ll be delving too far into his discography any time soon, but if you know of something that I need to hear then please let me know. In the meantime it can be Buckwild who serves up my Klemmer fix: lazy I know, but sometimes a bout of self-indulgence and a heavy lean on your musical crutches is no bad thing, a sentiment that must pretty much define the online hip hop community whose members in general still can’t let go of the ’90s. But then with beats as good as this, why would you want to?

Hubert Laws - ‘Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again’
taken from Romeo & Juliet (CBS, 1976)

Onyx - ‘Shout’
taken from All We Got Iz Us (JMJ, 1995)

Onyx - ‘Shout (Pete Rock Remix)’
taken from Shout (Remix)/Most Def VLS (JMJ White Label, 1998)

Jazz Liberatorz - ‘I Am Hip Hop’ feat. Asheru
taken from Clin d’Oeil (Kif, 2008)

I’ve already shared this little gem of a sample with the heads over at the Pete Rock forum and it should be familiar to you too if you were one of the 839 (!) people to download my Pete Rock Breaks & Beats Mix. However, given that it constitutes perhaps my favourite ten seconds from the entire archives of fusion jazz it more than deserves its fair share of airtime here at FDB. This short yet astoundingly beautiful sample is tailor-made for transposition into slammin’ boom bap, explaining the two and four-bar straight loop format adopted by Fredro Starr and Pete Rock on the two existing versions of the criminally slept-on Onyx anthem ‘Shout’. Having said this, the Jazz Liberatorz’ deftly executed chops sound pretty good too… either way, this particular groove goes hard.

Before delving into the ins and outs of the different ways in which it has been flipped, I feel compelled to comment on why I feel that this sample works so well. Not only does it already hover around the mid-90s mark in terms of bpm, but it’s the way in which the wonderfully clean Fender Rhodes part is framed at either end: Hubert Laws’s flute melts into the break as it begins and it is perfectly rounded off in the final half bar by achingly beautiful strings. Ultimately this means that it is an incredibly malleable sample, as it is clean enough to chop succinctly and yet offers just as much if left untampered with. Pete Rock follows the second school of thought for the Onyx remix, literally dropping the break over heavy drums and adding an extra touch of flava with a Biz Markie vocal sample. Although the sound quality of this white label rip is relatively low, I’d have to say that this is probably my favourite of the three usages presented here simply because it allows something that is already flawless to shine. And no, it’s not just because it’s Pete Rock. I can occasionally muster a little objectivity you know…

Yet stating a preference here is a little unnecessary as both the original mix and the Jazz Liberatorz’ cut are bangin’. I’ve written before about Onyx’s sophomore effort All We Got Iz Us and ‘Shout’ endures as a song that never fails to threaten the longevity of the well-oiled machine that is my neck. Fredro Starr opts for just the first two bars of the break, adding swirling vocal screams into the composition to add a little Onyx-style zest. With filtered bass line and heavy drums in tow this track easily stands its own against the crew’s classic moshpit-inducing anthem ‘Slam’ and represents the Queens outfit’s inimitable charm as well as anything else that they ever put together. The Jazz Liberatorz’ certainly do a little more with the sample (I wonder if it may have been replayed), but it maintains its core essence and provides Asheru with the opportunity to contribute to one of the best songs from what must be one of the most overlooked releases of the year so far.

I had originally intended for this post to simply focus on the original Onyx mix (this one has been in a pipeline for a minute), but I simply couldn’t hold back from sharing all three of these interpretations due to the remarkably high standard that they represent collectively. Although I fully appreciate the work done by Starr et. al., it would be impossible to deny that it is the exquisite quality of the sample source that does most of the hard work here. Check for it at the 5.35 mark: this is digger’s gold folks.