FROM DA BRICKS

1994. Whenever discussions of the best years in hip hop are raised, ’94 inevitably crops up, and with good reason. Along with a plethora of fantastic releases (‘Hard To Earn’, ‘The Sun Rises In The East’, ‘The Main Ingredient’, ‘Stress: The Extinction Agenda’, ‘Word…Life’ being just a handful), the hip hop world was of course rocked by two of the finest albums in its history: ‘Illmatic’ and ‘Ready To Die’. When approaching every music fan’s arbitrary ‘best albums of all time’ lists, it would seem nearly impossible for any hip hop head to not consider either of these two releases such is their consistent quality (beats and rhymes) and the way that they influenced the game. But in the long run, could it be tentatively argued that these albums specifically had a detrimental effect on the genre, and that a steady decline in quality was inevitable from this point? Let’s see…

I remember a chat that I had with my friend Geoff a year or so ago in which we were discussing the work of John Coltrane whilst listening to 1957′s ‘Blue Train’, a staple of the jazz canon that I imagine is celebrated by aficionados of the genre in the same way that ‘Illmatic’ or ‘Ready To Die’ are within hip hop circles. During this talk, Geoff regaled a story that feels fitting in line with the subject matter currently at hand: it is rumoured that Coltrane essentially killed jazz, such was his ability on the saxophone. His musical genius was beyond question, but in unleashing it to the world at large, he set a benchmark that was simply too high for later artists to match. Now I don’t know enough about jazz to know whether this is true or not, but even with my limited subject knowledge, it seems that this era in jazz’s history is celebrated much in the same way as hip hop’s golden years, and I can imagine jazz purists approach anything that followed with the same sense of scepticism/disappointment that plagues devotees of hip hop who long for joints like the ones they heard ‘back in the day’.

In applying this theory to hip hop, Biggie and Nas seem to be the most obvious figureheads, but it would be foolish to treat them in exactly the same way as each contributed something very different to hip hop. However, what they both achieved was a maintenance of underground credibility teamed with massive commercial success that was relatively unprecedented. Although rap albums of the past had achieved platinum sales figures (‘The Great Adventures Of Slick Rick’ as just one example), none had done so with the New York-centric hardcore aesthetic put forward by Nas and Big. It still astounds me that ‘Ready To Die’ reached such a wide audience: there is no disguising the brutal, violent and misogynistic message that Christopher Wallace puts forward on this record and yet it went on to sell over four million copies before the dust around its release had even settled. Of course, this was not the first time that ghetto music had made it into so many American homes, as earlier successes from the west coast and elsewhere had proven, but this was hardcore, unabashed NYC hip hop at its finest being blasted out of homes, cars and clubs in places where it had struggled to find relevance before.

Nasir Jones is a slightly different kettle of fish. Whereas Biggie was the living, breathing incarnation of the darkest elements of ghetto existence, Nas was the urban poet weaving highly literate narratives that detailed the world that he saw around him and his journey through it. Backed by an impossibly impressive production team, ‘Illmatic’ is my preferred record of the two under discussion, a perfectly contained and cohesive work that has inevitably ended up as the albatross around Nas’ neck. What its success provided him with was the opportunity to access a more commercial audience, his role as ‘ghetto poet’ highly marketable and intensely alluring, and it doesn’t take me to tell you what he has achieved as the years have rolled by.

The dawn of the ‘superrapper’ was now well and truly consolidated. Both Nas and Big embodied the street savvy attitude and elusive sense of style that have proven to be the hallmarks of a successful and commercially viable rap artist, and they represented a city that was the home of hip hop. This establishment of a rap superstar laid the foundation for the less than great rappers of the future, and changed the game forever. In this sense, Big and Nas could be held responsible for the decline of hip hop and its transformation into a multi-billion dollar industry that feels so far removed from the ‘realer’ days of old.

Let’s not blame them though. I prefer to think of them in line with the theory put forward with regards to Coltrane: these releases were simply so good that it would prove nearly impossible to replicate their genius in the future. Coming at the right time in the genre’s history, you can almost sense that hip hop was destined to reach this point (although perhaps this is only with a retrospective eye), and both are representations of the genre at the pinnacle of its creative output. Maybe Nas and Big did kill hip hop, but what they left in their wake were two sensational works that still sound fresh, inspiring and raw to this day. Dig ‘em out and treat yourself: hip hop is unlikely to ever be this good again.

Just this evening I’ve read a few comments/posts where the issue of whether providing access to whole albums is a good thing or not. This is something that I have thought about a lot and would be interested to know what people feel about it.

On the one hand, posting these albums provides exposure to an artist and may encourage people to buy their records, go to see a live performance or spread the word amongst their friends. Word of mouth is a powerful force and it could be argued that bloggers provide a kind of advertisement for recording artists that ultimately provides them with financial rewards. Many of these albums have been long forgotten about by the masses (if they knew that they existed at all) and blogging provides them with a fanbase that perhaps they may not have had. Recently, one of the members of Yaggfu Front dropped a comment after I had posted the album showing love for the exposure of his music, so it is clear that some artists are more than happy for this behaviour to continue.

On the other hand, it is of course providing people with decent quality copies of music that they may not subsequently buy. It could be said that blogs harm an artist’s financial growth and limit them in the future. Perhaps online file sharing IS killing music, and we should not shoot ourselves in the foot by harming the genre by sharing it so freely.

What are the rules exactly? Does something have to be out of print to be ‘postable’? Should it be more than ten years old? Does posting new/old albums work in or against the favour of the artists in question? Should record companies step their game up and make their products more desirable? Is file sharing going to bring down the record industry and destroy music? I would be very interested to know people’s thoughts on this one: you know what to do.

I wasn’t going to write anything on From Da Bricks over the Christmas period as I am away from my collection and knew I’d be gorging myself on food and drink for a week. However, James Brown died today and I felt compelled to write a short tribute to a man whose music made him an international figure who had an impact on men, women and children for close to half a century. Brown’s contribution to hip hop has also been massive: how many tracks can you name that have sampled a James Brown beat?

Funnily enough, I don’t feel like I know Brown’s music as well as I should do. I guess it is a case of only having so much time on my hands and for the last six or so years I have been committed to listening to as much hip hop as possible to the detriment of other genres, however closely related. This is something that I aim to correct in the near future. James Brown may not have been the most commercially popular or the most naturally skilled of vocalists, but he sure was the funkiest and was undeniably one of the most exhilarating performers to ever grace a stage.

Unfortunately, his life was marked by tragedy from a early age and it plagued him throughout his 73 years on this planet. Failed relationships, battles with drug addiction and prison sentences meant that towards the latter stages of his life he had lost the grace and raw power that he possessed earlier in his career, becoming a parody of himself. However, this video of a performance of ‘Mother Popcorn’ demonstrates what the ‘Godfather Of Soul’ was all about. The funky music and dance moves are what he should always be remembered for, and there are very few people who have acted as such an enigmatic and powerful symbol of the African-American male in popular culture.

In the liner notes to ‘Endtroducing…’ DJ Shadow states that James Brown was the inventor of modern music. His raw and unadulterated sound has influenced musicians across the globe for decades, and there is no denying that hip hop would be a drastically different entity if it wasn’t for Brown. Christmas day or otherwise, I’ll drink to that.

James Brown R.I.P.