Thursday Throwback: Pete Rock & Nas

Since the news that Pete Rock and Nas are working together again dropped earlier this week, I've had this joint in my head somethin' heavy. If you don't already know, get familiar with one of the greatest songs (rap or otherwise) of all time:



"The World Is Yours" off the classic, Illmatic.

Bonus: While Nas is getting back together, everyone cross your fingers that he'll hit up Q-Tip for another track as well. Off the same album, "One Love" is another classic:

Music for a Monday: Maker

Just a one-hitter this evening, folks, courtesy of Grandgood. I've already sung his praises back when I put together my RZAless Wu-Tang production dream team mixtape and since Chi-Town Hip-Hop's been on my mind all day, here's Maker's remix of the instant Southern classic, "International Player's Anthem" by UGK.


UGK feat. Outkast - International Player's Anthem

Cursed Records: Walls Don't Exist

Everyone's got their break-up songs. Those joints that you sit in a dark room with, playing over and over while you drink and/or sob for hours at a stretch. To a certain extent those sessions are cathartic and kind of necessary to get over whatever mess brought you to that point in the first place. Then, there's what Kieron Gillen referred in the second issue of his music-as-magic mini-series Phonogram: The Singles Club (the follow-up to excellent Phonogram: Rue Britannia, with Jamie McKelvie on the artwork) as cursed songs:

"A curse record is the opposite. A curse song will, in a real way, open old wounds, tearing the stitches you're trying to make hold. A curse song should be avoided at all costs. I have friends who, suffering through the virulent stages of the curse, abandon entire bands or even genres of music due to the associated poison."

The concept is one that I'd never really thought of before. Never really thought that there was a difference between the standard break-up joint and its more toxic cousin, I just avoided them both outright because both were immediately unpleasant to deal with, even if one was supposed to be healthy. After reading the story "Wine And Bed And More And Again" in which a character is "cursed" by a song, I instantly knew that I didn't just have a curse song, I have a whole album. So what'd I do? I went and dug it up.

Walls Don't Exist is a beautifully put together instrumental album by Afrobeat and Hip Hop artist, Wale Oyejide, recorded under the moniker of Science Fiction. It follows a narrative of 'boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-better', and while that certainly sounds like fodder the former, I suppose my reaction to it as a whole really brings into sharp focus just how personal the latter is.

The whole album is admittedly a pretty painful experience for me, but I regularly recommend it to people as example of just how beautiful and powerful a musical form Hip Hop can be. I guess this is just another, less positive facet of that power showing itself.

I'll share the joints that hit me the hardest, from the 'boy-meets' and 'boy-looses' sections respectively, and as always I recommend picking it up if you can find it(from what I understand, it's out of print, so if people ask nice I might post it up). Just don't ask me to listen to it with you:

Science Fiction - This Is Where I Landed When I Fell For You


Science Fiction - Losing You Is What Drowning Feels Like

Thursday Throwback: Back Again

Not too many words, kids. I been gone, and I'm tryin' like hell to get back. While I crawl my way back up to full speed, have a Throwback from Tribe, just 'cause well...it's Tribe, damnit.


Electric Relaxation from Midnight Marauders

"...Heaven sent, heavenly scent that later crippled me..."

I've only really gotten really personal with this blog once, at the beginning when I spoke on President Obama's victory back in November. That's because I wanted to keep this place as a space about what interested me, and things that I thought people would want to get put up on, particularly with the music.

Lately, though, I hadn't been listening to too much on my own, just for personal enjoyment and I thought it was because I just wasn't finding a lot worth listening to, but a conversation with a good friend of mine made me see things differently. Considering how much inspiration I get from music in writing, I started to realize that I'd been avoiding getting too deeply consumed with listening to music because I was afraid of what it would bring out of me.

I've been writing a lot of poetry lately, some of it for RPG supplemental material but a fair amount for myself as well, and music has played a large role in the output. In the past few weeks Blu and Exile have caused me to, for better or worse, reexamine some parts of my life that I thought I'd left well behind. Rather than blather on about the specifics, I'll let the tunes and the poems speak for themselves.

I do not want her to smile for only me.
A smile is the soul’s searchlight.
A beacon for the weary
To find a moment’s assuredness
In the middle of stormy seas
Or simply a confirmation
During a seemingly solitary journey
That a traveler is not alone.
Her smile is not mine to own.
It is a mobius strip of radiance
Where the beauty she gives the world
And the beauty the world gives to her coalesce.
It is impossible for a mortal
To hold such a phenomenon in his hands,
And only an evil man would try.
I would only hope,
That when she smiles
Whatever she holds from me,
In her heart
Is part of what’s shining out.


Exile - Love Line

Atrium
Ventricle
And all other associated parts
Spread out in front of me
In thin slices
On a platter of silver.
One by one,
I take each piece
Into my mouth
Letting each one settle
And melt across my tongue
Before moving on
To the next.
The textures vary
From piece to piece.
Some are buttery
And smooth like silk
As they dissipate.
Others require
Great gnashing
Of teeth and jaw
To process.
All in an effort
To bring together
These parts
One final time.
For when the stomach’s work
Is done
And they are all gone
There will be nothing left
But sleep
And dreams
Of the repast’s
More humble origins.


Blu - Amnesia

Bonus: Courtesy of Fresh Selects Blu coasts over the instrumental for "Love Line" and leaves me fiendin' for a follow up to Below The Heavens.

Blu vs. Exile - LoveLine(s),DedicatedToLastFe’vrier

Thursday Throwback: I'm Still Livin'

But apparently this blog isn't. Even with almost none of my fanbase (aka: People that know a friend of mine and got badgered into following) left, I'm gonna try and get this thing back on its feet. What better way to do it than highlight some dopeness from one of the people who made me start this thing in the first place. Jim Mahfood's one of my favorite artist and writers, so I was honored to meet him at Wondercon a few years back. We talked about music, since I was always a big fan of how he integrated it into his work, Hip Hop in particular. Just before I broke out, I told him I'd send him the info for a blog based on my old radio show as soon as I'd gotten my shit together and put it together. After I got about a week's worth of posts in the bank I dropped a line to him, and he hit me back with a thank you. I'm still not sure how much of this spot he's actually read, but after getting the notification that he'd joined my woefully neglected Twitter feed I couldn't help but have the same feeling I did that afternoon at the 'Con: Jim Mahfood's a cool motherfucker.

In honor of the aforementioned fothermucker, and seeing as how it's Thursday, I'm posting up one of Mahfood's mixtapes, liberated at his man Plex Lowery's blog. It's a dope mix of old-school Hip Hop and funk joints that is just right for chilling at the crib, or riding around with on a lazy afternoon.

Click here to read up on the tape and listen to the stream.

Edit: Here's a Mediafire link to the mix, and the tape cover. Food One Mix CD Vol. 1

Also, Jim, if you're reading this, thanks for the convo and the sketch. Really made my day.

Throwback Thursday - Funky Drummer Edition

In honor of James Brown being featured in this week's Rock Band DLC, I thought I'd pay tribute to one of his more notable contributions to Hip Hop, the Funky Drummer break. From the song of the same name, James and Clyde Stubblefield made so much music period possible (Depeche Mode, Sinead O'Connor and NIN have all used the break), but it'd be hard to imagine Hip Hop without those drums.


Run D.M.C. - Beats to the Rhyme


Eric B & Rakim - Paid In Full


Beastie Boys - Shadrach


Public Enemy - Rebel Without A Pause (Live, with a great intro)


LL Cool J - Boomin' System

Bonus:

Steinski - The Lesson 2 (James Brown Mix)

Illogic's Diabolical Fun Dropping Next Week

Just in case you'd forgotten, here's another joint to remind you of Illogic's upcoming album Diabolical Fun, his fourth album, entirely produced by Ill Poetic.


Illogic - I Know You

Cop it from Weightless Recordings and get a separate CD of instrumentals from the album. Between this, Sign Language and the $7.99 price point for both, Weightless is holding you down with good music.

Music For a Monday (the late pass edition) - HerFavoriteColo(u)r.

Blu's a friggin' workhorse as far as dropping new material for the fans is concerned, but since he does it via his MySpace page I tend to miss it until it pops up on one of the more reputable Hip Hop blogs. Such was the case for his Valentine's Day drop this year, the entirely self-produced HerFavoriteColo(u)r.. Not really a mixtape, but not album, it's more like a mood music piece on love and relationships. It's a good 'un, and all the sudden makes me wanna hear him spit over Blueprint's production. Hmmm, maybe I should make a suggestion or two.

HerFavoriteColo(u)r from Blu

Bonus: Here's one of the songs he dropped last V-Day, "NeverAgain"

Since I'm Still Alive, Have Some New Music

I'm getting adjusted to the new gig, but the blog has suffered. Don't worry though, I'll never leave What's Good behind, and as proof I give you some new music. Brought to my attention by a Twitter post from Count Bass D, the title track from Abstract Rude's upcoming Rhymesayers album, Rejuvenation:


Abstract Rude - Rejuvenation

Look out for it in on May 5th, or pre-order it from Rhymesayers' official store Fifth Element for a reduced price.

Bonus: Since the album's entirely produced by Seattle's own Vitamin D, thought I'd hit you off with one of my favorite productions of his, "The Writz" off of Gift of Gab's Fourth Dimensional Rocketships Going Up

My Thoughts on Watchmen or What Kind of Fan Are You?

So Watchmen, if you're a fan of genre films is a definite must see. It is an ambitious piece of cinema that does not compromise what it wants to do for its entire running time. While it's not perfect, in terms of its recreation of the book there are some deviations, and there are flaws (the tone of the film jumps around a bit, and I still haven't decided if it worked for me) but it's a better viewing experience for it. It's one of the first, if not the first comic book adaptations that works because less because of slavish devotion to what's on the page (but to be clear, it's pretty damned tight to the page) and more because of another quality that it shares with the original book: it invites discussion. Within five minutes after leaving the theater, the friends I watched it with were already talking about the purpose behind the level of gore and the way the fight scenes were filmed (My take: Given the very adult themes examined, and the meta nature of the source material? All the exaggerated bits of violence are "grown-up" version of the campy onomatopoeia that was in the old Batman TV show, or in comics. It wasn't a cool way to show violence, but rather, an in film context way to remind the viewer that this is a comic book.). That barely cracks the surface of the sort of conversations we got into afterwards.

Now I said that this is a must see for genre film fans. I didn't say comic book fans, because there are two sorts of us. There's the fan that's excited at the prospect of comic book properties being treated with the respect they deserve. Then there's the sort that aren't happy with anything but complete carbon-copy translation, and even then they are prepared to hate it before they've seen one frame. In the weeks leading up to the film I heard plenty of comic book fans voice their displeasure with the film, from the fairly standard jabs at Zach Snyder's use of the speed-cranking slow-mo technique (which, while it shows up, is restrained and works for what it's there for) and the lack of a certain cephalopod. Then there was word from "fans" who had apparently gotten to see early screenings of the film, claiming that the principal cast couldn't act. Now that the movie is actually out I've heard plenty of intelligent discussion about it, both positive and negative, but there are still comic book fans who're bound and determined to hate on the flick just because it exists. These fans, even in the face of being able to discuss their fandom in an way that doesn't patronize or disrespect the material are unable to accept the idea of what is precious to them being delivered to people outside of their niche group.

Depending on what sort of comic book fan you are, you may not want to see Watchmen. As for myself, I'm glad that I saw it because even I didn't like it I would have had a lot to talk about. Regardless of where you fall in your opinion on the movie, you can't deny that a lot of care and thought went into it being made. If you're like me, I'm pretty sure you'll feel like that alone deserve at least a look. So, what kind of fan are you?

Comic Book flicks are a lot like Westerns were back in the day...

...and they're likely due for a bust, just like Westerns were. I just hope that Watchmen is more The Wild Bunch than Heaven's Gate. This is where I'll be in about three hours:

I'll give my thoughts on Sunday.

Angel of Death: Starting Monday

Remember that Ed Brubaker scripted, Zoe Bell staring web series that I spoke on a few months back? Well it's dropping March 2nd at Crackle.com and you'll be able to see a new episode everyday for two weeks. Not bad for free, right? Here's the trailer one mo' 'gin for you to get up to speed:

Be sure to check it out this Monday, and shouts out to Chad from Crackle for peeping the site.

New Instrumental Album from Blueprint

Blueprint and anything from Weightless Records will get crazy burn around these parts because not only did Blueprint provide me with one of the most memorable interviews I've ever done in my life, he makes dope music. His instrumental album Chamber Music was a What's Good staple back in the radio show days, so I'm excited for the recently announced follow-up:



Sold exclusively at the Weightless shop and limited to 500 copies? You know what you need to do.

Bonus: One of my favorite tracks from Chamber Music, "Bleach"

ATTN Bedroom Beatmakers: Looking for something to do this weekend?

How 'bout working on a beat that could get you free tickets to this year's Paid Dues Festival, along with a bunch of other cool swag? Warner Bros., Loud.com, and Zune are sponsoring a contest to remix "Everything" off of Murs' major label debut, Murs for President. How do you get on? Simple. Hit up Murs' website for a download of the a capella, then get to work. Once you've got your version ready to go, create a producer profile at Loud, then upload it!

Good luck, and here's the man himself performing "Everything" in Columbus, OH @ The Basement:

Throwback Thursday - From the Future to the Past

Since I posted about Atlanta's future yesterday, here's a blast from its past with the title track from Outkast's 1996 offering, ATLiens:


And even further back from their first album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, in honor of my job interview in an hour, "Git Up, Git Git Out":

Since the new GTA IV expansion reminded me of him...

...here's a B.O.B. video drop. A crime-drama video game focusing on an outlaw motorcycle club isn't the first place I'd think to hear Bobby Ray's ode to everyone's favorite audio plug-in, but Statik Selektah's in game radio show has "Autotune" in its rotation:



Here's B.O.B. on his new millennium ATLien ish, "Generation Lost" one of my favorite joints from his upcoming debut:

Mix Tapes - Wu-Tang vs. The Abbott

"It ain't to the point where the crew is breaking up, we just not fucking with The Abbott…If this album drops or we don't come to some solution, of fixing what we all need to be comfortable with and what we all feel we need to be represented with, if we don't' get that and it's just about the politics then, let it be what it be…I already feel like the [Wu-Tang minus RZA] album is gonna have to come out."

This was Raekwon back in November of 2007, a month before the release of one of the most divisive albums of the Wu-Tang Clan's career, 8 Diagrams. Moreso than the fans, it very publicly divided the Clan as Raekwon and Ghost in particular aired out grievances with the RZA about finances and more notably the creative direction of the album. While Rae and Ghost (and admittedly most fans) wanted a return to the gritty, dark production of the Clan's heyday, the RZA was pulling from the work he's done on his own with live instrumentation and more orchestral sounds. The riffs calmed down as the album got closer to release but for many, Rae's gripes were well-founded and fans such as myself wondered when that RZAless Wu-Tang album was coming.

Well it's been more than a year since Raekwon told an interviewer that Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang would be coming and we haven't heard a peep about it from anyone involved in the Clan though they've all been active since. There have been tours, Rae's been amping up the Cuban Linx 2 talk yet again (with some impressive joints leaked, to boot) and RZA's been back at work with the Afro Samurai franchise, scoring another movie as well as the game. Yet and still, there have only been non-committal references to another Wu album by various members, with or without RZA.

After playing around with the idea, and a few conversations with friends about the notion of other producers working on a Wu full length, I decided to get to work on my own idea of what it might sound like. Entitled Wu-Tang vs. The Abbott, I've selected 11 producers who have either already worked with the Clan in some capacity or whose sound I believe with compliment Shaolin's Finest:

The Probable/Likely
DJ Muggs (1. General Principal, 2. Advance Pawns)
The RZA to Cypress Hill's Wu-Tang Clan, both crews have held allegiances with one another for quite a while, dating back to RZA and U-God appearing on "Killa Hill Niggas" on 1995's III: Temples of Boom. Muggs' dark, moody production fits the Clan's style, as is evidenced on these two tracks from his collaborative effort with GZA Grandmasters.

Pete Rock (3. The PJs, 4. Strange Fruit)
Another legendary beatmaker in the mix, Pete Rock's already worked with the Wu, producing more than a couple of bangers for Ghostface's solo album, and featuring clan members on each of his solo records.

DJ Premier (5. Jeru Da Damaja - One Day, 6. Crookyln Dodgers - The Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers)
The first producer I included in this list who I was actually surprised to learn that he hasn't yet worked with the Wu. As I'm typing this up I'm still looking around for anything at all, so if you find it, please drop a line in the comments to correct me. Premier literally defines that gritty sound of New York's early and mid-nineties golden era, using hard break loops and samples to craft Hip Hop classics. The Wu over a Premo track could be a match in Hip Hop heaven.

Mathematics (7. Ghostface Killah - Mighty Healthy, 8. GZA - Fam (Members Only))
While the RZA handled the majority of the Clan's production in the early days, there have been a few understudies in the crew: 4th Disciple, True Master and the next producer in the mix Allah Mathematics, better known as Mathematics. The influences of the Abbott are evident, but he's carved out his own niche over the years with solo joints and his own record company Quewisha.

Bronze Nazereth (8. Masta Killa feat. Inspektah Deck & GZA - Street Corner, 9. Bronze Nazareth, Solomon Childs & Byata - Street Corners)
One-third of the group Wisemen, Bronze Nazareth was invited into Wu's group of in-house soundsmiths back in 2002, and three years later he handled the bulk of the production on the compilation album Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Culture. One of favorite joints from it, "Street Corners" appears on Masta Killa's Made In Brooklyn. I included both since Masta Killa's version features clan members and further illustrates how well they can fit into someone else's production.

Carlos "6 July" Broady (11. Ghostface Killah - We Made It, 12. Royce Da 5'9" - Street Hop)
Even though he's apart of The Hitmen (Bad Boy's production team) he's one of the more underrated producers in the game. I got familiar with his work on Royce Da 5'9"'s album Death Is Certain, and his ability to balance soulful sounds with punch-you-in-face joints would suit the clan as a whole well.

The Wishlist
Da Beatminerz (13. Tek & Steele - Tools of the Trade, 14. Heltah Skeltah - Prowl)
The sonic backbone of another iconic NYC rap crew, Boot Camp Click, Da Beatminerz have worked with many East Coast underground luminaries over the years, and considering their signature sound of hard drums and samples is synonymous with New York rap, it's not hard to imagine how a Wu-Tang/Beatminerz joint would sound.

Khrysis (15. Sean Price - King Kong, 16. Sean Price - Stop)
As a member of the North Carolina's Justus League (Little Brother's their most well-known export), his efforts were overshadowed by his fellow JL beatmaker, 9th Wonder. When 9th parted ways with Little Brother, Khrysis' star seemed to shine a little brighter with spots on several Justus League affiliated projects, including these two joints from Sean Price's Jesus Price Superstar. When one of New York's most respected lyricists refers to you as his "personal go-to guy", you know you're onto something.

Marco Polo (17. Heltah Skeltah - Insane, 18. Marquee (Instrumental))
His 2007 album Port Authority was like a love letter to those that miss that ol' New York boom-bap, and has earned the respect of spitters like O.C., Masta Ace, and Kool G. Rap. With more than a few bangers crafted for East Coast heavy hitters, he'd have no trouble cooking up something for the Wu.

Dan the Automator & Prince Paul (19. Handsome Boy Modeling School - Waterworld feat. Encore, 20. Handsome Boy Modeling School - The Truth feat. J-Live & Róisín Murphy)
Both are incredible producers in their own right, collaborating with damn near the entirety of the Hip Hop community between the two of them. Their team effort, Handsome Boy Modeling School, particularly the debut album So...How's Your Girl? produced some of the murkiest, dustiest and atmospheric tracks they'd put out to that point. Most tracks were co-produced, but these two were solo joints, Automator on the former and Paul on the latter.

Maker (21. The Beginning, 22. Broken Wing feat. Qwel, 23. World of Shadows feat. Thawfor)
The most unlikely out of all of these, simply because of the producer's visibility and connection to the Clan in comparison to the other folks in the mix. I got put on to Maker when I was in college with his production for the group Glue, and as a member of the three man DJ squad The Comeups (Side Note: At the time they hadn't decided on a solid name, so they went through a few. When I first went to a party they DJ'd they were going by The Lou Ferrigno Experience). I was regularly blown away by his soulful and atmospheric production. His use of dusty samples and solid drums to make dark soundscapes would fit the Wu like a glove, IMHO.

Bonus: I can't believe I didn't mention this before, but I snuck a gem onto the end of the mix, "State of Grace" by Raekwon, produced by none other than the RZA. One of the first tracks to leak from Only Built For Cuban Linx 2, it's proof positive that RZA still has it in him to do the sort of record that Wu fans are looking for. It's precisely the sort of thing I thought of whenever talk of OBFCL2 was bandied about, and represents that there's still hope, however slight for the RZA and the rest of the Wu to hash out their creative differences and make a dope album again.

D/L: Wu-Tang vs. The Abbott

Hope you enjoy it, and let me know who YOU think should be included if Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang ever sees the light of day.

Throwback Thursday: Wu-Tang vs. The Abbott

The full post for Wu-Tang vs. The Abbott has been postponed until tomorrow due to technical difficulties, but I didn't want to leave y'all with nothing, so I thought I'd devote a video drop to the whole concept of a Wu-Tang album without RZA behind the boards. On the mixtape itself I'll feature joints by producers that've already worked with the Wu, producers who aren't too far removed from working with the Wu, and producers who I wish the Wu would take notice of. This edition of the Throwback is dedicated to the first, producers already in the Wu's wheelhouse.


"Mighty Healthy" produced by Mathematics on Ghostface's Supreme Clientele


"General Principles" produced by DJ Muggs on his collaborative effort with GZA Grandmasters.


"American Cream Team Line Up" produced by DJ Scratch on Funkmaster Flex's The Mix Tape Volume III - 60 Minutes of Funk

Tomorrow: Wu-Tang vs. The Abbott

F'real.

I promise.

Links Before the Storm

One more day of easy content before I drop a gem...

The end times are drawing close. Dr. Dre's Detox is dropping this year (supposedly), Rae's Cuban Linx 2 is dropping this year (supposedly) and Tarantino's finally bringing out Inglourious Basterds. Peep it at Yahoo! Movies in HD.

The A-Number One rare Hip Hop archiving site, T.R.O.Y just posted up an essay on Public Enemy's classic "Night of the Living Baseheads" that you can read here.

Magnolia's genre films wing Magnet (who released the amazing Let The Right One In last year) will be bringing Ong-Bak 2 to the U.S, according to 24fps.

Keep it locked to What's Good folks, Wu-Tang vs. The Abbott coming tomorrow...