Hip Hop to me
Chapter 1: Rage Against the Machine
In 6th grade I was a little shit that absorbed every second of radio filth spewed out by the popular local alternative station and revered it as gospel. This little world of musical fantasy was shattered abruptly during this year. My brother, a few years elder, introduced me to three phenomenal artists that changed the way I listened to music forever. First, TOOL. Second, DJ Shadow. Third, Rage Against the Machine.
Rage was something different. Phenomenal instrumentation topped with immaculate lyricism. Lyricism, not vocals. Zach De La Rocha has a gift among Rock vocalists. He has an innate ability to convey his deeply developed consciousness and progressive attack against American society. I listened to every album on the bus to and back from school. At 12 and 13, most kids were still riding Blink-182's dick, but this level I have transcended. I ignored everyone else and revered the gold emitted from my headphones. Later albums really show De La Rocha's prowess. On BOLA, Mic Check is one song I can spin on air alongside other hip-hop, and it fits in perfectly. Then, look at Renegades. It blasts off with an Eric B & Rakim joint, paying homage to East coast roots, and then is closely followed by Volume 10's hit, respecting West coast roots. The album continues to respect hip-hop with covers of Bambaata, Cypress Hill, and EPMD covers. De La Rocha rocks every song, converting these rhymes into rock lyrics, and proving that it works. After hearing the complexity and fluidity of these lyrics I realized that there was something else out there. I kept this though in a closet in my mind, to return to it later.
RATM - Mic Check
RATM - How I Could Just Kill A Man
Chapter 2: DJ Shadow
If theres one artist I can name that will always blow my mind it is this genius. Seriously, he is on a level of his own among DJ's. Anyone who has seen any documentary that mentions of features Shadow (like Scratch) can see that Shadow is not only to be respected by his fans, but by his peers. The was in which he masters sampling places him at the top of instrumental DJ's for me. RJD2 has nothing on him (nothing against RJD2 mind you). After discovering the magic of this man, I quickly accumulated a resepctable part of his discography. Endtroducing..., one of the most phenomenal virgin releases ever epitomizes his skill. To everyone who knows songs like "Midnight in a Perfect World", you can agree, and to those who don't, you will soon. When I play this song off the LP I tear up. It is true beauty that can only be appreciated by the ears. Also, now as a avid turntablist, I can respect his prowess on the wheels of steel, shown in songs like Walkie Talkie. Listening to Shadow, accompanied by a brief foray into the world of Electronica, brought me to love the way the beats make me nod my head, tap my feet, and move my body. It was missing something though, it needed more.
DJ Shadow - Midnight in a Perfect World
DJ Shadow - Walkie Talkie
Chapter 3: Crossing Over (With RJD2 and Copywrite)
This is a brief but extremely important part of my music life. I can imagine everyone who is reading this has heard Deadringer at least 15 times. Why not? It's a great album. RJD2 is a great producer. When I used to listened to Deadringer, I paid more attention to tracks like Chicken Bone Circuit, Smoke and Mirrors, and Ghostwriter. One day, listening through the album, the song June came on. Sick beat. Most importantly however, I came to realize over the 6 minutes of the song, was Copywrite. An MC? What was this? People sang, no, flowed over songs like this? And it sounds this good? How the fuck did I miss this? Listening to June was a pivotal moment in my life. Now going back to the song I'm not as impressed by his lyrics, but there is still a significance to this song for me. Now I had the bug. I needed more. And more. I was soon engulfed in "Underground Hip Hop" and I quickly built up the shield of arrogance and wisdom around me, because soon enough, I KNEW hip-hop. Jedi MInd Tricks, Atmosphere, DL Incognito, Mos Def, Dead Prez, and Immortal Technique were all I needed to blast away any of those other ignorant maf'k's.
RJD2 - Smoke and Mirrors
RJD2 ft. Copywrite - June
Chapter 4: Reality
Holy shit was I wrong. What a 15-year-old dipshit I was. With some guidance from friends (Dosh) over the years I have become what I am today. A fully fledged hip-hop head. No I don't know everything about hip hop. It is way way too deep for that. However, I respect it. I love it. I live it. Every day I am looking for that new sound, something that hits me where it counts. There are so many different varieties of hip-hop out there it is impossible to master every one, and the genre itself is something an 18-year-old hippie child from Vermont can only be a student of, never a teacher. I won't try and press my tastes upon you, but I want you to understand that I have spent countless hours listening to hip-hop. If I don't like a group, I'm not trying to say you shouldn't listen to it, I'm just saying that I've heard it before, I've studied it, and I don't like it, for whatever reason. There is not going to be any hate on an artist or any of you for listening to, I just want to show you what else is out there. So if you want to stop reading threads about how Slug is a prophet, Immortal Technique is a revolutionary, Vinnie Paz is a genius, or Lil' Wayne shits gold, open your ears, drop your "Underground Hip-Hop" shields, and tune in to some of the most influential music to be released in the past 2 decades. Enjoy motherfuckers!
Big L - All Black
Fat Joe - Flow Joe
Funkdoobiest - Wopbabalubop ft. B-Real
Gangstarr - DWYCK ft. Nice & Smooth
GZA - Investigative Reports ft. Raekwon, Ghostface, and U-God
Sooo much more to throw out there, stay tuned for more. Trash me all you want, I'd be happy to defend myself. PEACE
