2/9/10 - AMG

Quick post, compiling some profiles of my favorite producers from California for a series on this blog.

Here's a hit for ya, though.

AMG - Bitch Betta Have My Money (1991)

Here's the title track of the above album. Real dope.



Another hit for the real pros:

2/8/2010 - Beer + Beats? (And "Illegal Business")

The dudes over at Music and Beer tend to talk about, well, music and beer. I've mostly been on the music tip until now, but here's a little beer story. I was in Arcata during summer, digging a hole to put my girlfriend's dead dog in. The dog was big, so naturally I was pretty fucking tired halfway through. During a brief break from the work, I was presented with this Steelhead beer. It was quite good. It gave me the strength I needed to finish the ditch. Try it sometime. Ben had a good heart, much like this beer's flavor. I don't need to make sense, this is my motherfucking blog. R.I.P. Ben.

Mac Mall's Classic Album "Illegal Business" is below. At least it's classic to me. Real early 90's Bay Area rap is really good. Dre Dog, RBL, IMP, Rappin' 4-Tay, Too $hort, Totally Insane, Mac Dre, Mac Mall, Spice 1, Casual, Extra P, Souls, Del, list goes on and on. "Illegal Business" is still one of my favorites. Peep a song from it on the last youtube embed at the bottom of this post. Khayree really kept the production fresh for this. He produced Mac Dre's debut which was really dope, too. Khayree and T.C. were really runnin' shit around this time.

Mac Mall - Illegal Business (1993)

Here are some really ill songs:

2/6/2010 - Sentido + PUTS in Brazil

Eddie Palmieri - Sentido (1973)

For real, check this out. I got it out of the $2 thrift store record bin. I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Really good Latin music. I don't really dig that term, it's really ambiguous, but I can't think of any other classification. Give it a try. "Condiciones Que Existen" is my favorite track. Funky as hell, very powerful horns. I'd love to share that track with you via YouTube link, but I couldn't find it there. Just click that link up there to download the album, it's worth it.

Here's another song, the hit "Puerto Rico". It's probably the most recognized off of this album. It's great, too.

Digging around for records in Sacramento is hard sometimes, maybe I'm not up on the good spots. I usually go to The Beat and tons of thrift stores. Dimple is pretty barren when it comes to vinyl, and when they do have good stuff, it's very expensive.

If anybody knows some spots, put me up on 'em. Also, if any of y'all have a little beat machine/turntable set up and want to rap, that'd be dope.

Also:

PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS IN BRAZIL

A favorite group of mine went to Brazil. They made all sorts of dope shit happen. Check it out, part 1 is below.

2/5/2010 - No Need For Alarm/Unfinished Business

No Need For Alarm

Growing up, this was one of my favorite albums. The shit is just straight funky, and while it hasn't aged incredibly and it gets sort of monotonous to people who aren't entrenched Del fans, it's still a great rap record. It is was darker and more aggressive than "I Wish My Brother George Was Here." I personally prefer it.

I would listen to the shit on repeat and play Xardion (shitty robot platformer that was fun for a little kid like me), Killer Instinct and Rise of the Robots while downing soda. That's real right there. I also dug on some Dre Dog/Nickatina and some Delta Force. SNES and PC games and rap was it.

So yeah, some early ass dark battle rap shit. The beats are hard, the rhymes are rough and on point. What more can a rap fan want?


Del The Funky Homosapien - No Need For Alarm (1993)


Also:

EPMD - Unfinished Business (1989)


I stumbled upon this sample set from Hip Hop is Read, and it is incredible. If you are into finding out what goes into your music, these guys are second to none.

EPMD - Unfinished Business Samples

2/5/2010 - MMA Picks, New Brotha Lynch Video

From the man who brought you "Season of the Siccness" is this video. It's the first installation in what appears to be a movie. It caught my attention, which is more than a lot of his previous projects have done. If you hook him up with good production, he'll deliver.

One thing that consistently bothers me is the distinction between Alternative Hip Hop and Hip Hop. The sub-genre has become an excuse to be pretentious. Hell, it may have always been an excuse for 'more intelligent' rap fans to look down upon 'unsophisticated' rap fans. Either way, don't listen to Sage Francis.

If anyone's looking forward to this weekend's shitty MMA fights (UFC 109), I'll put my picks right here.

Couture, Marquardt, Swick, Serra and Maia. I did a whole betting breakdown, but yeah. Couture is too big of a favorite to justify betting on, same with Marquardt. Matt Serra is good value at -130, Trigg can't take a punch any more and his wrestling was never impressive. Couture, Marquardt, Swick and Serra is a pretty solid parlay. CagePotato went with it and I like it.

Look for two winded geezers with their hands on their hips gasping for breath in the 3rd. Couture will try to press Coleman against the fence, Coleman will push him off, they will return to looking at each other and breathing hard. Then they both call time out for some hits off the oxygen tank.

And these:

2/4/2010 - Donald Byrd and Random Tunes

This one is a lot less rap oriented than most of the ones I write. I'm short on time, so I'll just keep it to the music. You may have heard samples of this album in DJ Quik or Pete Rock tunes, but the album itself is great, too. "Places and Spaces" as you may have heard in the last post, is the shit. Tons of ill material here. It branches out and sounds a little Disco at points, but that was Donald for you. Here's the album I've been gushing about, the cover is above. I didn't do it justice, just give it a try.

Donald Byrd - Places and Spaces (1975)

Here are a couple ill bonus songs.

"Mr. Funky Samba"


"Maracatu Atomico"


and who can forget "Friends"?

2/2/2010 - Cut the Cake

What up y'all? You wanna hear some real funky shit? I hope you've heard this before, but if you haven't, you're in for a treat. You should recognize a few hits off this joint. "Cut the Cake" is just dope. "School Boy Crush" or "Microphone Fiend"?

Average White Band - Cut the Cake (1975)

Enjoy that shit. I just copped the LP, the CD was in the rotation a while back, I haven't seen it since I ripped it.

In other news, People Under the Stairs got announced for Paid Dues, which makes the line-up pretty damn good. I could pass on a lot of the acts at this point, but I still wanna see Del and Cube rock (as well as the P).

Anybody got a fix on the Donald Byrd "Places and Spaces" LP? I've been dying to buy that record for a while. Don gets too progressive for me sometimes. He was still a Jazz artist at his core even though he was dipping his fingers into all sorts of genres. I just wish he'd stick with an idea for a little longer before he switches it up on you.

Do I like "All the Places" more? I dunno, maybe. Probably. It's a hard call. Just enjoy both of the songs.

Peace.