30 Jan 2010
by themusicologist
in 80's Boogie, America, Hip Hop, Soul
Tags: 1981, 80's soul mp3, All Night Long, big daddy kane, curtis mayfield, Doug E Fresh, Keni Burke, LL Cool J, Mary J Blige, Pete Rock and CL Smooth, Risin to the Top mp3, The Jones Girls, themusicologist, Windy C label
SoulBoy#4
(Keni Burke – Risin’ To The Top)
Like I mentioned yesterday…time ain’t on my side for the next couple of days so can’t wax lyrical about today’s artist. Multi talented singer, songwriter, bass player, (today’s cut being a prime example), who wrote his first ‘hit’ at the tender age of 13 for Curtis Mayfield’s Windy C label.
Hip Hop fans, (as well as ‘Soul Boys’), will instantly recognise the BassLine which has been sampled by artists such as Doug E Fresh, Big Daddy Kane, LL Cool J, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Mary J. Blige, and OC as well as providing the inspiration for legions of producers. The Jones Girls 1983 cut ‘All Night Long’ was 80′s Soul at it’s finest and of course it was this piece that preceeded it…would Love to share more of the Cats ‘medals’ with you but I HAVE to be out the door in ten minutes so without further delay hold this majestic slice of the 80′s Soul and Boogie pie…
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21 Jan 2010
by themusicologist
in America, Hip Hop, Social Commentary
Tags: 1988, DJ Yella, Dr Dre, Eazy-E, Foucault, hip hop mp3, Ice Cube, Mc Ren, Straight Outta Compton, themusicologist
PoliceAndThieves #4
(NWA – Fuck The Police)
So much to do and so little time in which to do…the bane of the 21st Century and as we move deeper into the ‘Age Of Insecurity’ the question I sometimes find myself asking is
“what the f**k is it all about” and by ‘it’ I mean existence…is it a game “full of sound and fury signifying nothing” or does it have any deeper meaning. If truth be told, (and I have said it before), for me it does have meaning and it isn’t a game..games are for playing while I believe that life is for living.
What has this got to do with the current theme..not much. Just the way I’m rolling today…I Feel good, great in fact and I just wanted to share it with you.
While searching and scanning themusicologist vaults for cuts about Police and Thieves I have concluded that musically, Thieves barely get a mention. I think Foucault wrote a book about society’s fascination with villains, (which I will have to procure for the library), but they are not well represented in musicology whereas the police on the other hand are.
Today’s cut needs no introduction..borrowed from seminal 1988 album ‘Straight Outta Compton’ featuring the harmonious talents of Ice Cube, Mc Ren, Eazy-E, Dr Dre and DJ Yella
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28 Nov 2009
by themusicologist
in America, Hip Hop, Social Commentary
Tags: 9th wonder mp3, Bauhaus, cultural history, Grandmaster Flash, JFK, Marley Marl, MoMa, new new york mp3, Newcleus, Run Dmc, The Soul Sonic Force, The Wrecking Cru, themusicologist, UTFO, Whodini
NewYork NewYork #5
(9th Wonder feat ??? – New New York)
Saturday morning in the big A…and the city that never sleeps is snoring like a baby..I have been awake since 5:30 and looking out the window I don’t see a soul ! from where i’m plotted (the corner of 56 and Lex) and I’m itching to get out and tread some pavement….
Arrived in Manhattan yesterday afternoon after shooting the breeze all the way from JFK with a driver who hustled the fare between me and some Irish kid..which as it turned out was perfect because we spoke first about cricket, (he is from Trinidad), and then moved onto politricks, a topic I always enjoy. The fare was the same as I would have paid in a yellow so all good..although I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else. Unlicensed cars are dangerous and should never really be taken especially ‘up a foreign’.
Went to see a Bauhaus exhibition at the MoMa which was great due purely to the company I’m keeping on this whistle stop visit. Don’t get me wrong I am a big fan of the movement especially the photography and the architecture and it was nice to visit the MoMa but my primary reason for being here is to spend some QT with someone I have deep but as yet unpronounced feelings for..don’t worry I’m working up the courage to express myself in person but fear of rejection is the river I have always found hardest to cross but my will to succeed is growing stronger as I absorb my experiences along the way so I am determined to cross by any means neccessary after all what could be worse than drowning in fear?
Anyway, before I wander off into my all too frequent ramblings let’s get back to the music. Today’s cut is a wicked slice of what I have always known and will continue to call Hip-Hop…shows my age no doubt but I remember the inspirational call to arms when it sounded in the early 80′s and I marched right along with it until1985 when something else caught my ear.
Them early cuts hold great memories for me and one day I’m planning on rolling out a selection on themusicologist to pay tribute to cats like Whodini, Grandmaster Flash, Marley Marl, The Soul Sonic Force, Newcleus, The Wrecking Cru, UTFO, Run Dmc etc, ( to name but a few), for pioneering a NEW modernist sound..which along with ‘House’, (another musical product of the generation I am proud to have been on the vanguard of), have been the two most influential movements of the last 30 years. I look and listen around now and all I see and hear are variations on recurring themes that make me wonder if we have arrived at a point where ‘cultural history’ is on a loop?
So here without delay is a top ranking cut that is inspiring a rennaisance in the genre for themusicologist..extra BIG shout of love going out to our two children especially Fabian who likes this one. Haven’t got all my details here so i’m a bit lost regarding the details…all I do know off the top of my head is that it’s a 9th Wonder production and it’s absolutely top class that for me has the lot..lyrics, music and delivery.
Listen tune..
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23 Nov 2009
by themusicologist
in America, Hip Hop, Social Commentary
Tags: 1968 birth, 2006, big daddy kane, BizMarkie, Coleridge, hip hop mp3, Kool G Rap, Marley Marl, MC Shan, New York, Roxanne Shante, The Juice Crew, themusicologist, Wordsworth
NewYork NewYork #1
(Kool G Rap – Streets Of New York)
This week it’s all about NYC..The Big Apple. Why? because I’m going there on Friday to spend a few days with someone very special who is and has been an inspiration. Words don’t tend to do feelings justice so I’ll leave it at that…regular visitors to themusicologist will know that I have a tendency to wax lyrical and believe me I would like to continue in that tradition but being a dyed in the wool romantic the poetry could run away with me so I’ll do me best to rein it in before I get all 18th Century on yer arse and end up prancing about in velvet suits, curling up my ‘locks’ and spouting Wordsworth and Coleridge poems !!
So to balance that out hold this piece of 21st Century hip-hop from one of New York City’s legendary lyricists, the trail blazing, Kool G Rap .. one of the greatest rappers to have ever graced the M.I.C whose legacy runs deep. Member of Marley Marl’s Juice Crew, (along with MC Shan, Roxanne Shante, Big Daddy Kane and BizMarkie), the Cat has influenced many a BIG name and is highly regarded and respected by those in the know as a progenitor of the style which now dominates. A man whose authenticity regarding street narrative is beyond doubt..one final piece of information..he was born in 1968 which seems to be a significant year for many reasons.
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21 Nov 2009
by themusicologist
in America, Funk, Hip Hop
Tags: 1993, Damon Dickson, Eric Leeds, GoldNigga, Guess Who's Knockin' mp3, jean baudrillard fragments quote, Kirk Johnson, Levi Seacer, master of suspicion, Michael Bland, Prince mp3, Rosie Gaines, Social Commentary, Sonny T, The New Power Generation mp3, themusicologist, Tommy Barbarella, Tony M
Fragments #6
(New Power Generation – Guess Who’s Knockin’)
“The objective is always to pull out the tablecloth without in any way changing the arrangement of the table“
Short but so sweet. Scathing social critique from a master of suspicion.
The cut is courtesy of Prince project The New Power Generation. Featuring lead vocals from original member Tony M. Just like to add that by laying this one down I’m risking the wrath of a certain musician whose name I shall refrain from mentioning because rumour has it that he had it removed from this, the original 1993, set due to an unlicensed sample…so do me a favour and keep it on the ‘DL’.
The connection? .. The set was released in the same year that Baudrillard penned the fragment above.
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16 Nov 2009
by themusicologist
in America, Hip Hop, Soul, themusicologist
Tags: Akon mp3, jean baudrillard fragments quote, Mor Thiam, R&B Mp3, Senegal, T-Pain, themusicologist, U Got Me, Wolof
Fragments #3
(Akon, Feat T-Pain – U Got Me)
“The dialectic of the emotions is like that of the sign and the ascendant. The two may be in conjunction or opposed. The sign alone is not enough: you have to have the ascendant too. It is not enough just to be happy: this has to give you pleasure too. It is not enough just to be unhappy: this has to hurt. Without the aura of pleasure, happiness is sad indeed; without the idea of pleasure, there is mere mammalian enjoyment. But without the aura of suffering, unhappiness is also sad indeed.
There is always a transcendence of pleasure or unpleasure beyond the fact of being happy or unhappy.
The hypocritical accounts which set happiness and unhappiness in opposition miss this subtlety which unites them in a common division – in that reversibility of each which, in the end, constitutes our true happiness. We still have the freedom to use this and abuse it extravagently, and only what takes this freedom from us makes us truly unhappy beings”.
The cut today is from a contemporary artist who for me is proof that music continues to transcend and inspire even in this age of banality where e-con-omics has reduced everything, (especially culture), to profit and loss..Of course this artist makes money, (and plenty of it), but the cat still delivers quality. I would imagine that part of this musical ability is his heritage..Akon’s pops is famed Senegalese percussionist and cultural historian Mor Thiam whose surname means “historian” in his native tongue and comes from a family whose members use drums to tell the story of Senegal’s Wolof people..
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musicology #479
21 Jan 2010 5 Comments
by themusicologist in America, Hip Hop, Social Commentary Tags: 1988, DJ Yella, Dr Dre, Eazy-E, Foucault, hip hop mp3, Ice Cube, Mc Ren, Straight Outta Compton, themusicologist
PoliceAndThieves #4
(NWA – Fuck The Police)
So much to do and so little time in which to do…the bane of the 21st Century and as we move deeper into the ‘Age Of Insecurity’ the question I sometimes find myself asking is
“what the f**k is it all about” and by ‘it’ I mean existence…is it a game “full of sound and fury signifying nothing” or does it have any deeper meaning. If truth be told, (and I have said it before), for me it does have meaning and it isn’t a game..games are for playing while I believe that life is for living.
What has this got to do with the current theme..not much. Just the way I’m rolling today…I Feel good, great in fact and I just wanted to share it with you.
While searching and scanning themusicologist vaults for cuts about Police and Thieves I have concluded that musically, Thieves barely get a mention. I think Foucault wrote a book about society’s fascination with villains, (which I will have to procure for the library), but they are not well represented in musicology whereas the police on the other hand are.
Today’s cut needs no introduction..borrowed from seminal 1988 album ‘Straight Outta Compton’ featuring the harmonious talents of Ice Cube, Mc Ren, Eazy-E, Dr Dre and DJ Yella
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