More Relevance ;)
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Hip Hop and Me.
Current mood: calm
Category: Music
Earliest memory of me falling in love with hip hop was running to Woolworth's on Harlesden high street to buy the 7 inch vinyl of Doug E Fresh and Slick Ricks The Show, with La Di Dodi on the b side. Love that record! I remember hearing it on Westwood's show with my little radio that only got reception in my dining room and going crazy.
My brother had a big record collection and I remember playing his Public Enemy albums, but the artists which really made me stand up and take notice at an early age were Masta Ase and Dela Soul, Take a look around and 3 feet high and rising were owned by my brother in law. I copied Masta Ase on to a D90 tape but Dela's wouldn't fit (very upset)
Gangstars Step in to the arena was the first album I bought with my own money and walked around with it proud like a badge of honour, I couldn't wait to get the Patrick Ewing trainers Guru & Primo wore in the "just to get a rep" video.
Primo's numerous breaks on that album were pause tape looped and free-styled over, with my cousin Otis (Psykoe) and good friend from school Ikem (Stryfe) and before long we started a group. We worked on lyrics, not really putting any songs together just scribbling away.
Once my passion for rapping died down, and when hip hop production moved from hardware to software I started messing around with different packages, experimenting and trying to learn the software. The first few beats didn't sound like the hip-hop I liked to listen to and I found that frustrating, as time went on I got better. And when I found the samples and drums that suited me and my ear for music got better it was on, the jump in quality even surprised me.
I could now hear choruses, and breakdowns and verses in the sample and I would chop it creatively, rather than looping up the whole thing and making it somewhat repetitive. I try to stay as true to the music as possible and make it
Original.
It's funny I've had Cd's for a year that now don't work, or are not read properly in others drives.
But when I whack my Gangstar Step in the Arena Vinyl down it still plays on any make of turntable, unless your needles really shit … but you get my point!
Influences:
Ice Cube, Cypress Hill, Beatnuts, Brand Nubian, 3rd Base, Main Source, Nas, Diamond D, Organized Confusion, O.C., Souls of Mischief, Alkaholiks, Redman, Epmd, Das Efx, Keith Murray, Ultramagnetic Mc's, RUN DMC, N.W.A. Snoop Dogg, Dogg Pound, Mc Lyte, Queen Latifah, Kid N Play
Notorious BIG, 3rd Eye, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, EricB & Rakim, Cool G Rap, KrS1, Pharcyde, BlackMoon, Jeru, Artifacts, Gangstarr, Cella Dwellas, Lords of the Underground, Group Home Showbiz n AG, Big Pun, Public Enemy, Jazzy Jeff, Slum Village, Little Brother, Common, Outkast, Goodie Mob, A Tribe Called Quest, Foreign Exchange, Saukretes, Lupe Fiasco, Neptunes, Roy Ayers, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Artic Monkeys, Prince, Raphael Saadiq, Karizma, Tony Rotten, MCD, Caveman, London Posse, Kano, Big Daddy Kane, Wu Tang Clan, Capleton, Dirtsman, Skinnyman, Onyx. I'm sure there's more and feel free to add, but that's the style of hip-hop I love………………….
myspace.com/lostsoundsproductions
Ras Kass, Demon Possee, D Angelo, J Dee, Leaders of the New School, Busta Rymes, Flip Mode Squad, K-Solo, Can-i-bus, LL Cool J, Craig Mack, Das Efx, Blak Twang, Roots Manuva. Just to add a few ;)
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