Outkast - Roses

Yeah, I've sucked pretty hard at bloggin' lately, but I'm gonna make efforts to sort this out. So we're back with a banger: Roses.

Outkast are a pretty important duo. Aside from being early pioneers of the southern style, they basically killed it this decade, pumpin' out tune after tune. Roses kinda epitomises everything they represent, their signature beats and bass, the southern vocals, the sense of humour, daring to step out side the boundaries of hip-hop. Outkast are visionaries. On top of this, it's a totally infectious record, Stankonia and Speakerboxx/Love Below FTW.

Too Legit To Quit Vol. IV

So I've been slightly shit about keep t'ings up to date on here lately, but I'm hoping that a visit to The Old Blue Last this Friday will inspire me. That's Friday 16th October, The Old BLue Last, Whorebitch. More info here. I'd also like to take this opportunity to request Sweetness by Michelle Gayle, but I'm pretty sure that ain't gonna happen.

Kelis - Milkshake

Usually, female sex taunts in records are designed to intimidate their opposite sex. Oddly, this record sets other women in its targets with Kelis sayin' she could teach 'em, but she'd have to charge. It's not really that odd, because while performed by Kelis, it was written by The Neptunes' Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo.

At risk of destroying any sensitivities I might have just displayed; this is a good video...

Ol' Dirty Bastard - Shimmy Shimmy Ya

'Gimme the mic so I can take it away'

This song keeps popping up everywhere! First I heard it out one night, sped up twice as fast (sounded awful). Then I heard a pretty inspired mix of it with Big L's Ebonics (sounded great) from Too Legit's 'Prince Pac'. Then I heard this recording of it from the El Michels Affair on Giles Peterson's compilation Brownswood Bubblers Four. Turns out they got an album out called Enter The 37th Chamber, which is mainly jazz/live band instrumental versions of all the tracks from the Wu-Tang's 36 Chambers. Pretty mellow, but a really good listen. I highly recommend both the Brownswood series, and the The 37th Chamber. I love that way that this cover of Shimmy Shimmy Ya has loads of little kids singing the lyrics and chanting 'Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang'. Pretty much as far away from ODB as you can get.

Pharoahe Monch - Simon Says / Desire

I've always love Monch's complex and aware lyrics; Desire is a great example of this. His unique flow is endlessly satisfying to listen to, check Simon Says;

Appropriately, he was sued for using an unauthorised sample from the film Godzilla for this record; this track is a monster. I think this was his first single 'by his ones'; Desire was from 2007's Internal Affairs album, and has got the sound of an instant classic about it. These have to be some of my favourite rap lyrics of recent years.

"Still get it poppin' without artist & repertoire, 'cause Monch is a monarch minus the A&R..."

Pharoahe Monch will apparently release his third solo album W.A.R. (Let My People Go) this year. He reckons it'll be a "throwback to '93 & '94 hip-hop'. Sounds good.

50 Cent - 21 Questions

I'm a big fan of 50. Mainly his earlier work from Get Rich Or Die Tryin' and some of the records that came out after that. I even saw the flick based on his life story; two fuckin' hours long. Don't waste your time on that, but do waste it on this;

For the life of me I can't quite link the track to the video. I thought it was a nice little love song, but perhaps I got the direction wrong. After watching this video, it can only be about 50 Cent's sexual tension and burgeoning relationship with a fellow inmate 'friend'.

Mobb Deep - Shook Ones Part II

'The Infamous' is often hailed as one of the greatest rap albums of all time, and it's definitely up there. And Shook Ones Part II has to be one of the greatest east coast rap records. It's a pretty gritty and violent album, but tells a good story, despite their art college background.

Missy Elliot - She's A Bitch

Another Hype Williams video classic; everything about it looks so evil and bad-ass. I wish I had shades like that and rolled 'round in an XJ220. I reckon this video was made at the height of Hype's amazing visual powers, it's like some sort of gothic Tron.

Plus, Hype squeezes the signature moves (again); wet floors & wide angle lenses.

Too Legit To Quit

Is happening tomorrow night at The Old Blue Last on Great Eastern Street, Shoreditch. It's been a real good party the last two nights, I/we got far too drunk on the first night. We all mounted the stage and looked like complete twats. Don't do like what we gone done, but do get down there and enjoy nothing but 80's/90's hip-hop, RnB, new jack swing and hip-house'. More info here.

R Kelly & Public Announcement - She's Got That Vibe

Kelly is clearly such a potent force and danger to society on the whole, he has to be kept in an 'armed car' at all times, except for when performing.

Regardless of Kelly's menace to ladyfolk the world over, this is a shining example of New Jack Swing. R&B vocals over a hip-hop beat perfected.

Wreckx-N-Effect - New Jack Swing

This is a such a good song I'd forgotten about completely... Jam packed with a million little samples, it reminds me of so many different types of music, one song in particular; Wayne Wonder's 'Bashment Girl'. If you listen to both songs side by side they sound nothing alike, but it's the that bouncing, marching spirit within that links them for me. I guess New Jack Swing was all about mixin' up genres.

Jade - Don't Walk Away

I'm listening to a lot of New Jack Swing today, after checking Murderbot's amazing mix of this era's best records. I actually bought the single of this in the Oxfam on Kingsland Road a couple of weeks ago, along with a Bobby Brown single and (ahem) a 5ive record for my friend Nat. She loves 'em.

This video falls victim to the phenomenom of 'happy-and-smiling-dancers-and-models-in-a-gritty-urban-environment' so popular in music videos, but that's what makes it good, right?

Wayne Smith - Under Mi Sleng Teng

Wayne Smith was responsible for the digitisation of reggae/dancehall. This was the first riddim created on a computer, in fact a Casio keyboard. Released in the early eighties, this is a montrous track;

Sizzla - Haunted & Nervous

As the winter nights approach, Sizzla helps me pretend it's still summer! More than summer, this record reminds me of the amazing John Cardiel.

I'm sure Sizzla ain't the greatest human being in the world with his particular views of certain people and groups, but some of his music is bangin'.

Chopped & Screwed

I really hadn't a clue about what seems to be pretty deep and involved scene. It's based around remixing mainly southern hip hop using only two techniques; chopping and screwing. The chop is the moving around of bits of the track and creating effects that kinda sound like a CD skipping. The screw is slowing the whole track right down, and flowing the music through distortions and effects. It's really weird, and it take a bit of time to get into, but once you're there it's really good. It gets kinda addictive and proper hip hop starts to sound strange.

If it helps you to understand about why this music is the way it is, it was conceived under the influence of 'Purple Drank' or 'Syrup', which is a mixture of prescription strength cough mixture (codiene & promethazine) with either soft drinks or booze. Might help you get into the correct frame of mind to know that. Get down your local Chemist.

Ludacris and T-Pain recently released this specifically chopped and screwed record, witht the aim of mimicing the sound, as as such it's not truly C&S, but it's good none-the-less. This track got the treatment naturally, but double chopping and screwing is when it's time to call it a day.

EPMD - So Wat Cha Sayin'

A fine record from Erick and Parrish Makin' Dollars. This track is from 'Unfinished Business', and for my money this album had one of the best covers in hip hop. It's also worth getting into some of the EPMD 'second coming' stuff, like Da Joint.

Check the artwork;

H-Town - Knockin' Da Boots

Classic slow jam. From 1993's Fever For Da Flavor this record is like a checklist for anyone who came after. The video is gold too - There's an incredibly literal motif of a big ol' boot every thirty seconds or so; not a sexy lady boot, but just a big boot. It also features two of the most highly erotic bedroom activities; blowtorches and Star Trek chess.

Incredible haircuts and jackets throughout.

Dizzee Rascal - I Luv U

Speech Debelle got me thinking about Dizzee's Mercury Prize winning debut album, especially his debut single, I Luv You. It's an assault; dirty and grimey. Best served up loud.

Shystie provides the other side of the conservation on the record; be sure to check her 'response' to I Luv U, it's a worthy version of the original, with all the urgency and power left intact.

Roots Manuva - Witness (1 Hope)

We all love Roots Manuva's music, right? Well, we should do 'cause he's a fucking hero but that's not the reason I'm writing about him here. Witness came from his second album, Run Come Save Me after his amazing first (Brand New Second Hand) and it was an instant classic. It's a pounding, infectious mix of hip-hop and Jamaican soundsystems, complete with space echos. Love those space echos. But it's the self-deprecating, hilarious video of Rodney Smith's 'one hope, one quest' to crush little school children that I'm talkin' 'bout.

"Cause right now I see clearer than most, I sit here contending with this cheese on toast"

LL Cool J - Doin' It

So this is like my forth post on the Ladies Love. But this LL bias can be easily justified by the sheer number of slack classics he's knocked out over the years. The original is by far the finest version you'll hear, though a notable mention must be made of a remix by Erick Sermon. The original version was based around a Grace Jones sample, and was funnily considered to be anti-semitic by some radio sations in the US, due to a misunderstanding of the line 'chewin' it' as 'Jewin' it'... this lead to the lyric being blanked out in some cases.

The track is referred to by LL on the album Phenomenom (one of my favourite Cool J albums) in Nobody Can Freak You which featured Keith Sweat. Good quality filth.

Speech Debelle - Speech Therapy

Speech Debelle won the Mercury Music Prize last night, and she couldn't deserve it any more. Her album Speech Therapy really shines bright. Lovely Us3-esque jazzy samples throughout, full of little references to rappers through the ages, concious and deep lyrics, great story-telling. Speech should go far. The stand out track for me is 'Finish This Album'; it really ties into the therapy part of the record, like it's the end of some sort of process for Speech. Apparently it was the song that got her signed in the first place. Other stand outs are 'Wheels In Motion' with Roots Manuva and 'The Key'.

Props to Speech, this has been one of my favourite albums this year.

Talib Kweli - Get By

Always loved the Mos Def collab that resulted in Black Star, four years later Get By killed it for me again. Kweli flows, Kanye delivers on the production.

The sample used to make this record came from a Nina Simone track; Sinnerman. It's a sprawling, energetic epic; sit down and listen your way through the whole piece, it's well worth it.

Lauryn Hill - Ex Factor

Lauryn Hill is without a doubt one of the most beautiful women the world has seen, and it's for this reason I'm a little bit in love with her.

From Lauryn's one and only studio album, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill was steady mobbin' at the end of the nineties. Ninety-nine saw it everywhere, and Ex Factor was one of the strongest tracks on the record.

Other killers from the ablum included Everything Is Everything and Doo Wop (That Thing). The title for the album was apparently based on the movie The Education Of Sonny Carson.

Mase - What You Want

I don't like Mase. He's a terrible rapper with all the charisma of a Gerry Anderson puppet. But something about the music his name is attributed to I do like. I think it must be a combination of the Bad Boy Records production and the Hype or Hype-stlye videos.

This particular track is pretty slack, mainly due to it being built around Curtis Mayfield's Right On For The Darkness (check it). The video for What You Want is once again great for all the right reasons; dancing girls and a wide angle lens.

Pete Rock & CL Smooth - They Reminisce Over You

"Biological didn't bother"

Often voted into the top 10 of greatest of all time polls, and I'm not gonna argue. Dedicated to Troy Dixon of Heavy D And The Boyz who died from an accidental fall in 1990, T.R.O.Y is a classic.

LL Cool J Vs. Canibus

"99% of your fans wear high heels"

This has gotta be one of hip hop's most famous beefs, with one of the most no-holds-barred diss records ever. The story goes that on LL's 4,3,2,1 record from Phenomenom, Canibus rhymed 'Is that a mic on your arm? Let me snatch it'. Recorded before he laid down his verse, and directly refering to his microphone tattoo, LL hit back with a 'know-yo-place-bwoy' set of lyrics. Check the last verse;

Canibus was savage in his retort. Musically solid, the record hit Mr. Smith on every level. 'Second Round K.O.' not only straight wrecked LL from begininning to end, but featured Mike Tyson (whom LL referd to in '4,3,2,1' as an equivalent), and was an obvious nod to the classic 'Mama Said Knock You Out'.

The beef stretched on for a while longer after this but it all got a bit boring with the Lady's Love responding with 'Ripper Srikes Back', then Canibus's 'Rip The Jacker', then LL's 'Back Where I Belong'... you get the idea.

Jay Z - Big Pimpin'

'Big Pimpin' baby...'

Can't get enough of Hype Williams... It's well worth a visit to his website for a trip down memory lane. Check Busta and Missy's 'Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See' and 'She's A Bitch'.

This video is amazing for all the right and quite obvious reasons.

I recently watched a pretty bad movie called Step Brothers with Will Ferrel and John C Reilly. They record a song called 'Boats 'n Hoes' and I'm positive the video they make is based on this Hype classic; what d'you think?

Bobby Brown - Two Can Play At That Game

Bobby Brown. Everyone's favourite New Jack Swing crack head who seems to be appropriate to play out in any situation. I hear this song on the radio, at work, at raves in woods and on the TV.

Anyway, it's crackin', and the video features my previously mentioned favourite music video effect; super-imposed dancing.

Ludacris - Growing Pains

'I'm a child of the corn, been wild since I was born'

A recent-ish effort from Ludacris, one of his most accessable tracks, and most likely one of my favourites from the man. Check it out;

Now, the William Bell original is stunning, a heartfelt Stax/Volt song from 1968. It's a really genuine song of love and regret, and has these touching, soaring strings section throughout. It's always been a favourite of mine and many others, so you'd think the thought of Luda bastardising it would be sacreligious. But some how it works, I think it's the sentiment behind it. That said, it didn't work for Dialated Peoples or Jaheim.

William Bell - I Forgot To Be Your Lover; One of the greatest songs ever.

LL Cool J - Loungin'

"Chanel on your feet"

This is a classic mid-period affair from Mr. Smith, but it's the sample that makes it. It don't mean I dislike it, I actually really enjoy it. It's an above average LL song, nowhere near as bad as 'Ain't Nobody' (lazy track/awful yet amazing video).

But it's all about the original. I never got exposed to Bernard Wright when I was younger, I think this song was from the mid-eighties, and I haven't got a bad thing to say about it. It really is a fantastic tune and video. There's something about this song (and Bernard Wright) that is really genuine and sincere. The chorus part of the video has a nice effect where they spin around on the floor and the world goes upside down and back again; it really gets the point across.

Ice Cube - Today Was A Good Day

"Hit the the three wheel motion"

Man I love this song - good for the months of summer, or for living in California where it's hot all the time. All the time. This truly is a classic, and so ingrained in hip hop history, there was no way the sample was ever going to work for Usher. I got a lot of time for Usher, but that song just doesn't go.

Based on the Isley Brother's 'Footsteps in the dark', Ice Cube's version goes in the complete opposite direction. The original is a brilliant Isley tune, and it's a pretty solemn and melancholie piece about infidelity.

Mos Def - Ms. Fat Booty

"Ass so fat, you could see it from the front"

I'm gonna be doing a few bits on soul songs from the sixties and seventies that have been transformed into modern day hip hop classics; this one is first up. 'Ms. Fat Booty' is a killer and come from one of those albums that steady mobs all the way through. 'Black On Both Sides' is a lot of people's all time favourites.

I have to admit I never knew the source material until recently, but it's a smash. A not so well know Aretha Franklin tune; 'One Step Ahead';

Blackstreet - No Diggity

No doubt, No Diggity is one of the finest pieces of music written. An overstatement? In terms of what makes up this song, no. No Diggity takes a history of black music and condenses it into four minutes. Starting at the beginning, there's the sample of 'Grandma's Hands' by soul's Bill Withers, a short, blues guitar ode to his aged relative, and her old and worn limbs. She'd have undoubtedly been alive at the turn of the century when life was hella different for a lot of people. Withers' 'Mmm-mmm' at the start and end of the song, strongly resembles the voices of the chain gangs, the field hollers, the work songs of enslaved or imprisoned black Americans one hundred years ago.

The 'shoops' of Blackstreet throughout the song are reminiscent of doo-wop era music, and those piano chords take it back to jazz. On top of all this, there's the perfect fusion of hip-hop and modern rhythm and blues, Blackstreet's smooth sounds, Dr. Dre's rap. Work songs, jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop, R&B, rap, and more I've most likely missed. I know the very essense of hip-hop is to borrow, chop, sample and screw, but very few songs have done it quite so well as this.

Hype Williams is responsible for the video, and it's easily one of his best. Retrained and subtle, with a beautiful colour palette. Highlights are the little puppets playing instruments and the girls dancing on the wet floor in front of the limousines.

Bell Biv DeVoe - Poison

Bell Biv DeVoe: Splinter cell of New Edition. I don't even know where to start this one; the accompanying flick is appallingly amateurish, yet completely amazing in equal measure. The beginning is pretty fly with the lady scientist, And the super-imposed dancing through out is such classic effect. The clothing selections could warrant an entire essay, needless to say the Dennis The Menace shirt is hands down the best.

Overall, I'd describe it as "mentally hip-hop smoothed out on the R&B tip with pop appeal to it". I'd say that's fair.

Silk - Freak Me

Discovered by Keith Sweat, Silk released 'Freak Me' in 1993. It's a solid smooth track, but it's the mildly homoerotic video that stands out. There's two versions to be seen, the only reason I can imagine that a second one exists is that the original was too filthy for 1993 standards. From what I can gather, the complex narrative structure centres around women working out in gym with Silk in various states of undress. There's every possiblity that the video serves as some sort of deep political metaphor, but I doubt it.

Big L - Ebonics

"I talk with slang and I'm a' never stop speakin it"

Funnily enough, I first heard Big L (so called for being little) on a L'il Stevie Williams part (so called for being big). That was 'Size 'Em Up', an abrasive roof raiser, this is 'Ebonics';

2009 is the 10th anniversary of Lamont Colemans death; he was shot on the very same corner he was photographed on for his only studio album 'Lifestyles Ov Da Poor And Dangerous'. At only 24, he was already a Harlem hip-hop legend.

Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It

Montell rocks a fair number of looks in this video, the best is smoking a cigar on date Montell.

Now, Montell doesn't actually say these exact words, but this song got me thinking; What's the very first recorded example of the phrase 'Throw/wave your hands in the air, like you just don't care'...? The earliest I can think of is Cameo's 'Word Up' from 1986;

Now I might be able to find out if I could be bothered to do the research, but I can't. Your thoughts appreciated.

5ive - Slam Dunk Da Funk

Nah, only joking. 5ive were shit.

R Kelly - Bump 'n' Grind

"My mind's tellin' me no, but my body's tellin' me yes...". So begins one of Kelly's finest works. There doesn't seem to be any official video available, though there is this pretty fruity live performance right here.

You just can't deny the brilliance of this song - it's fire. When me and some friends when to an R&B night in Shoreditch recently, this came on. We drunkenly got on the stage and bumped and ground, we thought we looked amazing. We looked like twats. This is the power of R Kelly.

The Fugees - Zealots

At the time, this album was a monster. Absolutely everywhere. This track was my favourite from 'The Score', mainly because of the sampling from the doo-wop era song, 'I Only Have Eyes For You' by The Flamingos. Now that's a smooth song, kinda past smooth into dreamy, sleepy territory. Lovely.

Here's another one of my uncle's photos from New York. Hill looks quite young here, so I guess this photo was taken around the time of 'Blunted On Reality'. I love Lauryn.

Notorious B.I.G - Big Poppa

Sampling the Isley Brother's 'Between The Sheets', Big Poppa is a smooth slice of slack.

Slackness is also applied liberally to this video and at the pinnacle of its game in this respect. I think I like it so much because I can relate - it's pretty much how I live my life on a day to day basis.

My uncle is a pretty damn good photographer and shot a large portion of east coast hip-hop heads when he lived in New York. Here's one he took of Biggie;

Raphael Saadiq & Q-Tip - Get Involved

From 1999, Raphael Saadiq & Q-Tip's tune is a slept on classic.

I don't know who did the video, but it's a good 'un. The television heads are cool, interference periodically causes a number of scenes from 'The PJs' to appear. This track was never released on any studio album, but on the soundrack to the TV series. Slack.

Aaliyah - Try Again

Strictly (just) out of the Slack Vibes remit, but these things can slide for Aaliyah. Realeased in early 2000, this futuristic Timbaland production piece is pretty much near perfect modern R&B.

The Pharcyde - Drop

The Pharcyde are straight up ill. You know what time is it.

Not only is this 1995 track dope, but Spike Jone's reverse video to accompany it is brilliant, a favourite only before Sabotage. It's a technique that's been ripped off a million times since, but never bettered. Clever and comedic, The Pharcyde kill it.

Shabba Ranks - Mr Loverman

A version of Deborahe Glasgow's Champion Lover from the late eighties, Shabba Rank's Mr. Loverman does exactly what it says on the tin, "Mr Loverman; nice me up tonight". Check it;

A word of warning - there's so much gyration in this video, a cold shower might be advisable at the end of it all. Shabba's moves are faultless, as are the girls', plus his cell phone is sick.

Warren G & Nate Dogg - Regulate

Mount up!

This one is for Emily, though it was bound to come up sooner or later. From 1994, the classic and damn slack Regulate;

The Wikipedia entry for this is comprehensive, I particularly like the way the propositions in this track are approached with an almost philosophical analysis;

"The equality that "rhythm is life ... and life is rhythm" is first proposed in this song."

"Key insights from this song include the fact that if your ass is a busta, "213" (what was Long Beach, CA ... presently a subsection of downtown LA) will regulate."

However you dissect the song, by whatever methods or school of thought; it's a classic.

Busta Rhymes - Gimme Some More

As a shorty, playing in the front yard of the crib, I fell down and bumped my head. Later that night my dad accidently gave me some wine and I had an allergic reaction and went all red and swollen and had to go to hospital for two days. I was kinda cross with my dad, so when I got out I chased him about a bit. I recounted this story to Busta and Hype Williams, and this provided the inspiration to the music video of 'Gimme Some More' (except Busta goes all blue in the film).

I still clearly remember my dad saying to me in hospital "Oh, so that mean you gon' switch it on 'em?"

Basically I love this song, it's the pinnacle of his rapid-fire lyrical prowess. But even more; Hype Williams is straight fire. Can't get enough of his shit. Busta is seen as a boxer, stock broker, police officer, miner, pistol-toting Texan, body builder, pimp and a person tied up about to get run over by a train. Hype is one of the greatest music video makers of all time.

Charlie Baltimore - Money

This one's definately a guilty pleasure. I don't really know too much about Charlie, but don't think she was very prolific. I'm sure she had a thing with Biggie at the start or her career. This the very silly 'Money';

Why were music videos so obesessed with high-stakes espionage and theft in the nineties? Perhaps I should do a whole week of entries based around this concept. The video is kinda standard for the time, though I do like the hologram bit at the end...

Souls Of Mischief - '93 'Til Infinity

Fast & flowing west coast remedy to the sometimes slow and heavy G-funked gangsta rap era. The album of the same name is an underrated classic.

Wu-Tang Clan – C.R.E.A.M

Cash Rules Everything Around Me! This song had a big impact on me, I first heard it on a shitty Element advert on one of the earlier 411’s. I actually only heard the first few bars, ‘cos most of the ad had the singing part at the beginning. All time classic track, all time classic album (36 Chambers) and Meth’s all time classic line - Cash Rules Everything Around Me!

Nice video too, showing progression from the streets to the lap of luxury (bags of swag are a nice touch) – however I ain’t too sure how rapping with a toothbrush enhances flow.

I have big soft spot for the Wu – some Meth and ODB to follow.