Over at the Stay Hatin' tumblr site, I just posted a new episode of the rap talk podcast I do with SergDun and Soft Money.
It's probably the most amateurish podcast we've done to date but maybe also my favorite. I like about 90% of the selections and the conversation felt great this time. I also edited this show a little differently, leaving in some of the in-studio back and forth where we hash out what we want to play-- it's an excellent window into how he we put these shows together.
Unfortunately we made a mistake with the mic levels so much of my talking and Serg's talking is painfully distorted. If you can deal with some distortion and care at all about new rap music, I recommend it. Here's a direct link to download it.
If you care at all about new rap music but can't deal with distortion, you might want to head over to the tumblr anyway so you can check out the songs we selected and some cool things we linked to (Too $hort talking to DJ Vlad about white people and the N-word, Too $hort sounding more humbled and apologetic than I ever would have imagined in Ebony, Noz's TDE profile from The Fader, Andre 3000's conversation with GQ).
Here are two things I mentioned over there with a little more context:
Messy Marv: "Intro" (Scalen, 2012)
Messy Marv is a San Francisco rapper famous for playing with his nose, beefing with other Bay rappers and releasing like one album per month. He's also dope.
This skit is the first track from his latest CD, Da New Frank Lukas Dat Neva Wore Da Mink Coat, a record that's enjoyable but bizarre on multiple levels, starting with the title. Frank Lucas was the drug kingpin turned snitch who was played by Denzel Washington in American Gangster. Marv is vehemently anti-snitch-- for example, he ignited a nasty beef with his cousin San Quinn, another rapper from the Fillmore with whom Marv has recorded multiple albums, after San Quinn allegedly IDed another rapper as the person who killed Fat Tone, the person who allegedly killed Mac Dre-- so it's weird that he not only names his album after a famous snitch but begins it with a skit in which he pretends to snitch on JT the Bigga Figga, another Fillmore rapper, for snitching on him.
The convoluted snitching-on-a-snitch premise is funny in itself but the details Marv inserts (caps on JT's lips, talking about his cold nipples, etc.) make this the funniest Messy Marv track I've heard since this:
Messy Marv: "Don't You Say That" (Scalen, 2005)
Last week DMX did a great interview on New York's Power 105. I'm not a huge fan of his music but hearing him talk about a lot of the crazy stuff he's been through in the last 10 years is fascinating. Also, his take on the current state of rap music (the source of the .gif below) is awesome.
I don't generally post much about my gigs but here are two worth mentioning.
I recently started doing a party at the Oakland Layover on the first Thursday of every month called HIGH LIFE. Over the past few years I've struggled to find a night and venue that's a good fit for the music I want to play. I've mostly ping-ponged between weekend parties that cracked but where I was held hostage by crowds who only wanted to hear current radio stuff and under-attended parties on off-nights where I could play whatever I liked for too few people.
Thus far, the two HIGH LIFE parties I've done have been a perfect balance. The Layover is a really unpretentious bar and when it jumps it has the feel of a great house party-- you know, sweaty windows, no attitude, people down for whatever. The two I've done so far have not only jumped, they've given me to play a huge cross-section of stuff I love but don't always get to play together: new raps, disco, old soul, house, dancehall, funk, salsa, etc. etc. (When Dave Chappelle and Donnell Rawlings showed up to hang out at the last one, I knew I was on to something.)
So, to recap: first Thursday of the month, at the Layover (1517 Franklin St. in Oakland), 10 pm to close, no cover. Good times.
Next Saturday, March 10th, I'm doing a one-off at Milk with Mr. Len of Company Flow, DJ B.Cause and Eddie K. This is special for a bunch of reasons: Mr. Len almost never plays out in the Bay, B.Cause and I very seldom get to DJ together, I don't play in SF all that often and, lastly and most importantly, it's a 50th birthday party for my friend DJ Stef.
Although I've known DJ Stef since the early 1990s, I can't even begin to describe all of the things she's done to contribute to the music scene, from creating the Vinyl Exchange fanzine (which was the first place I ever published writing about rap music), to hosting and DJing parties, to being there at just about any cool event over the years and enthusiastically supporting other DJs and people trying to do cool stuff. Any time I've got a question about a party or a venue or a dance step from back in the day, she's about the first person I go to! Also for me she's a model of how to age without turning into an old person.
A few years ago, I had the honor of DJing her all 45-themed 45th birthday party with Mr. Supreme, B.Cause and many others and it was a blast. I'm very excited to be participating in this one.
Details: Saturday, March 10th, Milk Bar (1840 Haight St., SF), 10 to close, $5.
A few years ago I received a mix of obscure teen soul ballads from my friend David Griffiths, a New York record dealer and obsessive who has curated some fine reissues on labels like Daptone and Kay-Dee. The selections in the mix were excellent and almost all were new to me.
Two tracks particularly grabbed me. Both featured an unusual pairing of airy female harmonies set against a wall of sludgy funk and heavy drums. One track was a snapshot of new love in bloom, the other a despairing slice of heartbreak. Both had a rawness and a purity that was totally transporting.
When I hit up David for details about those tracks, he explained they were taken from two sides of a phenomenal (and phenomenally rare) 7" single on the Flower City label by the Darling Dears & Funky Heavy (I had to ask twice to be sure I heard him right; the name just seemed too awesome to exist in real life). He told me how he had begun searching for the single after stumbling across a mention of it in Jeffrey Beckman's reference book, Soul Harmony Singles 1960-1990.
David's a native of Rochester a/k/a Flower City, so the label name piqued his curiosity and led him to uncover the story of how a teenage female quartet from Rochester, the Darling Dears, came to record with Funky Heavy, a local instrumental combo who roamed the area in a bus they called the Funky Skunk. Funky Heavy had often backed the Darling Dears during their rehearsals and live performances, so it was natural that they should go into a local studio together.
A thousand copies of their collaboration were pressed, but despite some local airplay the release was soon lost to posterity. The Darling Dears dropped out of the business, while Funky Heavy stuck it out, later morphing into High Voltage and then the Voltage Brothers. Under the latter name the group cut three well-distributed LPs and continue to perform to this day.
Over the years, the Darling Dears and Funky Heavy single became a holy grail for both sweet soul and funk collectors. For a time, only a handful of copies were known and the release reached stratospheric prices on eBay.
In 2008, David managed to track down the members of Funky Heavy, securing the masters and licensing the single for reissue. It is now the first release on his new label, Orivious, and it's been beautifully pressed and packaged. Orivious's distributor, Now-Again, is hosting a free download of "And I Love You" and selling copies of the 7" reissue.*
As a bonus, here's the original version of "I Don't Think I'll Ever Love Another", which was recorded by a male group, Rock Candy:
Rock Candy was a Baltimore group that also recorded as the Contemplations. This is a solid outing and quite similar to the Darling Dears' later version, but somehow it's nowhere near as transcendent.
*As I was preparing this post, I learned of a competing reissue of the single on the Cultures of Soul label. From what I can tell, both labels made a good faith effort to license the release, Orivious from Funky Heavy, Cultures of Soul from the record's producer, Alvin Lofton. I don't know who has the right of it, but I'm glad that someone is making these amazing songs more widely available.
Last week I played and talked about some of my favorite reissues from 2011.
To keep things varied, I tried to limit my selections to one song per release but I still played a frightening number of things reissued by the Numero Group. The talking was a little disjointed and rambling to my taste but otherwise I was really happy with what I played and how it flowed.
1. Bob & Gene – It’s Not What You Know... It's Who You Know (Ever-Soul 7") 2. Dave Hamilton – Soul Suite (V/A – Dave Hamilton's Detroit Soul) 3. Darondo – Gimme Some (Listen to My Song: The Music City Sessions) 4. Chucky Thurmon – Just a Man (V/A – Street Sounds From the Bay Area: Music City Funk & Soul Grooves 1971-75) 5. Aged In Harmony – You’re a Melody (Extended Disco) (V/A – Under the Influence Vol.1 Compiled By DJ Red Greg 6. Le'Chance – Get Down (V/A – True Soul: Deep Sounds From the Left of Stax Vol. 2) 7. Hot Pepper – Cancion Ritual (V/A – Real Sound of Chicago and Beyond) 8. Soki Ohale's Uzzi – Bisi’s Beat (V/A – Nigeria 70: Sweet Times - Afro-Funk, Highlife & Juju From 1970s Lagos) 9. Sroeng Santi – Kuen Kuen Lueng Lueng (V/A – Thai? Dai!: The Heavier Side of the Luk Thung Underground) 10. Little Ed & the Soundmasters – It’s a Dream (Numero Group 7” box) 11. Neighb'rhood Childr'n – Long Years In Space (Long Years In Space) 12. Golden Grapes – Please Don't Bother Me Anymore (V/A – Beautiful Rivers and Mountains: The Psychedelic Rock Sound of South Korea's Shin Joong Hyun 1958-1974) 13. Oscar Hamod & the Majestics – No Chance Baby (No Chance Baby) 14. Index – Shock Wave (Black Album + Red Album + Yesterday & Today) 15. The Halleleuiah Chorus – I’ve Got to Find a Way (V/A – Eccentric Soul: The Nickel & Penny Labels) 16. Thomas East – Slipping Around (V/A - True Soul: Deep Sounds from the Left of Stax Volume 1) 17. The Four Mints – Endlessly (Numero Group 7”) 18. The Defaulters feat. Charles Hancock – Gentle Man (V/A – Pressed at Boddie) 19. Father's Children – Linda Movement (Who's Gonna Save the World) 20. Stone Coal White – You Know (S/T) 21. The Two Things In One – Walk On By (Together Forever: The Music City Sessions) 22. Kool and Together – Reaching Out (Original Recordings 1970-77) 23. Rob – Forgive Us All (Funky Rob Way) 24. The King James Version featuring King Solomon & Moses – He’s Forever (Amen) (V/A – Boddie Recording Company: Cleveland, Ohio) 25. The Soul Sensations - A Man That Is Not Free (V/A – The Music City Story) 26. Mike & the Censations – You’re Living a Lie (Don't Sell Your Soul) 27. El Rego – Ke Amon-Gbetchea (S/T) 28. O. C. Tolbert – All I Want Is You (Black Diamond) 29. Lloyd McNeill – Home Rule (Washington Suite) 30. Tino Contreras – Orfeon En Los Tambores (El Jazz Mexicano De Tino Contreras) 31. Jef Gilson Nonet feat. Jean-Louis Chautemps – Suite Pour San Remo: Ouverture (S/T) 32. Jef Gilson – Un Pas, Deux Pas, Cent Pas (S/T)
I was sad to see that Clare Fischer passed away last week. I knew of him mainly from his work with Cal Tjader. Only after reading a few obituaries did I realize he had also done arrangements on my two favorite Prince albums, Parade and Sign 'O' the Times, among many other things.
By coincidence, Cal Tjader's version of this Clare Fischer tune had been in my head for a week or so:
Rap-A-Lot has come out with or is coming out with* some kind of 25th Year Anniversary box set, so lately label founder James "J.Prince" Smith has been giving a bunch of interviews that I'd recommend to anyone who is a fan of rap. In the early 1990s Rap-A-Lot radically altered people's expectations about what rap songs could be about, what parts of the country they could come from and how they could be marketed and distributed. Along the way, J.Prince released some incredible music by the likes of the Geto Boys, Scarface, Devin the Dude, Z-Ro and others.
Over on NPR's The Record blog, Noz talks with J.Prince about the label's history. Predictably, a bunch of people in the comments section are outraged that NPR is covering something that they don't approve of.
Complex also recently featured two scattered but often fascinating interviews by Rob Kenner: one in which J.Prince talks about the origins of the label, the government's conspiracy to kill him and owning an island and one in which he talks about the 25th anniversary and signing Drake. (Choice quote: "So I asked my son, I said, 'Man, do you really like this? Cause I ain’t really feeling this too much.'") It's a pity that Kenner wasn't able to get J.Prince to speak more directly; several times in the former interview he goes from vague to completely impenetrable.
A few other things that have had me thinking about Rap-A-Lot recently:
Willie D of the Geto Boys' Formspring account. In most people's hands, Formspring is an abomination-- I can't tell you how much eyerolling and unfollowing I was doing when that brief link-your-twitter-account-to-Formspring craze was going on. But Willie D is as funny, smart, ignorant and informed as you would hope, and when he gets good questions his Formspring is outstanding.
Rapper/producer/author/wiseass J-Zone recently did an interview where he talked about his five favorite Rap-A-Lot albums from the 1990s. As usual, his taste is great and he's funny and perceptive. (For what it's worth, J-Zone is directly responsible for turning me on to Rap-A-Lot's The Convicts; I first heard them on his Ignant mix many years ago.)
I'm not totally sure what I'd pick if I were asked to name my favorite Rap-A-Lot LPs from that era, but lately I've been listening to Big Mello's Wegonefunkwichamind album a lot. Big Mello was a member of DJ Screw's Screwed Up Click who cut two records for Rap-A-Lot and three for other labels before dying in a car crash in 2002. Most people seem to focus on his first LP, 1992's Bone Hard Zaggin', the ultra-pauseworthy title of which was repurposed by Girl Talk a few years ago.
I prefer Wegonefunkwichamind by a long ways. It's from two year later but feels ages more mature. It's definitely a post-The Chronic album; at times, it feels like producers Big Mello and Crazy C are trying to maintain the smooth, mid-tempo slump of Dr. Dre's "Let Me Ride" for the length of a whole album. But they do so interesting ways, sampling "Trans-Europe Express" multiple times, replaying "Back Together Again", "Lowdown" and "Slide" at Screw tempos, and coming up with some grooves that feel as unique and soulful as anything Organized Noize were doing at the time:
I was listening to Schoolboy Q's new album, which caused me to listen to Schoolboy Q's old album, which caused me to pull this because it was sampled for "#BETiGOTSUMWEED", which is a lot better than its title suggests and which has a beat I love:
The Earth Disciples were a four-piece jazz band that cut one LP. I'm guessing they were from L.A., although the liner notes don't yield any clues other than a grainy photo of them playing a concert at UCLA.
