Digable Peoples

Land Of The Rising Sun

2008-11-28T15:02:00.003-05:00

I'm always surprised about how much music exists in this world. I consider myself a connoisseaur of most music, especially hip hop, but I learn about something new almost every day. This dude comes out of Japan, and he's bringing that straight boom bap shit. His style is very laid back, and he can hear the influences of Pete Rock, J Dilla, and Large Professor. I only have the 2007 album, Translations, and it's pretty dope. I'll keep on the lookout for his latest and post some of that too.

Samon Kawamura

"One And One"

"How Long"

Neither Here nor There

2008-07-07T16:29:00.008-04:00

It has really been way too long since I last posted, but I gotta big up Sean Blaze for holding down the fort in my absence. My hunch is that nobody reads this shit anyway, but since we don't have a counter, there's no way to actually know. In any case, I thought it would be a good idea to hit you with some things that have been in my sphere lately that you may get a kick out of.

First off, my bro (get well, man) put me on to the Juan Epstein Show podcast, featuring DJs Peter Rosenberg (center) and Cipha Sounds (right). I've only peeped a couple, but they're self-proclaimed "Hip Hop Heads," and they seem to know their shit (at least, as far as old-school is concerned). They jock Kanye a little too much for my liking, and they get squeamish over the new Li'l Wayne record (seems everybody but me and Sean does these days), but they kowtow to Primo and Pete Rock, and, ultimately, that's what matters. Since it's a podcast, nearly everything goes, and it's truly entertaining. Search the shit on your Itunes Store.

Bloggers (especially those frequenting Kanye's) have probably heard about him catching Soulja Boy's back in the beef with Ice-T. I could care less. What really fucked me up was 'Ye's comparison of SB to Nas, let alone that wack-ass beat for "Crank That" to "Silent Murder." HELLLLL NO. I understand Kanye's known for making inflammatory comments, seemingly without thought, but this is some delusional shit. Other than the steel drum, there's no comparison. Other than being in the same line of work, you're talking about Matt Bonner and Tim Duncan. Graduation was WACK, homie. Get your shit straight.

Next to snap a neck, we got a Lou Bond track, "To the Establishment," flipped by none other than Ant for the Albino wonder, Brother Ali's "Picket Fence." Not my favorite track from "Shadows on the Sun," but the beat is sooo $. The soulful humming just gets me all amped. No creative chop-job, but this one doesn't need it. Hotness.

My final joint was apparently utilized by Cam'ron for "The Roc (Just Fire)" with Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel. Although, I'm positive I've heard it somewhere else. Regardless of its sample resume, "Warlock" is a dope library cut by the Reg Tilsley Orchestra with such crisp, analogue horns.

And on that note...

Resurfacing Hip Hop

2008-07-04T17:58:00.003-04:00

Shout outs to Suga Lips Esquire and Flied Lice exploring the warm seas of Southeast Asia. Don't get caught with any fat sacks. Drug laws out there are worse than Rockefeller Laws in NY. Anyway, the summer is usually the time for blockbuster movies and hot ass albums. So far, there haven't been much of either. Incredible Hulk was wackadocious. So was Indiana Jones. Tha Carter III was disappointing and RZA might as well retire. However, the season ain't over and there is always hope for summer entertainment in the coming weeks. Probably the most anticipated hip hop album of the year is Nas' Untitled (aka Nigger). If you don't know by now, the leak is out and Nas doesn't seem to give a damn. On first listen, I signed it off as a sellout album that didn't live up to the hype. However, the other night, after a long day at work, I rolled up something and decided to pay attention to what Mr. Jones was trying to convey. I came to this conclusion: while the beats definitely could have been better (where the fuck is Primo?), this is probably the most focused album Nas has put out since Illmatic. I know I'm gonna get a lot of flack for saying that but that's how I feel. He speaks some real shit about a topic that has not been explored much in Hip Hop, at least in the mainstream. I recommend all to get a hold of the album and fucking listen to what he's saying, whether at Best Buy or online somewhere at a blog spot.
Now I think it's worth mentioning some other albums that deserve some shine such as J Live's "Then What Happened?", the new Buckshot and 9th, the new Roots joint (even though most of the songs on there are real cheesy), the new Atmosphere, and the most surprising, Immortal Technique's The 3rd World. He still has the same political format but is laced with some sick beats. I'm gonna bless y'all with a couple tracks just to see what I'm talking about. But I got to break out.

Payback & Harlem Renaissance

Sample Session

2008-07-04T17:40:00.003-04:00

We be digging in the crates. Today is Independence Day so I got some special treats for all the beat heads. I'm gonna hit y'all with two samples (very hard to find) that are used in good hip hop songs but are fire in their right. They both come from soul singer John Kasandra off his extraordinary album The True Genius.

"That Woman"
used in Brother Ali's "Prince Charming" off Shadows on the Sun

"What's The Good In Making Lovers Cry?"
used in Soul Position's "Candyland Pts. 1-3" off 8 Million Stories

Long Awaited

2008-06-16T20:36:00.003-04:00

A Yo. It's been way too long but I promise to try and stay on point with the posts. I've been busy/lazy but now I don't have shit to do, so there's no excuses. I can't speak for those other knuckleheads tho. Before anything, I need to finish posting Creative Control featuring yours truly and Taka. It was definitely mad fun in the making and legendary looking back and there probably won't be a show like that to come around for a while, if ever. Unfortunately, not all of the shows will be posted due to some recording difficulties and I apologize. However, these last couple shows present the essence of what we tried to bring to WOBC: innovation, entertainment, and just some good ass music.

4/9 Part I and II
4/30 Part I and II
5/7

Broadcasting Live

2008-04-13T21:17:00.004-04:00

I know it's been mad long since the last post but here is another installment of Me and Taka's Radio Show, Creative Control, on WOBC 91.5 FM. You can hear it live Wednesday nights/Thursday mornings 12-2am EST. If you are outside the fabulous city of Oberlin, check out the webcast right here. Shout out to Avis with his wild Russian adventures. Maybe if you offered a handjob to Dizzee Rascal he would have paid more attention to you, but don't feel bad... he's an ugly mufucka anyway.

Creative Control 3/12: Part I & Part II
Creative Control 3/19: Part I & Part II

Educated Consumption

2008-04-13T16:10:00.002-04:00

Aight. So me and my boy Yuri were up at WOBC, checking out the albums that come through every week. Usually, there's a whole bunch of shit that rolls thru, nothing too impressive. Then we popped in this album by Educated Consumers. The album title is Write/Hear. Looking at that, I was like "This album is going to be hilariously disgusting". It turns out that at the first listen of the title track, it was incredible. The production on this album is on some real boom bap shit and the MC's are pretty fucking good. Unfortunately, I do not know much about this group but I'm already hooked. If you liked that Y Society shit that dropped last year, or groups like K-Otix and Gangstarr, peep this.

Creative Control

2008-03-11T17:20:00.002-04:00

It's been a minute now but finally here's a post that's worth your while. Me and Taka got our show "Creative Control" on WOBC 91.5, Oberlin College Radio. Y'all should peep it. We got nothing but hotness manipulated by Serato Scratch and Ableton Live. I don't think there's ever been a show like it in WOBC's history. Anyway here's our shows from the last two weeks. These should plant the seed to check our show live either on air or webcast from wobc.org Wednesday nights/Thursday mornings 12-2am. There's no playlist. Sorry. We would love some feedback though so holla at us. I apologize for the lack of posts recently (stay busy!!) but be sure to keep checking everyday.

Creative Control 2/27: Part 1
Part 2

Creative Control 3/5: Part 1
Part 2

2008-02-04T15:07:00.000-05:00

ahhh yeaa....what's up digable peoples. so this is bluntimus prime signing on for the first time- i know i've been slackin lately but all that's about to change. this first post is gonna be a few random sample gems used mf doom, rjd2, digable planets, and biggie, and my next post (soon to come) will be a full album of funky brooklyn soul, so get hyped. first up though, we have "I know I've been wrong" by Mashmakhan, a Canadian Rock Fusion group from the 70's (intro picture is of these smiling whities of the north- go check em' out on wikipedia). doom used Mashmakhan for a couple of his beats- they have a self-titled album plus one called The Family- both of which must be fire. Get on look out for those records.

http://www.mediafire.com/?dipwmja9ei4

Moving on we have The Intruders with "Memories are Here To Stay", one of the original philly soul groups to work with producers like Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and this is the track rjd2 used for Here's What Left. Off the fantastic album "Save the Children", which has a few other samples, "Memories" is one of those mellow mellow soul grooves that isn't as poppy as motown, but neither as funky or bluesy as stax.

http://www.mediafire.com/?5y9yldthder

The next hot track is Sonny Rollins' "Mambo Bounce" played by the Sonny Rollins Quartet. This dude is still goin at it hard at the age of 78, but one of my favorite albums of his is from 1957- Way Out West (check out the ill cover art).

http://www.mediafire.com/?fz0cjwm2dzh

To continue on without rambling too much uselessness, the next track is from Dave Grusin, "Either Way"- sample for Biggie's "Everyday Struggle", another mellow banger.

http://www.mediafire.com/?4d10tlsywxb

The last track i'm gonna hit you with is Stevie Wonder's "How Can You Believe?", the sample for mf doom's "Great Day".

http://www.mediafire.com/?4mdk2xmrdoo

Now being that this is my first post i haven't got the format down, nor all the video's and random pictures that will come in the future. But enough of that, enjoy these hot tracks, enjoy that hot shit that sampled them, and long live hip hop.

At Long Last, Top 10 of '07 for That Ass...

2008-01-29T02:29:00.000-05:00

This has been a long time coming. We know. But certain logistical difficulties made our list of favorites likely the last "Best of '07" to go up. For that, we apologize from our collective hearts, mashed up like some freakish Girl Talk creation (how has that motherfucker not gotten the shit sued out of him???). I think it is important that our list still go up, because, though everyone is entitled to their individual musical tastes, the massive Blogsphere, in our opinions, has missed some very obvious choices. By sheer coincidence, our top 3 are also three of the most criminally slept on albums of the previous year. Before we begin, we should formally introduce Jed (aka Bluntimus Prime), especially because he put the two of us on to our favorite album of the year. I'm, personally, not so in tune with the specifics of his musical tastes/knowledge, but he can clarify that for everybody when he gets the opportunity (Bring it on, homie). Other blogs have counted down 10 to 1, theatrically, like their opinions actually mean something, but what we're going to do is present our top 3 albums Olympic-style and then list the remaining 7 in no particular order. What do you think?

Gold: Bullion - "Pet Sounds: In the Key of Dee"
You may be thinking "Who the fuck is Bullion?" and "Is he really chomping the Beach Boys?"
For the first question, he's some guy out of Britain with an MPC (or some other kind of sampler) who Jed is a crazy motherfucker for digging up. As for the second question, he chopped up the Beach Boys' classic album in the style of J Dilla's (R.I.P.) "Donuts" and dedicated it to the late and great producer. Running less than 30 minutes, the results are classic and kept us nodding our heads all year. Check out his myspace page for the link: www.myspace.com/bullionness

Silver: Dela - "Atmosphere Airlines Mixtape"
This second album also received no love on other Top 10s, as far as I could tell. The French producer with the smooth, Jazzy touch deserves attention simply for bringing Apani B Fly out of the woodwork when it seemed that even the Polyrhythm Addicts couldn't find her. Dela's style is reminiscent of Pete Rock when he was working closely with Large Professor (the latter, who, incidentally, appears on the album), rocking the Tom Scott-style sax like it never went out. Assembling a talented group of known and lesser known MCs, holding his own on instrumental tracks, and transitioning between songs without a hiccup, Dela reminded us (those that forgot) what a mixtape should sound like.

Bronze: Marco Polo - "Port Authority"
Toronto producer Marco Polo's been starting to get a little shine lately, and it's well deserved. Of the three albums on this list, "Port Authority" was featured most on other Top 10s. I forsee him going the way of Jake One, producing Boom-Bap for underground artists before garnering some recognition from commercial MCs. This album showed that Marco has a very good sense of lyrical talent and an ear for the beats that are appropriate for these artists. On this effort, he brings out the best in Masta Ace, Large Professor, Edo G-affiliate Jaysaun, as well as little-known Critically Acclaimed. If I didn't know better, I'd think this dude was from Brooklyn and not Canada. Stop sleeping! Bring that real New York sound back!

The remaining 7 in no particular order:

Y Society (Insight & Damu the Fudgemunk) - "Travel at Your Own Pace"
Speaking of resuscitating New York Hip-Hop, Insight and Damu made huge strides in making this happen. If only people knew about this album... If you haven't seen Damu's videos on YouTube, you need to check them out immediately. His MPC work isn't groundbreaking, but really aesthetically pleasing. Insight, on the other hand, can also hold it down on the boards, but letting Damu grab the wheel has clearly allowed him to concentrate on the rhymes, and the results are very very good. Check it!

Brother Ali - "The Undisputed Truth"

RJD2 - "The Third Hand"

Citizens of Sleep - "Copyright Laws"

Talib Kweli - "Eardrum"/"Liberation"

Blu & Exile - "Below the Heavens"

?

Links Coming Soon

Mmm Hmm Honey

2008-01-28T16:01:00.000-05:00

Being the music purist that I am, I stopped watching music videos and listening to the radio because it's all shit. MTV, BET, and Hot97 (that's right NYC) have catered to teenage pop one hit wonders. I'm a grown ass man. I don't need to listen to kid music, learn tacky dance moves, or watch the same ass jiggling in rappers' videos (even though it is quite entertaining). I want something that will stimulate my mind. I recently found this stimulation in Erykah Badu's new video "Honey". You can always count on her to do some creative shit. Don't believe me!! Check it out for yourself.

New 9th and Buck!!

2008-01-19T16:12:00.000-05:00

What up peoples. I found this new single coming off of 9th Wonder and Buckshot second collabo album "The Formula". I'm a big fan of both of these gentleman and loved "Chemistry", so I'm excited for the new joint. The album is supposed to drop April 15th but who really knows. Record labels are shady.

"Go All Out" - 9th Wonder and Buckshot

Akai MPD24

2008-01-10T16:48:00.000-05:00

I want one of these things. You can use it with Reason, Ableton Live, basically any DAW (digital audio workstation) that has midi capability. I stumbled on this video looking on Youtube. I don't know who this dude is or what program he's using, but he made a hot ass beat using this midi controller. Cost about 200 beans. For more info, visit www.akai.com.

Oh SHIT There's A Horse in the Hospital!

2008-01-04T12:28:00.000-05:00

Real quickly, here's a dope 2005 interview with Kool Keith and Kutmasta Kurt from Black Athena. They touch on the global Hip-Hop fanbase, Dilla, and technology's detrimental effects on the genre, among other topics. In particular, they knock downloaders like myself and Sean Blaze, and in a way, they're on point. Such is the life of a poor college student. I was thinking of throwing up "Sex Style: The Unreleased Archives" by these two, but I figured it would be too ironic. In the mean time, feed on this hilarious video of Keith just rambling in some diner:
Kool Keith: 98 Year Old Fridgerator

On a different note, I read somewhere that Kurt takes credit for having produced the classic "Dr. Octagonecologyst" and not Dan the Automator. Is that possible???

The First of '08

2008-01-01T18:14:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a happy and hazy new year. Shaking off a stubborn hangover earlier, I realized I'm about due for another post. But before we get into our best of 2007, I'd like to share a couple underground joints that have been running through my head during the tail end of this past year. Here at digablepeoples, we root for the underdog in the rap game— the talented emcee(s)/producer(s) that gets no love from their label's marketing & promotion as well as radio and TV. Hopefully, we can help spread the word, and put some $ in these guys' pockets @ shows (b/c they apparently see pennies from CD sales).

The first of these is by the supergroup E.M.C. (watch the video to find out what it stands for), which consists of Masta Ace, Wordsworth, Punchline, and Stricklin. They're all of the "punchline emcee" variety (no pun intended), displaying some clever flows and wordplay. And one thing you can always count on from Masta Ace is dope beats. On this track, "What It Stand For?", Justus League affiliate Nicolay is behind the boards.

The second video is "The Sound of Philadelphia" by Reef the Lost Cauze. The song and the video have a really raw, grassroots feel. He gives an all encompassing look at Illadelphia in a way that the Roots never did— he gets political, talks socio-economics, the whole nine ("We respect guns./ We respect funds./ Let's face it my future don't look like the Jetsons.") —all strung together with ill flows.

The last part of this post is half history lesson, half raw hip hop. Rob Viktum made this free, mostly instrumental album, "Progress," to spread awareness of the estimated 1.5 million Cambodians who died as a result of being tortured, starved, and overworked in agricultural cooperatives under the rule of the Khmer Rouge. This is particularly disturbing because Cambodia had a population of about 7.5 million people in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took power, then, supported by the United States Government. Thus, "Progress" was created using exclusively Cambodian records brought over to America by the father of Viktum's Cambodian girlfriend. In addition to being historically poignant, the album displays creatively chopped boom-bap beats; really interesting stuff featuring Von Pea, Strange Fruit Project, and cuts by Rhymesayers affiliate Mr. Dibbs. Do your homework!

A New Year's Upon Us

2007-12-31T10:35:00.000-05:00

Haven't posted in a while. Me and Taka are trying to work on a Best of '07 so that should be coming soon. But I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the holiday. Seeing that it is NYE, I'm trying to prep my body for a good amount of drinking and toking. I'm sure y'all doing the same. Before I go, I wanted to bless y'all with a mixtape that I've been hunting down for a while from Parisian producer Dela. Shout out to Efficiency 1 for hooking it up. "Atmosphere Airlines" features guest spots by Large Professor, J-Live, Apani B Fly (Where have you gone???), and Supastition. You MUST listen to this. Bringing back that old boom bap.

The Present is a Gift...

2007-12-25T13:26:00.000-05:00

Merry X-mas! And to all you heathens, like myself, happy day off from work/school! For my first post, I wanted to share this rare treat that I'd been scouring the internet for for a good while now. I remember listening to an advance of Common's "BE" in Nick & Sean Blaze's room freshman year (I can't believe it's been that long), and the intro/title track really caught my ear. Each prior Common album had a unique sound, and I had no idea what to expect. The syncopated bassline, the synth melody, and then the strings...Amazing. Anyway, the linked track is the one sampled for the strings— Albert Jones' "Mother Nature" —off of the rare rare "Facts of Life." I don't know if the other elements in the Common track are played live or sampled (It seems James Poyser played the synth line), but, regardless, it shows great composition by J Dilla (R.I.P.) and Kanye. Buttery!

Axelrod

2007-12-25T12:13:00.000-05:00

I found out about this dude about two years ago (I know. Mad late to catch on), and have been collecting his music ever since. David Axelrod is a monster of production, and has provided many breakbeats for Hip Hop producers such as Pete Rock, Diamond D, Dr. Dre, and DJ Shadow, just to name a few. "Song of Innocence" is the first album by Axelrod as an artist, and it is a classic! The first part contains musical renditions of William Blake's collections of poems. You are sure to hear many samples on this album. Earl Palmer (drums) and Carol Kaye (electric bass) put the "umph" in the funky rhythms. Axelrod has produced albums for Lou Rawls and Cannonball Adderley, as well. You are sure to see more from this man.

Enjoy!!!

Bomb Atomically

2007-12-25T02:41:00.000-05:00

what up, peoples. Glad to see you're on the site. We promise to hit you with constant bangers. Since I'm in the X-mas mood and a little tipsy, I wanted to share a holiday gift. If yall don't know who Main Source is, get to know 'em. This is the first release from the group fully produced by the legendary Large Professor. Also, features the classic track Live from the BBQ where Nasty Nas spits one of his first verses. Highly recommended!

Genesis

2007-12-24T20:43:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Digable Peoples!

This blog is the lovechild of myself and Sean Blaze— something we often talked about doing but were too lazy/busy to get started. We're not music scholars, by any means; Just some college students (and beatmakers) who enjoy listening to Biggie Smalls (R.I.P.) while puffing a blunt.

For those into Hip Hop like we are, the genre is a ethnomusicology lesson, in itself. There is a near-infinite body of music from which Hip Hop has tapped many sources. We like to think we know a lot about music, but we can learn as much (if not more) from readers and other blogs as we can teach, ourselves.

We're going to post whatever the fuck we feel like (albums, videos, songs) and politick about the sad state of Hip Hop (especially from our native New York). Feel free to join in on the discussion.

1 Love,

Taka & Sean