I
guess I’ll preface this by saying I am not ‘Hip-Hop’.
I’m not even close. Anyhow, my first encounter with Hip-Hop
was close to twenty years ago. A friend of mine was deseeding
some weed on a Kurtis Blow album and going on and on about
how rap was new and cool and Kurtis Blow was great. Not a
powerful musical moment in my life, it was the first time
I got high.
I didn’t buy my first Hip-Hop album until Public Enemy’s
‘It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back’.
And I saw them at North Carolina A&T during 'Fight the
Power' time and saw this huge black dude puke on about twenty
people-so much for great memories.
Since that time I’ve basically stuck to the Beastie Boys.
Some friends and I went camping one weekend and we stopped
at this guy’s house, he wasn’t home but we went
in and listened to ‘Check Your Head’. That was a
life altering moment, "This is the Beastie Boys!?"
I had missed Paul’s Boutique completely. Later when that
guy got home he told us about a powerful crystal at the center
of the universe that is beaming out all the knowledge in the
universe and this beam just hasn't reached Earth yet-damn.
So, up
until the last few weeks this is where Hip-Hop and I stood.
However, I have since gone on a heavy binge diet of old school
Hip-Hop music and literature. I've also been working at this
this protein bar distribution plant and there are a
few people there who know much more about Hip-Hop than me.
Its been great talking to them and finding out about how they
feel about Biz Markie( "He was too corny.") or EPMD(
"They were great but they went crazy?!'). So, it has
been great listening to the music, reading and especially
talking to people who actually had Spoonie G. albums.
So, what can I recommend? If you are here and reading this,
probably nothing you haven't heard of already. Pretty much
anything by Public Enemy, De La Soul, Eric B and Rakim, Run
DMC, Gang Starr, old Ice Cube, Beastie Boys and Jurassic 5.
If you live near a black university check out their radio
station. There is a lot of great new rap out there much better
than the popular crap you hear on MTV and pop radio.
Anyhow, below are some links and record reccomendations to
asist you in increasing your Hip-Hop knowledge.
Here are
a few links:
Professor
Raps Hip-Hop Chronology: A history of rap going way, way
back.
Davy D's Hip-Hop Corner:
This is a really lively and resourceful site.
Rap.org: For access to and
abundance of rap songs, old and new. This place is particularly
awesome.
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