Hip Hop Turns 40 Years Old

 

Today marks the 40th anniversary of what many consider the birth of Hip Hop. August 11th, 1973.

It all started in the recreation room of a tower block on 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, New York City. This was the home of the family of DJ Kool Herc, who held a "Back To School Jam" fundraiser for his little sister.

Disco was the popular music at that time but Herc chose the funkier soul sounds of artists like James Brown and spanned genres to the sound of rock too. However, he played these records a little differently than anyone else. This party, and the ones that followed, witnessed a new style of record playing that would soon  become known as Herc's "Merry-Go-Round" technique. Using two copies of the same record, he would take sections from songs that hyped up the crowd the most and double them up to make longer stretches of that particular section.

This would become the backdrop for B-Boys and dancers at parties and started the early guise of the Hip Hop DJ or turntablist. Many DJs followed, honing this craft and it became one of the foundations of Hip Hop, alongside graffiti, emceeing and breaking.

Take a look at this excerpt from the 1983 BBC documentary "Beat This: A Hip Hop History". The narration is quite funny to listen to, as it's all rhymed!

Happy Birthday Whitney Houston

Today would have been Whitney Houston's 50th birthday. Thought I would post a few videos.

Camp Lo & Pete Rock Talk About Their New Album (Video)

Following last month's release of their joint album, "80 Blocks From Tiffany's Pt.2", Camp Lo and Pete Rock break down a few tracks with Esteban Serrano for Fuse TV.

If you missed the album, you can get it here.

Stalley - Honest Cowboy (Mixtape)

Stalley just dropped his new mixtape "Honest Cowboy". This serves as a free warm up album before his debut on Maybach Music Group coming soon.

Stream and download in the player.

Throwback Thursday: R'n'B Edition ('95-'96)

After the Throwback Thursday a couple of weeks ago with forgotten gems from the Wu-Tang, I wanted to bring it back to the mid nineties with a selection of R'n'B videos. Unlike these days, quality R'n'B was actually in the charts and there was an abundance of it. There is so much to choose from that I just picked four artists that came to mind from that era.

D'Angelo, Aaliyah, Mariah Carey and Jodeci. All four of these acts took very different paths later in their careers. The tragic loss of Aaliyah in 2001 is still in everyone's mind. The derailment of Jodeci as a group with their live show exploits, leaving fans disappointed. Rumours of D'angelo's return to the spotlight after a spate of live appearances recently and Mariah Carey's breakdown, return, marriage and motherhood all keeping her in the news.

Luckily for us, we can simply go back to what made them stars and amazing artists in the first place. Dwelling on what could've been or might still be is getting old now, so just relive and replay the classics.

Have a listen and look at four of my favourite videos from that era. I've also included a Mixcloud playlist I put together called "You Sing, I'll Rap"of 90's remixes which can be streamed below the video.

You Sing, I'll Rap by Watchdeez on Mixcloud

  

Schoolboy Q - Collard Greens feat. Kendrick Lamar (Video)

With single having already been circulating for a few months now, Schoolboy Q finally releases a video for "Collard Greens". The track features his Top Dawg brethren Kendrick Lamar sounding like an alien again, but that's what we've come to expect by now. Oh, and the video isn't too appropriate for viewing at work. Do what you think is best.

Eddie B/Harry Fraud - Anywhere It Takes Me (Download)

I should've known it was Shark Week, seeing as "Sharknado" finally made it to UK television screens today! If you don't know what I'm talking about, click on the link. Haha!

Anyway, Eddie B, of Harry Fraud's Surf School collective, releases a nice snack for you to bite on. The free download of "Anywhere It Takes Me" is la musica de Harry Fraud. Enjoy.

RA The Rugged Man - It's Gone (Audio)

RA The Rugged Man shares a previously unreleased track that can be found on the limited edition cassette tape version of "Legends Never Die", available earlier this year. The track, "It's Gone", visits the last 25 years in the rap industry and name checks many of the greats and his influences.

"Legends Never Die" is out now through Nature Sounds.

!llmind on Rhythm Roulette

On this episode of Mass Appeal's "Rhythm Roulette", producer Illmind shows us what he can do with some random records to sample.

World's Fair - '96 Knicks (Video)

New York's young group, World's Fair, drop the video for their track "'96 Knicks". Look out for their album "Bastards Of The Party" due to be released in September on Fools Gold Records.

Crate Diggers with Tony Touch

If you're yet to see an episode of Fuse TV's "Crate Diggers", then you're missing out. It's one of the best web series out there. Obviously if you're in to Hip Hop and DJ Culture, that's a given, but it's really interesting to see the records in some of these collections. There are usually a few surprises and a lot of the time, the DJs featured love to show off their rare finds etc.

This episode sees Tony Touch let us in to his record collection. Be sure to check out the other videos in the "Crate Diggers" series which can all be found on Fuse TV's Youtube channel.

Duke Westlake - Gravel (Free EP Download)

Mello Music Group come through again with more free music goodness. This time producer Duke Westlake drops a six track instrumental EP which will serve as the first in a series of free EPs.

Stream or download the EP below.

DJ Eveready - Listening Therapy (Mixtape)

Here we have a new mixtape from Melbourne based Dee Jay Eveready. I'd never heard of him until today when I was put on to him by Alter Ego (who's production you can hear on The Regiment's "Off The Record EP"). An exercise in boom bap Hip Hop.

Dee Jay Eveready -

“I devote a lot of my time to putting out Mixtapes, when I say mixtapes I don’t just mean a mix with just one track after another and that’s it. I put months of work into my product, trying to give the listener an experience that they don’t usually receive.”

Stream or download the mixtape below. Found at Stasheverything.

David Dallas - My Mentality feat. Freddie Gibbs (Audio)

The Auckland emcee and Duck Down Records signee, Dallas David, reconnects with Gary, Indiana's Freddie Gibbs for his new track "My Mentality". Just like their previous song together, "Caught In A Daze", it doesn't disappoint.

Stream the joint below and catch their "Caught In A Daze" video from 2011 after the Soundcloud player.

The Mouse Outfit - Slicker Than Average feat. Sparkz & Dubbul O (Video)

The Mouse Outfit return with another free download and brand new video. Featuring frequent emcee collaborators, Sparkz and Dubbul O, The Mouse Outfit serve up another helping of vibes with "Slicker Than Average".

Check the visuals below and find the free download after the video. More music can be found on their Bandcamp page.