Hip Pop Stop

Posted by budget minded (A) on November 18, 2005 at 04:41:06

In Reply to: Wanted: Anti-Ganster Hip Hop posted by tjolson81 on November 16, 2005 at 08:47:35:

gansta rap is NOT hip-hop even if the idiots that make it and listen to it say it is. hip-hop wasn't just a music style when it first came out, it was an answer to getting out of gangs and violence. break dancing was an alternative to violence. "you wanna fight, or you wanna rock" was a way to solve disputes through dancing. to call gangsta rap hip hop is to insult the pioneers who tried to put an end to that BS.

i'm offended by gangsta rap. i STOPPED listening to it "hip hop" years before todays wannabe hip-hoppers went to kidergarten or were even born.

if you like the funky beats of hip-hop but want a more positive groove, that's what old school is all about. back in the days, rappers used to say "peace". listen to the snippet of the world famous supreme team show on malcom mc laren's duck rock album... "you don't need your guns... just leave them at home..." to get an idea of where the movement came from. the old stuff was all about partying, dancing or just being funny. nothing out today could compare to the fun of "jam on it".

hip hop sarted to go down the tubes when rappers took over. DJs got knocked out of the picture in favor of big mouths bragging about how great they were. after that... pro active violent gangsta rap was the next step. DJs were replaced by sampling machines just taking snippets of old songs and looping them. drum machine programming died too. gone were the great beatbox and turntable jams like "one for the treble" and "chinese arithmatic" only to be replaced by public enemy's anger and EPMD talking about "uzi patrol packin," then EVERY other hip hopper had to mention that they carry a 9. (millimeter)

if you really want some great old school that's fun, definately check rhino records' "street jams: hip hop from the top" series which has many discs with the most essential old school jams.

atomic dog by george clinton is what i consider to be the ultimate hip-hop jam. it's soooooooooo funky and has been ripped off by many wannabes for the "bow wow yo yippy yo yippy yay" riff.

another series called "80s dance party" features some of the more hard to find tracks like "hip-hop be bop, the dominatrix, set it off & pump up the volume" if you're new to the old. the tracks sound like they were mastered off of vinyl, but not too bad. in fact, their dominatrix track sounds alot better than rhinos on a different collection as rhino likes to over EQ all of their tracks to sound the same. they overdo the treble sometimes.

"select old school hip hop" is a nice collection with tracks not on other collections, especially a few from the "roxanne roxanne" wars.

a REALLY good CD to look out for is one by paul hardcastle, possibly with another band called "universal funk" on the original album's b-side is called "zero one" the universal funk tracks are pretty funky and a great example of the "stupid fresh" style of hip hop which featured silly beats and electronic noises. it's out of print, but makes it to ebay often. i picked my digital copy up for just $3 i think. if you like the track "drum beat", then some other essential fun stupid fresh tracks you should look out for are:
gordy's groove
the woppit
the army now (art of noise in general)
larry's dance theme
buffalo gals
just buggin'
make it funky
the man marly marl
lipservice
and
suppresto (good luck finding it on digital)
along with "atomic dog" which should be your first must have

some of the other old school hip hop groups worth looking into are
eric b. and rakim: paid in full... great album
salt-n-peppa (some best of CD probably)
run DMC (a best of CD, or their earliest albums)
and
whodini

some "best of" collections that have good tracks have come from sugar hill and tommy boy records. tommy boy's original best of on vinyl is classic, but was watered down with newer junk when they did a CD.

definately go to an online store that lets you sample tracks to look into these collections. the oldest hip-hop isn't as sophisticated as today's stuff, but it had alot more raw energy and heart and was much more positive overall.

hope this helps a little.

if you really want to get into old school, the best stuff is harder to find and/or out of print. nearly EVERY disc in the street jams series has at least 4 great tracks and if you're into rap (i like instrumentals better) could have many more favorites. that's a good start along with "atomic dog"