Those of you following the Democratic National Convention in Denver may have noticed a couple of interesting guests lately.
Kanye’s probably the biggest name to grace the stage, at least in terms of commercial success. But Wyclef and Pharrell are expected to make appearances as well.
It should prove to be interesting, to have hip hop artists alongside a lot of the other musicians who’ve been backing Obama. The Black Eyed Peas are also making an appearance, but there’s no real surprise there after will.i.am’s music videos.
We’ve been doing a lot to cover the tremendous influence music and hip hop has been having on this election. You’ve seen everything from bands refusing to have their songs used as campaign songs, to Obama brushing the dirt off his shoulder.
Because of some busy-ness in the real world, I ain’t got a lot of time to get my write on (or, apparently, choose a decent picture). So I’ve decided to temporarily forgoe the usual witty commentary you’ve come to love and expect at 4080 and post a sampling of the music I’ve been feeling recently without context.
That said, scroll down and prepared to get your groove on to some tasty new treats.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version . You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version . You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version . You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version . You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
As a quick update to a previous post, reporting that Death Row Records had been sold at auction, it turns out that the sale has been annulled. AllHipHop.com is reporting that the deal failed after a lawsuit by trustees of the label and members of Suge Knights estate.
I guess the argument is that the company that promised to buy the label hasn’t yet paid anything, and instead has just been asking for extensions.
The crazy part of the story is that shortly after the judge granted the annullment of this contract, the “backup bidder” mysteriously withdrew their bid. So now Death Row is again languishing, and they’re going to ask the judge to allow them to start negotiations all over again.
So now, dope hits from the 90s are on the auction block. If you’ve got a few spare million around, I suggest you buy it. In fact, I’m surprised none of the big hip hop stars (or some movie people) have tried to snatch this up. I think owning a back catalogue that includes hits from Pac and Dre and Snoop would be a worthwhile thing.
Earlier this month, DJ Premier released an album of unused beats called, appropriately, “Beats that Collected Dust.” Available via a variety of sources (and illegally ), the album is really a testament to Primo’s greatness; after all, how many other producers could seriously consider releasing an album of beats that, for whatever reason, were deemed not dope enough for release?
The problem with Primo, though, is that his beats are repetitive. Where other producers of similar stature (think Madlib, Dilla, Shadow, RJD2) layer numerous samples atop one another to create complexity and nuance, Primo digs for that single head-nodding loop: that one snippet of a record – often located where you least expect it – that, when accompanied by drums, sounds like it was made to be sampled.
Maybe this stems from his roots in the old school. Or maybe Primo knows that a simple yet well-constructed boom-bap beat remains the best way for any emcee to showcase their skills on the mic. Unfortunately, it also means that listening to Primo beats without an emcee can get repetitive. Three straight minutes of the same loop, no matter how dope it is, can get tedious.
Still, for any fan of Primo’s, or good hip-hop in general, this album is definitely worth a listen.
Check out two of Collected Dust’s tracks below, then visit your favourite online record store and buy it!
DJ Premier – B-Line (Beats that Collected Dust, 2008)
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version . You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version . You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Despite our earlier conjecture, Obama went ahead and announced his choice for his running mate as Sen. Joe Biden (D-Delaware).
Not a bad choice, I guess, especially when you look at him on paper. He’s got extremely strong foreign policy experience and is well recognized for it. He chairs the Senate foreign relations committee and has been in the senate for more than 30 years.
That’s a huge amount of “experience” to add to the ticket, especially since that is the biggest weakness in Obama-land right now. We’re all aware of how much concern there is that he’s young and inexperienced, so putting an old hand on the ticket may do the job. Plus, Biden’s respected by the so-called Reagan democrats and by many of the same blue collar voters that went with Hillary. Hopefully this will tempt some of them back into the fold.
Biden actually went to Georgia after the Russian invasion to try and coordinate relief efforts. That’s a pretty bold move and one that seemed to sit well with a lot of foreign leaders. , a big South Asian blog, had another interesting point to make: Pakistan.
In their analysis, they note that Pakistan (and the tribal area that borders Afghanistan, where al-Qaeda has apparently moved) is likely to be the major new concern for the next president. Iraq will obviously still be a big concern, as well Iran/N.Korea, but Pakistan carries a special kind of weight.
In any case, Sepia Mutiny noted that during the Pakistan election crisis last year, both Musharraf and the late Benazir Bhutto called Biden to discuss the issue before they called Pres. Bush. That seems to show they recognize Biden’s expertise and weight in the foreign policy arena. Having that kind of foreign affairs street cred will be a big bonus, and I predict the Dems will play on that heavily during the campaign. I’m anticipating a “let’s fix America’s image” approach to the advertising, but we’ll have to wait and see.
There are some faults, too. Biden’s made his mistakes, including a stating “…In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking,” More importantly, he also openly criticized Obama and his lack of experience during the Democratic primary. In fact, of McCain’s first attack ad against the ticket.
All in all, not a bad choice. It’ll be interesting to see how the former Hillary supporters will respond to her being excluded from the ticket.
Given the recent feud between Jay-Z and Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher, it seemed inevitable that an ambitious producer (or, in this case, group of producers) would try to mash-up their respective catalogues.
Three days ago, Spanish producing trio released just such a project. Called OJAYZIS, the ten track download is a bit of a mixed bag, but nevertheless worth a download. The songs that work – including “Wonderback” and “Supernova Hello” – are actually quite good, with Oasis’ soaring melodies serving as an excellent backdrop for Hova’s rhymes. It will make you wonder why producers don’t sample modern rock more often.
By no means hip hop related, but kind of neat regardless (even if they are fake).
Wacky Archives has pictures of what a bunch of stuff would look like under an x-ray machine. Everything from a pack of cigarettes to two people kissing.
And yes, it’s clear that a lot of them are probably photoshopped.
Derek “Drizzy D.R.O” Davis, a relatively unknown emcee, has come up with a wicked idea on how to get the internet on his side. To make his name known, in 2006 he created the Press/Play Hotline. Basically, he put his cell phone number out there, with the challenge that you could call him up anytime and he’d drop a freestyle for you. Apparently you can even request a subject!
If you can’t get through, you can try and leave him a voicemail. Supposedly he’s decent at getting back to you with a rhyme. (But I can’t confirm this, since I haven’t tried)
Check out the video below to get a sense of Drizzy’s style.
The Press/Play number is 205-617-9166, so give him a call and see what’s up.
We had reported that a buyer in Ireland had purchased it on eBay. However, it sounds as if that deal had fallen through. is reporting that the bidder claimed someone had spoofed his login, and that he’d never intended to bid. Sounds a bit like bullshit and cold feet, to me. But then again, stranger things have happened, so I’d like to give the bidder the benefit of the doubt.
So now, a collection of a couple million albums is still languishing somewhere, waiting to be sold. Talks with museums have failed, and he doesn’t seem to have any other serious bidders.
Here’s a documentary a man named Sean Dunne made about the collection:
Those of you following the Democratic National Convention in Denver may have noticed a couple of interesting guests lately.
Earlier this month, DJ Premier released an album of unused beats called, appropriately, “Beats that Collected Dust.” Available via a variety of sources (and illegally ), the album is really a testament to Primo’s greatness; after all, how many other producers could seriously consider releasing an album of beats that, for whatever reason, were deemed not dope enough for release?
Despite our 
Given the 
