Beastie boys - to the 5 burroughs

What an absolutely top album!!

After years of being dissolusioned with hip hop (it all got too samey for me 10 years ago) - Beastie Boys have come back with an old school sound that breaks the mould.

Hip hop is back!!!

//lamboy

 

I like it too, not heard much of the Beastie boys earlier stuff mind, so the complaints about this album (that its just the same old stuff, no different from what they were doing 10+ years ago) aren't something that I can relate too...

 

Bit random but I've currently got Aesop Rock playing.

Don't give up on (vocal) hip hop without hearing!!!

 

I've been meaning to get the new BB album ... now I'll have to got out and get a copy!

I became disallusioned with hip hop years back too ... but recently discovered my old BDP stuff, which whilst fantastic in it's day - is now sounding horribly dated


Steve

 

whoop whoop - its the sound of the police

 

Heard this last night. Good fun and flies by. Enjoyed it while it was playing, but can't honestly remember much about it now. Seemed really short though.

Will need to get a copy for myself soon

 

Always found The Beasties a bit 'shouty' although there are always some gems in most of their albums....apart from License To Ill which my brother bought me for christmas one year...its so bad it makes me feel Ill, and not in a good way!
To The 5 Boroughs seems to kick ass a bit though from what I've heard. Might pick it up once its in Fopp for a fiver.
There is some great hiphop about though...I think there have been a few threads on it before so do a search. Check out anything from the Mo Wax, Quannum or Ninja Tune labels. Anything from these stables will make you laugh out loud at the shite that MTV spouts. It really is a different world.
To get you going check out Quannum Spectrum or Solesides - Greatest Bumps. A couple of great compilations that will point you in the direction of some solo albums to get your head nodding with a big smile on your face.
BL21DE3 will have some good recommendations too.
Aesop Rock and the Def Jux label are often recommended but not that accesible...I didn't enjoy ELP's critically acclaimed - Fantastic Damage that much at all.
Enjoy.
HM

 

Cheers for the plug Heavymental. I wasn't particularly impressed with the new Beastie Boys album, but I suppose my tastes in hip-hop aren't particularly 'mainstream'. As far as non-MTV hip-hop is concerned, some good recommendations would be, Jurassic 5 (going to see them live in Sept ), Buck 65 (slightly odd alternative/country&western tinged hip-hop), Atmosphere (especially God Loves Ugly), RJD2 (instrumental hip-hop in the vein of DJ Shadow, he's also recorded as Soul Position with Blueprint as the MC), Cut Chemist (utterly brilliant turntabilist), Mix Master Mike (the Beastie Boys DJ, who's solo turntabilist work is equally impressive), DJ QBert (one of the masters of turntabilism), DJ Shadow (need I say anything?), The Herbaliser (UK hip-hop on Ninja Tunes, not stunning but some pretty good tracks), Company Flow, Mr Lif, Kid Koala (excellent offbeat hip-hop with great samples), Blackalicious, Deltron 3030, Edan, MC Solaar (french but still cool, even if I can only understand 1/3 of what he's rapping about), Rahzel (amazing beatboxing), DJ Format (offbeat hip-hop with a old-school tinge) and the Invisibl Skratch Pikilz (one of the great turntabilist groups). I would also second Heavymental's suggestions of Quannum Spectrum or Solesides - Greatest Bumps as intros to less mainstream/more inventive side of hip-hop. I'd also suggest Xen Cuts on Ninja Tune as an intro to their stable of artists.

 

Nice one BL21DE3, some good pointers in there and some I might follow up aswell...dunno about country tinged hiphop though! Sounds interesting.
Just as an afterthought, Big Dada is the purer hiphop side of the Ninja label through which Roots Manuva and Ty are released. I must recommend both Ty albums, the most recent 'Upwards' is nominated for the Mercury award and is a beautiful album. The Big Dada sampler album is worth owning, its about a fiver and will give you a good idea of what Big Dada is about. Roots Manuva and Ty are the most accessible of the bunch but you might hear something else you like on there.

There are some good albums from the more 'Gangsta' scene i.e the Wu, Nas etc. Heavymental by Killah Priest, obviously a favourite of mine, is a good album from one of the Wu affiliates and Sunz of Man are a good outfit (Killah Priest and his mates). The Nas albums Illmatic and It Was Written are both top draw, I think his other stuff has been weak but these are well worth owning, especially Illmatic, nice concise quality album.

The danger for me has always been albums with too many filler tracks/skits and interludes. So many hiphop albums fall into this trap and it makes for pretty disjointed difficult listening. Which is a shame because there are often great tracks hidden amongst the chaff but I can't be bothered to skip through the shit or just put the album on for one or two tracks. A classic example of this is the RZA fist Bobby Digital album which is almost 80 minutes of rambling rubbish. Its got 21 tracks for fcks sake...trim it down mate!

You got any recommendations along this line BL21DE3? Quality mainstream hip hop? Preferably avoiding the west coast.

 

Bump here BL21DE3.

Got any mainstream recommendations or do you not go anywhere near it?

 

Heavymental, I've been racking my brains trying to come up with some recommendations and so far I've not come up with many. About the only mainstream hip-hop albums I have are some of the older Beastie Boys material, some Cypress Hill and Gang Starr. I'll give it some more thought and see if I can come up with any suggestions for you though.

 

Try working your way through the Outkast catalogue. Not one bad album IMO!

What do you mean by mainstream? Top 40? If so, why?

Try going to amazon and searching for someone you like, then follow the "you may also like...." links (firefox's tab browsing helps ), and if they've got samples then better still. Amazon.com tends to have MOre audio samples than the UK site, so maybe better using that for searching.

Do you prefer vocal or non vocal?

 

Thanks for the pointer Mo,
I've got Stankonia which is not bad but I don't listen to it very much. Again I found it quite rambling IIRC. May put in on tonight to refresh my memory.

By mainstream I mean just that really. Albums by some of the major players and their associates like the Wu, Nas et al. Albums by folks like the above are a bit more 'raw' in style and have a different musical slant to people like J5 and some of the suggestions we have on here. Less turntablist/funk inspired I suppose.

I don't necessarily mean Top 40 just albums that have that more popular style. For example I'd expect to see someone recommend Mos Def's Black On Both Sides. I'm after albums that fit the criteria of good quality tracks and not too many skits.

As far as vocal stuff goes I was thinking of vocal albums although I'm a fan of both.

You're right about Amazon...'you might like' though...its scary how right they are sometimes....I've either already got it or was thinking about getting it.

HM

 

Yep! Spending a bit of time on amazon, armed with a notepad and some p2p software to get a few sample tunes is a great way to find new music.

Outkasts earlier albums are all excellent too IMO! Though perhaps not strictly what you're after, with huge chunks of funk throughout.

You mention that you've not found Def Juxx that accesible, but if you've not given Aesop a listen I'd give him a try. Not exactly mainstream, but nothing too leftfield. One of the best rap voices around IMO.

Perhaps also give Pharoahe MOnch a listen.

Oh, and just reminded me!!! Everlast "Whitey Ford Sings The blues". I've not listened to it in quite a while, but it's a really good album!

How about Cypress Hill "Black Sunday" ?

 

I've tried a Cannibal Ox The Cold Vein and Elp's Fantastic Damage and found them both a bit featureless really. Quite hard work. Could get Labor Days for £6 on Vinyl off Amazon, worth a go given my opinions on the above?

Oohhh you've picked a group I really dislike. I'm sure Guru was talking about CH on Jazzmatazz vol 2 when he said...

"Your concept's mediocre plus your way too typical withcha
corny delivery and crazy wack voice
Mad corny image, that's why I give you jitters
It figures, I'd have to dust you off the scene
like a wiseguy, with my New York lean"

Don't float my boat personally. Only in my humble of course.

 

I think you'd find Aesop Rock an easier listen than Canibal Ox. Try and listen to a few tracks before ordering. I think he's one of the best around in both content and delivery. But tastes vary....

Also, how about the Gravediggaz? I've not listened to them for years, but loved "6 feet deep" at the time. The follow up "The Pick the Sickle and the Shovel" was well reviewed from what I remember, but I only heard it a couple of times so can't comment.