Hey, y’all.
A handful of things to get caught up on.
First of all. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been working like crazy on beats for the next album. As always seems to be the case, I have way more than I need. It’s a good problem to have. I’m approaching things a bit differently on some of them and I’ve surprised myself a few times. Some crazy idea will pop into my head, I’ll try it out, and it works! So there’s some density to some of the beats that I’m quite excited about. I’ll spend a few days structuring these beats and then I’ll start writing. I’m ahead of schedule. I starting to see the album. I’m starting to feel it.
By the way - because I’m realizing that I have more material than I need (and I don’t want the album to be overly long), I’m starting to think that “Us vs. Them” will not be on the next album. It’ll be an exclusive for our little community here. And let me say for the umpteenth time: thanks for being here.
Second - a few weeks ago, I mentioned that an annual event that takes place in Toronto called Live Convention. It might be the most insider-y event in the hip hop world. It’s also the coolest and most fun. Details for this year’s event - which runs September 14 to 17 - are beginning to emerge. The main attraction will be Diamond D. His 1992 album Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop is an all-time classic and needs to be in your collection. DJ Spinna will be there too. You might remember his old group , the Jigmastas. And he produced a whole bunch of underground classics. He’s the G.
I also mentioned that the event culminates with the world’s greatest vinyl sale on the last day (Sunday the 17th, in this case). Like every year, I will be selling records at this year’s sale. The rare stuff I’m selling this year will melt brains. I’m preparing myself for a swarm. And I’m thinking that I’ll make a bunch of hard-to-get (and maybe even one-of-a-kind) Buck 65 stuff available INCLUDING copies of Super Dope on wax, which I received last week. I’ll have copies of King Of Drums and some of the older albums available as well. Come see me! My involvement in the event may go beyond the sale too. I’ll keep you updated. Think about coming to Toronto for a few days. It’s going to be bananas. And Toronto’s a pretty great town!
Third - I just finished reading a great book called The Come Up by Jonathan Abrams. Cadence Weapon recommended it and I’m so glad he did. It might be the best hip hop history book I’ve read yet. Over the next few posts, I’d like to discuss some of the thoughts and questions the book raised for me. Let’s get into it.
As you’re probably aware, the 50th anniversary of hip hop was celebrated a few weeks ago - on August 11th. Why is that date significant? Well, it’s believed that the pioneering DJ Kool Herc threw a party on that day to raise money for his sister to buy new school clothes. How is that significant in terms of hip hop, you may ask? Well… it’s all a bit fuzzy. Kool Herc is widely recognized as one of the founding fathers of hip hop. Based on everything I’ve read, the party that supposedly took place at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue on August 11th, 1973, was the first time he DJed publicly. The situation is fuzzy for a few reasons. Herc developed a DJ style built around drum breaks and that ultimately led to the development of hip hop. But that didn’t happen on August 11th, 1973. That came later. When exactly? It’s not known. But based on everything I know, it was probably two years later. DJ Rob Swift recently raised issue with the August 11th anniversary date and remarked that it simply marks the beginning of Kool Herc’s career. Maybe that’s reason enough to celebrate. But I don’t think it’s accurate to say that hip hop started on that day.
Here’s another reason why it’s fuzzy: there’s some doubt that the party happened at all. Harry Allen (Public Enemy’s ‘media assassin’) wrote an article about this for okayplayer. For me, the most compelling bit of info is that last year, Christie’s auction house sold a bunch of Kool Herc’s stuff - historical items. Among the items submitted for the auction was the famous flyer for the 08/11/73 party. Scans of that image have circulated on the internet for years and particularly widely in the run-up to the celebrations a few weeks ago. Well get this! As they always do, the experts at Christie’s ran tests to determine the flyer’s authenticity and concluded that it’s “an artistic recreation”. That flyer didn’t exist in 1973. It was made years later. As Harry Allen put it, it’s a ‘retro-facsimile’. Kool Herc’s sister - Cindy - admitted as much in an article in Forbes magazine last year. And in a recent interview in Rolling Stone magazine, Grandmaster Flash was asked if he was at the party that night. In response, he said, “No. I look forward to meeting someone who was. I’d love to meet them.”
On the topic of Grandmaster Flash… I’ve long held the belief that the true defining moment of hip hop was when Flash first publicly showcased his so-called ‘quick mix theory’. He came up with the technique of creating a smooth loop of a drum break using two copies of a record on two turntables. The story is well-documented and totally fascinating. The only thing that’s not 100% clear is the exact date of when this took place. I’d love to know. I think THAT’S a day worth celebrating. In The Come Up, Rahiem - who was a member of the Funky 4 and later, the Furious 5 - says that was the moment that changed everything. He was there. Who would know better than him?
The book also got me thinking a lot about regional hip hop - the spread of the culture beyond the Bronx, beyond New York, beyond the U.S. Among people who were there at the beginning, it seems to be a major point of pride that the culture spread like a virus. There are stories about how the Zulu Nation organized trips to Asia and Europe to showcase the so-called four elements and how successful and exciting that was. And the Cold Crush Brothers prided themselves on making high-quality recordings of their performances, cassette dubs of which circulated around the globe. Everyone was hyped that there were kids outside of New York - as far away as the other side of the world - who knew and loved the music.
But then things get weird. I’ll illustrate with an example. It’s well documented that a lot of the rhymes from “Rapper’s Delight” came from routines of the Cold Crush Brothers. I would assume that the guys from Sugar Hill learned those rhymes by listening to the tapes (also - Big Bank Hank of Sugar Hill managed Caz from Cold Crush). They record “Rapper’s Delight” and the immediate reaction - pretty much across the board - is “who the F are these clowns from New Jersey?! What gives them the right?”. Follow what I’m saying? The fans were welcome but the competition wasn’t. It certainly goes way, way beyond Sugar Hill Gang. Through most of the 80s, it was almost impossible for anyone outside of New York to get their foot in the door. It’s still very difficult for hip hop acts in smaller U.S. markets to get any kind of recognition or respect. And if you’re not American, you might as well forget about it. It’s all but impossible. It’s basically miraculous that Drake somehow became the biggest rapper in the world. I’ve seen videos of people having conniption fits over his success, calling him an industry plant and much, much worse. From my point of view, hip hop loves to celebrate its global domination but also resents it, in a way. As someone who loves the art and wants to make a contribution but is very much stuck on the outside, it’s quite frustrating. “Buy my record but don’t you dare think about making one yourself”.
At this point, a huge can of worms regarding nepotism and dubious success stories could be opened up but perhaps I’ll save that for the next post.
Until then.