Two hip-hop icons have recently appeared on the frequently great Microphone Check podcast from NPR. First up was Large Professor, followed a few days later by Masta Ace. Listen to the two legends drop science and history on the links below.
Category: Documentary
Exile on Rhythm Roulette
Sean Price tribute show highlights with DJ Premier, DJ Eclipse and more
Few people are more qualified in the ways of underground and Indy hip-hop than DJ Premier and DJ Eclipse, so its only right that they led the tributes that came flooding in when Sean Price passed. Watch below for highlights from the Rap Is Outta Control Sean P special, with many stories of the late great rapper told.
Mannie Fresh on ‘Rhythm Roulette’
Here’s why the Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito Kickstarter is worthy of your money
Hip-hop radio icons Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Garcia have launched a Kickstarter campaign for contributions towards the launch of their anticipated documentary film, Stretch & Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives. Its a project worthy of your cash, and here’s why.
Goofy, sometimes ridiculously immature, but always bringing the freshest music from new hip-hop artists, the Stretch & Bobbito show on Columbia University’s WKCR radio station ran for the best part of the 90s.
Much has been made about how the show was influential in helping to launch the careers of many who would go on to be huge, most notably Jay-Z, Nas, Biggie Smalls and the Wu-Tang Clan.
More importantly, at least in our eyes, the show also supported independent and alternative hip-hop artists, championing the likes of Kool Keith when he reinvented himself as Dr. Octagon, and showing much love to groups like Company Flow, Juggaknots, J Treds, Godfather Don and countless more.
Bobbito even founded his own label to release a lot of the underground material that was appearing on the show. The much-missed Fondle’em Records helped to introduce the world to MF Doom, and laid the foundation for labels of a similar vein, including Rawkus, Stones Throw and Def Jux.
It’s therefore no exaggeration to say that Stretch and Bob played perhaps the most important role in creating that classic mid-late 90s indy boom of creativity that many of us are still stuck on today. And that is surely reason enough to throw some money their way.
Donate here, and read more about the documentary here, including upcoming screenings.
Classic tracks from Stretch & Bobbito
Us and the rest of the boom-bap addicts went nuts recently when Stretch & Bobbito released some of their archive radio shows on tape for sale on Fat Beats (already sold out). They’ve also now released several classic tracks and features from the golden years for stream, including appearances from O.C., Black Moon, Smif-N-Wessun, Kool Keith and more. Listen below, and enjoy that trip down memory lane. Also look out for the Stretch & Bobbito documentary coming soon.
Oddisee – NPR Tiny Desk Concert
Oddisee has been further spreading the word from his excellent The Good Fight album with a performance for the NPR Tiny Desk Concert series. It’s nice and intimate, allowing the rather shy Oddisee to show everyone exactly what he does best. Watch below, and go get the album if you haven’t yet – its dope.
Watch here.
Magnum Opus – ‘Mass Appeal’ by Gang Starr
Mass Appeal by Gang Starr is right up there in our top 3 favorite hip-hop songs of all time, possibly at number 1. It sent a tingle down our spine then to hear that the latest episode of the often-incredible Magnum Opus series from Complex is dedicated to the track. We get to hear from DJ Premier hinself, plus a host of others from his inner circle, each helping to paint a picture of how the classic joint got made, and its impact since. Shame we’ll never get to hear stories from the much-missed Guru. Watch below right now.
Mr Green – ‘Step Into The Booth’
Skyzoo – ‘Music For My Friends’ album sampler
The new Skyzoo album Music For My Friends is almost here, but here’s an 11-minute sampler to wet your appetite in the meantime. It sounds good, and will hopefully see the talented artist get opened up to a wider following. Listen on the link below, and also watch a short documentary about how the album was made.
http://www.audiomack.com/embed4-large/2dbz/music-for-my-friends-sampler
http://cache.vevo.com/assets/html/embed.html?video=USUYG1073327&autoplay=0