What happened to Primo? Or us?

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  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    Did Coltrane James Brown rock the same style throughout his career?

    From the 50s-80s JB would constantly rework his older tunes in the style of the day, sometimes improving them and sometimes weakening them... from jump blues and gospel to disco the man always experimented with whatever the sound of the day was...

  • Ironically, he does scratches on "New York" on the same album but Emile comes with a track that's actual heat, even if it's just recycling some classic UBB shit.

    That track is not at all "actual heat"

    ......

  • emyndemynd 830 Posts
    It really pisses me off that there's a producer named "Emile."

    -emil

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Ironically, he does scratches on "New York" on the same album but Emile comes with a track that's actual heat, even if it's just recycling some classic UBB shit.

    That track is not at all "actual heat"

    ......

    Actually, it is. But then again, I also liked "AZ's Chillin" so maybe I'm just getting nostalgic.

    Fuck, I better go put on some Juelz and get my mind right.
    DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET DIPSET

  • More to the point - Phil, what you define as "real hip-hop heads" basically equates to "NY/Tri-state hip-hop heads". The hip-hop coming out today sounds more like what I grew up listening to - in California - than "glory era"/"golden era" hip-hop does. We've been through this before, but back in the 80s & early 90s, for us, it was all about the 808 and keyboards and party chants and shit. I just feel like you never recognize this in the history of "real hip-hop".

    I think the "real hip-hop heads in the 90s would have liked this" argument really is like "Primo could've farted on a track back then". What he was doing was at that time cutting edge, and while some of those tracks haven't stood the test of time, back then it all sounded fresh. Now, what's cutting edge sounds fresh and what's like mid-90s hip-hop sounds boring, even if it would have been considered good by 90s standards.




    and i'd like to take MY OPINION a step further and say East Coast heads are stubborn...

    never have and never will HONESTLY recognize anything other than BOOM BAP as 'real' hip hop beats and hold on to these washed up golden era producers like a pacifier

    when the west ran hip hop the torch was never officially passed WITH RESPECT

    and now that the South has ran hip hop for the past 5+ years half the east coast dudes think a dirty south classic is 'South Bronx'


    Daaaam, hommie... now how did y'all twist this into a damn east / west / south war??? Sigh....

    Man, folls out here have almost ALWAYS liked a lot of west coast stuff. Come on, man... NWA, Eazy E, D.O.C., Ice Cube, Snoop, 'Pac, D.U., Geto Boys, Scar Face, Warren G... please. I'm sure I liked Heiro more than most west coast people. Did we like EVERY west coast artist? F**k no! Could it just be that certain regions like certain kinds of music more than others? All I used to hear about back in the days was east coast rappers doing shows in other parts of the country and getting no love whatsoever, so it really works both ways.

    The bottom line is, when we talk about "real hip hop music", you cannot deny that it originated in New York and there were certain elements to the music that made it what it was. There was more to it that made it hip hop than just people rapping over a beat, ya dig? When the music started travelling to other regions, they started to do their own versions of hip hop / rap that reflected their own lifestyles and musical tastes. Now let me say this in bold, capital letters, because I know folls are gonna act like they didn't read it- I THINK THAT THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL THING!!![/b] People should make, and listen to, whatever music is moving them and making them feel good. It doesn't even matter if it's "real hip hop" or not- who cares, as long as you're enjoying it.
    But just because someone is rapping over a beat and they play it in the clubs and you and your hommies love it DOES NOT MAKE IT "REAL HIP HOP". It is what it is. Even though it may not be my thing personally, I have a lot of respect for stuff like Miami "booty bass" music, crunk, bounce, whatever. Because it seems to me that the people who make and listen to the music could care less about it being respected as hip hop or not.

    Anyway, I'm rambling and getting away from the point, but all i was saying about the Primo beats is that I can't understand how a person who once loved that stuff can all of a sudden not like that style of music at all. I say that because what was once widely recognized as "real hip hop" is the schitt that I loved years ago and still love today. You know the saying "real recognizes real"... it's just difficult for me to see how a person who TRULY loved that sound could now be on some anyway-the-wind-blows schitt and only want to hear the type of stuff that's popular today. I can't help but question if these people are really "real headz who know the deal" or not. DO NOT GET OFFENDED, PLAESE. Or I'm gonna start callin' y'all a bunch of grumpy young fucks! Tell 'em, Puto-

  • But back to Phill - his track for AZ (who is a good rapper) on "The Come Up" is just what I'm talking about. It's dull, sleepy.

    Well, we just have to agree to disagree on that one, I guess. Personally, I just don't feel that the wheel has to be reinvented everytime somebody comes out with a new record. Let me ask you, do you think you'd have thought that AZ track was dull and sleepy if it came out in like '97? Probably not, and this is why I say that the fans have changed more than Primo has. This is not a dis to the listeners as much as it is a statement of fact, as far as I can see it- as I've said before, times just change and people generally want to hear new things as time moves on.
    I'm relistening to "The Come Up" now... sounds like vintage "Nas Is Like"-era Primo to me (and don't you honsetly think that "Nas Is Like" would sound dull and sleepy to you if it came out today?)

  • anyone who's not feeling those beats probably never really loved hip hop music[/b]





    I NEVER SAID THIS.





    it's just that much of the public has moved on and doesn't love that style anymore. And in many cases[/b], I question how much they EVER really loved that real hip hop style of music.






    In MANY cases, not "anyone". It's definitely Saul Goode, fam. Ain't but so many people on here still willing to fearlessly stand up for the raw (so-called "outdated") hip hop schitt, so I'll take whatever slings and arrow come my way- it's nothing. But I respect everybody's opinion whether we disagree or not. YA DIG?

  • Oliver - you are clearly disconnected from the streets.

    Phil - You know what, you said exactly what I was talking about, ie "when hip-hop went outside of NY and people started doing their own versions of it..." In the west, it was not so much a "version" of what was going on in NYC as it was its own native thing, partially inspired but homegrown. It probably had more in common with Zapp than with Run DMC. I mean, just like poplocking was more like cripwalking than uprocking, yahm? I think you have a very NYC-centric view of how hip-hop developed elsewhere, is all. Not a dis, believe me I've had this same discussion with many many people.

    Also, I have to disagree that east coast heads liked lots of Cali shit. I came east in 1995, and CAUGHT BEEF over that shit. Very few people liked Pac, very few people liked any of the Cali rap other than Heiro and Dre/NWA. You hear DJs today (as I did just a few hours ago) doing Pac tributes and admitting "I never really liked Pac until after he died". I was in NYC, so I know this to be the truth. Sure, there was a level of respect for artists from Cali but there was a lot of people who talked about how Cali was ruining hip-hop, perverting it, whatever... this was a common criticism that I would get into arguments over. I specifically remember reading a column in the Village Voice proclaiming that "The Chronic" was the death of hip-hop as we knew it.


  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    I specifically remember reading a column in the Village Voice proclaiming that "The Chronic" was the death of hip-hop as we knew it.

    Some wanker put out a book recently with an essay (or chaper?) on how The Chronic ruined pop music for our generation...

  • emyndemynd 830 Posts
    I know for a fact that Hot 97 did not play Tupac regularly until he died.

    -e


  • Phil - You know what, you said exactly what I was talking about, ie "when hip-hop went outside of NY and people started doing their own versions of it..." In the west, it was not so much a "version" of what was going on in NYC as it was its own native thing, partially inspired but homegrown. It probably had more in common with Zapp than with Run DMC. I mean, just like poplocking was more like cripwalking than uprocking, yahm? I think you have a very NYC-centric view of how hip-hop developed elsewhere, is all. Not a dis, believe me I've had this same discussion with many many people.

    Yes, I most definitely have a NYC-centric view when it comes to Hip Hop... I grew up right outside of NYC back when hip hop was in it's early stages and now live in Philly, so of course my viewpoint is a New York / east coast viewpoint. It couldn't really be anything else, and I don't apologize for that at all. How hip hop developed elsewhere I really can't say from my own experience, but from my travels and discussions with others I think I have a good idea. Like you said, dudes out west had more in common with Zapp than Run DMC, and from what I've seen I think that's how it was in most of the country. In the mid 80's I lived in Harrisburg Pa for a year and a half- now, this place is only a little over 100 miles west of Philly and trust me, it was probably more like where you grew up than it was like Philly or New York. My man Scratchmaster Rob and me pretty much introduced hip hop to Harrisburg- they were on some straight up R&B country-style schitt. And this is my whole point when it comes to "real hip hop"- most of the USA is more into R&B sounding music with keyboards and melodies than they are into raw NYC hip hop music, they can just relate to it and digest it much easier. It was like that in the mid 80's and I honestly believe that it's like that today. Hip hop began as a tiny little underground movement in the bombed out South Bronx ghettos and only a select few "cool" people even knew about it and were into it (yes, even back in the days of Bambaataa and Herc). I don't think this has ever really changed- I think rap itself is obviously huge today, but hip hop in musical form is only recognized and appreciated by a very small portion of the public.

    But even with this NYC-centric view that I will always have, I personally have NEVER hated on any rap music from other areas just because it wasn't from around here. If it's dope hip hop schitt then it's dope hip hop schitt- that's it. I could write a whole book on this, but I'll just leave it at that.


    Also, I have to disagree that east coast heads liked lots of Cali shit. I came east in 1995, and CAUGHT BEEF over that shit. Very few people liked Pac, very few people liked any of the Cali rap other than Heiro and Dre/NWA. You hear DJs today (as I did just a few hours ago) doing Pac tributes and admitting "I never really liked Pac until after he died". I was in NYC, so I know this to be the truth. Sure, there was a level of respect for artists from Cali but there was a lot of people who talked about how Cali was ruining hip-hop, perverting it, whatever... this was a common criticism that I would get into arguments over. I specifically remember reading a column in the Village Voice proclaiming that "The Chronic" was the death of hip-hop as we knew it.

    Yes, this is all true. No doubt about that. I'm just saying that it wasn't TOTAL hatred for west coast artists. But there's no denying that we felt that the changes that the west coast were bringing to the game were bad for hip hop. The main complaints were that the rappers were lyrically wack and that the beats were too smoothed out and R&Bish. The country accents sounded ridiculous back then. And the jheri curls, man... . But whoever we thought was bringin' it, believe me, they got MAD love in NYC. I think I've said this on here before, I remember clearly seeing dudes who looked like wannabe Big Daddy Kanes in the projects in the Bronx in 1989 rockin' Eazy E on their boomboxes, NOT Ultramagnetic!

  • and don't you honsetly think that "Nas Is Like" would sound dull and sleepy to you if it came out today?

    I thought Nas is Like sounded sleepy when it came out.

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Phill: "The Come Up" would have been sleepy in 1995, let alone 2005. It's just not a great track, regardless of era.


  • bull_oxbull_ox 5,056 Posts
    Well, we just have to agree to disagree on that one, I guess. Personally, I just don't feel that the wheel has to be reinvented everytime somebody comes out with a new record. Let me ask you, do you think you'd have thought that AZ track was dull and sleepy if it came out in like '97? Probably not, and this is why I say that the fans have changed more than Primo has. This is not a dis to the listeners as much as it is a statement of fact, as far as I can see it- as I've said before, times just change and people generally want to hear new things as time moves on.
    I'm relistening to "The Come Up" now... sounds like vintage "Nas Is Like"-era Primo to me (and don't you honsetly think that "Nas Is Like" would sound dull and sleepy to you if it came out today?)

    Phill, I'm of the mind that there was enough music released of each classic genre in its prime originally- no need to be revisiting and attempting to recreate a previous era...

  • Primo beats are tied to an era where the mc was expected to be the one dropping science. They're not complicated. Its just some boom bap shit for an mc to explode on.

    I feel like these days the beat is basicly expected to carry most, if not all of the song.

    And in this way Primo was way ahead of his time. After all, that's exactly what Primo did: Carry the song.

    No member of the Foundation was a really dope lyricist (see Group Home, to a lesser extent Jeru, and, yes, Guru also - dude had a dope voice but doesn't really rap well).

    Primo carried all those guys.

  • whats that one AZ & Nas track where they rap kinda double time over that slow break from Incredible Bongo Band? I remembering hearing it last christmas





    NOW THAT SHIT IS ACTUAL FUCKING HEAT!






  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    whats that one AZ & Nas track where they rap kinda double time over that slow break from Incredible Bongo Band? I remembering hearing it last christmas


    NOW THAT SHIT IS ACTUAL FUCKING HEAT!



    Nas/AZ - Serious

    and it is hot. relentless.

  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    I've been thinking about this in another context. Kiddies don't like the same music I do, and by music, I mean sounds. I like a warm fender rhodes or a thick standup bassline, younger dudes get amped by synth keys and huge synthesized drum sounds. There is no reconciliation, music will move on and leave behind dudes like Pete Rock and Primo. Who in music has stayed current throughout their career? James Brown got embarrassing in the 80s, when's the last time Prince made a good tune, Herbie Hancock got lame after Rockit, and he pushed it hard. Just an opinion.
    1
    T.N.

  • SwayzeSwayze 14,705 Posts
    I've been thinking about this in another context. Kiddies don't like the same music I do, and by music, I mean sounds. I like a warm fender rhodes or a thick standup bassline, younger dudes get amped by synth keys and huge synthesized drum sounds. There is no reconciliation, music will move on and leave behind dudes like Pete Rock and Primo. Who in music has stayed current throughout their career? James Brown got embarrassing in the 80s, when's the last time Prince made a good tune, Herbie Hancock got lame after Rockit, and he pushed it hard. Just an opinion.
    1
    T.N.
    this morning, CNN said paul mccartney's new album (coming out soon) is the best one he's made since leaving the beatles... even better than RAM.

  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    And Everybody Loves Raymond is a well written show filled with scintillating comedic moments...

  • the ebst I ever saw was Soundmachine schooling Q-bert and Q-bert trying to replicate the scratch that Sound did not being able to.

    Gotta give it to Revolution almost any time he is Scratching. Its always insane

    Cosign on jazzy Jeff Live and Union Square, Miz destroying Run DMC on We Dont Play, and always was a fan of the beginning of Public Enemy Fear of a Black planet (contract on the world)... Even though its nothing technical it was the closest I have heard scratching get to being soulful...

  • DeeRockDeeRock 1,836 Posts
    Just wanted to ask if anyone here has heard "The Excorcist" by Lil Vic produced by Premier? It's straight fire in my opinion, but what do I know? I'm just an old hip hop dude! Lol. Also, please believe Pete rock still diggs for records, in fact more now then ever. If someone can please post a link to that Lil Vic track, do so!!!!


  • BsidesBsides 4,244 Posts
    I think one of the main things that separates NYC boom bap hip hop and stuff from the south and the west is that alot of folks in NYC listen to shit on headphones. While in the south and the west shit has to bang in the trunk.


    Primo has a consistant minimalist sound that is his signiture and while some of it doesnt sound as revolutionary today, i doubt everyone will still think every neptunes beat is bangin in 10 years.......make that 5 years even.


    I just dont like the whole "stick a fork in primo...hes done" type attitude.Primo is a legendary producer and always will be. Regardless of how many crappy big shug albums he puts out.


  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    I think one of the main things that separates NYC boom bap hip hop and stuff from the south and the west is that alot of folks in NYC listen to shit on headphones. While in the south and the west shit has to bang in the trunk.

    Dude, nobody in NY is listening to Primo, either.

  • edpowersedpowers 4,437 Posts
    nice location Faux







    o.k. maybe 80% not 90%


  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    nice location Faux




    The perfect articulation of what I have been privately thinking for the past 2.5 years.


  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    I think one of the main things that separates NYC boom bap hip hop and stuff from the south and the west is that alot of folks in NYC listen to shit on headphones. While in the south and the west shit has to bang in the trunk.


    Primo has a consistant minimalist sound that is his signiture and while some of it doesnt sound as revolutionary today, i doubt everyone will still think every neptunes beat is bangin in 10 years.......make that 5 years even.


    I just dont like the whole "stick a fork in primo...hes done" type attitude.Primo is a legendary producer and always will be. Regardless of how many crappy big shug albums he puts out.


    B,

    Suggesting that Primo isn't that relevant - or, you know good - right now doesn't diminish his legacy or legend. But c'mon, just because someone made incredible music ten years ago doesn't mean we have to, on principle, think his tracks still burn.

  • This has crossed my mind several times and from a MUSICAL stand point i think artists do need to change it up (not completely) but damn explore/fuck around - change it up even if its "jus' a lil bit." Like with "Mass Appeal", I read in interviews that Premier was messin' around to make that beat more "radio friendly" and shit turned out to be one of their most known songs. That song didn't sound like anything they did before and it worked. To me its a waste for an artist to stick to one formula/style: be it an MC, DJ, Producer, Singer, Tagger - I'm not saying you have to "change with the times" but damn show me you got more shit up your sleeve. I don't think it has anything to do with diggin records, cuz that Vic Horizon joint is horrible. Vic Horizon = bad dig. But he flipped that shit and to me thats one of the things that really makes a producer stand out. Using a sample that people know or was originally played a certain way and FLIPPIN the f*ck out of it. C'mon we all know its whats you do with a record, but it helps if the track is dope to begin with.

    On the other hand, I think this is a double edged sword, cuz dudes be changing their styles and people still gripe about that??? People attempt to adapt to the "new sound" and some ya'll get mad they did that, like "Why he gotta change his style?" And thats straight up bull-mierda. Example, Pharcyde 2nd album, ATCQ - The Love Movement, etc.

    I guess my bottom line is its all subjective, case and point: I like "Moment of Truth" it has its moments but love "Daily Operation" and "Hard to Earn."


  • mandrewmandrew 2,720 Posts
    bottom line: preem, pete rock, beatminerz etc have not adapted to the times. regardless if that's commendable or not good lookin, its true. as cire just mentioned, a lot of other artists have tried to adapt but failed (pathetically).

    what artists have adapted to the times by making consequential changes to their style... and done it successfully?

    beatles
    dre
    de la on 'buhloone mind state' (?)
    ...

  • Phill: "The Come Up" would have been sleepy in 1995, let alone 2005. It's just not a great track, regardless of era.


    Like I said before, we just will have to agree to disagree on that one, hommie. There were plenty of Primo beats that were considered hot back in that era that are just as "sleepy" as that AZ beat is, some even moreso. I GUARANTEE that if that schitt came out during his heyday I would've had a gang of kids e-mailing me wanting to know what he sampled for that beat. I'll say it again- the listeners have changed, that is all.

    Now, let me ask you this, O-Dub (and you too, Faux... you're always good for an entertaining comment)- do you think that it is even humanly possible for Primo to make a beat in the style that he's famous for that you would like in 2005, or do you think that it's so played to death that he has no choice but to come up with a newly modified style? I know, I know, Faux... "his only possible option is to bow out gracefully while he still has a miniscule shred of respect left".
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