WOW... I HAVE A BLOG NOW, AND IT'S SO FUN!!!
Phill_Most
4,594 Posts
I just discovered this whole blog phenomenon like just a few days ago (well, I guess a little longer ago than that, but I was really late, mang) and didn't get the idea to do my own until last night. Holy pakora, I didn't realize the shit was so friggin' easy to do. I LOVE ny new blog!!! I have no idea what I'm doing and I guess it's crude right now... I suppose I can find a way to make it cooler with graphics or some such schitt, I dunno. I don't care! IT'S SOOOO FUNNNNN!!!!!
Ermmm... anyway, check it out at WORLD OF BEATS v2.0. I guess this should've gone in the Announcements section? Probably, but muthafackers don't check that shite regularly. I want EVERYBODY to know how much fun I am having with my blog! IT'S THAT REAL SCHITT, BATCHES!
BTW, I want links to ALL OTHER SOULSTRUTTER'S BLOGS! I am EXCITED about BLOGS right now! CAPS LOCK ON, BATCHES!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
Ermmm... anyway, check it out at WORLD OF BEATS v2.0. I guess this should've gone in the Announcements section? Probably, but muthafackers don't check that shite regularly. I want EVERYBODY to know how much fun I am having with my blog! IT'S THAT REAL SCHITT, BATCHES!
BTW, I want links to ALL OTHER SOULSTRUTTER'S BLOGS! I am EXCITED about BLOGS right now! CAPS LOCK ON, BATCHES!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
Comments
Phantastic Philly Phill M.C.! More dope pictures plaese. This blog is great Phill. Already bookmarked it.
I want a world of beats T-SHirt.
I love that logo.
Another essential bookmark...
-meaty
That must have been around when Philly got Pete Rose. I guess you can't go wrong with the GREATEST TEAM EVER, but one of those blue/maroon philly jackets woulda been thorough.
Rest assured, Raj Mahal- Soulstrut will ALWAYS be my blog. It will just be my "other" blog from now on.
I will still be droppin' real shit from time to time like THIS-
Me and Scratchmaster goin' back to back circa 1983 or 1984 (probably spring of '84). Please excuse the wack "breakdance" piece on cardboard, but check the fashions! I think that's an og Le Tigre or (shudder the thought) a Chams De Baron polo! Tale Lord jeans? Could be! My brother Rob with the vintage old school Adidas and laces going up the pants legs...
When I get a minute I'm gonna do a post with a whole lot of pics from this era, hopefully early next week. Keep an eye out.
Meaty, you can contact Traffic and they will hook you up. I know they only had a limited amount of copies and they got them out all over pretty good, so if they don't have any left let me know and I'll see what I can do for you. But definitely try to contact them first (it's always a good look when your stuff is "in demand"... I know you know how it works, hommie!).
Dope page Phil!
Look out blog-sphere!
I am gonna add you later tonight!
here's mine if anyone is interested:
http://jesgrew.blogspot.com
check back for some great pics from Fatback and I digging in DC today!
Blogs are fun!
nice stuff there soulman. i'll have to get mine up and running too! yours has definitely been bookmarked!
HOLY SHIT! I just started one this week too!
http://dizzybull.blogspot.com/
not much there yet, but i think it will be fun. weeee!
ttlab features section was the best bit of the site..
Baghat Vinyl Soulman Interview
little dude noz interviews phill the soulman via email for a beat digging/record collecting article in his high school paper probably circa 98/99.[/b]
(the actual article never ran, which was probably for the better and i won't be posting that)
little dude noz
big dude (no homo) most chill
How long have you been collecting? How did you first get involved?
I've been buying records since the late 70's, seriously since 1984 and fanatically since around 1994. I first got involved in digging for beats at first to have something to cut up on my turntables and make tapes with. Later it was strictly for sampling purposes.
What were some of your best finds? Any miracles?
A mint Marva Whitney on the streets of Harrisburg, PA for a buck.... a bunch of sealed copies of Kain The Blue Guerilla and Johnny Houston "Makin' Bacon" in the basement of a shop in Philly for 50 cents each.... and ten sealed "Soul Sesame Street" lps underneath a cabinet in a car audio shop in Jersey. Those are just a few of my better finds. I've never made like a huge warehouse discovery like a lot of cats have done.
Is there any one record in your collection you couldn't live without?
Nah, I could live without any of them. I wouldn't want to, but I could do it. I'm not as fanatical about this as you might think.
What do you think about the current state of digging? Do you think the recent rise in popularity is beneficial?
I think the rise in popularity is definitely a good thing. It shows that real hip hop, or what real hip hop is built on, isn't dead after all. There are negative sides to it- I'm sure many people are just treating it as a fad- but I'd rather see digging as a fad rather than the "bling bling"materialistic nonsense that's been too prevalent in hip hop recently.
What about the influence of the internet (especially ebay and other sources for inflated prices)
People complain about Ebay, but I have no problem with it at all. Look, you bid what a record is worth to you. If you get it, cool. If somebody outbids you, I guess they wanted it more than you! What is a fair price for a record, really? Who's to say? I think Ebay is a lot fairer than a dealer who just arbitrarily puts a $100 price tag on an Earth Wind & Fire album. And if your diggin' skills are on point you can STILL find gems for cheap on Ebay. I do it all the time.
Any words of advice for beginners?
Start with the BASICS. Don't start out buying $100 original funk 45s. Buy those comps, the hell with what anybody says about it. Start with James Brown, Ultimate Breaks & Beats, Meters, early Kool & The Gang, Roy Ayers and all the basic well known artists who are still the most bangin' music makers ever. After you get that basic education, THEN go to the more obscure stuff. Otherwise you are definitely hustlin' backwards, you know what I'm sayin'?
What's you're stance on break records?
I don't have a problem with them for the most part. Nobody likes to see their secret discoveries put out there for mass consumption, of course. But hey, there aren't too many secrets out there anymore. I think the cats who get so salty over comps need to just get over it, really. Anything that gets the music out there and keeps it alive is basically a good thing, as far as I'm concerned.
Ok, Describe beat digging in one paragraph or less, so someone who knows nothing about it can get the gist of it.
It's about going to used record shops, record shows, thrift stores or anywhere there are old records and searching for certain records that have breaks- funky drum beats or danceable grooves, even if they may be only a few seconds long. You use those breaks to cut up on turntables or sample for music tracks on hip hop recordings. Or even better, just to take home and listen to for your own enjoyment.
What kind of effect does a vinyl fetish have your "real world" life?
Well, I spend money on records that I probably should spend on more responsible things. but it is a good investment, actually- I'd estimate my collection now to be worth over $300,000, judging by some of the outlandish prices I've been seeing lately. But I'm not insane about it- my family will always come first and that's all there is to that.
BIG PHIL!! Always reppin "THAT REAL SHIT".
Cool article. thanks for posting.
Mhat has been real busy with HK Flix last I heard. I haven't been in contact with him in awhile. But Mhat is a hell of a dude... he was running that World Of Beats site for me free of charge for years. I would feel guilty and straight up plead with him to let me pay him something, anything... nope, he would not accept. When he started doing the HK Flix site he really didn't have time to do my stuff anymore, but he still tried to hook it up for awhile until it just got to be too much for him. So that was part of the reason why worldofbeats.com kinda died off, aside from me just being too busy for it myself. But without a doubt, Mhat is THAT DUDE. I need to holler at him and see how he's doing.