Just to clarify - I've never had beef or a quarrel. I think the only thing that cropped up was me overblowing the whole "racking records from radio station libraries" thread from two years back.
In any case, I think Fat Beats has been one of the more consistent labels out there - prolific but not just throwing stuff out there for the sake of releases. I think the fact that FB had an A&R director makes a huge difference.
I know we have had our beefs or quarrels in the past O Dub, but I have to agree with you on this one. As one who has helped to press and distribute many of the so-called the "classic" indie Hip-Hop of the mid-late 90's underground Hip-Hop, I have to say that I pretty disqusted with much of the underground Hip-Hop now. Honestly, I would say the same for major label shit too, but that's a different topic for another time. Many of the Hip-Hop promos that I get I sell them as fast as I get them. I just not interested in much of the scene I helped breath life into. I have to say that underground Hip-Hop as a whole with a few exceptions is dead and stinkin' to me. I never in a million years thought I would say that about any part of Hip-Hop, but I gotta be straight up. As you know I worked for Fat Beats for 8 1/2 years. Along with being the President of Sales I was the Head A/R of the Dist. and later the label. I have done records with mad people and have made many friends in this industry. I got mad stories!!! So it's pretty tough to sit and watch something you help build destroy itself. Everybody is copying Slug, EL-P, or Madlib. There isn't anymore orginal shit. As Jake said, beats sounds mad spacey and shit..just toooo far out for no good rhyme or reason. Same with the lyrics. However, I gotta say there are too many haters out there that aren't supporting shit that is good. Motherfuckers like to complain and bitch about there isn't any good Hip-Hop, but when some does come along it's just straight hate. They won't spend the mponey to support cats that are working hard for this shit. It's like when you go to Europe or Japan they appreciate real shit. I shouldn't be surprised because it's happened to Jazz, Funk, Soul, etc. You name it. amir
yeah but he's not real if he's never fixed turf talk's plumbing or trimmed the old guy from arrested development's beard. i once freed j-live from a bear trap and got kool keith on the cover boys life. and i can't even read! I do these things because i love music. ask apache, tame one, rally ral, scott lark, treach, smooth b or shabaaz the disciple how i got them more lucrative health insurance plans. ask cold 187 um how i reunited him with his birth parents. don't get me wrong, I'm not ashamed of the fact that I make money off this shit. It's god's plan! I am but a pawn in a cosmic game of chess. Which reminds me, I also brokered the deal on Rza's solid gold car. I did all that in 10 minutes.
so, once again TOY: WHAT...DO...YOU...DO?
All I hear is "blog blog blog", which not surprisingly is very close to "blah blah blah"....why don't you go fetishize some music you just started listening to three years ago? Sorry if I accomplish things while you throw Suga T b-sides up on blogspot... Why participate when you can hate, huh?
yeah but he's not real if he's never fixed turf talk's plumbing or trimmed the old guy from arrested development's beard. i once freed j-live from a bear trap and got kool keith on the cover boys life. and i can't even read! I do these things because i love music. ask apache, tame one, rally ral, scott lark, treach, smooth b or shabaaz the disciple how i got them more lucrative health insurance plans. ask cold 187 um how i reunited him with his birth parents. don't get me wrong, I'm not ashamed of the fact that I make money off this shit. It's god's plan! I am but a pawn in a cosmic game of chess. Which reminds me, I also brokered the deal on Rza's solid gold car. I did all that in 10 minutes.
you mad? nycdemons must really be keeping you up at night if you're taking my absurd post personally. really dude, i respect that you've made a career out of your love of music and you've helped out some great artists, not everybody's built for that. but maniacally rattling off your credentials in an attempt to son some random (albeit lame) kid on the internet who just wanted to show off his import giant panda labels is not a good look for you and reeks of insecurity.
as for your little personal attack, i hardly see the need in publicly justifying my fucking internet hobby to some industry lemming who couldn't take a joke. but if you want to turn on your PMs we can talk about what I do.
I hear what you are saying O'dub, I think it really depends what time period that you got in to hip hop and probably how many records you own. For me it was the late 90's golden age of Rawkus and everything seemed so fresh to me. Eight years on and working at an indy hip hop shop it is hard not to feel all jaded. I'm personally not into a lot of what we stock but the kids love it. Artists i used to respect have fallen off. Case in point Madlib his output has been reduced to self indulgent drivel. However there a lot of good artists out there and like idiotproof says you have to dig for it. Artists like Atmosphere,Murs,Lightheaded,OC,Common,I Self Devine,Modill,Fresh Air, MED, J-Live, Primeridian...
Seriously, I have no fucking idea how the hell this thread has descended into all this petty bickering.
Why can't we all get along...and agree that the state of today's underground hip-hop scene is abysmal and in sore need of seriously quality control. That was my original point and one, as noted, that people seem to concur on. All this other shit is getting ridiculous. For once, I'm actually in agreement with rape_donkeys.
to try to get back on topic... I agree, I usually let me promo stack pile up a lil bit cause I don't have a lot of time to listen to stuff. When I finally get to it I find myself giving things "a&r listens" because they don't really hold my attention. Some new indie artists I like would be: Chief Kamachi (not new really but just dropped his first full length so.... I was impressed with alot of the new Cage album. Omega Watts and Giant Panda had some rather nice stuff on their albums. I always enjoy the stuff from Edan & Insight. I like Pigeon John. Also: Supastition, Azeem, Ron Noodles,
Some recent 12"s I play still:
fat lif-writers block exile w/slum village-time has come b/w soul provider project move-woo ellay khule-who killed hip hop Busdrive-Unemployed Black Astronaut
that's all that comes to mind, there's probably a few others but not too much more I would guess (esp in terms of new artists).
hey kevin...haven't heard that fat lip yet although i heard it's fresh.
hmmm...recent sounds that i find devastating to my ears...not much.
serengeti has some uniquely chicago funn and i'm looking forward to the new third sight dropping in january...groovy d is a local spy with nice production and slick scratchings. plus some ricci rucker esp. rrrap...
BoogaLeo in the house. I've pretty much kept my underground purchasing to a minimum too. I agree with most of the points made, lots of kids with access to technology I think is great but don't really say much a lotta times.
I think a main problem with lots of "underground" folks is ignorin the details of styles, concepts, delivery, HISTORY, beats and the live show--crowd control and an entertaining set. Ya, some folks might have better shows than LP's and vice-versa. A lot of the artists I'm feelin now have a more downtempo-lean compared to their live-show party sets, like Solillaquists of Sound and Asamov.
Also I think another thing bout makin hiphop music in general, cuz of its attention to samplin, is the reference point--in music and audience. All the artists in golden age rocked the Funk era we love, what is the reference point now? Other hiphop artists? The 80s? Who's the audience? What kinda issues and stories are they tellin? Maybe underground artists have no clear vision of who're their rhymin for, other than "the heads" thus makes an album not communicate as powerfully as it is. This is why we get the never-ending rants of reminiscing on Golden Era and provin "authenticity". Like I learned from Swamburger, many MC's are simply not bein themselves and not perfectin their delivery--on record and stage.
Then MC's with their egos get offended sayin "I rhyme for self" But really, to me, Hiphop and community can never be separated.
The Hiphop audience demographic is to me honestly split to
1) folks who despise any mainstream rap ever released
so they fall into the Backpack, and forever finding "the real shit"
and "next level shit"
2) folks who measure good hiphop from its history
and don't wanna hear some lackluster beats and rhymes in
excuse to be the "real shit" but still lookin for "next level"
3) folks who're up on all their local, regional acts
and wish their scene would break to the mainstream or stay "real"
4) folks who don't give a fuck, all hiphop/music is recreational
maybe that's it, people listenin for different reasons. I duno, never underestimate the role of the people. There's a definite indie-alternative-co-opt in the undergound scene now.
Please folks, just continue to drop good shit! We create the scene. I'm sure with the amount of talent on this board some dope music can come outta here. We have any MC's in the house?
peace.
Oh, and the current "underground" shit I'm feelin
1. Asamov "And Now" , 6 Hole records (I'm biased I'm from Jax and they've come a looong way)
2. Solillaquists of Sound "4 Student Counsol", Nonsense records (just signed to Epitaph I think) waitin on their new album
3. Blue Scholars s/t (cuz I can relate)
4. Ricci Rucker's projects
5. Count Bass D's Dwight Spitz as well as Art for Sale EP (bugged out fun)
But my fav Hiphop album i picked up in past 2yrs is probably De La's Grind Date.
I think you can still make a decent mix of individual underground songs, and I'm still somewhat invested in wanting to know what's out there, but there's no way I'm fucking with whole albums of any of these artists.
Comments
word, sorry to have been involved with this at all. A waste of time.
I'm outta here for a spell.
J
In any case, I think Fat Beats has been one of the more consistent labels out there - prolific but not just throwing stuff out there for the sake of releases. I think the fact that FB had an A&R director makes a huge difference.
All I hear is "blog blog blog", which not surprisingly is very close to "blah blah blah"....why don't you go fetishize some music you just started listening to three years ago? Sorry if I accomplish things while you throw Suga T b-sides up on blogspot... Why participate when you can hate, huh?
Oh shit, Noz is Daze?!?!
as for your little personal attack, i hardly see the need in publicly justifying my fucking internet hobby to some industry lemming who couldn't take a joke. but if you want to turn on your PMs we can talk about what I do.
love,
your favorite blogger's favorite blogger
Artists like Atmosphere,Murs,Lightheaded,OC,Common,I Self Devine,Modill,Fresh Air, MED, J-Live, Primeridian...
Why can't we all get along...and agree that the state of today's underground hip-hop scene is abysmal and in sore need of seriously quality control. That was my original point and one, as noted, that people seem to concur on. All this other shit is getting ridiculous. For once, I'm actually in agreement with rape_donkeys.
"Live N Breathe" & "King Kong" feat. Bun B
@ http://www.myspace.com/angelesrecords
no more LSD for me plaese
FUCKING WHOA.
I don't think it would be Soulstrut if it didn't.
Tra la la, fellas.
Some recent 12"s I play still:
fat lif-writers block
exile w/slum village-time has come b/w soul provider
project move-woo
ellay khule-who killed hip hop
Busdrive-Unemployed Black Astronaut
that's all that comes to mind, there's probably a few others but not too much more I would guess (esp in terms of new artists).
That dilla remix is beyond dope. The drums knock just right and the bass is
I'm finding that I really love dilla's sloppy-as-fuck cuts lately. Used to kinda bug me a bit, I don't know what happened...
you mean texta from linz / austria? or is there a us group/artist by that name?
hmmm...recent sounds that i find devastating to my ears...not much.
serengeti has some uniquely chicago funn and i'm looking forward to the new third sight dropping in january...groovy d is a local spy with nice production and slick scratchings. plus some ricci rucker esp. rrrap...
BoogaLeo in the house. I've pretty much kept my underground purchasing to a minimum too. I agree with most of the points made, lots of kids with access to technology I think is great but don't really say much a lotta times.
I think a main problem with lots of "underground" folks is ignorin the details of styles, concepts, delivery, HISTORY, beats and the live show--crowd control and an entertaining set. Ya, some folks might have better shows than LP's and vice-versa. A lot of the artists I'm feelin now have a more downtempo-lean compared to their live-show party sets, like Solillaquists of Sound and Asamov.
Also I think another thing bout makin hiphop music in general, cuz of its attention to samplin, is the reference point--in music and audience. All the artists in golden age rocked the Funk era we love, what is the reference point now? Other hiphop artists? The 80s? Who's the audience? What kinda issues and stories are they tellin? Maybe underground artists have no clear vision of who're their rhymin for, other than "the heads" thus makes an album not communicate as powerfully as it is. This is why we get the never-ending rants of reminiscing on Golden Era and provin "authenticity". Like I learned from Swamburger, many MC's are simply not bein themselves and not perfectin their delivery--on record and stage.
Then MC's with their egos get offended sayin "I rhyme for self" But really, to me, Hiphop and community can never be separated.
The Hiphop audience demographic is to me honestly split to
1) folks who despise any mainstream rap ever released
so they fall into the Backpack, and forever finding "the real shit"
and "next level shit"
2) folks who measure good hiphop from its history
and don't wanna hear some lackluster beats and rhymes in
excuse to be the "real shit" but still lookin for "next level"
3) folks who're up on all their local, regional acts
and wish their scene would break to the mainstream or stay "real"
4) folks who don't give a fuck, all hiphop/music is recreational
maybe that's it, people listenin for different reasons. I duno, never underestimate the role of the people. There's a definite indie-alternative-co-opt in the undergound scene now.
Please folks, just continue to drop good shit! We create the scene. I'm sure with the amount of talent on this board some dope music can come outta here. We have any MC's in the house?
peace.
Oh, and the current "underground" shit I'm feelin
1. Asamov "And Now" , 6 Hole records (I'm biased I'm from Jax and they've come a looong way)
2. Solillaquists of Sound "4 Student Counsol", Nonsense records (just signed to Epitaph I think) waitin on their new album
3. Blue Scholars s/t (cuz I can relate)
4. Ricci Rucker's projects
5. Count Bass D's Dwight Spitz as well as Art for Sale EP (bugged out fun)
But my fav Hiphop album i picked up in past 2yrs is probably De La's Grind Date.
Yeah it's from the beginning of the Door's track Soft Parade from the album of the same title.