Category: Origins

[EDM Origins: Trance House] [Throwbacks] // [Hard Trance / House] Future Breeze – Second Chance // [Ambient Trance/House] Michelle Williams – We Break the Dawn (Karmatronic Remix)

This EDM Origins post focuses on some of the early trance and progressive house sounds responsible for today’s EDM with a sick remix of Michelle Williams by Karmatronic


[Hard House/Anthem Trance]
Future Breeze – Second Life (Club Mix)

For Our EDM Origins of today we have two very influential and treasured songs from my music library. Both released during the forefront of EDM’s emergence into American culture during the ripe year of 2008. Our first selection “Second Life (Club Mix” by Future Breeze is a highly slept on, heavy bass-synth trance track I happened to stumble across on iTunes one day.

[Spoiler:] For the young and restless skip ahead to the 3:01 mark for the epic drop. The song continually builds over futuristic synths that were likely foundations for the Future House and Synth House we have today. After a nice little intro the music cuts. Slowly but surely a tiny synth chord begins, growing louder, until the epic drop that rides out for the rest of song. Trance lovers will not be disappointed.

 

[Ambient Trance/House]
Michelle Williams – We Break the Dawn (Karmatronic Video Remix)

Next up, how can we forget Karmatronic’s magnificent remix of Michelle Williams “We Break the Dawn”. Turning the song into a groovy, downtempo and danceable house track. This remix stands out to me today the same way it did when I purchased it solely off its 30 sec. preview back in 2008. It’s one of a growing minority of older songs I still keep in 8000+ library. I guess it’s the overall natural feel of the melodies blending into something smooth and harmonic without losing the original’s identity. A welcome change from a time awash with similar “remixes” of pop music and Top-40 hits that populated dance charts throughout the early to mid-2000s.

This remix is a great song for riding, relaxing, getting things done, or just to find your own little groovy moment in it.

Cheers.

[Throwback: Emotive Hip-Hop] Best of Joe Budden: Sidetracked // Other Deep, “Emo” Rappers – Cudi, Cinos, Charles Hamilton

Joe Budden’s “Sidetracked” is one of today’s throwback posts to emotive hip-hop, featuring a sick sample of Coldplay’s “Lost”


[Emotive Hip-Hop Throwback:] Joe Budden – Sidetracked // More deep-emotive hip-hop at end of this post:

[Coldplay “Lost” sample:]

Just because I’m losin’
Doesn’t mean I’m lost,
Doesn’t mean I’ll stop
Doesn’t mean I will cross…

From The Dope Chronicles (Feb 2015)

Song: Sidetracked |
Album: Halfway House |
Year: 2009

“I’ve lost so many relationships, is it, just because I don’t relate to shit?”

Source: Best of Joe Budden v.2: #28 Sidetracked

Joe battles with an inner issue in this song. Is there something deeper in this song that what’s on the surface? Maybe. To me, it seems like his old friend depression is the cause behind his lack of focus and flip-flop of things.

At times he’s pumped, he’s motivated, he’s ready to hit the studio but then there’s days where he doesn’t want to do that. He sees it as pointless. It’s a waste of time.

This throwback post recalls one of Joe Budden‘s “unreleased” tracks from his 2009 mixtape Halfway House, an EP many speculate, Budden wrote while depressed. As someone who has dealt with bouts of the ailment myself I can relate in parts of his “Sidetracked” song [Sometimes I wanna make music/sometimes I feel it’s just useless…] a deep recollection of the darker side to fame over hip-hop beats (and a sick Coldplay sample).

In general, I try to avoid depressing music but there are times when it feels right to me (especially during the colder months). Sometimes the raps can hit close to home and stir emotions, at other times (to me) these songs may be sonically great, or have a sick beat/sample but the depressing lyrics turn the would-be banger into a “pity-party” that I probably wouldn’t play around other people at least not for cranking round the city or getting ready to hit the club. I feel neutral as this music certainly has it’s place; some of Kid Cudi’s greatest tracks are fairly sad. But, Cudi balances it pretty well.

This mixtape of Budden’s, a lot of Charles Hamilton’s music, almost all of Cinos‘ songs I’ve heard (apart from Rain Zone) and even some from Lil B squarely fit this bill. How do you feel about songs that are sad?

Other Good Sad and Emotive Rap Highlights:

Kid Cudi – Going to the Ceremony


Charles Hamilton – Happy Ending
https://www.youtube.com/bP4yaxRVIjg

Cinos – Lighthouse Zone


Cinos – Rain Zone (not emotive, but just damn good)

Cage – Blood Boy

[Hip-Hop Origins:] [Throwback] Eminem – Seduction (Prod. by DJ Kahlil) // [Dance Origins:] [Deep Trance Throwback] Tom Clous – Secretly & 4 Clubbers – Secrets

Origins’ posts of the day include a hip-hop throwback from one of the game’s legends, Eminem. On the flipside, EDM Origins covers two deep-trance throwbacks, one, vocal chill the trance, the other a festival-ready trance-hit.


Today’s Hip-Hop Origins / Throwback Post:

[Hip-Hop/Rap] Eminem – Seduction (prod. by DJ Kahlil)

From his 2010 album “Recovery” which Eminem has rapped about in his semi-unreleased single “Syllabes” featuring Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, Stat Quo & 50 Cent, claiming “Encore he [I] was on drugs, Recovery [I] was flushin’ em out” Eminem recognized this wasn’t his strongest album, but despite that a few bangers are still present. “Seduction” is a deeply-emotional track with a very solid beat and rhyme structure where Mathers compares the rap game to a woman he wants to seduce with lines like “One minute she loves you / the next she don’t / she’s been stolen from you / it’s like a (verbal) seduction when I tell ’em ‘Girls on the floor…”

Eminem is contanstly brought up on comment sections and internet forums as one of the “Greatest MCs of All Time,” whether true or not, no one can deny the “not afraid to take it there” rapper, “8-Mile” star-actor, and ever-controversial Marshall Mathers lacks longevity. Eminem’s music is a shining beacon of originality in a music scene, that, at times, completely lacks it. Ever since hearing “My Name Is (Slim Shady)” at summer camp probably around the age of 10, knowing “my parents would kill me if they knew I was listening to such profane music” (lol) I knew there was something special about Eminem. He had a very unique sound, that sounded authentic, not faked, and some killer back-up in production and features. Working with Dido, Dr. Dre, 50 Cent and countless other artists Eminem certainly has a spot in the circle of “Greatest Rappers of All-TIme.”

Check out this classic throwback and leave comments below about what you think of Recovery and Eminem as a rapper.

Eminem on Twitter

[Deep Trance] Tom Klous – Secretly

[Eurodance / Festival Trance] 4 Clubbers – Secrets

Next we’re highlighting two classic trance tunes, Tom Klous’ “Secretly” and 4 Clubbers’ “Secrets (Club Mix),” two great EDM tracks showcasing the moving power of good trance music. The first “Secretly,” from EDM DJ-producer, Tom Klous, is a chill vocal trance track with heavy layers of instrumentation coupled with mesmerizing vocals (from Tiff Lacey). The second “Secrets,” by 4 Clubbers, is much more energetic and incorporates this energy into fist-pumping, festival-ready synths alongside a very European-style dance/bass structure.

[Hip-Hop/Rap Origins:] Wiz Khalifa’s more “indie & underground hits” // PRE-Celebrity Wiz // [Conscious Hip-Hop / Intelligent Rap:] Common – The Game


Keep the Conversation – Wiz Khalifa

To keep the conversation light, I tell the girl a comical line…

Off of one of Wiz’s earliest mixtapes, Show and Prove, “Keep the Conversation” is a favorite with it’s smooth use of sampling and the very original, unorthodox beats that Wiz often rapped over in his days of coming up. Wiz’s production team was just as fire as the rapper himself and delivered top-quality music that would set the course for a new direction in hip-hop music that began when Wiz emerged (from 2006 onward) and ushered in an era of “unorthodox” rappers such as, Kid Cudi, Curren$y, Charles Hamilton, J. Cole, Wale and many more.

Other notable smash-underground tracks by Wiz include: Moolah and the Guap, Homicide (Remix), Still Blazin’, Won’t Land (with a Lucini sample) and Stu (feat. Juicy J)

The Game – Common

It’s global warmin’,
the world is shifting
watchin’ Sweet Sixteen,
bitchin-ass rich kids!

The ever-classic Common is one of the rappers at the forefront of the “conscious hip-hop” movement or “intelligent hip-hop/rap” as I also call it. Music in this genre (and subsequently, in my playlist of the same name on my iPod) are focused more around the message of the lyrics, use more old-school style or soulful beats or are otherwise non-mainstream.

Common’s Finding Forever was a very iconic album for many reasons and some would say it was the album that jettisoned Common onto the national and international stage. It also signaled his induction into Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. music group. He collaborated on the album with British Pop/Hip-Hop songstress Lily Allen (Drivin’ Me Wild), Kanye West (Southside) R&B singer D’Angelo and the late legendary beat-maker, J Dilla (So Far to Go).

So Far to Go (feat. D’Angelo & J Dilla) – Common

[EDM Origins:] [Dance / Trance:] Stunt – Raindrops (DJ Demand Remix) // [Electronic / Hip-Hop] WZRD (Kid Cudi) – Ride 4 U (feat. Chip Tha Ripper & Far East Movement)


Hold my hand, let’s chase the sun,
we both know something’s begun
nothing feels that real without you
wanna learn so much about you…

This EDM Origins post is on the electronic, dance song “Raindrops” by Stunt, one of my personal favorites in my adolescent years. “Raindrops” channels the energetic dance music and rave scene rampant in Europe and the fledgling soon-to-be-movement in the United States. This came at a time where a few years prior and around the 2000s, it was not uncommon for American electronic producers and artists to release their music on European labels and markets due to the fact the demand was just not there in America. My, how far we’ve come. Take a listen to this pumped up club track and reminisce of those golden years with me!

Next up, from the moon man, Kid Cudi, himself is electro-inspired masterpiece, “Ride 4 U”. With back-up support from the top-notch “real hip-hop” rapper Chip Tha Ripper and the eclectic California-based electronic/rap band, Far East Movement. The beat is simply crack, produced by none other than one of Cudi’s right hand producers, Dot Da Genius. Check the song out, drift off, or simply ride out to “Ride 4 U”…

[Throwbacks][Rap:] Riff Raff – Judo Chop (Freestyle) // [Ambient / Chill EDM:] Little Jinder – Keep On Dreamin’ – Mat the Alien Remix


Got two throwbacks for you today. Our first comes from the wildly popular rapper, RiFF RaFF, the Diplo label mate who got his start on MTV’s “From G’s to Gents” thug-makeover TV reality show. RiFF RaFF has since been all over the music scene, especially as he has evolved in his sound. This single, “Judo Chop” is one of his more popular songs. If you haven’t heard it, check it out above.

Keep On Dreamin’ (Mat the Alien Remix) – Little Jinder

Keep on dreaming… (you gotta)
keep on dreaming…

Keep on dreaming… (you gotta)
keep on dreaming… (it could all fall apart)

Next up is a great remix from accomplished and established Swedish electronic-dance pop singer, Little Jinder. This special remix from Mat the Alien puts a whole new chill-ambient spin on the original song and has a much more vibe-able beat and bassline. Check it out and download it for free on Mat’s Soundcloud.

[2005: Trap Origins] [ATL Legacy Rap] Suga Suga (K-Rab) – Do It With No Hands & [ATL ’96] Outkast – JazzyBelle (Remix)


For this honorary first “Hip-Hop Origins” we highlight “Do It With No Hands.” My Atlanta folk may remember this well-known local trap banger, born out of the “snap music” crazed era of the mid 2000s in Georgia. This song, and many others like it [See Maceo: Nextel Chirp, remember Crime Mob?] released around 2002 through 2008 were the forefathers of the Trap EDM genre. The trap-style beats and the lyrics that usually talk about…well, trapping and the hood highlighted a time when ATL and Southern Hip-Hop were on fire and highly sought after to produce the next hit.  Don’t get me wrong, Atlanta is still the premiere ground for hip-hop, rap music and breakout music artists (and now actors as well), however the magic that surrounded the city and rap’s mentality here has changed since those days.

Our second is a rare remix of Outkast’s “Jazzybelle” originally released in 2006. Outkast is well-known as one of the groups that put Atlanta on the map in terms of music as a whole. As such they are widely acknowledged and celebrated by Atlantans and worldwide. Fans of the group were overjoyed when Outkast returned to the stage and began touring in 2014.

Other artists and groups born of the mid-2000 era of Atlanta hip-hop:

D4L
Crime Mob
Lil’ Jon & The Eastside Boys
Young Jeezy
T.I. (was on the scene prior to then)
Outkast
Usher
Rasheedah

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