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.
[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.
Charles Hamilton – Writing in the Sky [Soulful Sample]
Charles Hamilton’s timeless “Writing in the Sky” was a bonus track off of his early mixtape, The Pink Lavalamp. Sampling the timeless R&B/Soul hit by The Stylists “Betcha by Golly, Wow” the song is a very calming and inspiring anthem with Charles spilling his heart out over the track. The echoing soul-filled vocals in the background sample further contribute to the chill, spacey ambiance set by the song.
Hamilton has largely been quiet in terms of releases since his short run from around 2007 to 2010. He has recently begun to re-enter into the industry, however. Hamilton was featured on the soundtrack for the break-out music-industry drama and TV-show, Empire. He raps alongside songwriter group, The Invisible Men on “New York Raining”.
Charles Hamilton with The Invisible Men – New York Raining (feat. Rita Ora)
[Indie Underground Hip-Hop | Conscious Rap:]
I-An-I – My Grind (feat. Willow Smith)
I-An-I is a little known hip-hop group introduced to me by my brother, that released a stunningly “real hip-hop” mixtape titled, Free Love around 2010. Released through I-An-I’s music group Purple Reign, the EP is chock full of “real hip-hop” beats, smart, conscious lyrics and soulful samples.In theunderground banger “My Grind” I-An-I samples Will Smith‘s daughter and pop music songstress, Willow Smith. With a very catchy hook and some quite emotional heartfelt lyrics, “My Grind” is not a song to be missed by rap enthusiasts.
“Free Love” is not Purple Reign’s only “fye” extended play, member of the group, chad. (born Chad Charles) released a similarly scorching hot, authentic underground rap album, Conquering Lions with some amazingly clever raps and one-of-a-kind beats you won’t hear anywhere else. Here are a few standout tracks from that mixtape, which can be found on DatPiff, Bandcamp and ReverbNation.
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.
Hey there cool kids, I’ve got some new throwbacks for ya today. First off we start in the genre of “real” meaningful hip-hop as I like to call it. You could say it’s as opposed to, whatever you think it is, everyone’s “definitions” of real hip-hop is different, regardless this soulful, never-realeased rare track from Kanye West featuring Snoop Dogg & John Legend is a perfect song to bring back for Summer2k15. With production from Kanye himself, the beat, melody and sample in the chorus are make an irresistibly groove-inducing song.
Next, though still dance-able, but much more conscious: this song could be seen as for dancers like b-boys, as a head-banger for the whip that increases your hardness as you vibe at the light and people think you’re a badass, or even just one you sit there not-moving still, taking in the rawness and lyrical prowess of Jaylib, the combination of underground hip-hop group Madlib and deceased, super-producer, J Dilla.
A tribal-sounding horn, hard beats and kicks accompanied by booming bass and a flute-like arpeggio make this a perfect listen (or beat to freestyle over, see the instrumental).
Finally to wrap up our series of summer-suitable throwbacks we have the absolutely chill, “Hey man, just be easy” relaxation inducing single “The Fruits” from Californian psychedelic rock / reggae band Slightly Stoopid. “The Fruits” is a great listen with its calming sounds that remind one of the ocean, the carefree rhythm and vocals the lead singer provides and its borderline no sensemaking, yet easily understandable lyrics emphasizing being free and happy in life. Check it out above!
Our two throwbacks today are from the hip-hop genre, as we revisit two standout tracks from ATL’s Young Jeezy, T.I. and Gucci Mane. The first is “F.A.M.E.” from Young Jeezy’s Thug Motivation 103: Hustlaz’s Ambition, the sequel to TM 101 and 102. Comprised of some very unique, even calming beats, the track samples major trance artist, Above & Beyond’s “Air For Life,” a collaboration with fellow trance artist Andy Moor. This results in quite a moving track with none other than The Rubberband Man himself, T.I. delivering some great verses as well.
The next track is an old-favorite off of Gucci’s mixtape Lean, which he released in 2013 alongside two other mixtape projects, Gas and Molly. The three mixtapes are praised as being some of Gucci’s better works and his workmanship and resolve to putting out constant quality music as all three mixtapes were released at the same time. This business model is nothing new, artists the likes of Soulja Boy, Lil’ Wayne, Lil’ B “The Based God”and many more also rode the hype of releasing constant streams of music and mixtapes, helping to keep them in the media spotlight and of relevance to hip-hop as a whole.
The Throwback Session [Real Hip-Hop:] For our next throwback segment we go to spacey moon-man, psychedelic funk master, borderline bipolar rapper and rock-starKiD CuDi. Cudi’s musical genius and prowess shouldn’t ever be slept on. Kicking dope rhymes since 2007 the differenter rapper has been hot long before Day ‘N Nite. On “Cudi Get” Cudi kicks it old school with a relaxed, catchy head-bobbing beat. The sample here could not have fit better. Cudi uses no other than the legend J Dilla’s “Wild” as a sample. This masterpiece itself is originally sampled from version of the classic rock song “Cum On Feel the Noize” by Neil Innes & Son.
The result is an interesting flip on the “we get wild/wild/wild” chorus of the original that matches the laidback hip-hop beat. For some reason this song really reminds me of a winter wonderland or something…
Maybe it’s the kid at the end yelling “And that’s the end of my sleighing song!”
Though some may say Cudi may be more “mainstream” these days, who isn’t? I’ve got nothing but love for the Moon Man, he has made some of the most inspiring music that I have heard and felt a connection to…ever. Cudi throughout his career has touched many chords with people like me for being that “different, weird” guy, the “smart, dorky” rapper, the outer-space head, stoner and briefly, coco-indulger. Mr. Rager‘s struggles with life, his family, kid, friends, drugs, past loves, depression and medications are laid out on the table in a way not pitying, but more relatable and as something to learn from. This is in stark contrast to say, Joe Budden whose works (at least around 2008-2009) were much more “I’m whining because I’m depressed!! Aaaah I’m depressed cause I’m not good enough…blah..blah..blah” He had some banging beats but no lyrics that people wanted to hear. If you’re gonna rap about being depressed or down and out, at least make it interesting or funny… not just…sad.
One of the best tracks off of Wiz’s self-released EP: Deal or No Deal
I went out and bought Wiz’sDeal or No Deal, and still have no regrets. It felt good to support an artist I knew was going to make it big once enough people heard his sound. Most of his fans today are preoccupied with Wiz’s new songs, or only know his radio bangers (a la Black & Yellow; We Dem Boyz), but Wiz has been churning hits and industry shaking releases since around 2005. Deal or No Dealwas his first independently-released album, meaning Wiz had a lot of control over the album and you can really hear it in its sound.
It’s smooth, it’s polished, its got that laid-back stoner vibe Wiz was originally known for and wasn’t anything too flashy. Compare to his following EPRolling Papers, an album that while good, had more than a few songs the label probably forced Wiz to do and just had more songs that did not match his previous style. Wiz later commented in an interview, after the interviewer commented Wiz had said “[he had] wrote a couple lines about [Rolling Papers] in which you[Wiz] said, ‘maybe [if I had more control], [I] would have done things differently [with the album].” Leading Wiz to explain to the interviewer that his true fans would stick with him and should know that album was like an “experiment” and that his long-term success could not be predicted from a single album (and his first on a major label). Wiz predicted his future right as shortly after Rolling Papers he began to soar in popularity: Papers‘ “Roll Up” was a mainstream-hit, “Rooftops” with Curren$y became a rap classic, and “On My Level” featuring Too $hort became a party-favorite. This interview was later sampled in one of Wiz’s mixtape songs as an outro.
He was a Pittsburgh treasure/secret, and peeping his early mixtapes (How Fly, Show and Prove, etc.) showed me that Wiz would be an artist to watch. Like Kid Cudi and Dot Da Genius, Wiz also had a very creative synergismwith his main producer and others of his crew, like Chevy Woods,Sledgren and Jeremy “I.D. Labs.” Though I am no where near the fan of Wiz as I was back in 2008, after watching him show up on radio, then TV, then the numerous concerts around Atlanta (he performed at The Masquerade a ways back and a few years later performed with Young Jeezy at Emory University. I snuck into that show and ultimately my favorite performance of his before I considered him as the superstar he is now. Kush & Orange Juice launched his career and his performance with Juicy J [at Atanta’s Masquerade] proved that “bands” willmake her dance! (Below is another one of Wiz’s hit “indie” songs before he blew up) “In the Cut” sampling Frou Frou‘s “Let Go”.
Cudi has been just about everywhere a musical artist could go. He started indie. The lone black guy trying to come up in the independent rap game, rapping over tracks sampling electronic music akin to the likes of Frou Frou (worth nothing, Wiz later did the same sampling Frou Frou on “In the Cut” from his legendary mixtape release Kush & OJ).
Cudi, the ‘duder’ himself a.k.a. Mr. Rager, and Mr. Moon Man, has come a long way from his days of rapping over spacey, trippy, completely mind blowing beats. Cudi really has 10 x Deep, Plain Pat and a host of other supporters to thank for his jettison into the mainstream. They helped him release his first mixtape Man on the Moon which became one of the most iconic mixtapes of the 2007-2009 era. Smooth vocals over the heavenly ethereal Nosaj Thing sample in “Man on the Moon” is a life-changing song (especially after seeing it live).
Cudi’s rap albums did not disappoint either, though became less and less original than the last. I supported his first full length CD which had some decent new songs, but many from his mixtape. Nonetheless Cudi was fresh, new and looking to be the light of hip-hop. Until he began to start doing more features than actual music (*ahem Kanye, 88 Keys *ahem) and by the time CuDi got back to where and when he could focus on his self, he would release WZRD. An ultimately forgettable mix of “cuder music” with pop/alternative rock, which received very mixed reviews. Kid Cudi’s latest album (reviewed here) was not as bad but still doesn’t live up to the initial hype and promise we were given for a completely different rapper, black man even, one from outer space, who doesn’t mind rapping over a Led Zeppelin sample or focusing on atmospheric sounds over driving EDM beats or common street rap hits and hi-hats.
LUMiNOUS Musings 