• Hip Hop,  Jazz,  Old School

    Peter Piper / Take Me To The Mardi Gras

    Show of hands: who knows the genesis of the bell & percussion groove of Run-DMC’s “Peter Piper”?

    I stumbled on it tonight. I was listening to Afrika Bambaata’s radio show on Sirius Backspin on the way home from work today. He was playing short clips of some of his favorites from back in the day. He played a minute or so of “Nautilus” by Bob James. Nice funky, jazzy little groove. I went on to Blip.fm to track it down. Didn’t find it, but I did see “Take Me To The Mardis Gras”.

    I clicked it, and – lo & behold – the source of “Peter Piper”! The song itself was written by Paul Simon, released a year earlier (1973) on Simon’s ‘There Goes Rhymin’ Simon‘. Bob James added that memorable percussion and his own flair to the song on 1974’s Two.

    Bob James has to be flattered, but I also think he’d be pissed to know that people go their lifetimes not knowing that his creation is the backbone of one of the classics of early hip-hop.

    Bob James / “Take Me to the Mardi Gras” (Blip.fm) from 1974’s Two

  • Hip Hop,  Ick's Pick

    Ick’s Pick (Week XXIII): Mos Def’s The Ecstatic

    Call it the power of television. I tuned into Letterman on Monday night to take in the entertainment that is Howard Stern in the guest chair. I always enjoy the interaction between Howard and Dave. The musical guest that night was Mos Def. He was on promoting his new album, The Ecstatic. I came back to the performance about midway thru, but I was immediately hooked. The song was “Quiet Dog” – a DJ, a drummer, and Mos Def on two large timpani drums. A tribal rhythm, really unique, and another example of how one encounter can hook a new fan.

    I bought The Ecstatic the next morning, and it’s pretty much been bumpin’ here all week. Favorites are “Quiet Dog” (intro features some interview audio from the late Fela Kuti), “Twilite Speedball”, and “The Embassy” (another unique intro – a pilot’s in-flight announcement, with some tweaking). Hell, he’s even got a Spanish language rap, “No Hay Nada Mas”. At least I think it’s got something to do with love.

    A refreshing album. I haven’t even cracked the surface…

    Buy Mos Def’s The Ecstatic on Amazon (still only $3.99).

    Hear the whole album on MySpace Music

    Visit: Mos Def’s MySpace

  • Hip Hop

    Mos Def on Letterman

    Mos Def dropped by Dave’s place last night for a cool performance of “Quiet Dog” from his new album, The Ecstatic. Love the Fela Kuti intro…

    Thanks Rap Radar for the video.

    For a limited time, the Amazon MP3 Store has The Ecstatic available for $3.99. Nab it.

  • Hip Hop

    Beastie Boys on Fallon

    The Beastie Boys appeared on Jimmy Fallon last night. Some thoughts:

    • The Beastie Boys still kick ass.
    • The Beastie Boys are aging right along with the rest of us (except for that poofy haired Mike D. What’s his secret?).
    • I know their schedule is pretty full, but the Roots clearly need to be the Beasties’ full time backing band.
    • I now feel the need to check out the newly released remastered edition of Check Your Head

    Check out “So What’cha Want” from Fallon…

    (video removed by NBC)

  • Hip Hop

    He’s the Izza Kizza

    The inbox has been blasted with emails about Izza Kizza. Now, I never took the time to listen to Izza Kizza, or watch Izza Kizza in action.
    But based on this track, “I’m the Izza Kizza”, Ickmuzic like-a the Izza Kizza.

    Within my hip-hop appreciating being, this is the beat of choice. The preferred dope groove. And anyone who weaves “Bahama Mama Punani” and “Unabomber Punani” into their rhymes is okay with me.

    Yesterday morning, I whined on Twitter about the Izza Kizza emails hyping his new mix tape.
    Tonight, I’m posting this badass video and guiding you to IzzaKizza.com to download his brand new mix tape for free.
    Funny how things work out sometimes.

    I’m The Izza Kizza

  • Hip Hop,  Kids are Listening To,  Video

    What the Kids Are Listening To: Asher Roth – “I Love College”

    This week is pretty much the perfect storm for the music geek in me. Two new Prince albums on constant rotation (a familiar feeling from the good ol’ days), a Springsteen show on Friday, and Bruce Cockburn in Flagstaff on Saturday night. Yesiree, things are good in the Ickmusic universe this week!

    So while I ponder my Ick’s Pick reviews of Lotusflow3r and MPLsound, I’m going to feed you a steaming pile of garbage. Sound good? Good! Blame it on my friend Trevor, who for some reason was hooked on MTV’s Spring Break special over the weekend (dirty old man! psst, did you record it?), and told me about a perfect candidate for this feature – a song called “I Love College”.

    Intrigued, I returned to my lair tonight and dialed it up on YouTube. The next 4 minutes (which I will never get back) were spent watching a scrawny white frat-prone lad from Pennsylvania doing his best Eminem impression. With witty and incisive lyrics like: “Time isn’t wasted when you’re getting wasted”.

    And you can sing along to the chorus if you choose:

    Um, that party last night was awfully crazy I wish we taped it
    I danced my ass off and had this one girl completely naked
    Drink my drink and smoke my weed but my good friends is all I need
    Pass out at 3, wake up at 10, go out to eat then do it again

    I can’t rant too hard against young Asher. He’s only appealing to the lowest common denominator, and he has his payday as a result. But I still hate it. I hate it in a LFO “Summer Girls” kind of way.

    Trevor, you owe me a drink.

    [“I Love College” is currently #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and rising.]

  • Hip Hop,  Kids are Listening To

    What the Kids Are Listening to: Flo Rida’s “Right Round”

    “You spin my head right round right round when you go down when you go down down.” Flo Rida, “Right Round”

    Sigh.

    Yeah, well, this is the #1 song in the country right now. I guess subtlety and any semblance of wit or originality have gone right out the window. This is an epidemic in popular music today (“Right Round” is only the latest example), and one reason I shy away from even listening to snippets of the Billboard Hot 100 singles.

    How did Mr. Flo Rida comes across the Dead or Alive ‘80’s hit “You Spin Me ‘Round”, which quite obviously forms the backbone of this song? “[I]t was actually my A&R from Atlantic that brought the beat to my attention.” [source]

    Now that’s inspiration.

    I hope Pete Burns and Dead or Alive are seeing some fat royalty checks for this mess.

    I’m old and grumpy, and this… is what the kids are listening to.

  • Hip Hop,  Ickmix

    Ickmusic’s Old School Mix

    I’ve been itchin’ for a while to put together a nice little collection of my old school favorites. In the mid 80’s, I was in my mid teens when I became obsessed with a. Prince and b. the rap/hip-hop of the day. These are some of the songs I came of age with.

    Now, some of my favorites included some not so PG material. In fact, some of it was downright foul. Too Short’s “Freaky Tales” is the biggest offender here, followed closely by that 2 Live Crew classic “We Want Some P***y”. But hey, I gotta keep it real, people!

    Enjoy…

    Ickmusic’s Old School Mix (mp3 – about 71MB)

    Playlist:

    Run D.M.C. – “Peter Piper” (from Raising Hell)
    LL Cool J – “Rock the Bells” (from Radio)
    Whodini – “Funky Beat” (from Back in Black)
    Public Enemy – “Public Enemy Number 1” (from Yo! Bum Rush the Show)
    Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick – “La Di Da Di” (from The Show / La-Di-Da-Di)
    Schoolly D – “Saturday Night” (from The Best of Schoolly D)
    Eric B. & Rakim – “I Know You Got Soul” (from Paid in Full)
    UTFO – “Roxanne Roxanne” (from UTFO)
    Too Short – “Freaky Tales” (from Born to Mack)
    Beastie Boys – “Hold It Now, Hit It” (from Licensed to Ill)
    2 Live Crew – “We Want Some P***y” (from 2 Live Crew Is What We Are)

  • Hip Hop

    Gettin’ Up with the Get Up

    The Abstract returns with a super dope solo joint (I’m one of the hopeful that there will be another A Tribe Called Quest record one of these days). It’s classic Tip flow with a positive message. The single is already available but the full length The Renaissance drops November 4th.

    Links: on Last.fm | on MySpace