“In the early 1970s a musical genre was born in the crime-ridden neighborhoods of the South Bronx. Gifted teenagers with plenty of imagination but little cash began to forge a new style from spare parts. Hip-hop, as it was then known, was a product of pure streetwise ingenuity; extracting rhythms and melodies from existing records and mixing them up with searing poetry chronicling life in the ‘hood, hip hop spilled out of the ghetto.”
Kurtis Blow
“Breakin” by Stijn Coppens
It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time but never really found the right outlet for: write about hip hop scholarship. Presenting: Excursions into Hip Hop Theory, a 10 post series about what hip hop is and what it is not. I’ll be posting a new episode on a weekly basis on your other favorite space: laid-back.be. Big up to Julius.
Picture by Anattitude Magazine @ Flickr.com
Ha, grassroots cultural productions. Does it get any better than this? Case in point: the global trajectory and flavor of Scrabble, a laid-back.be production. What started as a blog post, grew into a Japanese remix and materialized as a 7 inch. Floats my boat. If only I had a record player.
The iPhone version of the LDBK player is now available in Apple’s application store. This is definitely the way forward for the radio concept that’s slowly but surely taking over the world of online radio. The LDBK player is nothing short of a grassroots media revolution. I’m supporting this any way I can.
I could fume at De Morgen‘s latest personnel move (pure blasphemy!), but why bother when there are other aesthetic pleasures to be had online. Ladies and gentleman, meet angel-voiced Lisa Preston. Lisa hails from Wellington, New Zealand and describes herself on soundcloud as a
Vocalist, licensing guru, selector for laidback radio belgium, maker of fine risottos, dodgy bootlegs and part time obsessive succulent grower…..holla!
If that doesn’t stir your drink, then try your hand at Lisa’s brand of Love Remedy.
Lisa Preston – Love Remedy (prod by Weedy – 40 Winks) (unreleased)
This unreleased single (why, oh Lisa, why?) once again attests to the creative possibilities of media technologies. Love Remedy was produced by Weedy from the Antwerp-based instrumental hip hop duo 40 Winks and is just one of her ‘worldwide’ efforts. Check out this April 2009 mix and read up on Lisa and her EP on laid-back.be.
For the second consecutive time, Bert Jammaer has won the world’s toughest ironman race: Lanzarote. Wanna know how tough the bike course is? Only two athletes (out of a field of 1300) did the 180km bike course in under 5:00 hours: the Estonian tank Ain-Alar Juhanson (4:52:51) and former cycling pro Kai Hundertmarck (4:53:36). Bert was consistent in the swim and bike legs, but won this race during the marathon, holding off Olympic silver medalist Stephan Vuckovic. Congratulations, Bert.
Bert Jammaer wins the 2009 IM Lanzarote triathlon (photo credit: 3athlon.be)
For the record, here are Bert’s jaw-dropping splits:
swim: 3800m in 50:29 or a ridiculous 1:19/100m pace
(T1: swim-to-bike 2:58)
bike: 180km in 5:00:17, average speed 35.97 km/h
(T2: bike-to-run 3:28)
run: 42.2km in 2:56:51, average pace 4:11/km
overall: 8:54:03 (almost 6 minutes faster than in 2008!)
Allow me to celebrate Bert’s athletic achievement, with a fine selection of jazz, soul and funk breaks that captures hip hop’s soul: Zajazza’s Musical puzzle
A grassroots manifesto about the future of radio. If that doesn’t grab your attention, then maybe Laid Back Radio will. Kudos to Julius and co for making this happen.
Mature, soulful, wholehearted. All that and then some in The Louie Gee Ensemble’s sophomore effort, You belong to me. Monique Harcum’s vocals and the Ensemble’s musical pedigree lend this track a ‘worldwide’ feel. Homegrown, quality entertainment. I bow humbly.
The Louie Gee Ensemble – You belong with me ft. Monique Harcum (LDBK, 2009)
Big up to Julius for keeping me in the know. Much appreciated.
For more quality music by The Louie Gee Ensemble, play some Scrabble.
It’s raining today, I’ve got a cold, I’m struggling with a text revision and the house reeks of fresh paint. On the positive side, Truth & Soul Records are giving away a free catalogue sampler. Once the emusic site is operational again, you can download 12 soulful tracks for free.
What’s more, with the launch of Laid Back Radio, Laid-Back.be captures the media life Zeitgeist. Easy to install, run and use, this player makes sense. For anyone with an interest in urban music, this is the way forward.
In other news, Barbara Forrester’s lecture yesterday introduced me to the music of Atom tha Immortal, the world’s first (and only?) Intelligent Design rapper. Witness the lyrical fitness in Achilles.
Apocalyptic G-d presence/
Feeling the fire of G-d’s essence/
You need Rosetta Stones to unlock my poem’s message/
Born in a body of sand since early dawn/
Adam spawned genetic code of early on/
For your information, “early dawn” is some 7,000 years ago, when “G-d” created the earth, and man in his image. I have always had a soft spot for politically self-conscious hip hop, but not for conservative, blinded-by-religion pseudo-science. In what follows, Atom attempts to “leave Darwinian fish bleeding”.
Wounds of Darwinian Theory will never heal/
Once the population finds Intelligent Design/
Enzymes hold the signs of a Divine Mind/
Darwinian speculation is useless/
To explain emergence/
Of cellular machines below the surface/
Seeing Specified Complexity points to a purpose/
Of a system of integrated parts/
Excluding chance as part/
Of how it could ever start/
So/
I speak with truth and in reason/
But whether you believe or not/
We leave Darwinian fish bleeding/
This is beyond unintentional comedy, this is a travesty. Speaking of travesties, check out this Discovery Institute promo video. It features all of the ‘leading men’ of this anti-evolution think tank. Fascinating, professional propaganda.
Valentine’s day brings out the best in restaurant managers, florists, O-dub, Rudy Fernandez, Back to Niceness (mad props to Kwak for the heads up at 37:13 mark!), Onda Sonora and Funky Bompa. He drops a fine, fine mix, with three of my all-time favorite soul classics: Darondo, Bill Withers and some cat name Marvin Gaye. Download and tracklist after the jump, courtesy of the good people at laid back – somebody give these people a Dilla lives on award for this track!
Tom Van Hout 