90s KIDS

Many months ago, I wrote a post on here decrying the 30 and 40-somethings bemoaning the current state of hip-hop and dwelling on 1993. I still believe there was plenty of crap around back then to match the current onslaught, but I have to admit to a certain hypocrisy — look at the old Source magazines and old ACG fanboy uploads in the posts that followed…it’s tough to shake off a love for the early 1990s aesthetic. I still have a problem with the people who seem to spend a great deal of time writing “THIS IS THE REAL HIP HOP. NOT WACK SHIT LIKE DRAKE AND LIL WAYNE” under pretty much every rap video from pre-2000 on YouTube. Less time spent on your anti-Drake crusade and more time realising that Roughhouse Survivors playing in a club isn’t conducive to meeting the opposite sex and maybe, just maybe, you’ll at least hold hands with a woman one day.

What I do miss is the level of criticism that went down back then and the seriousness with which rap journos went about their work. The ‘Unsigned Hype’ section of ‘The Source’ felt like something to aspire to and the magazine’s reviews would knock a mic off for minor infractions. I’m sure I recall ‘Beat Down’ dismissing ‘Life’s a Bitch’ for being too smooth. And yes, when we lost that sense of integrity, we ended up with Made Men albums getting 7 mics out of 5. Still, I would give ‘Classic Limited Edition’ 3 miss for the ‘Is It You?’ video alone, which combines some thug Aladdin ‘A Whole New World’ steez with leather camo gear rocked on flying carpets, the worst CGI sphinx ever, Master P as a hologram and cheap ‘Stargate’ knockoff elements that don’t fit the music in any way, shape or form. It’s more fun than another Rik Cordero production though.



What caught me off guard was the new generation of young MCs and their dedication to the early to mid 1990s. Mac Miller spitting over Lord Finesse’s ‘Hip 2 the Game’ was interesting, but Joey BADA$$ and Wiki seem to go even further in their preoccupations with old rap. Are we seeing some curious reaction from the young ‘uns to the mid-life crisis of rap fans my age preoccupied with the works of Gunplay and the artist formerly known as Tity Boi? Joey’s ‘Survival Tactics’ sounds like it’s from the HAZE ‘New York Reality Check 101’ compilation. It’s a bloody Styles of Beyond beat…it doesn’t get more Mr Bongo Jansport headnod than that. Pro Era might stand for Progressive Era, but it’s a throwback sound and the impending mixtape’s called ‘1999.’ That Joey’s 17 is pretty staggering — it’s not surprising that someone can spit at that age…Nas was on ‘Live at the Barbecue’ at 18, Kane seemed to be ghost writing for some greats at 16 and wasn’t Bun-B making UGK music at 15? What’s odd is that Joey was around 4 years old when Styles of Beyond’s ‘2000 Fold’ originally dropped. That makes me feel downright pensionable. Are we seeing indy rap’s sound and look being retroed by a generation too young to remember it burning out in a blitz of verbose super-scientifical babble (and full-lengths bogged down in boring Tribe-copy beats from a time when even a Tribe Called Quest were treading water musically and primed to implode)?

Wiki’s 18 but with a graff preoccupation, Rammellzee and Suicide references on deck, well rehearsed breath control, and inspiration from Cam’ron at the close of his Epic days and Buckshot’s work, he’s defiantly New York at a time when even New York doesn’t want to sound New York. Trumping Joey’s tape date by called his first EP ‘1993,’ I recommend picking it up for £3.25 or so from Bandcamp — it’s accomplished stuff that’s heavy with the wordplay and chunky beats in a world dominated by fluid ambience on the production front, despite the arty presentation it’s not some abstract project. Had ‘1993’ been released in 1993, it would have fallen through the gaps with Jungle Brothers’ 3rd album then been resurrected by German rap bloggers rinsing the Yousendit account in early 2005. Remember that scene in ‘Belly’ with Tommy watching ‘Gummo’ (“Shit is bugged out”) on that big screen in his palatial home? Looking at Eric Yue’s ‘Wikispeaks’ video, it’s as if Hype’s filmmaking opened some weird vortex where a high gloss and lo-fi world merged. Those children of the 1990s are making some interesting music and visuals. It’s all about the movements, and teams Pro Era and Ratking seem happy to talk about their reference points whereas OFWKTA get pissy at talk of anything pre-Pharrell. I like the Ari Marcopoulos helmed promo for Wiki’s ‘Piece of Shit’ too. Are we going to see major label dough getting thrown at folk making music like this? That really would be an early 1990’s throwback.

While we’re talking about the kids, shouts to commanderdeviss3 on his YouTube video where he shows off his “Swag collection” — this looks like a Harmony Korine creation, from the young man’s periodically disappearing headphones to the total lack of joy for any of the amassed swagger he’s hoarded. commanderdeviss3 is awesome.



Out of interest, can anyone explain the Crustified Dibbs/R.A. the Rugged Man ‘Night of the Bloody Apes’ comic book? I’ve never seen this item beyond this mention here. I’m assuming that it was a Jive promo item like the Extra Prolific and Casual comic books, with Crustified’s proposed 1994 release date being around the release of ‘Fear Itself.’ I need more information on this one.

BIGGIE VIA THE LAKE DISTRICT AND JULIO IGLESIAS

“Comin up on half a mil, we build/
Get real God, taking you on another one Son/
Uhh, Julio Iglesias/
Makin CREAM like that nigga.”
Raekwon ‘Criminology’

Yep. I’m aware that leading with a quote from a track taken from an album that fires barely concealed missiles at the late, great Frank White is a little odd, but I was hunting for Julio Iglesias references in rap. Funnily enough, Mystikal and South Park Mexican have used him in lines too, but I’m steering clear of the sex offenders. Kind of. Rap loves to grieve. If an MC or producer dies, we spend hours trading lines on Twitter, screaming to the skies, begging them to take Chris Moyles and leave us with our hip-hop hero for just one day.

Today’s been one of those days, being the anniversary of Biggie’s passing. And for once I fully understand. I love his wordplay, his versatility and his hunger for the hardcore. Had Mr. Wallace not been slain, rap would be different now – not necessarily better, not necessarily worse…but different. That’s an aura right there. Today you could get beat down for daring to wash your car when you should be listening to ‘Gimme the Loot.’ A murderer would be acquitted for stabbing you after hearing you hum ‘Hit ‘Em Up.’ My Facebook feed is riddled with the ‘Juicy’ video. Everyone’s copy/pasting lyrics in a bid to reach esoteric heights of fandom. But I don’t care, because, after Kool G Rap, Biggie Smalls was the illest.

But how do you blog about him without repeating yourself? You can’t. Everything he ever recorded is online somewhere. Except his appearance in Channel 4’s ‘Passengers’ in 1995, smoking blunts with Faith and wandering around Bed-Stuy, which somebody, somewhere must have ready to upload, I’ve actually posted the above image on my blog from when I used to blog at SlamXHype a couple of years ago. I actually posted it hours after being interviewed by ‘The Source,’ but when I told my mum, she didn’t give a shit, let alone smile.

But I think it’s remarkable that ‘Represent’ – a short-lived but excellent hip-hop UK-based fanzine – put the Notorious B.I.G. on its cover before anyone else. That’s deep. I read it in July 1994, and it contained (other than an ill-fated set of reviews that deemed Warren G’s LP better than the first Beatnuts LP) a feature on the big man based on a listen to the LP promo, declaring ‘Ready To Die’ as a successor to ‘Illmatic’ (released just a couple of months earlier).

I think the piece was written by DJ E-Legal, but I could be mistaken. ‘Represent House’ was based in Cumbria. We’re not talking London here – we’re talking Lake District territory. Matty C might have made his career-defining move, but it was a Brit-magazine – one that had Finsta Bundy on one of their covers – who made their own lo-fit but notable powermove during Biggie’s rise to fame.

Another key moment where strange gets stranger is the union of Biggie with then Jive upstart Crustified Dibbs aka. RA The Rugged Man. I never knew how this all happened, and an old email circulation of Biggie engaging in some kind of score sheet and claiming he wasn’t into the whole experience has floated around, but I don’t believe it — I’m sure I remember Biggie saluting just how Dibbs took it there in the misogyny stakes too. RA and B.I.G. work well together.

‘Cunt Renaissance’ is still one of the most offensive records I’ve ever heard and while the OG version is produced by Marc “Nigga” Nilez, matching the murky production I’ve heard on bootlegs of ‘Night of the Bloody Apes’ (I’m not a massive fan going on the tape-sounding leaks — I prefer the sound of RA from 1997 to the present day), I prefer the mysterious remix from a mixtape from a decade or so ago. I’ve never known the producer, but it elevates these depraved verses to almost epic status with a lavish loop.

The sample in question comes from another duet, albeit one less preoccupied with bodily fluids — the introduction to Julio Iglesias and Diana Ross’s 1984 hit, ‘All of You’ (the mystery producer even let Miss Ross’s voice make a brief appearance when he used the record). I love the duality between the discarded blunt guts sex talk and the cocaine mansion seduction that the tracks evoke. For all the gossip, cinematic depictions, partying and bullshit, there’s still a lot of depths unexplored in Christopher Wallace’s short, memorable career.

UNRELATED MATTERS:

I’m excited about Terrence Malick’s ‘The Tree of Life’ after the disappointment of Criterion not releasing the version of ‘The Thin Red Line’ that goes on for, like, a week with half of Hollywood in it. Yesterday, ‘Little White Lies’ upped an interview with the special effects team who promised that there’ll be dinosaurs in it. Then the interview was pulled down. I hope the dinosaurs remain in the final cut and don’t get the Billy Bob Thornton treatment. There’s an interesting new poster doing the rounds too.

On semi-related Criterion matters, go check Eric Skillman’s blog to witness his work. An occasional Criterion cover artist and designer, book cover designer and comic artist, he’s consistently excellent, and in an age where everyone’s a goddamn art director, this guy is the real deal. I love looking at his work (that ‘Wiseblood’ cover’s still a classic) and the design process section of the site is fascinating.

It’s not Eric’s work to my knowledge, but the cover for Criterion’s ‘Le Cercle Rouge’ (set for release in April) is a winner. A film this assured and stylish (the original promotional materials were good in the first place) can’t be an easy brief, but the gun element sets it off perfectly.

T-Shirt Party’s at an end. Nearly a year since I covered it here, and the mysterious Stan Still (who became less mysterious as the months progressed) fulfilled his mission to make 52 tees with accompanying videos. It ends with a black one, after 51 white shirts, plus a DVD of the visuals. I actually bumped into the man behind the project on a Supreme shoot when we were tasked with covering a backdrop with bricks of black box logo stickers. Time flies when you’re blogging gobshite.

I’ve never met anyone as dedicated to a singular subject matter as Scott (Bothan Spynet). He was doing the shoe-a-day thing a long time ago too. A nice bloke and someone with streetwear history, I stumbled across this little interview with him. Can’t remember if they were in that CLOT/ACU book a few years back with the alternate Stash BWs, but those samples of the 2003 Futura artist series Nike Blazer that Futura scrapped just before releasing the curry/Jedi version still kills me since they appeared on Recon a few years back. An amazing makeup that equals the unreleased Stussy Blazers from2001. They should have put out both.

And while I’m not a runner, I just freeload a lot, the Nike team in NYC recently instigated a masterplan that would even get me running. Training sessions with a hardcore mind-body correlator — Mr. John Joseph of the Cro-Mags. That’s serious. If you never picked up ‘The Evolution of a Cro-Magnon’ or ‘Meat is for Pussies,’ you should do. Training with a man preparing himself for this year’s Ironman tournament must be a pretty damned intense experience. He’s intense when he’s static and we’ve all seen him on stage so it’s safe to assume he’s pretty focused on the keep fit regime. Good work, Nike. Very good work.

RAP GOES ARTHOUSE & OTHER BULLSHIT

So you’ve all worked out that Hype Williams copied ‘Enter the Void’ for the Kanye West ‘All of the Lights’ video? You get the slow clap…the slow, slow, slow clap. Why? Because most of the critics should buy the film rather than furiously upping YouTube links. Mr. Gasper Noé would get paid that way. Not to defend what’s clearly a copy, but with an apathetic shrug, all I can say is, that’s hip-hop for you.

Nobody got their panties in a bunch over Kanye using ‘Akira’ for ‘Stronger’…nobody was up in arms over a trillion ‘Scarface’ and ‘Casino’ bites…it is what it is. I’m more depressed that so many people popping shots hadn’t heard of the film in the first place — it’s the kind of film Blu-ray was built for and if more people are aware of it as a result…cool. I’ve posted here before about the BUF (who are doing the effects for this year’s ‘Thor’ film too) special effects reel when it went online, and the finished article justifies the wait.

What’s the problem?

Sure, rappers seem to do pretense badly…but we’re being assailed with pseudo-pretension from all sides at the moment. Kanye never seems too sure of the smarter moves like the Will Oldham ‘Can’t Tell Me Nothing’ video and that short film of his was willfully and brainlessly esoteric to such needless, self-indulgent heights that it made me want to cut myself…yet I’m glad he does it. I can even tolerate the Disney on ice strings and Viva Pasta approach to opera. Why? Because most rap visuals are regressive nonsense. I haven’t forgotten that ‘Ye’s seemed oblivious to France’s creative under/overground when he threw a hissy fit at Jérémie Rozan and So Me back in 2006. But I’m glad that led to some collaborative work. At least it’s not that bullshit Wale video for the track sampling ‘D.A.N.C.E’ — that was a weak So Me imitation.

Most other rappers trying to get highbrow, fail because they don’t seem to have the team that Kanye’s got on their side….the best progenitors of fly abstraction in hip-hop (Sean Price, Ghostface, Action Bronson and company) aren’t trying to bend the rulebook…their brains are just wired differently — and if you tried to deconstruct their rhymes in front of you, they might hit you.

Now Tyler’s made like Nick Cage in ‘Vampire’s Kiss’ and chowed on a cockroach, expect a wave of rappers who started as faux-gully street dudes, then got tatted up to the neck and wore backpacks these last couple of years making a shift into being bugged-out dudes chatting about necrophilia…it’ll be just like 1997 again, except the rappers won’t all be wacky, self-conscious honkies talking about how crazy they are…prepare for a tsunami of quasi-craziness in a quest to get signed.

I’m just glad that Hype Williams has moved on from the shitty CGI in the Busta and Janet promo. That was doo. What does this bode for the future? A French Montana video homaging Fassbinder’s ‘Chinese Roulette’? Jodorowsky directing a Gunplay WSHH installment in Mexico? Someone taking Lars Von Trier on tour to document the ensuing debauchery? Seeing as Thomas Bangalter did some sound effects for ‘Enter the Void’ there’s some cohesion somewhere down the line. Could a future Noé-inspired piece depict a drunken Consequence smashing a man’s face in with a fire extinguisher after mistaking him for Pusha-T? Perhaps a squalid ‘I Stand Alone’ homage, featuring the broke-ass supporting cast from ‘The College Dropout’?

The closest rap seemed to get to foreign film homage lately was Jay-Z’s godawful record with Mr. Hudson which sampled Alphaville, meaning some kind of tenuous Godard affiliation. Most rappers are unlikely to talk foreign flicks, lest someone calls them gay. The Sandman ‘Anchor’ video actually did a good job of paying tribute to the depraved Belgian masterpiece ‘Man Bites Dog’ in 2008, but nobody seemed to care. The album might have sucked, but that guy cut through the dope-talk monotony of Re-Up records. Rap’s biggest cinephile is actually RA the Rugged Man…anyone who read his ‘Mass Appeal’ pieces knows that, but naming a track after Werner Herzog’s lunatic masterpiece ‘Even Dwarfs Started Small’ was an incredible move.

It’s also worth noting that the use of the fonts in the Hype interpretation come off a little Superdry. They might tie into the bold fonts on the G.O.O.D. Friday artworks, but the way Gasper sends the Futura Condensed that represents his Kubrick love into a mix that includes Constructa and ITC Elan is immaculate and having Tom Kan (who, beyond some remarkable photography and motion graphics, worked on some memorable Daft Punk and AIR graphic design) on board as Typography Designer gives him the edge. I still don’t even know if Tom of BUF were even involved in the “homage” at any stage.

 

Other things on my mind today have been this picture of Miles Davis that I spotted on Miles Davis Online that links to talk of suede jackets a few weeks back…I don’t want this blog to turn into one of those stern image blogs, but Miles is always worth posting. Progressive cool until the very end. Nice watch too. I still wonder where he got that legendary ‘Milestones’ green button-down shirt from. The Andover Store? Brooks Brothers? I thought this Ralph Lauren article from fall ’08 in Ivy League style and jazz would have the solution, but it didn’t. It’s a good read regardless.

I’ve talked about the ultra-bleak and once-rare 1966 Canadian documentary ‘The Things I Cannot Change’ here a couple of times too…I only just noticed that it’s available on DVD and to stream on the site here. While it’s laden with anti-glamour, and makes the father of the family look pretty dislikable throughout, I was struck by how beautiful it all looks. Tanya Ballantyne’s film made the Bailey family a laughing stock locally, and sadly I’ve never seen the sequel, 1986’s ‘Courage to Change,’ but the fight over six dollars that leaves Kenneth Bailey looking worse for wear half an hour in is still one of my favourite onscreen scraps of all time.

Visiting the U-Dox office, big dog/HNIC Russell had a copy of the Queensbridge Park issue of Japan’s 212 Magazine lying around. Other than providing the browser with great snapshots, it really sold the Air Max 2009 to me all over again. Yellow and grey is a killer combo and I regret not picking them up. Cut through the swathe of deck shoe dickheads with totes and New Yorkers know how to rock shoes properly in the summertime.

If you’ve been waiting for Dave Carnie’s ‘boob’ book to reach the UK without an insane shipping charge, my buddies at Platform have just upped an excellent interview with Dave and are selling signed copies of the 720 page epic for £19.99. I was growing old waiting to get my hands on this one and if you don’t know, you need to get to know Carnie. Him badmouthing magazines and bigging up Celine’s writing style is more truth spoken.