What's up y'all.
Four - two in favour of Donaeo, regardless of whether or not he's grime or funk, and no matter how he spells his name.
The only thing I could find to post as a victory video is a flick of him doing "African Warrior" live at some festival. I think it was shot on a cell phone.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
I'm too busy to be hip: T2 and Jodie Aysha vs. Donaeo
What's up team, sorry I've been a bad blogger (again). I told you from the outset, I have a bad track record with this sort of thing.
So, I've officially decided that I can no longer be cool, at least with regards to music. There are just too many electronic music genres for me to keep up with and I am too busy to keep track of it all. It feels like I've just gotten all caught up on Baltimore Club, only to learn that it's been supplanted by Philly Club, and Baltimore is "so 2007."
Fuck this. I don't care anymore. Next time I want to listen to some heavy bass beats, I'm going to get all 1995 on your asses and listen to some Shy FX.
As a final attempt at being up-to-date, I'm going to run a battle between two artists representing two of these genres that I just don't understand, then I'm going to watch the Phats and Small video with Chris Eubank in it.
The Main Event
In the red corner, from Leeds, England, representing bassline house, T2 AND JODIE AYSHA.
Bassline house popped up in early '07 as a response to grime, which some people felt had stopped being dance music and started working primarily as a soundtrack to gang fights. Bassline house, which is sometimes just called "bassline," is a little more uptempo than grime and about 100 per cent more friendly. So far, there's only been one major bassline club shut down over violence. Compared to grime, which averaged about one club closing a month, that's pretty solid.
Now, to be honest, I don't really get the difference between bassline house and the 2-step that I was listening to in about 2001, the same shit that was declared painfully uncool by 2003.
To illustrate my point...
This is 2-step.
This is bassline.
Can you tell the difference? I can't.
Anyway, the first commercial hit to come out of the bassline house was "Heartbroken" by T2 and Jodie Aysha. Apparently T2 is pretty much the Prime Minister of this whole bassline thing.
Here's the video.
The Opposition
In the blue corener, from London, England, representing "funky," a man who used to do grime before grime stopped being cool. DONAEO!
OK, so funky house is a house subgenre based around soulful vocals and big four-to-the-floor beats, best typified by the shit from the Hed Kandi comps. Funky, or UK funky, is a house-derived subgenre based around r & b vocals, soca-type beats, Latin percussion and UK Garage-style sub-bass. It also appeared as a response to grime being too dark, dank and angry. Confused yet? You should be.
Donaeo got his start 'round about 2003 providing choruses for grime MCs. I first became aware of him on the grime remix for The Streets "Fit But You Know It," which I'm pretty sure is also the first place I heard Tinchy Stryder. After a period of limited output -- Discogs has him doing nothing between 2005 - 2007 -- he came back with two big "funky" solo tracks, "African Warrior" and "Devil in a Blue Dress."
Also, he seems to have difficulty deciding how to spell his name. In about half his output, he's listed as "Donae'o." Further confusing matters, he also releases music under the name Bredren Steve and Mr. Fidget.
Here's the video for "Devil in a Blue Dress." Regardless of how you spell his name, the man has a hella dope hat.
As always, comment to vote, polls close on Friday.
So, I've officially decided that I can no longer be cool, at least with regards to music. There are just too many electronic music genres for me to keep up with and I am too busy to keep track of it all. It feels like I've just gotten all caught up on Baltimore Club, only to learn that it's been supplanted by Philly Club, and Baltimore is "so 2007."
Fuck this. I don't care anymore. Next time I want to listen to some heavy bass beats, I'm going to get all 1995 on your asses and listen to some Shy FX.
As a final attempt at being up-to-date, I'm going to run a battle between two artists representing two of these genres that I just don't understand, then I'm going to watch the Phats and Small video with Chris Eubank in it.
The Main Event
In the red corner, from Leeds, England, representing bassline house, T2 AND JODIE AYSHA.
Bassline house popped up in early '07 as a response to grime, which some people felt had stopped being dance music and started working primarily as a soundtrack to gang fights. Bassline house, which is sometimes just called "bassline," is a little more uptempo than grime and about 100 per cent more friendly. So far, there's only been one major bassline club shut down over violence. Compared to grime, which averaged about one club closing a month, that's pretty solid.
Now, to be honest, I don't really get the difference between bassline house and the 2-step that I was listening to in about 2001, the same shit that was declared painfully uncool by 2003.
To illustrate my point...
This is 2-step.
This is bassline.
Can you tell the difference? I can't.
Anyway, the first commercial hit to come out of the bassline house was "Heartbroken" by T2 and Jodie Aysha. Apparently T2 is pretty much the Prime Minister of this whole bassline thing.
Here's the video.
The Opposition
In the blue corener, from London, England, representing "funky," a man who used to do grime before grime stopped being cool. DONAEO!
OK, so funky house is a house subgenre based around soulful vocals and big four-to-the-floor beats, best typified by the shit from the Hed Kandi comps. Funky, or UK funky, is a house-derived subgenre based around r & b vocals, soca-type beats, Latin percussion and UK Garage-style sub-bass. It also appeared as a response to grime being too dark, dank and angry. Confused yet? You should be.
Donaeo got his start 'round about 2003 providing choruses for grime MCs. I first became aware of him on the grime remix for The Streets "Fit But You Know It," which I'm pretty sure is also the first place I heard Tinchy Stryder. After a period of limited output -- Discogs has him doing nothing between 2005 - 2007 -- he came back with two big "funky" solo tracks, "African Warrior" and "Devil in a Blue Dress."
Also, he seems to have difficulty deciding how to spell his name. In about half his output, he's listed as "Donae'o." Further confusing matters, he also releases music under the name Bredren Steve and Mr. Fidget.
Here's the video for "Devil in a Blue Dress." Regardless of how you spell his name, the man has a hella dope hat.
As always, comment to vote, polls close on Friday.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
So, it's a draw?
Sorry for not updating for a while. Truth be told, I was figuring out how to play this.
Thanks to a vote sent to me on Facebook, which I've set a precedent of accepting, we ended up with a draw in a battle that drew little voter interest.
I've decided to call it a draw and move on.
Here's "Low Rider on the Boulevard" by supergroup Latin Alliance, which feature both Ace and Frost.
Thanks to a vote sent to me on Facebook, which I've set a precedent of accepting, we ended up with a draw in a battle that drew little voter interest.
I've decided to call it a draw and move on.
Here's "Low Rider on the Boulevard" by supergroup Latin Alliance, which feature both Ace and Frost.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Odelay Ese! Latin Rap Classics of the Early '90s: Kid Frost vs. Mellow Man Ace
If you're wondering about the creative process behind this blog, it goes a little something like this.
Usually, I'll stumble across a video I like on the Internet, decide it's combat worthy and start looking for an opponent. It's not actually that complicated. It's not like there's a ton of thought that goes into it.
This week was no different. I ran across a video I loved as a kid, then looked for a worthy match.
The Main Event
In the blue corner, from Pinar del Rio, Cuba, by way of South Gate, California, the lost member of Cypress Hill, MELLOW MAN ACE!
Mellow Man Ace (aka Ulpiano Reyes) started rapping in the mid '80s. In 1987, he formed a group called DVX with his brother Senen and their friends Louis Freese and Lawrence Muggerud. A year later, Ace would quit the group to go solo. Senen, Freese and Muggerud, better known as Sen Dog, B-Real and DJ Muggs, would re-christen the group Cypress Hill and go on to convince millions of fifteen year-olds to smoke pot.
Ace released his solo debut, Escape from Havana, on Capitol Records in 1989. The album did close to nothing for eight months until, in total defiance of music industry logic, someone decided to release "Mentirosa," a song where close to fifty per cent of the lyrics are in Spanish, as a single.
""Mentirosa" was a tremendous hit, going to number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100. It would also be Ace's only solo commercial success. (He would have a minor hit with a remake of War'sLowrider" called "Lowrider on the Boulevard" as part of Kid Frost's supergroup The Latin Alliance.) His second solo album, 1992's The Brother with Two Tongues, sold poorly. He was dropped from Capitol shortly afterwards. He wouldn't release another album for eight years.
Here's the video for "Mentirosa." If anyone knows where I can get a hat like the one Ace is wearing in the video, let me know.
The Opposition
In the red corner, from East Los Angeles, California, the Hispanic Causing Panic, KID FROST!
Arturo "Kid Frost" Molina started rapping in 1982 as part of Uncle Jamm's army, the massive electro-hip-hop crew the was the West Coast's equivalent of the Zulu Nation. He chose the stage name Kid Frost as a tribute to the man who was alternately his mentor and his rival, Ice T.
After the breakup of the Army in 1988, Frost started working on his first solo album. Hispanic Causing Panic was released in June of 1990. Panic charted at number 45 on Billboard's Hip-Hop and R & B chart on the strength of the single "La Raza," the clip for which features some of the most awesome cholo fashion in music video history.
In 1991, he formed the Latin Alliance, a Latin Rap supergroup featuring Mellow Man Ace, ALT, Markski and The Lyrical Engineer.
In 1992, he released the concept album East Side Stories. The album flopped and he was dropped by Virgin.
In 1995, he dropped the "Kid" from his name, signed with Eazy-E's Ruthless Records label and released Smile Now, Die Later, which produced the hit single "East Side Rendezvous." He left Ruthless in 1997.
Frost is still making albums. His last album, Blunts and Ballerz, came out in 2007.
He all spawned hip-hop progeny. Frost's son is producer Scoop DeVille, who's made hits for Snoop Dogg and Baby Bash.
Here's the video for "La Raza."
As always, comment to vote, votes are due by Friday at midnight.
Usually, I'll stumble across a video I like on the Internet, decide it's combat worthy and start looking for an opponent. It's not actually that complicated. It's not like there's a ton of thought that goes into it.
This week was no different. I ran across a video I loved as a kid, then looked for a worthy match.
The Main Event
In the blue corner, from Pinar del Rio, Cuba, by way of South Gate, California, the lost member of Cypress Hill, MELLOW MAN ACE!
Mellow Man Ace (aka Ulpiano Reyes) started rapping in the mid '80s. In 1987, he formed a group called DVX with his brother Senen and their friends Louis Freese and Lawrence Muggerud. A year later, Ace would quit the group to go solo. Senen, Freese and Muggerud, better known as Sen Dog, B-Real and DJ Muggs, would re-christen the group Cypress Hill and go on to convince millions of fifteen year-olds to smoke pot.
Ace released his solo debut, Escape from Havana, on Capitol Records in 1989. The album did close to nothing for eight months until, in total defiance of music industry logic, someone decided to release "Mentirosa," a song where close to fifty per cent of the lyrics are in Spanish, as a single.
""Mentirosa" was a tremendous hit, going to number fourteen on the Billboard Hot 100. It would also be Ace's only solo commercial success. (He would have a minor hit with a remake of War'sLowrider" called "Lowrider on the Boulevard" as part of Kid Frost's supergroup The Latin Alliance.) His second solo album, 1992's The Brother with Two Tongues, sold poorly. He was dropped from Capitol shortly afterwards. He wouldn't release another album for eight years.
Here's the video for "Mentirosa." If anyone knows where I can get a hat like the one Ace is wearing in the video, let me know.
The Opposition
In the red corner, from East Los Angeles, California, the Hispanic Causing Panic, KID FROST!
Arturo "Kid Frost" Molina started rapping in 1982 as part of Uncle Jamm's army, the massive electro-hip-hop crew the was the West Coast's equivalent of the Zulu Nation. He chose the stage name Kid Frost as a tribute to the man who was alternately his mentor and his rival, Ice T.
After the breakup of the Army in 1988, Frost started working on his first solo album. Hispanic Causing Panic was released in June of 1990. Panic charted at number 45 on Billboard's Hip-Hop and R & B chart on the strength of the single "La Raza," the clip for which features some of the most awesome cholo fashion in music video history.
In 1991, he formed the Latin Alliance, a Latin Rap supergroup featuring Mellow Man Ace, ALT, Markski and The Lyrical Engineer.
In 1992, he released the concept album East Side Stories. The album flopped and he was dropped by Virgin.
In 1995, he dropped the "Kid" from his name, signed with Eazy-E's Ruthless Records label and released Smile Now, Die Later, which produced the hit single "East Side Rendezvous." He left Ruthless in 1997.
Frost is still making albums. His last album, Blunts and Ballerz, came out in 2007.
He all spawned hip-hop progeny. Frost's son is producer Scoop DeVille, who's made hits for Snoop Dogg and Baby Bash.
Here's the video for "La Raza."
As always, comment to vote, votes are due by Friday at midnight.
Yes Rude Boys! The Specials Take the Three Points
The Specials win this one 6 - 1.
Here's "Gangsters" as a victory video.
Here's "Gangsters" as a victory video.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
No Real Good Reason: The Specials vs. The Dead Milkmen
What's up gang?
Sorry I've been out of commission for the last little while. Shit has, once again, been rather insane in the world of sports media. Add that to a two-and-a-half day jaunt to the 519 and you come up with very little time for the Interweb.
There's no real theme this week, just a battle between two bands I fucking love.
The Main Event
In the red corner, from Coventry, England, the band that single-handedly brought back ska, pork pie hats and tonic suits, THE SPECIALS!
The Specials were formed in Coventry in 1977 by Lynval Golding, Horace "Sir Horace Gentleman" Panter and Jerry Golding. Between 1977 and their 1979 debut on wax, they went through five different names. (The Automatic, The Coventry Automatic, The Special AKA The Coventry Automatic, The Special AKA and eventually, The Specials.) They also toured with The Clash before founding their own record label, 2-Tone Records, and hiring Elvis Costello to produce their debut full-length.
The band released two full-length albums, their self-title debut and 1981's More Specials, and eight hit singles, before co-frontmen Terry Hall and Neville Staple left to form Fun Boy Three with guitarist Golding. The rest of the band continued on under the old Special AKA moniker, releasing one more album, In the Studio, and two more hit singles. The Special AKA broke up in 1984.
They've reformed twice, in 1996 and again earlier this year.
This is the video for "A Message to You Rudy."
The Competition
From Philadelphia, PA, a band that walks the thinnest line, THE DEAD MILKMEN!
The Dead Milkmen were founded in 1983 by Joe "Joe Jack Talcum" Genaro. He was later joined by buddies Dean "Clean" Sabatino, Dave "Blood" Schulthise and Rodney "Anonymous" Linderman.
The band release eight studio albums, plus a gang of EPs, self-released tapes and a live album.
The Milkmen became semi-famous in 1987 thanks to a Detroit Tigers rookie names Jim Walewander, who was a huge fan. When Walewander invited the band to Tiger Stadium to watch a game and meet the team, they had the following conversation with Tigers' manager Sparky Anderson.
Since the break-up of the band, Genaro has released solo material as Joe Jack Talcum and as part of Joe Butterfly with Sabatino. Sabatino also drummed with Big Mess Orchestra.
Linderman recorded several solo projects.
Dave "Blood" Schulthise left music following the break-up of the band. He briefly attended Indiana University, moved to Serbia in the middle of that country's civil war, returned to Philadelphia and started working as a janitor. He killed himself in 2004. When I found out, I was sad. For me, the death of Dave Blood was a way bigger musical tragedy than that of Kurt Cobain, but it's gross to compare things like that. Let's just say that people should have made a bigger deal out of his death than they did.
The remaining three Milkmen have reunited twice. Once in 2004 as part of a benefit in memory of Blood, and again in 2008 as part of a festival.
This is the video for their biggest, and only, hit,"Punk Rock Girl."
Comment to vote, voting closes on Friday.
Sorry I've been out of commission for the last little while. Shit has, once again, been rather insane in the world of sports media. Add that to a two-and-a-half day jaunt to the 519 and you come up with very little time for the Interweb.
There's no real theme this week, just a battle between two bands I fucking love.
The Main Event
In the red corner, from Coventry, England, the band that single-handedly brought back ska, pork pie hats and tonic suits, THE SPECIALS!
The Specials were formed in Coventry in 1977 by Lynval Golding, Horace "Sir Horace Gentleman" Panter and Jerry Golding. Between 1977 and their 1979 debut on wax, they went through five different names. (The Automatic, The Coventry Automatic, The Special AKA The Coventry Automatic, The Special AKA and eventually, The Specials.) They also toured with The Clash before founding their own record label, 2-Tone Records, and hiring Elvis Costello to produce their debut full-length.
The band released two full-length albums, their self-title debut and 1981's More Specials, and eight hit singles, before co-frontmen Terry Hall and Neville Staple left to form Fun Boy Three with guitarist Golding. The rest of the band continued on under the old Special AKA moniker, releasing one more album, In the Studio, and two more hit singles. The Special AKA broke up in 1984.
They've reformed twice, in 1996 and again earlier this year.
This is the video for "A Message to You Rudy."
The Competition
From Philadelphia, PA, a band that walks the thinnest line, THE DEAD MILKMEN!
The Dead Milkmen were founded in 1983 by Joe "Joe Jack Talcum" Genaro. He was later joined by buddies Dean "Clean" Sabatino, Dave "Blood" Schulthise and Rodney "Anonymous" Linderman.
The band release eight studio albums, plus a gang of EPs, self-released tapes and a live album.
The Milkmen became semi-famous in 1987 thanks to a Detroit Tigers rookie names Jim Walewander, who was a huge fan. When Walewander invited the band to Tiger Stadium to watch a game and meet the team, they had the following conversation with Tigers' manager Sparky Anderson.
Sparky: "Well, hello, boys."
Rodney: "WE LOVE SATAN!"
Sparky: "Well, gotta go, boys."
The band had a brief, unsuccessful stay on Disney owned Hollywood Records in the early '90s before releasing one final independent album and breaking up in 1995.Since the break-up of the band, Genaro has released solo material as Joe Jack Talcum and as part of Joe Butterfly with Sabatino. Sabatino also drummed with Big Mess Orchestra.
Linderman recorded several solo projects.
Dave "Blood" Schulthise left music following the break-up of the band. He briefly attended Indiana University, moved to Serbia in the middle of that country's civil war, returned to Philadelphia and started working as a janitor. He killed himself in 2004. When I found out, I was sad. For me, the death of Dave Blood was a way bigger musical tragedy than that of Kurt Cobain, but it's gross to compare things like that. Let's just say that people should have made a bigger deal out of his death than they did.
The remaining three Milkmen have reunited twice. Once in 2004 as part of a benefit in memory of Blood, and again in 2008 as part of a festival.
This is the video for their biggest, and only, hit,"Punk Rock Girl."
Comment to vote, voting closes on Friday.
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