The genre mosty directly linked to the early formations of hip hop, was ska. DJs in Jamaica experimented with toasters where people would talk over beats, and Kool Herc brought this to New York. Laurel Aitken, the godfather of ska, is a very important artist for any hip hop fan to know about. Check out this video with him:
He will be playing May 2nd at the Knitting Factory.
Check it out here
Also, the worst interview with the best rapper. Cool Calm Pete talks about his new album Leondard Z hopefully out this Fall.
The second show is July 29th. Tickets go on sale May 4th. For all of you who hesitated to get tickets the first time around, here is your second chance.
Simmons has been quoted a lot lately supporting censorship in hip hop of certain words, which seems very anti-hip hop, but this interview makes him sound a little better as he says “What we need to reform is the conditions that create these lyrics.”
There will be an Opening Reception on May 2nd at the Chelsea Market showing the illustration work of Sarah Coleman, the illustrator for Sage Francis’ new album. A spoken word performance by Sage Francis will also be on the agenda.
*Special thanks to Evan for this find
Wikipedia describes Fela Kuti’s style as “…essentially a fusion of jazz, funk and Traditional African Chant. It is characterized by having African style percussion, vocals, and musical structure, along with jazzy, funky horn sections. The “endless groove” is also used, in which a base rhythm of drums, muted guitar, and bass guitar are repeated throughout the song. This is a common technique in African and African-influenced musical styles, and can be seen in funk and hip-hop. Some elements often present in Fela’s music are the call-and-response with the chorus and figurative but simple lyrics. Fela’s songs were almost always over ten minutes in length, some reaching the twenty or even thirty minute marks.”
Also check out this documentary (in 6 parts on youtube):
*Special thanks to Bob Mendelson for this find.
“The first single for HTDD will be a song called ‘Got Up this Morning’ featuring Buck 65 and Jolie Holland. We filmed a video for this song last month. It will be available online in late April. This video looks incredible thanks to the great work and craftsmanship of director Stoney Sharp. The video features Slug (from Atmosphere), Brother Ali, Buck 65, Jolie Holland, Tom Inhaler and Bernard Dolan. There will also be a ‘behind-the-scenes making of’ video blog soon. Check our site for updates.” This screenshot looks promising:
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