Instrumental in My Life
10/14/2011 § 6 Comments
Hip Hop Instrumentals have become a staple in my listening rotation.
[hip hop instrumentals mixed by DJ Charlie; Download arrow on right]
There is a clear difference between a typical rap song minus the vocals, which would be a hip hop instrumental version, and a hip hop instrumental song. It really depends on the original song, though, because some rap songs are arranged well. They sound alive. Others are just loops, and that gets old when there’s no arrangment, no variation.
Many would say J Dilla is the king of the hip hop instrumental. I don’t listen to enough Dilla to know but, interestingly enough, there are many bands and orchestras already redoing his tunes really well.
Some of the most celebrated hip hop instrumentals don’t even have basslines. On the 2011 BET Hip Hop Awards, Eminem and his latest Shady Records signees Yelawolf and Slaughterhouse freestyled over East Flatbush Project’s classic “Tried by 12″ instrumental — no bassline. Also classic, the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Who Shot Ya” has no bassline.
On a related note, some of the best rap songs ever — including my personal favorite, Eric B. and Rakim’s “Paid In Full” — don’t really have a hook or chorus. In my opinion, the hook on “Paid In Full” is the bassline, adapted from Temptation-turnt-soloist Dennis Edwards’ record “Don’t Look Any Further”. No hook, no lyrics, no bassline, ok fine, but when I say hip hop instrumental…
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Couple Joints from D.C.
02/22/2011 § Leave a Comment
I was born in D.C. …back when Let’s Get It On was the song…
[ photo by Sean Beasy lookin boi ]
I was born in Columbia Hospital two days after Nona Gaye, who was still the center of attention when I showed up. All that to say, I’ll always have a slight connection to D.C., bare minimum.
For the past couple of years, instrumental music from D.C. has been one of my favorite things. So here are some new ones from Apollo Brown, as well as the1978ers.
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