Posts Tagged Rap
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June 21, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 289
Run-DMC, Walk This Way [Single] (1986) I’m pretty sure I knew this version and knew about Run-DMC before I knew the Aerosmith version and maybe even before I (really) knew about Aerosmith. I certainly got into Aerosmith (for a while) on the back of this. I remember that much. Then it was to Beastie Boys and Public Enemy and all sorts of things on the […]Archive
March 29, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 139: Mike Ladd – “Welcome To The Afterfuture”
Mike Ladd is a rapper I’ve been aware of for a while – yet I never heard this. It’s fantastic. Everything I’ve heard him do – or heard him on – has been great. I love his albums with jazz pianist Vijay Iyer. He’s one of the people you can point to as furthering hip-hop, taking it beyond anger […]Archive
March 27, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 138: Limp Bizkit – “Chocolate Starfish and The Hot Dog Flavored Water”
A lot of this world’s problems and most of its very bad music comes from white dudes with daddy issues. And I was reminded of that finally listening to Limp Bizkit’s breakthrough album. I was reflecting on how lucky I was to be completely above (and beyond) nu-metal in all its numb-skull variations. I was ‘too […]Archive
March 12, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 132: Jeru The Damaja – “The Sun Rises In The East”
Now I knew about this album – maybe not quite at the time, but sometime shortly after, and I just never quite made it through to it. A shame. And good to be there now. Because not only is Jeru The Damaja great, and certainly career-best here on this debut, but also I was into all the stuff that came up around this time […]Archive
March 3, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 129: Ice Cube – “The Predator”
I rate Ice Cube – big time. Made it work for him in acting (wasn’t/isn’t great, yet isn’t flat out terrible, etc…) but really his true strength, apart from building a business empire, a brand, is his rapping, or even – actually – his writing. Dude is one of the great lyricists in hip-hop. A pioneer even. […]Archive
February 16, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 125: Gang Starr – “Step In The Arena”
This is the sort of straight-up banger that makes me pleased I signed up for and carried on this ridiculous ‘Challenge’. Here I am going through old albums I missed at the time. Mostly finding gems. A few duds. A few ‘who really cares’, a few ‘you had to be theres/time/place’ but mostly finding gems…then there’s something like this. You’d […]Archive
February 10, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 123: Digital Underground – “Sex Packets”
Yes, yes, I know The Humpty Dance – because who doesn’t? Even people who are sure they don’t know that or maybe don’t recognise the title do actually know that song. But I had never heard the whole album. I had heard one or two other Digital Underground tracks, but never a whole album – and this, their debut, is one of […]Archive
February 4, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 121: Jungle Brothers – “Done By The Forces of Nature”
I know the Jungle Brothers. Love them. But I know them only from single tracks. From their overall sound, from their inclusion in mixtapes and compilations, DJ sets too. I had never heard any of their albums but as soon as I heard this I loved it. Not just the content (the feel and flow) but the production. This album […]Archive
January 5, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 344
Avantdale Bowling Club, Avantdale Bowling Club (2018) I was sold on this on first listen – I’ve liked most of what Tom Scott has done ahead of this project, but this is the one. And in fact when I reviewed the album I talked about it being the local-act album of the year; more than […]Archive
January 3, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
The 1001 Albums Challenge # 116: Queen Latifah – “All Hail The Queen”
I was going to say that I was very much Team Neneh Cherry back in this day – but a) I still am. And b) it wasn’t about choosing sides. I just mean that – for whatever reason – I never listened to Queen Latifah. I was aware of her, heard a song or two, […]Archive
December 21, 2018 by Simon Sweetman