A thread about hiphop...

[Xray the Enforcer]

I'm sure some of you have already run across the news, but Def Jux is going on hiatus for awhile. Damn, looking at their back catalog (so much stuff I had totally forgotten about), they put out some great hip hop over the years.

[Mr. X]

I'm sure some of you have already run across the news, but Def Jux is going on hiatus for awhile. Damn, looking at their back catalog (so much stuff I had totally forgotten about), they put out some great hip hop over the years.

:(

Reading through their list of artists reminded me of a lot of stuff like The Perceptionists that needs to go back on my mp3 player.

[Darkostar]

Might have mentioned this already, but Slug and Murs dropped the latest Felt record recently (Felt 3: a tribute to Rosie Perez), and this is the productional debut of Aesop Rock, which is noteworthy in and of itself.

Under 10 thousand copies have been purchased, I recommend you fix that.

On an unrelated note, Vinyl Fantasy 7 dropped for all the nerds this week.

[Horus Ex Machina]

Under 10 thousand copies have been purchased, I recommend you fix that.

You gotta be really viral savvy to run an indie-label these days. You can move over 10 thousand units on Twitter and Youtube if you work it right.

I've been cherry-picking singles lately on Amazon for the last few months bc about 2/3 of my music collection died with my 500 GB portable hard drive. I lost alot of my 90's stuff from labels like Rawkus, Def Jux, Dungeon Fam etc.

I always wondered why I could never find a Youtube page for Def Jux Records.

[elmis]

I went to a Slaughterhouse concert in Oslo this past weekend, was good. Hopefully Tech N9ne will decide to visit sometime in the near future. :)

[Horus Ex Machina]

I had heard they were touring Europe.

Oslo seems to get quite a few hip hop groups making stops out there. You have any local Norwegian talent that I should hear about?

[Darkostar]

You gotta be really viral savvy to run an indie-label these days. You can move over 10 thousand units on Twitter and Youtube if you work it right.

I've been cherry-picking singles lately on Amazon for the last few months bc about 2/3 of my music collection died with my 500 GB portable hard drive. I lost alot of my 90's stuff from labels like Rawkus, Def Jux, Dungeon Fam etc.

I always wondered why I could never find a Youtube page for Def Jux Records.

Well, to be fair, Slug co-runs one of the biggest underground hip hop labels there is: Rhymesayers. Felt's just a side project, done for fun. Doesn't mean people shouldn't buy it, though.

[Horus Ex Machina]

Well, to be fair, Slug co-runs one of the biggest underground hip hop labels there is: Rhymesayers. Felt's just a side project, done for fun. Doesn't mean people shouldn't buy it, though.

Man that brings to mind a cat like Jake One and White Van Music that he released with Rhymesayers. His sound would mix with a group like Slaughterhouse. And with him being with Dre now and Slaughterhouse about to sign with Shady, we may see that combo soon.

[elmis]

I had heard they were touring Europe.

Oslo seems to get quite a few hip hop groups making stops out there. You have any local Norwegian talent that I should hear about?

Tommy Tee (DJ and Producer) is probably the most best known name outside of Norway. He's well plugged into the US scene, though mostly for being the premier name in Norwegian Hip Hop for well over a decade. He runs a good 2 hour rap show on NRK (norwegian equivalent of the BBC) each Friday.

You also have the quasi pop / rap group Madcon - they are supposedly trying to break into the US marked. Their best known song is probably "beggin'":

Other than that you lots of people rapping in Norwegian, not sure how interested you would be in that. I'll give you some name you can youtube if you're interested.

Joddski (previously Jørg-1 from the group Tungtvann). Tungtvann had the same impact for rapping in Norwegian in Norway, that Petter had for rapping in swedish in Sweden. Before them everyone was doing it in English.

Karpe Diem (a group founded a long time ago when both members were a lot younger - hence the corny name). They've grown more and more famous within the norwegian scene over the last few years.

Lars Vaular, rapper from Bergen. Connected to A-laget, group of rappers from Bergen. Been on mix tapes and so forth for a long time. Dropped a solo album in 2009.

RSP, up and coming rapper, and a friend of mine(!) Harstad Represent! Probably best known for being a part of the semi defunct group Kompani 69. Been doing more and more solo projects as of late. The best known is probably this one:

(fun fact, the DJ working with RSP on that song, also remixed MOP with that same tune a few years ago:

)

[afterroots]

Man that brings to mind a cat like Jake One and White Van Music that he released with Rhymesayers. His sound would mix with a group like Slaughterhouse. And with him being with Dre now and Slaughterhouse about to sign with Shady, we may see that combo soon.

The Slaughterhouse Shady deal is far from certain, there hasn't been an update on this for a while now and I fear the worst. They have recorded a track with Eminem though.

Have you heard the new Jake One & Freeway album? Not released for another week but it's been 'out' for a couple of days now, Jake One was pretty impressive on it. Whats the policy for sharing music on here? I have a Jake One & Freeway joint that was put out for free to promote the Hip-Hop for Haiti mixtape, am I allowed to upload it on here?

[Horus Ex Machina]

Thanks elmis. I'm alway interested in what's going on as far as hip hop in other countries. When I listen to guys like Subliminal or K'naan it aways fascinates me how it seems like they've sifted through the product that we (the US) has begun to mass produce and forcefeed to the masses, yet ppl across the pond are still listening to, and emulating some of the better elements of hip hop and haven't been jaded by what's happening here. I suppose it has alot to do with how hip hop music is consumed here. Even among Gen Xers like me, there is a tendancy against the "classic" phenomenon. Everyone will only roll down their windows and blast music that "just came out". You don't see ppl even playing Tupac or Biggie or Bone anymore. At least not where ppl can see them. My 16 yr old nephew, while he is aware of some of these, he isn't aware of their relevance anymore. I suppose that this is natural, but you'll always see a crowd of varied ages turn out to see the Rolling Stones. Hip Hop doesn't have that kind of loyalty here. We've spurned our past greats bc they "don't relate" anymore.

Getting back to my point, when I went to Nigeria I noticed ppl playing Tupac and other hip hop from the 90's. I've cousins in the UK who say that it's pretty much the same there. They have a sense of reverence for the golden era of hip hop that we haven't sustained here. It's pretty sad that some of our best lyrical artists seem better recieved abroad than here in the states. And I've noticed that Oslo is one of those places that seems to repeatedly get alot of attention so I appreciate getting some info on some of what comes out of there. Tommy Tee and Madcon seem like a good example of what I mentioned above. I will cringe if the rest of the world takes to Autotone like it's infected us here.

The Slaughterhouse Shady deal is far from certain, there hasn't been an update on this for a while now and I fear the worst. They have recorded a track with Eminem though.

Have you heard the new Jake One & Freeway album? Not released for another week but it's been 'out' for a couple of days now, Jake One was pretty impressive on it. Whats the policy for sharing music on here? I have a Jake One & Freeway joint that was put out for free to promote the Hip-Hop for Haiti mixtape, am I allowed to upload it on here?

Are you talking about the "Microphone Remix"? That's just a DJ mix of an Eminem freestyle. But I'm not too worried yet. What split Eminem and Royce in the past was that, during Royce's negotiations with Dre, he wasn't comfortable with the emphasis that was being placed on his career. Alot of ppl think that signing with a major label means that there's an indefinite green light on an album whenever. But the studio has limited resources and in order to push the artist that they have alot invested in, other projects sit on the shelf. Royce was going to have to wait for Eminem and he didn't like it. Now Eminem is going to be his boss, should it happen, and right now Eminem has nothing; Obie Trice and Stat Quo have moved on. They've lost Green Lantern. They have nothing in the queue other than maybe D12. Likely the only holdup is that Slaughterhouse wants to release another album this year and they want guarantees. Considering what happened to some of Shady Records other performers, I can't blame them. It's interesting that we're bringing up underground labels bc they release a ton more music than the big labels. But the big labels spend alot more to get your album heard than the underground labels. The risk that you take is that that album might never see the light of day. I think some guys thinks it's just better to make the music that they wanna make than taylor it to fit what a big label needs maybe once every 2 years if they're lucky. Still I think Slaughterhouse can make it if they're given the chance. There's alot of other rappers out there who could use a push too, but it's been awhile since the group concept has been mainstream in hip hop.

Every now and then we get a "allstar" track like Swagger Like Mine or Forever but for 3 or 4 MCs to get together and put out albums on a consistent basis seems like a lost concept. Fugees broke apart and the reunion was a mess. Outkast seems to always be promising that next album. Wu Tang is still out there publicly but most of their members spend time making singles and ODB is gone. Bone is forgotten, as are De La Soul. Black Star never lasted as a duo. UGK, 8 Ball and MJG, Goodie Mobb, etc... Even D12's run looks to be ending. So I'm still holding out hope for Slaughterhouse.

I just found a site to download the Hip-Hop helps Haiti mixtape but I'll probably be checking it out when I wake up.

[elmis]

You don't see ppl even playing Tupac or Biggie or Bone anymore. At least not where ppl can see them. My 16 yr old nephew, while he is aware of some of these, he isn't aware of their relevance anymore. I suppose that this is natural, but you'll always see a crowd of varied ages turn out to see the Rolling Stones. Hip Hop doesn't have that kind of loyalty here. We've spurned our past greats bc they "don't relate" anymore.

Seriously? I might not listen as much to Tupac as I used to these days, but Biggies "Party and Bullshit" will forever be a classic. Still listen to some Eric B & Rakim tunes from time to time, not to mention Gang Starr. That said, these days I mostly listen to Tech N9ne, but I much prefer his earlier bangers such as Imma Tell or 2 Piece over his most recent album. There is some quality artists with Strange Music!

Btw, does anyone know if NOE dropped an album yet? His Baltimore antem (Gladiator) was hawt!

[afterroots]

The Eminem/Slaughterhouse collaboration hasn't been released yet, just recorded. It's been mentioned on twitter by Joe Budden and a couple of video blogs.

[Horus Ex Machina]

Right now hip-hop needs a savior. It's sad that I go on websites and ppl talk about cRAP music and all they've heard is Lil Wayne or even some of Eminem's newer stuff. I just hope that MCs like Slaughterhouse, Brother Ali, Wale, Tech 9ne, Talib Kweli and others can go more mainstream and show ppl what real hip-hop music used to be. If Outkast drops an album this year, I'm convinced it will instantly go platinum and be AOY and show some of the naysayers what hip-hop at it's finest can be. In the 90's it was growing by leaps and bounds and now...

On an aside, afterroots, did Joe happen to let out when the single was going to drop. As for NOE, I have no idea. The only thing that I hear about that cat is whatever Dipset's doing. BTW, being a football fan, I'm somewhat interested to hear that the WC chose K'naan's Wavin Flagas their theme. Drake is starting to grow on me a bit, but I still think the best talent coming out of Canada is K'naan.

[Stone-Made-Soft]

BTW, being a football fan, I'm somewhat interested to hear that the WC chose K'naan's Wavin Flagas their theme. Drake is starting to grow on me a bit, but I still think the best talent coming out of Canada is K'naan.

K'naan's Dreaming was used as the theme for the 2009 NFL Draft. He's getting a lot of exposure.

Classified (www.classifiedofficial.com/) is still my favorite Canadian MC. K'naan is a close second.

[Xray the Enforcer]

Classified (www.classifiedofficial.com/) is still my favorite Canadian MC. K'naan is a close second.

Whoa! Nice to find another Classified fan on the boards. :)

[Stone-Made-Soft]

Whoa! Nice to find another Classified fan on the boards. :)

Been a fan since Union Dues.

I saw him live at a club once, too bad his voice was shot because it was his last night on tour.

Gotta rep Canadian hip hop! :thumbsup:

[elmis]

A bit old, but worthy of some linkage regardless. Supernatural and Killa Kela putting on a show in the UK a few years back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I53jUHPeeGw

[Horus Ex Machina]

K'naan's Dreaming was used as the theme for the 2009 NFL Draft. He's getting a lot of exposure.

Classified (www.classifiedofficial.com/) is still my favorite Canadian MC. K'naan is a close second.

Classified comes on my Pandora player every now and then and there's a few tracks that I feel I can jam to but I don't know much about him. Any tracks you could suggest I check out?

A bit old, but worthy of some linkage regardless. Supernatural and Killa Kela putting on a show in the UK a few years back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I53jUHPeeGw

Why is the audio so quiet? Oh well, I'm at work so I'll have to check it out later.

[Darkostar]

Forgot to mention, I saw a huge Rhymesayers Haiti benefit earlier this month on First Avenue, co hosted by Slug and Brother Ali. Freeway and Sage showed up, the whole place was crammed. Unbelievable.