JoAnn Garrett - Just a Taste

Chess is one of my favorite labels and "Just a Taste" happens to be one of my favorite records. Originally i came across it discovering a break (walk on by) that DJ Shadow used on ENDTRODUCING (napalm brain). As is my customary practice...I scour the records that include breaks/samples/music i love. And thats where the REAL gem was found. "its no secret" has been a favorite tune of mine since i 1st heard it. no open breaks per say..but funky and soulful nonetheless. listen to her bug out at the end. GENIUS!

Joann Garrett - Walk on By(http://www.zshare.net/audio/56744252bea176/)
Joann Garrett - It's No Secret (http://www.zshare.net/audio/56744601bca223/)

Asterisk

haha..he who laughs last...laughs best.

i am happy today. karma is a GRANDmother. today i eagerly await America's reaction to the Mitchell report. the Mitchell report named tens of baseball players connected to the use of steroids and/or HGH (human growth hormone). anyone who has been following the steroids story in baseball know that rumblings of steroids have been rampant since Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa led the attack on Roger Maris' homereun record and that these rumblings reached their peak as Barry Bonds passed all time Homerun leaded Henry Aaron. marck Ecko (punk ass) even bought Barry Bonds' record breaking ball and stamped it with an asterisk. haha. i thought that was odd for a numer of reasons

1. baseball is a game of cheating (spitballs, pine tar, stealing signs, sandpaper, corked bats) you name it.

2. shouldnt all the records made before Blacks were allowed to play have asterisks as well. they werent playing against all the best competition...no???

3. Mark McGwire don't have no asterisk.

So out of all the names that appear on Mitchell's list. Which one has the most far reaching implications for ASTERISKS??? Why the "greatest living pitcher"...Roger Clemens of course. Roger has all the same circumstantial evidence against him that Barry did. Got stronger as he got older. Got much bigger as he got older. Kept winning Cy Youngs. But he never faced the scrutiny that Barry did...hmm

Well now that the holder of the most Cy Youngs, 2nd most strikeouts, 2nd most wins in the "modern era"...lets see who rushes to place an asterisk next to his achievements or NOT!

LOL

the generation gap

had a convo with a youngin yesterday. here's the highlights

1. jeezy is dope cause he's a "real" guy. he doesnt rhyme particularly well or come up with creative concepts but...he sells drugs for real and that counts for something.

2. WE don't listen to wu-tang. (still trying to figure out exactly who "we" is)

3. lil wayne is the best.

all i can say is....

BOB JOHNSON YOU NEED YOUR ASS WHUPPED!

i hope the youngin sees this...listen to this lil homey. its for you and others who dont know what hip hop is/was/going to be. y'all listen to some other shit..for some other shit

organized konfusion- thirteen (http://www.zshare.net/audio/5050111fa60750/)

Behind in my Blogging

Yeah...i'm a little behind in my blogging. It's been over a month. truth is...I'm knee deep in the new album (putting it together) at the same time finishing the Sputnik Brown record (the 12" is out btw...high water/fat beats distro). I'm pretty much a tunnel vision type of guy. it's hard for me to work on two, three things simultaneously. i think its a side effect of my particular meticulous type of insanity. I am happy with how things are progressing. I'm making a hard, purist type of hip hop record (3 shades of Black/sputnik brown) and an avant garde, hoping to piss people off, artistic and hey i've grown up record (a moment's lifetime/howard lloyd). in the past i've had some type of audience i was pandering too. this time though...the audience is me. I need the balance found between the compromising aspects of the group and the unboundless spirit of my solo project. in fact "a moment's lifetime" is probably a reaction to the sput situation...which I love but its like being married to four people. It's hard as hell getting six grown men on the same page at the same time. but its getting done and the music is dope as hell.
At some point I'll explain the new album title "a moment's lifetime". for now i gotta get back to work. i'll leave you with a sput joint and some more winehouse demos. i find the demos to be more "spiritual" in the sense they seem less contrived (i liked that contrived shit though too). enjoy.....
Sputnik Brown feat CyMarshall Law - Unadulterated (http://www.zshare.net/audio/46394479ff40fd/)
Amy Winehouse - Some holy War/demo (http://www.zshare.net/audio/463947356aacdf/)
Amy Winehouse - Fools gold (http://www.zshare.net/audio/4639492847570e/)

thoughts on amy...

y'all probably don't know this about h lloyd but i'm a rather ambivalent cat. almost to the point of being a walking oxymoron. i mean i'm a high yellow black nationalists who likes wearing armani and an occasional daishiki. some would say i'm confused. i'd say my ego confuses me...as i am all things but yet my ego places me in boxes...i digress.

i say all of this because ms. winehouse also causes ambivalence in me. i think that she is a supremely talented vocalist and writer but some of her stuff is knockoff. i can live with the drugs and the craziness because usually the best artists are crazy and/or drugged out. i think its cause most artists are in some sort of pain and that pain is the source of their artistic expression, depression, and subsequent unhealthy behaviors. that being said..."wake up alone" was probably my favorite song on her disc. to my delight i was then blessed with this more acoustic version...even possibly an early demo or alternate version...i dont know...don't really care.

this shit is dope.

amy winehouse: wake up alone alt. version (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3787019809ad08/)

EEEEEEEE

(photo credit: Jamel Shabazz...check out "a time before crack" and "back in the days" on Powerhouse press)
so, i'm walking through brooklyn and i spot a YOUNG cat wit a gumby. this cat happened to be walking wit a next brother with a flat top and dark fade. i must be dreaming. but I AM NOT. the 80s is back in full swing...just ax j*davey...uh huh uh huh.

ANYWAYS

i decided to go and tag some quintessesntial 80s joints...at least how i remember on radio. The Force MD's are frequently overlooked in my opinion. they mixed street corner doo wop with 80s R&B/hip hop. "Let Me Love You" was a smash on NY radio in 1984 (i just found out it wasnt a national hit) and they followed with TEARS, TENDER LOVE, LOVE IS A HOUSE. These brothers were bad...Tragedy struck the group twice as TCD and Mercury both passed away in the mid-late 90s. dope group.

4 by Four is another NY group (at least 2 of em was from the BX). They were one of the many new Edition knockoffs to come along during the 80s. This 1 song though (written and produced by READY FOR THE WORLD's Melvin Riley) burned into the consciousness of horny teenagers everywhere. I rarely see this.

MC EZ (aka Craig Mack) & TROUP blew my mind when i heard red alert playing this 1. i remember waiting for him to play it again for like 4 weeks. it'd be ill if i coulda burnt the MP3 straight from cassette live from radio...but dem tapes BEEN GONE. This song also certifies Craig Mack a special place in hip hop history...not many cats (see Puba post) made quality joints in 3 different decades.

Nice and Smooth ripped "We Are #1". Ok...its not a quintessential NY song but it is a quintessential H lloyd song. The rhymes, the crispy drums, the harmonies and word samples!!!

No need to say much about "i Got It Made". this is the businesslike mix though. i remember they use to play this one on KISS all the time and i'd be like "why they playing this 1???"

Force MD's: Let Me Love You (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3344754b19072e/)

4 by Four: Come Over(http://www.zshare.net/audio/3344653df93611/)

Special Ed: I Got It Made (http://www.zshare.net/audio/33448032fec49a/)

MC EZ & TROUP: Get Retarded (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3345003c74e9ea/)

Nice & Smooth: We are #1 (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3345173404bfe3/)

Who Stole My Last Piece of Veggie Chicken?

i'm a crazy artist because i'm overly cerebral; not to mention a moody ass virgo. lately with my new record i'm going through the morning sickness phase. i wake up sick...usually between 1-2am about 4 times a week. i usually get my best work done then. for some reason the quiet allows me to get "myself" out the way and just allow the music to happen. unfortunately...my moodiness normally wrecks havoc on those closest to me but that is for discussion on some next, other, parallel blogosphere.

mood swings are usually induced by writers and/or beat block. see...i can see the vision super clear, 40/20 clarity. its just easier saw than done. i'm not an artist that can just sit down and on command create. i mean i can but i just prefer to not work that way. sometimes the mpc magnetizes me. sometimes lines just come to me. i understand full well that this stuff is channeled. sometimes i got reception and sometimes i dont. i alternate periods of feast and famine. lately though it seems as if i'm being pulled in two different directions. i started the project with the intent of taking the subtle rock aspects of the quickie and embellish them, flesh them out further. and the music me and dude spectacular have thus far laid down is stellar in my own opinion. concurrently...i've made a couple of sparse. big drums, deep bass, glistening but subtle highs, low end theory 2008 type tracks. now i dont know how or if these would tracks could or would work together back to back... we'll have to see as the arrangements are further developed.

in other developments The Quickie EP will shortly be available in LIMITED EDITION WHITE VINYL (ooh)...i'm psyched about that. the record will also have a bonus cut plus 3 instrumentals. wretched of the earth is also fixin to license the digital rights for this LE quickie release to a very reputable label. The vinyl will be limited to 1000 copies. Y'all besta snatch these up. My first release (h.o.r. entertainment "Why It Gotta Be Me?" is fetching $100 all over da innanet!!!

Cop ya own copy if you is a baller.

http://woerecords.gemm.com

Wretched of the Earth is now a limited edition vinyl only label. no more Cds. Look for 3 sided vinyl, picture discs....OK OK...enough of the advertising. soon come. all ima say is cats is colonizing the art and i'm resisting like queen NZINGA.

nobody stole my veggie chicken. i did leave my (veggie) schrimp pad thai from VP's 2 (NYC y'all know whattup) out and had to throw it out this morning..."i left out my pad thai and had to throw it out" sucks as a tagline though.

paz

DEMON FUZZ!!!!!!! and other treats

Ok...H. Lloyd is seriously on some black rock funk type steez right now (wait til yall hear the new record). i digress. demon fuzz is no secret to beat diggers. it was 1 of those holy grails (the original still is) before the reissue gods came forth and release it in every available format known to man. anyways my newest, latest, and most favoritest song happens to sample this (quite cleverly i may add). i wont give you the name of the artist/song/album but i'll bless you with some hints...artist name rhymes with rashid (rasheed)..album is called the opposite of peace and the tune features 1 sexy siren with a truly unique name....ahem.

Demon Fuzz: Past, Present, & Future (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3308075ac7ecdf/)

Speaking of Black rock, funk and soul...who embodied this paradigm as the rotary connection did?? i dont know...but a recent #1 album samples this about 2:58 in... Richard Evans is the king of arrangement (or at least a Prince)...shucks.

Rotary Connection: Love Has Fallen on me (http://www.zshare.net/audio/330816847c82ac/)

Tony Williams Lifetime is another of the fusion groups that i have been really into. Emergency may be my favorite (could be wrong...i know the artwork of the album..too lazy to get up) but there comes a time is one of my favorite tunes FO SHO! The lyrics are worth the wait (bout 3 minutes in...i'm thinking about lifting them "there comes a time when you want to be older, there comes a time when you want to be bolder...I love you more when it's over...i love you more when it's over...CLASSIC!). Until the vox kick in...tony, larry young, ron carter and guitarist Ted Dunbar keep it FUNKy!.

Tony Williams Lifetime: There Comes A Time (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3308309d68b066/)

Howard Lloyd exposes Himself

aiight ok...so i been exposing other cats sample fodder and lest i be accused of being biased, today i will expose myself! i will forewarn you...i come from the "whatever is PHAT" school of thought in relation to hip hop production i.e. if it takes a jack, i will jack; if it takes a flip, i will flip. regardless of the methodology, for breaks and music i tend to gravitate towards the rare and obscure. my word samples are obvious because im using them for (1) sound and (2) nostalgia. i want people to know where they are from for the most part.

first up is BLOODSTONE. i actually recorded We Did It the summer of 2005. it was kind of a joke. i like to poke fun and have fun with the music. so i thought, "lemme do a chipmunk soul type of song" and "i'll put produced by KAYNE WEST" to generate some buzz. i wrote the record rather quickly (its prolly my simplest rhyme ever) and recorded it. i let Louis Logic hear it and he was like "this is great". at that point the "quickie ep" was born. i had resigned myself to producing but Louis telling me how much he liked We Did it coupled with COUNT BASS D praising "throwbacks" (linked below) initiated my re-entry to the vocal booth. THANKS GUYS.

Ironically...people always like the joke songs much more than they like my "serious" 1s but how do you think it felt when people gravitated to my intro w/ an 8 bar(!) verse (shake my head). it surprised me cuz i thought it was one of those abstract beats that would go over heads...but it seems i have many intelligent fans! The drums on that 1 come from Lincoln Mayorga, the piano from this weird WEIRD Michael Mantler record. The MM tune (part 1) is excerpted for two reasons. (1) the song is 8 minutes long and is an exercise in ...uh...the eccentric (2) i wanted the part i took to stand out...so the excerpt begins there.

anyone who knows me...knows i have this humongous polish break fetish...i mean..i got em ALL and 1 in particular shows up front and center on the quickie EP. Zalatnay Sarolta "HADD MONDJAM EL" i cut for not 1 but two breaks. aint saying which 1s though. they have recently re-released this sarolta album (i hate when that happens). i would argue NO1 used those breaks before me though!!!!!

**i know cats WILL sample from MP3s and i aint giving it away like that...so if you notice that these mp3s are a lower bitrate its because YOU GOTTA GO FIND THESE COT DAYUM records yourself. Bad enough i gave you the names. If 80kbps works for you...sample til your hearts content.

Bloodstone - We Did It (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3124158fae043c/)

Lincoln Mayorga - Peace Train (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3124191dc4e8bf/)

Michael Mantler - Part 1 (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3124207fe37956/)

Zalatnay Sarolta - Hadd Mondjam El (http://www.zshare.net/audio/312422549367d8/)

Howard Lloyd - Throwbacks (http://www.zshare.net/audio/3124247c4e551e/)

Hard Knocks

Wild Pitch records always makes me feel ambivalent. Some of the dopest late 80s/early 90s hip hop came thru Stu Fine's indy NY label. His shady business practices probably prevented more classics from being released though. As Diamond said on Tribe's 'show business' - "you don;t wanna make a pitch that's wild". Ok Ok...Stu's bidness notwithstanding... Gang Starr, Main Source, Lord Finesse, Chill Rob G. all cut they teeth on the label. Premier, Diamond, Large Pro, mark the 45 king were early producers on the label. Its basically a whos who of golden age hip hop. All these records slammed. Unfortunately, at least one group never got the shine they deserved. I present to you, Hard Knocks. Dope shit. Check the sublime nobility of a "ghetto love"; "hands of a stranger" creeped me out freshman year of college and only 1 other song has genuinely done that (last good sleep - coflow). Enough talk, hard knocks can speak for themselves.

All songs by Hard Knocks

ghetto love (http://www.zshare.net/audio/286353615f641e/)
hands of a stranger (http://www.zshare.net/audio/2863550d82ac21/)
blow to the head (http://www.zshare.net/audio/28635777f8080e/)

Mike Vick is the BOOGEYMAN!!!

one of the above victims received their wounds in a dog fight. the other happens to be a visual representation of so-called collateral damage in the "Iraqi War". now being that i am a human, i feel alot more sympathy for ali (that is his name) than the pitbull. in fact i would go so far to say that somebody should be arrested/indicted/convicted for what happened to ali. i would go along with the notion that someone should be arrested for the dog fight but that, i think, opens a whole nother can of worms...

1. how is human fighting allowed but dog fights illegal? i guess the dog people would say the human makes a conscious decision to fight...i think thats irrelevant. either shit is cruel or it aint. boxers die. i watched duk koo kim die at the hands of ray mancini.

2. someone gonna go arrest purdue or them western beef people? i have seen what they do to the chickens..cows etc. if that aint animal cruelty.

3. while working on my psych masters...there were people doing studies where they would (1) put a rat in a maze (2) shock the shit out the rat everytime it made a wrong turn and (3) decapitate the rat and freeze its brain to see what the physiological ramifications of said shock on said rats brain. i guess animal cruelty only pertains to dogs.

4. these same people yelling animal cruelty got on leather sneakers.

5. uncle sam (the feds) got time to dig up vick's yard not once but twice??? this is national priority?

6. will bush pardon vick? i mean scooter libby outted a CIA operative (if Libby was Black he'd be up on treason charges)

7. football anyone? violent? cruel?

i could go on. all i came here to say is = people (i.e. the media) are more upset about mike vick fighting dogs than they are about the war in Iraq, the gov't response to Katrina, 9/11 conspiracy, bush stealing the election, hundereds of thousands of iraqi children killed since the 1st gulf war, hip hop being dead, aquafina/dasani being tap water.

cats serious bout dem dogs man. i usually leave music at the end. this time i'm going to leave a quote left over on espn.com:

"...I still went with him when everyone was hating on his run over pass mentality, and I even was on his side when the whole rigged water bottle thing happened. He has taken it way too far now. The Atlanta Falcons are hurt by this. Many of the fans (including me) will stop supporting the team that supports an indicted dogfighter."

--dude dont even mention the water bottle thing was untrue. SMH

Pharoahe's Greatest R&B Flips

Pharoahe Monch will eat your favorite rapper...believe that. This cat got so many quotable lines on his new album sheeeiiitt...here's a sampling:

"rap is like star wars except the stars die theres no sequels/beat three cases; see 3 P.O.'s"

"still get it popping without artist and repetoire/cause monch is a monarch only minus the A&R"

"keep snoring, keep sleeping i'll keep touring/come back lay in the cut like neosporin'/came out of the fallopian blasting/pharoahe hungrier than ethiopians fasting"

"incompleted, only deleted/to be pushed to the back of your mind like a hairline thats been receded"

IMPRESSIVE to say the least. Pharoahe has always been lauded for his lyrical prowess. Less discussed though is his ability to flip contemporary R&B joints and make them his own. So here's two fine examples...plus 1 throw in (a flip of a smooth r&b/jazz gem of the past). The 1st one is from maxwell, Pharoahe flipped this 1 on "queens". all he snipped was the intro and though you can obviously identify quickly what it is...its genius to me because the feeling of the records end up being two wholly different emotions. Numer 2 is from Tweet's debut. "My Place" gets the treatment here. Pharoahe funks it up (on "so good") with a harder kick and snare and speeds it up just so...PERFECT. The Wah WahWatson forms the basis of "hold on" monch's ditty w/ badu. PM song doesnt sound like a sample. Its so damn clear. ah...hopefully one day i can mix at electric ladyland too. i find solace in the fact that you can make quality hip hop with an mpc and your sister's favorite slow jam tape. I aint posting pharoahes songs though (*so good is in the post below). Go buy those mayne!!!

Maxwell: Til the Cops come... (http://www.zshare.net/audio/2721081a6b6589/)
Tweet: My Place (http://www.zshare.net/audio/2721102dd993fe/)
Wah Wah Watson: I'll Get By Without You (http://www.zshare.net/audio/27212108b862c7/)

are Mp3s killing the music industry???

I don't know the answer...ask yourself the question. I do know that these are current tunes I'm really feeling. This is obviously a "quickie" post but I'd be remiss to not point out a couple of things.
(1) I think Primo "ghostproduced" Common's joint. kanye never had his drums sound like that before!!! Plus Preem did the cuts..iono..dope either way.
(2) This cat Blu is nice and this cut is ultra-soulful.
(3) O.C. is one of the most underrated cats evar!
(4) Yeah...you could play this pharoahe with your lady friend and she would prolly like it.
(5) Dilla was a bad man!

Common: The Game (http://www.zshare.net/audio/2673854c75c6c1/)
Blu and Exile: In Remembrance (http://www.zshare.net/audio/2673869ab454ea/)
Marco Polo feat OC: Marquee (http://www.zshare.net/audio/26740397c9ebee/)
Pharoahe Monch: So Good (http://www.zshare.net/audio/26740071adc1de/)
Phat Kat: My Old label (http://www.zshare.net/audio/2674027cac8cf0/)

Inside Howard's House of Hits...

Aiiight. Studio Post time. I be telling cats "I got a state of the art studio" and then they come over and be like "WTF? This place sounds good??" and I laugh cause they dont know equipment. So..Ima go thru and break it down. Prolly be real informative for cats who wanna start recording at home but may not know how to proceed. First off...I came into the game as an MC. Years later I got into beats cause i didnt like the beats that were being produced for me. After copping my first equipment (akai s900...sp1200) I became a "gearslut" and ultimately an engineer as well.
Pic #1 is Producer extraordinaire, beer connoisseur, and resident hater, E tha 5th. E still rocks the SP1200 (the tried and true hip hop machine. freaked into hip hop history by marley, ced, pete, large pro, diamond, buckwild, beatminerz, etc etc) along with a s2800. "Dusty but digital" is how he calls it.

Pic#2 is the heart of the studio (besides my bomb ass super computer) and I aint talking bout the MOTU 828. The UA2192 is a master audio interface super high quality a/d d/a (analog 2 digital, digital 2 analog) converter. Namely...all sounds we hear are vibrations and these vibrations are analog in nature. Computers only know 0s and 1s...so when recording audio digitally, the analog energy must be "converted" to digital. Now the 828 can accomplish the task albeit at a "prosumer" level of quality. The 2192 is a piece you might find in say Bruce Swedien studio (engineer for Thriller!). The audio also comes out the computer digitally and before going to monitors must be converted back. The 2192 makes sure what you are hearing is pure and accurate for proper mixing.

Pic#3 is my MPC2000xl. Loaded out with SMPTE, effects, card reader etc. The MPC is basically the sound of hip hop and r&b throughout the 90s and early 2000s. Some have began to move away from it, but most big boys still swear by it.
Pic#4 are the mackie hr824 active monitors. These are not the best and not the worst speakers you can buy. Alot of ppl skimp on speakers which is extremely shortsighted because the speakers are the only thing in the studio you can actually hear. Its very important to "hear" what you are doing when talking bout music...seriously.

Pic#5 is the record, turntable and hardly used equipment section (see asr-x and emu planet phatt keyboard...YUCK...some nice bass sounds though). Anybody who is in the know, knows a hip hop producer is only as good as his records will allow him to be. All of these crated records are "BREAKS". Most of my joints are in storage. But..if you couldnt make beats with what i got here....you gotta quit the game! The ASR-x is a nice sounding sampler (i think the engine is better than the MPC 2000xl but...the sequencer aint so..I rocks the MP).
Pic#6 are my K701 headphones. These are the best headphopnes I have ever heard. They are open designed so you cant wear them while tracking vox but for monitoring/checking mixes they are unparalleled. Because my studio is in my living room and is not an acoustically treated space there are all kinds of refelctions and stuff that color the sound. i use these to check bass, reverb etc on the mixes.

Pic #7 are the mic preamp and compressor, a Great River me-1nv and empirical labs distressor respectively. I cant stress how important a good preamp is. You can get a workable compressor cheaper than the Distressor (RNC 1773; dbx 160 series come to mind) but it dont pay to skimp on the Preamp!!! Trust me!

Pic#8 is my Shure SM7b dynamic mic. Alot of ppl new to recording run out and buy condensor mics which are clearer..more sensitive. BUT...when recording in an apartment in a non isolated booth you pick up room reflections, trucks driving by...etc and a dynamic will minimize room noise. They also just sound good on hip hop to me. I also have a condensor but it hasnt been getting much use lately. Oh and did i mention...mike jack used yes this $350 mic on Thriller!!! (through a neve preamp tho)

**Things you dont see...my ears :) (MOST important studio instrument of all). The rain recording 2.4khz dual core 4GB ram computer, waves SSL/Native/Renaissance maxx plugins....etc

Heres some stuff done right here in that lil' (but expensive) spot. They were mixed by professionals (mixmaster cus and superstar dave dar) though! enjoy...and get at us if you need beats/studio time in NYC area!!!!

Howard Lloyd feat. Just Divine: Every Word

http://www.zshare.net/audio/26119675c31553/

Sputnik Brown: The Brownout (produced by E tha 5th...no download this aint out yet!!!!October!!!!!!)

http://www.howardlloyd.com/audio/SPUTNIK_BROWN-the_brownout.m3u

DCNY: Soul Brother in two parts (beat 1 h lloyd; beat 2 e tha 5th)

http://www.zshare.net/audio/2611957b1bd748/

What To The Slave Is The 4th Of July?"

Was up in the air on what to do today... But whatever I was gonna say, i realize, Fred Douglass already said it better (gordon parks captured the imagery; jill scott sung the song- peepthe tune after the speech). Amazing that Douglass words still STILL are relevant. Look how he starts...dayum!

FREDERICK DOUGLASS SPEECH, 1852

Fellow citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon to speak here today? What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? Are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that Declaration of Independence, extended to us?

and am I, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits and express devout gratitude for the blessings resulting from your independence to us?Would to God, both for your sakes and ours, that an affirmative answer could be truthfully returned to these questions! Then would my task be light, and my burden easy and delightful. For who is there so cold that a nation's sympathy could not warm him? Who so obdurate and dead to the claims of gratitude that would not thankfully acknowledge such priceless benefits? Who so stolid and selfish that would not give his voice to swell the hallelujahs of a nation's jubilee, when the chains of servitude had been torn from his limbs? I am not that man. In a case like that the dumb might eloquently speak and the "lame man leap as an hart."

But such is not the state of the case. I say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence bequeathed by your fathers is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you has brought stripes and death to me. This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn. To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. Do you mean, citizens, to mock me by asking me to speak today? If so, there is a parallel to your conduct. And let me warn that it is dangerous to copy the example of nation whose crimes, towering up to heaven, were thrown down by the breath of the Almighty, burying that nation in irrevocable ruin! I can today take up the plaintive lament of a peeled and woe-smitten people...

Jill Scott: My Petition (http://www.zshare.net/audio/2555949b72e360/)

OKAYPLAYERS

Aiight...next post is for all you OKP loving visitors and as usual, good music lovers in general. I'm gonna pull stuff from the stacks that various OKartist have used in the past. First up are The Roots. Illadelph Halflife is definitely one of my favorite LPs by the group and Ital blew my mind with its weird time signature and the fact that tip, thought and malik b was still able to rip it. Nevertheless, I got 1 of dem diggers smiles when i plopped this Teruo Nakamura record down and.....!

Dilated Peoples made some REAL REAL Joints on those first two albums man. Proper Propaganda was 1 of my favorites. this rare New York City piece is just as funky. Many times sampled songs are good for just thse 1,2,4 measures cats snatch up...not this time.

Brown Sugar is the album that started "D" mania. Rumor has it that he did alot of it on an Ensoniq ASR keyboard. Amazing. This is pre-quest love so for "Smooth" he looped up Bill Cosby's (yes that Bill Cosby) cover of Allen Toussaints ubiquitous "get out my life, woman". If you have the attention span..primo freaked the end for "the illest brother".



David Axelrod is no stranger to samplers and the fact his handful of albums continue to show up on contemporary albums is a nod to his production genius. Pharoahe Monch and lee Stone hook up "a divine image" on the new album...SICK TUNE (both of em).

Yes...my infatuation with Badu's "booty" continues...

Teruo Nakamura: CAT
http://www.zshare.net/audio/2524778db90023/

New York City: SANITY
http://www.zshare.net/audio/2524831bde719e/

Bill Cosby: GET OUT MY LIFE WOMAN
http://www.zshare.net/audio/2524952beb1ddc/

David Axelrod: A DIVINE IMAGE
http://www.zshare.net/audio/2525388e116844/

Johnny Hammond: GAMBLER'S LIFE
http://www.zshare.net/audio/25263588ac0113/

Dilla Addendum

Cats liked that Moog Machine so much..I decided to give the people what they want and bless y'all with some more originals. One i post up because of the rarity. A turkish record by les Mogul. You gotta go 3.5 minutes in to peep what got used...Yall keep ya hands off the rest.

#2 is Chuck Mangione's lesser known brother Gap. Dilla and Madlib both looted this 1. It wont take long for you to recognize.

Les Mogul: Sunset in golden horn
http://www.zshare.net/audio/2516083b4f3516/

Gap Mangione:Diana in the Autumn Wind
http://www.zshare.net/audio/251609624c6f9f/

Grand Puba Maxwell

Eh yo...Puba is one of the handful of cats who should just be ushered into the hip hop hall of fame IMMEDIATELY. Few people have held their relevance longer than GP. He is also multitalented. Most of his praise comes vis-a-vis his adept lyrical skill but he has produced a large number of certifiable bangers. I was first introduced to GP through "Sexy" while he was a member of Masters of Ceremonies (1986). While the other MC held his own...Puba definitely was the star of the group as his water smooth flow was already readily apparent.



"Step Up Front" demonstrates Puba's production prowess. I believe this is the first usage of the Bumpin bus Stop break, regardless, the song is a masterpiece. Positive K more than meets the match of such a finely tuned track.



Of course by the late 80s. Puba found himself in the seminal NY Nation of Gods and Earths outfit, "Brand Nubian" who released the classic "one for all". One for All is an undisputable classic and "who can get busy like this man" is a funky solo exhibition for Grand P.



Puba left Brand Nubian until 1998 when they returned with the criminally underappreciated "foundation". Puba was still dropping jewels and flows over premier, lord finesse and others beats...check "Love vs. Hate"



Peace to the GODS!
Masters of Ceremony: Sexy(http://www.zshare.net/audio/2524351cede01e/)
Positive K: Step Up Front(http://www.zshare.net/audio/25243661de9cc3/)
Brand Nubian: Who Can get busy Like This?(http://www.zshare.net/audio/252437637f35da/)
Brand Nubian: Love vs Hate (http://www.zshare.net/audio/25243897b3713a/)

The Dilla Post

it's only right my first hip hop post is on Jay Dee (yall gets no beattape files doe!!)...i decided to go thru my wax and pull some stuff many prolly have but many more dont. 1st up is the moog machine's "let the sun shine in" cover that Dilla used for the "Fantastic3" interlude (posted just underneath). I took the liberty of slowing down the Moog Machines work about 15% cuz Dilla definitely slowed it down... I been trying to figure out if he sampled 1 mono side of the stereo image cuz i cant hear the drums and bass of the original in his. Perhaps he sampled the open pianos at the end...either way its a good demonstration of why Dilla is better than just about everyone (cuz he "digged"..i also skipped the 1st half of the song you woulda had to listen to to find.....)

the t-love joint (when your older) is 1 of my favorite productions. very noble sounding. the flute and drums in particular. i think the early 2000s dilla was really stretching out. coming to grips with being "underground" releasing records on fatbeats, Mcnasty, mummy, groove attack, up above etc...

Frank-n-Dank's "love is a thing of the past" is another of those rare dilla gems (i sampled this in the intro to "we did it"). i aint gonna say nothing bout it except LISTEN!!! i feel these cats sentiments (LOL).

Last but not least...F*ck the Police. the clean version. ha.

Let the Sun Shine In
The Moog Machine

Fantastic3
Slum Village

When You're Older
T-Love

Love Is a thing of the Past
Frank-n-Dank

F*ck the Police
Jay Dee

Introducing...

everybody blogging so i figured...i got stuff to say, pics and music to share, plus i got a new record i'm working on and a couple fixin' to be released (howard lloyd's quickie EP, sputnik brown's "3 shades of black"). Its all about exposure nah mean. Plus i got a different way of looking at the world that may help, soothe, incite you to some sort of action.

I'll have something interesting to say soon.
Stay tuned.

**Thats me & DJ Shark (japan STAND UP!!). Yall besta recognize. Flick courtesy of Fresh (dot) Daily!!! In fact...I'ma bless yall with some of me & Shark's (Shark is the John Coltrane of turntables IMO...wait til y'all hear him on the Sputnik record!!!!) work together...

Time Bomb (produced by e tha 5th)

http://www.howardlloyd.com/audio/HOWARD_LLOYD-time_bomb.m3u

why i love erykah badu

yeah..uhm...one of the reasons is above. i mean i was already in love with her by the time i realized she had a nice little jiggly back there and baby#2 seems to have really set it off. they say physical desires take precedent over higher order desires (see below). i mean i was always weak for those slim but round shawties...and eb be a classic example.

reason#2 = she has impeccable (unrivaled even)taste in who she allows into photos with her

reason #3...her first song (a hit no less) included five percent ideology and AND she says "most intellects do not believe in God but they fear US just the same". who else could do that? besides like Rakim and other 80s rappers.

reason #4..check the fronts pic. not only is she sophisticated and sexy...SHE IS GULLY!!

Last and certainly not least. Her voices. Both of em. The one that you can hear and the one you dont. Both beautiful. Lyrics?? So i leave you with cleva...woulda left green eyes but uhm..bump that. you gotta go cop for that.

Cleva