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/