Rag’n’Râle

I have started the year listening to hip-hop/rap music and I can’t stop! Stones Throw Records is an excellent label that I have get used to dig since J Dilla Donuts was released in February 2006. Those were also the times when I first listened to The Third Unheard: Connecticut Hip Hop, 1979-1983. The compilation was my entry into old-school rap.

Back to the beginning of my story. Usually I listened to hip-hop from time to time. So what happened? I guess it was mainly because of what I read on Stones Throw website about Peanut Butter Wolf’s 45 live box set release and also that video of Otha Fish live on the Rhyme Library. The former lead me to more and more old-school listenings like the First Generation Rap compilations, the latter introduced me to The Pharcyde. Before that I only knew them through the video-clip of their song Drop. I was just astonished by their performance in the Otha Fish video: the flow, the humor, the dancing, the melody… It’s simply jaw-dropping. And it only gets better when you start listening to Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde. The whole album is inventive and impressive. I can easily see why it has become a classic ; it’s so unique and fresh even after all those years.

First Generation Rap is a box set of four CDs. It contains all the singles of the Enjoy label. Just to name a few gold nuggets: Funky 4+1 – Rappin’ & Rockin’ the House, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – Superappin’, Spoonie Gee – Love Rap, The Treacherous Three – Body Rock, The Treacherous Three – Put the Boogie in Your Body, The Fearless Four – Rockin’ It, The Fearless Four – It’s Magic… I have finished listening to the four volumes: what a great collection of old-school songs!

More good stuff is on the way as I will soon be able to enjoy PBW 45 live box set and also that Harlem World (The Sound of the Big Apple Rappin’) compilation!