MetaFilter posts tagged with hiphop and DJ

Keepintime: documentaries and collaborations between drummers and DJs

filthy light thief — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:34:24 -0800

Keepintime started as a simple idea, to bring some of the most revered and notable L.A. session drummers together for a photo shoot, then have them talk about the recordings that were famous to hip-hop DJs and producers, with some top LA beat jugglers. From that effort in 2002 came the short film, Keepintime: Talking Drums and Whispering Vinyl (2 parts on YouTube). The short documentary toured around, and in 2002, along with the screening, some of the drummers and DJs put on a live improvised show in Los Angeles. From that 2 hour show, a 45 minute film was made: Keepintime - A Live Recording. Later that year, after screening the short film in England, the Keepintime crew were invited to Brasil, to team up with Brasilian percussionists of renown, and make a beat record. They also put on an epic live show. That whole enterprise was made into an almost two-hour long documentary, Brasilintime. More information on the artists inside. The original Keepintime photo shoot was to include Roy Porter (YouTube sample track), Earl Palmer (short bio video), Paul Humphrey (YT sample track) and James Gadson (YT sample video). The DJs were Babu (sample video), J.Rocc (sample video) and Cut Chemist (sample video). The session was filmed by Brian Cross (aka B+) and J.Rocc, who is also a prolific videographer. Unfortunately, Roy Porter passed away before that first session took place, though the video director, B+, had interviewed Porter earlier. For the extended live session in Los Angeles that took place in 2002, Gadson and Humphrey were joined by Derf Reklaw (note: autoplaying music; live performance clip), with Madlib (live clip)and DJ NuMark (live clip) joining the DJs. In Brasil, some of the crew re-assembled. Cut Chemist left a tour with Jurrassic 5, while J.Rocc and Babu flew twenty four hours straight from Japan to get there. James Gadson turned down a tour with Beck to make it. Paul Humphrey and Derf Reklaw were also there, where they met João Parahyba (Google auto-translated bio; live clip), Wilson das Neves (performance clip), Mamão (Ivan Conti) (performance clip), and DJ Nuts (live clip) as their guide to the local hip-hop scene. For more history of how Keepintime came about, Directors Notes interviewed Brian Cross about the first short documentary. Red Bull Music Academy, who invited the Keepintime crew to Brasil, previewed a rough cut of the film, opening first with a 41 minute lecture from Brian Cross (B+), seen here on Vimeo. Brian also has 318 photos from the Brasilintime session. Both Mochilla and Ninja Tune released Keepintime Live on DVD with a bonus CD, or those CD tracks on vinyl. The Ninja Tune edition included a 13 track CD (Grooveshark stream). Mochilla also released a 2xDVD set of Brasilintime. As a parting note, Earl Palmer passed away in 2008, living long enough to not only meet some of the DJs who really appreciated his drumming, but also getting to tour wit them and perform live improvisations around the world.

'Listen to the bass go Boom!': creating the Mama Said Knock You Out instrumental

the mad poster! — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 17:10:38 -0800

great short video: Marley Marl, the producer of LL Cool J's 'Mama Said Knock You Out', recreates the beat, explaining its component elements and releasing a never-heard-before snippet of alternate LL vocals: "he says, 'hey, I got a sample that is so dope.' He pulls out Sly and the Family Stone..."

Primo

the mad poster! — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 17:56:47 -0800

Legendary hip hop producer DJ Premier interviewed in the XXL Icon Interview and The Smoking Section. Remarkably candid conversations about his life in East Coast hip hop, with interesting stories about his work with Jay-Z, Biggie, Puff, Nas, Jeru the Damaga, Group Home, Suge Knight, Christina Aguilera and of course, Guru. On finding records to sample: "Well, there’s still diggin’ spots. If you’re in that world like I am, you know the spots, you see everybody—Just Blaze, Alchemist, Large Professor, Pete Rock—we still pop up in those spots. You got Big City records, you got Turntable Lab, you still have A1, you got Academy, you know. I’m not gonna tell you all the digging spots."

It’s on and on and on on and on like the hot butter on the what? Popcorn!

filthy light thief — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:39:18 -0800

Mark Skillz, hip hop historian of a sort and an occasional writer for Wax Poetics, represents the old school of hip hop and lets others tell their stories on Hip Hop 101A. From Eddie Cheba recalling his time as a top DJ in the small world of hip hop in 1977, to the life of Sparky D, who took up the good fight for UTFO and started the Roxanne Wars, one of hip hop's first rap battles. Read up on the fall of funk and the rise of Planet Rock, and reminisce with Reggie Wells about the birth of hip hop from black club deejays in Manhattan who were refining a slick style of talk over disco records to open hip hop jams in the park. As a bonus, Wells throws out a playlist straight from Club 371 (videos after the break). Double Cross – First Choice (Double Cross single, 1979) Soul Makossa – Manu Dubango Pipeline (Soul Makossa single, 1972) Galaxy – War (Galaxy album, 1977) Runaway Love – Linda Clifford (Runaway Love single, 1978) Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me – Peter Brown (Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me single, 1977) Shame – Evelyn Champagne King (Shame single, 1977; music video) Turn the Beat Around - Vicky Sue Robinson (full song as part of a playlist) (Never Gonna Let You Go album, 1976; live video / another live vid) Hot Shot – Karen Young (Hot Shot single, 1978; live video) Busting Loose - Chuck Brown and the Soul Searchers (Bustin' Loose single, 1978; live video, Chuck Brown talking about the song) Super Sporm (slight edit to fit onto YouTube) – Captain Sky (Super Sporm single, 1978) Put The Music Where Your Mouth Is – Olympic Runners (Put The Music Where Your Mouth Is / Do It Over single, 1974; re-edit) Runnin’ Away – Roy Ayers Ubiquity (Running Away single, 1977, modern live show cut) Movin’ On – Brass Construction (Brass Construction album, 1974) Dr. Love – First Choice (Dr. Love single, 1977; instrumental dub version) Love is the Message – MFSB (Love Is The Message album, 1973; bonus: Danny Krivit Special Edit, video, in playlist) Ladies Night – Kool and the Gang (Ladie's Night single, 1979; live video from 1979, in a playlist, and a more recent live video, with the band being introduced by Sinbad) Let’s Get it Together – El Coco (Let's Get It Together / Fait Le Chat (Do the Cat) single, 1976) Bounce, Rock, Skate and Roll (part 1) – Vaughn Mason and Crew (Bounce, Rock, Skate & Roll single, 1979, part 2) If you're looking for more hip hop history, check the MetaFilter archives .

Filling up the city skies with righteous grooves

jammy — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:39:49 -0800

Four Hours of Free Funkiness Filter: Pretty Lights Derek Vincent Smith is a DJ with quite mad skills who weaves funky masterpieces of chill-hiphop-electronica. But, really, I can't say it any better than Kyle at Aurgasm (where I found this):

Organic, soulful, electronified and good-feeling vibes, freely shared by Colorado producer Derek Vincent Smith. Nearly four hours of this Pretty Lights sound is available for free on his website. It’s a vivid collage of continuity, enriched with robust beats, eloquently laced vocal samples that range from nostalgic to serene, both compelling and entertaining, with a diverse selection of instruments all aimed towards enjoyment.

Fr Fr Fr Fr FreshhhHHH

phrontist — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 18:08:20 -0800

All this scratchin' is makin' me itch .

And my beat goes boom... tschak!

loquacious — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 10:45:02 -0800

WaxDJ.com - an excellent source for free downloads and streams of original electronic music mixes of all sorts, from seasoned pros to beginning bedroom amatuers, all told numbering in the hundreds or thousands. My current brand new favorite is the very diverse and well-versed Detriot/Chicago techno stylings of DJ Rubsilent. Recomended mix: Future Funk 23: (Direct MP3 link) (Streaming mp3 link) But don't let me divert you - search for your favorite local DJ or browse for new ones.

10 great beat-making videos

nthdegx — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 11:09:10 -0800

10 greatest beat-making videos ever* "*Or, you know, today." A Music thing thing.