K-os – Joyful Rebellion (2004)

I've already written a great deal about K-os on this blog. 



Joyful Rebellion got me interested in Canadian hip hop again at a time when I cared little about hip hop on a whole and was one of the last Canadian hip hop CDs I bought upon its release.

Please make yourself familiar with below.

http://suitedelight.podomatic.com

Below is the 1st Anniversary CKUT podcast to bring you up to speed. Click here to download.



The Suite Delight 1st Anniversary CKUT Playlist:

1.       The Monkees – Mary, Mary

2.       Harmonica Paul – Motherless Child

3.       Eddie Kendricks – Date With The Rain

4.       Yellow Sunshine – Yellow Sunshine

5.       Magic Disco Machine – Scratchin’

6.       The Incredible Bongo Band – Bongolia

7.       Lack of Afro – P.A.R.T.Y. (Instrumental)

8.       The Jimmy Castor Bunch – Troglodyte

9.       Booker T. & The M.G.s – Lady Madonna

10.   GZA & Ras Kass – Lyrical Swords

11.   RZA & MF Doom – Biochemical Equation

12.   Camp Lo – Luchini

13.   Digable Planets – 9^th Wonder (Blackitolism)

14.   Danger Mouse & Jemini – Ghetto Pop Life

15.   Hi-Tek – The Sun God

16.   K-os – The Love Song

K-os

I made any attempt to catch any K-os live show, no matter how brief the notice, because it was worth the time.

He has over half a dozen albums worth of material to explore. 

Man I Used To Be is my favorite K-os song because I learned how happy I am when I hear it.

Anyone knowledgeable about K-os knows that each of his albums from Exit to Black on Blonde is colored green, yellow, blue, red, purple, black and blonde.  That makes me understand how much
K-os has accomplished during this past decade. 

 If anyone asked me if I would want to see K-os live again or listen to a new album, the answer is Yes!

Below is a video from K-os.

Ice-T

I've said it before and will do so again. I am East Coast hip hop all the way.

I have always been and most surely will always be. That doesn't mean hip hop from other parts of the globe didn't reach me.

As a teen, I was proud of my home-grown Cancon talent. Philly had DJs. Back then, the South wasn't saying much to me. That leaves us with the West Coast to talk about.


Ice-T is the first figure of West Coast hip hop for me and many of my generation. We knew about him before Rhyme Pays but unless your memory of Breakin' was vivid, you may have forgotten about that fact. He was also in Joeski Love's Pee Wee's Dance video.



Today, Ice-T can be seen on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He was recognized at the VH1 Hip Hop Honours.


I was reluctant to see Ice-T at Foufounes Electriques years ago but changed my mind. I decided it was worth seeing the hip hop legend in concert at least once in my life. The finale was bringing Coco on stage to prance around for a few minutes until he and entourage left the stage. Seeing Coco was worth the price of admission.



Like LL Cool J and Will Smith, Ice-T is in a class of old school hip hop artist that managed to rise above the recording career to mainstream success and visibility. I'm proud of his accomplishments but can't help but feel his status as West Coast's Godfather of Hip Hop may have suffered a little over the years. My generation knows Ice-T's legendary status and is aware of the classics he produced. After over 40 years in the game, he proved that rhyme does indeed pay.

The Electric Flag

Certain groups and albums scream the decade from which they came from. 



There is an undeniable imprint of the time the music was recorded from either the album cover or the music created by the producers and musicians.  One such album that screams the mid to late 1960s is The Electric Flag’s A Long Time Comin’.



I used to see the album cover above at a Montreal record store on numerous occasions.  I was of course fascinated by it because it was from the 1960s but never studied or explored it any further. I almost believed the aesthetics of the cover had more value than the recorded material on its accompanying vinyl.

A Plateau record store was going out of business and I rummaged through their racks to see what treasures were possibly waiting for me.  To my surprise, The Electric Flag’s album turned up among their stacks and I knew it was my chance to finally learn what the album what this album I had seen so many times was all about. 

Seeing the photograph of band mates Buddy Miles and Mike Bloomfield at the back of the record was almost painful.  I learned that there is some truth in not judging a book or record by its cover.  At the time of my finding that Electric Flag record, I was hunting for 1960s & 1970s rock, soul, jazz and funk records that could incorporate as many of the genres I just listed within the music.  The only matter was finding out if the music was as incredible as the cover. 

From the moment I heard Killing Floor, I knew I was going to own the record.  Over-Loving You with Buddy Miles on vocals convinced me I didn’t need to listen to anything else. 

The record was not in the best condition but I figured I could still get some mileage from some of the other cleaner cuts for the price I was paying for it.   If an altogether better copy of The Electric Flag's A Long Time Comin' crosses my path, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick it up as well.    

Big L Rest in Peace

I had high hopes for Big L ever since I heard him on Lord Finesse's Yes You May (Remix). 

Lord Finesse was already one of my favorite lyricists at the time and to introduce this new jack that ripped that track meant that there could be better down the road.

His appearance on Showbiz & A.G.'s Runaway Slave whet our appetite for what would follow.



Big L never came weak on any track whether his own or a feature. My favorite song from O.C's Jewelz is Dangerous. Can you guess why?




A former work colleague of mine asked to join me on my radio show a while back. The idea was to commemorate Big L's life. I gave him the green light upon hearing Big L from his lips. I remember he brought tracks that I never heard before and Big L was brilliant on all of them. The green light's always been there for you to hear the brilliance from Big L's lips. Thankfully he got to record Lifestylez ov da Poor and Dangerous for us to hear.

History repeated itself because I filled in for WeFunk just before the 2013 holiday season began in November.

To hear what I did as fill-in host, click play on the Cloudcasts below.

DJ Solespin - WeFunk (November 2013) by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

Maceo Parker

Although Prince is not outright a jazz artist, I believe Maceo Parker’s saxophone was more than sufficient to compensate for whatever Prince lacked as far as performing jazz during his epic 2011 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal performance.

When Maceo Parker performed Pass The Peas, my mind went directly to James Brown. 

James Brown produced Parker’s Pass The Peas. Brown was instrumental (no better word) in the foundation of hip hop. 

He influenced Prince as well as Michael Jackson, who too is no longer with us. Seeing and hearing Maceo perform the classic track made my eyes watery. 

Prince was onstage with his mentor’s main man and I was watching two of my own mentors in front of me.

Happy Birthday to Maceo Parker.

Tim Dog

20 years ago on one of my epic New York trips, I bought Tim Dog's Do Or Die cassette on the strength of the I Get Wrecked single with KRS-One.

I also bought it because I didn’t buy his Penicillin on Wax debut. At the time of its release, Tim Dog launched an anti-West Coast hip hop campaign. The targets were a few key NWA members. His initiative was admirable.



Penicillin On Wax is the funniest hip hop record I’ve ever heard. Dog’s Gonna Getcha is simply hilarious. If memory serves correctly, he and the rabid dog in the Step To Me video foam at the mouth.



On the flip side, the album’s production is no laughing matter. The point can be made that there is not one weak beat on the album. The momentum and legend of F*ck Compton might have made people unaware of how sick the album’s production is.



I still don’t own a copy of Penicillin On Wax. 

One for purchase has yet to cross my path after all of these years. I’ll have to take matters, or a laptop, in my hands to make it happen.

Jeru the Damaja

The 1993 single Come Clean was much-needed at the time and what a lot of hip hop fans wished they could have recorded if they were able.

With DJ Premier at the helm of production for his 1994 debut, The Sun Rises In The East, is essential for any self-respecting hip hop fan. 

Anyone that hasn't yet caught the hip hop legend live in concert should do so like I did for his show at Cabaret Underworld.

Please make yourself familiar with the link below for more.

Below are some playlists of podcasts to bring you up to speed.  Click here to download.

The Suite Delight - 2013-03-19 by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

Big L - Lifestylez ov da Poor and Dangerous

I don't need to explain that 1995 was a hot year for hip hop.

The proof lies in a listen to Lifestylez ov da Poor and Dangerous.

I loved hip hop back then and Big L represented what I stood for where hip hop was concerned.

He was a talented East Coast MC that would've only gotten better with time.

He ran out of time years ago and our time with him ended then too. What a loss.

If you haven't already, please make yourself familiar with the link below for more of your favorite show and mine.

http://suitedelight.podomatic.com

Below is the 2013 CKUT Funding Drive podcast to bring you up to speed.  Click here to download it and more.

The Suite Delight - April 8 2014 Playlist:

1. Big L - Put It On feat. Kid Capri
2. Common - Resurrection
3. O.C. - Time's Up
4. Big Pun - Super Lyrical feat. Black Thought
5. 2Pac - Ambitionz of a Ridah
6. Jay-Z - This Can't Be Life feat. Scarface
7. Gang Starr - Just To Get A Rep
8. Nice & Smooth - Early To Rise
9. The Beatnuts - Off The Books
10. Cypress Hill - Hits From The Bong
11. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca & The Soul Brother
12. Black Moon - I Got Cha Opin
13. Smif-N-Wessun - Bucktown
14. Nas - The World Is Yours (Remix)

The Fugees - The Score

One day I was at a no-longer-existing store and saw a copy of The Score.

I bought it, brought it home and played it on my no-longer-existing AIWA stereo system.



I hadn't finished listening to it but made a conference call to some of my friends with the bewilderment of someone that didn't believe what he was doing.  I told them that The Fugees had created a classic album.

They did not believe me because they probably shared my opinion of pre-Score Fugees.

I think they changed their minds somewhere between the second or four million copies sold.

Arsenio Hall

I had known of Arsenio Hall since childhood.  

As a child, variety shows like Solid Gold entertained and amazed me.  Like most children, I wished I was a little bit taller and older when I watched those shows.  I nearly envied adults because they seemed to be in tune with the pop music and culture that I was attempting to grasp and assimilate.

Arsenio Hall was a standup comedian on Solid Gold in the 1980s.  I never really paid much attention to standup comedy outside of the Bill Cosby, Bob Newhart and Eddie Murphy albums I came in contact with as a child. 

Eddie Murphy, as young as he was, was the closest comedian to my generation.  However, there was always the risk of my getting in trouble for possessing, listening to and knowing the contents of his comedy.

Arsenio Hall appeared for mere minutes every weekend and made my family laugh.  My fairy godmother Marilyn McCoo was great too see but I looked forward to his routines more than anything on Solid Gold.  Madame came in third.

Hall would join his friend in Coming To America playing nearly as many characters as the lead actor Eddie Murphy.  I still remember his creepy preacher introducing Sexual Chocolate as I type.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he would establish an empire of his own with The Arsenio Hall Show.  If there was anything “Must See” during his time on television, it was his show.  The show was designed and catered to my demographic at the time.  Regardless of whether the guest was a legend, hot commodity or someone otherwise irrelevant to me, they were cool because they were on The Arsenio Hall Show. 

President Bill Clinton playing the saxophone with the house band of the coolest late-night talk show known to man is easily the most memorable thing about Hall’s show.     

The next memorable thing about Hall’s show was the hip hop musical acts that performed on his stage.  That also includes the historic final salute when his show came to an end.  I had a teenage tantrum when I learned the footage of Gang Starr performing Mass Appeal was recorded over.  I was made to learn whose house I was in when I returned home from school that day.  

I try to make time for Donald Trump’s Apprentice and caught as much of Hall when I could.  I was always happy to hear and see him still in the running.  It is obvious I would have wanted him to win. 

I admire and state Arsenio Hall as influence on my approach to my Suite Delight radio show.  In an odd twist of fate, if I could be blessed to achieve a level of success in league with what Arsenio Hall did with his show, I would be even more blessed to have him as guest. 

De La Soul

In 2008, De La Soul performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

I arrived too late for their Metropolis show for my liking, but seeing those three hip hop icons on the stage NEARLY brought a tear to my eye.

They said they were returning to commemorate the anniversary of 3 Feet High & Rising. I was happy to hear they would be back, but not happy any and every time I've been told what I missed when they came to Montreal in 1993.

They were joined by A Tribe Called Quest and Souls of Mischief and according to who you talk to, it was the best concert Montreal ever had. Considering how much De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest mean to me, I can't believe I missed that show. I guess you can't win or see them all.

 

RIP Trugoy.

Below are two playlists to bring you up to speed.  Click here to download .

The Suite Delight - 2014-05-13 Playlist:

1. Ice Cube - Check Yo Self (Remix) feat. Das-Efx
2. Kurious - Baby Bust It
3. De La Soul - Breakadawn
4. Gang Starr - Code of the Streets
5. Souls of Mischief - That's When Ya Lost
6. Del - Mistadobalina (Remix)
7. Snoop Dogg - Ain't No Fun (If The Homies Can't Have None)
8. Keith Murray - Incredible feat. LL Cool J
9. Jay-Z - (Always Be My) Sunshine featuring Babyface & Foxy Brown
10. Queen Latifah - Latifah's Had It Up 2 Here
11. The Roots - Adrenaline
12. Poor Righteous Teachers - Rock Dis Funky Joint
13. Digable Planets ‎– 9th Wonder (Blackitolism)
14. Camp Lo - Luchini (This Is It)

The Suite Delight - March 4, 2013 Playlist:

1. Kokolo - Soul Power (Lack Of Afro Remix)
2. Kelis - Trick Me
3. Nickodemus – 2 Sips & Magic (Second Sky & Thomas Blondet Remix)
4. The Souljazz Orchestra - Celestial Blues
5. Fabolous - So Into You feat Tamia
6. DJ Honda - When You Hot, You Hot feat. No I.D. & Dug Infinite
7. Fashawn - LIfe As a Shorty
8. Oh No - Beware feat. Cali Agents
9. Brand Nubian - Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down (Remix) Featuring Diamond D
10. Souls of Mischief - Good Feeling
11. De La Soul - Afro Connections At A Hi 5
12. Moka Only & Chief - Crickets
13. Grand Analog - Take It Slow (Spaces & Places)

D’Angelo

Even as I type this post, an early D’Angelo classic was playing on a radio station’s late night soul show.  

Brown Sugar can easily be found on a restaurant table as well as on the sound system.  

In the mid-late 1990s, my focus was hip hop music but I made time and space for R&B.  I saw D’Angelo as another R&B singer but I would learn he had a unique style.  His treatment of Smokey Robinson’s Cruisin’ was particularly special. 

Regardless of which album you prefer or consider his best work, D'Angelo has classic music in his catalog. 

Now is as good a time as any to revisit his discography as we mourn his passing.