Marley Marl

I think Marley Marl is the most important producer in hip hop history.
 
The man produced and remixed some of hip hop's greatest music for over a decade. From 1986-1996 especially, his music had a strong impact on me and others of my generation.

Not only was he a producer, his Marley Marl In Control radio show was groundbreaking too. I wish I lived in New York during those crucial years of golden era hip hop. Those like me who would scramble to bring back home audio cassettes filled with New York hip hop radio programming would only get a fraction of the flavor. Imagine being in New York listening to In Control and hearing Roxanne Shante Live on Stage live on air before Bad Sister was to drop. What would you do to hear Master Ace freestyle or talk about the Biz puppet before Take A Look Around was on the racks? The closest you can get to those moments is buying the Cold Chillin' reissues to hear rare remixes and live radio performances.

No disrespect to Master Ace but Marley Marl is the music man to me. He took hip hop production to another level during the late 80s and paved the way for others to follow or build upon. 

Marley Marl was a mentor to Pete Rock and me too. I may never produce classic beats like Marley or Pete but I aim to be involved with timeless music any chance I get. Not only do I play his classic works on Suite Delight but I honor his In Control radio show legacy by using it as my standard of excellence. 

I would've listed what I thought to be 5 definitive Marley Marl tracks but I'm not going to do that. How can I choose a handful of songs he produced when the ALBUMS he produced pack more classics than most artists have to their name? 

 

Biz Markie's Goin' Off, Big Daddy Kane's Long Live The Kane, MC Shan’s Down by Law and his In Control Vol. 1 are pillars in my generation's hip hop collections. If any of those titles are foreign, bone up on them and anything else he worked on. You'll probably know why some of us feel the way we do about the current state of hip hop, realize they don't make hip hop records like those anymore and understand why I'm writing about Marley now.

Whether behind the boards, on wax or radio, Marley Marl will always be in control me. I'm just thankful I grew up with his music and for his contribution to hip hop.

The Suite Delight new time slot is Tuesday morning 1-2am EST on www.ckut.ca & 90.3 FM.

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 are some podcasts to bring you up to speed.  Click here to download them and more.

The Suite Delight - December 10, 2013 (2):

1. Souls of Mischief - 93 'til Infinity
2. Ghostface Killah - Flowers featuring Raekwon, Method Man & Superb
3. Three Times Dope - I Got It
4. Marley Marl - The Rebel feat. Tragedy
5. Cale Sampson - Reach Up
6. Diamond And The Psychotic Neurotics - Best Kept Secret (The 45 King Remix)
7. Danger Mouse & Jemini - Omega Supreme
8. Too Short - Buy You Some featuring Erick Sermon, MC Breed & Kool-Ace
9. Saukrates - Say I
10. SepTO - In This Town feat. Dan-E-O & Grimace Love
11. Drake - Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music 2

The Suite Delight - December 10, 2013:

1. Reflection Eternal - Just Begun (Ft. Jay Electronica, J Cole & Mos Def) 
2. Stik Figa - From the Top 
3. Gangrene and Roc Marciano - Momma Told Me 
4. ELMNT - Tesla's Son 
5. Marley Marl - What Ruling Means featuring Kev Brown & Grap Luva
6. Gang Starr - Code Of The Streets (Kenny Dope Mix)
7. Common Sense - Soul By The Pound (Thump Mix) 
8. Blame One & Exile - Disturbed feat. Sean Price 
9. The Extremities - Just The Day feat. Relic & Saukrates 
10. Simahlak - Under Pressure feat. Theo3
11. Black Sheep - Butt… In The Meantime (The Nostrand Ave Rastafarian Mix)
12. Ultramagnetic MC's - One, Two, One, Two
13. Ultramagnetic MC's - Two Brothers With Checks (San Francisco, Harvey)

10 Best Female MCs

The Women & Hip Hop Conference held in Montreal got me to thinking about the state of hip hop and female MCs on a whole.

For a few years, it appeared that the female MC is rare like an endangered species. In some ways, they might be.

There is the issue of there being too few to listen to today. If and when I take notice of a female MC, I treasure them like a worker for wildlife preservation.

My enjoyment for female MCs is two-fold. As it should be clear through multiple posts, I love female vocalists. Their voices are pleasing to my ears. If a lady is lyrical, I’m in even more bliss.

From my days of discovering hip hop in the late 1980s to not caring much about it now, I am nostalgic and reflective and decided on finding out just who have been my favorite ladies on the microphone.

Below are the female MCs I consider to be the 10 Female MCs that I've been blessed to have heard.

MC Lyte 

The Lady of Rage 

  Lauryn Hill 

Tiye Phoenix 

 Shawnna 

Queen Latifah

 Rah Digga 

Missy Elliott 

Jean Grae

 Salt-N-Pepa

 

I dedicated one of my former radio show playlists to female MCs of the 1990s glory days of hip hop.

Please make yourself familiar with below to bring you up to speed.

Visit the Mixcloud page to listen and the Podomatic site to download.

The Suite Delight - 2014-09-09 by Dj Solespin on Mixcloud

The Suite Delight - 2014-09-09 Playlist:

1. Nikki D - Lettin' Off Steam
2. Michie Mee & L.A. Luv - Jamaican Funk
3. Roxanne Shanté - Have A Nice Day
4. Salt-N-Pepa - Tramp
5. The Fugees - Ready Or Not (Salaam's Ready For The Show Remix) 
6. Bahamadia - 3 Tha Hard Way
7. Gang Starr - You Know My Steez (3 Men And A Lady Remix) feat Kurupt & The Lady of Rage 
8. Flipmode Squad – We Got Cha Opin (Part 2)
9. LL Cool J - I Shot Ya (Remix) feat Prodigy, Foxy Brown, Fat Joe & Keith Murray 
10. Queen Latifah - Inside Out
11. Sweet Tee & Jazzy Joyce - It's My Beat
12. MC Lyte - I Cram 2 Understand U