art by waɪ.ti

Rap music is better when the economy is in terrible shape. At the moment, the US economy is in the toilet. Questlove had a theory on general social depression/economic mess and great rap music/black art –

My theory is that nine times out of ten, if there’s a depression, more a social depression than anything, it brings out the best art in black people. The best example is, Reagan and Bush gave us the best years of hiphop. I think had Carter and then Mondale won, or if Jesse [Jackson] were President from ’84 to ’88, hiphop wouldn’t have been the same. Hiphop wouldn’t have existed. I think you would have more black Tom Waitses. Marsalis would be goin double platinum. There would be more black Joni Mitchells. [Gets impish grin.] The Roots would sell ten million.

The quote above is from an interview he did in 2003, and since then his band released two politically charged albums, Game Theory and Rising Down.  Obviously, Questo’s point is multi-layered and nuanced, and I’m not completely sure how strong his theory holds in the post-Bush and Obama era, with our Soulja Boy and ringtone rap phenomenon and recent technological advances.

I have gathered a series of tracks, recession rap jams that have been cropping up as the economy continue its decline.  For the next two weeks, I will be posting individual rap jams addressing the global economic crisis from realistic, pragmatic, and amusing levels, along with a brief description. The vast majority of the tracks came from blogs like BLVD ST, Nah Right, 2dopeboyz, and cocaine blunts, and a few from CDs and other sources.

So get ready – those of us with non-recession-proof pockets, those of us who have been living in an economic recession all our lives – Recession Rap Jams!

[audio:http://nyc.duttyartz.com/mp3s/YoungJeezy-Circulate.mp3]

Young Jeezy – Circulate

Hate to have to be the one that said I told you
Lord knows I can’t wait until this recession’s over
Gas higher than me, shit, I’m tryin to see
And whereever that they at that’s where I’m tryin to be
It was all good a week ago, Young, the big tipper
Grind it all, we can throw it all at the strippers
Got me looking at my stash, like where the fuck the rest at
Looking at my watch like its a bad investment
Speakin of investmens, we talking investments
My Re-Up money, Yeah im tryna invest it
Sell a nigga dream, Man tellin me its up
His folks got him on hold, still ain’t heard nothing

Sound like the countrys going broke
The industrys going up in smoke
Politicians talking crazy
Or they just bein to lazy
Is it all because of Watergate?

As far as I can tell, Young Jeezy forsaw the seriousness of the current global economic struggle in early 2008 and titled his album The Recession, probably the best mainstream rap release of last year— mainly because it features actual rapping. On “Circulate”, Jeezy and producer Don Cannon rework a Billy Paul/soul track from the 1970s dealing with issues ranging from the financial crisis, govt overspending, and stock market crash to unemployment, price of food and gas, and  environmental degradation.


My man Chief Boima did a nice little African House mix. If you’re in San Francisco be sure to check him out at his new monthly party, The High Life.

Afrocan House Mix – Chief Boima

Tracklisting:

1. Fuego-Dejalo Caer
2. Dj Furreta-Minha Mangole
3. Unathi-U R Devine
4. DJ Damost-Wa Ku Kuluka feat. Mr. Dino
5. DJ Jesus-The Thanks
6. Bob Sinclair-The Love Generation
7. Dj Furreta-Ola La Yeah
8. Dj Joca-Djokidos
9. Dj Cleo-Gabz to Mbabane w/Brickz
10. Black Runner-Pump It Up
11. Magic System-Zouglou Dance
12. Dj Killer-Revolucionário
13. Murder Cat-Blam Blam
14. Enur-Calabria Riddim
15. Ding Dong-Go Away
16. ?-?
17. Goapele-Closer (Remix)

Last night, at the Noble Society show I ran into a bredren I recorded for some grime dubs with and hosted at a couple shows a few years back. Melodic is one of those deejay/MC’s you have to respect for their hustle. Shortly after I met him I noticed how hard his myspace and performance game were and he’s consistantly come up on the radar at shows around the city. His reggae dips are in the vein of the hip hop-reggae hybrid that Noble Society is laying down.

Shortly after our dubs were recorded I came across a tune he did with Digital Primate, an australian producer I rate for his digi-ragga innovations and low ends. I found a blog post about Digital Primate here that does a better job on a bio and the tune he did with Melodic and Mark Shine here… On the Radio.

This is the video for Melodic’s new single ride one which I would like to submit under Lamin’s recession rap draft picks.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vCEDWXXSrc[/youtube]

We’ve got a lot to give thanks for this week. The addition of Archer ‘Babytek’ Schell to the DA Fam. The forth coming family reunion this friday in Bed Stuy. and this….

Jahdan’s band Noble Society, winners of the I-tunes Reggae Album of the year are taking time off the grind to celebrate the release of their second full length, Take Charge.

OKAYPLAYER.COM had this to say…

“Noble Society is not your weed head uncle’s reggae band. Fronted by former Boot Camp Click affiliate, Jahdan, this Brooklyn outfit eschews the open, organic grooves of traditional roots music. Their ambitious debut, Take Charge is winter time reggae, world music for the new world order; a juxtaposition of the social and spiritual ruminations of vintage island music, the cold, claustrophobia of modern electronica, and the aggressive percussion of hip hop. When everything clicks, the urgency of the production adds heft to the fiery content that is characteristic of the genre, but often muted by the mellow bounce of the soundscapes. “

Just yesterday Shadetek & I were wondering about the sample Conquest uses in “Forever”. Veiled Gazette points out this post, which locates the source sample for that, as well as a few other dubsteppey tunes from Burial (Sizzla!), etc.

The roaring crowd noise made it obvious that Conquest sampled a live show — Jamaican soundclash/gig footage has provided a notorious wealth of samples and entire acappellas for the last 15 years or more. Turns out that it was Barrington Levy, riffing slack on the ‘Here I Come’ riddim!

clip

and Conquest’s version

This Friday, the Dutty Artz crew is servin Brooklyn all u can eat bass to ya face from an underground bunker just below the earth’s surface.

Our tropicaliente beats and bassline party, New York Tropical, is back with resident dj’s Geko Jones, Matt Shadetek and DJ/ Rupture. This time around, live and inside the place we’ll be joined by Brooklyn’s hometown heroines Bunny Rabbit.  This is your last chance to chance to check Bunny out before they head to Eastern Europe to spread their Cult of Miracles gospel in March.

NEW YORK TROPICAL 3: OUT N’ BAD
FEB 20th @ Kodeez
834 Myrtle Ave @ Marcy (G Train to Myrtle-Willoughby)

$3 PBR, $4 Mixed Drinks, $4 Wine
$2 Hotdogs, $3 Hamburgers, $4 Cheeseburgers
!0pm – $10
Reduced $8 dollar before 11pm

This location is RIGHT IN FRONT of the G Train (literally!)
Don’t hate on the G, it’s 25 minutes or less from Union Sq!

Bunny gets the party hoppin…

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQXKs6BJQ_M[/youtube]

This Serani song is really great, love the combination of reggae/dancehall vibes.   Daseca strikes again on the riddim.  Serani is actually a producer in the Daseca crew who has recently broken out as an artist.  The vocal tone on the hook is beautiful.  This song has already broken into the hiphop/r+b mix on Hot97 in NYC (where I heard Funk Flex playing it while I was washing the dishes) which suggest that you’ll all be hearing a lot more of it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiuCqZuhu4o[/youtube]

archie!

I’ve gone quiet for a minute because I just had a son.  This is a photo of little Archie a few minutes after being born 4:37 AM 02/06/09, looking at the world.  He shares a birthday with Robert Nesta Marley and is an Aquarius.  One of the interesting new questions of being a parent is trying to get a full nights sleep (impossible, but one tries).  Being a musician, I’ve been doing some research on the internet about lullabys.  My lady Karla has been reporting Archie’s reaction to my different songs as I work on them while he was still in utero (mainly punching and kicking when the bass would come on) and this got me thinking about trying to compose some music for baby.  So I started by doing some research.  Google threw up some interesting stuff, I had no idea that you could buy washing machine, vacuum cleaner and hair drier sounds on CD.  I settled on this one, free via babysleepnoise.com.

Baby Sleep Noise Combined Mix (15 min version, also available in 60 minute mix)

[audio:http://babysleepnoise.com/7gpNKMGR/audio/babysleepmix15.mp3]

To me it sounds like Rhythm and Sound, and yes, it is pretty peaceful to listen to.  It sounds like it’s composed of a fetal heartbeat mixed with several different kinds of noise, including hair drier, car on freeway, and white noise.  All of these can be found separately in files of different lengths, here.  It seems to work, although not when he’s hungry.  I wonder, is this why we like Rhythm and Sound so much?  Because it sounds like a heartbeat with a hair drier or an electric fan mixed with some nice reggae chord stabs?  Because it reminds us of our first 9 months breathing water and listening to our mother’s muffled heartbeat?  I know that Moritz has kids so perhaps this is the secret to their success.  Actually I am gonna go find my R+S CD to try on Archie tonight.  More research is definitely needed.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RskJZOoY34[/youtube]

update:  I tried it with this youtube clip, he likes it.  I need to get him some little speakers that play bass for his crib.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwGFPgQIQ9E[/youtube]Even when the music is terrible, the dancers are always incredible.  You can always bet on dancers from the DRC.

African music/video lovers rejoice, and thank idamawatu for putting up thousands of African music videos and categorized by country.

final_feb20thc.jpg

NEW YORK TROPICAL: OUT & BAD. friday feb 20th.

Bunny Rabbit, DJ /rupture, and Gekos Jones. holding it down at some Greenpoint basement, where we’ll bring Grimm’s reggae bassbins to up the bump. como si fuera un house party!

@ kodeez 834 myrtle. G train to myrtle. $10. cheap drinks.

+ + +

I may play this song

[audio:Schlachthofbronx-We_Nah_Fraid_Baby_Cham_Demarco.mp3]

Schlachthofbronx – We Nah Fraid (Baby Cham & Demarco)

and maybe this one

[audio:Madera Limpia_la lenta_schlachthofbronx_remix.mp3]

Madera Limpia – La Lenta (Schlachtofbronx remix)

Geko Jones tipped me off to the above Bavarian heat a few months back, so who knows what he’ll have by now.

Bunny Rabbit and the Cult of Miracles are bringing “a drum kit”.

THIS IS REAL BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IT IS, they say.

real1

hivipmix2

at this point, when Spoek sends stuff, we blog/listen/spread the HIVIP immediate. no time to waste when it’s “dark township tech house sothocore new wave zulu funky. It’s the kind of cold that cuts to the bone. that king of gold. Inspired by the four cold ass weeks in europe on tour. Gun finger in mittens anyone??”

[audio:https://duttyartz.com/mp3/H.I.V.I.P – POST COITAL DEPRESSION.mp3]

Spoek Mathamobo – H.I.V.I.P. 2: Post Coital Depression mix [or: zshare]

(i am particularly feeling the cold ass weeks in europe thang, as Sweat X and I have been missing each other in Eurolandia — which, although it isn’t colder than New York, there’s something about traveling in this weather and not being home that makes that chill cut all the deeper. But- warm hospitality abounds, shout 2 Vince & Nowarian & Roland & Feelipa & Andreja & Leila)

[audio:http://nyc.duttyartz.com/mp3s/ZRo-25Lighters.mp3]

Z-Ro – 25 Lighters

an epic screwed freestyle joint from another overlooked Southside rapper, Z-Ro. This is from Crack, an album which finds the much loved and respected Southern rapper in usual low spirits exploring themes such as isolation (there’s something about Z-Ro’s loner persona, being from the lone star state, lone star state of mind?), crime, fake friends, and selfish women with a few bright, joyful moments—but it seems overall, still uncompromisingly gloomy like much of his previous works.