Apart from this somewhat lengthy piece back in 2006, I don't write about hip hop here too often. And ever since leaving my perch at MTV News Online in 2007, I have even less reason to write about it. As I pointed out in that older entry, while I do like a lot of hip hop, it's just not a genre that speaks to me in the same way as certain others, even less so these days. For example, I just don't hear what's so exceptional about clowns like this Drake character that people are literally rioting about these days. Seriously, let's raise the bar, shall we? That said, I'm sure there's still some cool stuff going on underground. A colleague of mine recently sent me some tracks by a Omaha rapper named Meatl1p who sounds endearingly unhinged and adventurous.
In any case, there's a rumor going round the campfire (which I picked up by the ever-savvy Tim B.) that eccentric hip hop pioneer, Rammellzee just passed away. I haven't seen any official word on it as yet, but it's sad if so. While I'm not exceptionally versed in his doings, Rammellzee's iconic single with K-Rob, "Beat Bop," has always been a favorite. Infectious, relentless, surreal and hilarious, "Beat Bop" almost singularly encapsulates the adventurous, fuck-the-rules nature of early hip hop. Beyond the intricate wordplay, the track itself is both funky and eerie, retaining that dubby space in the mix that evokes ominous echoes at an inner city playground in the dead of night. By today's standards, it may sound antiquated and almost quaint, but when I was in high school, tracks like this, "White Lines" and pretty much the entirety of Run-DMC's eponymous debut (which played in seemingly never-ending rotation in my high school student commons) could completely stop you in your tracks with that now-rarified "what the hell is this?" quality. Hit play below and see if you agree.
And if it's true, rest in peace, Rammellzee.
wow. this is the first i hear of his death. I shot R's videos of his crazy tranformers/skateboard battles he staged as performance art pieces in the early 90's. he was wack but I got a funny story: we were doing a late night edit at my studio when he got up and left, leaving his wife to stay at the edit session. he hadn't returned by 5am and she was getting worried and decided to goi back home. we found out a couple day later that he had gotten busted at thompkins square park buying dime bags of blow. i still have those hi-8 tapes somewhere, I should dig them up.
check out das racist for some cool new rap, btw.
Posted by: visualmerc | June 30, 2010 at 11:43 AM
R.I.P. R:L:Z.
For those that only ever heard Beat Bop, some more of his cuts here:
http://tinyurl.com/33rvtfw
Posted by: Matt Freidson | July 02, 2010 at 05:30 AM
Cheers, Matt. Thanks for that.
Posted by: Alex in NYC | July 02, 2010 at 06:57 AM