some shine, some spinsSomeone holler at ya boy and tell me which DJ has been playing the Whodini second-wind classic “I’m a Ho” into “Still Tippin”. That genius blend works even better with the remix-remix which provides the quite cut-friendly line
“it's pimpin here, i'm a ho bleeder, jet black fo-fo heater.” Well I might have another nice blend for dem TX tracks. Claiming no DJ status, but I had a ‘vision’ of Paul Wall’s “Sittin Sideways” tumbling keyboard loop getting all Voltron with Dizzee Rascal’s “Do It.” Those tones tumble like an Asian pitched-up pipe version of the slowed down people’s champ run. If that ain’t the same sample…. Well I guess that’s why I ain’t spinnin’ for dough. Of course, others are already brewing the Grime/Screw concoction that is bubbling like some fi-fi delish limey sizzurp.
Mattsoreal hosted the Dizzee / G.R.i.T. Boyz freestyle session providing the first juxtaposition of the UK hyper staccato cutting between the TX laid-back ‘slow-down.’ But of course we’re all waiting for the team-up of Bun-B and the Raskit…
SOHH: One of the illest collabos you did was with the UK emcee Dizzee Rascal. How did that happen?
Bun B: A friend of mine, Matt Sonzala, turned me onto him. I heard a couple of his tracks and it was a different sound, but he's a real emcee and I liked his flow. No matter what different styles the music has, if you're real about emceeing you will always recognize flow. Just like he's in London with the cockney slang and then he's Jamaican as well, but at the same time he was listening to my sh!t and he could feel the vibe. He could understand flow. So when we met we had a mutual respect for each other. We stayed in contact with phone calls and e-mails to make sure that we got together and got a track recorded without leaving it up to the record company or the management.
Bless Bun! This is how we duet!
Always Underground and current cameo King, Bun B has done far less interesting collabos including an odd match-up with Cashmere called ‘The Whole Hood’ (over the ‘Where You At?’ beat). ‘Odd’ shouldn’t be taken as a dis to either MC though. It’s just odd because although Cashmere has dropped quite a few underground joints that deserved more play (The ‘Brooklyn, Where I’m From’ joint being my fave) he’s not bringing enough ‘push’ to the combo that a more established nor'easter would bring. His latest (potential) hit ‘Over’ has been getting some mix show spin over the last few months but one has to wonder if this self-described MC “without a deal” is still just making the rounds with Slay and Enuff or is the multi-artist show at Speed this weekend the sign of signings. The fragmented frantic beat for ‘Over’ is heat and the reworked Doug E./Rick (or is it ‘Sigel / Freeway’ now?) “Rock the Mic” line is addictive but it’s not clear if ‘Over’ describes his underground status with double irony. Cashmere could never claim NYC UGK status because the field has just been too crowded and, unfortunately, underwhelming. I’m loving the fact that Papoose is crossing over with some socially relevant stuff on ‘Monopoly’ and ‘Charades’ but do I really expect him to be TONY?
Another NY/YO UGK contender (I suppose Jadakiss and Paul Wall are division champs), J Hood, has been kicking it steadily with D-Block and he’s still looking for that breakthrough hit. His addictive ‘Like This’ should have been banging dance-floors and car systems but somehow the ‘Peer Pressure’ mixtape didn’t get
the buzz that Supa Mario’s latest will get. The ‘Like This’ booming reverb overwhelms the MP3 file but the crispy click-clacks come through with the synthy-string runs. J-Hood brings his restrained delivery well and seems to be comfortable giving dance-floor instructions (“shake ya hips… do it like this”). He spells out his name like the OGK Jay-Z “H to the Izzo, Izzo to the Dizzee” inspiring another vision of the UK Rascal on THIS minimal beat...
Another long-time underground buzz bringer Jae Millz connects with Diddy’s latest ‘NY street MC project’ Aasim for ‘God with the Flow’ from Aasim’s mixtape from some months back. Although Millz holds down three verses over the dramatic strings (that sound like a Beatles’ ‘Long and Winding Road’ vocal) Aasim slashes ‘em “faster than Mexicans” with his flow hitting multiple vowel rhymes reminiscent of Eminem and Big Pun (who allegedly, and believably, planned on working with Aasim). His combination of street and (the dreaded) ‘positivity’ works well on many other cuts but, as usual, 'flow' takes the cake. Will Diddy have the vision to mix up Aasim’s fast flow with his new southern supergroup Boyz N Da Hood? The multiple Aas syllables cutting between Jeezy’s crawling drawl... could be as interesting as… I don’t know… a Dizzee Rascal and Bun B collabo?
Whodini - I’m a Ho
Dizzee Rascal - Do It
Paul Wall f. Big Pokey - Sittin' Sideways
Bun-B and Cashmere – Whole Hood
Cashmere - Over
J Hood – Like This
Aasim and Jae Millz – God With The Flow
