King Sterlz ft. Detonate, FaltyDL, Digable Planets, Deda
My man Detonate gave me a shout recently and clued me into his latest production work, with King Sterlz. Even though this track goes beyond the normal boundaries of what gets posted up here, I will always support Nate– who introduced me to Ishkur’s Guide to Electronic Music many, many years back, and with whom I shared many a deep conversation about everything from the music world to the political world over China buffet back in gloomy Pittsburgh. An excellent vinyl-only DJ and turntablist, Nate knows how to make a dancefloor move like few others I know, I can still remember the sweat and steam that would emanate and permeate the air. If this kind of sound is your bag, be sure to keep your eyes and ears on this guy and his crew.
Falling back in-line with the typical H34 sonic aesthetic, FaltyDL’s new album Hardcourage dropped last month, with this stand-out single getting lots of love. You can’t help but feel some of the pure positive energy that comes from a group of old-school roller skaters getting their groove on in Central Park, as depicted in this video. Apparently, the music they actually listen to while grooving during the summer months is really solid– classic house and techno, funk and disco are on-tap according to a friend. I will likely have to go exploring in Central Park for the mystical roller skating house music shindig this summer.
For the second half of today’s post, I want to take it back a decade. Digable Planets are one of those groups all hip-hop heads are aware of, but with only two full-length albums released while they were officially together, it’s easy to overlook the contribution they made to genuinely cool, chilled-out, jazzy, conscious hip-hop. It stands in stark contrast with the sounds of today, like those posted above, but of course, they encapsulate different states of mind. Check out Digable Planets’ 1994 sophomore release, Blowout Comb.
If you want to talk about classics that got slept-on, here’s a track from The Original Baby Pa, a Pete Rock-produced debut for rapper Deda, originally recorded in 1995, but unreleased until 2003. To me, this represents a perfect example of hip-hop’s mid-90’s “golden age” — unique, confident rhymes, content that was not yet completely obsessed with vapid materialistic boasting, filled with personality and character, both down-to-earth and sufficiently detached from reality. I don’t know what ever became of Deda, but I’m glad I got a chance to hear his impeccable flow.
Trackback URL
