Discos que mudaram a minha vida #5



Mos Def . Black On Both Sides
Tracks:
1.Fear Not of Man - 4:28
2.Hip Hop - 3:16
3.Love - 4:23
4.Ms. Fat Booty - 3:43
5.Speed Law - 4:16
6.Do It Now performed by Mos Def / Busta Rhymes - 3:49
7.Got - 3:27
8.Umi Says - 5:10
9.New World Water - 3:11
10.Rock N Roll - 5:02
11.Know That performed by Mos Def / Talib Kweli - 4:03
12.Climb performed by Mos Def / Vinia Mojica - 4:02
13.Brooklyn - 5:09
14.Habitat performed by Mos Def / Q-Tip - 4:39
15.Mr. Nigga - 5:12
16.Mathematics - 4:06
17.May-December - 3:29

Personnel:
Weldon Irvine (Piano, Arranger, Keyboards, Producer, String Arrangements)
The Beatnuts (Producer)
Busta Rhymes (Performer)
Diamond D (Producer)
DJ Premier (Producer)
David Kennedy (Producer, Engineer, Mixing)
Ali Shaheed Muhammad (Producer)
Vinia Mojica (Vocals)
Mathias Q-Tip (Performer)
Mos Def (Bass, Percussion, Conga, Drums, Keyboards, Producer, Vibraphone, Executive Producer)
Talib Kweli (Performer)
88 Keys (Producer)
Etch-A-Sketch (Producer)
Psycho Les (Producer)

Release: 1999

Notes: When Mos Def stepped to the forefront of conscious hip-hop in 1998, little many realize that he'd been lurking in the shadows for several years. He was a member of the short-lived Urban Thermo Dynamics (U.T.D.), and made guest appearances in 1996 on De La Soul’s “Big Brother Beat,” and and The Bush Babees album Gravity. Mos led the charge as independent Rawkus Records started making noise in 1997, with prominent tracks on both the Soundbombing 1 and Lyricist Lounge Vol. 1 compilations. Those records lead to Mos becoming somewhat of a darling of the New York music community, and landed him guest spots with a wide range of artists, from DJ Honda and The Roots to Whale and Scritti Politti. 1998’s Mos Def and Talib Kweli are Black Star truly gave hope to fans in search of new sources of smart hip-hop music. Mos and Kweli, who also released tracks as Reflection Eternal with Mr. Man from The Bush Babees, met in 1995 in the area surrounding New York University, where Kweli was studying experimental theater. In 1999, Mos became the darling of hip-hop’s underground, appearing on tracks from a wide range of artists. Mos’ background in drama has landed him roles in NYPD Blue and a popular VISA commercial, and he has expressed interest in pursuing acting again in the future.
em www.inkblotmagazine.com


Discos que mudaram a minha vida #6



Aesop Rock . Float
Tracks:
1.Float - 1:54
2.Commencement at the Obedience Academy - 3:43
3.Big Bang - 4:59
4.Garbage - 4:01
5.I'll Be Ok performed by Aesop Rock / Slug - 2:59
6.Breakfast With Blockhead - :35
7.Basic Cable - 4:10
8.Fascination - 3:46
9.Oxygen - 5:17
10.Skip Town - 4:21
11.6b Panorama - 2:02
12.Lunch With Blockhead - :20
13.Spare a Match - 4:51
14.Attention Span performed by Aesop Rock / Vast Aire - 3:51
15.How to Be a Carpenter - 4:43
16.Prosperity - 3:56
17.No Splash - 4:02
18.Drawbridge performed by Aesop Rock / Doseone - 4:45
19.Dinner With Blockhead - :46
20.Mayor and the Crook - 4:09

Personnel:
Slug (Vocals)
Aesop Rock (Vocals, Producer)
Doseone (Vocals)
Vast Aire (Vocals)
Blockhead (Producer)
Omega (Producer)

Release: 2000

Notes: "So I heard you all want to float" bellows Aesop Rock, causing the flood gates to burst. Aesop Rock's first full length effort, 'Float', contains twenty tracks of Avenue A hiphop deluge and exemplifies the classic explosiveness of the sub-terra emcee. It is the sound of a new New York underground speaking in full. With pinpoint production handled by Aesop and his main man, Blockhead, 'Float' roars and rushes to the forefront. The release features guest appearances by Vastaire of Cannibal Ox, Slug of Atmosphere, and Doseone of Anticon. Dense in meaning and gorgeous in sound, Aesop holds nothing back creating a work destined to become a landmark. 'Float' is one of the year's most anticipated underground hiphop releases and one that delivers on each and every line.
em www.dirtyloop.com


Discos que mudaram a minha vida #7



Common . Like Water for Chocolate
Tracks:
1.Time Travelin' (A Tribute to Fela) - 6:37
2.Heat - 3:41
3.Cold Blooded performed by Common / Rahzel / Roy Hargrove / Black Thought - 4:58
4.Dooinit - 3:37
5.The Light - 4:21
6.Funky for You - 5:55
7.The Question performed by Common / Mos Def - 4:09
8.Time Travelin' Reprise - 1:33
9.The 6th Sense - 5:19
10.A Film Called (Pimp) performed by Common / Bilal / MC Lyte - 6:05
11.Nag Champa (Afrodisiac for the World) - 5:10
12.Thelonius performed by Common / Slum Village - 4:41
13.Payback Is a Grandmother - 4:30
14.Geto Heaven, Pt. 2 performed by Common / Macy Gray - 5:18
15.A Song for Assata performed by Common / Cee-Lo - 6:48
16.Pops Rap III...All My Children performed by Common / Lonnie "Pops" Lynn - 5:09

Personnel:
MC Lyte (Performer)
Roy Hargrove (Trumpet)
Antonio Hart (Flute)
D'Angelo (Piano, Keyboards, Claves)
DJ Premier (Scratching)
Larry Gold (Composer, Conductor, String Arrangements)
Jef Lee Johnson (Guitar)
James Poyser (Organ, Bass, Keyboards)
Femi Kuti (Vocals)
Vinia Mojica (Vocals)
Jay Dee (Scratching, Cut)
Mos Def (Performer)
?uestlove (Bass, Drums, Executive Producer, Mixing)
Mista Sinista (Scratching)
Macy Gray (Performer)
Slum Village (Performer)
Jill Scott (Vocals)
Richie Goods (Bass)
Bilal Oliver (Vocals)
Cee-Lo (Vocals)

Release: 2000

Notes: Born Lonnie Lynn in the tough-ass Stony Island section of Chicago's South Side, Common Sense sprang up in the early '90s with Can I Borrow A Dollar?, an underachieving melange of styles and producers that somehow managed to show everyone that he had uncommon lyrical abilities. After a short period of foundering, his second album, Resurrection, became one of the great underground rap records of the '90s, an intense but swinging affair of wildly imaginative rapping shot through with introspection. The most-known meta-rap track from that album, "I Used to Love H.E.R.," called gangsta rappers out their name and ignited a feud with Ice Cube that only ended with a mediation session hosted by Louis Farrakhan. After some lame California group claimed their right to his original nom du mic, Mr. Lynn relocated to New York and reappeared as Common for 1997's One Day It'll All Make Sense, a huge-scope album that featured contributions by Lauryn Hill, The Roots, and Erykah Badu. After guesting on most of the good hip-hop albums of the late '90s, Common now busts out with Like Water for Chocolate. He's known for his lyrical flow and his commitment to investigating important issues in his lyrics.
em www.inkblotmagazine.com


Podia falar em Blackalicious, Jurassic 5, Anti-Pop Consortium, Mr.Lif, El-P, Atmosphere, DJ Shadow, Cannibal Ox, Company Flow, MF Doom ou em Talib Kweli.

Ou dos pioneiros Afrika Bambaataa, Sugarhill Gang, Run DMC, EPMD, Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, Gang Starr, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul ou Erik B & Rakim.

Ou mesmo de Missy Elliott, Eminem, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Dr Dre, Outkast, Snoop Doggy Dog, Public Enemy ou Wu-Tang Clan.

Mas não.

Em retrospectiva, foram estes três discos que me fizeram querer descobrir uma cultura inteiramente nova. Feita de mensagens de fúria, indignação e revolta, metralhadas à velocidade da luz, da consciência da importância da palavra e do poder corrosivo de um discurso eficaz, do papel fundamental do beat, do ritmo e do flow, da descoberta de uma herança ignorada, de artistas anónimos - autores de discos desconhecidos e abandonados em sub-caves - em busca da imortalidade de uma batida perfeita ou de um instante precioso que permita suportar o verbo. A partir deste ponto, este vosso amigo encontrou progressivamente um universo de música pulsante e urgente, cujo valor incalculável - feito de diferentes referências, perspectivas, emoções e vontades empreendedoras - nunca termina. Preservando as raízes do passado (jazz, soul, funk, electro, hardcore) com respeito e admiração, homenageando de forma activa as figuras esquecidas desse mesmo passado, ultrapassando as fronteiras da sua própria cultura (ghetto?), incomodando e trucidando os poderes instalados (ver a polémica em redor do recente disco de Danger Mouse) e intervindo de forma política, enquanto constroiem diariamente a história que um dia será contada no futuro. Mesmo a tempo de anunciar com orgulho:
Não estivemos desde o início mas estivemos lá.