Tag Archives: hip hop
To Sample Or Not To Sample??
To sample or not to sample?…… That is the question??
Sampling has long been considered the bedrock of hip hop production. Not to mention an integral part of a lot of dance music, drum & bass, and trip hop.
The vast majority of hip hop classics we love have used samples of other people’s work. Yet it seems there is an ever increasing threat of a lawsuit being brought to an artist that chooses to use samples of other peoples work without clearance. As a result, it is becoming more and more difficult to produce hip hop in this sample based manner.Continue reading
Role Models
“No more role models up in here….” said Skinnyman on his classic song ‘No Big Ting’.
We all have role models whether it’s a parent, a friend we admire ,or a celebrity. But let’s put these people into perspective. They are only human, just like us! We can admire them, but we must realise that they are not us and it is not our job to become them either. They are merely a reflection of the likeable side of ourselves. They show us what we are capable of as human beings and give us an idea of how we can have and do the things they do and have in their lives.Continue reading
Call Yourself A DJ?
In this day and age with music technology being what it is, can you call yourself a DJ when all you do is simply press play?
I found an excellent article written by DJ and producer A-Trak where he talks about the validity of DJs that perform sets by basically pre-recording it, then just pressing play once it gets to the live stage.
I recommend reading the whole article as I think it’s a very fair and well written response to this fairly new phenomenon that is emerging on the DJ scene. You can read it here. With A-Trak being the DJ that he is, he is far more qualified than I am to comment on this subject but I am a DJ myself and I have DJ’d at numerous places for numerous events from clubs to weddings and private parties. I feel the need to comment on this subject because I have worked on both sides of the DJ spectrum as a DJ that strictly used vinyl to a DJ that has just used a computer.Continue reading
Cider Rap!!
Here’s a song titled ‘Cyder Attack‘ a cider rap if you will, combining two of my favourite things cider and rap!
This is actually a song I wrote a long time ago. It certainly isn’t new and is one of the first songs I ever wrote and recorded. I decided to post it here as it is one of the songs I get requested to play most when I’m performing live.
There might be some confusion as to what I mean by cider or ‘cyder‘ as I spell it. I’m sure the majority of people reading this in the UK know what I mean by cider but people in other parts of the world don’t necessarily know it as the messy alcoholic beverage that it is in my country. I’ve heard that cider in America is actually a non-alcoholic beverage and is more like apple juice which sounds ridiculous to me but here we are….Continue reading
Underground Hip Hop and Capitalism
I’ve spent a long time thinking about underground hip hop and capitalism and in particular what my stance is when it comes the capitalism. There seems to be this assumption in underground Hip Hop circles that money and capitalism has somehow killed off the life and soul of Hip Hop. That the ‘Golden Age’ of Hip Hop will never be resurrected because of the desire for big money, in what is perceived a soulless and treacherous industry, where it is all about the dough and nothing to do with the music. I’ve heard numerous people say, ‘It shouldn’t be about the money, it should just be about the music….’Continue reading