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In just over thirty years Hip Hop has established global influence. Creativity and passion for hip hop comes out though a rich variety of means of expression. This makes capturing it on film all the more difficult. Here is a selection of the best hip hop films, in no particular order.

Style Wars

Director: Tony Silver
Released: 1983
The most essential of the early hip-hop documentaries, up there with Wildstyle, it exposes the weird and wonderful world of graffiti, a culture burgeoning in New York with fresh art and an underground dialogue centred on notions of originality versus biting. The fascination here comes from the colourful characters such as Cap, who defies the etiquette destroying the “burners” of his rivals by “going over”. An iconic slice of budget b-boy cinema.
Watch it Now

Best This – a Hip-Hop history

Director: Dick Fontaine
Released: 1984
Causing thousands of kids to body pop in the playground an inspiring a whole generation of artists and producers, this was primetime TV at its best. Gary Byrd’s commentary is inoffensive, Bam’s primitive sci-fi vision still engages but it’s the endearing image of Kool DJ herc driving around the Bronx complete with towering soundsystem speakers that lingers. And yes Malcolm McClaren is very annoying.
Watch it Now

Biggie and Tupac

Director: Nick Broomfield
Released: 2002
Beef has long been a staple of the hip-hop diet, but no rap rivalry has got so dark and surrounded by conspiracy theory as that of Tupac and Biggie. nick Broomfield goes straight to the heart of the matter: visiting LA’s roughest hoods, interviewing Biggie’s mum, and even tracking down the infamous Suge Knight in prison.
Watch it Now

Fade To Black

Director: Patrick Paulson & Michael John Warren
Released: 2004
A master at the game on the top of his game. From incredible studio scenes shopping for beats at hip-hops top table with Kanye, Pharrell and Timerberland to running the stage of a capacity Madison Square Garden with The Roots, Mary J, Ghostface & Foxy, Jay-Z is flawless and always the brightest star on screen.
Watch the Trailer

New York 77 – the coolest year in hell

Director:
Released: 2004
The year was 1977. New York City had fallen into decay and chaos. Yet from the chaos sprang one of the most creative times any city ever encountered. Hip-hop was emerging from the South Bronx, punk music was emerging from the Lower East Side, and disco was emerging from Queens and midtown Manhattan.
Watch Now (USA only)
Watch an Excerpt

80 Blocks from Tiffanys

Director: Gary Weiss
Released: 1979
A solid documentary covering some of the most notorious street gangs in the South Bronx before they faded away and Hip Hop took over. After peering into this looking glass you will be glad that Hip Hop is here to stay.
Watch it Now

Wild Style

Director: Charlie Ahearn
Released: 1983
Legendary New York graffiti artist Lee Quinones plays the part of Zoro, the city’s hottest and most elusive graffiti writer. The actual story of the movie concerns the tension between Zoro’s passion for his art and his personal life, particularly his strained relationship with fellow artist Rose. But this isn’t why one watches Wild Style – this movie is *the* classic hip-hop flick, with a massive cult following and a 25th anniversary reissue to boot.
Official Site

Scratch

Director: Doug Pray
Released: 2002
A lesson in hip-hop history, Scratch is an astonishing view at the ever evolving form of turntable manipulation. Interviews with Africa Bambaataa and Kool DJ Herc explain the fundamental role of the DJ while turntablists such as Qbert and Mix Master Mike show off their tricks. Educational and entertaining for the heads but not overly nerdy.
Watch it Now

Keepintime

Director: B+
Released: 2004
What happens when you put a bunch of classic funk drummers and super skilled break juggling DJs in the same room? B+’s film shows us that music is a universal language and that ultimately the generation gap closes quickly when funky jam session is on the go. A must for the footage of Axelrod’s drum beater Earl Palmer, who has since passed away.
Watch the Trailer

The Freshest Kids – The history of the B-Boy

Director: Israel
Released: 2002
This lively documentary isn’t about hip-hop or hip-hop culture as much as about an integral part of that culture. The narrative traces their evolution from the South Bronx 1970s to media-crazed 1980s to today, as the phenomenon has returned to the underground while remaining as popular as ever (as exemplified by footage from Germany, Japan, etc.). The old and new school are on hand to explain and to praise the b-boy; everyone from rappers like KRS-One and Mos Def to breakers like Crazy Legs and Ken Swift.
Watch it Now

Freestyle – The Art of Rhyme

Director: Kevin Fitzgerald
Released: 2005
This captures the electrifying energy of improvisational hip-hop, the rarely recorded art form of rhyming spontaneously. Like preachers and jazz solos, freestyles exist only in the moment, a modern-day incarnation of the African-American storytelling tradition. Shot over a period of more than seven years, the film systematically debunks the false image put out by record companies that hip-hop culture is violent or money-obsessed. Instead, it lets real hip-hop artists, known and unknown, weave their own story.
Watch it Now

Rhyme & Reason

Director: Peter Spirer
Released: 1997
Suggested By: Jay Ru
This documentary explores the history of hip hop culture, how rap evolved to become a major cultural voice (and a multi-billion dollar industry), and what the artists have to say about the music’s often controversial images and reputation. Interview subjects range from veteran old-school rappers, such as Kurtis Blow, KRS-One and Chuck D, to gangsta rap icons Ice-T, Dr. Dre, and MC Eiht, to several current rap hitmakers, including Wu-Tang Clan, The Fugees, and Sean “Puffy” Combs.
Watch it Now

Note
Props due to Shook Magazine for some extracts featured above.

The Rub consist of Cosmo Baker, Dj Ayers & Dj Eleven

The Rub have finally finished the History of Hip-Hop series! 1979 – 2009 featuring all your favorite hip hop cuts and rap records. All mixes are downloadable, tracklists are available and are pretty dope! Check out the Golden era in particular – 1980 right through to the end of the 90′s for a trip down memory lane. Also check out the interview with the crew involved in this project below who consist of Cosmo Baker, Dj Ayers and Dj Eleven – pretty tight crew!

The Rub Interview on Brooklyn Radio

The Rub History of Hip-Hop Mixes, 1979-1989

The Rub History of Hip-Hop Mixes, 1990-1999

The Rub History of Hip-Hop Mixes, 2000-2009

Doom plays the Button Factory on October 12th 2010

The extraordinarily talented and prolific Daniel Dumile pka Zev Love X and nka Doom has finally announced an Irish date on his forthcoming European tour in October. Tickets will go on sale with ticketmaster.ie and tickets.ie on Thursday 12th August. Full event details are here so spread the word and get the gang together, this should be a memorable night by all accounts. And before you ask, yes it will be the real Daniel Dumile appearing

Some Classic Doom vids here

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And let’s not forget his early 1990s work in KMD

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Ricky Powell - Rappin With Rickster

Heads up on this forthcoming DVD release ‘Rappin With The Rickster’.  Started way back in August 1990 by Rickey Powell, a man many refer to as the ‘fourth Beastie Boy’, he is also one of Hip Hops most famous photographers. Ricky is releasing this DVD as a compilation of his finest moments from the show. Check out the trailer below!

Here’s an article we wrote about Ricky for the site when we had him over earlier this year to present his work before an Edan show…

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Big City Records, Manhattan, NYC

Mark B. interviews some of the stalwarts of the NYC Hip Hop community back in 2002 for a radio documentary.

Sampling and Hip Hop go hand in hand – classic breakbeats, holy grail samples, vocal snippets, library records, brazilian records the list goes on and in tandem with this is the  list of producers/djs/mcs that have made an impact on Hip Hop & Pop music over the last two decades using this method of music making.

Showbiz, Dr. Dre, Buckwild, BeatNuts,  Marley Marl, DJ Premier, Easy Moe Bee, Prince Paul, Q-Tip, Dilla, Madlib & Co.  have all used sampling as the special ingredient and backbone to separate their sound from the rest but it also implies a deep understanding and appreciation of digging as part of their creative process.

Then there are the likes of David Holmes, Massive Attack, The Prodigy et al who use the same principles for sampling but their music usurps the average Hip Hop listener and brings sampling to a much larger audience, whether the audience realize it or not.

In the late 1980s breaks, chops and loops were lifted straight off the record with little or no treatment but ever since the Gilbert O Sullivan v Biz Markie episode the likes of DJ Premier began to chop up a sample a bit more, replay it, compress it, pitch it up etc.. (remember his work on Full Clip/Impeach The President – dope!)  so it was almost impossible to recognise the sample unless you were in the know or  had a great ear through already being a DJ or producer.

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In short, there is nothing quite like an old sample being lifted out of its original recording context and made relevant to the sound of today or a period long after it was originally recorded.

If you have a few minutes to spare listen to this excellent time capsule with New York’s  fraternity of dj/producers/vinyl dealers talking to fellow producer Mark B. from his Black Market Breaks series.

Just in case anyone forgot, the 90s were an incredible decade for hiphop. Over the next while we’re going to dissect 10 hiphop albums released during that period and wax a little about the original tunes that were sampled so beautifully for these seminal classics.  So read on for Part 1 of our ‘Each One Teach One’ series of articles…

Black Sheep debuted in 1991 and was composed of Andres “Dres” Titus and William “Mista Lawnge” McLean. The pair are native New Yorkers but met as teenagers in North Carolina, where both of their families relocated. The group was an affiliate of the Native Tongues, which included the Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul. “Flavor of the Month” was their first single and shortly after the group released their first album “A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” which we have tried to deconstruct as best we can here.

Black Sheep gained popularity very quickly, most notably because of their fresh approach to production; the duo were always digging deeper than most to find original sample material and layering great flows (and at times remarkebly lucid lyrics) over the beats they produced.  As with most hiphop groups (and their debut releases) of the time, there’s a curious contradiction throughout this album.  On the one hand you have clever piss-takes of gangsta rap (which was a relatively new form of hiphop at the time), righteous afrocentric viewpoints and a very broad and mature appreciation of music displayed in the sample fodder used to construct the album.  On the other hand you have dick jokes, fuck-you anthems and some of the most overt (and quite frankly hilarious) misogyny ever put down on record.  As Hip-Hop albums go, this one’s perfect.

As the first album to get broken down in our Each One Teach One series what we’re aiming for here is  to turn you on to this great album if you happened to miss it first time round, never heard of it or just plain forgot about it and of course turn you on to the amazing records sampled by Black Sheep when they were making A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing.

The podcast of all the tunes is below so you can download that and listen at your leisure or just hit play on the individual tracks to hear what we’re talking about.

Download the Mix

Black Sheep – Each One Teach One Part 1 by ChoiceCuts

Each One Teach One Playlist

Butt In The Mean Time

Original recording artist: Paul Butterfield
Sample taken from: ‘I Don’t Want To Go’
Appears on: Put It In Your Ear LP
Released by: Bearsville 1975

Paul Butterfield was a Chicago-born blues musician. As a teenager Butterfield started hanging around black blues musicians such as Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter and Otis Rush. Butterfield and his college buddy Elvin Bishop soon formed a band with Jerome Arnold and Sam Lay (both members of Howlin’ Wolf’s band). In 1963 the racially-mixed ensemble was a unqiue fixture at the famous venue “Big John’s”, a folk music club in the Old Town district on Chicago’s north side.  Having established himself as a top class harmonica player and blues guitarist he went on to play with various blues groups of the time, most notably The Band (whom he performed with at thir farewall show The Last Waltz).  This album is Paul Butterfield at his best.  The hook sampled on this track is instantly recognisable and indeed the album itself contains plenty of licks and breaks that we’re surprised weren’t pillaged for other cuts on the Black Sheep album.

Strobelite Honey

Original recording artist: Young and Company
Sample taken from: ‘I Like (What You’re Doing To Me)’
Appears on: Single 12″
Released by: Brunswick 1980

Young & Company consisted of three brother and three friends who formed the group in 1979.  The band’s biggest hit was this track “I Like (What You’re Doing To Me)” and again it’s the first 10 seconds of this track that punctuates “Strobelite Honey” with it’s unique sound.  The placement of the sample throughout the song and in key with the various other hooks and drums resulted in Strobelite Honey becoming a favourite cut from the album.  Keep an ear out for the other main sample in this tune taken from S.O.S Band’s hit single “Take Your Time, Do It Right”.  Strobelite Honey is probably the best example of how Black Sheep were able to take two straight up 4 bar loops and stick them together with very little chopping to the original sample to create something new.  Sometimes straight to the point is best.

To Whom It May Concern

Original recording artist: Gary Bartz
Sample taken from: ‘Celestial Blues’
Appears on: Harlem Bush Music LP
Released by: Milestone 1970

Gary Bartz is an incredible musican having played with Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Max Roach and Jackie McLean.  He now teaches at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music when not on the road and is still an active Saxophinist.  With Ron Carter on bass and an infectious Alto Sax playing throughout this song in unison with the vocal this was bound to be sampled at some stage and indeed it’s found it’s way onto many HipHop album’s since A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing.  As far as we know, Black Sheep were the first to sample Celestial Blues on a  major label release.  The sample itself is the perfect backdrop for Black Sheep’s style of rhyming, most notably Mistah Lawnge’s laconic and drawn out style.

Similak Child (Intro sample)

Original recording artist: Jefferson Airplane
Sample taken from: ‘Today’
Appears on: Surrealistic Pillow LP
Released by: RCA 1966

In the context of Similak Child people always seem to mix up  this version of ‘Today’ (the original version) with the classic Tom Scott version off  The Honeysuckle Breeze LP.  Most of you will know Tom Scott’s version as it’s got that insanely good sax break that Pete Rock sampled for They Reminisce Over You off the Mecca and the Soul Brother LP (also released in 1991).  But Black Sheep went to source for the sample for our favourite track off the Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing LP.  Similak Child is the only track where we have mentioned two songs used to construct the track. The juxtoposition of a white 1960s psychrock band with one of America’s most popular black jazz pianists is just too beautiful to ignore.  Jefferson Airplane sets the mood but Ramsey brings the tone. As for the barking dogs at the beggining of Similak Child?  Well, that’s hiphop production at it’s finest…

Similak Child (Main hook)

Original recording artist: Ramsey Lewis
Sample taken from: ‘Les Fleur’
Appears on: Maiden Voyage LP
Released by: Cadet 1968

This track is powerful.  Ramsey’s incredible piano speaks for itself; the strings are ever present but coupled with the soulful-by-the-bowlful vocals you would think there’s very little room to build upon a sample taken from the introduction of the song.  What’s amazing is Jefferson Airplane fits perfectly (see above) – yet another happy co-incidence in the world of sample-based production.   The sequencing of these two tracks together is one of those things you would expect was an accident in the studio, a record played while digging through loops on vinyl while one or the other of the samples we’re discussing here was on loop.  However it happened it works beautifully and both of these songs are just as infectious on their own as when they’re together.

Try Counting Sheep

Original recording artist: Jimi Hendrix
Sample taken from: ‘Got To Have It’
Appears on: Second Time Around LP
Released by: Astan 1979 (German Pressing)

Nothing more needs to be said about Jimi here.  A true master and nobody doubts it.  This is an interesting track though.  Around the time we got our hands on A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing we also got hold of Beastie Boy’s Check Your Head. This was very many years pre-ChoiceCuts and we were  just freshly into our teen years if memory serves.  The first track off Check Your Head and Try Counting Sheep sampled ‘Got To Have It’.  It was hearing two hiphop groups coming out with songs very different to each other but yet built on something entirely the same that began the fascination with sampling and more importantly with what was being sampled.   The realisation that HipHop music was borne of something else and that a legacy and heritage of soul and funk was awaiting discovery just below the surface was the seed that kept us out of pocket and in records.  The story continues…

Flavour Of The Month

Original recording artist: Bubble Gum Machine
Sample taken from: ‘I Wonder’
Appears on: The Bubble Gum Machine LP
Released by: Senate 1967

Psycherock doesn’t come more upfront than this.  This seems to have been a studio project for producer/writer Wes Farrell (credited as such on the back of the record). Released by the Senate label this self-titled 1967 album featured a decent mix of originals along with a rake of popular covers (Beatles, Buffalo Springfield, The Bee Gees etc).  ‘I Wonder’ is definitly the stand-out track on this record and it’s very cleverly sampled for ‘Flavor Of The Month’ which was Black Sheep’s first single.  One of the best cuts off the album, the chorus really comes alive with a very tight sample of horns taken from Herb Alpert’s ‘In a Little Spanish Town’.  Snappy drums, what sounds like a deep low-pass filter on the bassline from ‘I Wonder’ and one of HipHop’s catchiest chorus lines makes Flavor of the Month the perfect debut 12” for Black Sheep.

Le Menage

Original recording artist: Mouth & MacNeal
Sample taken from: ‘A.B.C’
Appears on: Mouth & MacNeal LP
Released by: Decca 1971

Mouth & MacNeal were a pop-duo from the Netherlands.  They enjoyed huge success in the 70s with various hit pop tunes and in 1974 represented the Netherlands in the Eurovision Song Contest (that right there was the first and last time that competition will be mentioned on this website).  This track was chopped up by Black Sheep to construct the main hook of their La Menage track.  Relying on MacNeal’s sultry vocals pitched up just a notch to emphasise Mistah Lawnge and Dres’ vocals (and perhaps to match guest emcee Q-Tip’s nasal rhyme stlye) along with the orginal sample’s drums brought out by using the intro drum break from Funk Inc.’s ‘God Only Knows’ meant the track had that slow, lazy sound that the lyrical content of the tune demanded.  Listen to the lyrics to get what we mean.  When Slick Rick said on La Di Da Di ‘and on and on and on she kept [on]‘ he didn’t mean it this way…

Black with N.V (No Vision)

Original recording artist: Freddie Hubbard
Sample taken from: ‘Povo’
Appears on: Sky Dive LP
Released by: CTI 1972

Creed Taylor produced some of the best jazz records of the late 60s and 70s under the CTI Records label.  Always emphasising quality of recording and cover art over massaging artist egos some of the cleanest breaks and basslines can be found on CTI records.  Hubbard had a very varied career leading up to his time on CTI but enjoyed his best successes there.  One of our favourite CTI records is Hubbard’s SkyDive and it’s this album that has the incredible Povo track featuring Ron Carter and Billy Cobham.  The bassline of this standout track is the main hook for Black With N.V (No Vision).  Certainly the most thoughtful track on Black Sheep’s debut album it’s also the the most minimalist, consisting mainly of the Povo bassline, the drum break from New Birth’s ‘I Wash My Hands of the Whole Damn Deal’ and not much else.  This minimalism lends itself well to the song though, as a subtle phase in the drums is the only thing that might distract you from what Dres is trying to say.

Pass The 40

Original recording artist: Jimmy McGriff
Sample taken from: ‘Blue Juice’
Appears on: The Worm
Released by: Solid State 1968

Posse cuts.  Nothing beats a good posse cut.  This one is particularly strong featuring Mista Lawnge, Chris Lighty, Dave Gossett (yes, he rocks it), Dres, Moc-Fu and of course Chi-Ali who was about 12 when this track was recorded.  All that’s in this tune is the bassline from Jimmy McGriff’s ‘Blue Juice’ and a subtle guitar lick from Ike Quebec (“Shu Shu”). Most likely this simplicity is deliberate to allow the MC’s their space.  This is a great track on the album, one that showcases the talent of the extended Black Sheep family.  It’s a shame Chi Ali’s path in life led him to violence; he was sent to prison for murder in 2001.  Chi Ali and Shyheim always seemed to be the strongest of the spate of child rappers that appeared during the 90s.

Compiled by Loughlin. Most of these records were found in bargain bins, tacked on record shop walls with $40.00 stickers on the sleeve or on eBay where the post and packaging cost more than the damn record.

To celebrate the realunch of our website www.choicecuts.com we are delighted to present to you an exclusive mix by legendary cut and paste wizard and remixer orginator Steinski.  We’re big fans of this guy and for those of you who don’t know Steinski is probably one of the most influential remix artists in Hip-Hop’s vibrant history.

With partner Double Dee (Douglas DiFranco; a prince) he co-produced the series of records known as The Lessons: The Payoff Mix, Lesson 2 (The James Brown Mix), Lesson 3 (The History Of Hiphop) for the Tommy Boy label. These analog tape cut-and-paste collages, still widely bootlegged (and wildly illegal), are generally acknowledged as three of the most influential works in the world of hiphop and dance music production. Cited as defintive influences by DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, and Fatboy Slim, among others.

Add to this the fact that Steinski is one of New York’s most sought-after advertising copy writers and it’s easy to see there is a mind behind all this musical greatness!

We’ve got Steinski playing in Dublin and Galway this April (2010) so head over to the events section for more info!

Steinski ChoiceCuts.Com Relaunch Mix by ChoiceCuts

The anticipation for this LP is almost too much, Window Seat saw Badu back to her best form and was more than enough to keep us happy until the full length dropped, but lo and behold, she sneaks out another didn’t cha know, didn’t cha know, this came out late last week, but might aswell throw it up for good measure.

Madlib laces Erykah with a smokers delight of a backing track with harp samples reminiscint of Dorothy Ashby work. The track is titled Strawberry Incense and its sublime, check it

It was very sad to hear about GURU’s health problems last month and all the moreso when his nephew went online to inform us that Keith Elam’s family have been out of the loop regarding all of these health concerns.

Well, the good news is that GURU is alive and we wish him speedy recovery. One of the first shows i ever went to was GangStarr in The Tivoli in 1994, where they had Jeru the Damaja and MC Mello in support. This was a cracking gig and reaffirmed my love for GangStarr’s music.

Our mainman Jared in NYC hit us up with this excellent Mathew Africa mix which is a synopsis of the 6 albums that the duo put out over the last 20 years. It must be said that for a DJ/MC act there is not really anyone that comes close to the prolific output and influence these two Brooklyn dwellers have achieved in their career. The 1990′s will be synonymous for their boom bap sound and no frills hip hop music that would go against the grain of the superficial braggadocio of P Diddy et al.

So if your a longtime fan like us, enjoy the trip down memory lane and if your not familiar with their back catalgoue, get ready for one of the finest partnerships Hip Hop music has ever produced.

Download the full mix as one track -here

Download the full mix as separate tracks – here

as per Mathew Africa…

I drew tracks from all six of Gang Starr’s albums, and each is represented more or less in proportion to how much I like it: 1992′s Daily Operation tops them all with 9 selections, although 1990′s Step in the Arena, 1994′s Hard to Earn and 1998′s Moment of Truth all feature prominently with 7, 6 and 5 tracks, respectively. The first and last albums got kind of short shrift, although there were more songs I would have included from each if I hadn’t run out of space. They have one of the strongest catalogs in rap music and there were a lot of additional songs, verses and scratch parts I wish I could have included.

Tracklisting ;

1. Intro
2. You Know My Steez
3. Just to Get a Rep
4. Mass Appeal
5. Step in the Arena
6. Now You’re Mine
7. The Militia feat. Freddie Foxxx
8. B.Y.S.
9. Take It Personal
10. The ? Remainz
11. Full Clip
12. DWYCK feat. Nice & Smooth
13. Who’s Gonna Take the Weight?
14. Jazz Thing
15. Soliloquy of Chaos
16. Check the Technique
17. Credit Is Due
18. Speak Ya Clout feat. Jeru the Damaja & Lil Dap
19. It’z a Setup feat. Hannibal
20. Words I Manifest (Remix)
21. 2 Deep
22. The Place Where We Dwell
23. Suckas Need Bodyguards
24. Flip the Script
25. What You Want This Time?
26. Love Sick
27. Ex Girl to Next Girl
28. The Planet
29. Make ‘em Pay
30. Execution of a Chump
31. DJ Premier Is In Deep Concentration
32. Take Two & Pass
33. Gotta Get Over (Taking Loot)
34. Rite Where You Stand feat. Jadakiss
35. I’m the Man feat. Lil Dap & Jeru the Damaja
36. Code of the Streets
37. Tonz ‘o’ Gunz
38. Next Time