Magnificent City

I think I've written about my strange attitude towards hip hop, but I'll explain again for anyone who doesn't know.

My feelings toward hip hop are the same as with practically any music...if it feels like a cheap empty thrill, then I want nothing to do with it. This is why I will never, ever, ever play something like 50 Cent while DJing. Yet I will play Jay Z because it feels solid like there's something behind it. Last Saturday, I played Slick Rick's "Treat Her Like a Prostitute," and people flipped right the fuck out. That's a track with power. But I won't play Kriss Kross. Call me crazy, but I can't get behind empty crap like that for the sake of being ironic. And that follows in my own personal listening patterns.

When I'm DJing, the overwhelming percentage of requests are for hip hop and r&b. People don't like my answers concerning r&b: "I have nothing made after 1978...". This isn't entirely true, I do have some Prince, and some later Marvin Gaye, but it's all in an older spirit. Nothing like that R. Kelly BS. When it comes to hip hop, people don't like what I want to play.

Sure, I'll throw in some Biggie and Nas, but...so much of that stuff is played out. When I play NWA, I prefer to go for the booty-bass stuff that reminds me of their earlier (and more electro bass) incarnation: World Class Wreckin' Cru. It's not easy sometimes, but I try to link this classic 'old school' stuff with the modern music it influenced. Because honestly, I want more people to hear this newer shit, and they ain't gonna hear it on JLB (WJLB, a Detroit 'urban' radio station).

So, I might play "Girls, Girls, Girls" from the Jay Z album "The Blueprint" (a modern classic in my ears), and then follow it with Mos Def's recent 'cover' of "The Takeover" (also on the Blueprint) which changes the words. Mos also changed the title to "The Rapeover." This drags things into a socially conscious sound, and from there I can go to something like The Coup. They are yet another criminally under-appreciated hip hop group that I can't play enough of. Like Dead Prez, but not so concerned with makin' money. Then things flow into Public Enemy so easily and from there I can get back to the rock due to PE's abrasive and occasionally guitar-driven sound.

Okay, I was trying to say something when I got started with this, so I should just get to the point before this turns into a self-involved term paper on modern hip hop and why Detroiters are fools for not liking it.

What I was trying to do is tell you about the new Aceyalone/RJD2 album "Magnificent City." I'll admit, up until recently I never heard anything from Aceyalone. I saw the name, wondered how to pronounce it, but dismissed him as another 'fluff' rapper. Don't ask me why, I have no idea, maybe it was because I never heard him discussed in 'intelligent' hip hop circles. Okay, that sounds so elitist, but it's true.

On the other hand, I'm quite familiar with RJD2, having two of his records and being a fan of the label he helped build, Def Jux (pioneer of modern underground hip hop). He's like DJ Shadow for the hip hop fans. I know, I know, Shadow's gig is more or less hip hop, but I mean RJD2's much more accessible and familiar for hip hop fans.

Apparently this collaboration has been in the works and talked about for awhile now, but I knew nothing of it until last week when I read about it somewhere alongside a review of J Dilla's latest (and last) album "Donuts." (I haven't picked up that one yet, but I will. RIP James Yancey, aka J Dilla aka Jay Dee, one of Detroit's most innovative producers ever). Obviously I haven't been paying attention to hip hop very much lately, beyond getting ahold of the latest Atmosphere (also a bangin' record worth checking out).

Too many people find it easy to dismiss 'intelligent' hip hop as too positive or too 'clean', they think it isn't as abrasive as hip hop should be. Maybe that's true some of the time, but definitely not all of the time. One needs to look no further than a Vast Aire, Bluprint, Ghostface Killah, Atmosphere, or Streets record to find something harsh and 'real'. I approached "Magnificent City" with almost no expectations. But I knew the kind of voices RJD2 has worked with, so I knew I wasn't gonna get no fluff.

Acey and RJD2 bring it with the first track. I had no idea. Right from the start, "All For You," brings up percussion straight outta Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly." The atmosphere of the track is a big party jam. I think "Fire" is supposed to be the first single, and it sounds like something you'd be listening to while driving around in the sun in the summertime. I think it's the '70s soul/funk chorus vocals. "Let your mama know she'll feel me like a son..." Then, "Mooore" reminds me of something from the recently departed Anti-Pop Consortium (ever heard Beans? that's his old group). Kind of a slow groove that flows like something off "Atlien" from Outkast. The standout track by far (for me anyway) is "Supahero." It starts off with low-key synth strings, then cuts into a mid-tempo electro-groove: "baby, I'm your star, but you're lookin' for a supahero, Superman don't fly no more cuz he ain't one with the people..." That's hot. And that's just in the first five of fourteen tracks! It's nonstop on this record. Every track hits and hits hard.

I think this may be my favorite record so far of 2006. I know it's early yet, but I'm all over this one.

Incidentally, I recommend you check out OkayPlayer, which is the home of ?uestlove's (drummer from the Roots) record label. He's quite a blogger, too, I might add.