Elektra (1991)
Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for twenty-five plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.
If you've been reading any of my Wednesday posts, you've definitely read mention of Del The Funky Homosapien. He & his Hieroglyphics crew are responsible for my favorite releases in the history of hip hop. I had decided that I needed to get my hands on the various golden era singles from those groups as the B sides and remixes were sorely missing from my collection on vinyl. The first one up is the very first Del single, "Mistadobolina."
The album version of this song is the one that got me hooked on Del when I was in eighth grade in 1991. That video playing on Yo MTV Raps would end up being so profoundly important in my musical education and the album version fo the song appears on this 12" along with a remix. The remix is solid and has a good beat to it, but it doesn't really compare to the much more well known original. The other album track that makes an appearance is "Ahonetwo, Ahonetwo." Again, a great album track along with a really fun remix. I think that it's better than the "Mistadobolina" remix, but it's still not as strong as the original album version.
The real highlight of this single is the exclusive track "Burnt." This is a Hieroglyphics posse cut and marks the very first time Casual and members of Souls of Mischief would appear on wax. This is a fantastic song and really showcases the sound that Hieroglyphics would go on to cultivate and in many ways perfect over the next few years. It's not dripping with P-funk the way Del's full length is, but instead it showcases the collective's homegrown sound. Listening to it now and realizing it came out in 1991 is pretty nuts. It feels way ahead of its time, both in production and in the lyrical dexterity that the crew would soon become known for.
Del The Funky Homosapien ft. Hieroglyphics - "Burnt":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVsrIeveDAI
Del The Funky Homosapien - "Mistadobalina (Remix)":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVLGYREn4-s
No comments:
Post a Comment