Archive for the ‘Red Bull’ tag
Even though I’ve temporarily retired the Detroit Heat series I can’t help but spread the word about this mini documentary on a solid group out of the 313 called Clear Soul Forces. If you haven’t heard of them (yet) it’s not surprising but they’re making good music, aligning themselves with Royce Da 5’9″ and clearly making enough headway that the music/video savants at Red Bull SoundStage are paying attention.
Check out this easily watchable 12 minute documentary as the foursome talks about the trials, joys and tribulations of being young artists based in Detroit. City and craft aside, this is the struggle of most creative young people of color in general.
This is cool. Instead of a mixtape, I get to give you an actual live mix that you can watch too. It’s good enough to just play in the background and ignore the video while you’re doing whatever it is you do, but definitely give it a watch if you got some time. The Skratch Bastid lives up to his name, and he kills the mixes too (I especially like the live James Brown remix about 3/4 of the way through). There are a couple of small fuck-ups, but hey it’s a live mix! What do you expect? He even throws in a little juggling session in there with some behind the back crossfader action and all. Enjoy, you bastids!
(via the rub)
If you’re not familiar with Hank Shocklee of the legendary production team, the Bomb Squad, then you’re sleeping on one of the most innovative and seminal producers in hip-hop history. Along with his brother Keith (who together created the Bomb Squad) Hank was the principal architect behind Public Enemy’s sound throughout the ’80s and ’90s. He’s Chuck D’s most trusted producer and he’s also credited with creating key recordings for a variety of artists such as Madonna, Slick Rick, Bell Biv Devoe, LL Cool J, & Run DMC. And that’s just naming a few.
What’s always stood out to me about Hank Shocklee is the way he’s embraced futurism at every stage of his career. He’s also approached beat-making the same way Jean-Michel Basquiat approached a blank canvas — it’s always retro, forward-thinking, abstract, genius, and teetering on the edge of simplistic all at once. I met the guy back in 1998 while hanging out inside of his New York recording studio (long story) and he was just as stoney and outer planetary and kindhearted and down to earth as one would expect. It’s like, if you meet Hank Shocklee, you automatically can expect that he’ll be A) No Bullshit and B) No Bullshit. He didn’t disappoint. Interestingly enough, I just came across a radio podcast that he did for Red Bull and it’s full of old school gems. It’s one of the more educational podcats you’ll ever encounter. If you want to stream it… all you need to do is click this: RBMA Radio – Hank Shocklee (Shocklee Innertainment, New York City) – Headphone Highlights. Full tracklist after the jump.
