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MUSIC
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Music Groups
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I like lots of different musicfrom all sorts of genres, so here's a rundown of my favourite groups and their songs, which I recommend you check out if you can!
Grandmaster Flash, Kraftwerk, James Brown, Bob Dylan, The Tribe, Delirious, Tunnel Rats, Hip Hop History, Kool Website Rappin
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Grandmaster Flash (see Hip Hop History further down) is a well respected hip hop DJ, and most of his (and Melle Mel's) tracks can be found on the excellent triple CD album Adventures on the Wheels of Steel. The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash is a collection of mixes, favourite songs and live recordings that convey the essence of both Flash's music taste and how he was at the height of his hip hop impact. One of my favourite artists by a long way.
Kraftwerk are a German band who were one of the most influential music groups of all time. They were a pioneering group in electrnic music.Their revolutionary song Autobahn, simulating a motorway, was a breakthrough, as were their follow up hits including Computer World, Radioactivity and Trans Europe Express. Many artists owe a lot to Kraftwerk, yet their success goes mostly unnoticed outside serious music fans. My favourite Kraftwerk track, and possibly my favourite song ever, is Radioactivity, which has a brilliant combination of awe inspiring sounds that convey a lot of thoughts, feelings and ideas during the song.
James Brown is known as the Godfather of Soul has not only made some great music, but has also inspired many other artists. Kool Herc, notably, said his favourite artist was James Brown, and I'm going to argue with him! I admire James Brown not only for his music, but also for what he said in his lyrics. He talks about black oppression, he talks about who he believes are the three main instigastors of peace in the music world, John Lennon,Bob Marley and Marvin Gaye, and he talks about feeling good. He inspired breakdancers to Get on the Good Foot, and he himself was a legendary dancer, giving a lot of inspiration to funky dancers the world over. I feel good.
Bob Dylan has made some great songs, and deserves big respect. His best album is probably Blood on the Tracks. There are many great songs on here, but perhaps the best has to be Idiot Wind. This tells about Dylan's frustration with the world, and he lets loose his anger and disappointment in a series of talented verses. Bob Dylan's hero was Woodie Guthrie, a 1950s folk singer, and he is also an very talented musician. Check them both out.
The Tribe, formerly known as the World Wide Message Tribe have released numerous records, with their latest album being Raise Your Game. With all their success, they could be huge pop stars, but because they believe God has called them to, they work in Manchester, going into schools and talking to people about God. This deserves maximum respect. Top songs include Generation Rising, Let it Go, and of course, Jumping in the House of God.
Delirious are another band who have done much to reach out to people the way God has called them. As well as recording many albums, they have done many live performances, and a huge crowd singing something like History Maker or Deeperis an unbelievable experience.
The Tunnel Rats are a collection of Christian hip hop solo artists, who all come together to form the Tunnel Rats. They were formed in about 1994 and released a few albums, but then took a break for a few years, to become better MCs, and re-emerged in 2001 to release Tunnel Vision, a cracking album worthy of the wait. There are some great tracks which demonstrate how they are about pure hip hop, not flashy gimmicks. They are not afaid to talk about their faith, the song 'Tunnel Vision' talks how they are proud to be a rep for the cross of Christ. The Tunnel Rats are yet another example of how Christian Music is getting more and more creative and is pushing away the stereotypes that have been formed about it. Big respect to the Tunnel Rats.
In 1967 Clive Campbell travelled from Jamaica, and set up in the Bronx. He started DJing under the name of Kool DJ Herc in 1973, at local parties, and before long his reputation started to spread. He was renowned for having wide range of records, made up mostly of Soul, Funk, R&B and a few Disco. His Merry-go-Round was what made him the most popular DJ in the Bronx at one time. This involved taking the climatic intrumental part of a song and extending it by switching between two copies of a record to keep it going for much longer than it did originally. This was the first kind of sampling, and was really the thing that hip hop was built on. His best Merry-go-Round involved Give it up or Turn it loose by James Brown, The Mexican by Babe Ruth and Apache (Bongo Rock) by Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band. Breakdancers got their name from his style of DJing, as they would dance to the break section in a record, and this was shortened to B-Boys, or Break Boys. He is widely recognised as the founding father of Hip Hop music. Sadly, Herc never released any records, so the only remainder of his music is the memories of people who attended his parties, and the ultra-rare tapes that a few people still have!
Joseph Saddler began DJing in the Bronx and was known as Grandmaster Flash. He was influenced by a number of DJs, mainly Kool Herc and DJ Pete Jones. He took different elements from DJs he saw, spent a few years in his room working relentlessly, on a vision that he had. He developed the 'cut' and the 'scratch', and the quick mix theory, and before long he became the fastest DJ ever known. What he did was combine the styles of Kool Herc and Pete Jones, so he had Herc's breaks, played with Pete's seamless blending technique. When he started out there was no reaction to his music, it was either too weird or too good to comprehend. But eventually Flash developed a reputation for being one of the best Djs in town. He recruited MCs to take the focus of what he was doing, because he felt a vacal distraction was required. He started out with people like Disco Bee and Easy Mike. Later he built a team of 5 MCs was known as the Furious Five, and were led by Melle Mel. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were renowned for their parties, and by 1980 they released Super Rappin. More followed, Adventures on the Wheels of Steel is perhaps the best reminder of what Flash did, as it contains samples from at least 5 records, and was the first record ever released to be made entirely from other records. The Message was one of the first ever pieces of social commentary done by a hip hop artist. Noone wanted to do the record in the first place, but when Melle Mel eventually did it, it was a much bigger hot than anyone expected. Today, Grandmaster Flash is recognised by many people as one of the most influential DJs ever, and it is certain that without him music today would be very different.
Afrika Bambaataa was formerly a gang leader of the Black Spades. He founded the Zulu Nation to spread a message of peace, unity, love and having fun, to combat the gang influence in the Bronx. This is the esence of what Hip Hop is meant to be about. A celebration of violence and drugs are not what Hip Hop was intended to be, but instead it was meant to be a way for people to freely express their feelings in the way they want, as an alternative to the gang culture. His 1982 hit Planet Rock set a new standard of excellence using the principles of the Universal Zulu Nation, as was another hit, Looking for the Perfect Beat. He was also the first hip hop artist to actually work with James Brown, as opposed to just sampling his music.
Run D.M.C are another of Hip Hop's leading pioneers, who were all about reality. Groups like Gradmaster Flash put on shows that were very theatrical, but Run D.M.C were all about being the same on stage as they were in real life. Their breakthrough came with It's Like That, with the B-side being Sucker MCs. It's Like That was what brought them out into the open, but Sucker MCs was what gained them underground respect. They also mixed hip hop and rap in records like Walk This Way and King of Rock. Sadly the group broke up in November 2002 after Jam Master Jay, Dj to the group was murdered. Respect to him.
There are many other names that deserve mention in the development of Hip Hop, there's just not enough time to tell them all. A few MCs that deserve mention are Kurtis Blow, Kool Moe Dee, Casanova Fly, Lovebug Starsky and Busy Bee. DJs include DJ Hollywood, Grandmaster Caz, Grand Mixer D.ST, Grand Wizard Theodore and DJ Charlie Chase.
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This is my first effort at a hiphop record, which I'm pretty pleased with. To listen to it, click the logo below, or right click and choose 'save target as'. You are free to download it, but please credit me as the artist.
I want to thank especially Grandmaster Flash for finding the beat (Good Times by Chic) and Melle Mel for providing me with lyrical inspiration.
Click here to hear the track
A while ago I launched a competition to transcribe the lyrics to Kool Website Rappin. However, I had only one serious entry, so well done to Macca, Mr Steven McCubbin himself. Go to his page to find out more about him.
I have rewritten the lyrics of Kool Website Rappin, and will be remixing it evenutally. I may add my own music from my keyboard, or sample songs by artists such as James Brown, or songs such as Apache or The Mexican. Watch out cause it's gonna be amazin!