Hey, That Sounds Like...: Justin Warfield vs. Q-Tip

They say (whoever "they" are) that "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." If that's the case, then Q-Tip must have been rendered speechless after he heard Justin Warfield's Season Of The Vic. I know I was.

Now in Hip-Hop or any musical genre there is always someone emulating a style. From half the groups in the 60's trying to sound like the Beatles to most of the industry trying to riggety-rhyme like Das EFX at the height of their popularity, if a sound or style is catchy or profitable it will be recycled ad nauseum. What was peculiar to me was that wasn't the case with Vic at all. Tribe was big at the time ('91), with everyone feeling the Low End Theroy but people moreso tried to emulate the Native Tongue Posse's style than their flow. Other MC's rocked funky shirts and beads with medallions but no one tried to sound like De La, The JB's or Quest for that matter.

I believe that when I first heard Warfield it was on the New Music Report, a late night video show that was affiliated with RUSH/Def Jam. I said "What album is this on?" It quickly became: "Oh shit...that's not Tip!" QD III crafted a listenable, soothing track but it was Jus' flow that was throwing me off. Either consciously or subconsciously (I hope) he was pretending to be Mr. Davis. Not just in vocal tone but even cadence of the rhyme. If you listen to Quest's Pubic Enemy (Saturday Night Virus Disco Mix) on the b-side of I Left My Wallet In El Segundo after the second verse, you can seamlessly lay it down in Vic. Was it a tribute that they used samples from Beyond This World and yes, Description Of A Fool or just young Quincy thumbing his nose at them?

In any event, I find it funny that Warfield's song warns people to "watch their booty" for jackers, thieves and grubbers as it thieves and jacks from another group. Don't get me wrong though, IT'S A GREAT SONG! Although it's bereft of any originality, it's a song I liked because I wished ATCQ had made it. Eventually Warfield rejected the style on his next album and went on to found the group She Wants Revenge. Tip did OK too. Tribe cemented their place as legends in Hip-Hop and broke everyone's heart when they called it quits in '97. Even though it was attempted, what they did cannot be imitated or duplicated.

Nice try though...

Season Of The Vic-Justin Warfield

http://www.zshare.net/audio/40697277420ff1/

Pubic Enemy (Saturday Night Virus Disco Mix)-A Tribe Called Quest

http://www.zshare.net/audio/40698545f96b4e/

Famous Firsts: Consequence

Winter, 14 Years Ago Animal Mother's Bedroom: Aww, shit! I had just bought the "Award Tour" 12 inch and I couldn't wait to play it! After going through my scratch, cut, mix routine I decided to listen to the b-side. Started playing the Chase Part 2 which intrigued me because I had yet to buy the album and hear part 1(at that time, I got the vinyl a little later and CD's were my last resort...can't play that on a 1200. Didn't know there was no part 1.). The beat was dope and I loved the Biz sample but I kinda laughed at the time: " Crooked toofed bandit? This dude sounds like G. Rap! What the f---?" Totally dismissed it.

Fast forward to 1996

Listening to Beats, Rhymes & Life (an album that has grown on me in the last 11 years), I hear G. Rap guy again. However he's not a guest, he's a frickin' member! It's Phife Dog, Tip and Ali, not those three and some other dude! This Hip-Hop cousin Oliver(He's actually Tip's cousin.) was all over this album and I blamed him for their demise. Even though he had gotten better, I didn't want him around.
I didn't hear from Cons again until about 2003 and man was I impressed. The dude's whole style changed. Sick metaphors and a more confident delivery. He also had alot of production help from some Chicago dude named Kane or what have you. In any event, this was not the same dude yelling into the mic on that Quest b-side 10 years earlier. He had grown by leaps and bounds.

The Con man that delivered 2007's Don't Quit Your Day Job, is an accomplished and well established MC. I'm really disappointed that his numbers weren't better. I think his association with Chicago dude had alot to do with it. I read on some blog that he sounds like 'Ye's son, which is funny to me and shows the guys lack of knowledge, as Dexter has Mr. West by nearly 10 years of professional MC'ing. The dude is sick with his now and deserves some recognition. From '04's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly to Feel This Way (feat. John Legend) Consequence shows that he's a high caliber MC and deserves some love from the hip-hop community.

I put up his first appearance on vinyl (The Chase Pt. 2), Mind Power as well as the Dilla produced Wordplay one of my favorite cuts from Beats, Rhymes and Life so you could see his marked improvement in just three years. If you want a real treat however, go out and buy Don't Quit Your Day Job! It's a good listen and I think it's one of this years slept on albums.

And It's Still All Good Presents: Young Con-Man

http://www.zshare.net/download/3934777bda19e5/

Know Your History: Givin' Pot Bellied Props

Quick: What do Kid Capri, Main Source, A Tribe Called Quest and a large portion of the Hip-Hop community have in common? Bad publishing deals? No, Lou Donaldson. More specifically, Donaldson's often sampled "Pot Belly".

In 1970, Lou recorded Pot Belly for his album Pretty Things on Blue Note Records, a veritable jazz mill. This song had every element you could ever want in a jazz piece. Funky bassline and lots of high hats? Check. Signature Donaldson alto sax? Check. Psychadelic organs? Big check. The only thing missing from this song is a pair of dark sunglasses and a hand rolled cigarette. It was that cool!

When A Tribe Called Quest released People's Instinctive Travels and Paths Of Rhythm in '89, they were sampling jazz heavily. It was only a matter of time before they got to the Donaldson classic. The B-side of their second single "Can I Kick It?" was "If The Papes Come" which was basically Pot Belly being rhymed over. There was little tweaking to the song which was simply a loop of the original with Q-Tip and Afrika Baby Bam flowing over the beat. It wasn't on the intitial vinyl release and subsequent re-releases of the song have been the "re-mix" with Bam's vocals removed. It showed up again in 1990 on Main Source's "A Friendly Game of Baseball" and Kid Capri's (Yes, he had an album where he rapped!) "The Joke's On You Jack"

Pete Rock actually took the song and dressed it up nicely when he sampled it in 1992 for Heavy D's Blue Funk. I prefer what the Chocoloate Boy Wonder did with it than what the other producers had done previously. Instead of just picking out a section of the song and just looping it, Rock added his signature percussion, scratches and a sample of women singing to make you say: "Hey wait a minute! That's that song..." Like the jazz musicians before him, he took something and improvised and embellished on it to make it a part of what he does. He went on to use portions of the composition in remixes for Da Youngsta's "Pass Da Mic", and "Iz U Wit Me?" As well as House of Pain's "Jump Around".

So let's give props to Lou Donaldson. The great alto saxophonist who's one song in particular has been done and re-done so many times, you could probably make a full length disc of pieces that utilized it. It's the Kim Kardashian of Hip-Hop breaks: You know mad cats used it but you still want to use it yourself. I included the original version as well as "Papes" & "Blue Funk". Please go out and find some of Donaldsons albums as well as these Hip-Hop classics. Enjoy!

Pot Belly-Lou Donaldson

http://www.zshare.net/audio/lou-donaldson-pot-belly-mp3-7mh.html

If The Papes Come (feat. Afrika)-A Tribe Called Quest

http://www.zshare.net/audio/a_tribe_called_quest-if_the_papes_come-mp3.html

Blue Funk (Produced by Pete Rock)-Heavy D & The Boyz
http://www.zshare.net/audio/blue-funk-mp3.html