I will co-sign this post. I went from a really ignorant, uninformed stance on hip-hop, saying that I hated it, etc. when I was a teenager because I wasn't looking in the right places and even when I was in the right place I refused to open up and broaden my tastes. When I got to college I was fortunate to room with a hip-hop "band" (they played traditional instruments along with mpc's, etc.) and they showed me some stuff that I absolutely loved.LesPasta wrote:i would like to see people open their mind and get curious about music... especially hiphop....
the music you guys are commenting on is just pop/top 40 music...
if you want less kanye it is simple, just turn off the radio, mtv etc. ....
if you want to hear good hip[hop music check out stonesthrow records, that would be a good start... maybe something produced by 9th wonder, pete rock or the rza.... dudley perkins, georgia ann muldrow, mf doom, dj premier....
honestly, some of the comments ive read in this thread make it hard to believe this is a forum for creative people.
www.myspace.com/lespasta
I admit that I'm still not nearly as informed about the history and major players in the genre, so take my taste with a grain of salt. One of my favorite sources for the "underground" stuff is Adult Swim, plain and simple. I love listening to the tracks they choose for their little advertising spots. This, along with my roommates in college, is where I was first exposed to the likes of 9th Wonder, J Dilla, MF Doom, Dangermouse, Dabrye, etc. Since then, I have remained not as informed as I ought to be out of laziness, but more importantly, many elements of hip hop production style have thankfully infected my own work. I'm absolutely addicted to the rhythm and flow that naturally emerge from chopping audio and rearranging it in a sequence. Hip-hop taught me to appreciate negative space in my arrangements better than Minimal Techno ever did. The power of that little place between where a sample slice ends and the next one begins is one of the most important things I ever learned about music.
I guess that ended up being more a reflection on what I love about the genre rather than what I want to see it do in the future, but maybe that's exactly what I needed to go through before I could answer the original question:
I want to see MORE sampling (not less, as others have said), but from different sources. It's pretty routine to sample from old Soul and Jazz records (but even the potential of that hasn't been close to fully exhausted) but it's something entirely different to engage in sample-based sound design in service of hip-hop. I remember being incredibly inspired by Prefuse 73 when I first heard "One Word Extinguisher." Those little snippets of field recordings of coffee shops and public spaces interspersed with some of the rawest beats I've heard just got me incredibly hyped about musical possibilities in sampling. Also, I want to hear more Dabrye-style basslines
This post was more rambling and opinionated than my contributions tend to me, so I better strap on the flame-proof jacket!
- Nick