There are some things in life you come to expect. Your mum doing your washing, prolonged rain spells, Christmas on the 25th December, Raekwon sending out a tweet. Wait. What? Yes people, it would be strange for me to visit my Twitter and there be no daily/hourly/minutely (believe me, some do it *cough* Noreaga) tweet from at least one of the many hip-hop artists I happen to follow.
Since the 140 character micro-blogging phenomenon stormed the Internet in 2006, a wide range of celebrities have been using the social networking site with popular persons such as Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears amongst some of the first to join in the Twittermania. But it’s not only film and (one-time) pop stars who took to Twitter. MC Hammer held the hip-hop Twitter-torch for a while all on his own before others started to see the value that it brought in promoting their work and connecting with fans.
→ Continue Reading Twitter: A Hip-Hop Revolution
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Illmatic, Enter The Wu Tang, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, The Infamous, Reasonable Doubt, Ready To Die, Mecca And The Soul Brother, Tical, Lifestyles Ov Da Poor N Dangerous, Doe Or Die, The Low End Theory.
I’m hoping these albums strike some sort of chord with you. They should do. They form part of the 1990’s best hip-hop records ever released, never mind just East Coast. I’ve read countless blogs, Amazon lists, Wikipedia articles, Last.fm pages, magazines and books where these albums feature almost predictably on everyone’s (mine included) “best of’s”, “albums to listen before you die” and “real hip-hop” playlists and no doubt will continue to as long as hip-hop remains in existence.
My point? What about those undeniable records of genius simply overshadowed by the above? The ones which fell victim not to the quality of the music itself, but merely the timing of its release. In an industry today where even the truly beautiful flowers are unable to rise above the magnitude of towering weeds, how impossible would it have been for such a flower to rise above a 100ft tree full in blossom? Put it this way, I wouldn’t have wanted my release date on April 19th 1994.
This is part one of an assortment of underrated hip-hop records from the 1990’s, carefully handpicked and selected for you by myself. → Continue Reading Sleeping With Open Eyes: Part 1
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Seeing as this is my first post on OTU, I believe a look at times ahead for indie is in order! Times of veritable excitement these are too, so exciting in fact that I literally had a crisis when I saw the just who was releasing music in the summertime. In anticipation of this, here are the three albums that I expect to dominate playlists over the coming months…..
→ Continue Reading 2010: An Indie Odyssey
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This week hip-hop was plunged into mourning as we lost Keith Elam, fondly remembered as Guru; the mastermind behind rap music’s most-loved duo, Gang Starr.
No doubt there will be a few bandwagons driving through the blogs over the upcoming weeks. ‘Tupac-syndrome’ (no disrespect Pac) will flood the forums as Guru makes his way into everyone’s top five. Don’t get me wrong; I have a front row seat on that bandwagon. The difference being, I’ve been here a while.
Guru played an important part in developing my love for this genre. This is my way of giving back to the man who helped shape my journey. But this isn’t about my scrobbles on Last.fm, it isn’t about DJ Premier, and it isn’t particularly about Gang Starr. This is mine and Overrating The Underrated’s tribute to Guru.
→ Continue Reading Guru: A Tribute To An Everlasting Legacy
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I haven’t written a feature in a while, so let’s do one I’ve been thinking about for a while. Narrow-minded folk, go elsewhere, this isn’t for you. Go and put some mindless crap on repeat and have a nice evening.
Most of you will know I pretty much worship these guys. However, unless you know me quite well, you won’t know why. If you care, read on. If you don’t, I won’t hold it against you.
→ Continue Reading Justification Throwback: Angels & Airwaves Part 1
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Murray: February 16, 2010
I’ve disappointed you all. I’ve let the OTU team down and I apologise profusely…
There is no Big Pun on the site…
So to make it up to all of you, I’m going to bolster a huge feature article on him to feed all your starving appetites.
Read on kids and kidettes.
→ Continue Reading Big Pun: Formidable and Unrivaled
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Murray: February 10, 2010
I was in bed last night pondering upon a question I had been asked by @RupeshB: Who did I think was the most consistently on point rapper throughout their career? The answer I gave couldn’t have been a freshman MC (hell even I could be consistent for five minutes) and therefore had to be someone who had seen the changes in the demands of the genre; Someone who had spanned the 90’s and 00’s; Someone who had not necessarily cemented his stature in the hip-hop hall of fame; Merely someone who, throughout their career, has consistently brought a high standard of rapping ability time and time again and yet is still doing it to this very day.
→ Continue Reading Caution: Mind The Gap
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So before getting into things I feel it is only appropriate to show our remorse at the tragic death of Brittany Murphy and our thoughts at OTU go out to all her family during this difficult time. Her work was admired by masses across the globe, and her performance in 8 Mile was, for me, one of her best moments on the big screen.
Ever since joining the OTU team I’ve been looking forward to doing this review. Why? Not only is 8 Mile an awesome insight into the hip-hop world back in the mid nineties, but also because it showcases an array of hip-hop talent throughout the picture. You cannot get these on the OST released with the film, these are the tracks from the 90′s when the film was set. 7 years on from the film’s UK release date, I’ve got eleven absolute gems (the other two are essential to cover, but don’t achieve the minimum standard 4 BDK rating) to share with you over the next few minutes of your life and I guarantee they are going to make you feel more complete because of it…
→ Continue Reading The Music of 8 Mile (The 90’s Version)
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I struggle to think of any other MC who gives me goose bumps like R.A. The Rugged Man. I don’t care if you don’t read any of my articles ever again but I beg you (I’m actually on my knees right now) to take ONE minute reading this and be prepared for it to change your perception of hip-hop forever. I had to drop this feature because I’m sick of people sleeping on such an unbelievable talent and someone who deserves success more than any other artist out there.
Think of R.A. as possessing the lyrical ability of Pun, L and G Rap combined; the street respect of Krs One; the mental disposition of Ol’ Dirty Bastard and the skin tone of Eminem. Yeah, R.A.’s white.
→ Continue Reading Biggie: “I thought I was the illest…”
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