Disco Rap Volume One

I can't remember the first time I heard hiphop music. I think it must have been Run DMC. That really resonated with me. Before then I always had the Rock'n'Roll hits of the 50s and the Motown classics of the '60s in my Radio Shack walkman, but I remember that You Be Illin was my sh*t. It took me some years to track down any other hiphop from the early 80s when I was younger. I loved the sound, but didn't really have the resources to acquire it. In a Colorado town of 100,000, before the internets, and with a steady diet of country music from my parent's stereo, I filed that drum machine sound away. But I didn't forget. I think this probably formed the basis of my beatdigging lifestyle.

Sometime around the end of Junior High, I found a cassette that was titled something like 'The Early Years of Profile' which was dope (does anyone else remember this thing?). It contained a stack of classics from that label (Fly Guy, Fresh, etc), but I kept rewinding to hear one song in particular called Beat Bop over and over again. Knowing what I know now, it was a good introduction to that first generation of hiphop records (I don't want to get into the significance of Rammelzee vs. K-Rob now, but if you don't know this record you need to do your homework). In fact, Beat Bop launched a lifelong obsession with the 79-83 era in hiphop records. They don't really turn up in Denver all that much (although Trickeration made my summer last year), so I had to wait for the world-class diligence and obsession of European collectors to finally compile, bootleg, and open the door for me to finally hear all those obscure classics I'd been reading about for so long.

On the real, why is it that some many other countries hold American music so dear while we forget our own history? I'm looking at you England/Japan/Germany. I guess a 'thanks' is in order.

When the first generation of rap crews was performing live, they rocked to the doubles their DJ brought to the jam. When it was time to record, they didn't have samplers, so they rocked to backing bands. Hence the name for this generation of rap records being called Disco Rap. Its a subject that is dear to my heart, and there is a lot of music to share, so stay tuned.

To kick it off, peep this video featuring two of my favorites from this era: Granmaster Caz aka Casanova Fly (spell that out letter by letter and then tell me Sugar Hill Gang wasn't biters!) of The Cold Crush Brothers and Sha-Rock of The Funky Four Plus One. Just in case, you were thinking these were some dinosaurs that don't have any relevance in 2007, we'll start here:



Living history.