Back in March, DJ D Sharp put together a mix tape for Lateef the Truth Speaker but it wasn’t released on any major online distributor like Amazon or CD Universe until November (it’s not available on iTunes). Truth Is Love is a collection of songs featuring Lateef taken from albums released in the last 10-15 years but it’s comprised mostly of Lateef’s more recent tracks. Overall, I was a little disappointed with this mix tape. Back in the 90’s, Lateef was at the top of my list of rappers because of projects like Latyrx and the Solesides collective which turned into the Quannum. Lateef was an incredible emcee with a distinctive delivery unmatched in style and creativity. Unfortunately, most of his new stuff is just not that great anymore. Some of his old school fans are much more critical than I am but I can definitely understand where they’re coming from. Except for a couple of tracks, including “Lady Don’t Tek No” hidden at the end of “That Old Pair of Jeans”, Truth Is Love doesn’t have too much to offer.
MP3: Lateef and Fatboy Slim – “That Old Pair of Jeans”
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
(When the site crashed in March and I thought I lost everything, this ended up being the only post I really lost… Unfortunately, because of that, I will leave you with the songs only…)
Damn these are popular.Mash Ups are kind of going through a surge in popularity right now.Mash ups can be two or more new, popular songs mixed together (like mash up #1 by Terry Urban – Lil Wayne’s “A Millie” and Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida”), or two or more older, popular songs mixed together (like mash up #2 by A Plus D– Notorious BIG’s “Going Back To Cali” and Red Hot Chili Peppers‘ “Dani California”), or a mash up can be new and old songs, whether or not they’re popular or unpopular, mixed together (like mash up #3 by Bobb Deep – Mobb Depp’s “Shook One’s Pt II” and Bob Marley’s “I Shot The Sheriff”).Check these out too:
First song is from an album of A Tribe Called Questremixes called Revised Quest for the Seasoned Traveler which came out back in 1992. The song is called “I Left My Wallet In El Segundo (Vampire Mix)” and the album gives credit to Norman Cook for the remixing. That’s Fatboy Slim’s real name, so this remix of I Left my Wallet in El Segundo was made by Fatboy Slim before he became Fatboy Slim. Coincidentally, after getting the first email most of you didn’t get, Eric showed me a blog he saw earlier this week that points out the fact that this remix was sampled by Bangladesh to make the “A Milli” beat for Lil Wayne. Here’s the link he showed me: http://dontgetgassed.com/2008/07/16/how-to-make-a-milli-in-60-secs-or-less/.
Second song is from Jose James’ January 2008 release Dreamer and it’s a cover of the Freestyle Fellowship track, “Park Bench People” which originally came out on the album Innercity Griots in 1993. When I first heard this song, it reminded me of why I love searching through the web and keeping my ears open for new music. I used to love Freestyle Fellowship and Mikah 9 did a track called “Park Bench People” that I couldn’t get enough of. It’s definitely still one of my favorite all time tracks, but I wouldn’t expect a lot of people to share my opinion because of the nature of the song. It’s almost too chill and jazzy, and the style of Mikah 9’s rapping is experimental and unfamiliar to most people. Not sure if any of you will enjoy it as much as I do, or maybe at all, but Jose James does a great job in his version of the Freestyle Fellowship track. James’ voice is impressive to say the least. He’s got a track with Flying Lotus called “Visions in Violet” and you can rest assured that, as soon as it’s available, it will be included on a future SOW email. Really curious to know what you all think about this one though…
Third song (attached to the part 2 email), is from the new Dr. Dogalbum, Fate, and it’s called “Hang On”. The Dr Dog album just came out this last week and, as you may have heard Little mention, they’re playing August 8th at the El Rey with Delta Spirit (the attached show list has it on August 4th… But that’s wrong). I’m definitely going to that show. I saw them at the Hotel Café not too long ago and they really amazed me. The dynamic between the singer/bass player and the singer/piano player combined with the rest of the band and the fact that they sound like Beatles wannabes that actually pull it off, it really makes them something special. I think a lot of people are really going to get into them if they aren’t already.
