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"Across the seas and deserts, through the trees and
grass..."

- Guru

In the month when we remember the life of Guru, we also say
goodbye to not just a legend, but a true musical genius - Prince.
I've blended some of his work into this episode's selection, along
with various eras of Guru, some solid Hip-Hop picks and a
little weaving in and out of different genres along the way.
In the next hour, you're pretty much guaranteed to hear something
for the first time!

"c2">Playlist/Notes

Kardinal Offishall : Ill Eagle
Alien

I'd be willing to bet that many
people who've heard Kardinal don't really appreciate just how nice
he is on the mic. He absolutely slays it right here - just check
that second verse where he uses all those abstract nouns ("-ility")
in a row to end his lines. On top of that, he passes Guru's
"Mostly Tha
Voice" test with flying colours! This was my favourite track on
his " "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Not-4-Sale-Kardinal-Offishall/dp/B001BTZNMY/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1461792072&sr=1-1&keywords=kardinal+offishall">Not
4 Sale" album, and the beat is nothing to sneeze at either -
Nottz with a speaker-thumper for real.

Da Beatminerz : Take That (Instrumental)

" "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brace-4-Impak/dp/B000067CO7?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0">Brace
4 Impak" was an excellent producer album in my opinion, and
still gets fairly regular play from me fifteen years after release!
This low-end killer comes courtesy of Mr.Walt, and is a masterclass
in simplicity. Check the drumline - kicks only on 1 and 3, snares
only on 2 and 4, and the hats are just on the 8th notes; it just
keeps the time for the other sounds (and the MCs) to work
within.

Doujah Raze ft. A.G. & Sean Price :
Fahrenheit

Dug this one out for a listen and
was struck by how brave the Alexandria, Virginia MC was to
invite both A.G. and Sean Price along - as competent as he is, the
others are big names with long histories of ripping tracks. This is
the B-side of the 2006 " "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sNhhDTfDjo">Little More Time"
"https://www.discogs.com/Doujah-Raze-Little-More-Time-When-Misery-Needs-Company-Fahrenheit/release/1096416">
12", slightly obscure but not expensive even now. Arythmetic
supplies the boom-bap beat, and if you had to pick the best verse -
got to be Sean P!

The Roots ft. Maimouna Youseff : Don't Feel
Right

The " "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Game-Theory-Roots/dp/B000H80KOG/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1461792776&sr=1-1&keywords=roots+game+theory">Game
Theory" album is a bargain right now, so it's the perfect time
to get yourself a copy! This was the first single from that album
and Black Thought speaks on all the things he sees in the world
that just aren't...right. I don't know if you'd call him
an underrated MC or just an oft-forgotten one, but people in the
know respect his skills immensely; check the technique right here.
The combination of the Roots crew and
singer/songwriter  "https://maimounayoussef.bandcamp.com/">Maimouna Youseff got
them a Grammy nomination - one occasion when they actually made a
decent call.

The Mouse Outfit : Sip A Little Bit Of
Rum

I was considering
including this, and then the next day checked Facebook to find it
had just had a new "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxa1rRHYbw0">video released!
Must be a sign ;) Anyway, this fine Manchester crew return once
again with this beautiful head-nodder from the " "https://themouseoutfit.bandcamp.com/album/step-steadier-2">Step
Steadier" album, their trademark polished production
undergirding the lyrics of local mic specialists Sparkz and Fox.
Remember folks, drink responsibly.

Clear Soul Forces : Mars On Life

Strange to think that for years
Detroit wasn't thought of as a Hip-Hop city, considering the
outrageous
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royce_da_5%279%22">amount
of "https://tallblackguy.bandcamp.com/">talent that has come out
of the city in the last fifteen years or so! This
crew represent well for the D, not least on this track from
last year's " "https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/fab-five/id983017249">Fab
Five" album (nice "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6aQe4zLN2w">Michigan
reference there), almost falling over each other to drop lyrics
over a beat by producer Nameless. Never let it be said there's
nothing good coming out these days...

Loose Ends : A Little Spice (Gang Starr
Remix)

I managed to accidentally
buy the " "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tighten-Up-Vol-Loose-Ends/dp/B0000071O7/ref=sr_1_1_twi_aud_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1461515111&sr=8-1&keywords=loose+ends+tighten">Tighten
Up, Vol.1" compilation twice in the last month, a clear sign
that I may need some rest. Anyway, Loose Ends were a tremendously
influential UK soul group who made some noise in the US market and
are highly respected - you may know them best for " "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S00JkAwSlCg">Hangin' On A
String", an 80s classic. " "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM6Wq_dYxXQ">A Little Spice"
is the title track from their 1984 "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Spice-Expanded-Loose-Ends/dp/B005Q544JW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461515074&sr=8-1&keywords=loose+ends+spice">
debut LP, has been sampled at least once to great effect, but
here it gets a little of that adopted Brooklyn flavour with Guru
and Premier on the remix. Expect me to play more from this group in
the future!

Prince : Let's Go Crazy

I had to think about it
to be sure, but I think this is my favourite Prince track - and as
it happens, heavily quoted in the last few days due to the first
words in the intro. The opener on " "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Purple-Rain-Prince-Revolution/dp/B000002L68/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1461772379&sr=8-3&keywords=purple+rain">Purple
Rain", this is just a beast of a cut. You probably think of the
guitars when this song comes to mind, but the drums are worthy of
note too, making use of the "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linn_LM-1">Linn LM-1, which was
the first drum machine to contain actual samples of drum sounds.
"http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-36111200">Whatever
it took to get the right sound...Prince was about that.

Leaders Of The New School : What's Next?

L.O.N.S are often only
referred to these days when talking about Busta Rhymes' origins,
but never forget that they put out some very good records during
their short run! This was the Dinco-produced lead "https://www.discogs.com/Leaders-Of-The-New-School-Whats-Next/release/445845">
single from their second and final album, " "https://www.amazon.co.uk/T-I-M-E-Leaders-New-School/dp/B000002HBE/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1461607809&sr=1-3&keywords=leaders+of+the+new+school">T.I.M.E.
(The Inner Mind's Eye)" and did very well when it came out - I
remember seeing the "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAfA0lUmR-o">video a few times
in an era where you couldn't just click on what you wanted to see!
Big shout to my man DJ Omas for hooking me up with this vinyl
:)

Gang Starr : Comin For Datazz

An absolutely underrated
track from the " "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hard-Earn-Gang-Starr/dp/B000003JCL/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461503371&sr=8-1&keywords=hard+to+earn">Hard
To Earn" LP; at best, it gets glossed over, at worst, I've
heard it described in very unflattering terms. Personally, I've
always enjoyed it and thought it was a good closer. Guru's monotone
flow gives plenty of low-key quotables that I don't think would
have worked from anyone else, and Premier's fly and uncomplicated
beat bumps along at a fairly high tempo for the era. It doesn't
even have much of a hook - just an instrumental break and the odd
cut (Run
DMC - that one escaped me for ages when I was a
kid). Makes me sad to know we won't be getting any more of
this. 

Ras Kass ft. Aaron G West : Pop Life

If it wasn't for Ras'
lyrics, this would be pretty much a straight cover version of the
song of the
same name from Prince's 1985 " "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Around-World-Day-Prince/dp/B000002L7R/ref=sr_1_1_twi_aud_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1461502518&sr=8-1&keywords=around+the+world+in+a+day">Around
The World In A Day" album. It's a little more smoothed out and
less stark than the original, and of course Aaron G West's vocal
has a different character to Prince's, but I think this cut from
the " "https://raskass.bandcamp.com/album/quarterly">Quarterly"
mixtape was very well done.

[Cold 187um] Above The Law : Call It What
U Want (Instrumental)

I'll definitely play the
vocal
version of this " "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Mafia-Life-Above-Law/dp/B000002L0W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461503639&sr=8-1&keywords=black+mafia+life">Black
Mafia Life" track for you sometime; not only is it quality
Above The Law material, it's also one of the earliest 2Pac guest
appearances - people just weren't checking for him that heavily at
the time. In the meantime, enjoy the pure funk from Cold 187um aka
Big Hutch - the "http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.13154/title.big-hutch-talks-dr-dre-inventing-g-funk-and-his-two-new-albums">
true father of the G-Funk...

India Shawn & James Fauntleroy : Let Me
Show You

This has been racking up
an impressive amount of headphone time for me this month. Soulful,
seriously uptempo, with a little electronic edge, this is absolute
fire. An experienced singer and songwriter, India combined with
"http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/17666-the-flower-of-life/">Cocaine
80s frontman James Fauntleroy for the " "http://indiashawn.com/">Outer Limits EP", which doesn't sound
like anything else I'm listening to at the moment. You can hear the
whole thing "https://soundcloud.com/indiashawn/sets/outer-limits-ep">on
Soundcloud, so if you like it then make sure to buy a copy and
support!

DJ Spinna ft. Heavy : We Can Change This
World

We'll definitely revisit Spinna's
" "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Intergalactic-Soul-DJ-Spinna/dp/B000GL17AK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461773468&sr=8-1&keywords=intergalactic+soul">Intergalactic
Soul" project in the future, but this track makes it on as a
great tempo and thematic follow-up to the India Shawn cut. It's got
a bit of a broken beat vibe, and the album as a whole swerves from
this to Hip-Hop to soul and house, always maintaining his
individual spark. Well worth picking up for those of you with
eclectic taste!

Pure Pimp : Can't Fade The Funk

This is vintage, origin story stuff
right here. If you recognise the voice, you might even have heard
it on past episodes...this is none other than the man now known as
Suga Free! Under that name, he dropped his "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Street-Gospel-Suga-Free/dp/B000001EB3/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461776286&sr=8-1&keywords=suga+free">
debut LP in 1997, but 1992 saw him release a four-track project
entitled " "https://www.discogs.com/Pure-Pimp-Pimp-Of-The-Year/master/285450">Pimp
Of The Year" on Gueno Recordings. Solely produced by "https://www.discogs.com/artist/1327430-Lee-Bo">Lee Bo, who
brings the West Coast funk to the underpinnings of this cut, it
likely didn't sell many copies but this track and one more were
included on the CD of Free's " "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunday-School-Us-Suga-Free/dp/B000U1ZJDM/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1461792200&sr=1-2&keywords=suga+free+sunday+school">Sunday
School" album as bonus tracks. Even at this early stage, you
can tell that Free (who also went by the name "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzAM4fnXVKQ">Royal Rock at the
time) is a highly talented MC, who could have ripped many of the
rappers of the era a new one! So what happened between 1992 and
1997? Hey, the game is to be sold, not told...

Gang Starr : 2 Steps Ahead

Taking it allll the way
back here - back to " "https://www.amazon.co.uk/No-More-Mr-Nice-Guy/dp/B001675SSK/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1461505127&sr=1-1&keywords=no+more+mr+nice+guy">No
More Mr. Nice Guy", the first Gang Starr album. Is it just me,
or does Guru have a very Ultramagnetic-era Kool Keith "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBsgYuffXB8">flow on this
cut?

Taxi Driver : We Don't Care (We're Gonna
Do It Mix)

I don't know much about
this one, truth be told - Discogs has it in the "House" and "Future
Jazz" categories, but I got it on a "https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lifestyles-Beach-Bar-Various-Artists/dp/tracks/B000OCZ99Q?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0">
"Beach Bar" collection. The drum track definitely has a House
blueprint but the bassline is a little more live than
most, and combined with the woodwind action you end up with a
great little groove.

The Time : Cool

There was a future
episode I might have otherwise saved this for, but I thought with
the passing of Prince it was a good one to end on - you can't help
but smile when you hear it! Despite being credited to The Time, a
group formed by Prince to allow him to have an outlet for this kind
of sound, he actually wrote this track (with Dez Dickerson) and
then played every single instrument! The vocal lead is taken by
Morris Day, who faultlessly plays the rich playboy image he
cultivated.
I'll just give you a taste here - the "https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001LBEO7C/ref=dm_rogue_digital">album
is very affordable, and I recommend lovers of the funk grab a
copy!

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of
putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try
and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a
starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in
your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's
always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is
the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the
vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!