One of the most inspiring pieces of rap music.
RAMMELLZEE VS K-ROB - BEAT BOP
Beat Bop is the result from one of the most peculiar collaborations in music business. Three underground artists teamed up (or battled each other to be more precise) in order to create a hip hop track which sounded extremely different from the other songs of that era.
Jean Michel Basquiat (1960-1988) was an prominent graffiti artist and painter, famous initially for his cryptic epigrams incorporating punk, hip hop music, street art and his neo-expressionist paintings (valued today at millions of dollars).
Rammellzee (1960-2010) was also an influential visual artist with natural sleekness in rapping (you can tell from the track..,). He has been credited to introducing avantgarde elements in hip hop music. Even his (legal) name is pure art, which is stylized as RAMMΣLLZΣΣ and has the following breakdown:
- RAM
- M for Magnitude
- Σ for Sigma (the summation operator)
- L for Longitude
- L for Latitude
- Z for z-bar
- Σ for Sigma
- Σ for Sigma
K-Rob was the youngest member of the project and a gifted graffiti artist and rapper. At the time the track was recorded, he was still in his teens. In 2004, he recorded with Ram the sequel (Beat Bop Part 2).
Some interesting trivia covering the history of the track are the following:
- The rapping in the song is a actually a rap battle, presenting the alternate realms of two personas: the street corner pimp (by Rammellzee) and the school boy (by K-Rob)
- Basquiat initially wanted to provide also his vocal contribution to the track, only to be rejected by the other members. Actually, he delivered the artwork for the cover and label of the vinyl, while it is debatable whether he produced the track (Ram had claimed that he supplied only the money).
- Beat Bop was released by Tartown in 1983, which was a one-off label funded by Basquiat to produce 500 units. It was re-released in the same year by Profile Records, curated by Cory Robbins.
- Due to small amount of units, the original pressings are highly sought by the collectors at huge prices. Sotheby's has sold a sealed copy in an auction at 126K USD (unbelievable!).
For additional info about Beat Bop, this link shares the view of Ram, K-Rob, Cory Robbins and Al Diaz (early collaborator of Basquiat).
As most of hip hop listeners, I came across Beat Bop via the Street Sounds Electro compilation. The main difference from the typical hip hop sounds is the arrangement scheme; slow tempo, absence of 4 on the floor beat at various points (if my ears do not mistake me) and heavy use of sound effects (echo and reverb).
To conclude, you may listen a live version of the track (K-Rob's verses):
