Tune #110: Rammellzee vs K-Rob - Beat Bop

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):

Tune #109: E-Razor - Mantra

Though an overlooked tune, Mantra by E-Razor belongs to the best tunes of its genre.

E-RAZOR - MANTRA

E-Razor was a music project by Oliver Laib and Martin Eyerer. The partners in crime were frequent collaborators within 1997-2003, producing under various aliases, such as Dixon Hill, Nervouz Boys, Van Helsing, among others. They surely adopted the classic convention of 90's producers by using different pseudonyms according to the music genre they represented, whether it was trance, techno or minimal!

E-Razor alias focused on the hard trance sound, flavored with acidic elements and seamlessly interchanged with different styles of trance (progressive or goa). It was also their most successful project, featured on two Global Underground mixes (Mantra in GU:007 by Paul Oakenfold and India in GU:008 by Nick Warren) and licensed in several DJ mixes and compilations.

What makes Mantra a trance masterpiece is how the deep bass is interchanged with the melancholic piano pads. Though it is a hard trance composition, it creates a feeling of calmness. Mantra was released as a single (with Yeti on the B-side) in 1997 by Technogold, a German label which re-released mostly techno and trance classics between 1997-2003.

So, what are they up to now?

Oliver Laib (often confused with fellow German Oliver Lieb) still works as a producer, but for other artists. On the other hand, Martin Eyerer is a successful label owner of Kling Klong (along with Rainer Weichhold) and a versatile composer of electronic dance music, extending his rich heritage for more than 25 years!

Tune #108: Underworld - Born Slippy

At first glance, you may believe that this post is related with the classic bomb called Born Slippy. Well, that is not exactly the case. The track that you have in mind is the NUXX version, which was and still is honored in either massive party events or local parties held in houses. I was always amazed by the catholic acceptance of this track, especially by non-listeners of electronic dance music (yeah, I know that Trainspotting movie is the reason, but its popularity is anyway remarkable).

A common misconception regarding Born Slippy is that the NUXX version is considered the original one (of course I was also a victim of this false impression). I guess that all started after the release of Trainspotting (1996), one year after the release of the track. Born Slippy was released as a single in 1995 by Junior Boy's Own. The A-side of the single is the actual original version, as presented below:

UNDERWORLD - BORN SLIPPY (ORIGINAL VERSION)

As you can listen, the composition shares no similarities with the well-known version; absence of vocals, different pounding beats and a never-ending melody are the key components that produce a techno-flavored breakbeat track, which is an absolute banger. 

It's a pity that the original version does not enjoy considerable recognition by the advocates of electronic music. However, Underworld have been compensated with commercial and artistic success with Dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994), one of the most influential studio albums in electronic dance music.

Underworld exists as a group from the late 80's, led by Karl Hyde & Rick Smith and focused on synth-pop music. Partnered with DJ Darren Emerson in 1991, they changed their sound to a techno-ish dance approach and achieved huge success ever since. In 2000, Emerson retired from the group in order to spare time to DJ all over the world and run his independent label (Underwater Records). The group continues as a duo, alive and kicking with astonishing live performances.

If I am not mistaken, they were scheduled to perform in Greece the past July, but the corresponding music festival was cancelled (COVID-19 had  different plans). Their latest Greek (non-)presence was in 2007 and certainly not a pleasant one, since Rick Smith was injured by a brick! 

Let us hope their next performance would be bloodless!