Tuesday, April 12, 2005  

Lord Finesse
"Check the Method"
DJ Premier: Crooklyn Cuts, Tape B
(1996)

Why honor our Our Kid Brian Coleman's fab new tome, Rakim Told Me, with Lord Finesse refixed by DJ Premier rather than some 1988 jammy? Because both BPMD and the Lord flow like spring water. Check the technique, but don't get caught in an OshKosh jumpsuit.

B Coles is known to those who work for NAFTA's Jazz Magazine as the no-b.s. publicist, pushing saxo-mo-fones by day and beats by the pound at night. For the past 75 years he's penned XXL's "Classic Material" column, which provided the egg & seed for Rakim Told Me. The book is an extended remix on 21 classic albums, acting as the liner notes these LPs never had. For anyone who loves the Golden Era of hip-hop---and wondered whether Mantronix played a Juno or a Fairlight on "Bassline"---these pages are a must.

Coleman can write, but he lets the artists do most of the talking. For instance, here's Biz Markie on "Pickin' Boogers" from Goin' Off: "I wanted to do a record like that because I knew a lot of people that used to pick boogers."

WORD.

Read the sections on Schoolly-D's Saturday Night: The Album and Eric B & Rakim's Paid in Full.

Then order the book here.

Posted by CP | Link |

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