soleil rare 9 - boom bap.

A little bit of old school, a little bit of new school. Holla.

Gza/Genius - 0% Finance. 

Gza, one of the Wu-Tang generals, is widely considered as one of the best lyricist to ever touched a mic. As time went by, he kept in the shadow of the charismatic stars of the Wu-Tang, Method Man, Ghostface, ODB and Rza being the most successfull. Through the years, Gza also kept his independance, switching labels many times. He released "Pro Tools" in 2008 on Babygrande Records, when it served as a side label for artists from the Wu-Tang stable. 

"0% Finance" was produced by old timer Jose "Choco" Reynoso. The beat is based on a repetitive guitar riff and drum pattern, allowing the listener to focus on Gza's flow and lyrics. 

9th Wonder & Murs - Are You Ready ? 

As a listener, you gotta love this era, for being able to have this kind of quality music free of charge. Indeed, "Sweet Lord" was made available online as a free album. 

The formula here is pretty simple : 9th Wonder provides the beat, Murs provides the lyrics and presence behind the mic. And it works perfectly. I ignore if that beat was made before or after 9th's transition from software beat-making to hardware production, but it clearly sounds different from what he delivered for Little Brother and others. Making the dynamic work around the kicks and the crashes, 9th Wonder offers a nonetheless noddy beat, on which Murs articulates efficient short verses.

Guilty Simpson - Robbery. 

Off one of the (arguably) best albums of 2008, "Robbery" is the kind of rap song you can play in your car, or in a party to make the crowd go wild, or in whatever occasion that requires a rise of the testosterone rate in the air. It's ruff, it's tough, it's... well, you can picture the hood, the guys pumping iron...
Mr. Porter's (yeah, aka Denaun Porter, from Eminem's super group D12) beat ain't no joke. And what about Guilty's charisma. His deep voice surely helps, but his lyrics are also clearly responsible for raising the rap fans' interest. The chorus, or maybe it's just called a gimmick, here is pretty simple, but you'll end up singing it.

D.I.T.C. - Day One. 

For some reason, D.I.T.C. is worshipped in Japan, so much that there are special editions of their albums or bootleg originating from there. The "All Love" album was released as a Japanese record in 2000, one year after Big L's murder. 

What makes this track a classic is the high level rapping, provided by underground heavyweights A.G., Big L, Diamond D, Lord Finesse and O.C., as well as the 90's-flavored production of Diamond D. The beat is so on point (even if repetitive and predictible) that it's regularly used in freestyles and battles, up to today. 

MC Serch ft. Red Hot Lover Tone, Nasty Nas & Chubb Rock - Back To The Grill. 

Even if MC Serch had previously gained some fame with 3rd Bass, it's hard not to admit the success of this track was also due to the impeccable performances of the featured guests. The video also helped. Being one of the first appearance of Nas on record, the track is now thought to have helped the now Queensbridge superstar creating a buzz in the rap game. 

Well, the album didn't score big numbers and today, everybody forgot about MC Serch but back then, he was one of the main acts, signed on Def Jam. Note that Serch is white, and back then it didn't seem to be much of a problem (compared to the whole controversy around Eminem). Though, he's still active in the hip hop game, especially on radio waves.

Blu & Exile - No Greater Love. 

In 2007, MC Blu and producer Exile partnered and delivered one of the best (if not the best) albums of the last years, called "Below The Heavens". The whole thing is sweet, deep, comforting, a real delight in your ears. 

Containing samples from Oscar Peterson's "There Is No Greater Love" and Smokey Robinson & The Mirales "Theme from Love Story", it's not hard to imagine the lyrical direction Blu took in this song. 

And how do you rate Exile's chopping game ? Sweeeeeet. 

Evidence ft. Elzhi & Aloe Blacc - To Be Determined. 

Taken from "The Layover EP" by Mr. Slow Flow, better known as Evidence, "To Be Determined" features the then underrated Elzhi and Aloe Blacc. It was indeed released in 2008, when Elzhi was still considered Detroit's best kept secret, before he released his tribute to Nas "Elmatic". It was released before Aloe Blacc made himself famous outside the hip hop community with his "Good Things" album, before "I Need A Dollar" and his endless tours. 

The beat is laced by heavyweight Alchemist, Evidence's long time collaborator, and one of the most respected producer in the rap industry. It will instantly make your head nod. 

Black Eyed Peas - Joints & Jam. 

To be honest, I'm fed up with the current BEP storm, so I felt like reminding what was BEP's sound back in the days. So here's "Joints & Jam", from the "Bulworth" soundtrack. As you can notice, no Fergie, no weird outfits, just b-boys giving an honest hip hop performance. That was 1998. That was a long time ago. I can't believe what BEP became...

By the way, If you haven't seen the movie, go watch it. It seems the soundtrack was more successful than the movie (well the record is one of the most consistant soundtracks you'll ever listen to), but just to reward Warren Beatty's efforts, do yourself a favor. 

Black Milk ft. Pharoahe Monch, Sean Price & DJ Premier - The Matrix.

In retrospect, 2008 was a good year for die-hard hip hopers. It proved that a certain spirit of classic boom bap had survived, through many years of dirty south/crunk invasion.
Since he made his way through the struggle of releasing a full lenght album in 2005, Black Milk had appeared as the guy who would resurrect the old spirit of hip hop. With his trademark cocktail of hard live drums and chopped samples, Detroit's son almost succeeded. Almost, because listeners had a hard time rating him the best producer of the mic, a title he has been claiming for.
On "The Matrix", his partnership with fellow Randow Axe member Sean Price, and underground top dog Pharoahe Monch, Black Milk doesn't follow the easy path, by confronting two veteran lyricists. However, with the help of the sample from Tangerine Dream, Milk did a great job on the boards. A banging track.

The Notorious B.I.G. - Juicy (Pete Rock's version).

Ah, one those beats that's overshadowed by a controversy over creative fatherhood. It goes like this : Pete Rock invited Puffy and Biggie to his crib, they heard a Mtume-sampling beat floating in the air, and once back home, they had Trackmasters' Poke remake the beat. That's the way it goes in the biz. But don't worry for the Soul Brother n°1, money probably sorted the whole thing out.
The original you hear in this "Soleil Rare" compilation is from a mixtape released in 2008. Using the same Mtume sample as the "official" Puffy/Poke's version, the main difference lays in the drum pattern. Apart from that, Biggie's part is the same, idem for Total's chorus. And if you don't know, now you know. A classic to cool everything down.