If I were a producer, this is what I’d make
I’ve been in and around music for most of my life. Had a stint working in it and took a step back so that I could love it again. Hip-Hop is the foundation from which I built my taste and library from. It shaped me into the audiophile I am today.
Over the past many years, hip-hop has become stale to me. Innovation was rare. All these rappers and producers started sounding the same…interchangeable even. I had always been a fan of other genres but with the dying musicality of hip-hop, I went further…dipping into Punk, Classic Rock, Alternative and even a little country (yeah, I said country. Don’t hate).
Hip-hop will always be my first musical love and I keep my ear to the ground always hoping that there will be something different from the norm, breaking out of its proverbial mold. I’m not saying that there hasn’t been good hip-hop music out there, but few that I can say that is truly out of the box.
Well I stumbled upon one of those gems yesterday whilst cruising the 2 Dope Boyz site. I had heard of Macklemore but hadn’t heard too much of his music thus far. But the download was free and the Twittersphere was buzzing so I copped that ish.
The VS. EP is a collaborative effort between Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and it blew my fucking mind. The use of non-traditional samples and they way they’re arranged by Lewis is so refreshing. He clearly has diverse musical taste and isn’t afraid to show it. Macklemore was described by a friend as “emo rap,” (not that this is a bad thing, he says) which really made me LOL. But I see it differently, it’s poetic, passionate and full of substance. Thank you for saying something real. To top it off…both Macklemore & Lewis are from Seattle, my home town. I love that the local boys are making incredibly good music.
The first track, “Crew Cuts,” has a neck breaking bass guitar lick sampled from The Bravery’s “Believe.”. It hits hard like Pacquiao’s fist on Hatton’s face. But my favorite track is “Life is Cinema” which samples The Killer’s “All These Things That I’ve Done,” that I went crazy on when I heard it. (If you’re not knowin The Killers, go get hip to it.)
I could continue to ramble on this but the best way for you to know the genius of this EP, is to listen for yourself so go cop that free ish. Right. Now.
When is the LP dropping? I think this might be the musical equivalent to Blue Magic.
EDIT :: I was just reminded that Macklemore was in Elevated Elements. Ohhh! OK, I remember now.