by Sara Perman
Hey guys! You're listening to this month's production of In Other News by the Alaska Teen Media Institute right here on 90.3 KNBA. I'm Sara Perman and I'll be your DJ. This month I'll be bringing you something you haven't heard much of yet this year from ATMI. I'm going to bring you rap. From the 80s' till today hip-hop has been a building phenomenon. With all of rap's different varieties and sounds, it encompasses much of the culture of the past 20 years.
JUST A FRIEND- Perhaps you have heard this first song, lets say…way back in 1989? Rapper Biz Markie, hailing from New York, released this song on his gold album The Biz Never Sleeps way back in the late 80s. The song raced to the top of the charts. Unfortunately, Biz Markie's career ended shortly thereafter because of a lawsuit against him. He continued to DJ and even showed up in a few TV shows and movie here and there. In 2002, Mario remixed the song and once again it made the top charts so you should be sure to recognize it. Here is “Just a Friend” by Biz Markie.
WORST COMEST TO WORST- After many accidental run ins during the early nineties at various hip hop shows, the two rappers Evidence and Rakaa decided to put their talent together to form the group Dilated Peoples. Soon after they added turntablist DJ Rabu to the group. Not long thereafter the three were recording their first singles “Work the Angles” and “Third Degree.” In 2001 Dilated Peoples released the album The Expansion Team with the hit “Worst comes to Worst”.
CONCRETE SCHOOLYARD- In 1993, the six piece group Jurassic 5 formed- it consisted of four rappers and two turntableists. In 1997, their self-entitled EP was released. The group's sound was based on old school hip hop acts like Native Tongues Posse, De La Soul, Jungle Brothers, and A Tribe Called Quest. If you listen carefully to this next song from the EP, you may even hear references to old school rap. This song is called “Concrete Schoolyard”.
HAND ME DOWNS- So we've taken you back to the “concrete streets, with original beats from real live Mcs.” Now it is time for something a little bit…fresher. Right now on College Music Journal the Soul Position album Things go better with RJ and AL is in the top ten. Soul Position is made up of RJD2 and Blueprint- RJ produces while Blueprint is the voice of the group. Their CD was released earlier this year, and even though the group would not be considered mainstream they certainly have become very popular in the underground and college scenes. This next song is their current hit. “Hand-me-downs”.
YOU'RE FIT BUT YOU KNOW IT- The British rapper Mike Skinner began experimenting with music when he was only 5 years old, now 23 years later he is one of the most influential rappers from Britain. You might recognize him as The Streets. His debut album Original Pirate Material was nominate d for best album, best urban act, best breakthrough artist and best British male artist in the 2002 Brit Awards. In 2004 he released a new single that would become his highest selling best known song. Here is The Streets “You're Fit but You Know it.”
SOWETO- So I've shown you the new, the old, and now it's time for my final and favorite song. The group Hieroglyphics, originally known as Hiero Imperium, was formed in the mid nineties. After being dropped from their record company, Heiro created their own label. About the same time they changed their name from Hiero Imperium to Hieroglyphics because of a fan site with that name.. They have released two albums under their own independent label, 3 rd Eye Vision in 1998 and Full Circle in 2003. Between that time they worked with other artists to produce single tracks. This one, my favorite, was a combination of Hieroglyphics and female R&B singer songwriter Goapele. This is the 2001 release- Soweto. That's all from me today, thanks for listening.
