Get To Know H.E.R.

So after learning about the great man Afrika Bambaataa were you able to sleep last night, all excited about hearing some actual music from the guy? Have you been refreshing the browser every 5 minutes, hoping that I’ve finally posted a review of this old school gem? Are you dying with anticipation right about now? If you’ve answered yes to any of the above, you’ve just surprised the crap out of me and made me think that maybe there is a hope of a hip hop renaissance in the near future. But most likely you’ve answered no to all of them and there is no hope whatsoever but that’s beyond the point. The point of today’s entry is quite obviously the review of Planet Rock: The Album (so as not to confuse it with Planet Rock: The Song I guess). Before we go any further into this writeup, you should know that many of the songs were actually from earlier than 1986 and Planet Rock serves more as a compilation in a way. Also remember that this is an old school album and the beats and rhymes may sound a little outdated. But then again, the rhymes you hear on any given old school album is better than some of the crap that Souljah Boy is pulling out of his ass so maybe you guys won’t care. And I’m going off on a tangent again. So, without further ado I give to you, Planet Rock: The Album.

1. Planet Rock - The voice effects in the beginning give kind of a feel of an old school T-Pain. But unlike  actual T-Pain tracks, this track pretty much rocks. There’s huge breaks between actual verses on this song and you’re probably not used to that. You just have to understand that back in the day, hip hop actually incorporated all of its elements. These days, it seems like the only aspect of hip hop that have survived is emceeing (which isn’t even referred to as such anymore) but back then the emcee knew that it was part of a bigger machine.

2. Looking For The Perfect Beat - So, a common question I receive is that if I claim the majority of  Crunk music to suck ass because of its simplistic lyrics, how can I call something like this a classic track? Well, one answer is that this was back then in the beginnings of hip hop. The art of emceeing has evolved quite a bit since then and if you can’t even rap better than these guys that can only mean hip hop’s devolved. Second, as mentioned above, the emcee wasn’t the forefront of hip hop at the time and it was evenly concentrated. The DJ on this track is equally as important as the emcees. Hip hop these days don’t even concentrate on anything else but the emcee, hence people just calling it rap. If you claim rapping to be the center of hip hop, God forbid I hear some actual dope rhymes on a track once in a while. And geez, I’ve strayed. I’m sorry, the song itself is dope.

3. Renegades of Funk - Fans of MF Doom might recognize the intro from that one track with Mr Fantastic. Fans of good music might recognize the track to be an infectious as hell, great song. I personally enjoy the sections without the emcee better but that’s just me.
4. Frantic Situation -  It’s an average track, especially compared to the previous three tracks. It’s also quite annoying in some parts. Thankfully, it’s also the shortest track on the album so we don’t have to listen to too much of it.

5. Who You Funkin With - Remember how I said, the emcee wasn’t the main focus of hip hop back then? Doesn’t mean that there weren’t any tracks that put rhymes in the spotlight at all. The first three fourths of the song lets the emcees take center stage and not a single line is wasted.

6. Go Go Pop - And the rapping steps back and takes its place among the rest once again. But who cares? It’s still pretty good although it kinda drags a bit past the halfway point.

7. They Made A Mistake - A banging way to end the album.

Final Score: 9.0

I may be a bit generous in giving it a 9.0 but taken in the full context of the whole old school hip hop movement, I don’t think that score’s too far off. This is a great album to listen to if you want to know what hip hop sounded like back in the days. People talk about old school these days, they talk about B.I.G. and Tupac. Fuck outta here. This is old school and it’s old school at its finest.

Afrika Bambaataa was one of the most important figures in the development of hip hop through its early years. He was a well recognized DJ and formed two crews: the Jazzy 5 and the Soulsonic Force. Many people who listen to hip hop these days probably won’t know any of his songs, and although his music is well respected, it’s often not held in the same light as other classic old school records. His main legacy is through the work that he did with the community. Though he was originally a member of the Black Spades, a gang from the Bronx, he eventually saw that it was not the right way to go. He decided to use hip hop for a more positive cause, to draw young African Americans out of gangs and towards the culture. In fact, with the forming of the Universal Zulu Nation, Bambaataa was largely responsible for making hip hop into a distinguishable culture at all. Just a quick runthrough of a legend before we listen to his music tomorrow, in the next issue of the Hip Hop Odyssey.