Get To Know H.E.R.

Moving right along, after yesterday’s absent post (not that any of you probably cared), we reach the profile of a true legend: Run DMC. The group, which is comprised of Jospeh “Rev Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mitzell (R.I.P.), is without a doubt, one of the greatest not only in hip hop but music in general. I think they’re probably the most popular pre 90s hip hop group there is. People may not know Whodini. They may not know Grandmaster Flash. But they sure as hell know Run DMC.

That’s for good reason too. Run DMC embodied the quintessential B-Boy, which in those days meant that they lived, breathed, and ate hip hop. And it showed in their music. Their first album was considered classic when it came out and is still held in high regard. Forget the fact that one of their members have now passed away, another’s sold his soul to reality TV in an attempt to remain culturally relevant, and who even knows what the hell DMC is upto these days. Back in the old days, they were the shit.

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.

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Partly because I feel this is necessary and partly because I don’t feel like writing a review everyday, I give to you, my 2 and a half loyal readers, the artist profile. On the day before I review an album (excluding those I review for the new album section), I’ll give you a brief overview of the emcee/group at hand provided that it’s the first time he/she/they’ve appeared on the site. So in lieu of the upcoming, highly anticipated (who am I kidding) Licensed to Ill review, here is the Beastie Boys in a paragraph. Or two.

The Beastie Boys consist of three emcees: Michael Diamond aka Mike D, Adam Yauch aka MCA, and Adam Horovitz aka Ad Rock (who’s stepbrother actually went to my high school while I was there). They didn’t start off as a hip hop group and actually started as a punk band called The Young Aboriginies. They later realized that this name sucked hard and changed it to the Beastie Boys. What they didn’t realize until master producer Rick “totally messed up Linkin Park’s last album” Rubin of 99 problems fame pointed it out to them was that their punk music also sucked hard. And so, with that, the Beastie Boys as we know the group, possibly the first popular white act in hip hop, was born. I can go on here and talk about the rest of the group’s history, but you’ll get to read that along with their album reviews (I can promise you that the majority of their stuffs gonna be reviewed on here because I happen to be a Beastie stan).

The Beasties are mostly known for their heavy guitar riff production and their often screamed lyrics. Now Mike D, MCA, and Ad Rock are not the most gifted lyricists in this part of town. But for some reason or another, I find myself not giving a damn. Simple lyrics or not, their music still rocks. The most frequent complaint I hear about the group is that they scream their vocals and that somehow that deters them from the song. I call bullshit on that one because the same people who complain about the Beasties are the ones who bump Lil Jon on a regular basis. All the dude does is scream and he only screams the same three words and you guys somehow like his music. So suck it up and give the Beastie Boys a fair chance.