Independance Cha-Cha

ParisDjs.com in a recent podcast mix focusing on contemporary African music, state that "Africa is the future" and while I believe this is an undeniable truth, the future wont sound like a Fela Kuti record released in 1975, but rather closer to the music that artsists like Baloji are making today. Unlike many of the artists included in the ParisDJs mix, Baloji is not using the same formula of blaring horn sections, thundering congas and chicken-scratch guitars as his vehicle, but rather using the influence of African music of the last 60+ years to guide his politically charged rapping into the future where Africa is king.

GroovesGrooves No. 1 - Live at the Velvet Lounge

My first mix. Live at the Velvet Lounge explores thick bass lines, smoke-filled horn sections, dripping piano and the hip hop that could never be played on the radio. Can't give away anymore details, but a tracklist is included. This is the soundtrack to your night at the place where champagne dreams and smoke-filled fantasies come true. Cover design by Eydie McConnell.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ynygzgjld5m

Mind Fusion Vol.1

Madlib - Mind Fusion Vol. 1 (???, 2004)

Madlib is one of my favorite hip hop producers of all time. His body of work goes so deep, constantly making groundbreaking beats, and redefining the concept of what a beat is. By thoroughly sampling from the deep bombshelter of jazz, funk, soul, hip hop and more recently Bollywood and Brazilian music, his breadth is huge. This man can boast working with MF Doom, J Dilla, Talib Kweli, Ghostface Killa, Erykah Badu, Mos Def.... basically an endless list of amazing hip hop artists, but also having worked with legendary Brazillian drummer Mamão Conti of Azymuth on a collaborative album. Madlib's alias "the Beat Konducta" is not just a slick nickname, but really a fitting title for him as he literally orchestrates samples, loops and beats to create the perfect track.

There's a lot to say about Madlib, and unfortunately I don't have time right now to fully delve into a deep study on the artistic significance of Madlib's groundbreaking beat constructions. Instead I'm going to look at the album at hand, Madlib's Mind Fusion Vol. 1. There is not much information available about this record (or any of the other 4 Mind Fusion records), and the official Madlib discography page makes no mention of it either. Regardless, this is definitely Madlib's work at hand. Each volume in the series runs like a mixtape, and this first one is somewhat of an early Stones Throw sampler with remixes of Oh No, Quasimoto, Jaylib, Madvillain, but also Method Man and Common.

This is a really great mixtape, a lot of fun to listen to. My favorite track on here is probably the Dudley Perkins song, but the Wildchild tracks are also super ripe. I'm not going to post the tracklist on here, but trust me in that you need to hear this whether you're new to Madlib or not.

For more information on Madlib check out the Stone's Throw website for more info about the Mind Fusion series check out the Rappcats blog.

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