Sugarhill Gang
80’s rap remixed
I imagine it’s pretty hard to remix songs that are as oft-played and over-sampled as much of the Sugarhill catalogue– and when I saw Still The Joint: Sugarhill Remixed in my local music emporium a few summers ago, I was a little dubious. But hey, it was the right price, so I picked it up and let it grow on me. Roots Manuva’s remix of ‘The Message’ by Grandmaster Flash, particularly, has been a regular fixture on my headphones ever since, with its shadowy horns and tight, controlled bass. Even better, though, is the way other tracks slink out of my iPod’s shuffle mode and take me by surprise, like the strut-worthy Two Lone Swordsmen remix of The Sequence’s ‘Funk You Up’.A chilled bag of electro funk.
Sugarhill Gang – The Message (Roots Manuva Remix)
Sugarhill Gang – Funk You Up (Two Lone Swordsmen Remix)
buy this cd
Well it’s been a couple of days without a comment, and I only held back because this post just isn’t what I’m into. But I still appreciate any post made. It takes all types to make a whole, thanks.
first song is not by The Sugar Hill Gang, it was originally done by Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five.
They’re remixes dude.
strange synchronicities come up these days (very cool remixes btw): so i saw jurassic 5 live the other day, and was thoroughly impressed; and as i was looking at these accomplished black musicians play to an all white, all-middle-class, all-wealthy audience doing the ho’s and ha’s, two things occurred to me: a) the last hip-hop show i paid to see was kurtis blow in 83 (jeez!), and b) what would grandmaster flash have thought if somebody had revealed to him the future of hip-hop as an all-culture pervading global mass medium.
the other thing that happened to me was that my dad, who is 70 and into gospel music, declared that he wanted to rap. and he sent me a demo to boot (which is best imagined as an alternate reality where johnny cash was in the beastie boys and singing cliff richards’ power to all our friends). so i was frantically looking for a way to explain to him what a long way rapping had come from the days of the sugarhill gang (you know, in-tune, on-the-beat, rhyme-at-the-end, that sort of thing).
so thanks for that sync-ing post (and if you feel like it, drop by my site, where i’m working on a question that could capture the puzzlement of 30 yrs of hip-hop. cheers …
aurgasm used to be a lot better than it is now . . . .
Not true. Paul does a great job with Aurgasm. If it’s one thing I can expect from him, it’s the unexpected.
He’s opened my ears to a variety of artists and styles I would have never given the time of day otherwise.
Keep on keepin’ on, Paul!
Very nice!
I love it!
More updates would be appreciated. I remember being able to check here every few days and finding something new but that hasn’t been the case for a little while now. Keep doing your thing, man
The Funk You Up remix is superb!