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At some point early in my grade school years, having only recently become cognizant of any music that didn't have some sort of educational purpose behind it, Run DMC released their classic collaboration with Aerosmith, Walk This Way. I loved the song, often sitting through several blocks of videos on MTV from groups I had absolutely no interest in just to catch a replay of what is, arguably, the seminal hip hop crossover (this was back before MTV realized there was money to be made off of black culture and reality television, filling most of their air time almost exclusively with rock and metal, so trust that watching MTV for any amount of time required a fair amount of effort for someone who, even at an early age, only had interest in hip hop). Yet I also remember that a lot of the older kids around my way hated the song, upset that Run DMC had sold out by introducing rock music (and even worse, rock music fans) to hip hop. At the time I didn't understand what the fuss was about - expanding hip hop into other genres could only make the music better, right?
Fast forward to 2009, where O.G. rappers have become Grizzly Bear groupies, the top selling rapper wants to become a rock star and one of the top singles of the year sampled Weezer. Perhaps it's a sign of me getting older, or falling out of touch, but there are days when I just don't recognize hip hop as being part of the same culture that I grew up with, days when I can relate to those older kids who were so pissed off at Run DMC.
So with that said, it should come as no surprise to hear that my expectations for Mick Boogie's latest concept mixtape, Re-Living Thing built around remixes of songs from Swedish rockers Peter, Bjorn & John's album Living Thing, were not particularly high. It wasn't the idea of using PB&J for the source material that bothered me; producers have never had much trouble flipping rock samples into classic beats, and this tape has some moments of particularly good production. No, I think what initially bothered me was the idea that so many "authentic" artists - Jazzy Jeff, Talib, Black Milk, Little Brother, Marco Polo - were participating in a project that, at least on its face, seemed to be a blatant attempt at pandering to the hipster set. I could be wrong - maybe Jazzy Jeff really is a fan of Peter and Bjorn, maybe Big Pooh is an avid reader of Pitchfork - but too often hip hop ends up diluting itself when it chases after other genres, and there are several examples of that here.
There are some bright spots on the mixtape, with many of the younger artists, Naledge and Mickey Factz in particular, putting in solid performances, but many of the more established artists end up sounding ridiculous. Talib Kweli, for example, seems to be auditioning for a spot on the Black Eyed Peas roster with his over-the-top pop collaboration with 6th Sense, I Want You. By the end of the song you'll be asking yourself if this really could be the same dude that was once a member of Black Star.
Perhaps my favorite moment of the mixtape comes when Buckshot, fantastically oblivious to the target audience for this mixtape, drops a reference to loading up his gun and shooting at kids "with tight jeans and funny shoes." Admittedly there's a brief sample of ESG's classic break from UFO in there that may have led him to believe that this was a track for the old school heads rather than the P4K crowd, but his very appearance on this project calls into question the whole "back-to-the-roots-of-hip-hop" manifesto that he's been preaching with KRS-1 recently.
In this case I'm willing to forgive Buckshot's brief moment of hypocrisy because the Marco Polo-produced song, which also features GZA, is perhaps the best cut on the mixtape:
Buckshot, GZA and Tabi Bonney - The Feeling (produced by Marco Polo)
Here's one of the other songs on the tape that I did like:
Naledge and Mickey Facts - Blue Period Picasso (produced by nVMe)
Here's a link to download Mick Boogie's Re-Living Thing mixtape. (usershare link ganked from illroots).
And here's a video for the mixtape:
Mick Boogie / Peter Bjorn & John / Big Pooh, Phil Nash and Chaundon - Stay This Way (Jazzy Jeff Remix)
9/14/2009 9:00:51 PM posted by Fresh