See, What Had Happened Was...

Oh Daddy - Fleetwood Mac
All Right Now - Free
Duel Of The Jester & The Tyrant - Return To Forever
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Funk From Far Far Far Away...

Today's selections for "Shit You Didn't Know Was Funky" are eclectic if not pure spaced out chill music. Translation, that's good for you "buhloone mind staters" and the pursuit of that proverbial "next plane". Also good for folks who have a need for some Jazz-Rock-Funk in their daily edu-macation. Sound it rounds out the diet.

First up we have "Oh Daddy" by Fleetwood Mac. Now I hear some of the grumbles from the Hip Hop fans reading this but gimme a sec. If you listen to the whole song (impatient beatmakers!) you'll find a nice little breakdown in the middle that'll fa'sho get your fingers dancing all over that MPC, SP12, or FruityLoops. Trust me. I've been wanting to sample this thing for ages.

Second, we dive into more conventional classic rock with Free's rendition of All Right Now. Yeah, I hear you. What's with the rock music? Well if you kindly refer to the url, it says "allthangs FUNKY" not "allthangsHIPHOP". Truth be told, this record has that blues/rock thing down pat which I like and dude is killing the vocals. As an added bonus, it's sort of storytelling jammy. I mean I'm sure all us fellers have had that woman in our lives that gave us some serious fits...what?...Oh, that's just me? Dag gum. Anyhow, peep the cut for your own mental health.

Finally, we travel to that funktafied place in time when Kings ruled and homeboys would put on some "real" armor to handle they business. None of that shooting people then jetting stuff, you had to stand up and be a man. I wonder if there was some kind of etiquette or a Miles Lane type dude to get the battles started? Anyhow, this track is hella long (11 Minutes) but it's pretty dope. Sort of like a cosmic funk journey that is the cousin on your mom's side of Parliment/Funkadelic. Also has some of that Roy Ayers feel to it. Some of you (Zak, Jer, Bob) prolly know of this album but some may not. Here is a little bio on Return To Forever. Oh and the song is called "Duel Of The Jester & The Tyrant" which is pure GZA/Genius.

RANT WARNING!

Speaking of all of the hullabaloo (sp?) over The Game vs. 50 vs. everybody deal, isn't now about the right time for folks like De La Soul, Dilated Peoples, J-Live, Hieroglyphics, KRS, Common, BlackStar, Little Brother, MF Doom, etc (i.e. True Skool Hip Hoppas) to get the shine and push that they deserve? I've been saying for years that hip hop, like all music in the past 50 years is cyclical. I guess Grand Puba was right, what goes around comes back around again. A few years ago I was riding in a car with Wise D and Mooch from DepthCharge Records and Wise voiced his theory on how Hip Hop was in its "Hair Band" stage much like the mid to late 80's in rock music. Then all of a sudden (sort of) Grunge took control and brought some freshness back into the artform. True, Grunge was just good rock music given a new "label" buy record companies, but it was refreshing for the times. I think we are in that same kind of blackhole that rock was in and my question is if not now, then when? How long are we as educated consumers, going to put up with the defamation of the kulture that we embrace? Boycotts may or may not work. Web petitions really don't do nothing. Talking to the record companies face to face is hopeless. My solution? Keep your hard earned cash out of the pockets of these non-talented fakes and pump up the True Skool artists. It's the same argument that has been made a thousand times, but it has to start with somebody, somewhere.

As my man Big Rube once said, "Right on to the real and death to the fakers". My thoughts exactly.

Brother B.

* Side Note deux: Some of the tracks you will find on The Funk are in iTunes Mp4 format so if it doesn't play right, get right, and get iTunes.

You Suckaaaaaasssssss!