What are some essential SP-12 / SP-1200 / MPC60 albums?
November 17, 2010 11:26 AM Subscribe
What do you recommend I check out as far as classic hip hop with heavy, layered sampling with the low-res sound of old Akai and EMU samplers?
I love Fear of a Black Planet, It takes a nation of millions, We Can't Be Stopped, 3 Feet High and Rising, Guerillas in Tha Mist, and (a little later but still essential MPC), of course Entroducing. Most of these feature lots of layering of low sample rate samples, grit and choppyness and all. Love it. But seriously, pretty much all I know are the above albums. What are some more classics I should check out? I definitely only like stuff that's really sample heavy. I've worked at record stores for 10 years, (nobody ever plays rap), so obscure is good.
I love Fear of a Black Planet, It takes a nation of millions, We Can't Be Stopped, 3 Feet High and Rising, Guerillas in Tha Mist, and (a little later but still essential MPC), of course Entroducing. Most of these feature lots of layering of low sample rate samples, grit and choppyness and all. Love it. But seriously, pretty much all I know are the above albums. What are some more classics I should check out? I definitely only like stuff that's really sample heavy. I've worked at record stores for 10 years, (nobody ever plays rap), so obscure is good.
I clicked on this question just to suggest Guerillas in the Mist!
Del tha Funkee Homosapien - Press Rewind (and the whole Both Sides of the Brain album) gets close to this aesthetic.
Also, DJ Vadim, USSR album (specifically The Terrorist, featuring Moshun Man), but that may be a little sparse.
posted by activitystory at 11:42 AM on November 17, 2010
Del tha Funkee Homosapien - Press Rewind (and the whole Both Sides of the Brain album) gets close to this aesthetic.
Also, DJ Vadim, USSR album (specifically The Terrorist, featuring Moshun Man), but that may be a little sparse.
posted by activitystory at 11:42 AM on November 17, 2010
Anything produced by early Premier. Gangstarr or Jeru, for exmaple.
posted by milarepa at 11:50 AM on November 17, 2010
posted by milarepa at 11:50 AM on November 17, 2010
Yeah, as of 2007, DJ Premier was still using a MPC60 and an S950 as his primary samplers. (However, if you read to the end of the article, he eventually dumps everything into ProTools.)
Also, if you haven't already seen it, this 2007 Village Voice article on the SP1200 has a lot of great info, such as:
Pete Rock: Everything that you ever heard from me back in the day was the SP-1200. That machine made "Reminisce" ["They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)"], "Straighten It Out," "Shut 'Em Down," "Jump Around."
posted by alb at 11:57 AM on November 17, 2010
Also, if you haven't already seen it, this 2007 Village Voice article on the SP1200 has a lot of great info, such as:
Pete Rock: Everything that you ever heard from me back in the day was the SP-1200. That machine made "Reminisce" ["They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)"], "Straighten It Out," "Shut 'Em Down," "Jump Around."
posted by alb at 11:57 AM on November 17, 2010
4 favorites - not sure if it fits exactly what you want.
Saul Williams:
List of Demands
Talk to Strangers
Penny for a Thought
Dan le Sac vs Scroobious Pip:
Thou Shalt Always Kill
The Beat that my Heart Skipped
Immortal Technique:
Freedom of Speech
Harlem Streets
The Poverty of Philosophy
The land of the Gun
The Cause of Death
Talib Kweli:
Fly that Knot
Certified Samourai
posted by Nanukthedog at 12:20 PM on November 17, 2010
Saul Williams:
List of Demands
Talk to Strangers
Penny for a Thought
Dan le Sac vs Scroobious Pip:
Thou Shalt Always Kill
The Beat that my Heart Skipped
Immortal Technique:
Freedom of Speech
Harlem Streets
The Poverty of Philosophy
The land of the Gun
The Cause of Death
Talib Kweli:
Fly that Knot
Certified Samourai
posted by Nanukthedog at 12:20 PM on November 17, 2010
If you don't know them already, the early EPMD albums have a lot of the sound that you like:
Let the Funk Flow
Gold Digger
Ditto the first couple of Ice Cube albums (the first of which was produced by the Bomb Squad):
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
The Wrong Nigga to Fuck Wit
A little more obscure, you might like New Kingdom, who have a very gritty, choppy sound that reminds me of the stuff you cite:
Unicorns Were Horses
posted by googly at 2:26 PM on November 17, 2010
Let the Funk Flow
Gold Digger
Ditto the first couple of Ice Cube albums (the first of which was produced by the Bomb Squad):
AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted
The Wrong Nigga to Fuck Wit
A little more obscure, you might like New Kingdom, who have a very gritty, choppy sound that reminds me of the stuff you cite:
Unicorns Were Horses
posted by googly at 2:26 PM on November 17, 2010
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posted by cazoo at 11:37 AM on November 17, 2010