Nice Up the Dance comp

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Been playing this a lot--it's on Soul Jazz, 13 tracks exploring the ragga/hip-hop interface, a lot like the x00% Dynamite! series except a bit more focused. One reason I like it is that there are a lot of flat-out killer cuts here: Cutty Ranks's "Who Say Me Done" (which Simon Reynolds recently called probably his favorite ever ragga track on his blog), Dawn Penn's "No No No," Singer Blue's "If I Know Jah" (sung to a JA versioned "Still D.R.E."). Another is the programming--like the Dynamite!s, and as Tom has pointed out, the positioning of dissimilar songs next to each other allows them to talk across eras while affirming their basic intrinsic ties. The period covered is narrower (the last ten years, basically, with Tenor Saw’s 1985 “Ring the Alarm” presented in a rather clunky hip-hop mix whose beats seem to be from ’92 or so), making those ties are even more pronounced, but the range of hip-hop these tracks ape is fairly wide (g-funk for Ward 21 and Singer Blue, Cutty Ranks using the same break Cypress Hill did in “Stoned Is the Way of the Walk,” if I’m remembering right), which is good for variety. And I like how J-Live’s “Satisfied,” which hooks on an Augustus Pablo sample, is stuck in there---it’s basically an indie-hop track but because of the reggae conceit/concept it fits right in with more “mainstream”-sounding stuff, which it probably would have anyway but the JA overarch serves as a bridge.

Anyone else have thoughts on this?

― M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 23 May 2003 07:38 (twenty-two years ago)

I've been wanting to get this and you reminded me. I actually didn't know that that J-Live track sampled Pablo. The folks at Soul Jazz must love "Ring The Alarm" because it's on at least two other of their releases (I think 400% Dynamite is one of them). I'd love to hear a collection of straight-up hiphoppers that delved into dancehall (Gza's Liquid Swords is one that comes to mind, but there are other).

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Friday, 23 May 2003 07:46 (twenty-two years ago)

miss thing's "get that money" is absolutely storming. like aliens (the same one's on asa-chang & junray) found the macarena, upgraded it w/ futuristic science and beamed it back through time. who the hell is miss thing? is she singing through a vocoder?

― vahid (vahid), Friday, 23 May 2003 10:05 (twenty-two years ago)

It's on my MUST BUY list.

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Friday, 23 May 2003 11:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah of the stuff I hadn't heard Miss Thing is the winner. Good comp, well worth it.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 23 May 2003 11:22 (twenty-two years ago)

is it the original version of "no, no, no"? i have a not-quite-as-great remix in my collection already, so the answer could tip the balance for me

― zebedee (zebedee), Friday, 23 May 2003 11:45 (twenty-two years ago)

is TicoTico someone i shd know btw? (sorry, i am slow)

― zebedee (zebedee), Friday, 23 May 2003 12:05 (twenty-two years ago)

here's the track list:
1. Boomin In Your Jeep - Kenny Dope
2. Who Say Me Dun - Cutty Ranks
3. Get That Money - Miss Thing
4. Satisfied - J-Live
5. Synthesiser Voice - Pompidoo
6. Ring The Alarm (Hip-Hop Mix) - Tenor Saw
7. If I Know Jah - Singer Blue
8. Infiltrate - Sean Paul
9. Fuss Fuss - China Africa
10. Petrol - Ward 21
11. Gunshot - Kenny Dope plus Shaggy
12. No No No (Steely and Cleevie) - Dawn Penn
13. The Boom - Chaka Demus & Pliers

what do you think should be on vol 2?
I submit:
Cutty Ranks - The Stopper
Capleton: Wings of The Morning (remix)
Bobby Konders - Mack Daddy
Elephant Man - Bad man
Buju Banton - Champion

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Friday, 23 May 2003 12:26 (twenty-two years ago)

(Tico Tico = Tom when not being a moderator.)

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Friday, 23 May 2003 12:41 (twenty-two years ago)

yes for vol 2 i submit:

-some super cat stuff (signed to neptunes' star track now btw, crazy huh?)

-capleton tour remix

― Chip Morningstar (bob), Friday, 23 May 2003 13:18 (twenty-two years ago)

speaking of Super Cat, put the S.C. remix of Kris Kross's "Jump" on Vol. 2 please

― M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 23 May 2003 17:42 (twenty-two years ago)

ahh, "the stopper" is the bomb! i could do with more kenny dope productions, maybe some ragga twins, rankin don, selectah, the list goes on. even some of armand van helden's ragga tracks for AV8, though ragga-house would be a whole other comp.

― vahid (vahid), Friday, 23 May 2003 18:08 (twenty-two years ago)

btw, is that miss thing track soca? i'm still not sure i have a grip on what digital soca sounds like, exactly.

― vahid (vahid), Friday, 23 May 2003 18:09 (twenty-two years ago)

always thought soca was digital by nature, that's what differentiated it from calypso, but I'm happy to be schooled if I'm wrong (which I probably am)

― M Matos (M Matos), Friday, 23 May 2003 18:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Other tunes with a hip-hop resonance:

Kuff - Shelly Thunder
Sweet Little Rose - Major Worries (heavily borrowed by Brand Nubian)
Boops - Super Cat (bassline = Bridge is Over by BDP, many others)

― arch Ibog (arch Ibog), Friday, 23 May 2003 18:31 (twenty-two years ago)

The Miss Thing track mixes *perfectly* with the recent white label mashup of "In Da Club" rhythm w/ Mis-teeq's "Scandalous."

If you play that out, though, I expect a big up. I have scouts, too, fa rills.

― philip sherburne (philip sherburne), Friday, 23 May 2003 21:55 (twenty-two years ago)

okay let me also say that i am v. disappointed w/ ward 21's contribution. well, let me expand that to say that i am quite disappointed w/ ward 21 in general. the whole hyperviolent, appeals to extreme-music fans, quasi-wu-tang aspect really turns me off.

of course i have to admit that i was big into ward 21 when i was getting into dancehall but actually that's probably because their flows/diction aren't particularly twisted from "proper" english norms.

i think if they'd wanted to highlight a gruff/dainty vocal duo they should've gone with sean paul/mr. vegas or something (instead of "infiltrate" even, that tune has like the most played rhythm track ever).

anyway, small gripes w/ a v. good comp.

― vahid (vahid), Monday, 26 May 2003 01:36 (twenty-two years ago)

matos - i think soca is just an amalgam of the terms "soul" and "calypso", and predates digital recording.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 26 May 2003 15:45 (twenty-two years ago)

i just heard a sample of the ward 21 track on this comp and i thought it was incredible. obviously it seems to be about automatic weapons, but to me it's the most rhythmically/sonically interesting thing i've heard in a while ... the contrast between the voices of the two mc's, the sax sample. very cool.

soul jazz stuff is so expensive in canada ... $29 for the cd, $31 for the 2lp.

― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Monday, 26 May 2003 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

here's a good soca history: http://caribplanet.homestead.com/101_Soca.html

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Monday, 26 May 2003 19:37 (twenty-two years ago)

mr. salmon have you heard a sample of the ms. thing track? now that's sonically complex. i had to listen to it like fifty times before i realized she was shouting ("yeah!" "get it!" "do it!") in tiny reduced stereo-panned voice on the offbeat before each line in the chorus.

― vahid (vahid), Monday, 26 May 2003 21:27 (twenty-two years ago)

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