*does 'The Mayor' dance from 'Rap City'*
I actually put the 'History' mixes together months ago. Some of my friends have actually bumped this for a minute. I did say however, that I was gonna open the floodgates. I see no point in holding back when it comes to anything anymore. Everyone and their Mama that sees me, knows me, or has encounterd me knows this off-top; I LOVE HIP-HOP. I don't hide it in the least; in fact, it's the reason I am able to express myself so freely. It's the reason I sit here and upload ALL these mixes, even though some of the stuff you'd hear in some of the other mixes wouldn't exactly scream 'hip-hop' to you. I'm from the era where everything was a potential sample, an idea, a hook, a bar. I am always thinking about hip-hop. I hear hip-hop in everything, mainly because I listen for hip-hop in everything and it is now officially everywhere. I'm also quick to recall how extremely threatening hip-hop was to mainstream America (and in some corners, it still is.)
Hip-Hop gave me a means to freely speak and you could listen or not. You might not understand how much power is in that microphone, but I do. You can make someone feel like a total fool or a king something as simple as a shout-out or a harangue. I'd rather that I left people feeling good, yuh know? I've always chosen my words carefully. I've always been mindful of what I listen to and how much of it I absorb. I always remember that hip-hop taught me to listen as much as it freed up my tongue to speak.
Hip-Hop allowed me to get comfortable in my skin. When I started rapping, it was only natural to talk about, well, your damn self. To do that, you better be pretty damn comfortable with who you are. I learned to laugh at myself through battling. I learned to boost myself through battling. I have been knocked down a peg or four by some of the best and corniest cats you could ever wish to hear and it made me wanna get right back in that rhyme-book and right back in front of that mirror, so it wouldn't happen again. Hip-hop was the first thing that made me wanna get 'better', not necessarily 'better than you', but 'better than I was last week'. Hip-hop allowed me to say, 'Yup, I can do that shit, too'...hence the tape that 'The Mayor' is holding in the above picture and the group you will see pictured below...
COALITION, y'all! That's my man, Ted Miller a.k.a. TD Cheeba rapping with me. First group I was ever in, first cat to let me know, 'Russ, you REALLY can do that shit.' Yes, you see us rocking with the live band in '89. We were ahead of the game like a mug. Ted was a visionary; he thought it would be dope to have a band play with us; that band included Mark Cutsinger and David 'Tufty' Clough of the Zero Boys and Fefo Forconi from the Birdmen Of Alcatraz. (It was during this time that I was actually asked to try out for the Birdmen, quite an important time in my development as a writer/frontman.) The three of them had played together in Toxic Reasons, as well. We were so ahead of the curve, man...ahhh, but alas...there was beer to be brewed and a beautiful wife and family to have and hold for Ted. I wouldn't have it any other way. Eat at Brugge and have a beer for me.
I started out in hip-hop as a kid who wanted to match wits with the Run-DMC cassette my buddy Shay brought over for me to dub. I ended up finagling some kinda career outta it. It's in everything I do, from hosting the 'Rock Block' on TV to writing this blog. I very simply am a child of the Hip-Hop Culture who grew into a man of the Hip-Hop Culture. Wow, man...I have been in love with this shit for a minute...
I wanted to share these mixes with y'all because they represent some of the best times of my life and the Culture.
Aight, enough talking...lemme get this mix to y'all...
RUSTY REDENBACHER - 'HISTORY 101, LESSON 1' < click that, baby...and you ain't even gotta give it up to them 'graffiti guys' to get what you need. But, I would paint three of them murals for some of that action
Playlist
1) Ain't No Half-Steppin' - Big Daddy Kane
2) Serious - Steady B.
3) How I Could Just Kill A Man - Cypress Hill
4) So Wat Cha Sayin' - EPMD
5) Bassline - Mantronix
6) Get Stupid-Fresh, Part 2 (Listen To The Bass) - Mantronix
7) It's A Demo - Kool G. Rap & DJ Polo
8) Faking The Funk - Main Source
9) I AIn't No Joke - Eric B. & Rakim
10) Looking At The Front Door - Main Source
11) I Know You Got Soul - Eric B. & Rakim
12) I'm Housin' - EPMD
13) The 900 Number - DJ Mark, The 45 King
14) Ladies First - Queen Latifah/Monie Love
15) Hobo Scratch - Malcolm McClaren
16) Super Casanova - Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud
17) Funky - Ultramagnetic MC's
18) Jingling Baby - LL Cool J
19) Looking For The Perfect Beat - Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force
20) Planet Rock - Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force
21) Push It - Salt N' Pepa
22) It's Like That - Run-DMC
...and that's the way it is...HUH!
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