Andy asked me to write a little blog to explain how I became such a nerd when it came to remembering where certain samples and drum breaks came from and also to help point out a few good sources to learn more about the origins of hip-hop.

The main reason I know what I know is simply down to the amount of crate digging I’ve done in record stores throughout my life and more importantly piecing together the links between these records, labels, genres etc. Many people know the artists who became famous for certain tracks but it’s often more important to know the producer or who did the arrangement of the track or other info. You start to see patterns or links between records you never knew were there. The key is to never stop asking questions like: what year was this track produced? who was the bass player? etc. etc. You can never get to a point where you know too much and the great thing about music is that your tastes are constantly evolving, I mean, you think back to what you were listening to 5 years back and what you listen to now and the progression you’ve taken. It’s not that u used to like crap but as clichéd as it sounds, music is a journey and as u hear more u understand more of the subtleties etc. Also, try not to get bogged down in genre pigeon-holing, firstly, coz it’s a pain in the ass and secondly, coz it gets u nowhere!! I mean, who cares if its hip-hop/rnb or neo-soul, drum n bass or jungle, House or US Garage…… u either like it or u don’t!!!!!! Listen to as much diverse music as u possibly can get your filthy little hands on coz u will find the weirdest things popping up in tracks u hear. One of the best examples of this is a track u might not know but it’s a killer UK hip-hop track called Lofi Rocka off Lotek HiFi’s debut album on Big Dada Records and well the intro has a sample taken from Rodrigo playing Narciso Yepes’ Concierto De Aranjuez which is a classical Spanish guitar album. Yeah, exactly, random but it works and that’s the key. Anyone can grab well-known samples but to go beyond that and find something no one has uncovered before is the reason why producers like Dj Shadow get to where they are; seriously respected in the industry.

Now if u lookin for the origins of hip-hop, especially in terms of the instrumentals that were used and sampled, then the best place to start is with the funk bands of that era….. people like The Meters, Kool & The Gang, The JB’s, Parliament/Funkadelic, Sly & The Family Stone……….. the list goes on but seriously, their music has been raped over the last 25 years to produce the music u hear today, from hip-hop to drum n bass, electro to breaks… its all there!

Right, I’m not gonna go into a whole monster history lesson coz u can find it all out for yourself  (which is far more fun) but here’s a little top 5 bits of sample history plus my top 5 b-boy tracks so check em out and shout me in the comments sections if there are any questions u need answering, happy to help!

Keep Diggin,

B

My Top 5 Pieces of Hip-Hop Thievery

Eric B & Rakim- Paid in Full (Bassline taken from Dennis Edwards’ “Don’t Look Any Further”)

Common- The Light (Vocal taken from Bobby Caldwell’s “Open Your Eyes”)

Eminem- My Name is (Basically completely lifted from Labi Siffre’s “I Got The”)

2Pac- Picture Me Rollin (Instrumental taken from Kool & The Gang’s “Winter Sadness”)

House of Pain- Jump Around (Intro horns taken from Bob & Earls “Harlem Shuffle”)

Top 5 B-Boy Breaks

Incredible Bongo Band- Apache

The JB’s- Blow Your Head

Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force- Planet Rock

Kurtis Blow- The Breaks

Jackson Sisters- I Believe in Miracles

I have been asked to do a lecture for over 100 young people on the urban scholars programme.  This is a programme set up to help people achieve their full potential.  I will be talking about the dedication, sacrifice but ultimately the feeling off fullfilment you have when you start to realise your dreams. I will be talking about the positivity needed when things don’t go as planned and how to keep on going no matter what, ( you know, light subject matter?!) Hopefully by sharing some personal experiences it should be interesting, if not it will just be me chatting rubbish on stage in front of over a 100 young people, standard fare really! should be fun! If you were at the lecture let me know what you thought feedback is always appreciated.  have a good weekend!

keep dancin

Andy

I have had a lot of requests for my music I used at move it. The warm up cd was a mix tape I received from a friend in LA and I have no idea what it was called.  The routine we did was an instrumental and was given to me by a student of mine in Liverpool again I have no idea who the artist is! Sorry I can’t be of more help but now you have heard the style of music I use hopefully that will spur you on to follow your own music journey.  I have spoken to Dj smokey (a good friend, hip hop head and all round music officiando!) and he will put up a list of old skool hip hop tunes that should start you off so keep your eyes peeled!  The other CD I used was my own compilation album and street dance tutorial “Urban Dance explosion” there may still be a few copies left, you can buy it in our dvd section on the website.

p.s. Smokey’s blog will appear in the culture category of the blog

keep dancin

Andy

March saw us return to Move it for 4 days of dancing madness! 6 sold out workshops, 2000 students, and 3 performances.  If you weren’t there find out how it went and read our feedback.

Move it was sick!  Classes were off the hook the feedback we received from you was awesome,thank you so much, it reminds us that we are doing the right thing.  I was so pleased at the interest we received in our authentic approach it re invigorated my faith in the dancers of today and tomorrow.  It seems many people have forgotten the need for foundation and education so respect to all you who came and did the Urban Strides taster class.  As for our performances thank you so much to the comments we received it was so great to hear that you enjoyed it so much.  If you felt our performance inspired or interested you let us know, thank you so much for all the comments left so far it means so much to us.   Let us know what you think, we appreciate any feedback, thanks for taking the time.

keep dancin

Andy

 p.s. we are waiting for the videos of all our performances they will be up here as soon as we get them! and check back soon to see our photos from the weekend

We have our big, “Move It” weekend coming up! Following on from the success of our “Move It” experience last year we have been asked to do twice as many workshops as last year, we are now doing two a day in the main metro urban Space where you know we will being smashing the place, US style! Last time I heard all of my workshops were sold out but I heard there may still be some available on Sunday in the 12-16 class 12.45-1.30 pm if you want to come and dance your face off book now at dance London to avoid missing out log on to www.dance-london.co.uk and go to Sunday’s classes.

After serving the main stage last year we have also been asked to perform everyday! It’s been missions rehearsing all during half term, as well as 14 hrs a weekend! The official dance crew have been making us all proud putting in the hardcore training to make sure we can truly represent. We have our beatbox show on Friday with “Experimental” we are trying out some new shizzle so it would be cool to get your feedback, we will performing on the main stage at 16.45-17.15

Saturday will be the same set we did for our arena tour last December, if you missed us at the O2 arena, come down and show the luv it will be on from 15.30-16.00, you need to see it live – it’s not quite the same on you tube!

Following on from an inspirational week of locking with boogaloo and locking legend Suga Pop I have been passing down the authentic nature of locking and will be showing our first piece in a long line of locking sections in the breakbeat section on the main stage between 11.45-12.15. It would be good to see you there come down and say hi we will be at stand no.34

Hope your all good.

Peace, Andy