Know Good Music

DA Smart - Walk Wit Me

2011-12-05T01:31:00.001-06:00

This right here is an indisputable Chicago classic. It took like 15 years and some of the projects he mentions don't even exist anymore but they finally made a video.

Blaise B "We Run This"

2011-11-06T13:10:00.001-06:00

I made this beat years ago. I kinda stole the sample from Blaise. I didn't know him back then but a mutual friend had a CD of his song & at the end there was the backwards loop. I had to have it! I'm not even really sure how Blaise got his hands on the beat but I guess it's only right that he did.

Not many of my beats have been made into actual songs & this is the first time I'm hearing the studio version so I'm pleased as punch but still, I cringe because it's unfinished! It's a sloppy 2 track recording, unmixed, no efx. I never even finished programming the beat! Hopefully I get the opportunity to clean things up.

But still, I'm pretty happy with how things turned out. I'm sure this will be in steady rotation in my ipod for weeks!

Supreme Counsel - Supreme Science Mixtape

2011-09-07T20:02:00.001-05:00

Supreme S.C.I.E.N.C.E. Mixtape.Mp3 by SupremeCounsel

My friends Supreme Counsel (Grave Danger & Smug Zef) just put out this lil mixtape that I put together for them probably a couple years ago. This is one of those mixtapes where the emcee's are rapping to "industry" beats. I'm betting they just did this for fun because Smug is easily one of the illest producers that I know personally & he has tons of beats just laying around.

Please don't pay attention to the mixing! I hadn't done any DJ'ing for a year or two & thought it would be like riding a bike. Nope! I lost all of my timing!

Check out Supreme Counsel on Tumblr.

King Purp - Watch Me feat Grave Danger

2011-07-29T15:30:00.000-05:00

What's this? A knowgoodmusic update? Must be local rap.

Damn skippy! I don't know King Purp but Grave Danger is my dude. He's got that "you suck at life" style.

Daughter Brite & The Soda Pop Mikes - Tuff Tuff Kids

2011-06-02T01:54:00.000-05:00

I wonder how many rapping Peorians don't know about this group. They are legends if you ask me. As far as I know they're the first rappers from here with an album with actual distribution. They were signed to, of all people, Luke Skyyywalker records & this video got played on Rap City & Video Soul (you're old if you know what Video Soul is). It probably got play on The Box too but we were too lame to have The Box around here.

If you're not a local this group consists of a guy known as Soda Pop Mike & his kids.

After all these years I still get disappointed when at the end the kid is acting like he's from Chicago when I remember they had that house over there by Glen Oak Park.

Seeing this video now (today's the first time in eons I've seen it) I'm also disappointed in how much the DJ was acting for the camera. That's standard fare for old rap videos though.

Have you seen the new video for Take The Guns From Your Sons? The song is like 15 years old now but this video is new. For the non locals, this is the dad from the video above.

Blaise B - The Same

2011-02-18T01:15:00.000-06:00

My dude Blaise B with the homemade video for one of the best joints from his most recent mixtape. Elements of this video make me uncomfortable like rapping in a bathrobe & waving dogs around but it's still dope(sauce) pause.

Epic Rap Battle: Chuck Norris vs Abe Lincoln

2010-12-10T19:56:00.000-06:00

I don't go swimming... water just wants to be around me

Visual feat Que Billah - So Crazy

2010-12-05T00:02:00.000-06:00

VISUAL - So Crazy feat. Que Billah Music Video from Visual on Vimeo.

Que Billah is a favorite & this is a little different vibe than I usually hear from Visual (usually he's on his grown man rap steez). What's not to like? I didn't even realize Visual had an album out. I have some AmazonMP3 credit I don't know what to do with. I think that problem has just been solved!

Sean Price Teaches You How To Dougie

2010-10-18T13:00:00.001-05:00

RIP Eyedea

2010-10-18T01:23:00.000-05:00

I can't remember when I first heard Eyedea. That's been bothering me all day. I'm guessing that it was on one of the videotapes of live Atmosphere shows that I have because when I saw him at Scribble Jam 1999 I instantly recognized him. The 1999 Scribble Jam MC battle is easily one of the top 5 battles I've ever witnessed in person. I really hate that my friends were on some haterism & forced me to leave before the championship round. Today those feelings resurfaced.

Eyedea passed Sunday morning in his sleep. There aren't many details yet other than his mom found his body & they're waiting on an autopsy. His mom has set up a memorial fundraiser page on Facebook.

My favorite Eyedea related story is about my first trip to the Fifth Element. I didn't really know how to parallel park back then & the only space I could find in the area was a parallel spot right in front of the store. I finally got into the space but it took me a few tries so I was feeling self conscious. Before I could take the key out of the ignition Eyedea & some other guy walked out of the store & hopped in the car in front of mine & sped off. I felt stupid because they were the first car at the corner. If I had circled the block one more time I could have saved face & not put my pitiful parking skills on display for the entire Uptown to see!

I know. That story is not very good. But it's my story.

The other thing I remember about him is my friend made me do one of the lamest things in the world (if you ask me) & take a picture of him & Eyedea together. I'm not one to care about pictures or autographs or anything like that so it was all corny to me but it led to an introductions & salutations type conversation & I remember he introduced himself as Mikey & not Eyedea. That stuck with me. I also remember meeting his mom. She was a real cool lady & I'm sorry she has to go through this.

Blueprint - Dream Big (Video) + Free EP

2010-10-08T15:34:00.000-05:00

I'm super late with this but I have a lot of music to catch up on. This joint has been one of the standouts so far & although I recognized the sample I couldn't place my finger on exactly what song it was so I used teh googles to figure it out & discovered that Blueprint did a video for the song. Nice.

You can cop the EP that this comes from over at Bluprint's site.

I Need To Work On My Drums

2010-10-06T14:21:00.000-05:00

Wow. I can barely keep a pattern going for 8 bars lol! I wish I had the time to get back into beat making. I wish I had a job so I could cop a Maschine. Damn school.

Is there a rapist in linkin park?

2010-09-25T03:32:00.000-05:00

lols! Listen. The Bed Intruder song is the best song of the year. Easy. I've watched the video so many times its not funny. They put the song on iTunes & the proceeds go towards moving the Dodson's out of the PJ's. I won't front, I made my own mp3 of it at first but even the 480p version didn't sound right so I broke down & bought it. The ironic thing is I'm unemployed with zero income so I just put myself $1.29 closer to getting the Dodson's old apartment.

You are so dumb. You are really dumb. Forreal.

RIP Kay Tone

2010-09-18T17:44:00.000-05:00

Yet another RIP post. It's sad that that's about the only time I update the blog but it is what it is. D To Tha S is one of my favorite Chicago rap groups of all time (OF ALL TIME! *Kanye shrug*) I look at them as the bridge between Chicago's gangster rap scene & the more traditional "hip hop" scene. Traxster, who was in the group with Kay Tone, pretty much invented the Chicago gangster sound but D To Tha S stuck with more traditional styles for a long time. I won't front, for a long time I only knew who Traxster was but I went back & did my homework on Kay Tone. I only wish that all my records & CD's weren't in storage back home so I could listen to his music.

RIP Fat Beats

2010-08-29T12:47:00.002-05:00

If you didn't know, Fat Beats is closing its retail stores. The New York store closes this week & the LA store later this month. This video is the Ustream of the Halftime Radio Show's tribute to Fat Beats. DJ Eclipse & Joe Abajian, the founder of Fat Beats, wax poetic about the history of the brand. It's long but worth the watch.

I suppose that I should note that the label & the online store will live on. But still... damn. It's not like I've ever been to the store (I live in IL... give me a break) but it's still like a hip hop icon to me. Back in the day before the internets I wrote them a letter because I heard that they sold Stretch & Bob tapes (yes, a letter. picture me calling long distance on my pops phone bill... yeah right!). I asked them how I could mail order some because I was paying $10 a pop from my source & the tapes were never the complete show (I had no idea the show was like 3 hours long lol). Whoever wrote me back was like "send me the tape you have... I'd like to see that." I never did because the $10 I was paying for the "bootleg" was a better price than the official tapes through Fat Beats & I didn't want them to shut down my source haha! But they were cool & sent me a bunch of Fat Beats swag. For the kids out there "swag" is stickers/handbills/random items with your logo on it. Back in the tape trading days somebody tried to sweeten their deal by offering to get me one of the shopping bags from Fat Beats. I was like "fool, I already have one of those!"

Craze-C - I Get Down (video)

2010-08-08T04:32:00.000-05:00

This one's for the locals. Craze's "I Get Down" EP came out awhile ago. So long ago that I forgot that he shot a video for the title track but it's finally here. The video is pretty good. Quite possibly the best local video ever? I can't say that the song is particularly my cup of tea though but this is the style at the moment so I can't hate. Too much.

Bob James Says Biz Markie Does NOT Have Mardi Gras Without The Bells!

2010-08-02T14:51:00.001-05:00

Bob James pretty much confirms that Biz Markie does not have Mardi Gras without the bells in it. He doesn't say that he's 100% certain but if you listen to his story about the history (see what I did there?) of the master tapes then it's pretty doubtful that there's any truth to Biz's claims. They start talking about Mardi Gras around the 8 minute mark.

Eli Porter Returns!

2010-07-15T01:08:00.002-05:00

On the low I have a beat with Eli on the hook.

Shut The F&*# Up

2010-06-29T14:15:00.002-05:00

RIP Markey Fresh

2010-05-27T01:52:00.000-05:00

Markey Fresh is one of those guys whose career never really took off the way it should've. I've always really liked The King Is Here & he'd pop up here & there. But it just never happened for him for whatever reason. Anyway, he recently passed away. I'm disappointed that the only place on the rap internets that I noticed to report his death was Unkut. Shame on you internets.

DJ Nikoless: Production Credits: The 45 King Vol 1

2010-05-27T01:22:00.000-05:00

My dude Nikoless just put out a 45 King mixtape that you should check out. It's 119 minutes of the King's productions. You can't front. Free download link is towards the bottom of this post (just above the Youtube video, dummy)

RIP Guru

2010-04-20T14:33:00.000-05:00

Damn. Too many rappers from my era are dead. No disrespect to 7A3 & Rob Base but Gangstarr was the first "real" rap group I saw live. I'll never forget being embarrassed for my city when Guru was visibly frustrated that nobody seemed to know his songs. I was confused too because it's not like Gangstarr wasn't a staple on MTV Raps.

The thing about Guru, for me, is that I've never considered him a "great" emcee yet just when I'd write him off he'd surprise me. I can't complain too much though because at the end of the day he's an icon. Nobody sounds like Guru. Nobody puts words together like Guru. Much respect.

It's a shame that the last days of Guru's time on Earth have been sullied by Solar. I wish that they'd just said from the beginning that Guru had cancer. I guess I can understand if he didn't want the public to know he had cancer but the whole heart attack/coma thing was confusing & Solar's way of handling things was piss poor.

But lets not end things on a sour note... My favorite Guru memory has to be the fact that I thought that Manifest was the first time I ever heard Guru but years & years later I learned that he was one of the guys on this song that I had a dub of for a long time...

Big Daddy Kane on ClassicRhymes.com

2010-04-11T16:47:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to cut down on the number of items I just copy & paste from other blogs but some things deserve more than a text link off to the side. When you finish go check out the rest of the interviews on ClassicRhymes.com (the site seems to be down at the moment, try their Vimeo instead.

ClassicRhymes.com Big Daddy Kane from classicrhymes on Vimeo.

Do You Want To Be One Of The Hoochie Boyz?

2010-02-28T18:35:00.000-06:00

Remember Aaron Carter? Well he's looking for people to join his new rap group and you can tell he has no black friends otherwise he woulda never picked the name "The Hoochie Boyz." Talk about failure.

The Packaging For The Freeway & Jake One Album Is Sick

2010-02-10T04:56:00.000-06:00

Everyone knows that I'm not the biggest Freeway fan but the packaging for this Stimulus Package album is crazy. The video below shows the CD version which looks like a knot of money. Those "bills" are the album credits & lyric sheets. Inside they have a "wallet" that holds the CD itself as well as the "bills" but more importantly they've included a card that lets you download the instrumentals. It might even let you get a free digital copy of the album as well but don't quote me on that.

The vinyl version shares the same theme minus the wallet. Instead you get a large, double sided, fold-out cover. Inside are the same "bills" & download card

Typically I despise when CD's come in anything other than a jewel case but this is such an ill idea I've gotta tip my hat. You could argue that the packaging is a gimmick & I'd agree but maybe that's what's needed? I love the idea of of buying an album & getting the mp3 version for free and Rhymesayers is taking it a step further by giving you the instrumentals. Really what labels need to start doing though is give us an mp3/CD combo deal where we can buy the mp3's first and print out a coupon so that we can pick up a physical copy when it finally hits the stores because that's the real problem. But that's another post for another day.