Favourite Old Skool Rap Record

[QUINNY]

What the hell, somebody had to do it.
Whatever the merits or otherwise, in the UK the early Rap records were very well received by the Disco crowd. There were a fair few, good sized Disco charting Rap singles. In trying to remember the first one I heard, I'm pretty sure it was Kurtis Blow's Christmas Rappin', but as always with me I could be wrong as my memory (not internet site, chart book, Disco bible or whatever) is certainly on the blink nowadays.
Anyhows, I guess my favourite of the early Rap records was probably
Jocko - Rhythm Talk.This lifted a very well known track and for my money made an improvement on the original.
1) The rhythmic syncopation of the rapping actually made it swing much more and therefore made it more danceable.

2) It actually made the whole tune/song sound happy and uplifting, something which I personally feel McFadden & Whitehead's original did not. The harmonies and slightly out of tune singing sorta made me feel a bit sad when I played it.

3) It was so condemned by many that it had a relatively short life and so I couldn't as easily get bored by it.

4) Yes, it was really great to see a dance floor fill up for it, only to half empty once the darling punters realised it weren't their fave that was being played, but that crappy (in their eyes) Rap version. Who the F*** is that DJ who's playing this!!!?

I liked it and make no apologies for doing so.

[K-Bee]

Quinny, There's no need be apologize for being into old school hip hop. I'm sure a lot of old school fans hang around this board. However, I didn't expect you to be the thread starter :lol:

My God!! there are so many tracks..really don't know where to start. Up until '93 a lot of hip hop was actually quite good in my opinion but then things started take a turn for the worse. Today hip hop music is almost unbearable to listen to.
It's all a matter of how you define the old school genre, but
great old school tracks in my book include:

Gary Byrd - The Crown
Sugarhill Gang - Apache
Grandmaster Melle Mell - Beat Streat Breakdown
Davy DMX - One For The Treble
MC Shan - The Bridge
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Price - The Magnificent Jazzy Jeff
Run DMC - Who's House
T La Rock - The Lyrical King (Boogie Down Bronx)
Mantronix - Fresh Is The Word
Big Daddy Kane - Raw
True Mathematics - For The Lover In You
Young MC - Bust A Move
Funky Four + One - That's the Joint
Kool Mo Dee - Go See The Doctor
Whistle - Just Buggin'
Afrika Bambaataa - Planet Rock
Biz Markie - Make The Music with Your Mouth Biz
Doug E. Fresh - The Show
Eric B & Rakim - Paid In Full
T Ski Valley - Catch The Beat
Treacherous Three - Rock The Body & Yes We Can Can

I could go on and on.... :)

[DJ-Pir]

Originally Posted by QUINNY

Anyhows, I guess my favourite of the early Rap records was probably
Jocko - Rhythm Talk.
I liked it and make no apologies for doing so.

Probably no need to apologize Quinny, lot's of dj's played Jocko, and it's a well done cover, i even have two copies 8)

Some fav's of mine :

Gil Scott Heron - The bottle (not really hiphop but kinda fits)
The real roxanne - Respect / Bang zoom
Run DMC - My Adidas
Grandmaster Flash & the furious five - Freedom / The party
Gary Byrd experience - The crown
Mc Rob Base & Dj EzRock - It takes two / get on the dancefloor
Mantronix - Bassline
West street mob - Break dance, electric boogie

Some i've heard too much :
Joe Bataan - Rappo clappo
Sugarhill gang - Rappers delight :roll:
Sequence - Funk you up
Blondie - Rapture

[Forrrce]

T-Ski Valley 'Catch The Beat' (a turning point for me - I had thought of 'rap' as rather faddy and more of a novelty up to 1982/3 but 'Catch The Beat' made me hear it in a different way. I soon started old collecting rap records, which I liked more for their old-fashioned funk sensibilities. A few of the following may not be particularly mainstream to some but are very well known to many. 8) )
The Younger Generation, 'We Rap More Mellow'
Treacherous 3/Spoonie Gee, 'The New Rap Language'
(Both at the top of the pile)
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5, 'Superrappin''
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5, 'Freedom'
Soul Sonic Force, 'Throwdown', Pts. 1 & 2
Soul Sonic Force, 'Planet Rock'
Sugar Hill Gang 'Rapper's Delight' (LP Version)
Grand Wizard Theodore & The Fantastic, Romantic 5 MCs,'...Soul Clap...'
Tanya 'Sweet Tee' Winley 'Vicious Rap'
Jonzun Crew, 'Space Cowboy'
Jazzy 5/Kryptic Krew/Tina B., 'Jazzy Sensation'
Community People, 'Education Wrap'
Eddie Cheeba, 'Lookin' Good (Shake Your Body)'
Kurtis Blow, 'Do The Do'

[Giovanni]

I am very into old school rap and don't feel ashamed at all!!

I consider old school up to '83. Around that time, with "the message" by Grandmaster Flash began a sort of "philosophic" hip hop that went on till today's trash.

But the early rap 12"s are very very funky grooves, and in many cases use classic disco breaks as their basic groove. Most of them have instrumental B-sides I go crazy for (if you want an instrumental for "ain't no stoppin us now" for example, you have to own the Jocko 12").

[QUINNY]

Perhaps I should have added that Old Skool Rap was from 1979 - late '82 early '83 when it suddenly became hip hop.

Forrce: So glad you mentioned the Eddie Cheba track which is so unknown but was a gem of a record. It was probably one of the first Rap records (other than Kurtis Blows) that used an original backing track and unlike almost any other Rap record of the time (1980) it was almost pure disco and clocked in at about 125 BPM. Never saw another record on Tree Line or by him. What a shame.

[Forrrce]

...Also a shame that some of the more musical and instant rap tunes from that time, like Eddie Cheeba, Jocko and Community People aren't taken seriously as rap records today. They obviously veer too close to nursery rhymes and disco for hip hop heads. That alone made me think the inclusion of Cheeba may be questioned, but... 8)

[midas]

I wanna mention my favoret old-school rap tunes.
these ones are most memorable;

fatback band-is this the future
fab 5 freddy-change the beat
gary b-the crown
whodini-magic wand
captain rapp-bad times
kurtis blow-the breaks/if i ruled the world/still on the scene
blowfly-blowfly for president
dimples d- sucker dj
rake - street justice
dcIII-succes
grandm %f.5-scorpio/its nasty/the message
doug e frech-ladidadi
royalcach-radioactivity
gap band -humpin

´thanx

[jazz_pilgrim]

Apologies not required! Jocko - Rhythm Talk was pretty popular with my friends and I, I seem to recall. We liked the instrumental side as well ... We used to practice our (crap) rapping skills over it .. Bit like "old skool karaoke" I guess! :lol:

Another one we liked very much was Education Rap by the Community Poeple. I have been trying to remember who did that tune for ages, and Forrce actually mentioned it in this thread. Cheers! That was a great tune! The instrumental bits were really melodic I recall.

But my favourite of all was T-Ski Valley and Catch The Beat. Great funky bass line and wonderful catchy rapping. I still play that record a lot today!

I also loved Captain Sky - stuff like Station Break and Buggblegum (I Chewz You) were like Rap meeting Parliament. Anybody remember those...

And when rap first began to take on the hip hop beat instead of the traditional disco beat I really got into Heavy D and The Boys and Mr Big Stuff. For me a truly great cover of the Jean Knight Stax classic. There was real power in that record!

:)

[efunk_adelic]

When I think of old school rap, the first thing that pops into my head is the "sugarhill" Label.

Kurtis Blow - Christmas Rapp
because it was considered a novelty record back then, always jam packed the floor for about a 6 month period, even though it was about xmas... imagine that.

Kurtis Blow - The Breaks
was equally powerful, how could you resist that ocasional timbalas throughout the record... so playing the 12" usually wore me out dancing to it.

Grandmaster Flash - Freedom
gee what a record!!! it's funny that this topic came up... I have it on one of my current mixed hits CD to go along with Stylistics "Hey, Girl Come & Get it" lol

Mantronix - Bassline
I just dug this 12" for such a long time, that I wore it the f*** out. I need more time to go by to appreciate it as much as I once did. I did give a spin last year but it hasn't hit me hard... oh well :P

Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight
the only reason that i'm mentioning this record is because I do certain mixes with it at the 108-116 range at some of my shows. I use it as a transition to keep the mix going.
And of course, it keeps the people on the dance floor longer...

Eric B - Paid In Full/Eric B. Is President/I Know You Got Soul
at the club I was playing in... Eric was God. I just got excited at the record store whenever I saw something come out on 4th & Broadway label.

[QUINNY]

I'm glad so many of you have posted. Maybe if I'd started this thread 6 months ago WW3 might have broken out.
I was interested that KBee (and others) immediately changed it to Hip Hop and went as far as '93. I guess younger people genearally have less of a distiction between Rap and Hip Hop, or am I way off beam? If Forrce is right and many of the real old Rap records are dismissed as being 'soft' that really is a shame, as Discos were enriched by them. At the time they were truly revolutionary.
I still find it incredible that it started out in '79 and successfully boiled away for about 4 years before it gained any real widespread recognition, by which time it had changed anyway. I would never have thought it would still be around today and so incredibly mainstream, 'cos it was viewed as a passing fad to begin with.
Some passing fad, eh?

[efunk_adelic]

It's funny how rap has evolved... for several years between let's say 97-Present. I only involve myself to play songs that are "West Coast" style of rap. Which is the lighter of the 2. example: 2 Pac vs. Busta Rhymes. "East Coast" beats are harder edge, which don't work well at a wedding that I would perform at.

Songs that are r/b - rap oriented hits like "Don't Mess With My Man" by Nivea "In Da Club" by 50 Cent will pack the floor! and on top of this, most of the good rap/dance oriented records that people request to hear are 90bpm or lower. It's hard to keep them on the floor for 3 or 4 songs in a row, cuz the temple and today's quality of rap is just not good IMO.

[sammyperez]

Quinny, I am surprised you posted this thread, however, I am glad you did. Respect to the origins of hip-hop is long overdue. Some of my favorite classics from the roots of this genre are:

King Tim III (Personality Jock) - The Fatback band
Spider Rap - Ron Hunt
Willie Rap - Willie Wood and the Willie Wood Crew
Raptivity - Ronnie G
Super Rhymes - Jimmy Spicer
Trickeration
Catch the beat - T-Ski Valley
Games people play - Sweet G
You gotta believe - Love Bug Starski
Weekend - Cold Crush Bros.
Rappin' and rockin' the house - Funky Four plus one
Spoonin' rap - Spoonie Gee
Love rap - Spoonie Gee and The Treacherous three

I can probably go on and on; Also, I obviously kept it to the roots or else I can continue my list with classics from the mid-80's. Hope these tracks bring back memories for some. I know they do for me. Oh to be young again! :lol:

Easy,

Sam "ALL JAM"

[QUINNY]

I'm gonna bore everyone by giving an honourable mention to one of my all time fave records that no-one seems to have heard of, namely
this is gonna bore you if you've been around these boards longer than I have:
MIKE T - DO IT ANYWAY YOU WANNA from '83 (or was it '82?)
In this record you have all the ingredients that made me go weak at the knees. I'm talkin' 118 BPM (just about the best funk tempo there is), real funky bassline, funky fender rhodes sounding piano riffs, really punctuated timbales throughout and especially in the break, brilliantly syncopated real coffee & cigarettes voiced rapping (if you get what I mean) and the tour de force..... a fantastic rambling, tuneful, Saxophone ( by Joe Thomas ) which is even more pronounced on t'other side.
Perhaps Jocko wasn't my absolute fave ......forgot all about this when I typed.
If you ever come across this 12" buy it.

[Forrrce]

MIKE T - DO IT ANYWAY YOU WANNA from '83 (or was it '82?)


It was actually 1981, though he had another record out as Lavias (remember that one, Quinny?) in '83 called 'Do You Wanna Dance', which had a short rap in the middle but was more straight-ahead funky business. 'Do It...' was an absolutely boss tune but I never really hear it classed as a rap track, even though it is! Going back to my earlier point, I think there's definitely an 'age' thing going on here when it comes to records like this, but it's no big deal, really - let the music speak!