Can't Stop Won't Stop Pt4

Yet again, I couldn't find all the albums listed in the book, but I found most of them... Three from Spotify, one as a cd from my local library and 2-3 from YouTube. (One of the YT albums is as a playlist and I'm sceptical of it being the full 2-LP album...)

Anyway, by the looks of it, this chapter will be music DJ Kool Herc would play at his parties, when he basically invented hiphop. Sure, it wasn't just him, the culture had been forming for a while, but we can't deny his role and influence in the history.

He created a culture where gangs/crews were allowed to exist, but all fighting had to happen through art. Who's the better DJ (who gathers a bigger crowd), who's better at dancing (b-boy culture started then, and he named them break boys or b-boys for short, because they'd dance during the "breaks", the instrumental parts of songs), etc. 

I was too curious and googled and it seems like he'll be one of the people to invent rap at some point later in history.

Graffiti predates him, but he was a painter as well.

Big Youth - Natty Universal Dread

Listened to on YouTube, little by little.

I had a hand-written note about this, but I lost it. :( If I find it, I'll add what I wrote into this post.

But from what I remember, now that I've listened to all three CDs worth of the album, is that mostly, I didn't like it. It's been taking months for a reason to listen to this album. 

I did like Hit the Road Jack, from the 3rd album. I like the Ray Charles version a lot, so it helped to get into this version as well. 

I can't wait for this book to get into actual hiphop recordings, though.

Dennis Colfey & The Detroit Guitar Band - Evolution

I like this a lot more.

A pretty good cover of Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin. The original is a classic.

According to Wikipedia, the rest of these are original work and Scorpio was his biggest hit. It does sound action movie -esque.

I like the rest of the songs as well. Dennis Colfey rocks! Literally.

James Brown - Star Time

First album is called Mr. Dynamite. I like this sound. Old-school rock'n'roll. We listened to some James Brown in our middle school music class, but I haven't listened to him much after that. It's still not something I'd choose to listen to on my own, without being this dedicated to this project, but anyway. I like this more than the reggae we had before this. I'm interested how did this sound as hiphop samples, though. From what I remember from the book chapter, DJ Kool Herc took instrumental clips of these songs and built his beats upon those or something? Devil's Den must have felt like winning the lottery. I love It's A Man's World, I've heard it countless times before. Christina Aguilera's cover is also great.

The second album is called The Hardest Working Man In Show Business. I don't get why I Got You and I Got You (I Feel Good) are on different albums..? They're essentially just two different versions of the same song. Same thing with It's A Man's World and It's A Man's Man's Man's World. Just a wild thought (*sarcasm*): This man would in fact have enough songs to fill multiple albums, they wouldn't have to re-use them on the same album.

I like his lyricism, though. I already talked about It's A Man's World, but songs like Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud and I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door I'll Get It Myself)... Very nice.

Third album is called Soul Brother No. 1. I'm pretty sure Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine was on a previous album as well? I'm not sure, it's been a couple weeks since I listened to cd2... Super Bad as well? And Get Up, Get Into It And Get Involved, too, though I think it was called something else before. I feel like it's not the people putting together the album, James Brown just liked recycling his own lyrics and song clips a lot... Not a fan of it personally. Sure, have callbacks to older songs, especially if they're thematically connected, but recycling entire song clips and lyric lines... Nah, bro. Show more creativity, write new stuff instead. Also, the screams he does occasionally, like in Brother Rapp/Ain't It Funky Now [Live], sound awful. I know he's a legend, but I don't care about status on this blog, or in general. Art is subjective and I have the right to not like it no matter who the artist is. I liked King Heroin. It's more a poem than a song, but it's a great poem. Timeless. Could be on an album that came out today and be just as good and current.

Fourth album is called The Godfather of Soul. I like Public Enemy #1. I don't like some of these songs at all. He screams a lot. And not the good type of screams. The very annoying kind of screams. 

Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band - Bongo Rock

This is pretty good! Not something I'd choose to listen to out on my own, but I don't mind listening to it either. My favorite songs were Dueling Bongos and In a Gadda Da Vida. I could see myself listening to those again, if they were on Spotify... I doubt I'll seek them out from YouTube again.

Rare Earth - Get Ready

I like this. It's rock. DJ Kool Herc has a good taste in music.

Shaft in Africa soundtrack

I like it. Reminds me of the music in Cowboy Bepop.