#marcberg

[realnyhiphop101]

Roc Marciano “Marcberg” Era

[underground-hip-hop-affiliated]

[airadam]

Episode 172 : Yield To None

"Do you wanna be dope, or do you wanna deal it?"

- Common

All Hip-Hop at a nice steady pace - but a varied platter of vibes - for this episode, as I celebrate my birth month! 

Great personal news : I'm very proud to be included in the new "Hidden Histories : Black in Manchester" resource by Parise Carmichael-Murphy - have a read!

Twitter : @airadam13

Twitch : @airadam13

Playlist/Notes

Meyhem Lauren & DJ Muggs : GT3

From the car-themed "Members Only" 2019 collaboration between Meyhem and Cypress Hill DJ/producer DJ Muggs, this track integrates the sound of some very angry engines as an additional instrument/element of what is otherwise an extremely sparse bit of production - drums and bass only. Meyhem is laid-back and comfortable at this pace, crafting a track that even those of us without a Porsche on the driveway can appreciate - well, as long as our speakers or headphones deliver the goods!

[RZA] Raekwon : Can It All Be So Simple (Remix Instrumental)

You might detect a little sonic garbling where I was using Serato's "stems" feature to try and remove the vocal samples in the hook, but other than that here's the glorious sound of a hard-to-come-by RZA instrumental of a track from the monumental "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..." LP. Rae, Ghost, and RZA took their track from the Wu-Tang debut LP which was already a classic and subtly made it a little darker, a touch rougher and a little less nostalgic. A masterful remix and rewrite.

Roc Marciano : Ridin' Around

A very different kind of rider music to the opening track, but still with an ominous bassline which helps carry the vintage crime vibes perfectly. This is a deep cut from Roc Marciano's seminal solo debut "Marcberg" album, with his gangster wordplay on full display atop a track with more drum action than on much of his later work.

Showbiz & AG : Trapped

This is one of those records which, despite being by a highly respected group, has likely slipped under your radar. The DITC production legend Showbiz is here under his original name (you can find much of his other work credited as simply "Show") alongside his day one MC AG on this late-night creep number from the 2012 "Mugshot Music" album.

Planet Asia ft. Prodigy : Stick & Move

If you love your dark, underground NYC Hip-Hop, you might have heard this sample used elsewhere, but for the current episode this is the slow, menacing, bi-coastal track that gets the nod. Fresno and Queensbridge in combination as Planet Asia and Prodigy (RIP) go back and forth over an Evidence beat on this 2005 release. Not even a hint of going for the pop audience here, just gutter from start to end. Got to respect it.

Mud Family : Itchy Town

I've been holding onto this one for absolutely years! I first heard this on a "Radio Zero" show courtesy of Dave The Ruf, and it's a dark, brooding piece of UK boom-bap from this highly-regarded north London crew. Centred around the MCs Chester P, Skinnyman, and Mongo, they released their core work in the late 90s and early 00s, with this absolute beast being on their very first wax release, 1997s "The Mud Files, Vol. 1". Production on the EP as a whole is credited to Deckwrecka, Firebomb Fritz, and Mad Money Wah - not sure who did what on this cut, but I applaud them for cooking up a track that still bangs after over twenty-five years!

DJ Premier : Dee Ell P

It's been over a decade since DJ Premier gave us a "Beats That Collected Dust" collection, but there's a good reason for that...as he correctly points out, the beats that end up included have to be given time to collect that dust! With that said, the third edition is out now, and is a good digital pickup while the (likely pricey) vinyl works it's way through distribution to the shops. As for the title of this selection from the new release, I haven't deciphered it yet. "The LP"? Was it a track meant for Large Professor, perhaps? Probably overthinking it - just enjoy the master of the MPC 60 going back into his vaults.

Mabanua ft. Kev Brown : Holdin' It Down

I had completely missed this but was introduced to it by none other than Kev Brown himself when he played it on one of his "Beats 'n' Stuff" shows on Twitch! While he drops plenty of unreleased material, he'll throw in overlooked gems from his discography like this one, a collaboration with Japanese beatmaker Mabanua. Given that Kev is on the mic all the way through, I can only assume that Mabanua did the production here - even though it has that Kev Brown feel in spades!

De La Soul ft. Common : The Bizness

An old classic from some of the greats. If you don't already have De La Soul's "Stakes Is High" album, you can now easily buy digitally or stream it, so get on that! This track has, apart from one regrettable homophobic reference from Common which the label partly censored, bars upon bars of heat on a self-produced track that you can't help but nod your head to. I can also think of at least three Hip-Hop tracks that sampled/scratched lines from this one, which is a sure sign of a piece of work that has your peers paying attention!

Blu & Exile : Berries and Juices

You can't help but bop to this, Exile's beat has an undeniable bounce and while Blu does say "beat so sweet that I ain't even gotta do s--t", he unquestionably lifts it to that next level with a couple of chilled verses. Bonus points for the "Coming To America" reference 🙂 Take heed to the title of the album this is drawn from - "Give Me My Flowers While I Can Still Smell Them" - and apply that sentiment to not only this duo but all the artists you enjoy!

pH7 ft. Access Immortal and DJ Roger Rekless : New York

A long-lost track that only resurfaced for me during the Great Digitisation of 2020-2023! A trans-Atlantic collaboration with German artists pH7 (Cologne) and DJ Roger Rekless (Munich) coming together with Bed-Stuy MC Access Immortal for a jazzy number with solid boom-bap underpinnings, tight cuts, and an overall clean and refreshing sound. You can find this on the somewhat obscure "Blazing Heat" EP,  

Ilajide : Ayerloom

Taking it back (ok, not that far back) to 2015 for a beat from "Latex", the first solo LP by one of my favourites, Ilajide of Clear Soul Forces. That drum beat could have come from an 80s Hip-Hop classic, as could the rest of the sounds on the track - and yet, as a whole it doesn't seem of that era. This Detroit beatsmith isn't afraid to go after a certain sonic hardness that other producers might shy away from in the modern era, and it's that banging aggression that helps set him apart.

Kuartz : Glitch In The Ghost

Local beat legend Kuartz released his new LP "Hybrid Dialects" this month, and it's a collection of bassy, techy, angular production that is well worth spending your hard-earned cash on! This was the first track I heard from it, which he debuted earlier in the year at Manchester's WORKINONIT beatmakers event - it was so raw that I had to ask him for an advance copy 😁 I've played it on Twitch a couple of times but now here it is as a taster for the album.

Grand Agent ft. Liv L'Raynge : Ooh-La-Lah

I hadn't heard this for absolutely ages until pulling it out earlier this month, which is a sign that no-one I've been listening to has been playing it either! Grand Agent collaborated with Oxnard production wizard Oh No on the "Under The Circumstances" LP which this track is drawn from, and the album has the husky-voiced MC Liv L'Raynge as the featured guest - with this track being her standout performance. She burns it down on the opening verse over Oh No's heavy beat, and really steals the whole show to be honest!

Coyote ft. Shaquille O'Neal : 3 Lokos

I first heard an excerpt of this on Instagram - not sure it was on Shaq's page, but either way it sent me to go ahead and find the full version of this new single! Coyote is the pairing of Ladies Love Guapo and Ricky Blanco, neither of whom I know already but they both spit rugged on this track, which they produced alongside Brian Lee and on which they were specifically going for a hardcore 90s feel. I know, I know...you want to know about Shaq. Well...he kills his verse. The doctorate-holding four-time NBA champion has been recording since 1993's guest appearance on "What's Up Doc?" by the Fu-Schnickens and his "Shaq Diesel" LP, and despite a long break he comes out spitting with that hunger! 

K-Otix : World Renown

Classic underground Hip-Hop right here from 2000, and now available along with the rest of the "Universal" LP on Bandcamp, so no reason not to put some dough in the artists' pockets! You might hear this record and think NYC, but nope - this is a Houston record! It might have been releaed on Bronx Science record, but the skills are all Texas-raised. The incredibly memorable beat comes from the man known as The ARE, who has also done some amazing work outside the crew, and Damien and Micah take the vocal reins. Big record.

DJ Spinna : Surely (Instrumental)

As we move with the wind-down, here's a beautiful track from the studio of DJ Spinna, taken from the instrumental release of his solo debut on BBE, "Here To There". With Ovasoul7's vocals gone, the guitar of the late UK jazz guitar legend Ronny Jordan and the programming work of DJ Spinna get to take centre stage, giving the track a different dimension.

Method Man ft. Ghostface Killah : Afterparty

An appropriate record to end the show with! A dope sing-songy exchange between Meth and Ghost starts the track off, and the melodic approach pops up throughout the track in between straight up bars over a smooth beat from a producer credited simply as "Q", but better known to most as Qur'an from Da Youngstas (sorry, can't bring myself to put the incorrect apostrophe in!) Still my favourite track on "Tical 0 : The Prequel", just as it was on first listen.

Please remember to support the artists you like! The purpose of putting the podcast out and providing the full tracklist is to try and give some light, so do use the songs on each episode as a starting point to search out more material. If you have Spotify in your country it's a great way to explore, but otherwise there's always Youtube and the like. Seeing your favourite artists live is the best way to put money in their pockets, and buy the vinyl/CDs/downloads of the stuff you like the most!

Check out this episode!

[almightygeeswank]

roll solo like the Marcberg photo

[be1lion]

ROC MARCIANO - LIFE AFTER MARCBERG (FULL MIXTAPE)

[thelensofyashunews]

Roc Marciano Announces 2024 North American and European Tour

The New York hip-hop mainstay, Roc Marciano has announced his multi-date North American and European tour [ticket link here]. Visiting marquee cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, and Portland, he'll also be making a stop at Barcelona's Primavera Music & Arts Festival this summer. In 2022, The Elephant Man's Bone, Roc's long-anticipated full-length collaboration album with renowned producer The Alchemist, was named Best New Music by Pitchfork who lauded the release as, "one of the most indulgently sinister rap records of the year" and set the stage for Roc Marciano to have an even bigger 2024. He also is announcing that "new music will be coming soon", setting his sights on making this the biggest year in his decades-long career yet. 

Roc is on the heels of his career-minting run of critically-acclaimed solo LPs the past few years, from his 2018 and 2019 albums Marcielago, Mt. Marci to his hailed instrumental project, Pimpstrumentals in 2020. He also has been spent the past few years sitting behind the boards for some of hip-hop’s most exciting projects like Stove God Cooks debut album Reasonable Drought, to which Stereogum hailed, “his hazy deep-concentration beats turned out to be an ideal complement to Stove God’s literary crime-life talk” and Flee Lord’s 2021 LP Delgado. Most recently, Nothing Bigger Than the Program, a joint project with Vancouver mainstay Jay Worthy, was noted by Pitchfork for the duo’s complementary creative partnership, noting how “Marci’s minimal, often drumless beats are the ideal backdrop for Worthy, whose push-pull delivery slips easily into each nook and cranny.” Widely hailed as a godfather of the underground, Roc has helped shape the sound of the next generation, with the emcee serving as a key influence and source for the resurgence of contemporary hip-hop that has had. “I want to constantly be in the state of discovery,” he told Vulture in 2022, discussing what he sees himself doing in the next ten years. “From Marcberg on, I always wanted to make music I want to hear.”

Tour Dates 05/15 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram 05/21 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall 05/23 – Portland, OR – Polaris Hall 05/24 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile 05/26 – Toronto, ON – Axis Club 05/30 – Barcelona, ES – Primavera Sound Festival 06/01 – Athens, GR – Fuzz Live Music Club

About Roc Marci: Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Spotify | Apple | SoundCloud

[ardl]

This is Ka as James Hampton: externally, a Washington DC janitor like Ka is a firefighter; in private, the self-appointed Director, Special Projects for the State of Eternity. In secret, late nights and weekends, taking scavenged detritus the streets gave him and slowly, laboriously and silently crafting a huge work of deeply felt, personal and visionary art. (And like Rammellzee, not only did he find God and art in the garbage, but as an untrained artist of color, he was locked out of the support and accolades he deserved.)

After Hampton died of stomach cancer at 55, the garage’s landlord found the throne. He’d had no idea what Hampton had been doing in there, though Hampton had once said to him: “That’s my life. I’ll finish it before I die.” It’s only dumb chance that the landlord didn’t toss it all in a dumpster, and that his newspaper ad caught the eye of sculptor Ed Kelly, who brought art collectors and Robert Rauschenberg to see it.

The throne is now in the Smithsonian, where it belongs, but by a near miracle, a lucky break. The assistant director said that walking into the garage “was like opening Tut’s tomb.” On a bulletin board in the corner of this garage tabernacle, Hampton tacked a quote from Proverbs 29: Where there is no vision, the people perish.

As Ka said to Brimmers:

Hip hop don’t have a museum like this yet but if we have, I want to be a wing. I want to be my own fucking room, the Ka chamber right here. “At the time he was doing it, there wasn’t a lot of light on it, but yo, we went back and checked it, that shit was incredible”—that’s what I want. Van Gogh, he wasn’t revered, he cut his ear off and killed himself later on. That man wasn’t known until years after his death — he needed to have known what he was during the time he was alive. The difference between one listener and no listener is a universe. There is a dope MC out there that you and me don’t know about. Trust, there is someone in his or her room, dying, “why does no one care about my shit.” When they get their one listener that loves him or her, it’s an awakening. You can breathe. You become free.

Ka would’ve been Rap James Hampton, if not for GZA. This is where the path in the woods diverges from all those ‘whatever happened to,’ every ‘had a dope 12” in the ’90s’ artist. He gives copies of Iron Works to family and friends, and someone gives it to GZA. Somehow — think about how many demos a dude like GZA must be handed on the daily! — GZA listens to it, and he feels it.

And just like how GZA anointed Killah Priest thirteen years earlier by giving him the entire “B.I.B.L.E.” track on Liquid Swords, he crowns Ka by giving him a slot on Pro Tools in 2008. As Ka told RBMA: I’m going to the booth and I spit the first verse….Then he looks in the booth and was like, “You got more?” And I was like, “I got twenty years more. What you need?”

The joint is called “Firehouse,” a secret inside joke, as it’s years before the rest of us find out Ka’s profession. And the beat is by Roc Marciano, pre-Marcberg. This is ridiculously freighted; in a movie it’d be a lazy contrivance. Two of the most heavily acclaimed artists of the next decade, brought together by the Genius, the Wu Scientist: spooky action at a distance. Ka’s lyrics are already laden with what’s to come, where he’s been: Slow and steady win the race, step aside, let the tortoise by.

[warhead]

[als0als0]

"Oh sh*t, yo look outside son..."

[underground-hip-hop-affiliated]

Roc Marciano - Panic

It’s a spiritual thing..

[strictlyfortheculture]

[be1lion]

ROC MARCIANO - LIFE AFTER MARCBERG (FULL MIXTAPE)