I have been tired of Hip Hop for sometime now. It's been my secret. It's been a feeling I've had that I wish would just go away. But it hasn't. Thinking it's been since 1988 when I first bumped my head, I guess like an old friend, we're just drifting apart. I don't want to turn this into a whole I Used to Love H.E.R type of write-up so let me just say. Hip Hop has become something I listen to out of habit. I haven't really wanted to listen to Hip Hop for a couple of years. This is not a bad thing. It just means we're growing. Tastes are continuing to develop and expand. Hip Hop will always be there. I know it'll be safe to come back. When I want to bump my head again. Saying that. There's always that album that comes along that makes me interested in Hip Hop again. So far this year the only one that has done that is Elzhi's Elmatic. Then I heard DJ Shadow's latest release, The Less you Know,The Better . The vet spinner has taken it back to the bare bones of what a DJ album should sound like. Experimental. Diverse. And tons of good turntablism and sampling threw into the mix. From a soft ballad type track like Sad and Lonely to heavy beat rocking Let's Get It to live instraument dominated tracks as (Not So) Sad and Lonely, the album goes all over the place in feeling and tempo and beats and musical genres.
What I once loved Hip Hop for.
It is an album that makes me forget about my little secret I have with Hip Hop. It's an album that I can listen to over and over and each time takes me on a new musical carpet ride.
Going to give the other records a break this week. I'll be going back to the basics with Shadow and forget about that little secret. For a bit, anyway.
