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Air Adam Podcast


Apr 21, 2010

Eleventh Heaven

"All praises due, if you know what I mean..."

- Guru

(By the way - no, that photo isn't Photoshopped - that's really how the sky looked that day!)

This is about as close as a lot of people have got to flying recently, the volcanic eruption in Iceland has stranded a lot of people, including some of my listeners - hope you get home safe soon!

As promised in the episode, here's the link where you can get the info on this week's Neighbourhood party - hope to see you there!

The sad news was just announced yesterday that Guru passed away, apparently after a long and painful illness. RIP Baldhead Slick...above the clouds...


Playlist/Notes

J-Zone : Flight 212/Bullshit City

I thought I'd start off with something on the airline theme and could have gone a few different ways (Ice Cube's "My Summer Vacation" and "Altitudes" by Little Brother spring to mind). I love J-Zone, he's not only a fantastic producer but has more personality than the next ten MCs in line combined - humour and individuality on the mic are greatly underrated these days!

Air Adam : Ground Effect

Another beat from my vaults, got this one pressed onto a dub plate as I liked it so much! Burning things onto a CD to play just isn't the same...especially if you don't use CDJs anyway :o)

Mobb Deep ft. Noyd: Scam

Unreleased track from 2000, can't remember where I first got an MP3 of this but I love it - very dark and minimal, lots of little touches you might not pick up on straight away, very Mobb. After much searching I managed to find an unofficial vinyl pressing of it to play this month :o) There's a "Mark The 45 King" remix of this track on the B-side but it's nowhere near as good - this is the one.

Cormega ft. Ghostface : Tony/Montana

If you didn't know, the title comes from the fact that this track is by Ghostface (aka Tony Starks) and Cormega (aka Mega Montana); totally forgot about this one until I went for a good root in the collection. Is Mega's section about the Sprewell trade awkward or genius?

Blahzay Blahzay : Sending Dem Back

Of course when you talk about Blahzay you think about "Danger" and "The Pain I Feel," but I've loved this track since the man DJ Greenpeace hit me with a cassette of the album preview back in my salad days. Tanya Brewer is the singer on this, for anyone who wanted to know!

Faith Evans : You Used To Love Me (Ali Mix)

The original track is great too but this is a nice reworking, airy and spacey, giving Faith's vocals plenty of room. I edited the intro to this slightly to make it a bit longer and better for blending with, then used Serato to mix it live; got to love all this modern technology :o)

Jake One & Freeway : Know What I Mean (Instrumental)

The "Stimulus Package" album is hot right now and not only does it sound good but the packaging and ability to download an official digital version of the album and instrumentals perhaps point the way to how people can be persuaded to shell out for the physical copy of an album in these downloading times!

The Roots : Proceed V (Beatminerz Mix)

Philly. New York. Nice.

Johnnie Taylor : Somebody's Gettin' It

Taken from the 1976 "Eargasm" album, which has some top tracks on it. If you don't know who Johnnie Taylor is, you may just recognise this track which borrows from one of his tunes heavily. Picked this one up in Manchester's King Bee Records, great spot for digging for old vinyl and worthy of support, as are all good independent record shops - don't let them disappear!

Ultramagnetic MCs : Raise It Up

From the Wild Pitch era of Ultra, the "Four Horsemen" album is a quality 90s New York release - no frills, no R&B, just straight up Hip-Hop. Used to play this one heavily on cassette back in the days, but finally got a vinyl copy of this track on the "Hi-Phat Diet" compilation. 

Guru : The Anthem

It would have been too easy to go to the library of big Gang Starr classics here, and I'm sure there will be some fitting tribute mixes popping up all over the net this week. This is from the "Baldhead Slick & Da Click" album which was mixed overall but certainly had a few gems on it. DJ Roach on production here, and of course the one and only Guru Keith E handling the mic in his unmistakable style.

Outerspace : 151° (Instrumental) / The Cutthroats ft. Guru : Stop Looking At Me

Outerspace are part of the extended Jedi Mind Tricks family and part of Army Of The Pharaohs, and this serious beat was produced by 7L - I got it on a 12" with "Divine Evil" on the other side but it's apparently taken from the "Blood And Ashes" EP.

I just had to play that bit of the Cutthroats/Guru track - for light relief if nothing else!

Prince Po : Holla

Self-produced track from the former Organized Konfusion MC, from the "Prettyblack" album but also on the B-Side of "Mecheti Lightspeed" - that tune got a decent amount of play in these parts but I felt like this one was overlooked; yes, it's clubbish and all that, but is that a crime?

Joe Budden ft. LL Cool J & Dutchess : Focus (Remix)

Shout out to DJ A-Up who wanted to know about this tune when I played it out a few months ago! It's called a remix but the beat is just the same as the original, which is good since there was nothing wrong with it :o) Dutchess I don't know anything about I have to say, but LL is of course one of those guys who just kept on going and always seemed to be able to keep up as the era and audience changed; respect for that!

Missy Elliott ft. Jay-Z : Wake Up

Missy is definitely one of those artists who's done so many things you forget! I hadn't heard this tune for so long but heard it the other day while going through some things and then played it a few more times in a row!

1st Infantry : The Midnight Creep (Instrumental)

Nice crime-story Alchemist production: Havoc and Twin are on the vocal version of this, worth having I think!

The Coup : 5 Million Ways To Kill A CEO

Even if the revolution isn't televised, at least it'll have a soundtrack! 2001 track here from the deeply political Oakland duo (Boots Riley on the mic, Pam the Funkstress on the wheels); also notable for having the great Bernie Worrell on the Theremin!


Please support the artists whenever you can if there's anything on here you like; go to see them live, check them out on Spotify, and buy their output too!