This week we got Red Cafe sample spotting, Blaq Poet regulating as only he can (“Y’all niggas ain’t villains/ y’all Twinkie fillin”) and F.L.Y. doing the polar opposite of both. Read onnnn!

Red Cafe “Heart And Soul” (prod Pete Rock) [mp3 via Nah Right]
Can’t get excited (a yo!) about Mr Cafe, he’s the poster boy for a whole generation of snoozy east coast rappers trying to mix radio friendliness and “street cred” post-Fabolous / 50 Cent without the personality and voice of either. Not bad, just not interesting. But fuck what I think about Red Cafe’s tanktop rap, he has a Konvict Muzik chain with his name on it and I don’t. Let’s talk about the Pete Rock beat – and not it’s debt to Odyssey’s excellent “Native New Yorker” (which YN already pointed out) but those replayed chords in the background. Peep the track’s first appearance as Young Buck’s mixtape cut “New York City” and you hear the OG sample right away. Fucking Tangerine Dream “Love On A Real Train” aka the theme from Risky Business aka the song that will haunt my brain forever after spending a weekend with Nick Hook of Cubic Zirconia trying to replay it – arpeggios and all – when we couldn’t clear the sample for Kid Sister’s “Let Me Bang.” Eventually XXXChange nailed it (the track is on the new album and it’s awesome) but the whole process gave me a new appreciation for the tune’s incredible melody and production, as well as the group’s history as synthesizer kings / electronic music trailblazers. Maybe I should start Tangerine Dream Ass Tuesdays.

Blaq Poet “What’s The Deal” (prod DJ Premier) [mp3]
More NY raps. One of the all-time best moments at Fool’s Gold was hiring DJ Premier to play our holiday party. A-Trak and I just sat down and said “let’s get Primo,” sent an email, and boom, merry Christmas to me. He killed it, too. This track off Blaq Poet’s very solid new album The Blaqprint reminds me of that, effortless and awesome. Check for “Hate” feat NORE too.

F.L.Y. “Party Time” [mp3]
And in a complete 180 from sample nerdin and QB thuggin over scratch choruses – the Fly Life Yungstaz! I wrote a little about ATL happy raps last week and this may well be the musical apex of that, to the point where it’s basically pop punk. Which is to say I fuck with it. There’s a shout out to Chris Farley cause it rhymes with gnarly. “What’s this music called? Cowabunga?” – Diplo

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