We did it. More than 6 hours to reach Rome and of course 6 to come back. All in less than 24 hours, nah mean? But believe me, it was really worth the trip. Just give us a few days and we will hit you with a review. Be patience and enjoy this video!
For now dig our latest updates on the right and this J Rocc mix.
Here’s antother bunch of good memories from the past… This cassette tape was recorded back in 1997 from Hot 97 FM radio in New York by our fellow DJMP45. Side A was Red Alert, side B was Flex. I ripped the tape into an 1h 15” mp3…
Of course the sound quality is not excellent (but not bad after all) and the tape has a few interruptions, as DJMP45 pressed the pause button when he didnt like the music (yes, he was already selecting stuff). Basically the two parts are very different if you put attention to the tunes, but i chose to keep them togheter to keep the spirit of that old cassette alive. Those old cassettes were always a mess, you used to have different recordings overlapping each other on the same tape, remember that?
The Red Alert part is based on the music that was coming out in 1997: stuff like Busta, Mase, Beatnuts, Big L and some unidentified freestyles over the most popular instrumentals of that age… not bad but the best part comes after this one…
The Funkmaster Flex part, from about 30′ from the beginning, is all about the classics, the kind of stuff that we can’t never get enough. I don’t even mention the titles because if you follow this blog you already know what kind of hip hop we’re down with. Golden age stuff. The notable thing here is that you can hear Flex at his best. He was truly a monster, check the style. When he pull-ups “Time 4 Sum Aksion” over and over (ever heard his “Time-Time for some ac-for some action, Time-time…”? That was one of his trademark routines), you wish he never stops.
“Hey Yo, who’s there on the radio? Do you know who it is? No? It’s my man, Funkmaster Flex….go Flex, go Flex, go Flex….” LISTEN! Hot 97 was soooo good back in 97………..
From Wikipedia: Recycling is the reprocessing of old posts into new posts, with the aims of preventing the waste of potentially useful music.
2 Re-ups for your pleasure:
and the tallest building in the world:
Just to give you an idea:
Foxxy Brown ft Method Man - Ill Na Na
Lords of the Underground - Bring It
Lost Boys - Get Up
2 Horace Silver Quintet - Song for my Father
US3 - Eleven Long Years
3 Larry Willis - 153rd Street Theme
Chi-Ali - Check My Record
4 Five Stairsteps - Danger! She’s a Stranger
OutKast - Two Dope Brother’s in a Cadillac
De la Soul - Buddy
Nice & Smooth - Ooh Child
R Kelly - Bump ‘n’ Grind (How I feel it Mix)
Tupac - Keep Ya Head Up
and most important…don’t forget to check what I brought you back last summer: 21 Essential Tunes from Africa
Once again we’re going to blog about other blogs…hey Martini & Jopparelli, would you please stop leeching the net? 
… The fact is that the internet is full of nice mixtapes and this week I’m checking out some serious stuff… I want to tell the people how damn good it is!
Remember back in the days, when it was so diffucult to get a good mixtape cassette with your favourite music? Now it’s so damn easy, and there’s some dope stuff around. Respect to all the bloggers, DJs and artists who put online such good music
As usually, we got different flavours and different ages, but The Sound Of The Funky Drummer is the least common denominator:
). What can I say, Boot Camp Click has always been my fav hip hop act, and Beatminerz are my fav producers, so…let’s get Back to the good old days: Check it out… Evil Dee is On The Mix Come On Kick It!!!!!!
Ok, that’s it, as usual we got different styles, different sounds…let me know what you like most, let me know if you already knew some of this stuff, if you discovered it now, if you like it or you don’t … let me know something!!
Peace
I hit you with this short post and then I go on holiday! But don’t panic, I leave you in good hands as my man Jopparelli will take control of the blog and you know, he will not disappoint you 
Check this shit out:
<<Roy Hargrove has recorded with a wide range of musicians, including: Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, Michael Brecker, Jackie McLean, Slide Hampton, Natalie Cole, Diana Krall, Abbey Lincoln, Diana Ross, Steve Tyrell, Kenny Rankin, John Mayer, Rhian Benson, Carmen McRae, Shirley Horn, Jimmy Smith, Danny Gatton, Method Man, Karriem Riggins, Common, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo, and Gilles Peterson.>>
Who the hell is this man?!
Neither Elton John knows what means doin so many collaborations…
Well with this album you get a traditional Jazz trumpeter composing and arranging a straight up Jazz album with a taste of Hip Hop spirit.
As with the other previous outings, the R to the H flexes his connections with more all-star collabos than an over-produced rapper that can’t come up with enough flow or material to do an album on their own two. Ah, but Hargrove does the combos justice, rarely missing.
Hope this album will get your gloving report!
Hit it…
Here at Music Selections we are all Italians: if you think about any Italians that made a great contribution to hip hop, it’s really difficult to think of any.
Some people may come up with Kid Capri (well, he’s half afro-American and half italo-american… but the name says it all and he’s the best mixtape dj ever..) and that’s it (I don’t count local Italian mc’s because all they did was copy American mc’s…).
Well, Kid Capri it’s not the only one in the hip hop history who left an heavy mark on it: have you ever listened to a Poor Righteous Teachers album or Yz ‘s “Thinking Of A Master Plan “? If yes and if you were wondering who produced those gems, here’s the answer: Mr. Tony Depula a.k.a Tony D.
Tony D has produced so many classics and it will take too long to name them all: if you want to know more about him, here’s the interview he kindly agree to do for Music Selections
Dj MP45:First of all, thanks for letting us have this interview. We should start from the beginning: what was your first exposure to hip-hop? I read that you started as a DJ, so which were the songs you were playing at that time?
Tony D: Grandmaster Flash and the Sugarhill stuff but Run DMC and the Def Jam early 12’s really were my favs.
Dj MP45: How did you switch from DJing to production and which equipment were you using when you started?
Tony D: the Mantronik album cover with roland 909 made me go buy one. So back then I had that and a 4 track cassette. ..
Dj MP45: Did you do a lot of crate digging in the past and do you still do it these days?
Tony D: Of course, but the record stores have dried up so it’s more of a challenge. I find myself digging in my own stash more than going out and breakhunting I have gathered so many old records that I still have fresh stock to go through…digger for life.
Dj MP45: Which are your top 5 non-hip hop records?
Tony D: I like the funky people James Brown lp’s, Monk Higgins, Andy Bey, Children of all ages: dope lp!
Dj MP45: Who are other producers that inspired your work and why?
Tony D: Marley Marl: he was the first to samples drums……
Pete Rock : trademark sound with horns and he pioneered the raw remix. .
But Paul C was the best on the SP1200 which I still use today. . . Plus he was ahead of time. . .
Dj MP45: Which songs do you wish you had produced yourself?
Tony D: Give The Drummer Some by Ultramagnetic Mc’s, T.R.O.Y. by Pete Rock and C.L Smooth and DWYCK by Gangstarr
Dj MP45: You produced a lot of politically-charged acts such as Poor Righteous Teachers: were you comfortable with their message or was it just music to you?
Tony D: Sometimes I felt a little odd hearing all the anti-devil stuff but I was pretty much accepted into the hip-hop urban community because I been down since day 1 . . .
Dj MP45: One of my favourite songs you produced is the Blvd Mosse “Move to something funky”: I tried to find more info on this group, but I couldn’t find any: how did you start working with them and do you have any interesting anecdotes about that time?
Tony D: Actually with the explosion of random hip hop, BLVD MOSSE unreleased is in demand as I have other material from them as well as other artists from Trenton that never came out.
I met them in North Trenton. They were from that area where I was already scouting acts.
Dj MP45: Let’s move to the present: what do you think about the state of hip hop at the moment and do you think there are producers who can still carry that flag?
Tony D: It goes up and down. Sometimes I think Hip-Hop’s dead then Kanye or Lupe Fiasco comes out with something dope.
But overall, crunk, bling and gangsta rap have put a dent in the culture of Hip-Hop
Dj MP45: Many thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, it is very much appreciated , I know readers of our blog will be happy to find out that a fellow Italian gave such a great contribution to hip hop.
Tony D: Thanks paisons…peace.
Check out one of his former groups, Crusaders For Real Hip Hop. Dope production and a classic hook with the Top Billin’ vocal sample….
Check out also the YZ “Thinkin Of A Master Plan” video… When is the last time you saw a rapper sporting an african necklace instead of a gold one? Respect.
…NOW GO TO TONY D MYSPACE AND SHOW HIM SOME LOVE!
A couple of weeks ago I saw Jazzman Gerald here in Turin. He did a great set indeed. Now, I found out a page with a few podcasts and as usual I am here to share it with you.
To know more about Jazzman Gerald and his label check also this interview!
Two days ago a really weird thing happened!
One of our readers left us a comment with a bunch of links and believe me, this is not really frequent! People usually just come over here and leech.
Now, we decide to point it out with a post so it does not go unnoticed! This is because not a lot of our visitors leave a comment, am I right little rascals?
Do you want a preview? Coldcut & Steinski – No Rights Given or Implied (1986)
Tasty, isn’t it?
Do your thing with the links and show props to Mr Snow1. We don’t know who you are but a lot of our visitors should definitely emulate you!
My blog is worth $57,583.08.
How much is your blog worth?
