Ok, due to some busy-ness last weekend, we didn't get and remix goodness posted for you fine folks last weekend. That won't do, so we're making it up to you with a double dose today. Neither has any Canadian content, but they are both pretty great in my humble, so I don't foresee much complaining.

We posted NY producer 5 Alive's K'Naan remix a month or so ago, and to show his gratitude, Mike sent us a few more of his creations. One of which happens to mix the Beasties Root Down with the infamous Michael McDonald sample that was likely already famous, but Warren G made famous-er. Well, seeing as how the hill loves both the Beasties and Regulate, this was a no-brainer to post - it just took a little while to get up. It's a good one, I think you'll enjoy it.

The next song is a little more current, but just as good. I've been an RJD2 fan for quite some time, so it's been good to see people excited about RJ's new album, The Colossus. There's another NY producer who's also excited about this album: Alan Wilkis, who recently sent us his remix of The Shining Path, which is a really smoothed out, jazzy take on the song and it suits Phonte Coleman's vocals to a T. Another really good song and remix for you, so enjoy it, and your weekend.

MP3:: Beastie Boys - Root Down (5 Alive Remix)
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/5alivenyc

MP3:: RJD2 - The Shining Path (Alan Wilkis Remix)
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/alanwilkis

Labels: Beastie Boys, Remix, RJD2, What's This A Party?

This is an OSM I've been meaning to do for a while, but how I ended up posting it today is a little odd (but which of my little OSM theories isn't?). Anyway, as you may or may not know, this past weekend here in Halifax was all about one thing: Hurricane Bill. This big, fat underpowered storm had been on track to skirt right by the coast of our fair province, and perhaps bring with it some hectic weather. So we all got in prep/hype mode, only to receive what was essentially a very rainy day. Yes, the wind was rather strong, and for perhaps a 20 minute period, things were almost hurricane-like, but we were expecting something a little more grandiose.

So, sitting down last night to come up with an OSM idea found me trying to come up with something hurricane related. Turns out this isn't the easiest task, but there's one man I kept coming back to: Hurricane. I suppose most folks know Hurricane as the Beasties former DJ, but he's also a fairly successful MC in his own right, both as a member of the cult-famous The Afros and as a solo artist.

The Afros are easily in the gimmick rap hall of fame, as rapping in afro wigs is both ridiculous and awesome to the max. Of course, because acronyms were all the rage back in the day, Afros stood for "A Funky Rhythmic Organization Of Sounds", but it seems pretty obvious to me that Hurra, Kool Tee & co. just put the wigs on one day, thought it was hilarious and created a whole thing around it. Nothing wrong with that, as Kickin' Afrolistics was a pretty solid album and my cassette copy got plenty of run. The were on JMJ records, and I think Jam Master Jay (R.I.P.) produced some/all of the tracks on the album. As one might expect from a group called The Afros, this isn't the most serious album going, but it does some pretty awesome party rap tracks, like Coolin' With The Fros, and Feel It. And then of course, there's the jam they are remembered for: Kickin' Afrolistics. So for those of you out there who are close to my age, these songs will likely make you smile.

As for Hurricane's so work, I actually don't know much about it. His '94 solo record, The Hurra, was put out by Grand Royal I think, and the Beasties are featured on Four Fly Guys, so I have to think the Ack owned this album at some point. I think the B-Boys and Mario Caldato were involved in producing this record, so the tracks certainly feel a lot like the "hip hop" tracks on Check Your Head and Ill Communication - heavy bottom grinders that would pulverize eardrums if they would played through Milk Dee "big as your girl" type speakers. But they don't feel too 90's dated, so here's Elbow Room and Four Fly Guys, enjoy.

MP3:: The Afros - Feel It

MP3:: The Afros - Kickin' Afrolistics

MP3:: Hurricane - Elbow Room

MP3:: Hurricane - Four Fly Guys

Video:: The Afros - Kickin' Afrolistics (Clark Kent Superlistic mix)


Video:: The Afros - Feel It

Labels: Beastie Boys, Hip Hop, Hurricane, Old School Mondays, The Afros

It's a long weekend up here in Halifax, perhaps the only really nice and sunny one we'll have this summer, so under ordinary circumstances I might not have even prepared an OSM, but what we have here are circumstances far from normal. This weekend, the Ack and his lovely wife Nic welcomed their first child to this world: Cillian Christian Acker. The Ack has alluded to the fact that their little guy has some sizable challenges ahead of him, but now that he's finally here, I just want to say welcome to Cillian and congrats to Bry and Nic.

So what to welcome Cillian with? Well, in my opinion, there is no better OSM-way to welcome a new baby boy than with the The Ruler, and It's A Boy. But this is your average baby boy, this is the Ack's boy we're talking about, so we've got the original version AND the Large Professor Remix. That's just how we roll on an occasion such as this. But that's not all. We need something else for the Ack, and so of course when the Ack and hip hop are concerned, we have to visit the Beastie canon. So, even though it was kind of a ridiculous song, in this case the title has plenty of meaning, so a remix version of Fight For Your Right it is.

Congrats again Bry and Nic.

MP3:: Slick Rick - It's A Boy

MP3:: Slick Rick - It's A Boy (Large Professor Remix)

MP3:: Beastie Boys - Fight For Your Right (Junkie XL Mix)

Labels: Beastie Boys, Hip Hop, Old School Mondays, Slick Rick