Tune into a popular or contemporary music station for any length of time and you'll have to agree that listening audiences today tend to prefer songs with vocals, no matter how irritating or bereft of intelligence the lyrics might be. Yes, I'm fully aware that a subset of the population enjoys classical music and instrumental jazz compositions, but how often do you see such recordings making even the slightest dent on the Billboard charts? Rarely.
While it's obvious that there's an endless stream of vocalists and MCs who I unquestionably admire, I also have an infinite number of instrumental joints that I consider to be invaluable staples in my record collection. Sadly, I often second-guess myself when I think about sharing something from this treasury of tunes. I inherently realize that most people would rather hear a song about "My Humps" than listen to a comparably outstanding selection that doesn't feature any mind-numbingly stupid vocal hooks. Furthermore, I've come to the sad realization that when the masses do gravitate towards instrumental material, it tends to be something as God-awfully unforgivable as Kenny G. Maybe people are just mystified by his ultra-chic afro mullet. Who knows?
Today, I made a conscious decision to go against the grain and post a random selection of instrumental gems from the crates de la Scholar. Before I drop these on you, a bit of historical wisdom to support my enthusiam for songs without words:
"It is better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt."--Anonymous
"Speech and silence. We feel safer with a madman who talks than with one who cannot open his mouth."--E.M. Cioran
"Let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent."--Dionysius the Elder
"Do not the most moving moments of our lives find us all without words?"--Marcel Marceau
"Let a fool hold his tongue and he will pass for a sage."--Publilius Syrus
I uploaded the tracks to divShare today as a trial run. For those who aren't familiar, you can listen to any of the songs by clicking the play button. To download the song, hit the divShare icon to the right. If you still don't get it, try asking your 5-year-old nephew...
"Planet Rock Pt. 1"---Breakout
"Keep On Dancing (Instrumental Version)"---Alvin Cash Scott Bros. Orchestra
"Big Game (Instrumental Version)"---Diverse (prod. by RJD2)
"55 Dollars"---Visioneers
"Doin' The Thing"---Leftie's Soul Connection
"Juicy (Pete Rock's Instrumental Mix)"---Notorious B.I.G.
"Ghetto Funk"---Ike Turner & The Kings Of Rhythm
"Hold Tight (Remix Instrumental)"---Slum Village (prod. by J Dilla)
"II B.S. (RZA's Mingus Bounce Mix)"---Charles Mingus & RZA
Gratitude is extended to DJ Blueprint for hippin' me to that Breakout joint---it still flips me out every time I hear it. If you still haven't stopped by This Is Tomorrow to scoop up Scholar's Got Soul? Mix, what the hell is you waitin' for, children?
Word From Your Moms:
“Silence is as deep as eternity; speech, shallow as time.”---Thomas Carlyle
16 comments:
God this blog is good.
I love "Big Game", one of my favorite RJD2 beats. It samples the same song that RZA sampled for "C.R.E.A.M." -- "As Long As I've Got You" by The Charmels. (I know I'll never be on Scholar's level in knowledge of hip hop samples, so I gotta get in where I fit in.)
Great post as always
Cracking instrumentals!!!
Great to see the Scholar laying some music on us over on This Is Tomorrow - get over there! - Oh that Delfonics track does it for me!!!
Colin
http://indangerousrhythm.blogspot.com/
now, I realize we're supposed to be talking about the music here but I have to set the record straight about something.
my people don't like to refer to them as afro-mullets. we prefer to call them jew-fros.
Another great post. Playing the shit out of that mix right about now too family. You da man.
There's also a Hendrix quote that goes something like "Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens." That is an amazing collection of tunes; I think you've outdone yourself Scholar.
Scholar, that mix is heavenly bliss. You are my hero
Anon 1---Ummm, okay. I agree. The thing is, all free file servers suck in some way or another. I've always liked zshare myself, but then peoples complain about too many clicks. Any suggestions on suck-free file servers that won't cost my broke ass a penny?
Anon 2---Thanks, homie.
buhizzle---I love that Charmels joint. Thanks for the compliment, but I def. have to defer to your overall knowledge of hip-hop. I'm just a nerd, ya know?
Colin---Glad you dig the instrumental stuff. I'm a hopeless Delfonics fan, so it came naturally to throw them into the mix. Just wait until your guest mix is aired, though---people will want to spit on mine in comparison.
Nic---I can dig a cool-ass Jew-fro. It's having Chia-pet-head that's so damn unattractive.
Dennis---Gratitude, man. Blueprint gets mad props for providing some tech assistance, too.
Adam---Great Hendrix quote, my man. I originally intended for the post to be quite a bit longer, but those tracks were so hot I couldn't wait to drop 'em. Sometimes impatience is a virtue.
Trav---You're my hero, too, cousin. You know this. (Note to self---send Trav those fucking tracks already).
awesome post. I really hit on the mingus cut.
keep it coming.
RB
cratedig.blogspot.com
Scholar - you are a true genius in your own right...your soul mix was incredible and offered a variety of tunes that had me bouncing my head from beginning to end. My only problem is it was TOO DAMN SHORT!!!! Another great gift from the master. Thanks
PK
Thanks a lot for the Breakout track!! I've been waiting a few months to hear that one now. I heard a lot about it and the hype wasn't wrong. Awesome stuff. Looking forward to running through this blog more carefully, there is a lot of great funk in here.
Quite effective info, thanks so much for the post.
Really useful information, thanks so much for the article.
Thanks so much for your article, very helpful info.
Honestly I prefer music without vocals, that's why my room mates hate me.
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