Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Babuism

First of all, this track "Visualize" by Mr. Complex is a totally underrated underground banger from like 1996, which deserves to be heard, if only for the farty synth effect, a sound that always gets me. Plus it's full of quadruple-entendre lyrics about trying to get laid.
Mr. Complex - Beat Junkies Mixtape



But then there's the DJ that's playing it. Just after the dumb jabber jabber from the guy introducing this mixtape, starting at 00:34, the DJ (Babu from the Beat Junkies, Dilated Peoples, et al) does the most INSANE beat juggle with this record, which only lasts like 15 seconds. He completely flubs it as he reintroduces the snare, but if you think about what he's trying to accomplish--dissecting one little part of the beat on the fly, turning it inside out and backwards, while holding on only to the little hi-hat hits--it's really impressive. And he almost pulls it off. What is it about California Pinoys and their turntables? It has to be genetic.

Which reminds me of another recent feat of DJ Babu's, wherein the dude gave the world a blazing rap track by a four-year-old child, namely his own kid. Granted, the track's really short, but imagine how many takes it must have required to get a small child to nail lyrics like this:

Skateboard, rip rhymes and draw/by the time I'm turning ten I'll probably be on tour

DJ Babu feat. Nico - Now You Know

From this 2007 comp. And the breezy Aloe Blacc song on the same record is a future classic. Is there anything Stones Throw Records can't do?


Aloe Blacc - Find a Way

1 comment:

Unknown said...

The guy introducing Babu kinda sounds like J. Rocc.