KRS-One and DJ Marley Marl - HIP-HOP LIVES Review
Posted by Phil Watts, Jr on 05.29.2007
“We will be here FOREVER. FOREVER AND EVER…AND EVER AND EVER! We will be here FOREVER. Do you understand?! GET WHAT I’M SAYING---FOREVER!!!!”
How do you celebrate the 20th Anniversary of your first album? How about going to that GAY DJ you shitted on 20 years ago and let him handle the production of your latest album!
In an age where YOUNG-YOUNG-YOUNG is what the industry is after, two highly influential Hip-Hop veterans decide to hook up and shock the world with HIP-HOP LIVES. Now, I can go over their 20 year history, the Bronx/Queensbridge battle, and how they started so many careers and influenced many more…but at the end of the day, it always comes down to this: Do they STILL have what it takes to make a good album?
Last year, KRS showed that there was some hope after all with the LIFE album, as it was a breathe of fresh air compared to his other post-Jive recordings. However, there’s the case of Marley Marl, who hasn’t been involved in a whole project in years. His last project, RE-ENTRY (his contribution to BBE Records Beat Generator series) was forgettable at best. Hell, a good chunk of the album wasn’t even produced by him (Kev Brown, Easy Mo Bee, 99 Fingers, and J-Force were credited with some of the songs), which leads people to wonder if he has anything left in the tank at all. Because of the mediocrity of RE-ENTRY, I came into this project with low expectations. However, the more I heard from this album, the higher my expectations became.
Now, when you look at Marley’s career as a producer, his work can pretty much be summed up in 4 categories: 1) the mid-80’s period, where things were kept simple, with mostly lots of loud drums and some sample snippets (see MC Shan’s DOWN BY LAW); 2) the funk period, which Marley worked with lots of funk breaks. It was this period that he’s best known for, as this was when the Juice Crew was at the peak of popularity; 3) the Jazz break period. When most of Hip-Hop’s producers started working with lots of Jazz samples, Marley followed suit. This was the sound he worked with when he introduced Lords Of The Underground. 4) The street level period, where most of his beats took a dark, more sinister turn to compliment the more thugged out artists during the mid-to-late 90’s. This was the sound he worked with when he introduced CNN (Capone and Noreaga), Real Live, and the Screwballs.
In HIP-HOP LIVES, Marley tries to incorporating all these styles into his beats…however, he seems to be a bit more cautious about sampling these days (whether because of a limited budget or him just not wanting to deal with bullshit publishing laws and lawsuits like in the old days when he went all out with James Brown breaks left and right). But even with those limits, Marley does a damn good job carrying this album, so all of you people who were worried about him after listening to RE-ENTRY can breathe easy.
Meanwhile, there’s KRS. Yeah, he gets called a hypocrite every 5 seconds because of his constantly changing views on politics and religion, but there’s a few things that he has always been consistent on: his undying love for Hip-Hop, his desire to see it preserved, and his passion that he expresses these views with. Some might say that he’s passionate to a FAULT, especially with his “I AM HIP-HOP” stance and this Temple Of Hip-Hop business, which makes people think that he’s trying to turn Hip-Hop into some cult or something. That’s why I’d rather look at Hip-Hop as just a form of music, as opposed to Hip-Hop being a CULTURE, like he sees it. Putting all that aside, one thing I’ve always like about KRS is that when you listen to him, you really get the sense that he truly, passionately believes the things he talks about, no matter what his views at the moment are. These days, you have rappers putting so much focus on super-lyricism and HOT-HOT-HOT lines, but with so little passion or soul conveyed in the lyrics, you end up with a bunch of interchangeable talking heads. Today’s rappers could learn a thing or two from KRS when it comes to putting more passion into their vocals.
Put both KRS and Marley together and you have a chemistry so undeniable that it makes you wish they collaborated years ago when they both were both at the top of their game. Both of them put in some work with this project. Starting this off, Marley provides some hard drums as KRS drops some knowledge in “Hip-Hop Lives” (“HIP means TO KNOW/it’s a form of intelligence/to be Hip means to be update and relevant/ HOP is a form of movement/you can’t just observe a Hop/you gotta HOP along to it!”) KRS slips into Dance Hall mode in “Nothing New”, where he shits on critics who think he should retire. On “Musica”, Marley brings it back to the days of “Funky Child” (I almost expected Mr. Funkyman and Do-It-All to jump in during the course of the song), while KRS and Magic Juan (…) gets busy. “Rising” has Marley using the same sample that his student Pete Rock used in “The Game”. While Marl doesn’t flip it as well as his In Control co-host did, he did leave it sparse enough for Kris to get real personal. This song is noteworthy, as Kris shows some rare sense of humility by admitting that Mr. Magic, Marley, MC Shan, and Roxanne Shante were all responsible for making his career possible: “I don’t forget it/to Marley & Shan I am indebted/for starting my career these guys could take credit!” Another personal song is “Kill A Rapper”, where he goes over how the police gives no priority to investigating the murder of rappers, no matter how prominent the MC is. “Over 30“ gives love to all the 30+ heads out there, and “Al Skool” has Marley giving a certain Ghost record some “Run”. I almost expected Kris to shout “Yo, Marley--I think I’m about to take my shirt off!!” Thank goodness he didn’t or the partnership would’ve ended right there!
Thing is, I do kinda wish that Kris would lighten up just a little bit. Even with all the passion in the world, all seriousness and no play gets annoying after a while. Nothing symbolizes this like “I Was There” (no to be confused with the vastly superior “I AM There” from the LIFE album), where he goes 3-4 minutes telling critics that he was there for many of Hip-Hop’s greatest moments while the critics can only read about it. For once, I would love for the author of “Super Ho”, “Jimmy Hats”, and “I Can’t Wake Up” to make another light-hearted record.
The Good (FRESH…for 2007, you SUCKAZ!!): “Hip-Hop Lives”, “Musica”, “Rising”, “Kill A Rapper”, “Al Skool”
The Bad (KILL THA--KILL THAT NOISE!!): “I Was There”
The 411: Overall, this is their strongest effort in years. While they both aren’t in their prime anymore, they still have what it takes to make a good album. Hopefully, this will give Marley the chance to be more active as a producer (and hopefully bring those funk breaks back…that sound is solely missed!), and Kris lightens up just a little bit. Today’s generation of Hip-Hop fans need to start supporting our veterans and I couldn’t pick a better place to start than this one.
