The Radiant Child 2010 [Jean-Michel Basquiat Doc]

Couple of Basquiat pieces, a full length doc that was in a drawer for over 10 years gathering dust [stacks of interesting segments] , and a Rammellzee freestyle session [with graphics from Jean] from 1983.

 

Westwood VHS archives: Rakim, Ultra, PE, LL Cool J Live from London….

Tim Westwood has been going in heavy on the archival action recently. He’s been uploading unreleased and never seen before footage from iconic performances  like Rakim at Hammersmith, Ultramagnetic in Camden, Derek B live at the Hammersmith Palais and more…

Tims clips capture the raw excitement of the embryonic stages of the London Hip Hop youth culture in clips that feature body-popping on corners of Trafalgar Square, and under the watchful eye of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.  And as well as these, he has also added outtakes from the N-Sign Rap show. We all know about the Bizmarkie handshake debacle but what about a young Will Smith dropping more bloopers than Dennis Norden !

!!BRAINWORM ALERT!!

Trae The Truth’s new mixtape, The Blackprint (see what he did there..) is oot now, and fairly bangin’, if you like your southern Rap. Trae is going for the title, at least the title of King of Houston, and here, him and cousin Z ro, give tribute to 2Pac, and rope one of the OUTLAWZ in for good measure..enjoy.

“Punched in the Windpipe” The Lord Finesse story.

Real heads had this off  Westwood back in the Denzils, but i ain’t never seen footage!!, Love the energy as people hear the punchlines for the first time..Finesse is clunky, but who really out there does it better..

Lordz of the Underground didn’t know who they were fuckin’ with, with that “yes, Mr funky-man”, those fellas better cut it out.

“the hood tour of halifax”

nardwuar comes correct as always, really getting Kendrick Lamar out of his shell with some compton momento’s, vinyl, and pictures of the white guy from CMW.

watch @ 9.00, as Narduar aks’s JAY ROCK, the gangsta rapper about J to the ROC, from the park…

Proof Positive.

that Hip Hop is not only alive and well in 2012, but positively thriving in the stweets of new york..yes, a lil rough round the edges, but hey, that Run DMC sweatshirt will shut your hating ass down…TJ Mizzel, rocks very w.e.l-l..

Mr Magic birthday party [1984]

Another week, another clip from way way back from peoples that were there along-side the greats. This time we have conversations with the late great Mr Magic, Sweet G from the Fever, Kool Kyle, DLB from the Fearless4 and live performances from Fearless, Divine Sounds and the Force MCs.  Magic discusses Graffiti writers and the ‘generations’ of Rappers while DLB is prophetic in his observation that there are ‘so many creative writers when it comes to Rap, that there is no way it could really end’…

There’s also an instrumental with a Malcolm X speech towards the end, not unlike the 1983 Keith Le Blanc produced cut on Tommy Boy. Its probably exactly that, just a World Famous Supreme Team instrumental with a sheet of Malcolm over the top, but its cohesive, and sick…

Inside Comedy with David Steinberg [Showtime]

Inside Comedy is currently my favourite TV show. It’s a one-on-one conversational format with veteran writer/ director/ stand-up David Steinberg, and its real basic. The show takes it lead from Steinbergs old 2005 programme Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg, with a simple face-to-face, breaking bread format, highlighting the ‘inspirations and influences’ of comedians and ‘funny people’ as well as ‘intimate memories and career-defining moments’. Things are a little loose in direction at times and the show might seem brief, but the raw, rare and uncensored footage adds to the fabric of this quality production. NB. The only laugh-track is provided organically by the camera and sound crew…

Some of my personal favourites in Comedy appear over the course of the 10 episode investigative mini-season which started 26 January 2012; Chris Rock, Steven Wright, Judd Appatow, Tina Fey, Garry Shandling, Larry David, Jerry Seinfeld and Mel Brooks. In terms of the level of talent, its a no-brainer. Steinberg interviews some of the finest comedians alive, going back as far as Jonathan Winters and Don Rickles [Louie CK was probably too busy, at the gym no doubt]…

As a guideline, here’s the Chris Rock episode.