Disco Breakdown (right click and “save as” to download)
It seems we’re coming full circle with the history of hiphop and disco music. The inchoate beginnings of hiphop emerged from dance parties in Bronx projects where everything from James Brown to Kraftwerk and KC and the Sunshine Band could be heard. The first rapp (double p) records pressed on wax were disco raps, from the assumed first of the batch in 1979, Fatback Band’s “King Tim III” to the legendary Sugar Hill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight.” By the late 80s New York hiphop artists rejected disco in favor of the louder funk that would orient the genre for the next two decades. Even the burgeoning West Coast electro rap scene folded for the funk. You can hear recent vitriol (still, in the most fun way possible) towards disco in the Dr. Octagon’s “Bear Witness,” (produced by Dan the Automator), sampling an amazing Tommy Boy promo record by the forgotten 4-Ever Fresh, “Urban Sound Surgeon.” And some heads still can’t get down to the fever.
But, disco is back with a vengeance. From infecting indie punk with infectious dance grooves (thanks “House of Jealous Lovers”), mainstream pop (Black Eyes Peas, Lady Gaga, Kanye), as well as the futuristic thump of the underground (Dam Funk, Hercules and Love Affair). So, in spirit of the restored disco energy, Shelmatic and I (Z Note) venture through a disco breakdown to give you a taste of the variability and exceptional sounds of over 30 years of disco tunes. We lay down some modern soul, dusted boogie grooves, the funkier side of the cowbell, and a dip into synth heavy madness. Tell us what color of the spectrum gets your magic shoes flailing. We love it all.
For more journeys into the disco groove, peep some earlier episodes:
Ep. 11 – Rollerspace Boogie
Ep. 7 – Cosmic Vibrations
big ups! i like it!