Coming up this weekend. The only other time Mr. Mark James guested on one of my nights a few years back, he rolled through with a gym bag packed with nothing but breaks. No sleeves, two copies of everything, the records all lined up so all he had to do was reach behind him into the bag and grab the next two, and keep the beats rocking. Sorta like this:
At our behest, he also put a little all 45s set together in advance of that night, which may or may not have served as the prototype for this youtube classic:
Whenever I'm feeling uninspired about whatever, watching the above six minutes of Handytrax mixing magic never fails to rejuvenate me. I recently noticed that Mark uploaded a two-part sequel. Different beats - largely his own more recent productions - but real similar in spirit. (And with Double J on the intro.) Those look suspiciously like his custom-made 45-sized Serato control records.
It probably goes without saying that 45 King is one of my all-time favorite hip-hop producers. Even the stuff featured above reflects some of the signature characteristics of his best known stuff (e.g. "The 900 Number," "Hard Knock Life") - a locked in pocket groove, and a sense of humor. The following also certainly falls into that category (and makes me wish he'd done more with the Roc during those pre-Kanye & Just Blaze years):
Most underrated aspect of 45 King's career: his rhyming. "45 King Kick It" from the Test Pressing LP is an underground classic. So is "The Free Style" with Marky Fresh off the "900 Number" EP. No one ever talks about this one even though it's the flip to "This Cut's Got Flavor." So simple, but so dope.
I got no clue what Mark has planned for Saturday. (When I spoke to him earlier this week he advised that I simply play "bullshit" before he spins to ensure the best reaction to whatever he comes up with.) But if it's any combination of the above I think we're looking good. In fact, if he simply walks through the door and cracks that infectious grin we're still good.
2 comments:
Peace Chairman,
Wow wish I could reach this, 45 King is one of the all time greats in my book.
He always brings that raw funk with the horns & drums to his productions, very underrated in my book.
+ real smooth on the cut/transition, a lot of scratch nerds could learn a lot from Mark's less is more techniques (for starters use your headphones fools).
Thanks for posting.
No doubt 45 King is great on the mic.
You do you realize "Kick It" is actually just a verse from Queen Latifah's "A King and Queen Creation" (off her first album) over another of his beats.
A friend called me today and said last night was real dope. Good job!
The J
Soul Controllers end transmission
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