Fremdtunes

The weather is fine and we have a new guestmix by Coco Bryce online: temparature above Fahrenheit 451!

On a regular bases we’re inviting talented, befriended DJ’s and/or radio-hosts to do a mix for our ‘Weather Fremdcast’. The fifth one is a ‘all Hip Hop‘ one by Coco Bryce, who released his ‘Boesoek LP‘ last year on Fremdtunes and is currently working on tracks for a new release (!). Coco did not only take the time to record a mix (with tracks by Tyler, Das Racist, New Slang etc.): he also took the time to shed some light on his love-hate relation with Hip Hop.

Crunked out & Fresh, for 2012!

“Hip hop, hip hop, hip hop, oh sweet hip hop. I think hip hop must’ve been my first true musical love yeah. De La Soul’s “Me, Myself and I” was probably what got me into it. I was totally blown away by it the very first time I heard it, with the quirky video accompanying the tune and all. I immediately went and bought it on vinyl from my allowance. And then I got some Public Enemy tapes from one of the older guys in my town, soon to be followed by all of the other Golden Era stuff (i.e. Tribe, Black Sheep, Wu Tang, Dr. Dre, Hieroglyphics, The Pharcyde and more De La Soul)…”

“…After a while, to me at least, shit got a bit predictable, boring and generic though, and it wasn’t until the early noughties that my interest in hip hop was really sparked again, mainly by Stones Throw (read; Madlib) and affiliated artists. As far as I know, Madlib, Dabrye and Prefuse influenced a very big chunk of the whole wonked-out, crooked beat stuff that’s been oh so fashionable amongst the thousands of Fruity Loops and Ableton bedroom producers (like yours truly) all around ze vorld. They (Dabrye etc.) are the ones that brought a fresh and off-kilter vibe to hip hop (I left out the Def Jux crew, but that’s only because I never really was too big of a fan of their stuff, sorry, but I just never got that stuff). That being said, to me, the most interesting stuff was happening in the instrumental part of “the game” (the hip hop music game that is), whereas for the most part the hip-hop-avec-rap part of “the game” (yes, the game) was still boring and generic and (especially) taking itself waaaayyy too serious.

But here we are, in 2012, and lo and behold, a whole new breed of rappers and producers has sprouted from fuck knows where. No more “strictly 90 to 100 bpm” beats, no more “strictly sampling old soul and funk” beats, no more sticking to the five elements, no more silly unwritten rules hahaha. But seriously, hip hop has finally gotten crazy, weird and playful again. With tempos ranging from slower-than-dubstep to “strictly 100 bpm” and sampling sources as diverse as Euro Trance hits, Imogen Heap and singer/songwriter girls covering Kid Cudi and back again. They still rap about a lot of the same shit (bitches, jewelry and drugs, though syrup and E have been added to the narcotics list of weed and Henny even by rappers who aren’t from Houston), but it finally sounds F.R.E.S.H. Again.

The tape I did for Fremdtunes is merely a compilation of some of the “new school” hip hop I’ve been listening to lately. Funny thing is that a lot of the stuff I prefer nowadays is so heavily influenced by the Crunk sound of the Dirty South heydays, even though I vividly remember hating that stuff passionately back then. Maybe I’m just getting old, and the years of brainwashing have finally paid off. Who knows.”

WEATHER FREMDCAST 5 BY COCO BRYCE TRACKLISTING

1.TYLER – SANDWITCHES
2.ACTION BRONSON – POUCHES OF TUNA
3.DAS RACIST – LUV IT MAYNE
4.KIRKO BANGZ – SAY HELLO
5.XV – SWERVIN (LUNICE REMIX)
6.SCHOOLBOY Q – HANDS ON THE WHEEL
7.NEW SLANG – NICHE
8.KENDRICK LAMAR – BLOW MY HIGH
9.LIL B – TRAPPED IN PRISON
10.STAINLESS STEELE – MEDITATION FOR A SICKNESS (INFINITE POTENTIALS REMIX)
11.EARL SWEATSHIRT – LUPER
12.ASAP ROCKY – KISSIN PINK