De La Soul: I Can’t Call It
From High School High Soundtrack (Atlantic, 1996)
DJ Shadow + Gift of Gab: Count & Estimate
From 12″ (Solesides, 1995)
I was looking to see what my peers have going on over at their sites and two posts inspired me to join in the fun.
Over at Moistworks, James has up a trio of songs by one of my favorite groups ever – De La Soul. No “Me, Myself and I,” here – strictly off-the-beaten-path selections including “Trouble In the Water” (a collab with Japan’s DJ Krush Honda) and the slept-on DJ Spinna remix of “Stakes Is High.” I thought back to another De La song I always liked: “I Can’t Call It,” from the High School High soundtrack (a surprisingly great hip-hop OST). Smooth production, great lyrics – one of those songs that will likely always go underrated simply because it appeared on an unheralded soundtrack (throw in Pete Rock/CL Smooth’s “One In a Million” or Jeru’s “Frustrated Ni**a” in there too…hey, wait a minute…I’m getting an idea forming…).
Meanwhile, Cocaine Blunts is killing it as usual. Noz has his own trio up: Blackalicious songs off of the Melodica EP, including an all-time fave song of mine: “40 Oz. For Breakfast.” CB’s getting me all misty-eyed for the heady days of Solesides (yeah, where’d you think my name came from? Act like you knew). That’s why I pulled out the first piece of wax that Gift of Gab ever appeared on: DJ Shadow’s epic “Entropy” and a sub-cut (you need to hear “Entropy” to understand) called “Count and Estimate”. Big up to Uptown.
chatter