Dub dot dash

ENTER THE WU
Check the RZA interview on NPR's Fresh Air. Tip of the hat to O-Dub, who says "Normally, I tend to wince when Terry Gross interviews rappers - in the past, she's revealed a limited understanding of hip-hop history, culture and society, relaying on familiar assumptions (she seems especially drawn to whether rappers did or did not grow up in the 'hood), etc. This, however, was one of the best interviews I've heard her do with a hip-hop figure and I give much of this credit to Rza who's one smart guy and is just a fantastic interview."


Check the Tofu Hut - great backgrounder and MP3 on the group J. Walter Negro and the Loose Jointz - "Shoot the Pump".

"In 1981, Hip Hop wasn't yet out of the oven. Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five had formed only two years earlier, Fab 5 Freddie was just another kid bombing subway cars and the seminal film "Style Wars" was still in production. "Rapping" was a phenomenon not generally known outside of major U.S. cities; "Bette Davis Eyes" was the number one song in the country. In Brooklyn, a young Shawn Carter celebrated his eleventh birthday and not even a mile away in the heart of the city, a group of young punks released a single that had the potential to change the history of music... but didn't."

"... It's an exciting ass-shakin' bundle of urban summer energy, neatly bottled and expertly executed; the playing is ridiculously tight, the rapping is smooth and polished. This is the sort of single you'd expect from a well-known band, something obvious off a greatest hits of the 80's collection, right? So how come you've never heard this song before? How come "J. Walter Negro and the Loose Jointz" evokes nothing but quizzical looks from most of the tunage experts? Just what happened here? To find out more, the Tofu Hut got in contact with saxophonist Pablo Calogero, one of the original members of the Loose Jointz."

For some more audio mayhem, check out jazz musician Vijay Iyer and hiphop MC Mike Ladd. Iyer has posted nine MP3s on his Web site, including, for you headz, two songs he did with Mike Ladd. Iyer's Savoy debut, Reimagining, comes out May 17. (via Suburbs).