Look, I really didn’t want to do this. But our website is in danger of dying if nobody ever posts anything, so I’m here to resuscitate the patient, at least for one more week. I know this is a pretty stupid reason for a blog, and, accordingly, this is a pretty stupid blog.

With that said, I’d like to proudly announce the birth of your new favorite thing, Which Is More Hip Hop? That’s not a question…that’s the name of it…which is, itself, a question. Sorry if that’s confusing…I’m rapidly downing whatever you’d call a vodka-cranberry-ginger-ale. I call it what I had in the house.

Anyway, the concept here is pretty self-explanatory. Which is more hip-hop? Some things are so obvious as to render comparison superfluous. You won’t be seeing “Which Is More Hip-Hop? Basketball vs Hockey” anytime soon. But occasionally the distinction between hip-hop and not-hop is more subtle, and therein lies our subject matter.

This week: (Drumroll, please…)

Which Is More Hip-Hop?

HAMBURGER vs HOT DOG

Let me be clear: The comparison is not between the above pictures themselves, but rather between hamburgers and hot dogs in general, and for the entirety of their existence. Which is to say that, although the concepts “hamburger” and “hot dog” predate hip-hop itself, one of them may still have been more hip-hop than the other from the very beginning. Or maybe it became that way over time.  The answer is up to you. You may use any and all criteria whatsoever to justify your selection. References are always appreciated.

OK, that’s it. You know what to do.

Tell me something good,

Grip Grand

Grip Grand recieves the Great Artist Award. Not to scale: T-shirt.

Listening to: Eminem–Cleanin’ Out My Closet

I am not really listening to that song. I don’t even own that album. But it seemed like an appropriate intro to this article, which finds me airing out the old rap-vault. If you’re an artist, you probably have one, too…a dusty storehouse for all your almost rans and never weres. Not every song makes it out of the lab, and that’s probably for the best. Nevertheless, here I am, disinterring tunes that might have been better off buried. But who can really say? Only you, dear reader. Only you. So, with that in mind, here’s three loosies. You owe me a dollar fifty. 

(Music after the jump, chump!!)

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There just hasn’t been a post on here in so long, I had to lace the site with something. This is a song I made a little while back on a lovely beat from my man Seprock. I was so inspired after I heard it, I wrote the rhyme and recorded it over the MP3 before Sep could even send me the wave file to rock it right. In fact, I still haven’t swapped it…so this is a rough version, for your ears only (”your” meaning, in this case, the entire world).

In other rap-related news, me and Shalem are steady stackin’ songs for our upcoming album-project-thing, so watch out world. Rec League is in the building.

Also, I still buy comics, and today I’ll be buying these: Secret Warriors #4, Wolverine #73…and maybe a third one. Who can say? I’ll probably flip through the new issue of ToyFare, see what new toys are coming out, that kind of thing. I don’t really buy toys, but…some part of me would like to. I wonder if my inner child gets bullied by my inner rapper.

Alright, brothers and sisters. Thanks for listening to my work in progress. I sure do hope you have a great night, y’all. Now be easy.

I think very deeply,

Grip Grand

A totally real picture of Grip Grand (R) and Seprock (L) in the lab

Captain vs. Frogman Remix

By Grip Grand and Seprock/Prod. by Grip Grand (with Seprock)

Now for sure THIS shit has never been released. “Captain vs. Frogman” is the first rap song I ever produced, and (not counting the pause tape experiments of my youth) it is also the second song on which I appeared as Grip Grand. It was created under the wise tutelage of my man Seprock, who taught me how to use the Force (and also loaned me his sampler and four-track tape machine to hook this beat up). Mixed and recorded (if I recall) in Portland, OR, at the Space Age Bachelor Pad (aka my apartment on Powell, across the street from Plaid Pantry).

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NEW GRIP!!! D.O.A.!!! CRAAAAAZYYYYY!!!!!!!

Ahem.

OK, I know you wanna hear the whole song. But I really didn’t feel like making a video for the whole song. I’m a very lazy man. However, you can hear it at www.myspace.com/gripgrand, just like all the randos. Sorry you have to go to my other site to get your free music fix, but hey…I could use the traffic.

I thought I told you we don’t play,

Grip Grand

Few things are more self-indulgent than a blog about itself. It’s like a taking a champagne bubble bath in a mirrored ballroom. But I wanted the world to know that, while Grip’s Pull List and Yo!Tube (my regular weekly blogs) have been off-the-air in recent weeks, it doesn’t mean that I love you any less. In fact, it means that I love you more.

In response to your decided lack of interest in comic books and classic rap videos, I’ve chosen to discontinue my regular columns and instead find something else to focus on (plus, I’ve been hella busy recording, so sue me). I’m open to suggestions (Recipes? Record reviews? Tips on why your beats suck?)…so if there’s some topic you’re just dying to hear my opinion on every week, lemme know. I assume there isn’t, and until I hear from you, maybe I’ll just keep my mouth shut. Besides, the removal of my ramblings will serve to focus more attention on the musical antics of your very own Rec-League All-Stars, and that’s what we’re all here for anyway. Sure, this means that some weeks on Routine Fly will be virtually post-free. Well, you can’t have it both ways, America. Love it or leave it.

That’s my spiel. Thanks for indulging me. The lines are open, and we’re accepting your calls now. 1-800-NEW-BLOG. Holler with your suggestions.

Reading Geek Monthly magazine,

Grip Grand

New old songs! How exciting for us all. A couple of tracks I did a while back were recently released on a Japanese compilation called The Light. I don’t think this album is available domestically, but perhaps you can find it at better retailers of fine imported hip-hop/downtempo/acid-and-or-nu-jazz compilations. And I bet it’s on iTunes, too. If you buy a million copies, maybe I can afford a turkey this year for Thanksgiving.

The songs in question are Secondhand Smoke (produced by yours truly) and Rain Rain (Yesterday), miscredited here as Rain Rain Go Away (Yesterday) and produced by my man Mystro out of Portland, OR. The former cut has been on MySpace forever, and the latter you’ve probably heard if you know me personally. If you don’t…welcome to our website. First time here? I bet we have some mutual friends. Anyway, whether you’ve heard them before or not, you’ve never heard these songs quite like this…which is to say, mastered. So, without further ado…enjoy.

SECONDHAND SMOKE (prod. by Grip Grand)

RAIN RAIN (YESTERDAY) (prod. by Mystro)

Laid back,

Grip Grand

1988: The Year Rap Broke. If you caught last week’s installment, you already know what an important year 1988 was for hip-hop, and not just because Yo! MTV Raps saw its debut. The Golden Era brought us classic after classic, and videos were no exception. With so many heaters, I’ve been hard-pressed to select the best. I couldn’t fit ‘em all in last week, so here’s a few more showstoppers from 1988. Check ‘em on out. And watch the video up top while you’re at it. Highlights include the always “foine” Darlene the Syndicate Queen; Ice-T’s classic Raiders script cap (if you didn’t rock this style of hat back in the day, and/or the blocky-letter Starter joints, what the fuck were you wearing? A Kangol?); a snippet of one of the older Yo! theme songs, which includes the classic “Yeeeeeah Boyeee!!” over a beat that just isn’t that tight; and Ice-T describing a summer tour line-up that will make your Walkman weep. Peep it.

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Readers of a certain age (meaning old) will remember Jim Henson’s Muppet Show, a staple of my childhood featuring puppets, Dizzy Gillespie, and Elton John. Well, not in every episode. But sometimes. The Muppet Show is like Arsenio…it had a lot of dope guest performers, and it was canceled prematurely. OK, after 120 episodes. But still, I could have used a few more. The house band (Electric Mayhem) was tight; the show featured edgy, culturally insensitive humor (the Swedish Chef); and there was a recurring character who basically rolled around throwing dynamite at everyone. Combined with the cavalcade of guest stars, The Muppet Show was high/low concept art at its very best. Seriously–Lou Rawls, Johnny Cash, and puppets. What more could you want? I still don’t think this subversive little show was for kids, and I’m guessing it influenced an entire generation of budding young freaks to be even weirder than their parents were.

So, what’s my point? Well, this week will see the debut of The Muppet Show #1, the first issue in a new comic book series devoted to your favorite purveyors of fur and foam rubber. But will I be buying it? Read the rest of the Pull List and see!

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1988–The Year Rap Broke. Minor cultural milestones like the Village Voice’s “Hip-Hop Nation” cover story and the debut of Yo! MTV Raps were part of a creeping but widespread recognition on the part of the mainstream media that hip-hop was here to stay. And while it had begun to make its mark on many of us years earlier, they don’t call this the Golden Era for nothing. Even a cursory glance at the best-loved songs of 1988 reveals one masterpiece after another. In that age of pioneers, new styles were being invented every day–if you even had a style, it was a new one (unless you were rapping like Busy Bee), because none of it had been done yet. Originality was the watchword.

As musical artists pushed themselves to create a new sound, so too did their visual counterparts. The MTV Empire was in full effect, and it was clear that video ruled the day, but hip-hop was still creating the unique visual styles that came to define it. Until Yo! came out, most of the hip-hop material that had been available on the screen (big or little) was from the Old School. Beat Street, Breakin’, Wild Style, Krush Groove–hungry hip-hop shorties like myself devoured these gems when they dropped, but by 1988 their depiction of the culture (both visually and musically) was out of date. The new style of speak needed a new style of seeing to go with it. 1988 was the tipping point, and the styles it gave birth to are still being explored today.

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