Classic Was The Day

Funky DL has always been overlooked in the UK rap scene since he released his debut back in 1997. Since he's constructed over a decade's worth of brilliant material yet never gets mentioned when people talk about UK's finest. The reason for this idiotic sentiment boils down to one thing. Rap accent.

Born and raised in our very own capital, the Hackney, London-emcee has taken a lot of stick throughout his career as to why he raps in a faux-american accent. His answer? "Its just my style". Get past the initial oddity of the accent and you find that DL has probably created some of the greatest albums in UK hip-hop history. His production alone is world-class - evoking the jazzy stylings of A Tribe Called Quest, Jay Dee and early Slum Village, and The Ummah.

You can even hear the vocal and horn samples from some of that classic material hidden deep within his tracks. We're not talking about some knock-off version here either, Funky DL has been creating these stellars beats his whole career and its almost unfathomable that he doesnt hold his place in UK hip-hop history right now. And all just because some stubborn bastards don't like the accent he raps in.

Near the beginning of his career he won a MOBO award for his hip-hop contribution (back when MOBO awards were actually relevant and trash like N-Dubz didn't take the plaudits) and has continued in the same vein ever since. Strangely enough, DL recieved massive support and still to this day holds a large fanbase in Japan where he achieved most of his success.

Here is two of DL's best albums, 1998's Heartfelt Integrity and 2002's Blackcurrent Jazz. Over the two albums there are some classic songs and sounds. Take a journey from the horns on the sublime 'Tangible' to the almost 'Lords Of The Underground'-era Marley Marl sounding 'Fromage Frais', and then onto the fanfare of 'Prediction' and the undoubted Jay Dee-esque sound on 1998's 'The Positive' (may I add back before Jay Dee was considered one of the best - if anything Funky DL helped create the sound rather than be influenced by it). Take in two albums by one of the most overlooked emcees and producers in the history of british urban music.


Funky DL - Heartfelt Integrity (1998)


01. Main Features
02. Rock To The Beat
03. Consist & JQ
04. 2nd Flow
05. Snares featuring ESP The Overseer
06. Fromage Frais
07. Billie Holiday
08. Buttermilk & Sex Appeal
09. Where Am I? / Who Are You?
10. They Don’t Know featuring M&EM
11. Missing Link
12. I Thank God
13. The Positive
14. Me & My Rhymes


Funky DL - Blackcurrent Jazz (2002)

01. Talk About
02. 2Long
03. & Ask For DL
04. Confused?
05. Hit Me
06. Roll The Dice
07. Tangible
08. Prediction
09. Wonderful featuring Guile
10. What You Saying Girl?
11. Simply 2 Complicated
12. High Endurance
13. Keeping It Classic
14. The Music featuring Sienna
15. Turntables Hate Me
16. It Still Rocks
17. 2Long Remix

Check out Funky DL's website also which actually has a FREE mixtape download of Funky DL and DJ 279's J.Dilla tribute from last year. Basically it features DL rhyming over classic Dilla beats with some mixing in for good measure. Check it out and also check out his discog, support the artist and buy his albums!

This is the tracklisting for the Dilla tribute mixtape and the link to the d/l page. It gives you the option to either download it as a one track full mix or the individual tracks. Just right click and save.

http://washingtonclassics.com/Dilla/

01 Intro - Dedication To Dilla
02 CM - Mixtape Mix
03 Me and You and Him- Mixtape Mix
04 Rock To Her Beat Beat 2000 - Mixtape Mix
05 About The Things - Mixtape Mix
06 So Sexy - Mixtape Mix
07 The Saturday Night Love Affair - Mixtape Mix
08 Confidential Information - Mixtape Mix
09 Moonlight Girl - Mixtape Mix
10 Queen of Diamonds - Mixtape Mix

And finally here's some videos from the guy just to give you the full lowdown on him. First is a callabo he did with the legendary Nujabes production crew from Japan (showing you the Japan links again) and second is the single from his most recent album. Enjoy and support.

Old School (but not really)

I was looking through my old CD collection for old tracks maybe to upload onto the site and came across this UK Hip-Hop compilation I made back in early 2003. It has just completely random tracks on it because at the time I only had dial-up internet and used Kazaa to dl tracks. It always took about 45 minutes to download one track!!! The wierd thing is, at the time that seemed really reasonable! So, forgive me if some of the tracks are better than others, but it does have a few gems on it. I skimmed over it on iTunes earlier today and some of the tracks aren't special, but I probably just put them on the compilation anyway because it took 45 mins to get it. I wasn't exactly just going to delete it after that much of a wait!

Northern Author Hip-Hop
Ad's UK Hip-Hop Mix-Up (2003)

1. Rodney P - Murderer Style
- I haven't changed the tracklist order that it originally was, and its no surprise I put this first. A true classic from a true hip-hop legend.
2. Iceberg Slimm - Bad Boy
- A bit of an in-joke this one. It used to ALWAYS be on the telly back when Channel U first started out, and me and my mates have always just laughed and joked about how Channel U is the dumbest shit ever to be put on television. This song had an even ridiculous chorus and was fairly listenable.
3. MUD Family - Rich & Switch
- A track from Skinnyman's group about how rappers lose their grounding once they get successful. Not a bad song at all.
4. Funky DL - The Music
- The first of three Funky DL tracks on the mix. I have always been a fan of his brand of hip-hop, but a little sceptical of his rap accent. Why does he feel the need to put on an american one when he isn't from the USA? Still, he is a good rapper and a great producer.
5. Braintax - Deal With It
- Some old Braintax here. I have no idea when this song was made or what LP/12" it was from, but it sounds very 90s to me. I suspect this may be quite old. Whatever it is, this is classic Braintax at his best.
6. Ricochet Klashnekoff - Daggo Mentality
-I believe that this may have been one of Klashnekoff's first ever releases. He still hadn't dropped 'Ricochet' from his name, and (without actually checking) I think this might have been on a WordLab compilation. A very good intro song fro the man, stating his claim before the music even starts ('Come like Britney Spears ya get speared in the heart')
7. Funky DL - Soul Silhouette
- More DL, this time sounding verry jazzy. This is almost Native Tongue jazzy in the way it is crafted. Great song.
8. Rodney P & Skinnyman - Worldwide
- Two superstars on a Joe Budha beat that is seeped in reggae dub bassline and sound. Suits Rodney more than Skinny, but nice nonetheless.
9. Ricochet Klashnekoff - Jangkroville (Jehst Remix)
- Another Klashnekoff early release, this time with Jehst providing a remix and a verse.
10. Taskforce & Braintax - Three Amigos
- Thoughts of 'El Mariachi' come to mind as the song starts, but once the beat comes in and Braintax opens up, it gets much more darker, with the typical UK basslines coming into play. Taskforce & Braintax work very well together here.
11. Skinnyman - Chat 'Bout
- Skinnyman on the solo tip with a dark backdrop for him to paint a picture of his neighborhood and lifestyle.
12. Funky DL - Everybody Rock On
-The last of the DL songs, and this one is jazzy hip-hop done up proper. It uses the same horn sample that was used on a Tweet song produced by Missy Elliott not long ago. This came first though, as I think this song is about 7 or 8 years old.
13. Micro, Rodney P, Taskforce & Braintax - Controlo
- I have no idea where this is from, but it seems to be a song by French rapper Micro featuring british artists. Not a bad effort by all.
14. Phi-Life Cypher & Taskforce - Want It So Bad
- One of my personal favourite rappers of all time has to be Life from Phi-Life Cypher. NO-ONE, I repeat NO-ONE has a better flow than him. Not the best thing either group has been involved in but some good verses on display here over an anarchist's backdrop.
15. Tommy Evans - Natured Out
- From the intro I can tell its an exclusive from Undercover magazine (a good read by the way). A nice if rather dull track. Tommy can do much better.
16. Blak Twang (feat. Lynden David Hall) - Perfect Love
- One of Twang's more sensitive songs, featuring the sadly departed Lynden David Hall. Hall was a classy vocalist with some great tracks and it was a shame he died so early in his life. A good song here with Twang on top form interpolating Hall's classic 'Sexy Cinderella'.
17. Lewis Parker - Sunflight
-What can you say about Lewis Parker. He is quite simply an incredible producer. Up with the greats on any shore in my opinion. This song is off 'Its All Happening Now' and has a typical Parker beat and some smooth lyrics. A good outro song.

DOWNLOAD!!!!

Just as a Brucey Bonus: Watch this vid from British maestro DJ Format with Canadian emcee extraordinaire Abdominal on the vocals. If you don't already know this song you really should be ashamed of yourself (punish yourself accordingly), and it is canny well known, but...enjoy it for what it is. A straight up and down babyliss-hair-straighteners rap track with a great beat, a great video and some stellar rapping from Abs (no, not the one from 5ive).