SAMPLE SUNDAY-----EPISODE 10

A FEW WEEKS AGO, I WAS IN BEST BUY, LOOKING FOR THE NEW ALBUM FROM THE FOREIGN EXCHANGE, AUTHENTICITY, WHEN I CAME ACROSS MASS APPEAL---THE BEST OF GANG STARR.

MASS APPEAL:  THE BEST OF GANG STARR album cover

AFTER THE PASSING OF GURU, THE DEMAND FOR GOOD, UNADULTERATED HIP HOP HAS BEEN IN VOGUE.  GANG STARR HAS ALWAYS BEEN ONE OF MY FAVORITES WITHIN THE HIP HOP ARENA.  A SONG THAT HAS STUCK IN MY PSYCHE FOR THE BETTER PORTION OF SIXTEEN YEARS HAS BEEN "CODE OF THE STREETS", FROM THE GANG STARR CLASSIC HARD TO EARN. 

HARD TO EARN album cover (Gang Starr--1994)

I LOVED HOW THE SONG WAS STRUCTURED, FROM BEGINNING TO END, LYRICALLY AS WELL AS SONICALLY.  WHEN I FIRST READ THE LINER NOTES AND INSERT FOR THE ORIGINAL CD WHEN IT WAS RELEASED IN 1994, I NOTICED THAT IT SAID "PRODUCED BY GURU".  THE SONG IS A STRIPPED DOWN, STRAIGHTFORWARD EXAMPLE OF BEATS AND RHYMES, SOMETHING I'VE BEEN DRAWN TO WHEN IT COMES TO A HIP HOP CREATION.  HERE IS "CODE OF THE STREETS" IN VIDEO FORM, AS A REFLECTION OF THE SYNERGY THAT WAS GANG STARR.  AN EMCEE AND DJ, LYRICIST AND PRODUCER, GURU AND DJ PREMIER...GANG STARR!



THE BASIS FOR "CODE OF THE STREETS" FROM A SONIC STANDPOINT IS FROM A MONK HIGGINS CREATION ENTITLED "LITTLE GREEN APPLES".  MONK HIGGINS WAS AN ACCLAIMED, AND SOMEWHAT OVERLOOKED SAXAPHONIST.  HE IS CREDITED WITH SONGS AS VARIED AS "ONE MAN BAND (PLAYS ALL ALONE)", "WHO DUN IT", AND "GOTTA BE FUNKY".  HE DIDN'T HAVE AS DEEP OF A DISCOGRAPHY AS SOME OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES DURING THE 1960'S OR 1970'S, BUT THE MUSIC YOU CAN FIND FROM HIS IS ICONIC AND DOPE.  "LITTLE GREEN APPLES" IS JUST ONE OF THOSE DOPE SONGS, INCLUDED ON THE 1972 SOLID STATE RECORDS RELEASE EXTRA SOUL PERCEPTION.



EXTRA SOUL PERCEPTION album cover (Monk Higgins---1972)



UNFORTUNATELY, GURU FROM GANG STARR AND MONK HIGGINS ARE BOTH IN THE ESSENCE, NO LONGER HERE IN THE PHYSICAL TO BLESS US WITH NEW MUSIC.  YOU CAN STILL DELVE INTO THEIR CATALOGS TO FIND OUT WHAT MADE THEM MUSICALLY UNIQUE.  I'VE DONE JUST THAT, AND I'M GRATEFUL THAT I'VE DONE SO.  EVEN THOUGH I'VE HEARD OF MONK HIGGINS, I NEVER CHECKED OUT OBSCURE SONGS SUCH AS "LITTLE GREEN APPLES" UNTIL RECENTLY.  THE ONLY EXPOSURE TO HIM BEFORE WAS THROUGH AN "ULTIMATE BEATS AND BREAKS" COMPILATION ALBUM, WITH THE CUT "ONE BAND MAN (PLAYS ALL ALONE)".  DEFINITELY CHECK OUT MONK HIGGINS, ALONG WITH THE WIDE ARRAY OF ALBUMS AND SONGS FROM GANG STARR.  YOU'LL BE MORE THE WISER FOR DOING SO!