Coffee Breaks, pt. 2

When I started this series of post I promised to keep the content fresh because the concept is not so original. Well I'm gonna eat my words right away by posting two classics familiar to many. I've been feeling late 80's rap a lot lately and I'm always in the mood for tight drum breaks.

I found Blow Your Whistle back in the day on this compilation from a small public library and went crazy about the break. Of course later I had to get a copy of Salt Of The Earth. You know the story...I had heard everybody sampling Ashley's Roachclip but I had never heard the original song.

I've always liked Dropping Rhymes On Drums which was the lead single of Def Jef's debut album Just A Poet With Soul. It might be thanks to Etta James on the vocals. She really brings the soul to the track. In the early days of rap old school soul people weren't really into hip hop nor working with rap artists but on this track it seems to work out fine.

Soul Searchers - Blow Your Whistle [320 kbps]

Def Jef feat. Etta James - Dropping Rhymes On Drums [320 kbps]

Michael Jackson - Rock With You remixed

There's loads of remixes of this classic out there but in my opinion these two are the best ones. What's special about these edits is that they contain unreleased vocals and ad-libs not heard on the album version. This is because Masters At Work and Frankie Knuckles both had access to the original master tapes of the song while doing their remixes.

Michael Jackson - Rock With You (Masters At Work Remix) [320 kbps, zShare]

Michael Jackson - Rock With You (Frankie's Favorite Club Mix) [320 kbps, zShare]

I came across to this video of Paul Dateh and DJ Inka One mixing violin music with rap (and other stuff). It seems like a worn out idea from the 90's but I liked it...especially The Roots part of the mix.

MP3 of the mix seems to be available for download on Paul Dateh's MySpace. Go get it!

Off Track Vol. 1 promo 7"

I've had this 7" promo of the Kon and Amir compilation Off Track Vol. 1 released by BBE Records for a while and today I had time and willpower to rip some vinyl on my HD so I decided to post both sides of the single. Enjoy!

Matthew L. Cassell - Heaven [320 kbps, zShare]

The Black Souls - Baki Mutane Nakuka (Black People Crying) [320 kbps, zShare]

EDIT: The name of BBE Records is an abbreviation of Barely Breaking Even which is a monster of a song by Universal Robot Band. I'm aware that you all knew this but I just love the song so here it is.

Universal Robot Band - Barely Breaking Even [320 kbps, zShare]

Breakwater - Say You Love Me Girl

Just a quick post before I head out for a road trip/boat trip. Say You Love Me Girl is a certified banger from Breakwater. The song appears on the band's second album Splashdown (1980).

The song was also released on a 12" single. A weird fact about the single: it was released five years after the album was released. The b-side features No Limit and Work It Out, both great songs from Breakwater's first album.

Breakwater - Say You Love Me Girl [320 kbps, zShare]

Lew Kirton - Talk To Me

Smooth, smooth soul from Lew Kirton. For some reason he remains underrated though the man has an amazing voice and a mellow style. Well, the song is one of my all time favourite jams anyway.

Kirton recorded a nice album Heaven In The Afternoon (1980) for T.K. Disco Records and then moved to New York and recorded Talk To Me in 1983 for Believe In A Dream Records. The album has also other great cuts on it, Just Can't Get Enough to name one.

Lew Kirton - Talk To Me [320 kbps, DivShare]

Billy Paul - How Good Is Your Game

Billy Paul is best known for his song Me & Mrs. Jones. In 1972 the song topped both the R&B and pop charts. Otherwise his commercial success was rather modest but he recorded some amazing songs during his career under Philadelphia International Records mostly produced by Gamble & Huff.

How Good Is Your Game appears on Billy Paul's album Let 'Em In (1976). The album as a whole is pretty mediocre but How Good Is Your Game that was also released as a single stands out clearly. It's a solid P.I.R. style song worth checking out.

Billy Paul - How Good Is Your Game [320 kbps, zShare]

Work To Do - The Isley Brothers

During the past few weeks I've been working my ass of so I decided to share a true blue-collar anthem Work To Do by The Isley Brothers. The song appers on Brother, Brother, Brother. The LP was released in 1972 by T-Neck Records which was owned by the brothers themselves. The album has a lot of cover songs on it among others a wonderful version of Carole King's It's Too Late but Work To Do is their own composition. Average White Band hit big with the song a couple of years later.

The Isley Brothers - Work To Do [320 kbps, zShare]

EDIT: I added a nice True Beatz version of the song. It was released by G.A.M.M. in 2005. I believe it's Q-Tip who's spitting on the track but I'm only 95 % sure so please, correct me if I'm wrong.

True Beatz - The Workout [320 kbps, zShare]

Keni Burke - Let Somebody Love You

Though Risin' To The Top is a great song it doesn't make a lot of sense to post it cause it's all over the place anyhow and it's been sampled by everyone and their moms. Instead I would like to share another great song by Keni Burke.

Let Somebody Love You is a wonderful uptempo song released on an album You're The Best and on a 12" single. The album came out in 1981 just before his best-seller Changes. In my opinion You're The Best ranks higher than Changes. It's a fine combination of mellow soulful instrumentation and utempo tracks...Keni Burke at his best. If you're into Leroy Hutson, Webster Lewis or Billy Preston you'll most likely love this.

Keni Burke - Let Somebody Love You [320 kbps, zShare]