Novelty Rap Records

The other day, while at the swap meet, I came across a bunch of novelty rap records. I'm not sure if "novelty rap" is the best term, but that's what I'm going to use to describe these records that took 80's pop culture and put it to a beat. As a kid growing up in the 80's, I totally remember the catch phrases for most of these records, but I'm not sure which came first, the music or the phrase.

First up, I'm sharing some Miami bass with Gigolo Tony's "Smurf Rock." I'm not sure which came first, the Beastie Boy's line "I got to the party and did the Smurf," or "Smurf Rock." Is there a song about how to do the smurf? I was kind of hoping that's what this was going to be when I picked it up? The amazing thing is how much ground this track covers. He goes from Old MacDonald, to the Smurfs, to Debbie Deb, then to Fat Albert. And what's up with that line about hitting a girl in the head with a rotten banana? I won't even mention the cowbell.

Secondly, I'm sharing Spyder D's "Buckwheat's Rap". I'm including both the X-rated version and the radio version. Clearly, Spyder-D was influenced by Eddie Murphy's Buckwheat character on SNL. Notice the references to Michael Jackson's hair catching on fire and Pee Wee Herman who'll I'll be dedicating my next post to. Personally, I like the X-rated version better although I could do without the "fag" comment. It's shorter and I get a kick out of Buckwheat cussing.

Smurf Rock by Gigolo Tony
Buckwheat's Beat (X-Rated Version) by Spyder-D
Buckwheat's Beat (Radio) by Spyder-D

Los Angeles Negros

I apologize for not posting more frequently. I haven't been working lately so my posting should be more frequent, but I often find myself busy with nothing. Today, I do not find myself too busy to share with you a track from Los Angeles Negros. Los Angeles Negros are pretty well known amongst record collectors and producers mainly for their "moody loops". You can always count on a Los Angeles Negros album to include some great dark guitar on top of a nice slow rhythm section. Diplo used one of their tracks on his AEIOU vol. 2 mix. Today, I'm sharing the track "El Rey y Yo" (The King and I). I don't think it has anything to do with the Yul Brenner vehicle that my grandparents are so familiar with. I may be wrong though because I haven't really seen the movie. From what I can figure out with my elementary Spanish, the song is about a king who isn't happy because he has a bunch of money but no love. But, hey, the lyrics of this song are not what everyone is after. It's that tremendous head nodding break at the beginning that captures most people's attention. It's been sampled a few times, but that's not really important to me. I'm more interested in the strength of the vocalist. Listen to him belt out that chorus with those drums chugging right along as the guitar just kind of accents everything. Enjoy.

El Rey y Yo by Los Angeles Negros from Y Volveré