4.29.2008

Bounce Blueprints 2

Derek B Rock the Beat
(1987, Music for Life)

This is what allmusic.com has to say about rapper Derek B:

British rapper Derek B elicited some mild response from his debut release, Bullet From a Gun, on Profile. He displayed decent rapping skills and the beats were competent, if not awesome or outstanding. It did not make a substantial impact on the hip-hop or R&B front, however, and also failed to register on the pop scene.

What they left out of their bio was this record's seminal role in shaping the sound of New Orleans Bounce. Breaks copped from this appeared later on one of Cameron Paul's DJ Battle Weapon Beats & Pieces compilation's, under the title "Brown Beats", a name that both stuck and helped obscure the roots of its sample source. This became the second most important record for bounce sampling and the first instance of a British rapper breaking into the American market. To throw around a back-handed complement about beat competence is some real bullshit. Allmusic should change their site name to something a bit more narrow.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you slizzard I've been looking for brown beats in whatever form i could forever. It's not as easy to get ahold of as the Triggerman

Anonymous said...

RIP Derek B

Eugene S said...

Thankss for this blog post