Certain parts of the East Coast have been hit with snow over the past week. I'm in an area right now where it has snowed six consecutive days. Six days of snow brings ice. Ice brings rock salt. Rock salt messes up your kicks.But the other day, even though I was dreading yet another extended shoveling session, I was walking to the crib site and I felt myself rolling into a pimp walk. I had it paced out briskly, clocking in at about 102 bpm. So I'm rolling, getting my grown-man pimp on, and I hit a patch of rock salt. Of course, the first thing I consider is my kicks are going to get all jacked. But nevertheless, I moved on. And somehow I caught a rhythm. The result? Kicks on concrete crushing rock salt at about 102 bpm. It was fly, if I do say so myself. It was like I had my own personal soundtrack working. Every few steps, I'd stop in the middle of the street, do a little jig, get my Gregory Hines on.And all of a sudden it dawned on me ...This is EXACTLY how Dilla's drums sound.There's a lot to appreciate about Dilla's body of work, but the first thing most heads identify is his drum patches. More than a snap, crackle, and pop, Dilla's drums have a signature crunch, a sonic roux equal parts magnificent selection, inspired equalization, and good old fashion vinyl dirt. Everything about his beats are just ... crunchy. The snare has it, the bottom has it, even the ride cymbal has it. Next time you go outside on a cold night with streets barren, a curtain of dark muting external sounds, listen to that rock salt and get your pimp on. Create that crunch. It'll work with Tims, gators, even Jimmy Choos.So to celebrate that crunch, I've compiled a quartet of Fantastic clips from the original SV album. Straight from Conant Gardens, where they're likely salting the streets this very moment. Each selection descends into ever deeper iterations subharmonic bass and rhythmic crunch. By the last selection, the vibe is so nasty it borders on the pornographic.
We say Fan-tas-ser-aYou say "Huh?" "What?" "Ya know"It's that Sh** ... Ay, yoThis is for y'all to dance to it slow'Cause it's FantasticOoooh weeee!!!P&L,Soultronica
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