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"The main part of Hip Hop to me is
the drums," he explains. "Hip Hop was started by
a group of DJs who were interested in drum breaks. It was
dance music for parties."
So, like a great block party DJ set, PEANUT
BUTTER WOLF's mix goes off in several different directions
at the same time, a road map of some of Hip Hop's hinterlands
the average rap tourist never gets to see. Who but a filthy
fingered denizen of the crates would have thought to include
prog rockers Iron Butterfly on a Hip Hop compilation?
"I love the confidence in his voice,"
Wolf explains, and you're reminded that such swagger is a
vital weapon in the Hip Hop MC's armoury. But Sheffield electro
poppers the Human League? British soul man Joe Jackson?
"'Hard Times' reminds me of when Hip Hop, breakdancing,
electro, and new wave were all interchangeable," Wolf
explains. "I first heard it played at a Flea Market by
a group of Cholos gathered around a boom box, popping to it.
It was on a mix tape, but played twice as fast for people
to pop to. Back then, they'd speed everything up twice as
fast. And Joe Jackson is so funky. The song writing is the
strong point. Not necessarily the lyrics, but the chords and
arrangements. It's one of those strong emotional songs that
makes you feel happy and sad at the same time."
And, of course, there's classic rap too,
courtesy of those family enterprises, the Brothers Jungle
and Cold Crush. The former's 'I'm Gonna Do You' comes from
their inspirational 1988 debut LP, 'Straight Out The Jungle'.
"When people talk about 'forward thinking'
and 'genre bending' today," Wolf says, "I think,
'Go back and listen to the Jungle Brothers. Every song on
that album influenced the future of music."
Cold Crush Brothers' 'Punk Rock Rap', meanwhile,
is a different beast … an ambitious attempt to take a
nascent genre into new territory, made by a legendary group
whose incalculable importance is probably only now being properly
understood.
So what does PEANUT BUTTER WOLF want to
say with this mix? What is the one abiding image of Hip Hop
he wants the listener to take away from listening to it?
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