Straight Outta Africa

Continuing with the hip-hop.

Zimbabwe Legit were two brothers, Akin and Dumi from the land of Mugabe who went to study in the US who caught the attention of hip-hop visionary Dave Funkenklein with a demo that they had produced . Funkenklein took the brothers to Holloywood to record for the label he was running, Hollywood BASIC.

The resulting ep garnered a lot of positive reviews from the music press but due to a lack of promtional budget and stock not reaching stores the record flopped.

Zimbabwe Legit should have been huge what with their def rhymes, humour and extensive knowledge of rap history. Also at this time their was an Afrocentric focus in the rap world which should have embraced the rappers who were the real deal. But due to some bad breaks they never became widely known. Their champion, Funkenklein died of cancer in 1994 and other people were assigned to running the label who didn't have a clue about the music or how to market the brothers, leading to the demise of the label and the end
of their career.

The track posted was a retrospective single released in 2006 and was also a track found on the first ep released by the brothers. It can also be found on the album Brothers From The Mother which collects all of their recordings and is also memorable for having the first production by Josh Davis (aka DJ Shadow) on it.

Zimbabwe Legit - Rhymin' Wit The African Symphony.

Big Mama

I was thinking at the weekend and not fo the first time that very little rap and hip hop has been thown out across the kitchen table in the two and a half years I have been writing this drivel and coming across as a "typical scot". Which is quite strange as I like my hip hip, granted not a great deal from the late nineties onwards but the earlier stuff, the less gansta flows.

So to start to redress the balance a little, here is my favourite female MC and she is rather vexed with a few people. Not the sort of lady you would take home a burst pay packet to I suspect.

Roxanne Shante - Big Mama