On “Echo Party” and Echo Parties
While building with the pre-sampler rap tape gods it might be worth weighing in on Edan’s recent half mixtape (the old kind) half album Echo Party. Edan’s greatest skill has long been his ability to throw back while simultaneously move forward. Or if not forward, sideways. His immaculately laced Beauty & The Beat added psychedelic rock to the language of Ultimate Breaks & Beats fast rap. With Echo Party he reaches back further and expands what could have been a sort of tepid old school blend into a unique standalone project. This is a wise move because, sadly, the last thing his or any modern audience wants to hear is untampered Cold Crush routines. (The absence of Edan’s own try hard Mike D meets Ced Gee raps, however, is quite a good look.)
One thing often overlooked when discussing the genesis of hip hop is how slapdash and do-it-yourself production was initially. As technology evolved it began to cater more directly to hip hop producers, culminating with the Triton fueled hyper homogeneity of the late 90s. But in those early years it was really a matter of hip hop djs and producers and performers simply throwing shit against the wall. A lot of the old party rockers dabbled as amateur electricians building their own speaker systems and mixers. This by any means pioneering is also why Kazoos are the secret sixth element of hip hop. (And see also: Schoolly School’s Reverberations). Edan revives this impulse with Echo Party. Though I don’t think he’s actually building his electronics or adopting anything so low brow as party favors he does take a similar kitchen sink approach to his manipulations – overdubbed instrumental noodling and Prefuse 73 style vocal chops.
There was some debate in the comments a little while back about how the use of glitchy and chopped vocals in current day hip hop exemplified the impending overseas influences. They probably didn’t. While it’s true that the old school never so explicitly rocked those techniques, Edan (perhaps inadvertently) makes a strong case for a logical progression from the EchoPlex abuse of the old school to the the clipped and slurred autotune of today.
December 11th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
I would be more comfortable with Echo Party if it was being marketed as a mixtape, and not an album.
December 11th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
ill be happy when compilation cds are marketed as that and not “mixtaped”…i may be dating myself but i remember when mimxtapes :
1. were on tapes
and 2: the songs mixed…
lets just be honest here the “mixtape” era in rap music was completley lifted from dancehall reggae, with the exclucive vocals over other artists beats. the talking over the lyrics, the photoshopped covers and the marketing strategy…the onlydiffrence is dancehall mixtapes are usually more entertaining
who cares how its marketed, just bring ssome good music
December 11th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
this jewish kid is dope. and his raps are dope. u hatin!
December 11th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
The music in this package is not Edan’s: He didn’t write it, he didn’t play it, he didn’t record it, so it should not be sold under his name.
December 11th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Would you say the same about Ron G or DJ Screw?
December 11th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
I don’t quite understand the concept of this “mixtape”, “album” or whatever the fuck I’m seeing in this youtube video…
December 11th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I dont care if this is the best mixtape of the year. I wont listen to anything with artwork that’s this shitty. It’s offensively wack.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
everything edan did on this mix was deliberate, thought out and suberbly executed. buy the cd and follow along the cd booklet as he walks the listener thru each effect, blend and fucked up noise for the duration of the mix. its crazy. and crazy dope.
and he can rhyme his ass off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7t3XIyJjs0
peace from silver spring stupiddddddddddddddddd!
December 11th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Ron and Screw weren’t peddling their tapes to nationwide retailers for $14 a pop. Beyond that, I’m quite sure you don’t need to be explained the differences–in audience, in intention, and in marketing–between DJ Screw and Edan.
December 11th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I thought the sixth element of hip hop was the Internet?
December 11th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
>>> REKO
I thought the sixth element of hip hop was the Internet?
hahahahaha. best comment ive ever read
December 12th, 2009 at 12:23 am
“buy the cd and follow along the cd booklet as he walks the listener thru each effect, blend and fucked up noise for the duration of the mix.”
Okay, that IS cool.
December 12th, 2009 at 4:43 am
I did buy the cd and the damned thing wouldn’t play.
Not overly fond of his rapping, but his whole steez kinda comes together on the Emcees Smoke Crack remix to the point where i can’t really imagine anyone else over that beat.
December 12th, 2009 at 11:43 am
Lol at the tag “White Rap”
December 12th, 2009 at 3:01 pm
im def gonna cop this… looks interesting even tho ive never been of fan of edan
December 12th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
“Edan’s greatest skill has long been his ability to throw back while simultaneously move forward.”
Amen.
I really like the video. Hadn’t seen that before. I always respected Edan’s ability to zero in on a Rap-related idea and re-flip it. Beauty & Brains was one of my favorite Rap albums of the decade, Top 5. I meet more and more people who know nada about Hip Hop, and really gravitated to that record.
I also think in an era of bullshit contest/marketing schemes, Edan’s hand-designing/printing/painting each individual LP jacket sold of this album is really good for the culture.
December 12th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
I’m not a big fan, but I respect his work.
It’s obvious that the same way that Freddie Gibbs & Pill are the CBs audience’s version of Little Brother, Edan is bound to make dudes here uncomfortable. His fast rap/’random rap’ dj credentials are strong, his records are something of a pre-boom bap throwback, he’s pale-skinneded, it’s enough to make lots of you dudes squirm.
Oh and Ron G & DJ Screw should’ve been able to market their tapes worldwide and get paid. Why not?
December 12th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
“Oh and Ron G & DJ Screw should’ve been able to market their tapes worldwide and get paid. Why not?”
Definitely. Anybody whose name becomes a verb for what they do deserves to make some cash off of it.
December 12th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
dopeness without a doubt
December 12th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Tricia Rose has a little bit about one of the factors working on hip hop’s formation being the fact that kids of that period and location were geared towards a manufacturing based economy, whereas they found themselves in what is called post industrialized society. So you get Herc being trained as an auto mechanic in vocational school messing around with his father’s system, Flash similarly schooled making his own cross fader, stuff like that. It’s easy to see that hands-on interest in fucking around with (often obsolete) technology linking to futurism and space rap and electro, currents which have apparently stayed in the ether ’til today. Also tempting to link it to PE’s soundscapes as a representation of a political landscape, or NWA’s as a geographical/political one, as in the same refusal to be left for dead in the ass-end of the system, but that’s maybe reaching.
December 12th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
i was ready to disagree with Still Syl on Noz’s point but I feel you now that you clarified it…
Edan does seem like a punk bitch.. Sage Francis was quoted somewhere before as saying he was a crybaby on tour and complained that they needed to stop the whole tour bus because edan’s pits stank and he needed to take a shower… NOW.
Despite that though I did love Edan’s ‘Beauty & The Beat’ and I will download this one, fuck buyin it though
December 12th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Just as a clarification…Dudes like Brucie B, Ron G, and Screw WERE commanding crazy prices for their tapes back in the day (some of these dudes were commaning 20 bucks a tape in the 80s and early-mid 90’s.)
http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape/news_feature_021003/index9.jhtml
Good for them, they were innovators and they deserved it.
People have always sold mix tapes under their names. Are we saying Mr. Dibbs shouldn’t sell Turntable Scientifics under his name because all the different records used on it weren’t originally his? Should DJ Neil Armstrong’s Bittersweet not be regarded as a classic and sold under his name because he used records by Stevie, Sade, and Bobby Brown?
I’m just trying to understand that arguement, because when you start using that line of thought, things could get mighty hairy in the mostly sample based music culture of ours.
December 12th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Yeah, it’s a stupid argument & there’s nothing to understand about it. Syl is just on some bullshit.
December 12th, 2009 at 9:27 pm
i can dig it!
December 13th, 2009 at 2:02 am
I just purchased this on vinyl and CD and have really enjoyed it so far.
December 13th, 2009 at 7:10 am
its good and really inventive but a bit too proggy at times. would have liked a few tracks to just play out entirely (only heard the 15 min mix sampler tho so maybe the full one is different). edan was a great mc before the last album, lots of fun. these days or at least with that last album he kinda takes himself too seriously. and you can hear it in his voice. hopefully he loses that next time he gets back on the mic. his production has been seriously good though – one of the best producers in hip hop for my money.
December 13th, 2009 at 10:17 am
yeah. at the end of the day edan still freaks it like a white rapper would. It’s dope, but everything is calculated.
December 13th, 2009 at 11:11 am
(in a chris farley voice) the comments on this site make me angry.
December 13th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
I think Jib Kidder does this kind of thing a whole lot better, but to each his own.
December 13th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Is there an instrumental version of this? I love the beat selection but could never stand Edan’s rapping!
Also, @ David re: mixtapes. Totally agreed, I still own a lot of those!
December 14th, 2009 at 3:15 am
Hi,
U created a wonderful post!
I love it
December 14th, 2009 at 6:04 am
D.O.
I just checked out Jib Kidder’s stuff. He has some cool songs, def unique.
Sorce-1
December 14th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
HOW’D YOU NOT NOTICE THE KAZOO AT THE END OF THE YOUTUBE VIDEO????
there’s some terrifyingly stupid comments in this post:
somebody complained about the songs being too short/switching too much, then admitted to only listening to the SAMPLER MIX. damn homie…
somebody mad that a DJ would have the nerve to “sell a album !!”
also to TSF — I don’t think that Edan raps anywhere on this — it’s a DJ project, no need for the instrumental version.
& also, yes, there WERE retail DJ Screw tapes sold nationally — holler at 3 O CLOCK IN THE MORNING. There should’ve been many many many more though…
December 14th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
sorry, that was rude of me
December 14th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
edan got a good radio show
December 17th, 2009 at 7:24 am
didnt know he had a radio show…
his dj cds were sick though, yeah.
December 18th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
uhhh… I was going to weigh in on this until it became a conflict of interest
December 24th, 2009 at 10:49 am
dig it
December 28th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
[...] all where the battles, the DJ:s, the MC:s and the soundsystems were imported from). A comment on BLUNT RAPPS adds another important social aspect to our story of modern music (by way of a book by Tricia [...]
February 26th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
that’s funny that sage thought someone else was a crybaby while on tour. anyone who’s been in a tour-van -bus or -bicycle has been a bitch about it at some point in their experience.