“I’m skilled at it, I’m Illmatic, so “yes” answers your question if you ask me do I still have it.”

Longevity and respect; two words, of many, that are properly assigned when mentioning Lord Finesse. Respecting the essence, respecting the culture, and most importantly respecting yourself in this bitter-sweet game we call hip-hop are some notes we can take from the Under Boss. There’s really no arguing that he’s been remaining true to his craft since day one. Before getting into his latest successes with the promising SP 1200 Project releases we wanted to take you on a brief journey through the world of Lord Finesse, highlighting some key elements for you new jacks and ultimately displaying what a true artist looks like in 2015.

As him and Dj Mike Smooth‘s Funky Technician approaches its 25th anniversary, we can safely say it’s one of many landmarks he left in hip-hop. To avoid this seeming like another drawn out album review, we will keep it brief and save you the hassle. This record introduced us to his clever metaphors and seemingly-effortless wordplay, prior to him stepping to machinery and shocking the world on the production side. Only a couple years later would he return with “Return of the Funky Man”, addressing the allegations that he fell off, and even dead at one point. This 1992 “return” would be his premiere on the boards as well, which in retrospect would more or less be the all-in point for carving himself as of one of hip-hop’s top tier producers.

Some by-passers may throw him in a box for having the freshest similes and metaphors and leave on that note – but no. The wordplay, the ability to jump on any groove and sail it naturally, and confidence in his delivery since the beginning are all qualities with equal impact. Remember the classic ’89 battle with Percee P? Enough said. Many artists have maintained some sort of charisma over the years, but more than half of the time it seems to be a gimmick that becomes forgotten. His charisma as a recording artist, and off the mic, is evidently natural. Once again, new jacks, please take note of these qualities while we still have you tuned in.

The Diggin’ In The Crates crew is a topic we could talk about for days, but right now we will call your attention solely to Finesse’s chemistry with his DITC family. Was this because he was so close with the mostly Bronx-bred crew? Or was this because he can adapt to working with any dope artist doing it? Perhaps the answer is both. Outside of the clique Finesse has done records with some of hip-hop’s most renowned acts. Biggie‘s 1994 classic “Suicidal Thoughts” come’s to mind.

In a sit down with Fuse’s Crate Diggers series he not only blessed us with some back stories on working with Big, but he mentioned something shortly after that stood out to us above all, which again attests to his level of respect as an artist:

As a producer I don’t want to just sell you a beat to make a dollar. I’m going to make sure you pick something and do something incredible with it.

 

Fast forwarding to the present we can now discuss Lord Finesse’s recent success. The SP1200 Project was released in August 2014, but due to its heavy acclaim and potency the world needed more. Only a handful of months later he returns with The SP1200 Project: A Re-Awakening to keep us real hip-hop junkies fed – loaded with an additional eight tracks. There’s no doubt that this one is for all you beat junkies out there. The project is basically a must-have for those who’ve been itching and scratching for that staple Funky Man sound, with the help of Bossmen/Slice of Spice Records‘ perfection on the scene. He is seemingly back with no sign of stopping. We’ve attached a nice video clip below from the project which provides with just enough snippets to get you on board. Still not on board? Well, we don’t know what to tell you. Be sure to grab this release here at iTunes, UGHH or Slice of Spice.

With all that being said, we hope this inclines you to open your eyes and gather what a true artist looks like. Lord Finesse has been keeping it humble for a long time, never “selling out” from any angle, and markedly remaining passionate for this culture – that us real hip-hop heads genuinely have a desire to keep alive. What do you perceive as relevant longevity? Peace and love.

The post Lord Finesse: The Funky Man Still Keeping Fans Satisfied appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Moving forward from their successful debut, Jersey’s own El Da Sensei and Tame One needed no introduction three years later. But “Art Of Scratch” still opened up album with a raw, neck snapping introduction to the crew anyway. “Who’s this? The knotty headed terror and the sensei.”. By this point Between a Rock and a Hard Place (1994) swarmed the underground and built trust in all hip-hop fans. Their music has graffiti writers, b-boys and anyone immersed in the culture sold. Many call that record a classic, and there’s honestly no arguing that. How about their sophomore That’s Them?

Though not as critically acclaimed as the groups first record, this album falls far from short. Us real hip-hop junkies are not too interested in album sales and chart rankings; we are looking for quality and substance, which this album certainly obtains. Tame and El stayed true to their craft here and gave us what we expected from them following the debut – head nodding, raw underground boom-bap. The album has features from the likes of Lord Jamar, Showbiz, Da Beatminerz and other notable artists on and off the microphone. Covering all grounds and giving us the Artifacts sound we all loved in 1997, That’s Them is now eighteen years of age and still relevant.

Don’t sleep on their recent moves, either. As a group they’ve been crushing venues pretty often, which RESPECT. Magazine‘s Dread Solo had the pleasure of catching back in Philadelphia alongside Ras Kass and company. El Da Sensei has recently announced his upcoming XL release, and we heard he brought on some heavy hitters. “It’s gonna be beats, bars and Lo all over this album. Whatever you’re expecting – it’s going to exceed that!” Keep up with the release and everything going down in 2015. But while you wait check out the 1997 visual for “The Ultimate” below. Peace and love.

The post Artifacts’ Sophomore LP ‘That’s Them’ Turns 18 Today appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Photo by Justin Boyd

Mac Miller, the young 20-year-old Pittsburgh emcee, has always paid respect and homage to the previous generations of hip-hop’s greats. So it’s not a surprise that on his July 2010 mixtape K.I.D.S., he used a Lord Finesse beat “Hip 2 Da Game” in the song “Kool Aid and Frozen Pizza.” This was no big deal since, for years now, rappers have released mixtapes (what we’ll define as a compilation of free songs put out with the purpose of exposing the music to gain a fan base) where they often rhyme over older classic instrumentals or new “hot” beats. Nobody really thought twice about that Finesse beat from 1995, until now.

In the last couple of days, word got out of Lord Finesse suing Miller for $10 million claiming that the young rapper used that beat to “launch his music career.” Finesse is also suing the popular mixtape-distribution site DatPiff and Mac’s label Rostrum Records. According to Courthouse News, “The $10 million lawsuit alleges copyright infringement, unfair competition, unjust enrichment, interference, deceptive trade practices, and a number of related state law claims.”

Now, it’s understandable why Finesse is mad. He sees a young artist garner some of his success from a song using his beat. However, Miller distributed this song on a free mixtape. He never released a single on iTunes and in no way made a direct profit from the beat. Finesse’s argument is that the profit came as a result of all the exposure– the song was downloaded and streamed around a million times and the music video hit over 24 million views on YouTube (which has now been taken down). Yes, this is true. Yes, Mac often performs the popular song while on tour. Yes, I’m sure it helped in the overall (much) bigger picture of Mac’s success. However, there are larger factors (and songs, i.e. “Donald Trump”) that really led to Mac’s status as one of the most popular young rappers.

Mixtapes have always had a clear loophole with sampling and taking other beats. Imagine if this lawsuit passes and artists start getting sued for using stolen beats on mixtapes. The whole hip-hop world would be in disarray and many artists would lose a lot of money. Even an artist as big as Lil Wayne has made a mini mixtape series (No Ceilings) where he only takes instrumentals from popular songs that aren’t his. The amount of mixtapes with only original production, and no samples, are few and far between. On top of all this, the original Lord Finesse song is based around a part of a 1971 Oscar Peterson song “Dream Of You.” Ironically, Finesse never got the sample cleared for the record and that song was on an album that was sold for money. So does that mean whoever represents Peterson now should sue Finesse and get all of the royalties from his album and money that comes from this lawsuit?

Even after all of this, Mac took to twitter to say, “I made that record and video as nothing more than an 18-year-old kid who wanted to rhyme and pay homage, no other intentions. All I wanted to do was shed light on a generation that inspired me.” The lawsuit makes it seem that using the beat was all part of a diabolical plan by Mac to gain fans and money. He followed that tweet by saying, “Finesse and I spoke on the phone for an hour after he heard the record and cleared the air. We even planned to work on music together. When I heard there was a problem, I reached out to him to try and solve it. No response.” Mac went on to praise Finesse, even in the midst of all this, for all that he did for hip-hop. This says a lot about Mac’s character, we’re proud he was the bigger man. Ultimately, the lawsuit is really just a ridiculous move for Finesse. It makes him look out-of-touch and is simply unjustified– especially the extremity of the claims he’s apparently making. The word “finesse” is defined as doing something in a subtle and delicate manner. Well, if that’s the case, the Lord is not living up to his name. disRESPECT.

The post disRESPECT.: Lord Finesse Sues Mac Miller for $10 Million appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

We’ve got a special event for you! Tomorrow night Blue in Green hosts their 5th Anniversary Party at the Work in Progress gallery down on Vandam.

Roy Ayers is headlining, talk about classy!

Q-Tip and Lord Finesse will be on the 1s and 2s

and Black Thought will on his VIP guest thing

…and its FREE

Join RESPECT. Mag for what is bound to be a refined night of debauchery!

The post Event: Blue in Green appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.