I keep

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The Life

(from the Achives column written for SUAVV Magazine) 

  You hear it said all the time “You/We are kicking it Oldskool” Lets take a moment to reflect on that. When you say “OldSkool” people think many different things. I am here to advise on the OldSkool Lifestyle.



 Musically OldSkool is the music that the second it comes on it automatically transfers you to a state of mind of remembering where you were the first time you heard that song or the dances that you did when heard that song (The Wop, The Prep, Poppin, Breaking etc). I have watched as Hip Hop  went from “Hotel, motel Holiday Inn if your girl starts acting up then you take her friend” (SugarHill Gang 1979) become “I’m a tear you apart but I’m a spare you a heart program into the speed of the rhyme, prepare to start” (Rakim Lyrics of Fury 1988) and become what it is now.  I remember a diverse spectrum of artists and groups from the La Dream Team, Spoonie G, RUNDMC, Nas, Fat Boys and many more. There were stage shows that were stage shows (Doug E Fresh stepping out of a spinning globe and Rakim sitting in a pyramid)  Concerts then did not have a 10 people on stage all holding microphones.

 Culturally Oldskool is a bit different. It encompasses many different things. Oldskool in culture is more about a state of being and a way of looking at things. In my Oldskool mind state I can see how sweat- suits have made a big return. I understand how Adidas Originals sell more then the new Adidas outerwear (they should have never got rid of the leaf). I see how they young ones have decided to try ‘box haircuts. I do not classify wearing skinny jeans as Oldskool. My reason being as a teenager I admit to wearing jeans that were not very baggy. The difference being there was not a choice (baggy or skinny) and we did not purposely look for jeans that fit like leg warmers.

With Oldskool being so hip now a lot of companies who decided it was time to change and move on have lost out. Do you think IZOD would have separated from Lacoste if they knew that those little alligator shirts would come back in a big way? On any given day you can see sneakers that have come back or have always been in the “rotation” You have the Adidas Superstars aka “Shells” also Adidas “dug in the crates” and pulled back out the Patent Leather “Top Tens”) Fila is re-releasing their original sneaker, Puma is bringing back the “Clyde’s” and even the “Bo Jacksons” have returned for Nike. Now more then ever before OLDSKOOL is a lifestyle. When you see me in my Sergio Tacchini sweat suit with the matching sneakers you’ll know what I mean

Oldskool is a lifestyle ... MY Lifestyle I am Chuck Da Original Oldhead "watch my FRESH"

Thats happy to be NAPPY

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By my side

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Rockin/Danger

KEEP IT OLDSKOOL PRESENTS 
ORIGINAL TO SAMPLE 

    Gwen McCrae "Rockin Chair" 1975

    Blahzay Blahzay "Danger" 1996

I really need to learn

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MAKE BROTHA WANNA SING

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A SWEET RIP OFF?

KEEP IT OLDSKOOL PRESENTS
Oldskool Viewing Alert 
















 Check this story out on NETFLIX on how Hip Hop first stars were bamboozled to the point that for a time they could not use their own names Wonder Mike and Master Gee. This documentary talks about how Sugarhill Records label owners Sylvia and Joey Robinson Sr along with Genovese mob family associate Morris Levy  made themselves millionaires while two-thirds of the group who actually WROTE their own lyrics yet still receive no publishing. Now with Joey Robinson Jr fronting a new SugarHill Gang that tours in direct conflict with the original members we watch as Wonder Mike and Master Gee try to get their names back and their place in history. With appearances by Melle Melle, Grandmaster Caz,Ralph Mcdaniels, Vin Rock and Treach of Naughty By Nature.  

ALL THE TENDER LOVE ...

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DA INNER SOUL YALL

KEEP IT OLDSKOOL PRESENTS 
"25 YEARS AGO TODAY"


 On March 3 1989 one of the most groundbreaking albums in the history of Music (not just HIP HOP) was released. "3 Feet High And Rising" by Native Tongue Collective charter members De La Soul. (Posdnuos aka Plug One aka Kelvin Mercer, Trugoy the Dove aka Plug Two aka  David Jude Jolicoeur and Mase aka, Maseo aka Vincent Mason)  who were 3 young men from Long Island, NY. The album "3 Feet High and Rising" took Hip Hop and expanded the horizons a bit. With the help of legendary producer Prince Paul the album was an eclectic mix of beats and grooves.

*The Village Voice has called  the album  the "Sgt Pepper of Hip Hop" (a reference to the Beatles album like "3 Feet High and Rising" was  ahead of its time)

*Rolling Stone magazine has ranked the album #346 in the #500 greatest albums of all time

 

 That the album had samples was not new, What was innovative was from where the samples came from. With tracks like "Potholes in my Lawn", "Buddy" ,"Say No Go" and "My Myself and I" the group positioned itself as being cut from a different cloth. gone were the hard gangsta "im coming for your fresh homie" lines and what replaced them was not soft by any means but was just different. The debut single "Potholes in my lawn" dealt with the rampant biting that went on in Hip Hop, "Say No Go" was a song about the dangers of drugs and "Buddy" was a song about men after the perfect partner.

  Rightly or wrongly after "3 Feet High and Rising" De La Soul were classified as “hippies" a moniker that they did not care for.  For that reason for the second De La Soul album  the group decided that they needed to move away from the "Daisy Age" Although they never get the props they should have and that De La Soul still releases new music is something that is a shame and a sense of pride at the same time. Keep it Oldskool remembers 25 years ago today a debut classic was released