Ghetto Philharmonic- Rhythm That We Give 'Em

I've been needing to write on Hip-Hop Be-Bop for so long, that it feels like each word for this post is a giant weight taken off of my back. No exaggeration, this album changed my perspective and my livelihood as a listener of all types of music.
Look at the cover. Remarkably simplistic if nothing else, and simplicity is always the true sign of an lost opus. And the cover speaks volumes about the music inside. Ghetto Philharmonic is officially recognized as an 'obscure jazz-rap duo' that released one album and a few 12 inchers and subsequently disbanded.
Now imagine a cross between a hard-spittin' Kool G Rap, a jazz-tinged Digable Planets & ATCQ, and the live instrumentation of The Roots. That was the Ghetto Philharmonic! The rhymes were 'funkier than an African cab-driver' and the beats would make Miles Davis proud. To add, G-Clef would switch from rapping to playing sax, while Sledge would do the same with trumpet.
The music they made is just half of the allure. The other half is the enigma. Hip-Hop Be-Bop sounds far ahead of it's time, even for '94, and consider the fact that this album had been pushed back for years due to delays. It would have simply sounded revolutionary back in '90 or '91, and the jazzy inclinations would have been groundbreaking for the late '80's. Also consider the stigma of only releasing one album in your whole career. Imagine if Nas would have only released Illmatic, or if Rae would have retired after Cuban Linx.
That's looking at it with 15 years of insight. Back in '94, Hip-Hop Be-Bop was a dope record with little promotion and less word-of-mouth, and in those 15 years, it became lost in the matrix.


Choice Cuts:
Don't Bite The Concept



The Man With The Gift Of Heft



Something 2 Funk About



Rhythm That We Give 'Em



Where To Cop From:
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You can stream most of the album om their Last.FM page.