Sunday Skool: Hip Hop & the Hoover Sound

If you’ve been in this scene for any time at all you MUST know that Electronic Dance Music and Hip Hop have always been joined at the hip. A sort of brother & sister Love/Hate type of relationship. Although it often seems sort of one sided. As in, we LOVE hip hop and they HATE dance music. Nevertheless, the relationships continue. Almost everyone I know loves all sorts of Hip Hop songs. Almost everyone I’ve ever met (be it street thug to Suit & Tie Corporate Type) loves a little Hip Hop. Everyone’s seen the geekiest of geeks talkin’ bout “If you see me in the club, It’s Goin Down” or “Snap Yo Fangas (Do The Step)”.

Even I was originally a little BBoy/breakdancer type with my buddy Philip from ’84-’86 (that would be 19 hundred and 84 for you young bucks) and I spent a couple of years as a part-time Hip Hop DJ in the early 1990′s. Later I caught the Techno/House bug and I officially completed the switch around 1993. Although I may not be a Hip Hop DJ anymore, I have always followed the trends and kept collections of all types of Hip Hop tracks.

To see what I mean, you just need to take a minute to compare a lot of the old hip hop (1st Gen-East Coast then 2nd Gen-West Coast) tracks with the creation of various dance styles such as: BreakBeat, 2-Step, DnB, Jungle, Dubstep, etc., etc. Nowadays, you can compare the Third Generation of Hip Hop (Southern Dirty South & Crunk) with Techno from the 1990′s. The same samples can be found from artists like Lil Jon, Yung Joc and a whole host of others.

Where did that sound come from?
Well, I knew exactly what it was the first time I heard it. I had to skool the youngins on the fact that Lil’ Jon and others did not “make up” that “new” sound out of thin air. As soon as I heard the likes of Lil Jon and Young Jock– I knew that sound was almost exactly like: Human Resource Dominator and L.A. Style James Brown is Dead! They all were using the same German Synthesizers making that Hoover Bass Sound.

Hoover sound refers to a particular synthesizer sound in electronic music, commonly used in Hard House music and other styles. Originally called the “Mentasm” or “Reese”, the name that stuck was the one likening the sound to that of a vacuum cleaner.

Since there are so many people (mostly on the Hip Hop Side) who may not already know this…. here’s a little REVERSE VIDEO HISTORY of the Hoover Bass sound:

Snap Yo Fingers (2006) video

It’s Goin Down (2006) video

Got Money (2008) video

VERSUS

Dominator (1991) video

James Brown is Dead video

Here are some more crossovers for you.
Even though it was a Great Track, we all know that Rick Ross’ hip hop version of this was completely played out after it’s release in August of 2006.

Katt Williams – Every Day I’m Hustlin video

How long has it been now? Almost 3 years! So now come the dance remixes. We have such a short memory these days that I think it’s just about time for the track to come back. And you know what? I friggin’ love this song all over again! That’s the Sh$@!T… DJ… Don’t play that song ONE MORE TIME! But here it goes:

Rick Ross – Hustlin

VERSUS

Paul Anthony & ZXX – Hustlin video

B. Rich – Everyday Hustle (AC Slater Remix) video

Wild Style
I guess you could say that this next track is not that “NEW” per se. It came out in mid December 2008, but I just recently found it about 4 months ago. Somehow I kept passing it up! Since we are on a “Hip Hop vs. Dance” trip today, here’s another perfect example of a tune with ties so tight. It could be a hot track in a dance OR hip hop club. This one is so friggin’ NASTY that (even though I had it on my chart for April) I’m still bumping this whenever I get the chance. This is “Get Wild (Ft. Big Daddy Kane) [The Bassbin Twins Remix]” by Stanton Warriors. This is the sick one!!!

Stanton Warriors ft Big Daddy Kane – Get Wild (Bassbin Twins Remix) video