Music: The Camu Tao catalogue
Music has always been the thing I was interested the most in, even if I don't write/blog about it very often. I listen to all kinds of music, but hip-hop always took the number one spot for me. When I was thinking what to review for the site some time ago, the SA Smash album "Smashy Trashy" came to mind. Mostly because that just fit the whole "trash" theme we got going on here, maybe you noticed. I was busy and kept delaying it and all of a sudden it's May 25th. Exactly four years ago the rapper/singer/producer Camu Tao (born Tero Smith) passed away after a long battle with cancer. Just three days ago, his close friend and frequent collaborator El-P released his newest album "Cancer 4 Cure", dedicated to Camu. I figured instead of looking at just one record that only showed one side of a hugely talented artist I'd take a look at his entire catalogue.
Ok, not the ENTIRE catalogue, none of the numerous features he did, singles (that includes the classic "Hold the Floor" single) or songs on compilation albums/mixes (including "The Conspiracy" by The Weathermen) but all of the major Camu records. Let's get to it. MHz - "Table Scraps" (2001) Man Bites Dog
The Columbus, Ohio group MHz (MegaHertz) emerged in the late '90s and began making a name for themselves in the underground rap scene as well as laying foundations for some future solo careers of its members. The group comprised of Tage Proto, Copywrite, Camu Tao, Jakki Da Motamouth & RJD2. While all the rappers are good here, it's Camu who steals the show whenever he's on the mic. He doesn't sound like anything you've heard on record before. Nobody else has or had a voice like that. You just have to listen. Whenever I play some of the songs he's on from this record to people that haven't heard them before they always go "Who's that?" once he starts. Standout tracks with Camu on them are "Kryptonite", "Magnetics" and "Creatively Wise". Nighthawks (Cage & Camu Tao) - "Nighthawks" (2002) Eeastern Conference
"Nighthawks" is a concept record on which Camu and Cage rap as crooked cops Deke DaSilva and Matt Fox, and yes, those are the cops from the 1981 Sly Stallone and Billy Dee Williams movie. True to form, Camu switches his style yet again and makes it sound good. He and Cage have great chemistry together here and it's even more impressive when you take into account the fact that the album was recorded in three days. They both get into their roles real well and the murky, often dramatic production (Tao and Mighty Mi) creates an atmosphere that compliments the story told throughout the songs. Favorite track from this album? Probably "Count Crackula". S.A. Smash - "Smashy Trashy" (2003) Definitve Jux
S.A. Smash was Camu and his rhyming partner Metro and "Smashy Trashy" was the only album they released together. It's easy to say that when this record came out it wasn't what people expected from Def Jux. What happened with all that heady stuff? That intelligent rap? (By the way, I hate when people use "intelligent rap" to label some group of hip-hop artists they favor. It gives the impression that plain ol' regular rap is not intelligent. While that may be true today, it's definitely not just a rap thing and that generalisation isn't fair at all. The majority of popular music of all genres isn't exactly intelligent, but you don't see people needing to specify they only listen to "intelligent rock" or "intelligent country" or whatever. That either makes you look insecure or you come off as an elitist asshole. Back on topic...) In all that commotion most people didn't give the album a chance and failed to appreciate it as just a fun rap record. While it definitely has many weak spots, the sense of humour and fun comes through from the beginning (the opening "Smash TV" with a great Cage feature and a fantastic PRZM beat & the ridiculous second track "Robot" are probably my favorites and stand out the most). Production is solid and the over the top bravado and badassery in the lyrics is funny in a similar way that the Beastie Boys' "Licensed to Ill" is funny, if I had to compare it to anything. Also, this is a pretty damn good drinking record. Camu Tao Presents: "Blair Cosby's Cape Cod (Going For De Gold)", "Blair Cosby's Cereal Carpens '97 Season", "Blair Cosby II: The Wali Era" (2004-2005)
I'm just gonna lump the three of those together because they are all pretty much in the same spirit and style. "Blair Cosby" is the Camu alter ego on those three albums and that dude is just plain dirty. Those records are horribly hard to find and I wish they'd see re-release, maybe in some collected edition someday. Those are pretty much joke raps and that means you either find that stuff funny (I do) or you don't (the few reviews I found while googling for the covers). Those releases don't rely only on humour though and there's some tracks I absolutely love here, "Old Fool Old School" being probably my favorite. There's some singing here every now and then and that's great, because Camu's one of the few rappers you actually DO want to hear singing (this will become much more obvious on next releases but you could already hear him do some singing features on time by this time and could tell he's really damn good at it). I also think some of Camu Tao's production style from "King of Hearts" originates on the Blair Cosby tracks. The unpolished, unmastered, raw sound of the beats that actually really works to their advantage is present throughout. Central Services - "Forever Frozen in Television Time" (2010) Definitve Jux
On Cage's 2005 record "Hell's Winter" the two beats I liked the most ("Perfect World" & "The Death of Chris Palko") were produced by Central Services - the Camu Tao & El-P duo. On this free downloadable EP you get to hear both of them spread their wings and hear them on the mic. I can't tell who did what when Camu and El-P produce something, but they mesh together really well and the results are surprisingly funky and fresh. They both are great producers but when they do something together it feels like something entirely new, not just a sum of the parts. Camu's singing on songs like "We Do The Work, You Do The Pleasure", where he's completely rocking out, is incredible and shows what an impressive vocal range he had. My favorite song from this EP is "Work For The Government", though. Camu Tao - "King of Hearts" (2010) Definitive Jux/Fat Possum Records
Though the Central Services EP and "King of Hearts" both came out at the same time, two years after Camu's passing, I decided to leave this one for last. In a sense it's the only official all-Camu album. It's also easily his greatest work. When an artist decides to try a total change of style the results are often pretty bad. Tracks like "Plot for a Little" have made it known before that Camu was going in a different direction. It wasn't totally out of the left field and felt natural. Camu Tao died before he could finish this album but it was released the way he left it. It's an astoundingly honest and brave record. Obviously death is a recurring theme here, but the things that hit the hardest are the songs that show a (as cheesy as it may sound) celebration of life. Musically, Camu was breaking new ground, doing things nobody ever did before and making them work. Whenever I hear his first verse on "The Moment" (a song that samples the "Wolverine" NES game theme and makes it sound amazing) it makes me feel motivated, focused on everything that really matters. Camu doesn't let up, he gives everything he has on this record. It's one of the best records that came out in the 2000s and it's very sad Tao couldn't be around to see it released. He was a voice unlike any other not only in hip-hop, but in music in general. A true talent that should be remembered and celebrated. Get this record, get the other ones I talked about earlier. If you didn't already know Camu Tao then give the music he left a listen, you owe it to yourself. If you're already a fan then just keep on listening now and in the future.
|
|