The Gummy Soul Show: Chicano Rap Oldies

May 1, 2013 9:07 AM

In honor of Bizarre Tribe: A Quest to The Pharcyde's inclusion on Okayplayer's list of "Top 20 Vinyl Releases for Record Store Day", Gummy Soul has put together a new mix exploring Doo Wop's unlikely influence on East L.A.'s Chicano Rap scene of the early 90's. Hear the sounds of this overlooked chapter in Hip-Hop history here. [Previously]
posted by KokuRyu (5 comments total)

Cannot wait to bust this out tonight--thanks for posting.

ya mama got an afro with a chinstrap
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:29 AM on May 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

Oh shit.
posted by adipocere at 9:30 AM on May 1, 2013

When I lived in Los Angeles in the early 90s, I would regularly hoof it to East LA for lowrider shows, which, unsurprisingly, almost always had a member of the band WAR as a guest judge. I remember these glorious lowridden classic cars with magnificent paint jobs pulling in, each one splitting the air with the sort of percussive, murky bass that would cause you to feel like your internal organs were going to get vibrated into shutting down. The first time I saw this, I remember wondering "What on earth could they be listening to in there?"

And then the car door would open and oldies would spill out. Every time. Oldies. Once the song was "It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To."
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 10:12 AM on May 1, 2013 [3 favorites]

Thanks for posting this. My misreading of the title reminded me that I would love Oldies Rap to be an actual radio format. Maybe my area can't support it or something.
posted by Rustic Etruscan at 10:13 AM on May 1, 2013 [1 favorite]

What Bunny Ultramod said. Anyone surprised by the influence of Oldies on Chicano Rap has not lived in SoCal (or the Southwest), and/or not had the pleasure of listening to the Art Laboe show.
posted by bongo_x at 12:37 PM on May 1, 2013