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12" taster from the forthcoming album Breakbeatraer - Songs from Soulstrut.com to be released in 2006.
Soulstrut.com is a on-line community focusing on the crate digging aspect of hip hop culture. Founded in 1999 by Raj Mahal and located in Sellersville, PA, USA (a suburb of Philadelphia), the site is frequented by over 350,000 DJs, music producers, record collectors, and music lovers world wide each month.
Active members include well-known collectors, djs, producers and musicians such as Paul Nice, Mr.Supreme, Soulman, Amir, Jake One, O-Dub, Monty Stark (Stark Reality), Cosmo Baker, DJ Day, Young Einstein (Ugly Duckling), Thes One (PUTS) discussing records, life and pop culture 24/7.
In early 2005 Soul Strut teamed up with Melting Pot Music (MPM founder Olski is SS member #225) to release an album entirely made by board members.
Hawkeye (Germany) is a DJ, producer and music journalist (Juice, Wax Poetics, Backspin). He is well-known as the long-time host of the hip-hop tv shows "Mixery Raw Deluxe" and "Supreme" on VIVA TV.
A-ko (USA) is a 18 year old bedroom producer from Grimes, Iowa. He released his first 45 single "Soul '69" in January 2005 on MPM. He is still living with his parents and has a cult following in Japan.
Dizzy Bull (USA) is the king of easy listening breaks. His Kelis re-work "Welkshake" on the British Soundly Beaten label is legendary.
Dizzy's "Soul Connection" and Hawkeye's "Kicked In The Nuts" are based on the same sample source and are only available on this 12".
The cover artwork is done by board member Mike Davis who is also art director for US hip-hop label Rhymesayers.
Linernotes:
Over the years, the soulstrut.com "Crate Digging Revealed" message board has become a tour-de-force for sample-based hip hop producers, launching the art in to a new stratosphere. The convergence of vinyl-hungry funk collectors, seasoned bedroom producers, and gigging hip hop DJs have made this once clandestine art form of digging for records into public knowledge, upping the ante for the sample-based producers of today.
This has manifested in an insatiable appetite for discovering the rarest break, the dopest beat, the illest, most foreign loop commonly referred to as "breakbeatraer" by soul strut regulars. The 5 plus years of the forum's existence has amassed quite a catalogue of mind-blowing sample-based music showcased by members of the community. Here we pay tribute to these prolific unsung heroes by compiling the best of the best with the Soul Strut stamp of approval.
This advance EP is just a taste of things to come with a full blown compilation to be released shortly featuring rising stars A-Ko, DCastillo, DAY, Hawkeye, Meaty Ogre, and many more.
Raj, creator of Soulstrut.com - 9/12/05
