We’ve been doing this little thing called RubyHornet for a while now, since February of 2008. In that time, we’ve had some great memories, and (we think) built a wealth of dope content. “How About Some Old S**t” is our way of shedding some light on some of our favorites pieces from the past, some that may still be new to you. The title of the post comes from an old Beastie Boys live performance bootleg that I got a few years ago in which MCA says, “how about some old s**t”, before they go into their classics. So, that’s the vibe. That’s the deal.
We kick it off with “Rapper Weed” by Curren$y, a song we recorded with him at SoundScape Studio in the summer of 2009. Curren$y was in Chicago to perform at our monthly party, Dimes and Dozens, which we threw at Lava Lounge dubFrequency. It was the precursor to our current series, Digital Freshness. We linked up with Curren$y through Naledge of Kidz In The Hall, who worked with him on “Look At Them Hips”, a record on The Chicago Picasso, which also came out that summer. Naledge kept telling us that Curren$y would be great for the series, and everything we wanted to do. Our plan at that time was to take things a step further, and bring an artist to SoundScape, give them some beats, and just see what happens. We took Curren$y to SoundScape on Saturday night, the night after the party. It was a real chill vibe there, and aside from us, Mike Kolar, and Curren$y, SoundScape was empty. We started to go through the catalog, which consisted of mainly Tony Baines beats at that time. Curren$y had a few that he put into the maybe pile before he heard what would become “Rapper Weed”. It was a wrap after that.
Curren$y actually tweeted the Closed Sessions video for “Rapper Weed” on Sunday, which is partly the reason why it is kicking off this new look into our archives. This was the first video, and it almost makes me cringe watching, haha… We have come so far with our video material at that time, that part of me wants to delete this video forever. Our equipment stepped up, our shooting techniques stepped up, our editing game is on point, and our story-telling greatly improved. If you watch this Closed Sessions video, then watch the last one we released with Freddie Gibbs, the difference is night and day. And then, we have ones we’re not yet ready to show you with Raekwon, Vonnegutt, CyHi Da Prynce, Blu, and more that blow all of that out of the water. But for now, I can sit back and watch “Rapper Weed” and think back to a great session with a talented artist who was just at the start of really blowing up. I mean, this was before the mixtape with Wiz Khalifa, before the Creative Control stuff, before Pilot Talk, and before Warner Bros. Curren$y’s come a long way, and so have we. “Rapper Weed” is kind of the jump off for both.
Watch the video and download the song below. Also catch Curren$y at Pitchfork Fest tomorrow.