Thursday, May 24, 2012

Stop Sleeping on The Goats

Because they fucking rule, OK? Like fellow illadelphians The Roots, The Goats are perhaps most well known as a "hip-hop band." However, whereas The Roots' music was at the time was based primarily on smooth hard-bop-era jazz, The Goats were on some electric bass-heavy slop jar funk, and while The Roots would slip in light social commentary here and there, much of The Goats' lyrics launched overt attacks against police, politicians and white supremacy in general. Basically they weren't fucking around, and even when they were it was intense. If their production sounds at all familiar, you're probably recognizing the touch of Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo who would serve as executive producer on Schoolly D's 1994 LP, Welcome To America, another landmark album in the evolution of hip-hop instrumentation.