Good "Old-School" Hip Hop Documentaries - Rhyme & Reason & The Show

It's funny for me to call these 2 films "Old-school" but I guess when they are about the 90's, it is more than 10 years old so that does fit the term by definition. Another interesting point about both of these documentaries is that they received mixed to poor reviews. As someone who was participating in this scene during this time and very much a fan of this music, I thought both were very cool. My friends and I used to watch these when we were in college. I still listen to most of this music today and it doesn't sound "Old-School" to me still. Sometimes I will introduce these artists' to some younger kids who have never heard them before and they come back stoked. They think it's new and they just didn't hear it yet. This is pure Hip Hop....I still don't know what happened to it? Take some time and watch these when you get a chance. This era is the birth place of "The BeatLife", you will enjoy this if you love hip hop. Maybe someone will see this and it will them inspire them to make some new music? Please let me know what you think. In my opinion, Rhyme & Reason was done a little better but The Show is good too. It was done earlier but I have it in parts so it had to do it below. Enjoy!

Rhyme & Reason (1997)

 The Show (1995)
Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Part 4


Part 5


Part 6


Part 7


Part 8


Part 9

Happy Thankgiving Charlie Brown

It's funny how certain things will never get old and one of them for me is Charlie Brown Holiday classics. As a child these little animated tales mark a paradigm in my life of innocence. This one in particular is one of my favorites because I love the music ( "Little Birdie") but also because of the underlying messages Charles Schultz is trying to portray about the early1970's. I know these are usually on TV but if you're bored and feeling a little nostalgic, maybe you need to get into the holiday mode, I suggest you take a little while to watch. These are still pretty funny and give you the good feeling we all sometimes lose. Happy Thanksgiving!

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Funky Monks (1991 - Full Movie)

I was walking through the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point, Ca yesterday  and I came across a very cool decoration they had in their lobby that made me think of this legendary Southern California band. Being that the Ritz is located just above one of the world's top surf breaks, Salt Creek, they have decorated their lobby with different surf boards. Your entrance is greeted by a 10X Kelly Slater & Andy Irons signed Championship boards but also one particular Al Merrick is very creatively decorated with a mini autobiography of the bassist , Flea of RHCP. It is a brief but comical story of his life written in pen on the complete top side of the board, if you ever are in the area I suggest you stop by to check it out. After reading it and laughing quite a bit, it got me thinking about a band who I have been listening to now for over 20 years. I actually did meet Flea one time at  a Method Man concert at the House of Blues, but that is a story for another time. This band really defines the BeatLife mentality as they have always stayed true to their style making them legends in music and art. I have to admit that I am more of a fan of their earlier music but it is probably because I associate it with a my teenage skateboarding days. So, with my tribute here to one my favorite bands I would like to share with you the 1991 documentary Funky Monks. This is a documentary filming the making of one their most popular and influential albums; Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magic. I would say this album is when they started to mellow out on their musical style but definitely not their lifestyle choices, which is evident in this documentary. We all may know that these guys are older and have matured now but watch this movie from almost 20 years ago to see how far they have come. I also added a bonus video from their album Mother's Milk, which is one of my personal favorite Stevie Wonder tunes, Higher Ground. Watch and enjoy, and please , let me know what you think. You can follow my blog and contact me through my email here.

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Funky Monks (1991)


Red Hot Chili Peppers - Higher Ground

The Search for Animal Chin (Full Video)

BONES BRIGADE!!!! That's all I really should have to say here but after watching The Dan Patrick Show this morning, the interview with Tony Hawk made me realize that today was the time to post this. Filmed in 1987 , this movie was probably the one that really got me into skateboarding as I was about 10 years old. Powell Peralta was run by another even earlier influence Stacey Peralta, of whom I posted a documentary about last month. So you can see this culture has made a significant contribution to my lifestyle so in turn it will be reflected in the BeatLife culture. I am really excited to show you guys this video, I believe you will enjoy it even if you don't skateboard. The "Old-School" aspect and creativity of the movie is very enjoyable but it will also help you appreciate the progression of the sport. Not to mention, most of these guys( Tony Hawk, Steve Caballero, Mike McGill, Lance Mountain, Tommy Guerrero) still skate in their 40's and Tony Hawk...well, do I really need to say anymore? I know that I only post these videos and documentaries but it is the best way I can think of to express what I would like to. If you like this let me know, follow my blog, send me emails, etc. Making a contribution is the only way to make a change.

The Search for Animal Chin (1987)

Gone But not Forgotten : Peter Tosh

I haven't done much blogging lately due to a small form of writer's block, I do not want to become redundant here. Recently my theme has been finding videos that relate to the "BeatLife" philosophy so I think I will stick with that. In this post I would like to introduce you to an artist who I feel has been shadowed in his genre by one of the most influential artist's of all time, Bob Marley. Peter Tosh was with Bob since the beginning and is responsible for writing many of the songs we know and love today. A very skilled guitarist, Peter was basically the life-blood behind the early Wailer music as his creativity fueled many of the songs they performed. His story is very tragic for such a peaceful human-being but it is a reality for these type of people. I wanted to post the VH1 "Behind the Music" so you can get the basic history behind him if you are not familiar. After that, if you are interested in an actual documentary filmed when he was still alive, there is the Stepping Razor full movie. I highly recommend  both but Stepping Razor is an awesome live music documentary of one of the greatest Reggae artist's of all time.

Stepping Razor (1993)

Peter Tosh - Stepping Razor Red X from Bumbaclaat on Veehd.



VH1 Behind the Music -Peter Tosh - Part 1

VH1 -Behind The Music - Peter Tosh - Part 2


VH1 - Behind the Music - Peter Tosh - Part 3


VH1 - Behind the Music - Peter Tosh - Part 4


VH1 - Behind the Music - Peter Tosh - Part 5


VH1 - Behind the Music - Peter Tosh - Part 6