American Folkways

I haven't posted any hip-hop here because, frankly, I'm a little worried that it wouldn't be welcome. And no, it's not like I'm some sort of hip-hop expert -- I'm just a lover of breakbeats. Still, as New Yorkers, if you're not willing to embrace hip-hop, then you're denying one of the most creative cultural forces the five boroughs ever engendered, and at your own peril.

Afrika Bambaataa knows every writer that Banksy copped style from; hung out with Joe Strummer, Sid Vicious and Jean-Michel Basquiat; and was one of a holy trinity of creative forces that reshaped music and music technology forever (joining DJ Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash as inheritors of Lee Perry's ingenuity). Find me a guitarist who can claim such a pedigree -- besides Jimi Hendrix or Bootsy Collins.

Anyway, I'll go to my grave knowing that I shook hands with the man, which is as close to the shoulder of a giant I've ever been able to stand on. The meeting and the photo were all the work of my friend and uptown native Bayete Ross-Smith, an accomplished artist and MC in his own right. If you can't hear the Village discos, London pubs, Bronx parks and Jamaican sound systems in this extended EP, then you aren't listening.

Death Mix Live by Afrika Bambaataa and Friends

What makes me think you can't buy this on the iTunes store or Amazon? If you can, great. If not, try here.