Search - Visioneers :: Marc Mac Presents: Dirty Old Hip Hop

Reclaiming hip-hop

C. W. Hall | Atlanta, GA USA | 01/25/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Marc Mac has stated about this record, "I needed to produce the tracks like hip-hop records that sound fat in a club and not like dinner jazz. It's about reclaiming jazz." I would argue that he has done just the opposite. One-half of UK duo 4 Hero, Marc set out to reinterpret classics as a way of honoring hip-hop's production element. What he accomplished is a little different, but wonderful nonetheless.



Reinterpreting hip-hop is a tough assignment. The genre's production is essentially the reinterpretation of all that has come before. To reinterpret a reinterpretation... well, you see the difficulty.



Visioneers is not a band, but a studio project. Marc Mac composed the material and brought in long-time collaborators Brad Somatik and Luke Parkhouse to help with the execution. It is at heart, classic hip-hop covered and reworked by an extremely hip band.



Marc takes hip-hop's original production elements and expands on them while at the same time bending them to the sensibilities of traditional jazz music. While Marc says he wanted to reclaim jazz, I think he reclaimed hip-hop to an even greater extent. At a time when hip-hop as a genre is threatening to marginalize itself, projects like this help keep it relevant to progressive-minded artists.



Dirty Old Hip-Hop is rap music filtered for the set who are offended by the coarseness of the lyrics. It is the potential soundtrack for the Smithsonian's hip-hop exhibit. It's a project that puts the virtuosity of hip-hop's producers on a pedestal and recognizes it as something to be studied, preserved, and revered.



Marc uses hip-hop as source material. "Runnin'", "The World Is Yours", etc. are treated as beloved forerunners in a show of respect that is not given nearly enough for the genius of the genre's producers. Visioneers allows you to take hip-hop to the snobbish music professor at your school and say, "This is my music and it is great." They won't be able to argue."