Gotta lot of rhythm, and style, and finesse

It is an obvious statement to say that there are a lot of great producers in hip-hop, many brilliant emcees, and countless hot DJs. But it is much more rare to find someone who performs all three disciplines, let alone excels at them. Step forward then, the incomparable Lord Finesse. I was listening to sophomore album "Return of the Funky Man" the other day, reminding myself of how good this album was, and just revelling in the nostalgic beauty of the early 90s when every East Coast release seemed to be a bonafide classic.

You now the time of X-Clan's "To the East, Backwards", of Black Sheep "A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing", Brand Nubian's "All For One", of "Mecca and the Soul Brother" and Tribe's three album opening salvo, itself a huge high point in rap's history. The list goes on and on. But, despite being the originator and unofficial leader of the brilliant Diggin' In The Crates crew, unearthing some of rap's great lyrical and beat-making talents along the way, it seems to me that it is not often that Finesse is really given his full props, or the respect he deserves. And this is respect that is truly deserved, for his consistency, originality and skills, whether on the mic, turntables or in the studio.

Arguably one of the first rhymers to really throw down full-on metaphors and punch-lines, Finesse's rap style is often hilarious in content and his flow is always on point, to my mind illustrated most fully on the "Return of the Funky Man" album. Debut album "The Funky Technician" is a classic as well. As producer, aside from backing his own solo works, Finesse has cranked out classic cuts for numerous artists from Dre to Biggie, Show and AG to Big L, and countless others in between. As a DJ, along with fellow DITC luminary Buckwild, he was one of the first to really focus on the power of the mix-tape as a way of getting his own music heard, but also as a commercial product, and was top of the tree in a time when the tapes were actually tapes and were actually mixed by hand, not through a Protools desk.

He's still top of the tree for my money. You can now find many of his original mix-tapes online and believe me there is an absolute treasure-trove out there (look for the Stax set, incredible). And so I just wanted to take a moment to shout out to Lord Finesse, one of the true lords of the underground, who plies his trade with mastery and treats hip-hop as a true vocation, not just a route to fast cars and an MTV crib. And if you find yourself idly digging in your own crates, pull out your old copy of the funky man's best and get right back to the golden age.