Album: DJ Cam Quartet - Diggin’
Track: “Think Twice”

This is the first post in what will be a weekly feature known as “Sunday Albums.” Awesome name, right? That might change in the future but the premise won’t. There’s something distinct about listening to music on a Sunday. If you went out and partied Friday or Saturday, you’re clearly not wanting to listen to whatever it was that you listened to while partying (awful club music, dumb, danceable hip-hop, uptempo rock, whatever it was). Sunday is supposed to be a day of relaxation (or, umm… worship, if that’s your thing), a day to spend recounting the weekend or the week over brunch or coffee.

The music you listen to should reflect how the day feels: easy (like Sunday morning, har har har) but moving. You don’t want an album to lull you to sleep all day, but it should still be something listenable in the background or while you do other things. It just has to feel like Sunday and somehow everything will be ok. Nothing more. Nothing less.

The DJ Cam Quartet’s Diggin’ has the quintessential Sunday album sound. In the simplest of descriptions, it’s a straight combination of jazz and hip-hop beats. That is to say, different from jazzy hip-hop beats. The percussion elements of these tracks are laid back beats that fit your hip-hop beat criteria, but probably nothing else: clearly made with a drum machine and or samples, clearly programmed, not live. But everything else is 100% jazz: the piano, keyboards, and bass throughout to the smooth jazz vocals of guest vocalist Inlove.

A cool conceptual thing about Diggin: most (if not all) of the tracks are immediately based upon influential/classic hip-hop tracks which, in turn, are based on samples of older and important jazz/soul records. It’s these original records that the DJ Cam Quartet expands on, giving props and paying respect to the legends of the genre while building upon the best hip-hop from the last 20 years.

Here’s an example. “Think Twice” (listen to it above) is a song originally written and performed by the incomparable Donald Byrd (listen to that version here). J Dilla used that track as a basis for his own “Think Twice,” found on the Welcome 2 Detroit (listen to that version here). DJ Cam’s version plays on the jazzier components of the song - more a nod to Byrd - but then throws in turntable scratches featuring the voice of none other than J Dilla (the “hey, hey-hey, hey” bit).

One more for the road… “Mystic View” is an interpretation of Ronnie Foster’s “Mystic Brew” (listen to that here). Foster’s track is the main sample in a A Tribe Called Quest in the classic “Electric Relaxation” from their 1993 album Midnight Mauraders (listen here). DJ Cam’s track is more “Mystic Brew” than Tribe in that it’s more than just the 3 bar sample. But, of course, it’s on top of a hip-hop beat and features more DJ scratches. A tribute to the greats that came before us. A recognition of the real hip-hop that bridges that past to the present to the future.

It’s all very deep and conceptual, but the beauty is in how easy of a listen Diggin’ is. And just how very Sunday it is…

Tracklist:

01. Nebulosa
02. Montara
03. Everybody Loves The Sunshine (ft. Inlove)
04. Boss Guitar
05. Think Twice
06. Little Sunflower (A Tribute to Freddy) (ft. Inlove)
07. Quincy
08. Mystic View
09. Climax (ft. Fillet Of Soul)
10. You’ve Got To Have Freedom (ft. Inlove)
11. Inside My Love (For Minnie)