The Beatmasters ‘Rok da House’

There are two music genres that I love – Hip Hop and House. What happens when you smoosh them together?

You get Hip House.

There is a little controversy over the origins of Hip House. Was it created by the Brits, or Americans? I first became aware of it due to The Beatmasters from the UK and their track Rok Da House released in 1987. Featuring Cookie Crew who I absolutely loved back in the day I used to play it religiously. From the US there was producer Tyree who had Turn up the Bass released in 1988 and features Kool Rock Steady, with DJ Fast Eddie. There was the catchy line “Tyree Cooper, the producer. Awesome super-duper Trooper” which I turned into my own version of “Tyree Cooper, the producer. Awesome super-duper pooper scooper” which I can only ever say in my attempt of a Geordie accent, otherwise it doesn’t work. The idea came to me as I was scooping up cat poop and it’s stuck with me for about ten years.

If I had to choose between the two tracks and which one I prefer it would have to be the latter by a slim margin. Not just because of my transmogrification of one of the lines, but I have happy memories of dance offs in clubs back in the late 80s with my friends. Music & dancing were outlets for us as we didn’t have very happy home lives, Hip House had a great energy around it and it was fun. Hip House also provided some influences into the early 1990s rave scene. A scene which I also love and have had a lot of great times over the years.

There are a few more stand out tracks for me from the Hip House genre and it features one of my favourite Hip Hop groups the Jungle Brothers I’ll House You released in 1988 which was popular in the clubs. The JBs teamed up with Uber House producer Todd Terry on the track, I came across a great interview with Afrika Baby Bam who describes how they made the track.

Other tracks from 1988 (my fave year for Hip Hop) are Mike Dunn’s Let It Be House which is a perfect combination of Chicago House with his Hip Hop Head influence. One of my favourite rappers Lakim Shabazz has the House influenced Adding On Rap on his amazing Pure Righteousness album which seems out of place but for me is an unexpected gem. Fast Eddie Yo Yo Get Funky still totally slams to me. Reminds me of the under 18 nights at Studios, I was 15 at the time. Once I hit 16 I started going to the over the 18 nights and discovered pernod and black which makes me want to hurl now just thinking about drinking those. 🤮

Another firm favourite is Doug Lazy’s Let It Roll from 1989 which has such a hypnotic beat, I love me some cowbells! Plus it also has a sample of Big Daddy Kane’s (all hail the Kane!) ‘Set it Off’ along with samples from Marshall Jefferson ‘Move your Body’, Mantronix ‘King of the Beats’ and M | A | R | R | S ‘Pump up the Volume’. Fast Eddie’s Hip House is chocka with acid bleepy goodness which I absolutely love.

Stevie V Dirty Cash (Money Talks) also released in 1989 was another big club hit. It spent ten weeks in the top ten in the UK. Again, it has a hypnotic beat with vocals provided by Melody Washington. I remember watching it on Top of the Pops thinking they were so cool. The running man, the $ sign necklaces, the backing dancers and their MC Hammer pants, and Melody holding a wad of cash in her hand.

1989 also had tracks from Technotronic ‘Pump up the Jam’ and KC Flightt ‘Planet E’, also deserve a mention, plus a couple of tracks that I forgot which Nick Diunte reminded me of are Twin Hype Do It To The Crowd and For Those Who Like to Groove. I came across a great interview with DJ King Shameek who worked with the Twins on ‘Do It To The Crowd’. Queen Latifah’s Come Into My House always makes me wish I could vogue, I have to point out that Queen Latifah featured vogueing in the video before Madonna released Vogue so stick that up your pipe and smoke it Madge! These tracks were huge / big in the clubs back then. I have fond memories of dance offs with my friends in those days. I used to go clubbing wearing a white shirt, tie, waistcoat, long shorts or jeans & sneakers, or Bros (used to love them, yes, I was also a Brosette) styled clunky shoes – I kid you not, thankfully camera phones didn’t exist back then. You can laugh at me online, it’s ok, I can handle it. How else was a Hip Hop Head / Acid House Raver / Brosette supposed to dress?!

I had totally forgotten my fave rapper of all time Big Daddy Kane also had a Hip House track on his 1989 album “It’s A Big Daddy Thing.” The track is called “The House That Cee Built”, I like the first 30 seconds and then it’s a no from me.

Hip House is a bit like marmite, people either loved it or they hated it. No prizes for guessing which camp I fall into.

I loved the late 80s, musically they were great years.

Thanks to Who Sampled and Baby Step Magazine for some of the info for my blog.