Malcolm McLaren Tribute Mix – DJ Premier

Malcolm McLaren was a rock music manager, best known for managing The Sex Pistols, an English punk rock group from the 1970s. He passed away last week from cancer at 64.

Along with his connection and involvement with the punk rock world, as Kit O’Toole points out [Malcom McLaren: Hip Hop Pioneer], McLaren was also something of a hip hop pioneer as well. Booking and then attempting to get Afrika Bambaataa signed to RCA Records, and later producing the album which spawned the hip hop classic “Buffalo Gals”, which largely introduced hip hop to England, demonstrates McLaren’s affinity and insight toward what would become a multi-billion dollar, worldwide music genre.

O’Toole states, “My favorite track has always been “Hey DJ,” as it perfectly encapsulates the burgeoning scene in New York. It may seem dated today, but it represents the early days when artists rapped about DJs’ ability to get a party started — or at the very least, about the rapper’s own skills. Combine the lyrics with the video’s fashions and break dancing, and you get an instant time capsule. McLaren may forever be known as the punk innovator, but his stint in the hip-hop world deserves recognition.”

Legendary hip hop DJ and producer, DJ Premier thinks so too, and has released a tribute interview/music mix dedicated to McLaren which recognizes the connection that McLaren, and punk rock, had to early hip hop music and culture.

This isn’t for everyone, but Birthplace Magazine respects and recognizes the multitude of participants in the birth and rise of hip hop music and culture, and by forwarding this to you, we hope we are also paying our own respects to McLaren. (R.I.P.)

Download DJ Premier’s Malcolm McLaren Tribute Mix.

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