1,005.) Tues Sept. 3, 2019

The Song of the Day is:

Doug E. Fresh & Slick Rick – “La Di Da Di”

Originally released as the B-Side to the single The Show (1985)

La-di-da-di, we like to party
We don’t cause trouble, we don’t bother nobody
We’re, just some men that’s on the mic
And when we rock upon the mic we rock the mic right
For all of y’all, keep y’all in health

Douglas Davis – Richard Walters

Today’s old-school classic choice of “La Di Da Di” came about through my terribly amateurish beat-boxing to entertain my infant daughter (may have been lousy, but it was still the best that she’d hear up until this point).  I’ve not really featured hip-hop beat-boxing in this blog yet, though we have heard some Bobby McFerrin ages ago.  Before we dive too deep into today’s featured artist, I will mention that Michael Jackson employed beat-boxing technique to compose some of his hits, and there is some fantastic footage of him demonstrating his talent at it on YouTube.  Anyway, Douglas David, A.K.A. Doug E. Fresh, is the first name in hip-hop beat-boxing.  Fresh took on the nickname “The Human Beat Box”, but that was also a nickname that was also coined for the late Darren “Buff Love” Robinson of The Fat Boys (who had the foresight to record a song called “Human Beat Box”).  While Doug E. Fresh also rapped, on “La Di Da Di” he is exclusively heard beat-boxing while a member of his Get Fresh Crew, DJ Ricky D, rapped over the beat that Fresh laid.  This is the b-side to another beat-boxing classic “The Show”, which made use of the Inspector Gadget theme song.  The success of these two songs would propel both artists to iconic status in the hip-hop community.  DJ Ricky D changed his handle to Slick Rick and became the third artist signed to Def Jam records; he became known as “hip-hop’s greatest storyteller”.  Doug E. Fresh has remained popular, but he has bucked the trends and his music has remained largely old-school.  “La Di Da Di” became the first song written by a rappers to be covered by a rapper, when Snoop Dogg included his version on his debut album Doggystyle.  Snoop would drop the beat-boxing in favor of a laid-back g-funk vibe for his cover, which was rebranded “Lodi Dodi”.  As can be seen below, the style of both versions has on occasion melded, as Snoop performs the song with Doug E. Fresh providing accompaniment.

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