Tunes from the Whip: Bob James "One"

One night while playing “Nautilus” on my radio show at KSUB a listener hit me up asking if it was some new DJ Shadow. Bob James was way ahead of his time! The much sampled and at times unfindable record in any diggin spot has lost much of it’s luster since it’s hey day being pilfered by a laundry list of classic 90s boom bap producers. It is simply titled One and it bangs.

Opening with an epic, spooky jam the music here is ready for the big screen. Sounding like the perfect sequence for an amazing car chase that is choreographed perfectly, Bob James conducts an array of players to create the ultimate in explosive feelings. Bombast doesn’t even begin to capture the horns here. HUGE.

Track two sounds like it might have been right at home at my co-workers country concert this weekend. No vocals are present but it’s certainly bluesy. I’m not mad at it actually. Listening to it while riding the bus (more on that in a bit) made me appriciate the slow moving beauty placed in the strings.

Bob James doesn’t hold himself back though and One is right back at, killing fools with beats and breaks for days. While he isn’t using a drum machine and the tunes play out like the songs they were written as, I still think an adept emcee could take this album (or any of his first three) and construct an amazing piece of Hip Hop history over it.

Of course the jam here that everyone always looks for is “Nautilus” and for good reason. Everyone always talks about it’s underwater, aquatic feel and I don’t know what it is that he did but it certainly has that about itself. I believe I’ve heard that this feeling is what prompted the name. It’s got great drums (all the tracks here do, see CTI) and Jon Faddis (Madlib’s uncle) is on the horns.

As I stated, I’m now riding the bus. This will be the last Tunes from the Whip. I’m contemplating continuing it as Tunes from the Bus, maybe View from the Bus? Let me know what y’all think. I got some more interviews coming, don’t think that one rapper turned singer will keep me down!

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