Music Review // John Orpheus "Get Right!"

 

Whenever I listen to hip hop and it's good I'm always reminded of the past more than modern music.   John Orpheus is no exception, as I feel like this is a song I would've bought on a cassingle back in the day along with artists like MC Hammer and Bel Biv DeVoe.  There is just that way where you feel like it's hip hop, and there is rapping, but other sounds of R&B, singing and soul come through as well.

During this song, if you're older and educated you might notice that there is a sample (of sorts) of the song "Apache" by Sugarhill Gang.   This is something I feel gets done a lot in hip hop (See: the previously mentioned MC Hammer and Rick James) but I think in this case it's more of a tribute than anything else.  It really feels like it's kind of put in there so those who know will appreciate but those who don't might look into it and learn something new.

The most difficult part of enjoying hip hop is that the modern artists can't hold a candle to the past.   I won't name names of the present, but none of them can compare with Sugarhill Gang, KRS-One and others.  So there are far too many conversations about who the best rapper is and people pretend like hip hop was invented in 2010.    So I definitely enjoy that this song has a retro feel to it.

While I said earlier I would've bought this song as a cassingle, it actually has more of a sound where it would've been released as a record- before cassettes.   But I just hope that people can find some common ground with this song.  I hope it serves as both a history lesson and an idea for the future where hip hop can sound a certain way but also pay respects to those who came before them.  John Orpheus does this well and others should follow suit.