The best obituary I’ve read about Malcolm McLaren didn’t have any words. After all, when DJ Premier isn’t bitching about the bullshit and banality of contemporary hip-hop, he’s dropping stellar mixes on his own DJ Premier Radio Blog. Perhaps the most necessary of the bunch is his hastily conceived but immaculately constructed tribute mix to the mastermind behind The Sex Pistols. Without resorting to reductive characterizations of him as “whip-smart svengali,” Primo’s mix hews to McLaren’s aural and artistic impact — a wise move considering you’d need an entire biography to pay proper homage.
Opening with the razing of civil society that was “Anarchy in the UK,” the rightful Chris Martin heads into a clip of McLaren recounting how he serendipitously met Bambaataa because he saw a “massive black man wearing a Never Mind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols shirt.” Eventually it moves onto his work with the World Famous Supreme Team, Bow Wow Wow, and KRS-One & Rakim. A Zelig-like figure cutting a swath through the worlds of hip-hop, punk rock, fashion, and film, McLaren was everywhere you wanted to be, ahead of the curve, cognizant of the curb, and with tons of sartorial flair (what British people call “swag.”) A refreshing vestige to the days before corporate hegemony crushed the ever-nebulous notion of art and commerce commingling, McLaren will be sorely missed. God save the King.
See Also: 1983 Malcolm McLaren Interview with Interview
MP3: DJ Premier Blog Radio — Malcolm McLaren Tribute Mix (Left-Click)
