This, by the way, will be a re-occurring Monday feature. Anyway, the 9 biggest stories of the weekend, through my eyes:
1. Steelers big Loss (es?)
My Steelers lost again, this time to the Chiefs in OT. But even more important than an embarrassing loss to the worst team in the league: Ben might have suffered a concussion. If he did, we’re screwed. Charlie Batch somehow broke his wrist. And Dennis Dixon would be our starting QB for next week against the Lions.
The game was lost because of shitty special teams, a defense that just never could corral Matt Cassel’s receivers, and a running game that could never quite get started. Ike Taylor had a chance for a pick that would’ve stopped the eventual game-winning drive, but whiffed at it. This is what separates Ike from being in that elite crew of CB’s. Nnamdi Asomugha or Champ Bailey would’ve not only intercepted that, but probably taken it to the house for a pick-6. Even watching Charles Tillman and his ability to knock out fumbles. If we’re strictly talking about coverage, then there’s no one better than Ike. But if you’re talking about a guy who QB’s are scared to throw that direction, Ike isn’t that guy. The worst that happens is an incompletion.
2.The Kings lost a back-to-back.
The Kings lost a back-to-back over the weekend at Dallas on Friday and at Houston on Saturday. As I mentioned earlier, the Kings were Tyreke-less against the Rockets but probably still should have won. So without their two best players, the Kings barely lost to a (in my estimation) playoff-bound team. Not bad, but the Kings record is still pretty ugly at 5-7. Luckily (perhaps?), they get Memphis tonight. A team with two overrated wingmen, a numbers & ball hog in the post, and a bunch of crap. So ideally they can get back on the right track, and if Tyreke is back: even better.
3. The Incredibly Strange Saga of Tracy McGrady Continues
Now T-Mac wants to be re-activated and the team doesn’t want him to. It’s clear why they wouldn’t want him: they could get an injury exception if he doesn’t play. But what they are ignoring is that when he’s on, he’s a superstar. One of the 7 or 8 players in the NBA when he’s on. This team is current probably the sixth or seventh best team in the West as currently constructed, without Yao. With T-Mac, they could easily challenge the top. The problem is, what would they do with him? Do they want to discourage Trevor Ariza from playing as well as he is? He’s been the team’s best player thus far. The other wing is manned by Shane Battier, who I’m sure would sit if needed. But the team isn’t going to bench the best defender in the league. This is going to get ugly real quick. Not a good situation.
4. Fiddy Flops
50’s latest album Before I Self Destruct has been targeted for 150k in sales for the first week. A week after taunting Rick Ross by faux-crying over Triple C’s first week numbers, 50 is ironically now changing his stance on sales. What a shocker. 50’s done. Let’s move on. Why do we keep giving podiums to this guy?
5. Lions Win Thriller
It was the “Bad Bowl,” a game we had mocked for weeks. But strangely enough, it was the best game of the day. The Lions beat the Browns, 38-37 on a last second touchdown pass by Matthew Stafford, and the ensuing extra point by Jason Hanson. Stafford threw 5 touchdowns total, and put together 422 yards in the air. His counter part, Brady Quinn, threw for 304 yards and 4 TDs. Calvin Johnson caught 7 passes for 161 yards and a TD. No defense whatsoever, but great television.
6. Wale Flop Fallout
This is really a story from last week, but internet heads take notice: Your two over-hyped artists this year (Wale and Slaughterhouse) both flopped. It is well known that you do not buy albums, but if you do not start giving some sort of support to your artists, no one is going to care about catering to you.
7. The Dubs are A Mess More on this story later, but now Nellie’s sick too!
8. The Niners are a Passing Team? Mike Singletary should have been paying attention last week. The Niners tried to run the ball, and fell behind 23-3. Then the team let Alex Smith air it out and almost pulled off a stunning comeback, before running out of time and losing 30-24. This would lead me to the conclusion that with Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis, and Alex Smith, perhaps the team should be throwing the ball. Don’t forget Josh Morgan, everyone’s pick as a breakout player for this season, and Isaac Bruce, one of the best WR’s in history. Frank Gore is one of the better receiving RBs in football, and they have Joe Staley, one of the best LTs in football, to protect Smith’s blind side.
9. KG’s Shot In perhaps the only basketball game worth talking about, the Knicks almost pulled the upset of the mighty Celtics at MSG. Unfortunately, KG hit the game winning shot as time expired to back the Truth’s 33 an pull out the win. Too bad for the Knicks, they really suck.
10. (Tie) “I Can Transform Ya”-Chris Brown feat. Swizz Beatz & Lil Wayne & “Who’s Real (Ruff Ryders Remix)”-Jadakiss feat. Styles P, Sheek Louch, Eve, Drag-On, DMX, & Swizz Beatz
Chris Breezy’s comeback is noteworthy because its just super dope. That’s all. The Jadakiss record is noteworthy because it re-united the Ruff Ryder crew and left a positive memory in early ‘09.
9. “Blackout”-Mashonda feat. Nas/Snoop
I remember Swizzy was pissed at Nas for no-showing for the video of this. So he was forced to replace him with Snoop for the official single. Of course Nas’ version was better and the result of all this was that the single fizzled out pretty quickly. But the Nas version is still pretty ill and gets random spins on my Ipod. Unfortunately Mashonda never did get to release that album. And eventually she was even replaced by A-Keys as Swizzy’s main love interest.
8. “Million Dollar Bill”-Whitney Houston
Perhaps only marginally more notable than doing Chris Breezy’s comeback is Whitney’s comeback song. It should also be noted that she got Alicia to write the song. Whitney ended up doing 300k in her first week thanks to a memorable Oprah visit (Rihanna, are you taking notes?), and a total of 788k to date.
7. “Love Is Blind”-Eve feat. Faith Evans
In what was really her breakout single, Eve drops a somewhat conscious tale about a girlfriend’s abusive relationship. The word “girlfriend” is misleading on purpose, because everyone thought she was a les after this song. Eve had bigger songs, in fact she had bigger songs with Swizz, but this is the most memorable.
6. “I’m A Hustla”-Cassidy
Cass came back for his second record led by a Jigga-sampled single thanx to Swizzy. This was probably his signature track (though not his biggest record), and it’s unfortunate the chain of events he’s gone through since. B.A.R.S., his third album flopped. He dealt with various legal issues. And now it doesn’t seem like Swizz’ label even exists anymore.
5. “Hotel”-Cassidy feat. R. Kelly
This was Cass’ biggest record and led to, what seemed, a triumphant opening to Swizz’ new label. In what is essentially an R.Kelly record with a couple Cass verses, “Hotel” had perfect timing during Kellz’ comeback and a very party-oriented age of hip hop. Eventually however, everyone moved in.
4. “Party Up”-DMX
This was the biggest song from the biggest artist in the Ruff Ryders’ crew. While the song barely broke the top 30 (none of X’s singles ever charted well), it was the main (and only notable) single from an album that has been certified 5 times platinum in the states alone. It was the Ruff Ryders’ crew at their highest point, before drugs and internal issues began the downfall of the crew.
3. “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem”-DMX
This track and its’ remix marked the beginning of the aforementioned Ruff Ryders’ crew. It marked X’s MTV-breakthrough and was the main single from an album that has been certified four times platinum. People forget just how popular DMX was. He starred in a cult classic movie (Belly), and sold 14 million copies of 4 albums. Def Jam was very happy.
2. “Check On It”-Beyonce feat. Slimm Thug & Bun-B
This led to a number of Swizz/Bey collaborations. The record spent five weeks at #1 and was one of Bey’s biggest hits of her career. It was also, arguably, the biggest pop tune of 2006. So if this is number 2, number 1 must be reeallly impressive. Well…
1. “Bring ‘Em Out”-T.I.
This was the lead single from Tip’s third album. While it was not as big in the mainstream as “Check On It” (it peaked at #9 on the pop charts), it’s impact was greater. It was the comeback record from Swizzy, who hadn’t had an aggressive hit single in 5 years. It was also the song that shot Tip into superstardom. After gaining momentum with a trio of hit singles off his sophmore LP, “Bring ‘Em Out” was the MTV/mainstream’s introduction to the Tip Harris. It led to a string of aggressive radio singles that Tip has continued now, four albums later.
These two guys above have a lot in common. They’re both in the process of saving the NBA in two smaller markets. They both have star two-guards who are hurt. They also have both transformed teams that were terrible last year. And oh yeah, they’re probably the two main rookie of the year candidates.
The picture above is from the Jordan Brand Classic in 2008, of which Tyreke Evans (23 points, 4 dimes) and Brandon Jennings (14 dimes) won co-MVP’s. I should also mention how well Johnny Flynn is playing in Minnesota, but he’s not quite on these guys’ level.
Evans was really the only fellow PG Jennings didn’t claim to be better than during the draft lead-up. And with good cause, Evans is a beast. They’ve both taken teams that looked terrible and made them respectable. Jennings’ Bucks are 8-3. Young Money’s averaging 25 points and 6 dimes. Evans’ Kings are only 5-7, but coming from the worst record in the league – that’s pretty good. Tyreke’s averaging 18, 5, and 5. He’s even getting a steal and a half per game. In particular, the Kings are 4-3 since K-Mart went down. And tonight they lost to the Rox without Tyreke. He’s been averaging 24 points, 6 dimes, and 6 boards.
The Kings have been rejuvenated of late, despite the tough schedule they’ve faced. A lot of the credit has gone to Jason Thompson, and with good reason. He’s absolutely taken his game to another level in his second year. But it’s Tyreke drawing double teams that’s enabled JT to have more openings. Evans doesn’t have much of a shooting touch, he’s penetrate and dish or penetrate to the rack. When he gets a jump shot of some kind; watch out. The Kings’ biggest weakness so far is the lack of shooting. That should change when Francisco Garcia and Kevin Martin come back.
The Bucks have been even better. By most metric statistics, Brandon Jennings has been the second best PG in the league, behind CP3. Yes, better than Nash, D-Will, B-Diddy, Gilbert, Chauncey, and Tony Parker. Of course that double nickel he dropped on the W’s last weekend helps. The dude has also, basically, saved Andrew Bogut’s career. The former first overall pick was averaging 16 and 9, before bowing out with injury. The team also has an emerging player in Ersan Ilyasova, who’s been the ultimate glue guy for that team.
But the credit for the emergence of both of these teams has to lie on the rookie point guards. And this will not be the last time they are grouped together.
I haven’t done anything in this series for a while. I was looking up the producers of all the songs in my current playlist, and I saw a who’s who of current Super Producers dominating things: L.O.S. Da Maestro, Tricky Stewart, The-Dream (all three of which are essentially the same production team), The Neptunes, The Runners (i’ll have to talk more about them another time), Polow (of course), Ryan Leslie, Swizz Beats, etc. etc. One name came up a few times: Jim Jonsin. He’s come along way since his terrible T.I. song last year. Well, not really. But he does have a bunch of dope songs as well as cheesy ones. And you can’t even front on the cheesy ones, they made a lot of money and were very successful in their own. Plus he’s currently taken personal favorite B.O.B. aka Bobby Ray as his protege (he was T.I.’s protege, but Tip’s obviously not able to work as close right now). So that said, let’s get introduced to the white boy with the static.
10. (Tie) “Your Body” and “Grind With Me” by Pretty Ricky:
Yes this is the guy that brought you the reigning ignorance known as Pretty Ricky. He was originally, it seems, mainly a go-to guy for Atlantic Records. His first six singles were actually with the label. You could also say that he started off as strictly a Miami guy, as his first three artists he did beats for were Trick Daddy, Pitbull and Pretty Ricky. Nevertheless these songs were both top 15 pop songs, with “Grind On Me” peaking out at #7.
9. “The Greatest”-Michelle Williams:
While her album bricked like everyone thought it would, this song briefly saved her for the Adult R&B crowd. It was also Jim Jonsin’s first “grown man” single. While it wasn’t much of a pop hit, it did well with Adult Contemporary radio. And crossed Jim Jonsin into the ballad territory after spending most of his time in the hip hop club scene.
8. “I Run”-Slim Thug:
One of the dominant singles of the first half of this year, Thugger took full advantage of this Jim Jonsin track puttin on for his city. The album also featured another Jim Jonsin gem, “Smile,” which is currently in my rotation.
7. “Girl Tonite”-Twista feat. Trey Songz:
This was really Trey’s debut into pop radio territory, and he even made a solo version of the record. While Twista attempted to, he wasn’t quite able to reclaim the fame of “Slow Jamz,” though this was a top 3 R&B hit in its’ own right.
6. “Better Days”-Game:
This is the current record for Game, as his other leaked records have failed to create any sort of buzz for his upcoming album. But this is completely slammin. Much more of an intellectual track than Jim’s used to, and Game does a very good lyrical job of focusing on the task at hand. It’s just a great record altogether, and is making us want that Game record sooner than later.
5. “Let’s Go”-Trick Daddy feat. Lil’ Jon and Twista:
Many people mistake this for a Lil Jon track since he’s yellin’ all over it. But it was actually Jim Jonsin’s debut production. It hit the top 10 in both R&B and pop, and was Trick’s last real hit single. It also was really the last of the “crunk” anthems that had dominated radio, as urban music turned to the more lyrical southern cats like Tip, Jeezy, and Wayne, for their southern fix.
4. “Leather So Soft”-Birdman & Lil’ Wayne: I actually didn’t realize he produced this song until I was starting to write this article. Easily the standout track from the duo’s Like Father, Like Son album, folks were already on Wayne’s jock at the moment, and this track just enforced it. Unfortunately, it was also the first time Wayne picked up a guitar.
3. “Whatever You Like”-T.I. While I still hate this song, it was very important in keeping Jim’s momentum going. It was certified triple platinum and hit number one on the Billboard 100 three different times. It even spawned its’ own Weird Al parody.
2. “Kiss Me Thru The Phone”-Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em feat. Sammy While arguably not quite as big of a song as Tip’s, it introduced him to a new crowd: the kids. While doing songs for Tip and Wayne are nice, Jim was able to sell 2 million copies of this record to the under 16, 106th & Park crowd which Soulja Boy is currently the king of (at least until Bow Wow does something of note).
1. “Lollipop”-Lil Wayne feat. Static Major When you produced the current biggest artist in the game’s signature record, it gets you pretty far. Wayne cracked 4 million paid downloads of this record and it spent 5 weeks at number one. It was also the first single and biggest hit on an album that sold 4 million copies and dominated 2008. It was not only the signature song of Lil Wayne’s career, it was the signature song of 2008 as a whole. It was the most hated/loved song of the year, and Weezy swept the grammys, sold the most records out of anyone, and generally just took over the entire music industry.
I wanted to take a chance to go over some albums that came out this year that I haven’t had a chance to talk about.
Let’s start with the best. Maxwell’s BLACKsummers’night was just dope. I mean front-to-back dope. Capturing his modern-day-Marvin-Gaye sound now more than ever, the album is a wonderfully put together piece of work. And thus far stands as the best album of the year in my opinion. In particular, “Bad Habits” is still my favorite song, but “Cold” is fonky, and “Fistful Of Tears” is melodic. Great album.
On a side note, I’m finding myself getting older and my taste in music is starting to represent that. When I was younger my favorite artist was always 2Pac. Up until about 98ish, when it became Common for a couple of years (during the One Day It’ll All Make Sense/Like Water For Chocolate-era). Around 1998/1999 I was sent to a juvenile correction ranch. When I got back, my favorite rapper/artist was Nas. It stayed Nas for almost a full decade, until recently it’s become Maxwell. And really, Nas hasn’t changed as much as I’ve changed. I didn’t care too much for Untitled beyond the two singles, and that’s the first time I’ve been able to say that about a Nas album since Nastradamus. Nas is still, in my mind, the greatest rapper to ever breathe on a microphone, but I’m just not as into hip hop anymore as I am into old Marvin Gaye and Maxwell. I still listen to hip hop quite regularly: Hov, Tip, Kanye, Lupe, etc…. but I’m not nearly as devoted a hip hop head as I used to be.
(tangent over)
50 Cent’s Before I Self Destruct is exactly the epitome of why I’m not as into hip hop as I used to be. It’s just a combination of gratuitous violence with no particular point and cheesy chick songs. This is an album I still probably would have bashed 10 years ago and still felt good about it. Today, it’s more depressing than anything. There are occasions when he actually strikes gold (“Crime Wave,” in particular is dope, as is “So Disrespectful”), but it’s like a cheesy horror flick, all muscle, no brain. There’s no artistry to speak of.
To spin a completely different direction, Method Man and Redman’s Black Out 2 was the surprise of the year for me. I had essentially written both of these guys off years ago. But they turned in one of the year’s best albums. Meth, in particular, sounds as good as he’s sounded in a decade. And while we may never see the crazy, psychadelic super lyrical Redman from 91-97 back, he definitely holds his own here. From the jammin’ Pete Rock-helmed first single “A-Yo,” to the BunB B-featured thumpin “City Lights,” to the party anthem “Hey Zulu,” and the underground favorite “Four Minutes To Lockdown” this album was a winner all -around.
Lyrics? Did I mention lyrics? 2009’s favorite lyrical supergroup dropped their self-titled debut, Slaughterhouse over the summer. And while it didn’t sell a ton, it was still quite dope. Crooked I and Royce, in particular, shine all over this album. We knew Royce was ill, but I wasn’t sure that Crook could keep it up for a whole album. As far as crossover potential, the group dropped a decent, yet generic first single in “The One.” I would’ve liked to see where Streetrunner’s more lyrical (and urban) “Not Tonight” would’ve taken them. But if the Shady Records deal that’s been heavily rumored about goes through, we’ll see what this group can really do.
Chrissette Michele also dropped her second album I’m Leaving. I was a fan of her jazz-tinged debut, and enjoy her sophmore album even more. Although the two are completely different. She touched on the urban market a bit on her debut’s will.i.am single “Be Ok,” but mainly stuck to the Urban Adult Contemporary market. This time she goes all out teaming with the same team that made Ne-Yo a superstar. And for the most part, it works perfectly. The two big singles are the the title track with its’ Drake-featured video, and “Fragile” with Wale popping up on the single version and the video. But the album’s true highlight is “Blame It On Me.” There’s really no skippers on this album, its refreshingly dope. She takes her Anita Baker-steez and blows up a bit. Good for her.
Well I gotta run, I’ll drop some more quick album reviews another time.
…..but I’m back and rejuvenated heading into the end of the year. It’s Monday, so Let’s go over the highlights of the weekend:
1. The Bengals beat the Steelers. My boys were swept by the Bungals, who look for real. And word is that they’re getting Larry Johnson, too. Even more real is that as I’m typing, the Ravens are beating the batter out of the Browns. So the AFC North looks like this:
1. Cincinnati ………7-2
2. Pittsburgh………6-3
3. Baltimore……….5-4
Cincy has 4 easy games (@Oakland, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City), 2 tough games (@Minnesota and a @ a red-hot San Diego), and one who knows game (@NY Jets to end the year). While the Steelers have 3 relatively easy games (@KC, Oakland, @Cleveland), two more they SHOULD win (Green Bay, @Miami), and two who-knows games with the Ravens. The Ravens have the two Steelers games and a Colts game, then 5 games they should win. All things being equal we could very well have three playoff teams from this division. I think we’re looking at records of 12-4 (Cincy), 11-5 (Pitt), and 10-6 (Baltimore). What’s the best division in football?
2. Manny Pacquiao Beat Down Miguel Cotto
Manny by no means kicked his arse, but it was a very good fight until the last couple of rounds. Unfortunately it was stopped in the 12th round, which made no sense to me. Either you stop the fight in the 10th, when it looks decisive, or you let the man fight til the end. He’s earned the right, having taken the pounding through 12 rounds. Anyway, rant over. Now we can pay our attention to the potential Mayweather/Pac-Man fight. As Mayweather bet millions on Manny on Saturday and was seen celebrating his “earnings” with Diddy and Ray-J.
But does this mean that the matchup is inevitable? I’m sure there will be plenty to read on this dream fight, so I’ll pass on my .02 for now.
>3. Young Money drops a double nickel on the Dubs
He looks like a cross between Trey Songz and Terrence from 106th and Park, his game reminds us of AI, and he’s from the city of Compton. He’s got the mouth to start ish, and the game to back it up. Be prepared for the Ochocinco of the NBA here folks. Or the second coming of AI, which ever you prefer. Oh and he was callin himself Young Money (i don’t know if he calls himself that anymore) before Lil Wayne, Drake an’ ‘em wanted to fuck every girl in the world. Did i mention he spent the pre-draft talking trash about Ricky Rubio? The Bucks are the surprise team of the year (with my beloved Kings flying under the radar), and he’s the main reason. Young Mooooola, baby!
4. Belichick also went for it on fourth, in case you haven’t heard
In the least hyped game of the year (sarcasm alert!), Belichick went for it on 4th and 2. My take is the guy knows what he’s doin. As much as i loathe Belichick, the guy has 3 rings – why criticize? This is not Eric Mangini we’re talking about here.
5. Carmelo and the Nuggets destroy the Lakers, then the Rockets do too
The Lakers faced their two main foes from last year’s playoffs and lost to them both. First Carmelo and crew absolutely destroyed them on the latter end of a back-to-back. Then, the star-less Rockets pick-and-rolled them apart as well. Suddenly, the Lakers don’t look so invincible in the West. 6. Buzzer Beaters: Dwayne Wade, Dirk Nowitzki, John Wall
Dwayne broke the Nets’ hearts last night, then tonight Dirk did the same in OT to Young Moola and the Bucks, then John Wall shook off any upset threats from Miami of Ohio and saved Kentucky with a buzzer beater of his own. By the way, keep an eye on Wall, he’s my pick for College Player of the year. Think about it: who’s returning that’s got any clout? Cole Aldridge? Perhaps not even the best player on his own team. Luke Harrangody? Child, please…. Kyle Singler? Great player, not Player of the Year quality. Kalin Lucas? Are you kidding? Willie Warren or Scottie Reynolds would by my pick of the returning class, but this year’s draft sucked the talent pool clean of the returning players. I’d go with Wall #1, with Avery Bradley #2. Going to Kentucky and Texas, they arrive to coaches who know a thing or two about freshman sensations (John Calipari has had Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans the past two seasons, and Rick Barnes had Kevin Durant).
7. The biggest album of the year leaked
Sorry Hov, Slim, and Weezy, but Rih Rih’s comeback is the biggest album of the year. It also leaked sometime Friday night/Saturday morning. “Hard” is ill with Young Jeezy, and it looks like the next single. “Rock Star 101″ has hit single written all over it as well. I’m still gathering my opinion on this album and I’ll drop it later.
8. Fiddy called out Jigga, again The G-Unit/Roc rivalry continued this weekend as 50 Cent jumped on the hook of Beans’ new single and called out JiggaMan at the ending. Not sure where this is goin, or if I even care.
9. ESPN’s College Basketball Marathon just started ….And I’m watchin UCLA tryin to avoid an upset from CS Fullerton (which is a big baseball school, but not much of a hoops school). I’m out, as I attempt to watch as much of this marathon as humanly possible.
Having done 1994, it’s only right to move onto 1995. One thing to note about 1995 was that it was the year that The Show documentary was released. There were many classic hip hop releases during the year as well, but the year really belonged to the Wu. Building off of the group’s smash debut as well as Meth’s album, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Raekwon, the GZA, and Ghostface all released their debuts in 1995. Kool G Rap made his last meaningful album. Mic Geronimo put some ish out for the heads. Meth/Red teamed up for “How High,” their debut as a duo. The BCC’s second artists, Smif-N-Wessun, debuted. The Pharcyde came back with a bang. The hype from Illmatic continued into AZ’s project. Same with BIG into Junior Mafia’s album. The Bay hit it big with E-40 and The Luniz both going platinum. But the biggest artist of the year was probably 2Pac….from a jail cell. His epic Me Against The World, arguably his best work, was released to praising reviews, and multi-platinum sales. But enough of that, let’s move onto the top 10 songs of 1995. I had a lot of trouble nailing this down to a top 10. And I must confess, I cheated, as you’ll see sooner than later:
10. “Shadowboxin” & “Cold World”-The Gza/Genius: The Gza grabbed Method Man, Inspectah Deck, and D’Angelo (for the remix, fool!) for both of these cuts that I can never decide between. This is actually the first of two times I cheated on this list. What it really comes down to is personal preference. One of Meth’s best verses? Or D’Angelo’s soulfulness? So I have them both tying for number 10. “Cold World” was the third single from the album Liquid Swords, after “Labels” and the titletrack. Deck’s buzz was beginning to buzz as possibly, the best lyricist in the crew, at this point. And “Cold World” only added to his hype as he out-performs Gza on the track. Of course, when Deck finally dropped a solo album – no one cared. But that’s not the point. The point is that we often lose this album in the hype of some of the other solos that came out. Rae’s album is a legitimate classic, and probably the best of all the solos. Ghost has had a more prolific career, so Ironman is more remembered than Liquid Swords. Meth was a bigger artist and had bigger singles. And of course, Dirty went on to his own notoriety before dying tragically. But it was Liquid Swords that was probably the second best. It was dope from front to back. And these two singles were the best songs on the album.
9. “Runnin’”-Pharcyde:
Back 3 years later after their classic debut single, “Passin Me By,” The Pharcyde came back with some help from a young J.Dilla. This was young Dilla’s first hit single, in fact. These guys had another hit single immediately following this one with “Drop” and its’ backwards video. But after this album, they pretty much went underground and disappeared, before eventually breaking up. They briefly reunited the entire group last summer for a stint on the Rock The Bells tour (and put on a SHOW), but it’s unclear whether they will release any new material as a foursome. And honestly, I’d like to keep it that way. Their first two albums were great and dope, and the rest all sucked. So let’s just remember them for the first two, ok? Delicious Vinyl had a few acts on their label, but Pharcyde was probably their most popular (though Masta Ace had a big hit as well). Mya actually used this song as a reference in her remix of “Fallin” a few years ago. She even got a couple of the guys from The Pharcyde to rap on it.
8. “Brooklyn Zoo”-Ol’ Dirty Bastard
My favorite Ol’ Dirty record because he isn’t quite as R&B as he is on his other singles. And it’s cohesive enough to be a single, which makes it better than most of his album tracks. He’s always been very, um…Out There. But it was really creative, original, and fresh when he came out over this hard piano track that the Rza had put together for him. Released as the second solo from the Wu, Dirty was definitely different from anything anyone had ever rapped doing. Meth was probably a bigger star, but Dirty was just as impacting. He dropped “Shimmy Shimmy Ya” and “Baby Cmon” as singles from this album as well, combining the two for a video. He also later went on to have a decent hit with the Neptunes-produced “Got Your Money.” But this is the rawnees, the ruggedness that I’ll always remember Dirty for. It’s a shame he couldn’t be here to remember it as well.
7. “It’s A Shame” & “Fast Life”-Kool G Rap:
Ok, so I cheated again. This is the last time, though, I swear! Anyhow, G Rap’s album, 4,5,6 wasn’t particularly good. But it had two classic singles. “It’s A Shame” was G Rap at his mafioso best, sounding every bit like the legend he was. In a way, he kinda sounds like Nino from New Jack City. The guy who sings the chorus gives us probably the hardest R&B chorus in history. The second single to the album was “Fast Life,” which featured an “in the zone” appearance from Mr. Escobar. This is probably the first time I heard Nas escalade into the mafioso thing. He was completely on fire in the post-Illmatic run. He dropped classic verses here, on Raekwon’s “Verbal Intercourse,” AZ’s “Mo Money Mo Murda,” and Mobb Deep’s “Eye For An Eye.” This was more of a true duet as both share equal mic time. For all the hype that Nas had at the time, G Rap was not going to be out-done lyrically, as he was no slouch either. To me this was the ultimate drug kingpin song. No one ever did that theme quite as well as G Rap anyway. G Rap managed to bridge the eras in QB from Marley Marl/Shan having him in the Juice Crew, to doing songs with Nas and Prodigy throughout the 90’s. An all-time great in the eyes of many, including this writer.
6. “How High”-Redman & Method Man
I always have Red ahead of Meth, just cuz Red’s iller. This was proof. Meth was in his prime and dropped some pretty good verses, but Red just spazzes out. “While the planet and the stars and the moons collapse/when i raise my trigga finger all yall niggas hit the deck/cuz aint no need for that hustlers and hardcore/raw to the floor door like Reservoir Dogs/The Green Eyed Bandit can’t stand it/with more fruitier loops than that Tucan Sam Bitch/plus the Bombazee got me wild/fuckin wit us is a straight suicide.” I think i recall Red getting Quotable of the year for his second verse. Anyway, it was ill.
(There is no video for this song) 5. “Death Around The Corner”-2Pac
After dropping the seminal Me Against The World, there are a number of songs I could put in the top 10. The safest would be “Dear Mama,” the passionate sentimate to Ms Afeni Shakur. However I don’t do safe. “Death Around The Corner” is the most classic of any of those tracks from his album. Everyone who listens to hip hop has the intro memorized. “I know what’s wrong with that crazy muthafucka, he just stand by the goddamned window with that fuckin AK all day. You don’t work, you don’t fuck, you don’t do a godamned thing.” Calling this song the ultimate anthem in paranoia would be an understatement. He goes beyond paranoia, and explains the background that brought him to this point. The anger of every lyric he spits hits home when one considers the situation he was in at the time, being in jail for alleged rape. If you are going to go to jail, you leave something as epic as Me Against The World behind to explain yourself. 2Pac was as good of an actor as he was a rapper. And he took the acting part into his rapping by setting situations and creating moods in the music that were as epic as the themes he rapped about. This is the perfect example of this. He picked the perfect track for the paranoia rants. Classic.
4. “Sound Bwoy Burriell”-Smif N Wessun Black Moon had a couple of hits on their own, but Smif N Wessun backed them up with just as much heat to keep the BCC flag waving. I’d probably take the reggae-tinged “Sound Bwoy Burriell” over anything BCC ever created though. Tek N Steele debuted on “Black Smif N Wessun,” an album track from Buckshot and company’s debut. They dropped “Bucktown” and “Let’s Get It On” as the first two singles. The third single was “Sound Bwoy Burriell,” which finished 1995. They would eventually drop a remix of “Wreckonize” with a Bill Withers’ “Just The two Of Us” sample, which was the pair’s biggest crossover hit. In fact the first verse of that remix was recycled on the remix to Mary J Blige’s “I Love You.” But “Sound Bwoy” is their staple. The raggamuffin flavor at which they flipped their rhymes was akin to stuff KRS One had been doing for years. Only this Beatminerz track was the perfect setting to get gritty with the flow, and that’s what Smif N Wessun did best. While BCC never again reached the status they’d gotten to with the first two releases, they did spring a number of hits out of Heltah Skeltah, OGC, and even a BCC Group album. The second albums from Black Moon and Smif N Wessun got plenty of attention, but weren’t quite as good. Still, we’ll always remember “Sound Bwoy Burriell.” Jay-Z references the song on “Heart Of The City.” And for his Unplugged album, the Roots crew (who were backing him for the joint), interpolated the beat to “Sound Bwoy” into Hov’s performance.
3. “Glaciers Of Ice”-Raekwon Only Built For Cuban Linx was the crown jewel of 1995. “Glaciers Of Ice” was the first single. “Criminology,” “Ice Cream,” and “Incarcerated Scarfaces” were all htis as well. But, at least for me, nothing quite hit as hard as those first bars that each emcee spits in this track. Masta Killa and Ghostface are along for the ride on this one. Masta Killa probably has the best verse: “Proceed with caution as you enter the symphony/degrees of pulse will increase intensely…” But Ghost has probably the most memorable few bars: “My seeds grow with his seeds, marry his seeds/that’s how we keep Wu Tang money all up in the family.” Rae, MK, and Ghost put together quite a thrill ride. After Meth, ODB, and Rae, Wu Tang had taken full control of the year. And they still had Gza and Ghost to drop before the year was over!
2. “Survival Of The Fittest”-Mobb Deep While Cuban Linx was the best album of the year, The Infamous… was a close second. “Shook Ones Pt 2″ was the lead single. This was the second. There were plenty of other classics on the album as well: “Give Up The Goods” was the third official single and vid, “Eye For An Eye” featured showstopping cameos by Nas and Raekwon, “Up North Trip” and “Temperature’s Rising” are classics as well. I prefer this to Shook Ones partially because of that dark bassline and the beat feeling like a heartbeat. This is one of the most chilling productions ever created, and the fact that it was a single is pretty incredible. Nevertheless a classic hip hop single/video that rivaled Biggie’s “One More Chance” on Rap City’s Top 10, going back and forth in the top spot for two months. Biggie was running 1995, still releasing smash singles and putting out Junior Mafia. But Nas was not slouching a few hot guest spots, and two of his affiliates – Mobb and AZ, making major noise in the game as well. If Nas is the CEO of QB, Hav and P were the COOs at the time.
1. “Sugar Hill”-AZ Hey did I mention AZ? Having been formally introduced to us on Nas’ “Life’s A Bitch,” AZ was backed by the same team that eventually rode Nas’ coattails to the top (Trackmasters). “Sugar Hill” was produced by Nas’ longtime DJ, L.E.S. It was really and expansion of the themes from “Life’s A Bitch.” For the hook, the visualiza grabs Miss Jones, the one time R&B starlett and current Hot 97 dj. AZ was the second member of the supergroup The Firm that was established. But like all the members without the name Nasir, he quickly faded into obscurity shortly after the group’s album flopped. AZ’s debut single went platinum, but the album only went gold. He had two more videos for the two Nas-featured cuts, “Gimme Yours” and “Mo Money Mo Murda,” but neither of them picked up much steam. He dropped an overly radio friendly single in 97, “Hey AZ,” that was supposed to be the lead single for his second album. But he quickly re-tracted it and the album didn’t sell much of anything. He left EMI for Motown for his third album. But when that one bricked too, he’s gone independent ever since. Historically he’s typically thought of as an accessory to Nas’ legend, but he was pretty damn ill in his own right.
The year was 1994, I was 12 years old. Already a fan of a few rappers, I fully entered my hip hop fandom at the beginning of the year. A couple of things happened at the end of ‘93: I discovered Rap City, The Wake Up Show, The Source, and the Internet. I was ready to have an full fledged opinion of every rap single/album that came out. It was perfect timing because 1994 was also the second “Golden Era” of hip hop (the original being in the late 80’s, post-Raising Hell). The year began with me bumpin’ Doggystyle, Enter The Wu-Tang, Midnight Maurauders, & Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. In tribute to it being 15 years since that wonderful year. I am going to drop my top 10 lists of every year. We’ll start with 1994. With the world still reacting to some of the breakthrough albums of the year before, we had a number of classics in 1994 as well. The list begins with Illmatic and Ready To Die, two of the five best albums ever recorded. But that’s not where the list ends. Many folks forget that Method Man was once considered the third member of NYC’s holy trinity (with BIG and Nas), after dropping Tical. The late Eazy-E debuted his latest protege’s, 4 cats from Cleveland named Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. The Fugees also released their heavily slept-on debut, only to see superstardom two years later. Gangstarr released their seminal Hard To Earn. An album almost as influential as Nas & Big’s, OutKast’s Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, as well as Scarface’s The Diary helped to re-establish the South. Jeru The Damaja began his assault on commercial emcees on The Sun Rises In The East. On the commercial tip, Heavy D dropped Nuttin But Love, back ed by a first single (“Got Me Waiting”) that was the biggest pop single for his little cousin, Pete Rock. Snoop’s best friend Warren G went four times platinum on Regulate….G Funk Era. Fresh off of Kris Kross, Jermaine Dupri released his latest protege, an extremely verbally abusive tomboy named Da Brat. Craig Mack had possibly the single of the year with “Flava In Ya Ear.” Pete Rock & CL Smooth returned fresh off “Reminisicin Over You” with The Main Ingredient. Def Jam debuted its’ “Month Of The Man” promotion with Tical and Redman’s Dare Iz A Darkside. Red’s homie Keith Murray also repped Def Squad with his debut The Most Beautifullest Thing In This World. A Tupac-led Thug Life released their first (and only under that name) album Volume 1, before eventually becoming the Outlawz. And for the headz, Common Sense released the seminal “I Used TO Love h.e.r.” and the Roots dropped their major label debut Do You Want More. And of course, Rappin 4-Tay repped the bay with “Playaz Club.” Allow me to take you back to that magical year in hip hop.
10. “Got Me Waiting” – Heavy D & The Boyz:
Hev had released his most successful album to date in 1991, Peaceful Journey, which spawned the ultra cornynew jack swing Teddy Riley-produced hits “Now That We’ve Found Love” and “Is It Good To You.” But he wanted to re-establish his street credit immediately after, so 1993’s Blue Funk (which featured stuff like “Who’s The Man” and “A Buncha Niggas”)was released with plenty of more purist-heavy cuts. It worked completely (though to be fair, anytime Primo and Pete Rock do most of your cuts, it’s gonna be dope). He found his happy medium with the lead single to his 1994 album Nuttin But Love. I realize that I would probably catch a lot of flack from purists for putting this in my top 10 in such a historic year. But I really don’t care. This song JAMS. Hev’s lil’ cousin Pete Rock provides one of his most commercially acceptable beats ever, and Hev un-does the corniness of previous R&B singles (who knew he’d go on to produce “Feel It In The Air” for Beanie Sigel?). With this song, Hev maintained his radio presence, and kept the heads happy. The previously cheesy Hev-ster re-invents himself as the smooth, shy playboy. This was the theme for a summer in which I started learning how to pick up chicks.
9. “Fat Cats, Bigga Fish”-The Coup:
The Coup is the best rap group no one has ever heard of. After starting off allied with E-40 and Tupac, Boots and crew were blackballed for their harsh political stance. Boots was a perfect blend of street smarts and politcal intellect. He was about as extreme of a liberal as there is. “Fat Cats” was vintage Boots, telling the story of being a pick-pocket before running into the bigger picture – finding major CEOs and government officials politickin’ over champagne about oppressing black folks, before realizing he really wasn’t shit in the grand scheme of things. The crew had some other classics like “The Shipment” and “Me And Jesus The Pimp In a ‘79 Granada Last Night,” but “Fat Cats” was their main calling card. Peep all of the bay area cats cameo-ing in the video. Boots was also among the illest emcees on the mic;
“This is how deep shit can get/
it reads maccaroni on my birth certificate/
pudding tane was my middle name but i can’t hang/
I’m gettin hustled only knowin’ half the game.”
(note: there is no video for this song, this is just a youtube link to the song) 8. “Crumblin’ Erb”-OutKast:
Before Andre became the eccentric Andre 3000, and before they were the biggest group in the world, they were just two pimps in a cadillac. This was the deepest song on the album (ironic, despite the following track, “D.E.E.P.”’s title), and is usually considered ‘Kast’s coup d’ etat. After an album full of pimpin’ anthems, they end by two tracks previewing the knowledge they’d kick on the following releases. The track is about black-on-black violence, and features both emcees kicking the typical verses by the cats who would fulfill these types of themes in their day-to-day lives, while Sleepy Brown warns them about their actions on the chorus. Who knew that these cats would end up being bigger than Run DMC? At the Source awards following, ‘Kast won an award for Best Group, and Dre went on his famous lament finishing with “The South got somethin to say!” The album went platinum based off of the singles “Players Ball,” “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik,” and “Git Up, Git Out.” While it was considered a success, it did not even begin to hint at the further success the group would achieve. At the time of the first album, the group was considered a trio with DJ Mr. DJ as the third member. Cee Lo was also originally supposed to be part of the group, but he was later the founding member of Goodie Mob, ‘Kast’s closest affiliate in the Dungeon Family.
(Note: This is another song with no video)
7. “Pain”-2Pac: Despite not actually releasing an album in 1994 (at least a solo one), 2Pac was all over the place. His third movie, Above The Rim was released, as well as his last album, Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. was still releasing singles. But a major highlight was a cassette-only track from the Above The Rim Soundtrack called “Pain.” Despite being heavily featured in the film, it somehow only ended up on the cassette releases of the soundtrack. However it was a classic (Ja Rule even did a strange cover of it a few years ago), there was even a promo-only single released to radio with an extra clean version of this track, radio-ready. However 2Pac’s troubles with the law stopped Interscope from fully promoting the single, and they went back to the lab to prepare the marketing for his forthcoming third solo album, to be released while ‘Pac was incarcerated. This track was written from the perspective of Birdman (no cash money), ‘Pac’s character in the movie, which was rumored to be based on the life story of then-Georgetown baller Allen Iverson. In 2009, the movie actually ages very well and is still as gritty as it was back in the day.
6. “I Used To Love h.e.r.”-Common Sense:
Despite having a couple of minor hits on his debut, this was really the song that introduced the world to Common Sense. Back then he was a b-boy with sum shit on his mind. This album featured a slight backlash for his overly misogynist lyrics, which he would heavily avoid for the next few releases. This is another cult classic single that has had unnofficial sequels made by The Roots and Erykah Badu (both featuring Com) since. I once referred to this as “The Ultimate Backpacker anthem,” which is quite a true statement in itself. In fact, this song was so dope that i bugged my homeboy in gym class everyday for almost a month to make a copy of his Resurrection tape for me. Like OutKast earlier, who would’ve known how far this would eventually take Common. His career had been somewhat overshadowed by a Mr Nas Escobar until recently when Com aligned with Kanye West and re-ignited his own career. He’s also gone on to be quite the actor, and probably makes most of his bread in that lane. He’s gone from Erykah Badu to Serena Williams. It’s been quite a career for the wordsmith out of the Chi. This song in particular received some backlash from the west coast for the lines, “and on some dumb shit when she comes to the city/talkin about poppin glocks, servin rocks, and hittin switches/now she’s a gangsta rollin wit gangsta bitches.” Ice Cube in particular took that line to be saying that the west coast ruined hip hop. And they had a brief verbal war that was really ended with Com’s surprisingly scathing “The Bitch In Yoo.” Cube tried to reply, but the war had been won already.
(There is no video for this song either) 5. “Who Shot Ya”-Notorious B.I.G.: Despite releasing one of the five greatest albums of all-time, the most memorable track from 1994 from Biggie was “Who Shot Ya.” At the time, Big’s first two singles (“Juicy” and “Big Poppa”) were smash hits. Big even had a cover of The Source Magazine where he was sitting on a throne and was titled the “King Of New York.” This obviously pissed a few folks off. Two camps in particular became Big’s rivals: Tupac’s Death Row camp and Nas’ QB/Wu Tang affiliates. But in particular this was seen as a shot at the former. ‘Pac had just gotten shot and was publicly blaming Big for the incident. So the timing of a song called “Who Shot Ya” was interesting to say the least. So as the heavy promotion was going on for “Big Poppa,” eventually there was a single for the Jermaine Dupri-helmed So So Def Remix of the song. On it featured the b-side “Who Shot Ya.” Originally meant as an intro to Mary J. Blige’s second album My Life, the song was deemed too violent for an R&B album. So it became a b-side and the same instrumental was featured with Keith Murray rapping over it for Mary’s album. That intro was later turned into a full-length by LL Cool J at the end of 1995, and he grabbed Keith Murray, Prodigy, Fat Joe, and a debuting Foxy Brown for the remix. This was just Biggie at his peak, awe-inspiring violent imagery with Puff playing hype man. It was also used for the concert scene during the Notorious movie.
4. “Bring The Pain”-Method Man
Now we’re getting into some of my top 10 all-time list. Meth’s classic is right on the borderline, depending on the day. “Bring The Pain” was the ultimate adrenaline-boosting anthem. The grimiest classic song, quite possibly, in the history of hip hop. The video painted the image even grimier than the original Rza beat did. And of course, there was his classic performance of this song at the 1995 Source Awards. In my opinion, this is the most classic Wu Tang song ever, and Meth just destroys the beat. This was Meth at his all-time best, just ripping the mic to shreads and continuing the vivid death threat sequences from the Wu Tang album’s “Method Man” track. “Bring The Pain” was the first single that went on to sell a million copies. And Method Man the brand was just beginning. He’d go on to sell a couple million more and do movies and TV shows with Redman. And sure, his most recognizable single was his duet with Mary J Blige, “All I Need,” but when you talk about Meth at his best, you speak of “Bring The Pain.”
3. “Keep Ya Head Up”-2Pac: The third single from Strictly was ‘Pac’s ode to women. And while I normally thing songs like this can get corny (see Pac’s “Baby Dont Cry (Keep Ya Head Up 2)”), this one was a classic. The single was actually released actually released at the end of 1993, but we’re counting it here because it really didn’t impact until 1994. The Five Stairsteps’ “Ooh Child” is re-created for the chorus, and that’s a classic song as well. Pac was just becoming a star when this came out. He’d become a bonafied superstar with his next album. “Keep Ya Head Up” was positive ‘Pac at his best. But it ran quite an opposite direction from his previous single, “I Get Around.” The first single was the angry, “Holler If Ya Hear Me,” then the fun “I Get Around,” and finally the uplifting, soulful “Keep Ya Head Up.” Perhaps Pac’s greatest achievement, this song was later covered in an R&B version by Lyfe Jennings. Nas also did a live cover upon Pac’s tribute at VH1’s Hip Hop Honors, despite the rivalry between Nas and Pac. 2. “It Ain’t Hard To Tell”-Nas:
It says something when one of my top 5 songs of all-time isn’t even #1 for the year. But that’s how impressive 1994 was. And Illmatic was the crown jewel of 1994 as arguably the greatest rap album ever recorded. Nas was a fresh 20 in 1994, kicking bars that were so complex that folks had to rewind them over and over. Of course, Nas went on to much more success following the album, which finally went platinum in 2001. He went double plat a couple of times, before continuing to reel in the platinum plaques. He dropped 7 straight platinum albums before Hip Hop Is Dead, which is very close to being number 8. Untitled still has plenty of work to do before it nears platinum. The guy has tons of classics: “If I Ruled The World,” “Hate Me Now,” “Nas Is Like,” “One Mic,” “Made You Look,” “Ether,” and on and on. But this was his first official single and video and, many would argue, his best.
1. “I Seen A Man Die”-Scarface:
It is quite an honor to be the #1 song from such a prestigious year. But ‘Face deserved it. “I Seen A Man Die” is the ultimate morbid story-telling track of all-time. The song was so dope, it still got radio play despite being quite the anti-single. Plus it was really dark, as most of ‘Face’s better stuff is. ‘Face is top 5 all-time, I don’t really care what anyone else thinks. And The Diary was his most classic album. Bottom Line.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that, for purposes of this article, Roc-A-Fella was the greatest crew of all time. That gasp you heard, that was Cash Money, Death Row, and Wu Tang fans all gasping at once. But that’s not the point here.
Remember Young Chris from the Young Gunz? Well he’s turned into quite the emcee. Through his affiliation with new hot shot Wale, he’s re-establishing his brand in the game. He has a scathing verse on the new Beanie Sigel mixtape/street album song “Run To The ROC,” which garnered praise recently from The Smoking Section (my favorite hip hop blog). Basically, the song is about the boss (“Big Homie,” err Jay Z) leavin his frontline soldiers out to die (or dropping them all from Roc-A-Fella). Beans and Sparks both lead verses as well, but its’ Chris’ that stands out. Mainly because he’s somehow become the best rapper in the crew. So that brings us to the question: What do these superstar rappers owe their proteges that helped them build their brand? We’ve seen it many times, from all the QB homies sayin Nas should be helping them out of the hood (Cormega, Nature, Lake, etc.), to The Eastsidaz sayin the same about Snoop, to Alfamega and T.I., even Bang Em Smurf and Fiddy. Jay himself has gotten the most flack; Teirra Mari, Foxy Brown, Jaz-O, and now the entire State Prop. For every Rihanna and Kanye who he “Run(s) This Town” with, there’s a bunch who say he turned their backs on them.
Young Chris is probably the most intriguing example. Most of these characters either really didn’t have much talent to start with (Teirra), got lazy (Foxy), or were just not marketable (Jaz + most of the State Prop cats). But Young Chris really doesn’t fall into any of these categories. He’s gotten better since Jay dropped the last Young Gunz album (which he through out with no promotion by the way), and he’s quietly been building his own buzz on the under. He’s now affiliated closely with Wale and has Mark Ronson and others backing him up. What he could really use is a co-sign and presence from an already established star, as Wale is still up-and-coming. You know, someone like…..Jay-Z!
But does Jay really owe it to Young Chris? The only hip hop superstar whose stuck by his original cats for his whole time was Eminem. But when was the last D-12 album, anyway? And the most talented cat that Em associated himself with, Royce Da 5′9″, hasn’t gotten any help from Em this decade. You think the Slaughterhouse album couldn’t have benefitted from an Eminem cameo?
The major thing here is ego trippin. Wu Tang has stayed a collective for 15 years, but they are really without a superstar. Meth had his moment, but never really capitalized on it. And they’ve had enough in-fighting to fill a gossip magazine. We rememnber seeing Meth cursing out U-God for getting out of line in The Show. We also remember Rae and Ghost anti-promoting the last Wu album. But they’re still together.
Cash Money is in its’ third inception and can’t seem to stay together. The only artists from the crew’s original heyday are Baby and Weezy. Both the former in-house producers, Mannie Fresh and Jazze Pha, left a long time ago. BG? Juvie? Long gone. Even the artists from the second era (circa Big Typers’ “Stay Fly” to The Carter I); TQ, Boo and Gotti, Mack 10? All Gone.
Death Row was the definition of in-fighting. Dre left, ‘Pac dissed him. Snoop left, Suge tried to sabotage him. Kurupt and Daz both left, came back, stayed, but never at the same time. And they stayed dissin each other until a couple of years ago.
And don’t even get me started on all the QB nonsense. Ok I give; Nas vs. Prodigy has been on and off for this whole decade. Nore had some issues with Nas at the beginning of the decade. When was the last Bravehearts record, anyway? ‘Mega and Nas went at it and then made up. Nature’s been exiled from the crew. Where’s Lake at? Even AZ & Foxy (who really aren’t from QB, but are included as part of Nas’ crew) have had his public issues with Nas. Mobb Deep signed with 50 because they were broke. And many forget that 50 was actually a part of the Bravehearts at one point, before having his own issues with Nas.
And the Proof & Em vs. Royce thing finally died out when Proof, unfortunately, passed.
Don’t think the newer cats are immune. The whole Gucci/Jeezy thing started out of a song they did together. Tip’s got Alfamega dissin him now. The state of Florida was at one point united. But there’s the trio of Rick Ross/Trick Daddy/Plies that are constantly beefing on-and-off with each other.
The point is, this shit happens.
Once associates, now enemies on wax.
But let’s get back to the Young Chris/Hova thing specifically. Hova took part of Chris’ style (the whispering effect) and ran with it. Chris didn’t mind, in fact he and the rest of State Prop went at Nas, went at D-Block. But did Hova benefit more from their help, or did they benefit more for his co-sign?
One thing’s for sure, Dame Dash isn’t looking like such a bad guy anymore.
The three biggest MC’srappers artists in hip hop all dropped career defining albums in 2008. One was heavily buzzed about for years (The Carter III). One took off immediately upon impact (Paper Trail). And one came out of left field and caught everyone off guard (808’s & Heartbreaks). It was easy to get caught up in the hype or the buzz of the moment when they dropped, but now we’ve had almost a year to digest both the albums and how they were accepted. Were any of them classics? All 3? Are they, right now, better or worse than the first time I heard them? Let’s take a look:
Lil Wayne-Tha Carter III (Cash Money/Universal)
The most commercially succesful of this “holy trio” was Weezy’s seminal third album of his Carter series. At the time, this one had the most hype, and it seemed justified. He was the biggest name in the market coming off of his double platinum, classic, Carter II, which managed to only begin his buzz. Eons of high profile collaborations that became smash hit singles later, he released Tha Carter III to a million in the first week. “Lollipop” was probably the song of the summer. It’s main competition was actually its’ own b-side, “A Milli.” “Got Money” became another smash shortly thereafter. Only to be followed by “Mrs. Officer,” which was the theme of so-many great Halloween costumes. But in retrospect, I tend to think of Wayne’s album as more of a pop/r&b album than a true hip hop album. The difference from Tha Carter II to Tha Carter III was vast and fairly obvious. Tha Carter II was an entier album of “A Milli”’s. Even the singles: “Fireman,” “Husters Music,” Weezy was obviously going for the crown on that one. On the third one, I’m not sure what he was going for. Some of it was Weezy trying too hard to be different, and just creating trash (“Phone Home,” “La La”). The rest was so heavily R&B influenced that even the songs without singing, it feels like you’re waiting for the hook to come in (ie. “Let The Beat Build”). This is good and bad. Bad because Wayne’s music becomes less “Great” and more simply “hot.” Good because, other than; “A Milli,” “Mr. Carter,” and “Dr. Carter,” the rest of the more hip hop stuff is very forgettable (ie “Playing With Fire,” “You Ain’t Got Nuthin,” “3 Peat”). The one somber moment comes on one of the album’s highlights, “Tie My Hands” with Robin Thicke. The song, a bluesy rendition about the trials and tribulations of a post-Katrina New Orleans, is Weezy at his uplifting best. Too bad he doesn’t stay there for long.
I’d have to say that this album has not aged well. Of the 3 I think it’s value has sunk the most.
T.I. – Paper Trail (Grand Hustle/Atlantic)
Critically anointed as the commercial rap album of the year, T.I.’s sixth album finds him at his pinnacle. Here he is as aggressive as ever on a few cuts (“What Up, What’s Happening,” “I’m Illy,” “Ready For Whatever”). And somber and reflective on a few cuts (“Dead & Gone,” “No Matter What,” “You Ain’t Missing Nothing”). He’s boastful and club-friendly as he has been in the past as well. But everything is executed just a bit better. The formula is the same, but the execution is just that much crisper. That can be both good and bad. For everyone who wants something as raw as Trap Music, this isn’t it. T.I. is in full artist mode, but now has to sell 2 mil each time out to keep up with himself. In 2003 he dropped “Be Better Than Me.” In 2009, he drops “Live Your Life.” He’s really saying the same things. But he’s more commercially successful in 2009. For those who think he’s differed his raps too much, it’s not really that. It’s more that he’s now famous. “My Life, Your Entertainment,” would obviously never have been recorded in 2004. I would venture to say this is possibly his best album. But I’m not entirely conviced, Trap Musik and 2006’s King were quite good as well. Tip’s album is every bit as good today as it was when it leaked, forcing me to drive around aimlessly for an hour to get a full listen out of it.
Kanye West – 808’s & Heartbreaks (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam/IDMG)
So your first 3 albums sold 10 mil and won you countless Grammys and other awards. For your fourth album, you____. If you answered “grab autotune and make a whole album of singing!” then you have guessed correctly! 808’s was tough to digest, but was good enough to keep you comintg back for more. “Love Lockdown” was an anthem for the complications of single life in 2008/2009. It was done brilliantly and executed to perfection. “Heartless” was a track everyone could relate to. And “Amazing” was just incredibly addicting with its’ off-key singing. “Street Lights” and “Say You Will” both became classics quite quickly. Not Hip Hop Classics. Folky alt. Rock/Soul classics. This album is as difficult to classify as it is brilliant. The entire thing was panned early by critics. But it’s come around on a lot of people and is in my mind, a classic. Perhaps even more essential than any of his first three rapping-albums, 808’s is the most sincere and honest we’ve ever heard Kanye. Gone are the cheesy broggadio lines, present is a look at the soul of a man who perhaps sacrificed his personal life for fame and fortune and now is stuck living with the consequences on tracks like “Welcome To Heartbreak” and “Pinnochio’s Story.” One who is simply lost on “Street Lights” and “Say You Will.” He takes a humorous-if not exaggerated, look at relationships on “Robocop” and “See You In My Knightmares.” Kanye’s album grows on you with every listen.
So there you go. The hip hop album of last year (Paper Trail), the pop/R&B/alt album of last year (808’s) and a solid album that got us all caught in the hype and overrated it (Carter III).
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that, for purposes of this article, Roc-A-Fella was the greatest crew of all time. That gasp you heard, that was Cash Money, Death Row, and Wu Tang fans all gasping at once. But that’s not the point here.
