Swizzzzy!: 10 Beats That Made Swizz Beats

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.

 

“We give a damn about the drama that your dude bring/We just tryin to change the color on your mood ring…”

Quick note about some recent songs that’ve come out.  We can start with “Run This Town” by Hov, Kanye, and Rih Rih.  It should definitely be noted that Kanye appears to have passed his mentor lyrically.  And I must say, it’s a huge surprise to most everyone.  Don’t get me wrong, Hov can still hold his own, but ‘Ye murders this shit.  I must say though, I like the direction that they’re going musically, but this doesn’t seem like a huge song – despite the superstar supporting cast.  It’s dope, but (like the street single “D.O.A.”) it’s a little boring musically.

The Beasties grabbed Nasir for the new single “Too Many Rappers.” It’s vintage Beasties, so either you like it or you don’t.  Lots of activity in the drums, old school rhyming, and a Nasty Nas guest spot.  Nas’ verse doesn’t come across as heavily thought out and his rhyme pattern isn’t as conformed as he normally is.  He’s more relying on the Beasties’ element, and his everything sounds freestyled.  It’s quite dope tho.

Amerie had to go and remix “Why R U?” and grab the Whodini beat for “One Love.”  Why doesn’t this chick get more pub?  Former Current(?) big bro Nas jumps on the beginning, and Jada, Ross, and some other guy jump on at the end.  The OG still knocks harder, but it could be my preference of “Ego Trippin” to “One Love.”  Nas is sure startin to hit the cameo scene hard, must be gettin close to album time.  Ross needs to take a break, his verses are dope, but we’re getting a little oversaturated, here.  And I’m not sure what Jada’s doing with his promotion.  Speaking of….

Jada dropped his remix to “Who’s Real” a while ago.  And while I’ll take the Ruff Ryders crew any day over OJ Da Juiceman, it still wasn’t as classic as I wanted it to be.  And is it me, or is Eve the best lyricist in that crew right now?  Sheek’s verse is the only other memorable line “If you’re real and you know it, take the skinny jeans off/take the autotune off and stop actin all soft.”  By the way, Jada’s album sucked….again.

Drake’s hype train continues.  And this song is really old so I won’t say too much, but “Successful” = song of the year?

Lupe’s “Shining Down” seems to have been forgotten quickly.  But I still think its’ dope.  It could just be because he completely disappeared after he leaked the track.  He told us it wasn’t finished and then vanished.  Where the hell you been at, Lupe?  Drop some more ish…when’s the album droppin?

I was fairly un-impressed with the majority of what-was-to-be the Paper Trail re-release (though I think I have a full column in the works about the OG).  But this recent leak, “Bread Up” with ‘Face and Keri is fire.  I think if Atlantic just went ahead with the re-release anyway, it’d end up selling more than Carter 3. Which is a good thing, since it was a vastly superior album.  I think I’ll have more about the impact of those two albums and a third major album from last year later.

Twista’s on a nice run lately.  “Wetter” was fire.  “Yo Body” is ehhhh.  But the album’s pretty good.  I don’t think he’ll ever escape the shadows of his better albums, Adrenaline Rush, for the hardcore/underground, and Kamikaze for the mainstream/radio.  It’s interesting that the dudes has 2 classics/near-classics that couldn’t be further from each other in style.  Speaks to Twista’s versatility.

Slaughterhouse dropped a really dope album.  I honestly haven’t listened to the whole thing, cuz i can’t stop repeating the first 7 or 8 songs.  “The One” actually sounds better in the context of the album.  “Not Tonight” could easily be a single as well.

Meth/Red are thus far, the album of the year.  I’m pretty sure they could’ve gotten some more hype if they’d dropped “Hey Zulu” as a single.  Over a perfect synth-hype Rockwilder track, Red and Meth get their party on.  I’ll try to write more about Blackout 2 and Slaughterhouse too.

The Roots’ “How I Got Over” is a welcome change of pace for the group.  While I’m sure lots of fans are going to want more rapping from Black Thought, it’s a much more traditional rock feel for the group, more in lieu of “The Seed 2.0” than “Adrenaline.”  Plus it’s jammin.

Finally, I was real hesitant to jump on the Raekwon hype machine, bein that I didn’t care much for “New Wu” and “Criminology 2” was only so-so.  But “House Of Flying Daggers” is that ISH.  The re-appearance of Inspectah Deck is there, Meth drops the best verse, but it’s really the J Dilla beat, sounding like RZA in his prime, that steals the show.  That was a card I didn’t know that Rae had.  This is as good as anything Wu dropped in their prime.

 

In Case You Slept….

….And I can’t say I’d really blame you if you did.

2009 has been a pretty altogether boring year for hip hop/R&B/soul so far.  So let me get you all caught up in case you missed it, with….

THE TEN THINGS YOU MISSED IN 2009:

10. Keri Hilson

Despite being completely gorgeous and a very talented songwriter, Keri dropped her debut to limited fanfare.  The soundscan numbers are decent thus far, but hardly make up the budget spent promoting her four singles released previous to the album’s release.  Especially considering that she still dropped an incredibly average album.  It was the equivalent of buying T-Shirts in extra medium.  But when “Energy” didn’t pop off quite as expected, they went with a “The Way I Are”-rehash in “Return The Favor.”  That made even less noise.   Then she brought the Polow Da Don banger “Turnin Me On” which became a modest hit but topped out fast, requiring a quick fourth single before the release date.  This time all the big names came long wth her on the Ne-Yo & Kanye-assisted “Knock You Down,” which was also produced by Danja.  This is probably her best shot at a real hit single, but can she get the impact before the album loses steam?  We’ll see….

9. Lil Wayne’s Drug-induced attempts at Rock

Lil Weezy-ana decided to go full into rockstar mode, actually recording a halfway decent rock tune as the first single off his upcoming Rebirth LP.  Despite sounding like a yayy-ed out karaoke singer, autotune and a catchy melody save the day on “Prom Queen.”  Birdman has gone on record saying this will not be a “rock” album, but then sidestepping the question of whether Wayne will actually rap onthe album.  Could this have anything with his label, Cash Money’s success in the genre with Kevin Rudolf?  While Rudolf is much more on the pop side, Wayne’s sound is much more grunge-y.  It’s the sort of Nirvana/Pearl Jam sound that was more famous in the early 90’s than it is today.  Wayne even name-drops Kurt Cobain in his verse on Rick Ross’ “Maybach Music 2,” in which Weezy actually does rap.

8. The Unsuspecting J. Holiday album

Competitor #1 for R&B album of the year is J.Holiday’s sophmore effort.  While his debut had its’ moments, it was a quite a forgettable affair.  But J. Holiday pulled a Bobby Valentino and dropped a very good second album with much less fanfare and notoriety.  The whole album brings back the Jodeci/Donell Jones vibe that we loved so much throughout the 90’s.  Even the first single, the decent “It’s Yours” wasn’t particularly noteable.  But once the album came along, everything got better.  Highlights galore, led by “Fall,” “Don’t Go,” and “Make That Sound.”  He also moves along to the dramatic “Run Into My Arms.”  Overall he led to the distinctions of R&B singers who breakthrough with hit singles despite average albums, then follow that up with great albums and poor singles.  The sad thing is, who knows if we’ll see a third album.

7. Flo-Rida Doing his best Nelly

Or is it Puff Daddy? He “raps” like Nelly, with a flow that peddles between sing-songy, andreally sing songy.  But at the same time, like Puff, he has a knack for ripping off the catchiest pop songs of the past decade.  We all knew about “Low” and even “In The Ayer” from his last album.  But he’s gone the Puff route on both of his singles from this album thus far, with “Right Round,” and the new joint “Sugar,” which rips off (*choke*) “Blue” by Eiffel 65.  Though even the biggest Flo-Rida hater (like myself) has to admit that the shit is catchy as hell.  And like Nelly, I don’t hate the guy’s music.  It’s well done pop music.  It’s just not my cup of tea.  But we were so starved for a mainstream rap album to tip off 2k9, that lots of folks were giving Flo-Rida spins.  Weird, huh?

6. Ryan Leslie’s emergence

We knew the guy was dope, but for a quick minute, it seemed like everyone was hoppin’ on his jock.  His album was the best of the “urban” genre so far this year.  It wasn’t just the first single, “Diamond Girl,” which came out a year ago.  Nor was it the alluring follow-up, “Addiction.”  In fact it wasn’t even the super dope third (and current) single “How It Was Supposed To Be.”  Nope.  It was the Cassie thing.  We got to hear RLS answer twice as many questions about Cassie as about his really really dope album.  But if you were looking for a soundtrack, there was the album as well.  Led by inspired 80’s-synth keys and tales of being overcome by love, Ryan Leslie has too many dope tracks to go through all of them.  My favorites are “Quicksand,” “Just Right,” and the 90’s-style slow jam, “Gibberish.”

5. Jadakiss proves N.Y. Has a Pulse

That Jada did a poultry 130K and is still a major story tells you how desperate we were for stories this year.  Like Keri’s earlier mentioned album, Jada’s album was extremely average.  But it’s good to see cats moving units, especially without radio.  So props to kiss for that.  You just wonder if he’s past his prime, and if he’s ever gonna deliver anything that lives up to the “Top 5 Dead Or Alive” billing he’s given himself in the past.

4. The Notorious M.O.V.I.E.

Big’s legacy is unquestioned, and this movie didn’t really tell us anything his fans didn’t already know.  Yet despite this, it was the talk of the town for about the first two months.  It brought up old memories of Big beatin Kim’s ass.  It also brought about a portrayal of Kim by former 3LW member Naturi Naughton that was controversial and provocative.  Memories were abundant.  Obviously, being that this movie was funded by Puff, Puff is written in as the perfect role model for Big to run with.  We got to hear from the whole crew again, even Violetta was back in the spotlight.  Puff, Charlie Baltimore, Kim, Lil Cease – you name it, they all re-emerged.  It felt like 1994 all over again.  With one big missing piece.

3. The-Dream Raises his profile

Whether it was his relationship with Christina Milian, or the fact that Def Jam was shoving him down our throats, the-dream was all over the place in 2009 so far.  It could also be that “Rockin That Shit,” his first single, was so dope that even his biggest haters couldn’t front.  Now I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing.  He makes dope music, but the guy seems to have an ego that rivals Kanye’s.  Oh and by the way, they’re making an album together.  His first album was a borderline classic.  Plus he had that underdog thing going for him.  He doesn’t have that going for him anymore.  He’s Def Jam’s co-poster boy (with Ne-Yo).  But I must admit, his second album is in the same rotation with RLS’ and J.Holiday’s.

2. The Fall of Curtis

You know it had to happen sometime.  It’s just surprising how it happened.  50 went on the super offensive at the beginning.  Ross just kind of laid back in the cut and let 50 get his barbs in, dropping responses every great once in a while.  Then lately, building up to his release, Ross’ not only been on fire – but also just handing out verbal beatdowns to 50 every step of the way.  The highlight of the matter thus far has been the “Mafia Music” remix, rounding up Game, Fat Joe, and Ja Rule to help him dispose of their co-nemesis.  The video of 50’s funeral was a nice touch as well.  It’s just crazy that 50 allowed himself to be used for promotional purposes.  I suppose it’s true that what goes around…..well you know the rest.

1. Rick Ross

I’ve already written plenty about this guy, so I won’t say too much.  But he’s been the major story of 2009.  He’s almost ready to join the Wayne/Kanye/T.I. regime as the great rappers of the era, but we’ll have to see how he sells this time out.  And his album dropped today and it’s dope.  My favorite still being “Rich Off Cocaine” but “Maybach Music 2” and “Usual Suspects” both lived up to their collaboratiors (Kanye/Wayne/T-Pain on the former, Nas on the later). There’s not much not to like on the album.  And it looks like it’s just Ross’ time now.  But we will see.

 

My Top 10

My favorite songs of all-time list changes periodically, but generally keeps the same top 10, just in different order. At the moment this is how it goes:

10. “Sugar Hill”-AZ:

This was my jam back in the day. I was hyped for his debut after “Life’s A Bitch” and “Sugar Hill.” AZ was an MC that was similar to his mentor, Nas, but maybe even more intellectual (at least at the time). Some of the stuff I didn’t quite understand as a 13 year old, but now it’s all that more impressive. Peep the alliteration: “formulatin’ up plots to escape from salem’s lot cuz it’s scorchin hot” or “But never me, see/my destiny’s to be forever free/an ecstacy on a hill that awaits for me, so/plush, just the visualiza’s like a coke bust/vivid enough to make livin this a must.” L.E.S.’ production was perfect in an R&B-ish, minimal sense, to accompany AZilla’s rhyme structure. If Rakim got the most out of his bars, AZ tended to take it to a-whole-nother level. And for the record, AZ was more like Rakim than Nas was. Nas was a completely different monster, but we’ll get to that later. The album itself was quite solid, if non-spectacular. It suffered from some drag concepts (“Ho Happy Jackie”) and some spotty production (“We Can’t Win,” “Your World Don’t Stop”) but is still, to date, his best full-length offering. The Pete Rock beats and Nas collabos were the other highlights. But “Sugar Hill” still stands strong today. And it is one of my ten favorite records ever released.

9. “Hip Hop Saved My Life”-Lupe Fiasco:

I know this just came out, but it has already risen to become one of my all-time favorite cuts. The story of Slim Thug was manifested as Lupe’s best cut to date. The fact that Lupe is the illest rapper in the game at the moment shouldn’t be too surprising. But the success he’s had with his classic second album, is a bit so. “Superstar” was the big song, and will probably be his signature track, but real heads recognize the second single. The story, according to legend, is that Lupe went down to Houston to visit the area. The first time he’d gone there he was completely bored, and this time he wasn’t looking forward to it all that much. So when he gets down there he calls Bun B, who takes him around and shows him the town. Lupe loves it so much that he decides he’s gonna write a tribute record to Houston. In it, he narrates the story of a (supposedly) fictional rapper from North Side Houston, and the rise of his rap career. It later came out that the song was loosely based on the life of Slim Thug, which probably was the most attention Slim got in his entire career. Lupe’s producer Soundtrackk’s keys and Nikki Jean’s angelic chorus create an atmosphere of hope and vividly enhance the story. But it’s Lupe’s picture-perfect portrayal that makes the song so memorable. This song was so dope, they were selling “Hip Hop Saved My Life” T-Shirts at the Rock The Bells concert (of which Lupe wasn’t part of) this summer.

8. “Crossover”-EPMD:

Erick and Parrish had been making dollars for years before I was as huge of a hip hop fan as I would become. But this was one of the songs that made me originally become such a big hip hop fan. The other (Tribe Called Quest’s “Check The Rhyme”) narrowly misses this list. EPMD came out in 1987 and released two straight hip hop classics. But the third album wasn’t quite as memorable and the duo needed some funk to get them back to the top. They sure got it. Maybe it was the duo’s breakup that made their fourth album so memorable. Maybe it was the two classic singles. Whatever the case, “Crossover” was the only EPMD song that ever got real radio burn. “Headbanger” was another classic from the album, but narrowly misses this list. The ironic thing about “Crossover” was that it was taking shots at rappers who made radio records, and it became their only radio record. Obviously hip hop has drastically changed since those days, but the record reminds me of when the music was more pure. Erick and Parrish go hard at these crossover rappers, but it’s Erick with the most memorable lines: “thinkin about a pop record, somethin made for the station/for a whole new relation-ship/or a new type of scene/to go platinum and clock mad green/aka a sell-out, the rap definition/get off that boy, change ya mission.”

7. “Bring The Pain”-Method Man:

It might sound strange now, but there was a time when Meth was thought of as highly as Biggie and Nas. Actually, those three were considered the holy trinity of NY in the mid-90’s. “Bring The Pain” was Meth’s signature record. Sure “All I Need” was a platinum single with Ms. Blige, but it was the grimey first single that pushed the album to platinum originally. “Bring The Pain” was one of the signature records of the NY-renaissance in 1994. It was grimey, dirty, and dark. The accompanying video was just as vivid, as it portrayed Meth in the subway seemingly high on angel dust. As the most marketable member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Meth hated being put into a “commercial” box. He didn’t like doin R&B records (he reportedly only remixed “All I Need” if Def Jam bought him a Lexus), and wanted to be remembered as a rugged, ruff rapper. “Bring The Pain” is his calling to arms. It is as hype of a beat as The Rza ever made. Sure the fallout over his disappointing later albums may still be fresh in your memory. As well as his bad movie and TV shows with Redman. Hell, I still remember him getting out-shone on every song on their album together. But this was his moment. “Bring The Pain” beats any song Red or any member of the Wu did, in my humble opinion.

6. “Why”-Jadakiss:

Jadakiss is as difficult a rapper as there is to be a fan of. When he’s not making up with rappers he’s bickered with for years (Beans, Jay, 50), he’s making horrible pop songs with the Neptunes (“Knock Yourself Out”). In fact, his partner-in-crime Styles has dropped a better album rate than Jada. But every once in a while, he just drops some shit. And you remember why you were a fan of his in the first place. “Why” was the best of that shit. Not only did it launch Anthony Hamilton to superstar status, not only did its’ timing perfectly mesh with the election, but it was Jada’s best and most popular record to date. The video was equally good, bringing back memories of Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power” with the political rallying march and accompanying signs. It was the first non-Nas political/socially-charged mainstream record in years. And it established Jada as a problem. Many people forget that this was also Havoc’s most successful song as a producer. Mobb Deep’s had plenty of hits, but none quite reached the success of “Why.” The record finds Jada asking “Why” to a number of issues; social, political, and personal. The remix took the song to an even higher level. It was the first major appearance of Nas and Common (two of the greats) on the same record. And between Jada, Styles, Nas, and Com, everyone came correct. This signaled just how great Jada could have been. But like Meth before him, he was quite a flash-in-the-pan. The greatness was there, but the motivation wasn’t.

5. “It Ain’t Hard To Tell”-Nas:

Ok, so it’s not much of a surprise that Nas is my favorite rapper of all-time, or that I consider him the greatest of all-time. Nor that I consider Illmatic the greatest album of all-time. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s on this list twice. One thing that’s crazy to me is that the chipped-tooth Nas from the mid-90’s isn’t really that much different from the current Nas. What was cool about “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” was that it came out right after the big SWV single which used the same sample. But while SWV’s song sounded poppy and radio-friendly, the Large Professor-produced Nas joint still managed to sound rugged and underground. And with lines “I leave em froze like Heron in your nose,” there was no other way to go with this record. There were so many classic lines in this song, it’s hard to go into all of them. “I drink Moet with Medusa give her shotguns in hell” was one in particular that people took different meanings from. It was THE classic song from THE classic album. That’s what makes it one of the five best rap songs ever made, in my opinion.

4. “Bombs Over Baghdad”-OutKast:

Most people consider ATLiens or Aquemini as Outkast’s best album. Personally I thought Aquemini was their worst album. But Stankonia was always my favorite. I remember that i got an advance copy in the summer and played it for my crew. They hated it. It went way over their heads. Five or six months later, when the album actually came out, they denied ever saying such things. But “B.O.B.” was the center-piece of the album, along with being the first single. Sure “Ms. Jackson” and “So Fresh, So Clean” were the big singles – and both of them were quite dope in their own rights. But “Bombs Over Baghdad” was that SHIT. It was a sort-of-anti-war song over an electronic inspired beat, with an electric guitar solo made by two rappers. It was crazy. Of course, it’s been eight years since and the duo still hasn’t dropped another real OutKast album. They had a very successful stint with two solo albums packaged together as an OutKast album, but never a follow-up to Stankonia. Andre 3000 is a top 5 all-time rapper. And Big Boi, once a hinderance lyrically, really came into his own on Stankonia. Again, this song had a classic video that was as tripped out as the song itself. Classic shit.

3. “Dead Presidents”-Jay-Z:

Jay-Hova has been a lot of different things through the year.  And while i still contend that Reasonable Doubt was overrated, the young grimey-but-flashy cat that he debuted as was probably his strongest persona.  When he first dropped, he really just rapped about being a coke dealer.  But it was the mood and the images he created that sold the story.  “Dead Presidents” was the personification of this image.  After dropping a couple of singles that did nothing, Dame Dash finally got a video and distribution for the album off of the Ski-produced third try at a first single.  Of course, most people conveniently forget to remember that “In My Lifetime” and “Politics As Usual” were promo singles before “Dead Presidents.”  But that’s ok.  I was pissed as hell when i bought Reasonable Doubt the first day it came out only to find that they had a new lyrics version of “Dead Presidents.”  But luckily, I had bought the maxi single.  On the song, he paints this picture of this coke dealer that all the rappers envy.  “Rappers goin’ broke, tryin to keep up with me,” he’d say.  The track itself relies heavily on the Remix to Nas’ “The World Is Yours” for the chorus.  At the time Jay was this underground champion.  But no one could’ve foreseen just what he’d grow to be in the next few years.

2. “I Seen A Man Die”-Scarface:

In the mid-90’s, Houston wasn’t exactly the hip hop hot-bed it is now.  So what changed?  Well, the Geto Boys.  And more specifically, their leader, Scarface.  A fucking legend.  In recent years I’ve taken him out of my top 5 MC’s of all-time list, but that’s more because of his recent work.  His classic is still The Diary.  And the lead single, “I Seen A Man Die,” is my second favorite song of all-time.  The song was recently covered by Z-Ro, but it’s the OG that still knocks.  The Mike Dean-produced track narrates a young man that gets out of jail only to find himself in more shit.  ‘Face chronicles the guilt the man feels after his first murder, then kicks into the second verse about how a killer feels watching his victim die.  The third verse chronicles the man’s own death.  It’s a chilling, dark song by a chilling, dark rapper.  Yet it was one of his biggest (only?) radio hits.  It’s a classic song by a classic rapper that put Houston on the map originally.  The Chamillionaires and such that came later couldn’t quite touch ‘Face.  Though I have to say that Cham is probably the next best (unless you count nearby Port Arthur’s UGK).  But everyone from Houston is deeply influenced by ‘Face.  Cham even got him on his debut’s best cut, “Rain.”  ‘Face is sort of the Father of the South, whereas Andre and Bun B are the uncles.  And this current crop of Wayne, Tip, and Jeezy are the children.

1. “One Mic”-Nas:

Not only is “One Mic” Nas’ best song ever recorded, it’s also my favorite song ever recorded.  Stillmatic, in reflection, is almost as much of a classic as Illmatic was.  It had his best song, the most highly influential diss record ever recorded (“Ether”), and was among his biggest sellers.  Not a bad comeback record, eh?  “One Mic” also had his best video to go along with it.  The vivid depictions of Nas standing in the streets of NY, then leading an unknown African country to revolution, before inspiring prison inmates to continue are images that will be forever ingrained in hip hop.  He now closes his shows with the record as well.  The record was produced by Nas and Chucky Thompson, who has quite a lot of classic material under his belt.  The record marked a point in which Thompson came to Nas’ camp of producers after being a Bad Boy guy for most of his career.  He also produced all of Mary J Blige’s My Life, as well as various other Bad Boy releases like the first two singles from Total’s debut album (“Can’t You See” and “No One Else”), Biggie’s “Big Poppa,” and the “Flava In Ya Ear (Remix)” for Craig Mack.  But this record was his career defining moment as well.  It’s an inspiring ode to hip hop and the power one has while wielding a microphone.  Having a voice that influences the world.  It’s a powerful song, and one that defies the personal problems Nas was experiencing in his own life.  All of this is what makes it my favorite song ever recorded.