Back around 2002-03 i used to read the Source and XXL mags alot and i used to see this man's LP promos inside all the time. And the way it looked and LP title was kinda crazy and to me very corny. I was like who is Kool Keith? Why his LP covers look that crazy? And why does he have a Elvis toupe glued on his head? I was saying to myself this man is out there....way out there!! But this was before i had a chance to study up on my hip-hop knowledge and reading the manuscripts, and now in 2011 i wanna say i was really mistaken by this guy. Let the journey begin.
When i started on my path to Hip-Hop 101 i was listening to whole lot of old mixtapes from the late 80's and 90's. And a group stood out among the others that i thought had some great music and some thought into what they were doing. One of those groups was Ultramagnetic MC's, there style was really different and their beats were really tough. So i decided to study up more on them, i bought their Critical Beatdown LP and was blown away by it. The artist that blew me away was Kool Keith, his whole style and way of rhymin was just different to me. Biz Markie is different.....ODB is different......but Kool Keith is another kind of different. I was saying to myself this couldnt be the same guy with those crazy LP promos i seen years earlier.
Then on those 90's mixtapes there were 2 Ultramagnetic joints that i heard that had me amped, they were "Raise It Up" & "Poppa Large"! On these 2 joints Kool Keith went all the way in, like i said i just love the way he rhymes. He just says what he feels and its a steady flow and sometimes unsteady. So now im like ok Kool Keith got some skills, im definetly open on him and my Stretch & Bobbito journey havent began yet. So.......
Went i went on my personal S&B mission a few years ago i then realized that Kool Keith is a legitmate dope MC! He had a demo joint called "Time Is Now" when he just destroys the track over a dope hard beat. He did classic joints in a group called the Cenobites with him & Godfather Don, and the track "Kick A Dope Verse" was just classic with a rare rhyme from Bobbito! Then he had another dope joint called "Wanna Be A Star", when i 1st heard this joint a couple years ago i must have replayed this joint like 10x it was that ill!!! Then not to mention the many times he came up to S&B show and dropped really clevar freestyles.
And now over the past few years im still gathering joints Kool Keith done that i think was dope. So the lesson is dont judge a book by its cover. I thought Keith was wack, I thought Keith was corny, I thought Keith was a phony. But u all should know that Kool Keith is a dope MC who should be thought more as one of hip-hop's best mainstrean & undaground!! Dont let that Elvis glued on toupe fool u people!!
I was thinking about this question the other day while listenin to some dope hip-hop tracks. Ive heard some classic joints during the golden era that featured Biz Markie, Nas Or Biggie vocal samples. All the 3 has brought certain things to game indiviually in their own right, but who knew that just their vocals alone will be good enough for other classic tracks!!
Biz as we all know is and was the clown prince of hip-hop. He was ill on the beatbox as well, but to me his rhymes was defintely on point and very overlooked. They wasnt ur typical rhyme pattern and thats what made him so unique. But who knew just his crazy adlibs will be great for other dope tracks to come. People like Erick Sermon & most def. Pete Rock took Biz's vocals and was able to craft classic records out of them. Pete Rock will tell u 1st hand that Biz's vocals just sounded so dope to him that he just find a way to use them for his beats and it sounded just right. Now we all know the reason why people cant sample for free anymore is because of Biz, but who knew he would give back by him being the culprit!
Nas exploded on the scene in '94 with illmatic. And on that LP Nas was spittin some of the best rhymes known to man in that time. I mean u could dissect what he was spittin and piece it together to sound how u want it. From '94-'95 every producer in the game was using Nas' vocals on hooks and so forth. I dont blame them for doing that at all cause look all the classics that came out of it. Prime example is Real Live's "Real Live Shit", listen how K-Def perfectly took a Nas' sample for the hook. Priceless. And im not gonna even mention Ski using Nas' vocal for Jay on Dead Presidents. Nas provided alot of hits during those days without actually spiitin a rhyme!
Now we all know what Biggie brought to the game. Its pretty explanatory. But it was his whole flow & rhyme pattern that we never heard before. He was sayin stuff that niggas wasnt even thinkin about. But all the smart producers out there knew if they could splice up what he was sayin u can make countless hits using him. Just the way Biggie sounded fit well with the track producers was makin. Prime example? Camron's "Sports, Drugs & Entertainment", "Niggas wanna escape the ghetto cause that shits hot, either they slangin crack rocks or they got a wicked jump shot". There u go right there, its gets no doper than that. Biggie's 2 LPs provided many hits for niggas that been in the game or just comin into it, he's just a gift that keeps on giving.
So who's voice has been sampled the most? Is it the Diabolical Biz Markie? Nas Escobar? or The Black Frank White Biggie Smalls? Lets ur thoughts be known!
Its 1997 late night and im watchin a late taping of Rap City on BET (remember Rap City came on 2wice back then), and a new vid is being shown. Now i knew Rampage was ok since i heard him on the Craig Mack remix, but i never thought he could make a classic timeless banger like this and it helps to have ur cousin Busta's assistance on the hook. Its needless to say the impact this track made back in '97, in clubs worldwide people really got wild for da night when this was played. I heard stories about when this came on in the Tunnel NYC that u had to watch out cause anything could jumpoff when this was played. I mean there are certain tracks in hip-hop history that is when its played people seem to forget where they at and just act crazy! Now back in 10th-11th grade when this came out, only the people that was deep into hip-hop knew about this track. Not everybody knew this track was even out!! I remember i was goin crazy for this song, i had to have it. Then one day on a weekend i was chillin at the basketball court and a friend of mine came thru with a walkman jammin his butt off. I was sittin there wonderin what the hell he jammin to? So as i moved closer to him i could hear Busta singin the hook thru the headphones, and i tapped him and said u have to let me borrow this! He asked me, what u know about this? Dont nobody know about this! I had to look at him crazy and said u know who u talkin to? Im deep into this game man, please let me borrow this!!! And thats how i was able to get the song. I never seen the single for it at that time and i wasnt buying LPs at that time. That just shows u how real it was back then, u had ur hip-hopper backpack niggas and just regular rap cats...a major difference back then and kinda stays true today. I seen live performances back then of Busta & Rampage doin this track when it came out and the crowd went crazy when they did it, it just shows u how the power of music moves u .
Why not start a new series? Just trying to keep thing fresh around here to keep u guys interested. And i figure there were many hip-hop tracks that came out back in the days that people like myself would lose my mind to. Its like gettin lost within the music and u just let go!! Gettin crunk and rowdy wit ur niggas in da club and goin wild. To me there a lot of songs that fit the bill, and lookin back on those days when these songs were released it sad that this wont be recreated again.
Lets go to 1996 when a new artist called Tracey Lee dropped the party anthem of the year wit "The Theme". Now at the time when this was 1st released i didnt like this song, for some reason i just wasnt feelin it. And til this day im tryin to figure out why i didnt like it back then at that time. But as the days came by this track became a banger to me. I just remember back in 10th grade people losin their minds when this came out. Now i didnt buy this LP until like '01 or '02, cause back then i wasnt buyin LP's i was buyin singles. And the LP didnt dissapoint it was pretty solid. Now mad props goes out to D-Dot for producing this classic. Its crazy how he flipped this sample, if any of u actually heard the actual sample u know what i mean. Also props is due to Mark Pitts for acting like he was a orchestrator directing the people in the vid, very creative! I still lose my mind to this track, i just have flashbacks to '96 when it came out and how fresh it sounded back then. Man i miss those days......
Who as in which click had a chance to be a dynasty? As u see in hip-hop there were many clicks/ labels that had a chance to be great. Some actually achieved greatness, but as soon as it happened things started to crumble or they just fell off. There havent been a click/ label yet to go all the way thru without somethin happening to ruin it in my opinion (Wutang only exception). Im about to run thru some that i think had potential to be great, if i forget to mention any please feel to offer ur opinion!
D.I.T.C Bad Boy Ruff Ryders No Limit Cash Money G-Unit Rocafella The Firm Murder Inc. Shady/ Aftermath Terror Squad Boot Camp Click Native Tongues Juice Crew All-Stars Dungeon Family Children Of The Corn
Thats all i can think of right now. All these clicks/ labels had chances to be great, but somethin whether it was minor or small hindered its success somehow or another. So please let ur feelings be known out of these selections, which of these had greatness written all over it but it never happened all the way thru?
I still remember the day he passed. I was actually listenin to Ready to Die when i got the news and saw it on TV. I remember hittin my bed real hard and was just angry. I was thinkin that i would never hear him again, i will never see him again, the anticipation of what he was gonna do next was now gone.
I knew that it wasnt gonna sink in quickly that he was gone, and here we are 14 years later and it still hasnt sunk in. Its just hard to figure out why things happened the way they did. Me and my friends wish we can go back in time to where BIG was and alert him on what was goin on. Wish we can somehow appear in thin air behind the shooter and ram his car. Wish we can pull up aside BIG with a bulletproof car and block him from the bullets. Wish we could do anything to divert what was gonna happen.
I know BIG squashed his beef with Raekwon before he passed. I remember reading that Nas was supposed to meet up with BIG at that next party he was goin to. I saw on Sportscenter that Shaq was supposed to go with BIG to both parties. Alot of things was happenin and was gonna happen, so many twists and turns. We never got to see the Commission happen. We never got to hear his verse on "TONY" RMX that BIG told NORE that he was gonna spit on. We never got to see his version of the Black Album that he was gonna do next after Life After Death (where do u think Jay got the idea from). All u can do is think and imagine what could have.
U know to me the holy trinity of rap is BIG, Jay, Nas & Pac. Pac was nice but never to me was that #1 nigga. Nas moves in his own way and carved out his own niche, he sat on that throne brifely in '96 when his 2nd LP went double plat. but still one of the best. Jay to many is on that throne now, and trust me he did everything u could accomplish at that level. But to me, the Jay i know is from '96-'04, that Jay was the #1 nigga. Now......he just doin what he wants cause he already done it all. BIG to me will always be on the throne, nobody had to go through what he went through. He held down a entire coast with no hatred from anybody on same coast (except Jeru, and thats another story). Everybody on the east coast knew BIG was #1, it wasnt even no argument. When u got respect like that, that when u know u got it on lock. I dont think u will ever see a rapper most respected by all like BIG. Respected like if u go on the east coast right now and say bad things about him people would fuck u up seriously. Thats staying power right there, and BIG will always have that. I miss u BIG.
I just got done reading a old issue of Vibe Magazine from '99, and Mase was on the cover and it had a article about him. As i was reading that i was thinking to myself, does Mase get enough credit for the artist he was? Why people only focus on the shiny suits and all that? This is my blog so i get to talk about certain subjects that i feel free to, and this was one that was on my mind.
Lets go back to Murder Mase when he was on Children of the Corn. When Mase was Murder, he was Murder on the mic! If u heard any of his rhymes and the things he spit was incredible! His whole flow was dope. He wasnt on that pretty stuff just yet, he was still hard. To me thats the real Mase right there. Thats how he orig. was...hard.
But then like Mase said "I was Murder, Puff Daddy made me pretty, did it for the money now can u get wit me." Hey it is what it is, Puff saw the potential and switched some things up and Mase went from hard to flossy. Which it isnt so bad, cause Jay was already on it and Mase added his own flava to it. U cant sit here and say his 1st LP was wack, it sold 4 mil!! To me its a classic. Then Mase was rhymin on everybody shit, that nigga was everywhere droppin hot 16's!! Then we all know him & Camron as a duo was one of the all-time best in my opinion.
Now lets get into the swag Mase had! Mase was Fabolous before Fabolous for all u new heads. Mase whole swag on point man! He had the ill waves (one of the 1st niggas to rock a caesar haircut), his ice game was crazy (one of the few niggas early on to rock a jesus piece) and his dress game was crazy. Whatever what was hot at that time he was rockin it. So his style was new to the game that other than Jay Z, everybody was biting it!
Mase was a nigga that could switch it up lyrically, he could go hard like he did on X's "Niggas Done Started Somethin" or smooth like he did on 112's "Only U". Whatever style u want, Mase had it. Now as u can see im only focusing on Mase's early career all the way up to right before the release of Double Up. Im not even gonna front and try to big up that LP cause we all know it wasnt up to par that we expected from Mase. And that lil comeback he made in '04 & '05 dont count either.
Mase in his prime was one the illest niggas on the mic and i will stand by that. Dont get it twisted with that shiny suit shit. Like in that Vibe article, Nas told Mase " dont trip on the haters, cause niggas be quick to put on that shiny suit if they can have ur success too." So that says it all right there. So go back analyze Mase early career and u will see that he didnt receive enough credit for the artist he was. And to me for the record, he is Underrated. Let ur feelings be known.
Back around 2002-03 i used to read the Source and XXL mags alot and i used to see this man's LP promos inside all the time. And the way it looked and LP title was kinda crazy and to me very corny. I was like who is Kool Keith? Why his LP covers look that crazy? And why does he have a Elvis toupe glued on his head? I was saying to myself this man is out there....way out there!! But this was before i had a chance to study up on my hip-hop knowledge and reading the manuscripts, and now in 2011 i wanna say i was really mistaken by this guy. Let the journey begin.
