If I Had Mic Geronimo's Career, Ill Be Happy Wit That

U kiddin me, if i had Mic Geronimo's career when he was hot ill take it in a heartbeat. Did he sell mad records? Not Really. Was he a very huge big hip-hop artist? Dont think so. But was his career respectable and somethin i would cherish? Darn skippy. Still dont understand? Let me break it down and see if u agree.

Lets see, the person who manages me is Irv Gotti. The same person who would individually save Def Jam by bringin over DMX, Jay Z & Ja Rule and run a successful record label (Murder Inc.). My 1st vid (Shits Real) is directed by Hype Williams which happens to be one of the 1st videos he done. My 1st Lp features a-list producers like Da Beatminerz and Buckwild. My 1st LP features all-time classics like Shits Real, Masta IC, The Natural & Lifecheck. By many, my 1st Lp is considered a classic. I did a song with Jay Z, DMX & Ja Rule (Time To Build) before anybody knew who they were. I am well acquainted with Jay Z & Biggie. I did a live freestyle along Biggie at a live show. I was in Jay Z & Foxy's vid (Aint No Nigga) along side Biggie and other prominent members in the hip-hop game. After a falling out with my former manager, Puff Daddy helps me out on my 2nd LP by executive producing it. I caught alot of flak by going jiggy with my 1st single of my 2nd LP (Nothing Move But The Money) but the song is a hit. I gain my street cred back with a underground joint off my 2nd LP (Usual Suspects) featuring Tragedy, The LOX, Ja Rule, DMX & Fatal Hussein. And MTV gives me some shine by givin me a 1hr special about how i am living tryin to maintain a career in hip-hop along with keepin a relationship with girlfriend at the time.

Now all this happened from '94-'97. In that 4 year span look at what Mic Geronimo did and was able to do. I dont know about yall but if my career was that short and i accomplished that much in it ill be happy with that. Being on stage with Biggie? Hangin wit Jay Z? Rhymin side by side wit DMX in his prime? Havin Hype Williams direct 2 of my vids with me being a new artist with nothin to go on? Gettin Puff Daddy to executive produce my LP in '97 when Puff was dominatin the game? Hey, thats a career ill be happy with. No complaints at all. I would love to hear what U all think. I know i might get critizied but hopefully some yall will be realistic and think about what im talkin about. Havin a career in hip-hop is hard man, it usually dont last to long. So when u are hot, u have to maximize it as much as u can. Just gotta be thankful for the opportunity u do get whether its short or long. And I promise u, Mic G's is ok with how his went. I would be.

Dont Forget About Akinyele

Thats right, dont forget about him. Akinyele to me was one of the illest rhymers out there in golden era of hip-hop. His style was crazy!

Yall should know his story......dont you? Back in 1993, him and Nas was shoppin for a deal. We all know how Nas turned out, and Akinyele soon got his chance to shine. His 1st Lp was a pretty solid one. With the classic " The Bomb", he showcased his ill rhyme skills over a phat dope beat. Then other joints like "I Luv Her" and the controversial "Break A Bitch Neck" further drove his name out there as one of hip-hop brightest newcomers. My fav. joint off that Lp was "No Exit", but the version im talkin about was not on the LP it was a remix and i was only able to get that off a Stretch & Bobbito Show. By late '95 Akinyele was a legit hip-hop artist, he was featured on many joints with other emcees and did countless joints for mixtapes. But the track that put him over the top was "Put It In Your Mouth"! I remember when i started hearing about this track was through other people singin it. I was confused at 1st, i kept askin people what the hell yall sayin? is this a new slang term? WTF? Thats when i knew that this track was one of those underground joints that only way u would know about it is to keep your ear in the streets. It was a huge underground track cause remember there was no vid for this song. Thats crazy if u think about it, that this song was so huge with no vid and it spread like wildfire with no internet as well! Crazy! But my joint of the EP was the classic "Fuck Me For Free"!! I used to bang this track non-stop!! The vid was a classic as well using a pajama party theme, very creative! So these 2 songs alone further put his name out there as a real dope emcee. Also dont forget about " In the World (orig. version) or (LP version". Those 2 tracks was on many mixtapes.

In '96 he still kept things movin with a classic track he did for Funk Flex Vol. 2 wit Sadat X "Loud Hangover"! U talkin about a banger! Man, i used bump this track daily! I couldnt wait for the video to come on Rap City & Yo! MTV Raps so i could bang it some more! So now Ak had enjoyed real great success with classic tracks already under his belt. But to me, sadly enough this was the beginning of the end. From '97-'00 Akinyele kinda scaled back a little bit and u barely saw him and the LPs he was puttin out at that time was strictly XXX. Now i have no problem wit XXX, but Ak to me had more potential than that. He didnt have to fully go that route. Then what shocked me was his appearance on a Heather Hunter rap vid on BET Uncut a couple years ago. Im still stunned by that.

All in all just remember the Ak from '93-'96. His flow and delivery was one of the dopest. Its sad people seem to forget how dope he really was and how he used the underground to his advantage! Very rare for a emcee to do that back then. So whatever u want to call him...Aki, Akneyel or Aka-fella just remember the name and check his resume!

Tracks That U Would Lose Ur Mind To #3: Busta Rhymes- Everything Remains Raw

Man do i remember when this came out! Back to '96 in the 10 grade it was all good. Matter of fact u could argue that 1996 is one of the best years of hip-hop! Go back and check the classics that came out that year, go ahead and check.......u will be surprised! Now I was watching BET Rap City and the new video of the day gettin ready to pop off. It was Busta Rhymes- Woo! Hah Got U All In Check, at the time that was 1 of the hottest tracks out but the vid wasnt out yet. So here I am watching the vid, but i recognize that the beginning dont sound like Woo! Hah. It sounded like something else i never heard of before. When that beat popped off and Busta said "Yo, Yo-Yo-Yo-Yo! All the time....." I was maddd open, i was like what is this???@! Then Busta and his boys get rowdy in the car while he driving down Times Square in NYC. Simply mesmerizing, i was very amped watchin that. Then the joint switched to Woo! Hah, and i was like what happened? I realized, this is the vid for Woo! Hah i almost forgot!
Hype Williams did a great job directing this joint, he was the 1st director to do 2 in 1's. Which is 2 vid's in 1. Nas's "If I Ruled The World" is a prime example. The word spread quickly about Everything Remains Raw! Me and my friends was like yo, Woo! Hah is dope but that track Eveything Remains Raw is mad hype! And we all agreed. Easy Mo Bee was feelin it when he produced that joint!! That will get any party rowdy! Through out the years that song stands out cause i remember how hyped i got watchin Busta & crew gettin mad rowdy in the car in the video! Its one of those tracks that would lose ur mind to without a doubt!

Hot 97 Summer Jam 2001: Jay Z & The ROC

As we all know Jay made history on this day. Not only did he bring out MiJac, but humilated Prodigy and sent a warning shot to Nas (didnt like it at the time cause i always though they should work together as a team). This day will always be remembered in Hip-Hop history. I remember when i 1st heard it on one of KaySlay's mixtapes from 2001. I forgot which one it was but that tape was heard 'round world. Those were good times for me, i was livin in VA at time and it was on and poppin during that moment. Great memories with me and my friends. So check out the vid and see how focused Jay & The ROC was at this time. This was when the Roc & Jay were on top of the game!

A 'Pac Thought For Ur Mind

Pac is one of my fav. artists of all-time. Now we all know he wasnt super lyrical or anything like that, but he was so passionate in his rappin. Also the way he way he rapped gets u amped if u feelin that kinda way at that time. Its hard to explain, but Pac brings out that inner rage in u like a release of tension or somethin like that nature. He's the only artist i know that can do that.

But also i think Pac did somethin that no other artist in my 5 top dead or alive did. Let me break it down. Most of the time dope artists are blessed with the opportunity to work with talented producers. And that marriage can go long ways into makin just a dope song or a classic track. Either way u cant go wrong, its all about what two creative minds can come up with. Jay had the chance to work wit Primo, Timbaland, Dre, Kanye, Just Blaze and etc. Nas had the chance to work wit Primo, Large Professor, Pete Rock, LES and etc. Biggie had the chance to work wit Puffy & The Hitmen, Primo, Easy Mo Bee and etc. I mean those combinations i just mentioned are legendary into what those people made.

Now lets focus on 'Pac, who did he had the chance to work with other than Dre? Ill give u time to think................. cant think of any right? 'Pac didnt work with any other big name producers at all, well....Daz if u wanna throw his name in there. But neither than that, no one else. Go and check 'Pac album producer credits for each track he made when he was alive, this man worked with some producers u aint never even heard of. We all know 'Pac work habits are legendary, this man stayed in the studio crankin out tracks after tracks. But that right there says alot, 'Pac was a true artist and by that i mean that he didnt let the beat define him. He truly tried to immerse himself in any track that was made for him. Listen, when u heard certain 'Pac tracks u dont say... damn who produced that? I know u dont, u say damn that track was hard u listen to what 'Pac said? 'Pac had the ability to make u listen to what he was sayin 1st then the actual beat 2nd. It just so happened that the beat just fell right in place for him on the track.

Look at that photo above, u can see 'Pac in the studio with Dre & some member of the Outlaws. But check out that dude in the red. U know who that is? That man is responsible for producing damn near all the songs for 'Pac's All Eyes On Me LP, his name is Johnny J. I know u scratching ur head like who in the hell is this person? But this man played a huge part in crafting a LP that went diamond (10 million sold)!!! So he makin money now as we speak. To me that says alot about 'Pac , this man took a random producer and created classic songs right off the bat in just a few short months ( remember Pac finished All Eyes in like 2 months). Thats incredible!! This accomplishment sometimes goes unnoticed by 'Pac but i had to speak on it. Pretty much every song 'Pac made was done a producer no one ever heard of.

Like i read that while 'Pac was workin on Makaveli, he took some producers that Death Row wasnt workin with and took them under his wing. The word around Death Row was that those producers was wack and didnt meet their standards in what they wanted. 'Pac heard about it and talked to them and asked them to work with him, remember 'Pac was tryin to make this LP very fast cause was workin on leavin Death Row. So he was tryin to pump out his final LPs so he leave and move on, and we know 'Pac was a beast in the studio. And we know how Makaveli turned out, so 'Pac basically trusted some ousted producers from Death Row and created another classic LP.

I hope u people really sit down and think about what 'Pac did, its somethin i think u wont see any artist do again. Even tho Jay did a little of it with Just Blaze & Kanye bringin them out back then and bringin out other producers on The Black Album. Like i said every MC in my top 5 list brought something in the game, and 'Pac did somethin thats astonishing by creating music with producers nobody even heard of and makin classics out of them. Just sit down and think about that, i know their might be others who attempted the same thing but multiple LP's and workin wit Dre 1nce? Crazy!

Biggie Loses His Patience!!

All im gonna say is this, u gotta know where u at and what u are doing and who u doing it for. If u are in the presence of greatness, u got to rise to the occasion.
Talk amongst urselves.

Newfound Appreciation For Kool Keith

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!!