Hardcore: 20 Years Later

What's the deal folks!  Can you believe this much stellar material and these many classics came out in one year.  We would never see another year this strong possibly ever (even years like '97, '98, 04, 06, 10, and last year are all worthy contenders).  Guess what? I'm still not done.  This selection paved a whole new way for the female emcee in hip-hop.  It also marked one of the most controversial debuts of that era, and we were all salivating over it.

Brooklyn's Kimberley Jones was an around the way girl repping Bed-Stuy Brooklyn.A little sister of sorts to Biggie Smalls.  When Biggie blew up and became a platinum-plus emcee who, along with Nas, carried NYC on their backs when the west coast was running things on their end, he made a promise to look out for his homies, and that he did.  His crew, known as the Junior M.A.F.I.A., were a group of up-and-coming cats that, although they were fairly talented, there was one true standout. Her name was Lil' Kim.  The sixteen she spit on JM's "Playa's Anthem" made all eyes get on her, aside from the fact that she was a looker too.  This diminutive dynamo had a swag about her that you didn't see during those days.  We had conscious ladies like Bahamadia and Queen Latifah, sista homegirls like Yo-Yo, and all-around b-girls like MC Lyte, but you didn't see women like Kim in hip-hop like that.  Rhyming about materialism, wealth, gold digging, and enough crass sexuality to make Luke and 2 Live Crew to cover their ears.

The anticipation was highly building for her debut album, and finally got a single.  The street single "Queen Bitch" was a shit-talking anthem, laced over a neck-snapping, yet meticulous, beat.  We were immediately like "Oh shit!"  One could obviously see the Biggie influence, actually very heavy Biggie influence, but once we heard her later singles of the Puffy-assisted "No Time" and the Lil' Cease-assisted "Crush On You (those that had the original pressing knew that this was actually Cease's solo cut), we were falling in love with her somewhat rapidly.  She was far left from the previous females I just mentioned.  While the others may have been rated PG to TV-14, this was all the way TV-MA.  She finally dropped her debut, Hardcore, complete with the cover that made a lot of cats' nights (the promo poster was even more racy).  What we got was an album that conservative, sexist America was not ready for: a raunchy mouthed, sexually obsessed, materialistic woman rapping about how much likes to do...well...certain sexual activities.  From the opening track after the intro, the self-asserting collar with Jay-Z and Cease "Big Momma Thing", we knew we were in for a ride in the world of Kim Jones that could be considered an audio porn flick.

Production-wise, this thumped.  Like really thumped at times.  The aforementioned "Big Momma Thing", "We Don't Need It", and quite possibly the highlight of the album, the Biggie-assisted "Drugs" were bangers, and even the toughest hard-rock couldn't front on how she brought it on these tracks.  Was it all head giving, head receiving, anal loving vocabulary?  No it wasn't.  Although let's face it, about ninety-five percent of it was.  Some tracks were more playful like "Crush On You" and her own version of Biggie's "Dreams " (only she was mentioning what she would do to the likes of R. Kelly, D'Angelo, Troop, and Brian McKnight).  Let's not forget the history this album made.  Lil' Kim had back to back number one hit singles on Billboard, a first for a female hip-hop act with "No Time" and "Crush On You".  The album eventually sold over two million units and officially made her a household star.

Before there were your Trinas, Jacki-Os, and just before Foxy, there was Kim.  While she's been accused of relying too much on Biggie for writing her rhymes and basically wanting to be a female B.I.G., there's no denying her talent, and her very heavy influence in the game.  Her debut, Hardcore, inspired an entire generation of future potty-mouthed sexually empowered women with talent.  While other albums like Notorious K.I.M., Naked Truth, and La Bella Mafia were all good to very good, this one stands as her magnum opus and one of hip-hop's most talked about debuts of that era.  Long live the Queen!

Makaveli: 20 Years Later

     What's good cats and dogs?  Before I begin on this twentieth anniversary release, let me first give love to those giving me feedback on these reviews and giving those who never got exposed to these albums at the times of their release some exposure to the greatness of these albums.  I still have a few more to cover.  Many forget that '96 was one of the strongest years in all of hip-hop, and we haven't gotten too many years like that since.  With that being said, let's get on with the next review, and this one could cause a little controversy.

     This entry belongs to the late, great icon 2Pac, or should I say his alter ego, Makaveli.  Released before the previously written about Redman's Muddy Waters, this was an all-out assault on all of Pac's enemies that he had beefs with.  From Biggie & Puffy to Mobb Deep, Nas, De La Soul, Jay-Z, Haitian Jack, Jimmy Henchman, and more, Pac was clearly tired of playing games.  A far cry from the more radio-friendly, commercial smash that his earlier released Diamond-selling mega-smash All Eyez On Me (stay tuned next week for that one), this one went for blood and aimed for the throat upon its release.  When he tragically died on September 13, 1996, he left behind an AMAZING catalog of songs that would end up on later albums and certainly the famed Makaveli mixtape series.  This album was written, recorded, and mixed within a week and provided some of the most heatseeking moments ever catered on wax.

     Fresh off the most venomous dis record of all-time. "Hit 'Em Up", this album was filled with very similar cuts such as "Bomb First", "Against All Odds",  and even a dab at Dr. Dre on "Toss It Up".  This was a noticeably darker, more angry album and with these tracks, along with other tracks like "Life Of An Outlaw", "Blasphemy", and ""White Man'z World", this was a brutal and, at times, uneasy listen.  Sure, he was best known for arguably his most successful single ever, "Hail Mary", this was an album that showed the recklessness and fearlessness of Shakur.  Gone were the days of social consciousness, Black pride, praising our women, and having gangsta parties on a consistent level.  This was an album that was filled with so much angst and animosity that one had to wonder what his snapping point would be.  Don't get me wrong, we saw bits of his social activism and adoration of women on the aforementioned "White Man'z World", "Hold Ya Head", and "Just Like Daddy", but this was overall verbal viciousness that no other Pac album had quite delivered.  He was conscious and socially aware on his first two albums, very reflective and introspective on the classic Me Against The World, and celebrating freedom and life on All Eyez On Me, but this was the fed up, yet paranoid, outlaw.  The fact that this much pent up aggression was contained within twelve tracks and done within a week is incredible in itself. Don't believe me, just peep "Me and My Girlfriend" (sorry Jay-Z, you and Beyonce didn't cut it with your collaboration and reworking of this.  At all.)

     Regardless of all the people he went after in this album, this is regarded as one of his true best efforts, alive or posthumously.  Pac was always a very passionate and honest emcee, but he hit new levels of intensity and emotion on this album, making this quite possibly the realest album in his discography besides Me Against The World.  In the years since the release, many have looked at his first only release as Makaveli as one of influence and being ruthless on wax towards people whom they would beef with.  Trust and believe, Don Kiluminati: The 7-Day Theory still remains as a gem of an album, like him or not, and one just hopes that he made internal peace with most or all his enemies before he finally went home.

Muddy Waters: 20 years Later

What's happening folks!  Back again with another seminal album turning twenty this year and has made all kinds of waves upon its release.  This one comes from Jersey's most blunted out emcee, who dropped his most cohesive body to work in December of '94 and it would end up being his most revered as well.

Mr. Reggie Noble, aka Redman, had been known as a member of EPMD's Hit Squad, along with Das EFX and K-Solo in the early nineties.  He especially shined on the ferocious EPMD knockout cut "Headbanger", which also featured an animated K-Solo from their mean album, Business Never Personal.  Anticipation was steadily building for this dude who was just a beast and a master of the "rah rah" style of hip-hop that Busta Rhymes would later use.  His debut finally dropped in '92, which was the funked-out Whut? Thee Album, and it was full of George Clinton-samples, and stood among Erick Sermon's best work at the time behind the boards.  In fact, the album spawned the hits "Time 4 Sum Akshun" and "Blow Your Mind".  As dope as this was, we knew this would only be the beginning.  He would later drop his sophomore effort, Dare Iz A Darkside, two years later and it was equalling as banging.  This album, however, took a slight turn.  This wasn't as fun as the debut was.  This was darker and was more hostile.  He has stated in the past that the album was recorded "during one of the periods of his life".  The cuts "Rockafella" and "Can't Wait" were super dope, and although this was enough to get him another gold plaque, this album was more of an underground favorite than a worldwide smash.

That all changed near the end of '96, when we had heard that Funk Doc was preparing to drop his third album, and we knew it was going to be another raw one.  Once we heard his monster of a collar with former cohort K-Solo "It's Like That (My Big Brother)", we knew it would more of the same "cosmic slop" we've come to love from him.  When Muddy Waters finally dropped, there was a universal (in therms of hip-hop anyways) consensus that he had made his best album to date at that time.  If that first single wasn't enough, he had gotten up with Erick Sermon for the DOPE "Whateva Man".  This cut officially made Muddy Waters not just hit but soar quickly.  He was becoming one of hip-hop's most consistent emcees, as he was continuing to get more lyrical and more of a force to be reckoned with.  His blunted wit mixed with laugh out loud humor (especially with the interludes) and excellent rhymes made for a fantastic album, along with Erick Sermon's crazy production made this one of the year's single most beloved albums.  The album garnered him yet another gold plaque, and made him an even bigger name within hip-hop circles.

Although we're wishing he would've dropped that fire collar with Method Man "Do What U Feel", we're content with the heat that Muddy Waters provided.  Yes, his follow-up, Doc's Da Name 2000, was the album that garnered his first platinum plaque and made him a worldwide star, but even as hot as that album was, and still is, this remains his heavyweight champ of albums and officially put him on his way to becoming the hip-hop legend he is now.  While we wait on the sequel, Muddy Waters 2, let's celebrate to this ridiculous release that still stands in a lot of people's top ten albums ever.

Hell On Earth: 20 Years Later

     What's the deal folks!  I'm back with another twentieth anniversary salute to an album that rocks every bit as hard now as it did on the nineteenth of November of '96.  This album had a damn near impossible task of equaling or exceeding the potency of their prior album but did they pull it off?  Did they ever!

     Queensbridge's most infamous returned nearly two years after their sophomore album The Infamous became a classic that impacts the game today thanks to the violently anthemic "Shook Ones Pt. 2".  Mobb Deep shook the game down to its core with their very brooding sophomore album that helped shift the momentum back from the west coast, whom were killing the game via Deathrow Records, namely Dre and Snoop at that time.  While "Shook Ones" was causing more stick ups and jackings all over NYC, their next single "Survival Of The Fittest" was just as aggressive and bleak.  It was official, Hav and P were here to stay, especially after The Infamous went nearly platinum.  Could they do it again?

     We started seeing full page ads with a bright red, fiery background and a dragon insignia with the words "Once again" right in the middle.  Heads at that time immediately knew it was Mobb season again.  The first cut that was presented to underground radio was "Still Shining", a violent drum track with haunting chords.  Being the biggest Mobb fan south of the Mason-Dixon line, my mouth was watering for this new Mobb album.  Then came the beef.  What beef you ask?  The beef between them, primarily Prodigy, and the late 2Pac.  We are familiar with perhaps the vicious dis record of all-time "Hit 'Em Up".  In it, he mentions P's ongoing struggle with Sickle Cell Anemia, which a lot of us never even knew he had before the dis.  This, and various other interviews, caused the brutal response "Drop On Gem On 'Em".  originally placed to be the second commercial single, Shakur passed so Loud Records decided against it and went to "G.O.D. Pt. 3", a Scarface-sampled chiller that could've easily fit on The Infamous.  Keep in mind, this followed their macabre first official single, which was the title track.  This very dark and visually bloody track depicts chaos and wylin out for the night shank imagery.  The rest of the album followed suit and was well worth the wait.

     Considerably darker and maybe even more violent than the predecessor, Hell On Earth was aiming at even more faces and leaving more bodies in their wake.  An aural horror movie like something a serial killer would conjure up, only in a hip-hop sense, this album continued to not only highlight the impeccable production of Havoc, but the intense, vivid lyricism from ol' Bandana P.  On The Infamous, tracks like the chilling "Cradle To The Grave" and "Temperature's Rising" showcased P's knack to paint pictures of bloodshed, war, and paranoia.  On this one, cuts like "Extortion" featuring an on point Method Man, "Get Dealt With", and "Animal Instinct" P takes his pen to ever further depths of despair and even less about humanity or peace.  Instead replacing it with mayhem and lots of shell casings.  That's not knocking Hav either and his ability to tell stories such as on "More Trife Life", which is a sequel to his first "Trife Life" on The Infamous, only this one, we're left with whether or not he even lives at the end.

     This was a macabre masterpiece that should very well be rivaled with The Infamous in every single way imaginable.  Although their next album would put them into the Platinum light with Murda Muzik, which in itself is an insane album, this was a very bleak and disturbing album, but one that showed just how talented the Mobb was during this time.  There was no other duo outta NYC that were touching them at this point, and Hell On Earth solidified their stance.  We wouldn't hear another album this dark and deranged until C-N-N's The War Report, which was like The Infamous and Hell On Earth combined into one violent landmark album.  One can't help but seriously place this on the same level as Infamous, but there are even those that place this above it.  No matter your stance or where you feel this should be placed, Hell On Earth is a bonafide classic and will continue to show why the Mobb became one of the best duos in all of hip-hop.

Illadelph Halflife: 20 Years Later

What's up folks.  We're continuing on with the anniversary salutes to some of hip-hop's all-time best gems that turn twenty this year.  I've covered some groundbreaking albums that have been felt in the industry since their release.  This is the latest album that meets the criteria of influence and artistic mastery.  This is yet another sophomore album that laid the groundwork for future brilliance from hip-hop's greatest band.

We were first commercially introduced to Philly's finest, The Roots, in '94 with their breakthrough album, Do You Want More?!?!?!, which spawned the excellent singles "Proceed" and "Distortion To Static".  We were being introduced to a hip-hop band the likes of which we had never seen before.  We remember Stetsasonic and their superb contributions to the game, but The Roots were on a different platform.  The core members were this fantastic lyricist that ended up becoming perhaps the most underrated emcee in all the game to this day, Black Thought, and the HUGE afro'd dude with an often spaced-out, blank stare cat name ?uest (pronounced 'qwest') Love, with a bassist, keyboardist, guitarist, and other musicians, not to mention a sick beatboxer name Rahzel and we had magic.  Their debut was an impressive album to show the world who they were and they did a great job in doing so.  The live instrumentation was something we didn't get a lot of during that time, save for acts like Tribe and Digable Planets.  All the tracks were very fluid and unique. We fell for them and started to pay attention.

In comes '96, and we are not completely checking for them as we have the past ten plus years, but nonetheless was somewhat having the streets talk about a follow-up.  When we got exposed to the first single and video "Concerto Of The Desperado", we got a dramatic track with these haunting wailing vocals from Amel Larrieux, but what stood out was the sweetness Thought provided on that mic.  His breath control is the stuff of legend to this day, and we saw it with this album and this track especially.  We saw the official birth of the emcee Black Thought in our vision.  In fact, this may have been his coming out party as our next lyrical wunderkind.  They followed with "Clones" and the silky smooth dis to superficial, commercial, Moet-sipping cats "What They Do", which both provided organic production that truthfully we haven't seen as much of until later releases like How I Got Over, Game Theory, and Undun.  Although they went slightly left of center by not going more towards a jazz element like Do You Want More, they made up for it with equally stellar production on every single track.  That's not to say they didn't bring jazz into the picture with amazing cuts like the ravishing "One Shine" featuring the lush vocals of Cassandra Wilson and the trumpteering skills of Joshua Redman and the delightful "Adventures In Wonderland".

There have been people that have compared this album and their subsequent follow-up Things Fall Apart to Tribe's The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders respectively.  The comparison is somewhat very legit, as the both groups formers are game changers that showed brilliance and exquisite artistic merit.  Their latters were very commendable and almost every bit as dope, but they provided more accessibility and more commercial radio play.  This album became the group's blueprint in how to construct a formidable listening experience that not only doesn't completely their dance notes, but also gives you more abstract notes to keep the proverbial party going.  Much like the late Phife Dawg arrived on The Low End Theory, Thought arrived on this one and showed he came to play with the other emcees in the playground.  It would be years before we see Black, ?uest, and the boys reach this type of rich, organic execution of musicianship and conceptual hunger, but with Illadelph Halflife, what they couldn't totally find with Organix or Do You Want More, they more than discovered it with this one, and are now arguably besides Tribe, the most important hip-hop group of all-time.

ATLiens: 20 Years Later

     What's the word folks!  I'm back with another salute to those albums that are turning (or have turned) twenty years old this year that are considered classics or at least highly impactful within hip-hop and music in general.  This time, we're going back down south.  Previously, I covered UGK's southern landmark Ridin' Dirty.  Now it's time we go into a duo's sophomore album that still stands as arguably the most innovative and sonically mesmerizing album within their entire discography.

     In '96, Big Boi and Andre (3000) were highly bubbling off their breakout debut, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik.  The album brought a new sound that the game hadn't really been introduced since the early days of Geto Boys, UGK, and Eightball & MJG.  With hits like "Ain't No Thang", the monstrous "Player's Ball", and the funked out title track, we knew the industry just laid their eyes and ears on its newest stars.  The album hit platinum status and the album was enough to get them "Best New Artist" award at The Source Awards.  This album was primarily created from funk and enough gumbo soul to hold you for years to come.  Fortunately we didn't have to wait but two and a half years for a follow-up, and what a hell of a follow-up it was.

     Anticipation was climbing with a sophomore Outkast album.  Was it going to be another Southernplayalistic for us?  Well, hen we first heard their first single "Elevators", we said "WOOOO!"  This cut was unlike anything heard on their debut.  This was not a cut that you blow your speakers to.  This was a methodically paced, super laid-back cut that flexed Dre and Big Boi's lyrical muscles even more.  The concept highlighted the ups and downs of being noticed and being famous.  We already knew this was about to be a new level for them.  This cut didn't even scratch the surface.  When the album finally did drop, it was something we didn't expect, but that wasn't a bad thing whatsoever.  Clearly put, this album has the six best opening cuts to an album possibly ever from any southern artist.  These were all consistent and all flowed gracefully from one track to the next.  Organized Noize, along with Earthtone 3 (which was Outkast and Mr. DJ), wanted to incorporate more live instrumentation than the first album, and it showed with tracks like the beautiful and highly introspective "13th Floor/Growing Old" (one of their most breathtaking cuts ever, especially because of Big Rube's stellar poem for "13th Floor") and "Millennium".  There were no get up and groove cuts on here.  This was noticeably more laid-back, mellow, and lyrically personal and conscious.  The spacey-soul aspect of the production made this a unique album for its time, and provided for some of the best sounds of that entire time period.

     In their personal lives, Dre was becoming sober and swearing off weed, while Big Boi became a father during this time so their mindstates were at other more serious places during the recording process, and this marked the true beginning of the greatness of this duo.  This is an album that has so many standouts on here that it's practically impossible to pick which song is the best, which is a compliment that gets reserved only to the best albums going and instant classics.  Also, unlike the debut, there's a growing sense of spirituality on this album, as evidenced in the lovely intro track "You May Die", the aforementioned "13th Floor/Growing Old", and "Wailin'", while staying in the extra-terrestrial concept that revolves around the title and in the center of it as well.

     This entire album, compared to their debut, gives you occasional chills, especially on cuts like the Goodie Mob-assisted "Mainstream" and "Babylon".  The elevation (if you will) of this duo was forming on this album, artistically and lyrically.  While Aquemini and Stankonia remain their artistic masterpieces, ATLiens is almost ranked as high as them for unique vision and risks to go into "space" while tackling their own personal growth periods and getting a tad more conscious than before.  Today, Dre and Big Boi aren't together as a duo sadly, but they remain the most successful duo in the history of hip-hop, and with albums like this, one can surely understand how that came to be.

It Was Written: 20 Years Later

     What's happening peeps!  After a heartbreaking past few days with the passing of the mighty Phife Dawg, we need to get back to some good head space.  Continuing with my album anniversary salutes, I'm going with an album that, at first, received unfair hate for living up to its predecessor but in time became widely known as an incredible sophomore album.  This is Nas' second album, It Was Written.

     When ads in The Source were stating "Nas is coming" in early '96, there was a universal "Hell yeah!" from hip-hop heads quickly anticipating the return of Rakim's second coming.  Soon, we got blessed with the first single from the album, the Lauryn Hill-assisted "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)".  We quickly knew this was a new sound from Nas.  We were expecting a single that would remind us of another Illmatic, which is what we were GREATLY hoping it would be.  This was dope but very radio friendly and somewhat raised an eyebrow.  The Trackmasters-produced cut would be the start of what would be one of the game's most conceptual and well-produced albums of that period.

     Many heads, including myself, were miffed about these commercial, radio-friendly tracks like the aforementioned and "Street Dreams", especially the R. Kelly remix.  However, once the first cut after the masterful intro hit, we had a lot more to be excited about.  The cut, "The Message", is an amazing cut that, in spite of the Biggie or Jay-Z dis, could've very easily belonged on his perfect debut.  However, what was apparent was not just his ever increasing lyricism, but his way of leaning towards trendiness.  At that time, the mafioso theme was all over the east coast with albums from Jay-Z, Junior M.A.F.I.A., and Raekwon's impeccable debut all getting ties from old mafia movies like Scarface, Goodfellas, The Godfather, and others.  Cuts like "Silent Murda", "Shootouts" and especially the introduction of the supergroup The Firm (which consisted of him, AZ, Foxy Brown, and originally Cormega-who later got replaced by Nature) "Affirmative Action" had subtle to overtly used samples of mafia family concepts.  While this has some Illmatic sprinkles in here like the aforementioned "Message" and the sick "Take It In Blood", this was clearly an album that had moved past his timeless debut and he wanted to show the world his range.  The MVP belonged to the haunting, Premo-powered "I Gave You Power", in which he takes the concept of Organized Konfusion's unforgettable "Stray Bullet" and becomes an actual gun.  This cut alone is among the most creative and brilliant cuts in the entire discography of Nasir Jones.

     Clearly, this album was not quite as street gutter as the first one as a whole, but one can't deny how impactful this album was and is to this day.  Already seen as a microphone prodigy, he was only furthering sharpening his sword.  He was becoming more conceptual and more of an artist reaching mass appeal, as this still stands as his highest-selling album to date, standing at quadruple platinum status.  On Illmatic, he was introduced to the world as a young hood cat speaking on his environment while looking to hip-hop as his saving grace.  On It Was Written, he made it to the big mansion on the other side of the hood with power, fame, and wealth, but more street-wise intelligence.  there are some that even say this is better than Illmatic (I wouldn't go nearly that far kiddos).  In any event, this was an album that twenty years later remains within his top five albums ever, and continued to mold the legend that is Nas to this very era.

Death Of A Legend

     What's happening folks!  I'm not going to lie to you.  Twenty four hours removed and I'm still at a profound loss for words.  This was something none of us saw coming.  One member of arguably the most important hip-hop group not named Run-DMC of all-time dead at the age of 46.  Malik Isaac Taylor, otherwise known as Phife Dawg, passed from complications his over twenty year fight with diabetes overnight Tuesday.  This one has fully sent the hip-hop world into mourning, reflection, and tears.  Keep in mind, we still are trying to move past the passing of the great Sean Price in August.  We were, and still are, so in love with Tribe, in spite of their much publicized break up back in '98.  We always wished and hoped for one last Tribe album, a reunion just for hip-hop sake.  Those dreams will sadly never come to fruition now.  As a young thirty-six year old guy that lives, breathes, sleeps, eats, walks, talks, and bathes in hip-hop, this one truly hurts my feelings and shakes me to the core.

     We first peeped the self-professed "Five Foot Assassin" on Tribe's stellar debut, Peoples Instinctive Travels In The Paths Of Rhythm.  This was an album that was very different than anything else upon its release in '90.  This was very bohemian in nature, stressing musicianship and lyricism, but other than Q-Tip, for the most part Phife and Jairobi took the backseat.  Considered an "alternative" hip-hop album for its time, this was far from the N.W.A., Geto Boys, and Ice-T music were becoming accustomed to.  This was different, yet beautiful, music and was lyrically very promising.  I remember buying it some three months after it came out because I was deep into EPMD, De La Soul (another "alternative" hip-hop trio that have earned the status of icons), Heavy D, and D.O.C.  Although I didn't become a huge fan of "Left My Wallet In El Segundo" at first, I, like many, was an enormous fan of "Bonita Applebum", and I was intrigued to buy it at some point.  Then came "Can I Kick It".  Yes sir!!  When I bought it, I was pleasantly surprised, as this was a play-through from beginning to end.

     It was '91, however, when my mind was blown.  Tribe quickly crushed any notions of a sophomore jinx with The Low End Theory, which up until Illmatic was my absolute favorite album in the game.  This album saw them fusing more jazz into their melodic structure, and it was more groove centric than their debut.  This album, on the other hand, was when we started to fully know how strong Phife was lyrically.  This was the album he officially saw Phife as a star.  Aside from his monster performance on my all-time personal fave from them "Buggin' Out", his solo cut of "Butter" and other lyrically holding it down on other impeccable cuts like the anthemic first single "Check The Rhime", their follow-up "Jazz" and "Everything Is Fair".  Of course who can deny his performance along with everyone on one of the greatest posse records ever heard in hip-hop "Scenario" with Leaders Of the New School.  Yeah, I know.  Busta beasted the track at the end, but who didn't hold their own all through that cut.  The point is, Phife arrived and for me, this remains my all-time fave from Tribe.

     Just when you thought he couldn't get any more dope, Tribe dropped their third epic piece, Midnight Marauders, which although more accessible, they didn't stray far at all from what brought them to the table.  With their phenomenal singles of "Award Tour" and "Electric Relaxation", this took Tribe into higher stratospheres, but this also continued Phife's momentum as a more than capable emcee compared to Tip.  This was yet another monument for them, as they wrapped up the single most acclaimed triple threat in albums ever heard in hip-hop.  Described as the three most "Perfect" albums by close friend, Busta Rhymes this was clearly the best group in the world besides a group that consisted of nine emcees from Staten Island at the time and five young cats from Cleveland.

     In '96, they dropped arguably their darkest effort with Beats, Rhymes, and Life.  Although still a very dope release, it was clear they were trying to go a different route, but the music was reflective of the turmoil going on within the group, as Phife started beefing with Tip around this time.  Regardless, Phife still didn't come short, with strong showings on cuts like "The Hop", "Keep It Moving" and "Baby Phife's Return".  I thought it was a good release, but even I noticed something was off and different with this album compared to their CLASSIC prior three.  Then came their swan song in '98, The Love Movement.  Again, good album, and although there were traces of old Tribe, it just wasn't the same.  This was the end of one of the best groups not just in hip-hop, but all of popular music.

     We tend to forget that Muddy Ranks had a solo album back in 2000, called Ventilation: Da LP.  Blessed by the likes of Dilla, Pete Rock, and Hi-Tek (who brought a funky and dope sound to his first single "Flawless"), this was severely slept, and we saw him at his lyrical strength all album long.  Barely sold anything, this was a tragedy, while Tip was beginning his solo ventures with albums Amplified, his SPECTACULAR Renaissance, and Kamaal Tha Abstract.  He stopped recording, and remained low-key.  He ended up coaching and remained an avid sports fan.  However, we publicly saw his fight with Diabetes on the Michael Rappaport documentary, Beats, Rhymes, and Life, where he not only documented his struggles with it, but we even see going into the hospital about to undergo a kidney transplant, which was given to him by his wife.

     Over the last couple of years, we've heard him do a Dilla tribute cut called "Dear Dilla", which was quite dope by the way, and he showed up on Slum Village's Dilla-flavored album from 2015, YES, on the track "Push It Along", which ended up being the last time we heard fresh vocals from Muddy Ranks.  Sadly, we wish there were more.  While many consider Q-Tip the face of Tribe, Phife was clearly the lyrical b-boy of the group. We will greatly miss this trailblazing emcee who bathed in hip-hop all day, everyday.  God Bless the Five Foot Assassin.  We will NEVER forget you brother.  Salute!

Ridin' Dirty: 20 Years Later

     What's happening peeps!  It's another twenty year salute to another album that has stood the test of time with its influence and inescapable appeal of redefining the South and possibly the game as a whole.  This post salutes UGK, and their bluesy classic, Ridin' Dirty.  Some of us were familiar with Bernard "Bun B" Freeman and the late Chad "Pimp C" Butler in the early nineties with their prior albums, Too Hard To Swallow and their funky follow-up Super Tight.  These albums delivered southern funk underneath tales of pimpin, violence and hustling.  Cuts like the Rufus & Chaka Khan-jacked "Something Good", "Front, Back, Side To Side" and "Pocket Full Of Stones" made them known primarily in the South, but regardless provided great buzz for these Port Arthur, Texas natives.  Seen as the forefathers of southern hip-hop, along with The Geto Boys, they provided a sound that would become relative to what the Houston sound was like: slow, laid-back, melodic grooves that incorporated the blues and funk (every now and then some down home Church-like sounds).  While they weren't as macabre and used shocking wit like The Geto Boys, they were every bit as vivid.  However, they wanted to step up their sound, yet still keep it 'trill'.

     In comes the year of '96, and they drop Ridin' Dirty, an album filled with some of the most soulful, yet gritty, music the South had ever heard.  While people were in a new time in the South reveling in new acts like Outkast and Goodie Mob, Bun and Pimp wanted to remind people who the real fathers of the South were.  The only single released wasn't even released on a commercial level.  It was only heard in college radio stations and during mix shows in the South only.  It was the incredibly soulful, yet very compelling and somber, collab with The Convicts' 3-2 and a Ron Isley-sounding brother called "One Day".  This was absolutely the perfect way to start the album off, but quite frankly, it was hard to even go past this track, as this had classic written all over it.  Once you managed to do that, they went into the more aggressive "Murda", which contained Bun B rhyming like he this was the last sixteen of his life.  It's still unclear as to whether or not he has verbally spit this well since.  We, then, make another one hundred eighty degree turn with the funky and bluesy "Pinky Ring", which is completely a Pimp C type track, and we couldn't get enough of it.

     With other incredible pieces like the Screw-esque "Diamonds & Wood", "Hi-Life", and the stellar Johnnie Taylor-sampled title track, there were ZERO flaws here.  Even the slightly sub-par cuts on here, which weren't but one no more than two, stood up well against the other dazzling production and great style brought on by the gangsta and the pimp.  Their third album, Ridin' Dirty, is highly regarded to this day as a benchmark and a cornerstone of southern hip-hop. However, artists not from the South like Nas, Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, and Game have all expressed the love of UGK from just this one album.  Painfully, we don't have albums from the South that sound this fresh, this good, or this soulful, all the stuff that makes up with the South is musically.  Sadly, the death of Pimp C forever pout an early end for UGK, but Bun continues to represent his fallen partner with solo albums like his DOPE solo debut, Trill, II Trill, and his own southern classic, Trill O.G.  This album, however, is a southern treasure that deserves the praise and respect it gets.  Twenty years later, this still is seen as a blueprint for southern hip-hop.  Salute to Bun and Pimp.

Soul On Ice: 20 Years Later

     What's good folks!  Hope everyone had a great weekend with the arrival of Spring.  Spring doesn't just bring flowers, allergies, severe weather, and time going forward, it also starts the pattern of constant hip-hop releases emerging, with at least one certified banger a month through the end of the year.  In April, we can expect anticipated releases from Drake, Royce 5'9", Elzhi, and another posthumous Dilla release, so next month will be an exciting time.  Right now, however, we are going to salute an album that has been widely considered a classic within hip-hop circles, especially as we approach the twentieth anniversary of its game changing release.

     In September of '96, in the third quarter of what was already an AMAZING and impeccable year of hip-hop (Hell On Earth, The Score, ATLiens, Muddy Waters, Illadelph Halflife among many others).  However, there was one album in particular that made heads, especially those from the west coast underground, lose their minds and proclaim a new direction in the game.  The artist's name was John Austin, otherwise known as Ras Kass.  This very prodigious emcee created a buzz with his underground cuts "Remain Anonymous" and "Won't Catch Me Running".  These largely underground cuts were just two minute signs of things to come for the Carson, CA representative.  When it got announced he had signed on with Priority, we knew a major label album by him would be something serious.  We had no idea how much he would reinvent the west coast lyrical game.  His first single and video came with the assistance of longtime Compton vet, Coolio, on the track "Miami Life", which was also featured on the soundtrack for the movie, The Substitute (DOPE soundtrack by the way).  Next up came "Anything Goes", which is a very good track commenting on getting ahead in life, no matter how one does it.  We were then Blessed with the Diamond-D remixed version of the title track which is just sick with it.  The legendary D.I.T.C. produced came through with this one for Ras and one can only wish this would've made the final cut on the album, however the album version isn't too bad either.  There was a sampler that was included in The Source magazine (back when it the most relevant hip-hop publication out), and on it included an amazing track entitled "Jack Frost" that never made it onto the album, but truthfully it should've.

     The anticipation was building for this cat that was highly intelligent and one of the nicest new emcees to come around in years.  When it dropped, we were not ready.  This album became one of hip-hop's most complex, surreal, and controversial albums to grace our ears in a long time, and without question, a lyrical masterpiece.  From incredible cuts like "Reelishymn" and the flammatory East Coast dis "Sonset" to more talked about cuts like "Ordo Abacho (Order Out Of Chaos)" and the somewhat blasphemous "On Earth As It Is...".  However, it was the nine minute cut "Nature Of The Threat" that, to this day, serves as the most important and most controversial cut of entire discography.  This historical look at the oppression of White people throughout civilization hits home in so many ways and no topic is off limits (homosexuality, racism, organized religion, etc.)  This is a track that has gotten him in hot water before, but he is blatantly unapologetic about it and backs up everything he said with documents and proof.

     With other standouts like the autobiographical "Evil That Men Do", "Marinatin", and  "If/Then", Soul On Ice is pound for pound an album that has stood the test of time, and still remains as perhaps the most lyrical album to ever come from Cali.  His level being able to go from socially conscious to storytelling to extremely brilliant lyricism and wordplay, this is among the most intelligent albums hip-hop has ever been graced with.  While other albums like the unreleased Van Gogh, Eat Or Die, A.D.I.D.A.S., and his exceptional collab album with Detroit beat monster Apollo Brown, Blasphemy, this remains his magnum opus, and if he has it in him, which I'm sure he does, to create a new version of this for this current generation, we're eagerly awaiting it.  Salute to the Rassassin!

To Pimp A Butterfly: The Year After

What's good kind people!  This is BK, you're friendly neighborhood hip-hop blogger again saying thanks for riding with me once again.  It's been a couple weeks due to lingering effects of bronchitis but I think this week's discussion is worth the wait.  This week's post deals with the one year anniversary of the greatest and most defining hip-hop album of our present time, Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly.  There have been statements made such as "This may be the Illmatic of our generation" and it was met with tons of backlash.  To a degree, there's a good reason for the backlash in retrospect.  Nas' timeless debut represented an era that was in transition in New York and the nation as a whole.  Even though there are comparisons between the two (like it or not), these are still two different albums as well.  Nas' debut represented a coming of age for a young man trying to escape the bloody streets of Queensbridge, NYC and seeing hip-hop as his guiding light in such a Langston Hughes manner mixed with dunn language.  Kendrick's impeccable sophomore major label album (fourth overall) showed a young man exposing the strengths and weaknesses of the Black culture in such powerful, bold, honest, and introspective fashion and it also showed him trying to find the peace between the celebrated life of a young kid making it out the ghetto, living his dreams and coming face to face with his inner devils that threaten to swallow him up due to excess and the struggle of self identity.  How has hip-hop maintained since we observed this changing of the guard?  Well, let's break it down.

     When it was released on March 15, 2015, early rumblings were that this was a game changer.  We knew his first single "I" was an ode to self acceptance in the face of obstacles, labels, and hatred with a clever re-interpolation of The Isley Brothers "Lady". What made this track so aesthetically incredible is the third verse.  While he encourages and offers light to the clouds in the first two verses, the third verse completely turns a one hundred eighty degrees and has him in a mental breakdown, struggling to avoid the temptation of suicide due to the "war" he was having in his head.  This truthfully became the premise of the whole album: the struggle of happiness, fame, and making it mixed with lack of identity, mental unrest, and the lack of personal strength to change himself and the world around him.  Next, we were Blessed with "The Blacker The Berry" and explosive pro-Black ode, once again fully accepting his Blackness, only to scathe his community with just one line: "So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street, when gang banging made me kill a nigga blacker than me, hypocrite!"  Incredible.  Once again, he put a mirror up to the world and the community at large, but then suddenly has a moment of clarity and rotates the mirror back towards him and the dirt, filth, and darkness shows up.  Let us not forget the funk-laced "King Kunta" that addressed ghost writing in hip-hop in such a classy, yet ballsy, manner.

     When the album dropped, which was a week ahead of schedule mind you, immediately people began polarizing it.  Not so much in terms of saying it was terrible or a bad album, but many were expecting a sequel of his simple amazing debut, good kid, M.A.A.D. City, but instead they got stripped down production complete with live instrumentation and elements of soul and funk.  By the time, the listener was finished at the end of the breathtaking "Mortal Man", you either applauded his efforts by being a forward thinker, yet disappointed with beat choices and became salty by the lack of 808s his prior album supplied, or you knew this was an album for generations to come in the same light as Illmatic, It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back, and Aquemini.  The concept alone was unlike anything heard in music in quite a long time.  The album was deeper than rap and hip-hop.  This was every man poetry put to some of the lush instrumentation you'll ever hear.  This was especially prevalent for one particular track.  We knew the Pharrell-assisted and produced "Alright" was the only turn-up cut on the album, but we also knew it was special.  We had no idea how much this cut would be a cut that got the Black community over in these days of police killings and racial injustices to where this was almost like our new version of Public Enemy's "Fight The Power".  It became the theme cry for the #BlackLivesMatter movement, to even recently when the citizens of Chicago chanted it and caused Republican front-runner Donald Trump to cancel his speech there.

     There were other cuts like "Mama", the Grammy Award winning "These Walls", and the brilliant, yet disturbing, ode to depression and self-destruction "U" that showed the range and depth of an artist willing to expose his mind and soul for the sake of artistry and making a social and musical change.  For me personally, it was the haunting "How Much A Dollar Cost" that made the most impact.  There are certain songs in your life that you remember where you were the first time you heard, because you knew this was a cut that would help shape your hip-hop life.  Mobb Deep's seminal classic "Shook Ones Pt. 2", Nas' "It Ain't Hard To Tell", and Outkast's "13th Floor/Growing Old" were a few of those for me, and Kendrick's "How Much..." is another one.  This story of Kendrick playing a star that went to Africa and had a run-in with a panhandler that only wanted a dollar was reflective of a big part of our society.  Once Kendrick realizes the importance of the dollar entailed, it was too late, and this marked the beginning of his turn around conceptually on the album.  This was one of the most powerful, tear-inducing moments on the album and one, quite frankly, that ranks among the most touching stories ever heard on wax.

     When the word got out that Kendrick was nominated for a historic eleven Grammys, us in the hip-hop community were elated at this feat.  However, we also remembered the travesty that was from the Grammy Awards, in which Kendrick's debut album was slighted for Best Rap Album by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis for their debut, The Heist, a situation that even Macklemore himself was in awe of and didn't necessarily agree with the Grammy committee's decision to award him that distinction. He was nominated for seven awards, including Best New Artist, Best Rap Album, and Album Of The Year. We also still have occasional nightmares anytime it's Grammy time and one of us gets that many nominations and you're an actual ARTIST, as India.Arie was nominated seven times in 2002, and lost every nomination she was a part of, including five to Alicia Keys.  While he was mostly nominated for his huge breakout hit "Alright" (which was nominated three times), he was also nominated for Album Of The Year, Best Rap Album, Best Music Video, and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.  He walked away with five awards, which was a lukewarm present for us that felt he deserved to win everything he was nominated for, especially Album Of the Year (he lost that to 1989 by Taylor Swift).  However, we were happy he even walked away with anything.  We were more impressed by his unbelievable performance at the Grammys, which was talked about for the entire week after.

     Speaking of his performances, while he would perform hits from his album, which is reaching legendary status at this time, he would also perform some tracks that had no titles with them.  We felt they were unreleased cuts from the album.  These were very impressive cuts, yet they were not on the album and of course heads wanted to know why.  What resulted was Lebron James would go on Twitter and would tweet TDE head honcho Top Dawg about releasing these unreleased songs on one whole album, to which Top would gladly respond and in fact would release these untitled tracks that were perceived as cutting room floor cuts from TPAB.  The album, untitled, unmastered, is an exceptional collection of demo tracks for the album, in which we're still trying to decipher why they weren't included (BTW, we still would like to know what is the FIYAH cut during the "Alright" video that was only thirty seconds long ?).

     As you can see, the legacy of To Pimp A Butterfly is reaching landmark proportions.  This album was completely different from anything hip-hop was presenting at that time, and still has set a standard in the game that now is the face of artistic, honest, poetic hip-hop.  This album became deeper than hip-hop.  This was Black culture.  This became became the face of our community, and one can only fathom if Kendrick can pull it off a third time official time (His untitled, unmastered album is considered his version of Nas' Lost Tapes album so it's not an actually full-length album of new recordings).  There lies the situation.  It's impossible and unfair to recreate albums like this.  All we can do is hope King Kendrick can continue to push the artistic and lyrical envelope and keep pushing hip-hop back to the art form it deserves to be classified as.  You can call it overrated.  You can call it historic.  You can call it revolutionary.  One thing is guaranteed: you'll never forget this album!