9 Albums That Built Me

The hashtag #9goodalbums was going around social media a while back and I figured I'd finally give it a whirl. This list is supposed to contain 9 good albums that "built me," and generally I stay away from these things because I hate limiting my influences/favorites. 9 spots could never actually cover the albums that had a major impact on me. Inevitably, a few great ones are left off, but so be it. Gotta start somewhere.

The following albums are mostly from my youth. There have been incredible albums in the last 20 years, but I've found that with most people (myself included) the most "influential" music is generally that which you first fall in love with.

Motley Crue - Girls Girls Girls

A "Best of The Beach Boys" cassette is one of my earliest memories of music. I think it was my parents' tape, but I grew very attached to it. I loved their intense positivity and vocal harmonizing. It always felt like I was being whisked away to a California beach when I listened to them. I even had a Beach Boys windbreaker. 

My Dad also had several "Best of Motown" cassettes, with the greatest hits from each year of Motown's heyday. Between that and listening to the Oldies station on the radio during long car rides, I was exposed to a lot of older music, which I'm very thankful for. As I grew up, I was able to see the influence on current music, and even recognize some samples and reconfigured melodies.

Most of the stuff I listened to as a very young kid could be described as "pretty" and melodic. Then came Motley Crue. I saw a video (probably Smoking in the Boys Room, from their previous album) and it opened up a whole new world of possibilities. It was the anti-establishment, don't give a fuck attitude I didn't even know I needed. These were hard rocking, long haired weirdos with motorcycles and girls all around them, the essence of cool to a prepubescent boy. 

I loved Motley Crue for a while. They rocked out, they had singable hits, they were fucking crazy...Nikki Six was literally dead from a heroin overdose, paramedics revived him, and he went right back for more heroin! That's a rock star!

I don't think I was even "into" girls when this came out, but this album let me know that liking girls was cool. It also told me that long hair, leather, motorcycles, and smoking in the boy's room were cool, but somehow, those things never caught on with me.

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - He’s the DJ, I'm The Rapper 

This album changed my musical direction for good. I had enjoyed some rap songs before this point. I liked Run DMC, some Biz Markie, Tone Loc. But I was still mostly into Motley Crue and Van Halen. When this album and its videos came out, hip hop took over my musical preferences completely.

Will's charisma and humor always got the spotlight, which coincided with the larger trend in hip hop of MCs starting to take the spotlight from the DJs, who were always top billing up to this point. Technically, Jeff even had top billing in this group, and with good reason: he was a phenomenal, one-of-a-kind DJ. Without his backing, Will Smith may never have been the global megastar he is today. The Fresh Prince persona brought people in, but Jeff kept them coming back. Despite the success of Will's solo music career, the quality of his later music just never compared to his Fresh Prince days.

This album has the obvious hit singles (Parents Just Don't Understand, Nightmare on My Street) but the album cuts are the true gems. Here We Go Again, Brand New Funk, Charlie Mack - First Out the Limo. Insanely fun jams that still hold up. Then there was Human Video Game with Ready Rock C doing beatbox versions of Sanford and Sons underwater....just awesome stuff. Live at Union Square gives a good glimpse of how well Will and Jeff rocked a crowd, and how well they represented the fundamental elements of hip hop.

As silly and "commercial" as Fresh Prince could be, this album is truly iconic, a highlight of 80s hip hop that withstands the test of time.

Leaders of the New School - A Future Without a Past

This was an incredibly influential album in my life, which I purchased because I thought Scenario was on it. I ended up buying The Low End Theory for Scenario, and that is one of my favorite albums of all time (which I didn't include here because I talked about it enough already) so it all worked out, and I learned two things: always check the track list, and you can never go wrong when Busta Rhymes is involved.

Ok, maybe not never.

Similar to Fresh Prince, these guys were funny as hell. This album took on some serious issues (Just When You Thought It Was Safe, Too Much on My Mind), but always with a smirk and a snap about your mother. They all had their own identity and style, but on this album everything meshed perfectly. There's a 12 minute outro where they thank people in their lives and shout out other rap groups, and I could still sit and listen to the whole thing.

A few years later, Busta Rhymes began his ascent to hip hop superstardom. Sadly, they only have one other album together, which is also good. I always loved Busta (he blew my mind on Scenario) but Chalrie Brown may have been my favorite. Pinocchio's Theory is such a bizarre and awesome song. And Dinco D is still underrated.

Gang Starr - Daily Operation

I heard Take it Personal on BET Rap City and I was transfixed. How could this mellow, smooth-voiced short dude sound so menacing? My head was bobbing uncontrollably and I wanted to hit someone over the head with a pool cue for stuntin on me. The scratches on the chorus were beautiful; besides Jazzy Jeff, I had never heard scratching sound so majestic. The beat was hypnotizing, with those interjecting piano keys looped throughout.

Then I heard Ex Girl to the Next Girl, with those horns? I had to have the tape.

But there was a problem. It had an Explicit Lyrics sticker (Thanks Tipper Gore!) and I was 11 years old. When I went to the mall with the family, I split off and went to Sam Goody, where I quickly purchased it (thanks, non-caring Sam Goody employees!) with the money I made weed whacking. Then I carefully peeled off the sticker before showing it to my parents. Honestly though, it was barely explicit. It had a few swears, but I think labels were just tossing stickers onto every rap album.

This album also introduced Jeru the Damaja and Group Home, artists I loved for a while. Gang Starr made a couple classics after this (Hard to Earn, Moment of Truth) but there's a special place in my heart for this album.

Wu-Tang Clan - Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers

Whew. Enter the Wu-Tang. What the hell was this? Do people understand what it was like to hear this album in 1993? Like nothing I had heard before.

I heard M.E.T.H.O.D. Man a few times, including once at a roller skating jam at Bulkeley High School that my mom must've been chaperoning because I was still in middle school. It was cool, and Meth had that star charisma, but it didn't stand out that much. But then came Mystery of Chessboxin. The video. The beat. The lyrics. Mindblowing. It was like the comic books I loved and kung fu movies I had seen on Saturday afternoons coming together to create an atomic bomb of awesomeness. They had the same attitude and vibe as Motley Crue, except with timbs, jeans, and hoodies instead of leather pants and long hair. They had the same energy and cohesiveness as Leaders of the New School and A Tribe Called Quest. There were so many different styles and voices that you were bound to connect with at least one.

This album was hard as hell, but what often gets overlooked by hip hop albums deemed "gangster" or "street" is the humor. Try not to laugh during the "torture" skit. The Coen Brothers can barely do dark humor that well (one of my favorite movies ever is Fargo, which came out 3 years after this). There is wit and a dark humor throughout the album that better illuminates the tragic realities these guys were exposing. And the music...the grittiness, the grooves, the sound effects....everything combined to create this pure, unique musical experience that has still never been matched.

Their next album is also a classic (and the two after that are good) and several of the members have classic solo albums, but nothing could ever match this album's impact and appeal. Soowoo! 

Redman - Dare iz a Darkside

This is one of my all time favorite albums and Redman's entire persona and discography is hugely influential to me.

From the album cover (a reference to Funkadelic, which I didn't even get until years later) to the red cassette tape, to Redman's frenetic energy, absurdist humor, and magnetic charisma, I can't say enough about this. It came out my freshman year of high school which was not a good year for me overall. Redman provided me with a much needed release. I could lose myself every time  I put on my headphones and listened. But I could also find myself. Thanks to Redman and especially this album, I realized I could be different and weird and upend expectations. This was a departure from his previous album (which is also great) and was met with a lot of skepticism and criticism. But the music and the man were undeniable. This was who he was and the music he wanted to make, and you were going to love it.

After this album, he made several more classics, which sold even better, and he shot to superstardom with Method Man. When Redman made it, I felt like a part of me had made it. I mean, watch his Cribs episode and tell me you don't love that guy and want to root for him forever.


Outkast - Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik

For a while, I didn't want to believe Southern rappers were good. I liked Geto Boys but that was about it. Hell I barely gave West Coast rap a fair shot. Nothing could beat the East Coast!

Then came Andre and Big Boi, putting all that to rest. Their accents and their vibe and the local references I didn't quite understand drew me in. All of a sudden, the notion that geography mattered when it came to music seemed absurd. At 13/14 years old, "cool" meant more than anything, and these motherfuckers were cool. They had taken the mantle from Motley Crue and rock stars. They even made Atlanta Braves gear seem cool and I hate the Braves!

They, Andre especially, grew increasingly weird over the next albums (all verifiable classics) but the quirkiness was apparent here. They embraced their black, Southern culture completely and wore it as a badge of honor. And they were so cool and confident that the mainstream had no choice but to embrace them eventually.

I love all their albums (except the Idlewild soundtrack, which was still decent) but this and Aquemini are by far the most influential. Aquemini was a staple at college. They had grown so much as artists and people, yet the're chemistry together was even better; they were diving deeper into personal and social issues, and they were even weirder. To be honest, I could have put Atliens or Stankonia here, too. But this is where it all started, so it gets the nod.

Mobb Deep - The Infamous

I was 14/15 years old, unhappy at school, going through puberty...I needed something, I didn't even know what it was. It turns out, I needed two teenagers from Queensbridge to make one of the most sinister, neck-breaking, face-punching hip hop classics of all time.

Mobb Deep had Outkast's coolness but with a side of menace. There wasn't much quirkiness or humor either. This shit was dark. The beats somehow made you want to simultaneously zone out and think about the meaning of life while punching everyone who ever wronged you. I refused to wear any boots besides Timberlands for a decade because of this album. This album sounds like a harsh winter spent in an alley playing cee-lo for shots of Hennessey. This album sounds like teens working through depression in an unbelievably harsh environment...because that's what it was. And it is beautiful. 

Danny Brown - XXX

I had to put this on here because this album was the beginning of a new era in hip hop to me. The late 2000s were particularly slow/weak for hip hop. There were some solid acts out there, and some veterans still making good music, but it had grown pretty stagnant. I had gotten really into downtempo/trip hop/instrumental acts like Bonobo and Blockhead. Rappers were starting to bore me. It was on Blockhead's blog where I first heard of Danny Brown. Blockhead was raving about him. I then saw a few other blog posts doing the same, and I finally checked him out.

He was definitely unique. I didn't take to his music right away, and I think he purposely makes it not easily accessible, especially beginning with this album. But I dug his originality and wit and overall vibes. Then I gave this album a focused listen, and it finally hit me. This was what and who I had been waiting for for a decade, at least since ODB passed, or since the last proper Outkast album dropped. Hip hop had life again. Excitement. It was breaking boundaries.

During the recording of this album, Danny was dealing with turning 30 and reflecting on his life...at the same time I was turning 30. I can't exactly say I lived a similar life, but I could definitely relate to the emotions he was expressing about getting older, worrying about running out of time, worrying about whether he'd ever be good enough, etc.

Plus he was just funny as hell. And once I got used to his high pitched yelp, I could hardly listen to any artist with a regular voice anymore.

Although Danny was 30 and had been making music for years, he was still part of a "new school" of rappers that I discovered around this time. After hearing XXX, I wanted to check out what other new artists were doing, and I discovered Schoolboy Q and Black Hippy, Roc Marciano, Freddie Gibbs (all artists who Danny has worked with). My faith in hip hop was restored. Thanks Danny!

I Love You All...Class Dismissed. 

Diggin in the Cassettes: The Low End Theory

On September 24, 1991, A Tribe Called Quest released a perfect album. 25 years later, I take a look back at one of my favorite albums ever.

Prof Thug's Diggin in the Cassettes Vol. 2

A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory 

Glorious.

I first discovered A Tribe Called Quest through their video for We Got the Jazz/Buggin Out. It was probably the first video I saw on BET's Rap City. I was soon addicted to the show, hoping they would play that video or Check the Rhime and of course Scenario. I soon purchased their sophomore album The Low End Theory. My musical world was never the same.

From the moment I purchased it at 11 years old, I listened to this tape constantly. I brought it with me everywhere; I even remember listening to it in England on a family vacation. I had my walkman and my favorite tape with me as we drove through the English countryside and the city of London. The album felt like home, and it still does.

I listened to this cassette more than any other. In fact, I listened to it so damn much it no longer works.

Dammit.

My whole friggin concept of listening to the albums on the actual cassettes shit the bed on the second post. Great.

Whatever. I'll listen on youtube. I could probably recite the whole album word for word from memory if I needed to.



The Tribe trio once again handle the beats and rhymes, with the exception of two songs produced by Skeff Anselm (he gets props too huh ha!). Phife is much more involved on the album, a conscious decision made by the group after Phife learned he was diabetic. Jarobi, the 4th Tribe member, is not on the album because he left to study culinary art after their debut. No offense to Jarobi, but these changes allowed Tribe to make a much more concise album than their debut.

On The Low End Theory, they perfected the sound they established the year before. The formula seems simple but their minimalist sound is still lush with different textures. They are pioneers of mixing hip hop and jazz (yeah thats here my hearts at); they did it so well that to me, it felt like something that had simply always existed. It was so natural. I felt the connection between hip hop and jazz before I even knew the history of the connection. Through their sound and samples, along with direct references in their rhymes, they expressed the historical link between jazz and hip hop, revolutionary forms of black music that sprang from oppression. The improvisational style of jazz also heavily influenced the style of hip hop. Over the course of this album, the Tribe expressed the link between hip hop and all forms of African American music.

A lot of people think I only listen to rap, and that was true for a long period of time. However, my love for all varieties of rap, in particular my love for A Tribe Called Quest, exposed me to so many types of music. Without realizing it, I was exposed to jazz, rock, r&b, soul, funk, disco, and all other forms of music that hip hop producers sampled from. Now I have an appreciation for all types of music (except country, obviously) and I credit Tribe for my eclectic tastes.

And they were just friggin kids!

Let's take this journey...

Excursions


The perfect album starter, It starts right in with a funky bassline. Q-Tip drops a legendary verse talking about the progression of music: I said well daddy dont you know that things go in cycles.
He has a lot of gems here. It's a noticeable upgrade of his rhyming on the debut album, but the themes are the same; the focus is on positivity, pro-Blackness, and music itself.

Q-Tip handles the two verses and the chorus: We gotta make moves, never ever ever could we fake moves. He is flawless here, as is the beat. The drums and bass and horns during the chorus all flow together seamlessly as usual. The sample of the Lost Poets (time is an inanimate object) is another perfect match, amplifying the theme of time running through Q-Tip's lyrics. The recorded voice repeating itself at the end time is running and passing and passing and running echoes Q-Tip repeating excursions excursions excursions. The voices and the beat cut off abruptly, and provide a perfect transition into...


Buggin' Out


The bass line starts in on its own. Then the drums and hi hats kick in when Phife says, YO!

It is a perfect song as a whole, and there are so many amazing individual moments within the song, too. Like at the end of Phife's verse, when Q-Tip starts doing the adlib (uh uh uh UH) then starts his own verse. At the same time, a little snare drum has started up. That leads to a cymbal crash. The same breakdown occurs the next time Phife's verse transitions to Q-Tip's. These little details are everywhere and they're easy to miss at first because there's so much going on and it all comes together so naturally. You can lose yourself in the whole, or you can lose yourself in each detail.

This song also perfectly exemplifies the amazing chemistry Q-Tip and Phife had, as well as how important Phife was to the recipe. His deeper voice, harder punch lines and more aggressive flow provide the perfect balance and weight to Q-Tip's airiness.  He destroys his verses here, with gem after gem (styles upon styles upon styles is what I have) yet Q-Tip is able to match him with the punchlines (minds get flooded...ejaculation, right on the 2-inch tape). They have both stepped their game up drastically.

This song is just so insane. The beat knocks, they kill their verses, the chorus is a perfect hip hop chorus (a sampled voice repeating a phrase) and the video was crazy. It was a 2 part video: it opened with Jazz (We Got) in black and white. then halfway through it cut to Phife in bright colors and huge fake white eyeballs. I couldn't get enough. I saw what could be done with music as all encompassing art. The visuals, the beat and melodies, the wordplay. I was hooked.

Rap Promoter


And this song made me never want to get into the business of music. Finally, after an album and 2 songs of positivity and lightheartedness, reality sets in for the guys. They give us an inside look into the seedy side of the industry.

Phife plays the part of the shady rap promoter, talking to the artists during the song's breakdown.

Q-Tip keeps his good nature though. He's a simple man with simple pleasures. I want chicken and orange juice, that's what's on my rider. He just wants to be taken care of, then they will do a fly song for you love check it out diggy dang diggy dangy dang a dang diggy diggy. 

Is that too much to ask, Mr. Rap Promoter?


Butter


Great beat. Great verses by Phife. Fantastic chorus by Q-Tip.

This is Phife bragging about his sexual conquests. "Locker room talk," some would call it, although there doesn't seem to be any issue about consent here.

Phife starts off talking about how many women he's been with. Then he meets Flo, a girl who not only equals his "playa" status, but surpasses it.

In the second verse, he spouts a little bit of respectability politics towards the ladies and even sounds a little bit like the Hoteps who exist on Twitter and Facebook posting about "fake bitches."

Your whole appearance is a lie and it could never be true
And if you really loved yourself then you would try and be you
If your hair and eyes were real, I wouldn't have dissed ya
But since it was bought, I had to dismiss ya

On the one hand, I get it. A famous musician probably meets more schemers than your average person. I'm sure he's dealt with a lot of people who do not have self love or an understanding of self. I'm not against promoting the idea that your true self is good enough, and as a kid it all made perfect sense to me because I never considered any other perspective (like the woman's). I just don't like the implication that wearing a weave or contacts means a person hates themselves.

Regardless, he's got some great lines and his flow is on point. Plus, the beat, the horn sample, and the chorus make up for any flaws in the lyrics.


Verses from the Abstract 


One thing that is lost when listening on youtube instead of a tape is the incredible sequencing. The songs merge into one another on this album better than any album I've ever heard. The damn ads on youtube or streaming site ruin that sensation, but all the songs stand on their own anyways.

Butter was essentially a Phife Dawg solo, the first of its kind, and this is a Q-Tip solo. Another great beat, with some assistance from the great Ron Carter on double bass, and the lovely Vinia Mojica singing background vocals.

Tip starts off shouting out his friends: Busta Rhymes in effect, Shaheed is in effect, Phife Didawg is in effect. He talks about using Coast in the morning to avoid the funky odor and his fetish for some booty. He's just talking shit and flowing effortlessly and it's amazing.

At the end, he shouts out some more of his favorite rappers and thanks Ron Carter. Then he says Goddamn it yes the Quest is on and we OUT! The beat stops, there's a moment of silence, then the first line of the next song hits...


Show Business featuring Diamond D, Lord Jamar and Sadat X


Let me tell you 'bout the snakes, the fakes, the lies
The highs at all of these industry shing-dings

This is a great posse cut that builds on the themes brought up in Rap Promoter. The guys really release their frustration at the music industry here. Yo I gotta speak about the cesspool. It's the rap industry and it aint that cool. This is like a public service announcement to aspiring rappers. Tip and Phife are joined by Sadat X and Lord Jamar from the legendary Brand Nubian, and rapper/producer Diamond D. So these guys speak from experience.

This is the first song to appear in their discography not produced by the group themselves. This maintains the same vibe established on the album, but it is produced by Skeff Anselm (co-produced by the Tribe). It samples James Brown and Aretha Franklin, two iconic artists who knew about getting screwed by the industry.

All of the verses work really well together. And I love the dahh-oo voice sample and the beat breakdown when the verses end.


Vibes and Stuff


The last song ends on the dahh-oo, and this starts with a bell ringing and a horn sample. Possibly the best transition on the album. This beat is crazy. It's got a chopped up sample that cuts in and out, the bell ringing and echoing at the start of each 4th bar, and the dusty drums. Then the breakdown with the jazzy horn sample while Tip names off different parts of the country that have the vibe.

I think I gotta
I think I gotta
I think i gotta SCREAM
Cuz thats how good it feels man

That accurately describes the feeling of listening to this song.

Tip ends the song with a special...special...a special dedication to all of the slain rappers...the fallen rappers. Another great album cut.


The Infamous Date Rape


Classic...classic...classic example of a...a date rape.

One of their hardest beats and one of the more interesting subject matters. Tip's first verse talks about a typical date and offers some very good advice. If the vibe ain't right, ya leavin. He wants to bone but not without consent. Yet and still, rappers get blamed for the moral degradation of society. You're obviously not listening to A Tribe Called Quest!

Phife then drops a verse about hooking up with a girl who cries "rape" after a night of consensual sex. Now I've never been the type to accuse women of false accusations, quite the opposite really, and it bothers me when women are not trusted. However, there are certainly a few cases in which a women has falsely accused someone. Fame and money add to that possibility, so I'm not gonna hate on this verse, especially snce the first verse is about not violating consent.

Tip's last verse clarifies and solidifies his stance on consent:

I won't cry over spilled milk
If you won't let me take you to the Hilt
I don't wanna bone you that much
That I would go for the unforbidden touch
I'm not the type that would go for that

Not all men, bro. #NotAllMen

Then he goes off on a tangent about women on their period that's a little odd but also kind of funny.

Check the Rhime


This song rocked my musical world. I couldn't get over what I was hearing. Tip starts in uh! uh! uh! uh! uh! then the drum kicks in while that horn sample plays. The back and forth before each verse. Ya on point, Phife? All the time, Tip. The verses themselves. If knowledge is the key well just show me the lock. Amazing.

This song was magic the first time I heard it and I've felt the same ever since. There is no time when I'm not in the mood to listen to this song. It is a perfect representation of Golden Era hip hop.

It's a real playful song, but Tip also drops the line Industry Rule number 4080, record company people are shadyyyy, so the business aspect of music was definitely a recurring theme on the album. It's what gives the album more edge than their debut, and what makes it better overall. Their anger pays off. Tip jokes that these music execs smoke crack. That's a much stronger diss than anything he said to Lucien. The joyfulness and the positivity and the hopefulness is still there, but reality has caused them to refine their more eccentric sensibilities and focus their music.

Everything Is Fair


This was another song produced by Skeff Anselm. Great vocal sample for the chorus. Everything is fair when ya livin in the citayyy.

I haven't said it before, but Q-Tip has one of the best voices in hip hop. It's deep yet nasally and he has such an effortless flow. He can even drop a little melody here and there. You don't have to say a worrrrd. Phife has a good voice, too, and the contrast between the two is what creates such a strong sound, but Tip can really hold his own, which he does here. He talks about a woman trying to make it in the big, dangerous city. He hooks up with her and starts selling drugs for her. It's a straight-forward, typical rap fantasy narrative (with gunshot sound effects and everything!) but with a Tribe flavor.

It's a good song, with some nice musical progressions and switch ups, but nothing ground-breaking. It ends with the music stopping and Tip repeating top...top..top..


Jazz (We've Got)


Another great transition into the guys chanting We got the jazz we got the jazz. This was some more other-wordly shit. Tip gives a perfect verse into the perfect chorus with the perfect horn sample and then Phife drops another perfect verse, which starts off with his infamous patois: Competition them Phifer come sideway. Competition they must come straight way.

The hip-hop/jazz mix seems so simple now. It really feels like it had to happen because of how natural it is. People couldn't have come up with this, it must have just been there all along. You look back and it might seem somewhat bland because it's been done so much now. But it's been done and copied so much because it was so good and it was so groundbreaking. That's how you know something is good. It created, or helped create, the defining sound of a beloved era of music.

Plus this video was just cool as shit. Putting the two songs together was genius. I totally forgot how, at the end, they come back to the original black and white video setting with Tip doing his verse acapella. Awesome.

Skypager


Do you know the importance of a sky pager?

This song screams early 90s. Beeper's going off like Don Trump gets checks. Keep my bases loaded like the New York Mets. Ok, so Phife wasn't always the best sidekick. I mean, Robin died a few times on Batman, so Phife can bomb a few times, right? Besides, the batteries I use are called Duracell, they last for three weeks so they do me well makes up for it in its utter absurdity.

The chorus is phone sounds, an automated voice saying welcome to the new skypager, then Tip going uhhhhh... so funky, while Ali Shaheed Muhammad scratches. It's a nice little rap ditty.

Side note: someone should do a collection of all the references to Donald Trump in rap music (pre-Presidential run). There's probably enough for a DJ Drama mixtape. It'd also be interesting to see a lot of rappers' political leanings. I bet many are basically conservatives (not the Tribe, necessarily, but a lot of rappers). Guns, capitalism, misogyny. Its the GOP platform!


What?


This is the closest song to filler on the album, and it's still great. It somehow manages to be the perfect transition to the best song on the album, so for that alone it's a classic. It's an uptempo beat with Tip saying some silliness then rapping in questions for the remainder of the song. He switches up the structure from "what is a ____ if_____"  to "what is a ____without the___"  to a few other "what" questions.

It's nothing special, until the end, when Tip raps:

ooh ooh, it's like that ya keep going
freak freak yall cuz you know that we showin
what tigga what tigga what tigga what tigga what tigga what tigga what tigga 
[group yelling] WHAT!



Scenario featuring Leaders of the New School


The bass and organ start in boom boom BOOM, boom boom BOOM. Then a bunch of guys yell out HERE WE GO YO, HERE WE GO YO! while the drums kick in.

As much as I loved Check the Rhime the first time I heard it, it still didn't compare to this.

Besides the amazing performance by each rapper (this was one of the earliest songs I could recite competely) it sampled Jimi Hendrix. They get credit for meshing jazz with rap, but they also merged rock, funk (Funkadelic on Everything is Fair) R&B (James Brown and Aretha Frankiln). Black music is utilized with love and care and turned into something entirely original and beautiful.

Phife will be forever loved because of his opening bar and nut inside ya eye, to show you where I come from. Busta Rhymes became my favorite rapper the second I heard his verse. Dinco D and Charlie Brown will always have free drinks around me because of their contributions. And Q-Tip showed his versatility by going back and forth with Busta.

This is the greatest rap song ever. I'll fight about it.

So that's the tape. What an ending!

It turns out that a song called Georgie Porgie was originally on the album, but was rejected by the label because of its hoophobia. The track was eventually rewritten as Show Business. I never heard it so I looked it up and just listened to it.

Man...I did not need to hear Phife and Q-tip spouting gay-bashing lyrics. But you can if you want. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, considering Lord Jamar, King of the Homophobes, is on the song, but it damn near broke my heart.

I'm so glad they kept it off the album. I'm sure they're happy, too. The omission of this atrocious song allows the album to maintain its perfection.This is probably the first and only case where a label actually made an album better. See, modern rappers? You don't need to release every single thing you do. Sometimes less is more. Get someone to tell you when your song sucks. I am available for hire.

I owe a lot to this album. It got me through much of my young life and opened my eyes to so much great music. I can listen to it at any time and it transports me to a place of comfort and peace. And the damn thing just knocks, even to this day.


5 THUGS out of 5

I Love You All...Class Dismissed. 

Prof Thug's Diggin in the Cassettes

I love hip hop. Loved it since Run DMC smashed through that wall to rock out with Aerosmith. Since Jazzy Jeff rocked the house with the Fresh Prince. Since Tone Loc did the wild thing. I love old school hip hop, I love new school hip hop, I love conscious rap, I love gangster rap, I love underground rap, I love East West Midwest South and Northwest rap. I'm never hesitant to call out what I consider garbage, but I don't label something garbage because it comes from a certain place or time period or subgenre.

Most hip hop fans my age complain that all of today's hip hop is garbage. There's no denying that much of it...could be better. But there is a wide range of artists putting out music that is just as good if not better than anything that came before it.

Many of these complainers came of age in the 90s. In regards to music (and oftentimes movies) nothing will ever compare to what we enjoyed during the formative stages of our lives. Combine that typical glorification of music and entertainment from our youth with the fact that the mid-90s is considered the 2nd Golden Era of hip hop, and it's no surprise that many people refuse to even give today's hip hop a chance.

I completely understand the appeal of that time period in rap. It's a hard era to compete with. There was sooo much good music. Plus, hip hop was just recently breaking through the mainstream; commercials featured (awful) rapping, major movies had soundtracks featuring rappers. Labels were spending big money on production costs and giving all types of experimental artists a chance. The biggest rappers were all over television and radio but they were still edgy.

Not whatever this is.

Hip hop was quickly dominating the entire music industry but there was still an outsider or underground feel to it. Because of all that, plus the 20 year cycle of nostalgia, 90's hip hop is currently viewed as infallible.

Even though so much of it was just awful.

As DJ Shadow explains here...

I always think of the above song when people talk about how great everything was in the 90s. Here, a legendary DJ calls out hip hop...in 1996! Often referred to as the BEST YEAR EVER FOR HIP HOP.

We always seem to forget that KRS-One and A Tribe Called Quest were calling out wack rappers before Lil Yachty Vert's parents even met. We have blocked out the Silkk tha Shockers and Snows and Quos of yesteryear in favor of calling out every Fetty Wap and Tr@vi$ $c0tT we hear today. Wack artists always deserve to get called out, and everybody has a right to their opinion, but the over-generalization of music eras is obnoxious, especially when it comes to hip hop.

It's so funny to see people repeating the same complaints many of our parents had about rap. Literally repeating them word for word: "This isn't music! I can't even understand what they're saying! He's just talking over a beat." Etc. etc.

In a genre like hip hop, which was built off rebellion, off of constantly trying to create something new, it's odd to see so many fans resistant to change. Yet a good portion of hip hop fans are stuck in the 90s. Granted, many of those people are just casual fans and really only like a little Biggie and Wu-Tang mixed in with their heavy metal or Dave Matthews Band, but the "stuck in the 90s rap guy" is so rampant that it has become a trope. It's a damn Complex article subject, and if they're calling something uncool, it's been uncool for a very long time. I understand and share the love for that time period, but I don't see the need for the competition between eras, especially among fans. You didn't make the songs homey! Relax!

All of this animosity discourages discovery of new music and encourages the continued contempt between generations. Hip hop is largely based on competition, and artists should always try to outdo their predecessors and their peers, but there's no need for the hostility between the generations. If older artists supported more young artists, the young artists would probably respect the older artists a lot more and be more receptive to learning from them. Instead, artists, and more annoyingly and loudly, the fans, keep rehashing the same arguments and complaints every generation with every new wave of music. It's tiring.


As  a fan, if you're son or daughter or student or friend is listening to a cover song or a song that samples an older song, tell them that and play the original. Tell them about your favorite artists without shitting all over theirs. Try to encourage their discovery instead of pushing your taste down their throats.

This contempt for the current generation of rap has paid off for some people, though. There is a rather large niche market for rap music that is completely grounded in the past. Same types of beats, same flows, same subjects. They see growth and ingenuity as selling out. Or something. Some artists make entire careers off sounding just like New York rappers of the 90s. I'm not mad at it, and some of it is good, but for the most part, if I want to listen to hip hop from the 90s, I have plenty of cassette tapes for that.

Which brings me to my newest blog series....Prof Thug's Diggin in the Cassettes.

That's a transition, kids!

I owned music exclusively on cassette until December 1998, when I got my first CDs for Christmas (Brand Nubian's The Foundation and Busta Rhyme's Extinction Level Event, for the record). This was far past the time most people switched over to CDs. I stuck it out for no other reason than stubbornness. I had a big collection of tapes and didn't want to start over with a whole new technology. Hey, wasn't I just disparaging people for wanting to avoid ingenuity and refusing to change with the times? Huh.

There has been a cassette renaissance lately, and as a cassette connoisseur, I just don't get it. I love the tapes I have because of the music on them, not for the technology itself. I don't view cassettes through the nostalgia-tinted lenses that many people do. Tapes don't sound better. I know CDs are flimsy, but I've also spent countless hours trying to feed the ribbon back into the cassette with a pencil or picking up shards of plastic from a cracked tape. I spent even more hours fast forwarding to side 2 because side 1 had extra space to "preserve continuity." I listened to some horrible album cuts because it was easier than fast forwarding to the next song and then rewinding when you missed the beginning of your favorite song.

So yeah, I loved the era of music when I was listening to cassettes, and I love the act of listening to a full album, but cassettes are one of the worst ways to store and listen to music.

For posterity's sake, and my own pleasure really, I figured I would listen to then write something about each of my cassettes. When deciding to go through with this, I wanted to do organize the posts in some kind of special order, something more creative than alphabetical. I wanted to pull a Rob Gordon from High Fidelity and order the blog posts based on the emotions I had when I purchased the album or something obscure like that. I thought of going in order of when I bought them but I know that one of the first tapes I bought was Tone Loc's Loced After Dark and I don't have that anymore. Oh yeah. I wasn't playing about Tone Loc before.

Funky cold memories.

Ultimately I decided to freestyle it. That seems fitting. I'll start with A Tribe Called Quest. They were one of the first groups to open my eyes to the beauty of hip hop and I love their music to this day. I have all of their albums on cassette, so I can go through their entire discography and evolution as artists. Plus, they are all enjoyable so I won't become discouraged from continuing. I wouldn't start with my LL Cool J tapes, for example, because I'd quit during 14 Shots to the Dome. Sorry, James.

Also, there was a lot of stuff I cut out of my Phife tribute so I already had something to work with and I always look for any shortcut possible. Laziness wins again!

Stay tuned for Vol. 1 of Prof Thug's Diggin in the Cassettes, coming soon!!!


I Love You All...Class Dismissed.

A Legend Called Phife

I really didn't want to write about another dead musical legend. So it goes...

DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince got me into hip hop. A Tribe Called Quest kept me there.

The first rap song I knew by heart was I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson. The next was Scenario. Scenario is widely considered to be the best hip hop posse cut ever and considered by me to be the best song ever.

People often say certain artists or songs or books "changed their lives" when they really mean "I liked this thing a lot." I can honestly say Scenario changed my life. I fell completely in love with hip hop because of that song and the album it was on and I never looked back. Hip hop has been a part of my identity ever since.

I loved every part of Scenario: the chorus, the beat, the call and response, everybody's energy. Although I was always partial to Busta's antics, even as a kid I knew that the song would not have been the phenomenon it was without the legendary opening verse from Phife the 5 footer. He set everything off, and after hearing his voice come in dropping those first few lines, you had to hear the whole song.

Ay yo Bo knows this, and Bo knows that
But Bo don't know Jack
Cuz Bo can't rap

So simple. So legendary. Bo Jackson was the man at the time and his classic ad series "Bo Knows" with Nike was just taking off; Phife's pop culture and sports references drew me in to rap as a little kid, and I always leaned towards artists with a sense of humor. At the same time, in the same line, he lifted rapping to a level of skill above that of the greatest athlete of my generation. Bo don't know jack cuz Bo can't rap. Rap was something to be taken seriously. A lot of critics, and most people into mainstream music at the time, thought rap was just talking over a beat. Phife proclaimed that it took more talent than any sport, he just made it look easy.

Despite how serious Tribe took their music, they had fun with it.

Q-Tip: Damn Phife you got fat! 
Phife: Yeah I know it looks pathetic, Ali Shaheed Muhammad got me doing calisthenics. 

That was the foundation: fun. Making quality music to enjoy. Some people take hip hop so serious. People forget how much fun golden era hip hop  (either one, late 80s or early-mid 90s) could be. From Biz Markie to Fresh Prince to Phife to Redman to Ol' Dirty to De La Soul, these artists were having fun. Not everyone is as serious as Nas or Mobb Deep or Rakim, and not everyone needs to be. It's a serious art, certainly, but when people stop enjoying it, the music suffers. Tribe eventually stopped having fun, which affected their music and led to their split.

But when they were on, like they were for their first three albums, they were one of the best groups to ever make music. And their last two albums are better than most group's entire discography. If not for comparisons to the first three albums, they would be considered classics themselves. I consider them classics regardless.

Now, if anyone says Phife was their favorite MC and that he had incredible lyrical ability, they are lying. He wasn't the best. He wasn't technically or lyrically amazing. But he did have skills. He had heart. He had a love for his craft. He was self-assured and cocky at times but could be self-deprecating. Height of Muggsy Bogues, complexion of a hockey puck. Most of all, he had wit and an uncanny ability to complement his partners.

That was the beauty of Phife: he made the people around him better. He fit perfectly, and that is a rare skill to possess. He wasn't the most talented person in the group, but he was the most important spoke in the wheel. He was the ill sidekick, more Chewbacca than Robin the Boy Wonder. Being able to mesh with others, complementing another person's style, is a special skill of its own, to be commended just as much as a talented solo act. Not everyone can be (or even wants to be) the center of attention. I always admired him for his ability to create and maintain that chemistry. Helping other people shine is an art. He was able to master that art, while shining himself.

Now if my partners don't look good, Malik won't look good
If Malik don't look good, then Quest won't look good
If the Quest don't look good, then Queens won't look good
But since the sounds are universal, New York won't look good 

This verse from God Lives Through is another classic, and these four bars perfectly encapsulate him as a person and a member of a legendary group. He starts by acknowledging his partners. They come first, always. If they don't look good it's a reflection of him. He is defined by their success. He is always thinking as a part of the whole: his group, his borough, his city. I don't know of many people who so firmly and lovingly embraced their position in life and excelled at that position as Phife.

He always put the group ahead of him. Tip and Sha they all that, Phife Dawg ditto. Q-Tip was the obvious leading man, but Phife was the MVP. Take the first album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. It's a certified classic, but it drags a little at the end. In fact, it drags a little throughout and I think it's because Phife appears on this album less than any other. I love Q-Tip, but the songs benefit from the balance Phife provides; from his vastly different voice to his flow and his punchlines. He added the Everyman element to the group. He kept the songs more grounded; a lot of the songs on the first album were long and meandering, and though that fit with the theme of "travels and paths of rhythm," it made for some less focused, less interesting songs. Phife always added an element of levity and just plain old fun.

There are many classic Phife Dawg verses, but I consider his verse from Keep it Rollin off of Midnight Marauders a quintessential Phife verse. If I had to choose one verse to represent all that is Phife Dawg, this would be it (although, if you were to say it is his verse from Scenario or God Lives Through, I wouldn't argue):

Aiyyo swing swing swing, to chop chop chop
Yo that's the sound when MC's get mopped
(Phife was the master of opening verses. See Scenario, Steve Biko, Oh My God, La Schmoove with the Fu-Schnickens, etc. etc. Something funny, something that sticks, something that makes you want to hear what else he will say.)

Don't come around town without the hip in your hop
(Just funny ass lines everywhere. Funny because of the content and because of how it sounded. It was fun to say and to hear him say it.)

Cause when the shit hits the fan, that ass'll get dropped
MC's wanna attack me but them punks can't cope
I'll have you left without a job, like Isaac from The Love Boat
(Another punch line. Another pop culture reference.)

So money watch your mouth, or I might have to bust ya
Battlin MC's, from JFK to Russia
Back down to London, Sweden and Brazil
Do a U.S. tour for three months and then I chill
(Did Phife create the humblebrag? One of the first rap groups to do world tours. No big deal.)

Styles be fat like Jackie Gleason, the rest be Art Carney
(Pronouncing Carney like Corney. Pop culture, double entendres, twisting pronunciations to create homophones. All of it was like mental ice cream for me as a kid. I couldn't stop eating it up.)

People love the Dawg like the kids love Barney
"I love you, you love me"
The shorty Phife Dawg is your favorite MC
(Phife is for the babies! Probably his silliest line, but he made it work in the verse. Everyone eventually had Barney jokes, Phife was one of the first.)

So move back yaself dread, you know the element
(A little patois, showing his Trinidadian roots, something he often did.)

The Tribe is good for your health like a can of Nutriment
MC's don't have no wins, MC's don't have no wins
I flips it crazier than a busload full of Jerry's Kids
(That's just straight up hilarious. Rap always pushed the limits of good taste.)

Your crew don't want it, man your crew don't want it
But if you feel you can swing it, then money please bring it
(Cocky without being overly aggressive.)

Large Professor in the house 
(Shouting out another rapper on the track and a fellow rap legend. Phife always made space to give props to the greats, and as always, compliment/complement the other artists on the song.)

You know how we do
I stay on your crew
like Mario Lemieux
(Shouted out my favorite hockey payer ever. Bonus points.)

Peace to Ike Love
and the rest of the crew
(Shouting out his people. Always giving love.)

I meet you guys in front the cleaners
Bring the blunts and the brew so
(Phife was a man who appreciated the simple things in life.)

At the end of the verse, Q-Tip chimes in with ad-libs in between bars (whassup...whassup...whassup). He starts to laugh at the end and it feels natural, like they are just having fun together. The love for each other and for the music is deep but it can be seen right on the surface. Tip is enjoying the hell out of this verse and his simple ad-libs and laughter lift Phife's words to a whole other level, which is exactly what Phife does for Q-Tip and anyone else he got on the track with.

There have been many tributes from music websites, like this one; many artists have expressed their sympathies, such as Homeboy Sandman; and others have shared their personal experiences with Phife, like Scott Van Pelt. Then of course there's Busta Rhymes' tribute. I felt the need to add my voice to the chorus of voices singing Phife's praise because of the many hours of joy the man's music gave me, and continues to give me. He truly helped shape my identity. I am forever grateful.

Rest in Power to Phife, the funky diabetic.

I Love You All...Class Dismissed. 

2 Chainz or Jimmy Buffet?

At first glance, you might assume 2 Chainz and Jimmy Buffett are vastly different artists.

Separated at birth?

But there's actually more in common between these bafflingly popular artists than just the fact that their last names are things you should never spend money on at the mall.

And it's not just that they are multi-platinum artists despite possessing little to no skills besides the ability to make extraordinarily silly, mind numbing, undeniably catchy ditties that we all wish we'd never heard yet can't deny singing to ourselves (in moments of extreme privacy).

Below I have listed the names of songs performed by either Jimmy Buffet or 2 Chainz; unfortunately they have not yet collaborated with each other, but after this revelation, the duet is inevitable. See if you can pick which song belongs to which artist. Click on the song to reveal the answer. It's harder than you think!

Ain't He a Genius

Extremely Blessed

Why Don't We Get Drunk (And Screw)

Vi-Agra

Birthday Song

Where's the Party?

Travelin Clean

You'll Never Work in Dis Bidness Again

Making Music for Money

Money Makin Mission

Addicted to Rubberbands 

My Head Hurts My Feet Stink and I Don't Love Jesus

I Luv Dem Strippers

Yuck!

Livin it Up

Spend It

Babys Gone Shoppin

Diamond as Big as the Ritz

Mercy

African Friend

Cliches

Im Different

Whoop De Whoo

Turn Up

Fork

Grapefruit--Juicy Fruit

Crack

License to Chill

Havana Daydreamin

Ghetto Dreams

Semi-True Story

Based on a T.R.U. Story

The Real University

Margaritaville

Dope Peddler

God's Own Drunk

So what does this all mean? I don't know. Maybe it speaks to the shared interests of two genres and cultures that are commonly perceived as vastly different. Maybe it means we can understand each other if we just put forth the effort and focus on the things we have in common, rather than the things we don't. Maybe, just maybe, it means that we can all get along. 

Thank you, Tity Boi. Thank you Mr. Buffett. You have brought to this world much more than shitty food, overpriced, watered down, fake Mexican drinks, absurd lyricism, and the combined fashion sense of a five year old; you have brought this world peace, understanding, and the timeless words, "She got a big booty, so I call her Big Booty" along with, "Heaven on Earth with a mustard slice, I'm just a cheeseburger in Paradise", respectively. Kudos, good sirs.

I Love You All...Class Dismissed.

Detroit's Danny Brown

"Outer Space"

I decided it's time to do another music blog. Sometimes I feel like doing nothing but music blogs, but I wanna keep the content of this blog diversified. Just know that I could do about 2 of these a day.

Anyways, today's class will be focusing on Danny Brown, an African American rapper hailing from Detroit, Michigan. These last two years have been huge for this guy, dropping the album The Hybrid in 2010 and XXX in 2011, as well as an EP in 2011 with Detroit producer Black Milk, titled Black and Brown (not the most clever title). I heard about Brown after Black and Brown came out, but I didn't actually listen to him for a while after. I'm still very hesitant to give new artists (especially rappers) a chance. Most of it is garbage, and I have enough music on my ipod to keep me happy for the rest of my life. I always want to hear new stuff, but I usually try to find older, more rare songs. I have a habit of picking up on artists years after they actually come out. I finally gave Brown a shot because Blockhead recommended his music. I finally downloaded Black and Brown and XXX, for free, because he's the man and gave them away. 

To be perfectly honest, I was not impressed. In most of the songs he took on an obnoxious, nasally, high-pitched yelp. I had been a fan of Black Milk for a little while so at least the beats on Black and Brown were good right off the bat, but I wasn't sold on this guy being the hot new thing that all the hipsters (and actual hip people) claimed him to be. The beats on XXX were very unconventional, so that album was even more of a stretch for me. I liked both albums, and they were definitely interesting, I just didn't think they would be something I'd listen to very much.

After a couple more listens, something strange happened. I didn't want to listen to anything else. I was addicted to that obnoxious yelp and the asinine, brilliant, irreverent, perverted, and hilarious words it was spouting.

I quickly downloaded The Hybrid and anything else I could find from him (XXX is my favorite overall). You have to love a guy who references the Simpsons ("You softer than Flander's son/Don't make me put hands on son"), the Fresh Prince of Bel Air ("But the block was off the hook, said fuck class/Off them same pills that had Carlton dancing fast"), guns and SpongeBob ("AKs with bayonets on deck, rep my set/Sorta like Squidward and his clarinet"), and one of my favorite mc's, Masta Ace ("Dog I'm strategizin, plottin on throne/Masta of the ace, sittin on chrome!"). He's also VERY fond of talking about sex, especially oral sex. Apparently, the loss of his two front teeth has made him a cunnilingus connoisseur of sorts (I'm surprised he hasn't used that line).

"I Will" As in, that sexual act your husband/boyfriend won't do, Danny Brown will.

He's unlike anything I've ever heard. He's gotten the comparisons to Ol' Dirty Bastard, but that's not fair to him or Osirus. He has the irreverence of ODB, that's for sure. He's got the pervertedness of 2 Live Crew and Black Sheep (and ODB). But he also has the insight of Brother Ali or Common, and the wordplay of Andre 3000. In one of my favorite songs, he talks about coming to grips with turning 30 (something I can certainly relate to). He expresses his fears and concerns about ever reaching his goals ("Cause if this shit don't work, ni**a I failed at life") and talks openly about how his drug dependency has paradoxically helped him deal with his struggles and made him suicidal ("Turning to these drugs now these drugs turned my life/And it's the downward spiral, got me suicidal/But too scared to do it so these pills will be the rifle).

"XXX" Which is the Roman Numeral for 30...took me a while to figure that one out. 

His rapping style varies, so he's not all high pitched barking, he often reverts to a simple, straight forward style, and he's still more original than the majority of rappers. In one song he talks about growing up in the wasteland of Detroit ("And where I lived... it was house, field, field/Field, field, house/Abandoned house, field, field") and in another, he talks about how grateful his family was for welfare and food stamps.

"Thank God" The best argument for welfare ever made. Seriously.

In addition to all of this, he is one of the weirdest looking mofos you'll ever see, but he absolutely pulls it off. The word is, he was going to be signed to G-Unit, but 50 Cent wasn't fond of his look, in particular the skinny jeans and wacky hair.

How can you not love this look, 50?

In all honesty, it turned me off to him at first, too. As open as I am to music (I don't listen to only rap, as some people--and my nickname--would have you believe) there are still prejudices I harbor that prevent me from listening to some good music; and as much as I despise the media's, and society's, opinions on music and movies/shows, I still let them influence my opinion on things. For example, I didn't listen to Amy Winehouse while she was alive because I really only heard the song Rehab (which was a clear radio friendly hit) and I dismissed her as an over-hyped, over-privileged druggie, because that had become her image. I liked her on Ghostface's song, but I attributed that to the beat, and to Ghostface. But after her death, Questlove of The Roots said something about her being a genius and working with her on an album. So I (definitely not illegally) downloaded her album. If you've been paying attention, you'll know that I ended up loving it.

Now I've gotten a whole bunch of music to enjoy from Danny Brown, and I relearned a valuable lesson from him: don't judge an artist by his or her look, and don't pay any attention whatsoever to critics (or the majority of people in general). Nowadays, to find good music, you have to actively search for it, and you can't let something like skinny jeans, or a stupid name, or being over-hyped, or being really over-hyped, or being a white rock band, get in the way of listening to some new, good music.

"Huzzah Remix" This song features a bunch of artists you should be listening to.

I Love You All...Class Dismissed.