same old, same old.

I feel old. When I listen to new rap music these days and I feel like I'm missing something. I start to say things like, is this all they have to talk about? Drugs. Money. Guns. Derogatory terms for women. When I was a teenager rap and hip-hop was virtually all I listened to. Back then I would have argued with anyone who spoke out against the anger, the violence and the negativity that existed in rap music. To me, rap music was about stories. Not just stories -  true stories from people who had lived completely different lives than me but still wanted the same things: to be understood, to be loved and to be secure. Perhaps that's still true. If it is, however, the stories that I hear in most of today's music feels entirely out of touch with the present state of our nation. I have found myself being drawn to those artists who have figured out a way to tell their story, use their talent and sellout shows without relying on the same tired old formula that Puff Daddy made popular in the '90s. What I've found is that these artists have been around for a while, and I guess that's part of what makes me feel old. The Roots, Common, Nas, Killer Mike, El-P,  and Shabazz Palaces ("Butterfly" from Digable Planets), are a few that still hold my interest.

As sort of an effort to find something new, I have chosen to revisit something old. There are several albums that I keep coming back to and I can't help but wonder if the era in which most of them were recorded will go down as the last golden age of hip-hop. I've wondered if Nas was right, that hip-hop is virtually dead. I don't get A$AP Rocky or Drake or Whiz Kalifa or even Lil Wayne. When I listen to most new rap music what I hear has either all been said before or it's not worth saying at all. See my old post on Raekwon for further rants on this subject. I need some substance. So these are the records that have had things to say to me and have continued to speak.

A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory
This was the very first rap tape that I ever bought (if you don't count Kris Kross' Totally Krossed Out) and I really had no idea what I was getting into. I don't know what prompted me to buy it or made me think that I would like it. But it ended up changing the way I listen to music forever. It was the perfect entry into rap music for me - a subtle introduction to inner city life and the rap music industry that manged to be light-hearted and serious at the same time. I don't believe that I would have any interest in jazz if it weren't for this album. Between this and Digable Planets' Blowout Comb (more on that to come) I was primed for Miles Davis and Pharoah Sanders.

Nas - Illmatic
It's a classic. Everyone knows it. I can't say anything about it that hasn't already been said. From  front to back it's probably the strongest rap album of all time. And it's straight to the point. There is no filler and no fluff. Say what you want about the Nas records that followed all you need to do is listen to "One Love" to know he's one of the greatest rappers of all time (and it doesn't hurt that Q-Tip gives the production some of his jazzy flavor).

Outkast - ATLiens

I'm one of those people who prides themselves on the fact that they listened to Southerplayalisticadillacmuzik when Andre 3000 was just plain old "Dre" and no one had any idea who he was. While ATLiens was a bit of a departure from their debut in my opinion it is their strongest album to date. I was comfortable with them dropping the gangster sensibilities and becoming more reflective. I mean who else could get away with humming a chorus ("Millennium") or making a rap song without any beat ("E.T. [Extraterrestrial]"). I committed the lyrics of "Elevators (Me & You)" to memory and proudly recited them to every English-speaking Romanian that I met while overseas in 1996. I could still give you Dre's last verse in full.

Goodie Mob - Soul Food

It's hard to believe that this is where Cee-Lo Green got started. Well, maybe not entirely. Well paired with fellow Dungeon Family mates Outkast, the Goodie Mob sorta put southern rap music on the map with this one. They coined the phrase "dirty south" for goodness sake. But while they were telling tells of drugs and poverty, it was also clear that these dudes were from the Bible belt. Also, they made a song about food.

EMPD - Strictly Business

It's all about the samples. They certainly weren't the first use samples but you could probably make an argument that they were the first use them in this way. Folks made a big deal about the samples used on Watch the Throne last year (Otis Redding, James Brown, Nina Simone, etc.) but they were only impressive because of steep price of the royalties and the total lack of necessesity. EPMD managed to sample folks like Eric Clapton, ZZ Top, Steve Miller, Pink Floyd, Michael Jackson, Kool & the Gang, Aretha Franklin, Rick James, Otis Redding, Zapp and themselves (over and over) in ways that would make Puff Daddy's head explode. They were used to craft songs and attract the ears of those who undoubtedly recognized their source. It's a total embodiment of what makes rap music entertaining.

Souls of Mischief - '93 Til Infinity

It's a bit difficult to explain this one. I just like it. The beats are comprised of jazz/funk. The lyrics  stand out as a stark contrast to the west coast gangsta rap that was being pumped out in 1993. I always felt like the sound of the album was more New York than California. This was of course during a period of rap music when it was usually easy to tell what part of the country a record was produced in. In a group of four MCs, the flow from one verse to the next is virtually seamless. It's that cohesion which made Souls of Mischief much easier to listen to than the Hieroglyphics collective to which they belonged.

GZA - Liquid Swords 

From the release of Enter the Wu-Tang I was a Clan junkie. I couldn't get enough (there are periods even now when that is still true). While some might tell you that Only Built 4 Cuban Linx or Ironman are the best solo releases from the Wu they would be wrong. I feel dirty every time I do this but if you want to read more on why this album is probably one of the greatest of all time then you should check out the Pitchfork review of the chess box deluxe reissue. The production is perfect. The guest spots from other Wu members are perfect. The Genius is perfect. The only thing I never quite understood was the Killah Priest cut at the end of the album. Despite that, the GZA paints a vivid picture of the streets, the industry pitfalls and the drug trade with the tone and demeanor of a veteran. "Shadowboxin'" will always be right. Always.

Digable Planets - Blowout Comb

Honestly, to this day I don't think I have any idea what the hell they're talking about most of the time. Creamy spies? Huh? But it doesn't matter. It just sounds so funky. Much like The Low End Theory the production on this album had a great impact on me. It's just such an overwhelmingly cool record.

The Roots - Things Fall Apart

Whether they intended it to be or not, this was the tipping point - not The Tipping Point. "You Got Me" put them into everyone's homes and the success of this record is responsible for the genre bending force of nature that is The Roots today. Each track out does the previous one. It's just a progression of sound and lyricism that was organic and unexpected at the same time. Despite featuring their first sample ("Without a Doubt") the changes they were undergoing here feel much more like a realization of their talent as opposed to a compromise. Also, "Double Trouble" is some of my all time favorite back and forth rhyming of all time.

Common - Be

I wanted more of Like Water For Chocolate. I wanted Kanye West to bring rap music back the '90s, to the heyday of soul and funk samples. I got what I wanted in Be. Arguably Common's best effort, everything about it is just right. There are times when it feels like Kanye's beats are simply going to the highest bidder. This is not one of them. The whole show is tailored and contoured for Common Sense. I'm not saying the dude is old but he's not new to the game and the vintage soul cooked up for this album fit him perfectly. "Faithful" and "Testify" would have been enough for me to declare this one of my favorite lyrical albums but fortunately there is so much more. I never understood why "They Say" was not a huge hit.

I have to stop here. As I was writing this entry I continually asked myself why I listen to rap music so much. The only answer that I could up with is that it feels necessary as a way of continuing my understanding of the human condition, in almost the same way that I refuse to give up on the political process. To abandon it would be to abandon a certain insight into our culture.

new old school

When I was 11 years old I purchased my very first rap cassette, The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest. That was in 1992. I have no idea where I got the money. It must have been from my allowance. I'm not sure how I managed to get to the store without an adult, but I can remember standing in front of the dusty wall of new and used tapes at the shop near my grandmother's house. My buddy Matt was with me. My guess is we had ridden our bikes or that my grandmother had taken us along on a run to the craft store and we decided to wait for her next door, eyes glued to the rap section. I didn't know what I was doing, of course. I understood about half of the lyrics. The other half just sounded cool.

I grew up on rap and hip-hop. I don't know why or how that happened. My folks listened to their share of Motown and Sam Cooke so, perhaps my exposure to that early soul music primed my ears for the soul-sampling sounds of 90's hip-hop. My parents certainly didn't approve. They didn't ban it either though, which I am grateful for. Perhaps that's just because they didn't listen to most of it. If they had my guess is they would have been completely repulsed. When I listen to Snoop Dogg's Doggystyle today I'm a bit repulsed myself. That album is a classic though and the music holds quite a bit of nostalgia for me. I spent countless hours with my friends listening to Wu-Tang, Dr. Dre, Biggie, 2Pac, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Mobb Deep, early Nas and Jay-Z and pretty much every other classic mainstream album from the mid-90's. I soaked it up like a sponge and I came to understand that in order to really appreciate most rap music you must have a working knowledge of it's history.

Unlike any other genre, except perhaps jazz, rap music regularly dips into it's past with name drops, beat samples and lyrical quotes. This is one of my absolute favorite things about rap. You can take one Isley Brothers sample and trace it's history through the past 20 years of hip-hop (I don't know the stats, but I'd wager that the Isley Brothers are the most sampled group in the history of music). I don't think it's an overstatement to say that I have an unusual knowledge of the history of rap music. That's not me bragging, it's just a fact. When you've been listening as long as I have you're bound to learn something. But another thing I love about rap is that there is always more to learn.

I listened to a lot of rap radio growing up. We didn't have the internet back then. It was the only way to hear new music. As a result, I missed out on a lot of great stuff happening in the underground. There was one weekly radio show dedicated to "underground" and unsigned hype but they really focused more on exclusives from established acts and when they did play something unknown they rarely took the time to tell you much about it. So, I've had to play a bit of catch up with a lot of the underground classics. Just last year I got into Breaking Atoms (1991) by Main Source. I had known about the posse cut "Live at the Barbeque" for a while but to be honest that's mostly because it features a young Nas in his very first recorded performance. I really wish I had heard this album 20 years ago. I may not have been ready for it though. I was too into gangsta rap and all it's sensationalism. Now that I'm older and a bit wiser I'm ready for something a little less profane and a little more thought provoking. Breaking Atoms is just that and it absolutely deserves to be recognized as one of the greatest rap albums of all time. I don't think many would argue with that. It's influence on production and sampling is widely known. I'd always heard the Large Professor's name dropped in other songs, never really familiar with who he was. Now I understand. He's one of rap's greatest producers. Not a bad lyricist either.

Last year I also took the time to check out Slick Rick's second, lesser known release The Ruler's Back (1991). I also decided it was time to dip into Return of the Boom Bap (1993) by KRS-One. Those are two great albums (ignore what the critics might say about The Ruler's Back). Most recently I embarked on a journey through the underground hall of fame that lead to a treasure trove of classic records I'd been missing. Most of the names were familiar to me. I'd heard of Souls of Mischief, Hieroglyphics, Organized Konfusion, Big L, The D.O.C., Big Daddy Kane, Masta Ace, Kool G Rap, UGK, EPMD and, of course, Common. I never took the time to give most of their work a listen, despite how much the mainstream referred to them. Here's what I think you need to listen to straight away.


Common - Resurrection (1994)

Allow me to explain why I included Common and EPMD in the list above. I've been listening to Common for quite some time, but I got into him in 2000 with his major label release Like Water for Chocolate after reading that The Roots (whom I have followed from the very beginning) were big contributors to the production. This past weekend I acquired Common's second album, Resurrection. It is easily the best lyrical work I've heard from him and that's saying a lot because the man is gifted. I also particularly like how he takes it the rap industry, true to form.
*History lesson - This was Common's second full length produced largely by No I.D., who just so happened to be one of Kanye West's first mentors in the game. Perhaps now you'll better understand the relationship between Kanye and Common, who have worked closely together on projects for Kanye's GOOD Music, including Common's Grammy nominated gem "Be". Also, "Resurrection" was one of the few releases done under the name Common Sense, before a legal issue forced him to drop the Sense and just be Common.


EPMD - Strictly Business (1988)

As for EPMD I'll say this...of all the albums I have slept on, this is the one I am most ashamed of. This debut is pure gold. While Breaking Atoms is often credited as influencing the future production techniques of rap, I would argue that no other album has made a greater contribution to the art of sampling. Let me just run down some of the artist's work you may recognize here: Eric Clapton, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Kool & the Gang, Beastie Boys, Pink Floyd, Steve Miller Band, ZZ Top, Rick James and EPMD (yes, they even sampled themselves). P. Diddy pretty much owes his entire career to Erick Sermon ("E") and Parrish Smith ("P" - "Making Dollars") because without them the kind of sampling that made Puff Daddy and the Family a success would not have existed. I've always known that Erick Sermon had an ear for tight production, mostly through his work with Redman, Keith Murray and the Def Squad. I really had no idea this duo was so great. I mean I knew they were good, but seriously, this is a great album.
*Trivia note - Each of EPMD's seven studio albums has the word "Business" in the title. Each album also includes a track with the name "Jane" in it's title.


Souls of Mischief - 93 'til Infinity (1993 - surprise!)

Now, here is where we dig deeper into the underground. While just about every other West Coast crew was jumping on the gangsta rap bandwagon, these four Oakland natives seemed to make a conscious choice to be un-gangsta. Not a great way to sell records, which is a shame because this is undoubtedly one of the best from the '90s. As a kid, I consistently ignored advertisements for this album, thinking they must not be any good because I hadn't heard them on the radio. I could not have been more wrong. To my ear, this sounds more like a lot of the East Coast releases from the decade. There's not much slow funk here. It bounces with jazz instead, reminiscent of early Tribe Called Quest. That fits the rhyme styles of A-Plus, Opio, Phesto D and Tajai though. They are quite adept at the fast-rap.*History Lesson - Souls of Mischief made up a large part of the also excellent collective Hieroglyphics, whose other members included Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Casual, Pep Love and Jaybiz.
**Bonus Trivia - Del tha Funkee Homosapien happens to be Ice Cube's cousin and is the MC you hear on Gorillaz self-titled debut. That's right, he's the voice of "Clint Eastwood". Classic!


Organized Konfusion - Organized Konfusion (1991)

You may remember a wicked sounding song sampling the theme from the original Godzilla that made it's way to radio in 1999 called "Simon Says". The chorus pretty much went like this..."Get the f**k up. Simon Says get the f**k up!". Well, that was Pharoahe Monch. What I didn't know then was that Monch was not new to the rap scene. He made his debut back in '91 as one half of the duo Organized Konfusion (the other half being Prince Po). These guys are rapper's rappers. They're the kind that like to have fun with words, when they're not attempting to school you on politics. And it all sounds so easy. Many like to draw comparisons to Breaking Atoms but to my ear Organized Konfusion is a lighter. The production is somewhat simpler and one of the singles was a track called "Who Stole My Last Piece of Chicken". I rest my case.
*Trivia Note/History Lesson - The only guest appearance on "Organized Konfusion," (which was self produced) was O.C. on the track "Fudge Pudge". O.C. went on to become a part of the Diggin' In The Crates (D.I.T.C.) crew, which featured heavy hitters Big L, Buckwild, Showbiz & A.G., Diamond D and Fat Joe. O.C. also released an underground classic himself with "Word...Life" in 1994.