First off let me apologize for the lack of a column last week; I had a beast of a migraine and I really couldn’t bear to have lights on, much less stare at a monitor. Rest assured next week will feature what I intended to run last week; the other half of my Love, InsidePulse Style contribution.
I’m Completely Fed Up?
I’m really tired of the current state of Hip Hop. A little piece of my soul dies every time I hear anything “crunk” or “screwed and chopped.” I’m tired of seeing “grills” in the mouth of every “artist” on a video channel.
It’s depressing. Being a Hip Hop fan right now is like being married to someone with Alzheimer’s; it’s really tough to see something that you loved with all your heart in such a sad condition practically a mockery of itself and what it used to be.
The very idea that something that used to require some skill and wit (rhyming) is now practically an afterthought in the production of a song causes me to tense up with anger. The fact that lyrical prowess is openly avoided in favor of creating something catchy is so unbelievably offensive that I’m nearly provoked to violence every time a hear a passing motorist bumping someone from Houston or a passerby reciting inanities.
There was a time when I was proud to be a Hip Hop fan. But now I’m nearly ashamed because of the garbage that most people associate with Hip Hop. The fact that gross stereotypes that Hip Hop endured in the 80’s (extravagant jewelry, rhyming about gibberish, and overall buffoonery) are now the norms of the genre causes tears to well.
I don’t know what it was, but I recently reached my breaking point. I know this because, in an effort to usher in Hip Hop’s revival, I was tempted to sabotage a high profile performance. By now everyone is aware that Three Six Mafia are Academy Award winners. But if I had had my way, they never would have performed at the show.
I was struck by inspiration one night when it occurred to me that perhaps all Hip Hop needed was a catalyst for change, and I could be that catalyst. So I formulated a plan.
I realized that relatively few people knew about the Three Six Mafia’s roots in horrorcore (hence the “three 6”). And given their past and their (then) upcoming performance at the Academy Awards they seemed prime to become the scapegoat for everything wrong with Hip Hop.
My intention was to alert Bill O’reilly as to the satanic origins of the group and their subtle praising of the dark lord (see the Stay Fly rumors). I figured that given the lack of any real evidence Bill would make some grandstanding point about how detrimental their performance would be to children, nay, the country, as well as how offensive it would be. This of course would spur a national debate, which would eventually involve the NAACP issuing a formal frowning upon Dirty South Hip Hop.
(Ok, so clearly I was half asleep when I came up with my master plan, but I will say that it seemed pretty sound at the time.)
For some reason I never went though with the scheme. Maybe I realized that in the past any opposition to Hip Hop has only strengthened what was being attacked. Maybe I felt that it wasn’t my place to try to “set Hip Hop straight.” Or maybe I had intended to set my scheme in motion on the day that I that terrible migraine, which prevented me from doing so. The point is; it never happened.
Needless to say Three Six Mafia did perform at the Academy Awards and it was the most cringe worthy moment involving Black people at the Oscars since Cuba Gooding won.
Wait, maybe it was the moment most likely to induce squirming as a result of awarding a performance that amounted to little more than painting with stereotypical broadstrokes since Halle Berry won the Oscar.
On third thought it was the most offensive moment reinforcing vulgar racial stereotypes to happen onstage at the Oscars since Adrien Brody “helped himself” to Halle Berry after she went he went to accept her his award.
Maybe I should have sent Bill that email.
Remembering B.I.G.
Since my column falls on 3/9 this year I’ve decided to rerun my personal tribute to Christopher Wallace. Sadly another year has passed and his death remains unsolved.
Seven years ago Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace was killed. It was one of the darkest days in Hip Hop history. Many folks believe that Tupac was Hip Hop’s greatest MC. And judging by the Tupac Roundtable last year, many folks also discount B.I.G.’s place in the pantheon of MC’s. This is my attempt to add a balance to the debate.
It’s funny because I was talking to my friend Jason after Aaron emailed me the questions for the roundtable. One of the questions was in regard to how Hip Hop would be if Tupac were still alive. We immediately extrapolated the question to B.I.G. still being alive and went on from there.
The Setting
Now to completely understand the importance of the role of Biggie you have to understand a few things. In the early nineties the Hip Hop landscape was completely different. Hip Hop was still relatively pure. It had yet to be completely corrupted by the music industry. Sales were important, but remaining true to the art and maintaining credibility were crucial. Radio airplay and MTV rotation were rare occurrences. Mixtapes were for sharing and finding new artists, not marketing tools for breaking new artists. And back then Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, as he was known, was merely hungry rather than greedy.
In that era the West Coast ruled supreme. Fueled by the success of N.W.A. Cali was the dominant force in Hip Hop. And bolstered by Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg, Death Row was the most powerful label.
The East Coast was still putting out quality music. Gangstarr, A Tribe Called Quest, Brand Nubian and Pete Rock and CL Smooth made some great records. But they didn’t have the “realness” that Death Row had. While those records may have been more “real,” listeners on the East couldn’t fully relate to the West Coast settings.
The East Coast leveled the playing field with albums by Wu-Tang Clan and Nas. The Wu was an all-star collection of MC’s who easily countered the variety of styles on Death Row, and Nas’ poetic rhymes provided an excellent counter to the super star Snoop. But one album tilted the scales in favor of the East.
Ready To Die
When “Ready to Die” was released in 1994 it was truly a watershed moment. “Ready to Die” combined the graphic slice of life rhyme style found on “gangsta” records with the vivid picturesque storytelling rhymes of the East. The beats were much like the subject matter, at times dark and menacing, other times bouncy and fun. Toss in a few singles to ensure radio play and you have the perfect album. Finally the East Coast everyman, or every Hip Hop fan, had a voice. And what was more that voice was distinct and had some sick rhymes.
The title of the album alone addressed the nihilism inherent among the Black male youth in the inner cites. The album itself was an uncompromising portrait. Biggie rhymed about the everyday stress and strife of existence in a post-crack society. He gave voice to the people who did “what they had to do” to get by. This was the urban answer to the disaffected white youth record “Nevermind.”
The buzz around B.I.G. had been huge as his appearances on various Mixtapes and radio stations had only increased his myth. So when the record finally dropped, it was an overwhelming success. Finally NYC was atop the rap game again.
The impact was immediate. He was hailed as the savior the East Coast, and bestowed with the title (and accompanying crown) of King of New York. Bad Boy vaulted to the top of the “Hot List.” And of course the formula was mimicked endlessly.
The Dark Cloud
The long-term impact was less positive. Companies saw the success that Puff had and attempted to duplicate the formula, without using the actual ingredients. While “Ready to Die” was a success, that included beats with unimaginative samples (for the singles), violent imagery, and lots of name (brand) dropping, it’s chief ingredients were frighteningly honest rhymes and an amazing flow. As a result nine years later 50 Cent hits it big with a debut featuring boring beats, name (brand) dropping and violent imagery. But B.I.G. (or Puff for that matter) isn’t blame for the industry getting the recipe wrong.
The Legacy
In the aforementioned Tupac Roundtable the assumption was that B.I.G. didn’t have much of a legacy. I beg to differ. Firstly the Bad Boy Empire is basically the “House that B.I.G. Built.” P. Diddy got his new name from B.I.G., and does anyone believe that Diddy would have stepped up to the plate, as far as an artist, if B.I.G. were still around?
Lil’ Kim, who may not be everyone’s cup to tea, is also a lasting reminder that B.I.G. existed. She is a credible solo artist. She has a career and is a celebrity. On a lesser note, Charli Baltimore is still around.
Cam’ron was discovered by B.I.G. and he’s currently very much in demand. While you wouldn’t know it to listen to him, he is capable of multiple flows and is amazingly talented.
And of course Jay-Z is perhaps the greatest legacy to B.I.G. If B.I.G. had lived maybe Jay would have surpassed him, or Jay might have remained in the large shadow he cast. That will remain unanswered. What we do know is that Jay picked up the baton and finished the race in first place. B.I.G.’s role in the shaping of Jay is evident in the fact that Jay paid homage to B.I.G. by referencing his rhymes. It was the spirit of Biggie that drove Jay to never come wack and disrespect his Brooklyn brother.
Numerous other MC also reference B.I.G. rhymes. Listen to any album by an artist from the East, there is a 90% chance you will hear a Biggie rhyme within those lines.
Perhaps I’m biased but to me that is a pretty impressive accomplishment for an MC who released one album in his lifetime.
My Confession
As hard as it maybe to believe I wasn’t always a fan of B.I.G. In college Jason and I were talking to a mutual friend about a party we were going to throw. Our friend tried to explain how hot his new idea was, so he said “Tell me about the first time you heard “Juicy?” I didn’t dig it.
At the time when “Juicy” dropped I was very much into Tribe, De La, Pete Rock and jazzier artists. I was also into Public Enemy. So the blatant attempt by “Juicy” to get played on the radio was met by my disgust.
My ear pricked up when I heard the beat for “Who Shot Ya” on a commercial. That was one of the first times that a beat would be stuck in my subconscious. Finally I was unable to resist the allure of the remix for “One More Chance” which was my anthem for that summer. That song still puts me in an amazingly good mood.
Campus Life
When I went to Morgan State University I was suddenly very East Coast. Jay Z had yet to drop so all of the debates were over who was better Biggie or Nas? I always sided with Nas, but since my nickname was Az (not the MC but the location) my opinion was generally disregarded.
My best friend my first year, Kertray Mangual, played me some of Biggie’s mixtape appearances, including the infamous “Real N!ggas Do Real Things”, where Biggie rhymes over Death Row beats. I was sold on his talent but still believed that Nas was the better MC.
When the East/West feud came to pass, folks thought that Death Row was talking mighty reckless and were surprised by Bad Boy’s lack of an “official” response. When Pac died it was sobering. Still everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
People were also waiting for B.I.G.’s album to drop. Every weekend my friends would go home to New York, and come back with the latest mixtape featuring some new Biggie material. It was frenzy like I had never seen.
3/9/97
When I woke up on March 9th 1997 it was about noon. On Sundays I always slept in. I turned on the TV, which was on Headline News for some reason. I saw that the story that I had just missed was about a “Rapper Killed.” My first thought was “ah man, I hope it’s not Nas.” I tried to call my boys but couldn’t get through. So I decided to go to their room.
Now Sundays on campus are usually quite, but that day it felt eerie. Something was definitely wrong. I got upstairs and folks were distraught. Not lighting candles, crying, mourning Kurt Cobain distraught. It was more like pissed, anger, tears in eyes, “who could rob us of a talent like this” distraught. Like how my pop was when Marvin Gaye was killed.
It was then that I noticed that Biggie was blasting from every room. It was like hearing all of Biggie’s hits, at once. It was then that I realized the importance of B.I.G. I asked my boys what happened and they filled me in. From then on there were only two cd’s that mattered; “Ready to Die” and the soon to be released “Life After Death.”
Biggie Smalls Is The Illest
B.I.G. is the greatest because his early demise didn’t allow him to falter. He’s like Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Jeff Buckley, and Kurt Cobain. He was funny, scary, clever but most of all honest. He will forever remain at the top of his game. And that is why he is the greatest MC.
Migraines
KDP continues to work wonders.
Gloomchen has news and views.
Mike Eagle delivers a beatdown.
Jeff returns!
Shawn M. Smithcalls Sevendust biters.
Tom continues to cover the classics.
Tension
Phil has great news for former fans of The Source and shows that KRS is Hip Hop’s answer to Little Richard.
Ian is making me regret not picking up TV on the Radio.
Album Instrumentals In Heavy Rotation Right Now
1. Common Sense – Resurrection
2. Little Brother – The Listening
3. Kanye West – The College Dropout
4. Mos Def – Black on Both Sides
5. Dilla – Donuts
