For the last few months, the soundtrack for my 2.5 mile drive to work has been sponsored by the good people at XM Satellite Radio. This gives me about 10 minutes to enjoy three songs. In what promises to be an inconsistent and irregular regular feature here on MGF, I thought I’d offer up what I thought about what I heard”¦
XM Channel: 65-The Rhyme (Old School, Classic Hip Hop)
Dr. Dre featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg – “Nuthin’ But A G Thang”: One of these days, I’m gonna gather all the MGF writers and poll them on which “classic” rap songs they’d pay to never hear played again. If this one isn’t on everyone’s top 10 (save for our own Mathan Erhardt, who holds it close to his heart) I’d be surprised. Back in ’92, LA radio stations wouldn’t play this song before sundown. Seriously. Now, Snoop is doing commercials for Mentos. The Freshmaker, for God’s sake! Oh, since you asked, other “classic” tracks that are played too damn much: Tupac’s “I Get Around”, Biggie’s “Juicy”, Run-DMC’s “My Adidas”, Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.” and A Tribe Called Quest’s “Bonita Applebum”.
Run-DMC – “Ooh, What’cha Gonna Do”: For those of you wondering where you can still find tracks from the legendary group’s ill-conceived Down With The King album, XM has your hook up. Easily the single worst residual effect from the early ’90s reign of gangsta rap and G-Funk was all the copycat cat tracks that attempted the same formula. Run-DMC sold themselves out right along with acts like Hammer (The Funky Headhunter) by trading in their original rap roots for a quick-cash bandwagon run towards a darker, edgier sound. No one bought into their not-quite-hardcore-but-close concept and the album faded from the airwaves and into “bad idea oblivion”.
Doug E. Fresh – “All The Way to Heaven”: Third song’s a charm, as they say. This is one of my favorite Doug E. Fresh cuts ever, as evidenced from the extra time I spent driving around my job’s parking structure, so as not to lose the satellite signal. Absolute old school goodness that’s dedicated to G-O-D, with an “Ah-CHOO” thrown in and dueling “God Bless Yous” just for fun. I can’t even fault him for renting out his mouth for VH1’s I Love the ’80s nonsense. Still, I wonder if, 20 years from now, he’s not at some “Old School Revue”, about to drop some gems from his catalog when someone from the back shouts, “Get to the beatbox already!” I’m told that Ready Rock C is receiving similar treatment whenever he radios the dispatcher from the public bus he’s now driving.
