Aight, so… I was in my senior year of high school, and the first few months of my year was some ol’ bullshit. I had a lil’ beef with this kid, and for whatever reason, my teachers acted like I was some kinda bully tormentin’ the nigga. On five different occasions between September and December, I was suspended, even havin’ to stay home for two weeks straight at one point. They’d gotten their hands on a tape I made and interpreted the lyrics to be some type of threat on the dude’s life, when it really wasn’t that serious. If I told y’all the extent to which this shit went, you’d be amazed that some people who work for a school could be so dumb.
After all that got straightened out, I was back on course and ready to get the fukk outta there. In the meantime, I was concentrating on my main thing, which was music. I was writing, recording on my cheap karaoke machine, and performing in showcases at high schools. In hindsight, I really shoulda been more focused on school. But that place was a joke to me by then, and my focus was on what I really wanted to do. I spent many a late night workin’ on lyrics way harder than I did on homework, with the headphones plugged in. Along with Redman‘s Muddy Waters album and Clue‘s Show Me The Money, here’s some of what I was listening to:
Nas feat. R. Kelly “Street Dreams (Remix)”: Despite catching flack at the time from critics who disliked his change in musical direction, Nas kept it movin’ with this remix featuring R. Kelly. Over a sample of the Isley Brothers‘ “Choosey Lover“, Escobar revisits his hit from the It Was Written album. Regardless of the flack, my argument has always been that he still maintained his lyrical prowess, as was proven here. I wasn’t mad at this joint at all- also, I was glad that BET stopped running the vid for the original version. That pink suit was just ridiculous.
Camp Lo “Luchini (This Is It)”: If I knew what the FUKK they were talkin’ about, I’da liked it even more, but I dug the music of Camp Lo. They mostly strung together random ’70s-related references over great beats by the highly underrated Ski, but it made for some good damn songs. An instant favorite of mine was their second single “Luchini”, which led off their Uptown Saturday Night album in ’97. Blah blah blah, we be sippin’ Amarett-aaaaaahhh.
Capone-N-Noreaga feat. Tragedy “T.O.N.Y. (Top Of New York)”: Through affiliation with the likes of Nas, Mobb Deep, and Tragedy, the duo of CNN were building a strong street buzz through ’96. By ’97, their album The War Report was ready to go and this was one of the hardest records out there. I remember one morning in particular, when I played “T.O.N.Y.” a good 10 times on the way to school with my face screwed up and head boppin’ away. Still one of the gutter-est got-damn singles to come down the pike.
Erykah Badu “On And On”: In the middle of all the brouhaha, I still found time to mellow it out. Considered to be a “modern-day Billie Holiday” at the time of her debut, Erykah Badu had one of my favorite R&B joints of ’97 with “On And On”. The video was all over TV, she had a standout sound for the time, and her Baduizm album gave birth to a gang of headwrapped female vocalists over the next couple years. As arguably the year’s best new artist across the board, Erykah started off a career that has produced both good music and mentally-altering experiences for a few rappers.
Tracey Lee “The Theme”: It’s party time… whoa, it’s party time… havin’ a party… come on! Philly‘s Tracey Lee dropped outta a nowhere with “The Theme”, but it caught fire fast. ’97 went on to become THE year of Bad Boy, as well as the year that hip-hop really went back into a party era, and this single was the one that kicked shit off in the clubs during the early months. His album was ehhhh, but damn if he didn’t break out strong with what turned out to be his only hit.
KRS-One “Step Into A World (Rapture’s Delight)”: Even with his album I Got Next going gold, ’97 wasn’t a particular high point for KRS-One creatively or commercially. In fact, he even caught hell from his own core audience for collabing with Puffy for a remix of this very song (which actually wasn’t too bad). But before all that kicked off, he set the year off right with his old school influenced “Step Into A World”. With a track inspired by the classic “Champ” breakbeat, and a hook that references Blondie‘s “Rapture”, KRS was in his zone.
-D! (check out the previous Winter Six entries HERE)
…and mentally-altering experiences for a few rappers.”
hahaahahah more than a few, i cant believe this was 13 years ago?!
loved street dreams remix, nothing wrong with switching it up
Yep… Erykah must be the muhfukkin’ crescendo behind closed doors, haha
The ‘Street Dreams’ remix was just right for the time too- shit even SOUNDED like winter time.
-D!
This is an excellent list Danj. Im with Sickwitit, I cant beleive that this was 13 yrs ago. That is crazy. I swear it feels like yesterday. Now on to the songs. That damn pink suit was a hot ass mess. I really wasnt into this song as I was into some others of his. I didnt even know the reference to the movie when the vid came out. Thats my non movie watching ass. LOL Dont feel bad Danj. I still dont know what the hell Luchini is about, but that doenst stop it from being my shit. I dont care where I am when this shit cames on, I gets it in. LOL I thought this was the first song off the album tho and the other song was the second. I did like Black Nostaljack and Coolie High. I never got a chance to listen to the album tho. Maybe that is something I need to do. I really wasnt into CNN. I think they were a little to hard for this girlie girl. I still love Erykah Badu. I actually hold her next to Sade. That is how much I love her. I think I wrapped my hair with an old tshirt for like a year when she came out. LMAO Dont judge me. I like The Theme becuz the hook was fucking School House Rock. LMAO I couldnt believe that he was using that as the damn hook. Great song tho. I really dont feel the need to express my feelings on the Great KRS One. Classic.
Yeah, time is flying. I was just thinkin’ yesterday, remember how long ago it seemed when we watched stuff from the 70s during the 90s? I wonder if 90s stuff seems like that to kids nowadays, like for instance ‘Martin’ being to them what ‘Good Times’ was to us- a sitcom from a long-gone era… WOW.
HAHA @ the part about CNN. Yeah, the girly girls only got but so hardcore back then. Most girls I knew weren’t too crazy about Mobb/CNN/M.O.P./Bootcamp/etc. I’d know one every now-n-then, but it wasn’t a bunch of ‘em just listenin’ to The War Report all willy-nilly, lol.
-D!
Oh, and I won’t judge you on the t-shirt headwrap… we gonna need pictures of that tho’, haaaaaa
-D!
D! This whole list (minus the Badu joint) was part of the soundtrack of my life in ’97. I rocked to the Tracy Lee joint. It got you ready for the party. And the Nas/R.kelly street dreams was the ride home- still a little hype, but more chill. Man, I had high hopes for Tracey Lee. Whoa-ooo, its par-ty time!
That Tracey Lee just swept in like a fukkin’ wind storm… it’s like one week it came out, then the next week everybody at school was talkin’ bout “and everywhere that my crew gooooooo”
That album tho’… eh. I liked the ‘Keep Your Hands High’ joint w/ Biggie and the ‘Stars In The East’, but I could take or leave the rest. He was nice, but the music didn’t add up.
-D!
Danja u did it again. Around this time I was a freshmen in college (Rutgers University stand up!!) going to more parties then actual classes, Ha. I remember that Tracy Lee joint coming out of nowhere and smashin the clubs. I remember I use to hear Flex cut that and Cru’s-Pronto up heavy. The Nas Street Dream’s remix was butter but did you ever hear the Pete Rock remix? Pete use to play his version of the remix on Future Flavas (Hot 97) back then. I still got that on tape, need to find it in the storage. Camp Lo was different lol, but I dig their style. I remember there was this version of Coolie High that had the Michael Jackson-Lady In My Life sample, that Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito use to play on their show. I got that on tape too lol.
What’s up Newark
Tracey Lee was heavy… I didn’t do the clubs much at all, but one of the few times I went, ‘The Theme’ held it down. Niiiice throwback there w/ the CRU joint. I used to hate that ‘Pronto’ joint until I bought the ‘Another Case’ single and listened to it a few times. I have heard the Pete Rock joint, fux wit’ it all day. As for Camp Lo, yeeeah, you’re talkin’ about the ‘Paradise Remix’ of “Coolie High”- I fukked w/ that version hard too.
-D!
I’m glad somebody is giving recognition to these old classics. I really got into hip hop heavy in ’97, a good friend of mine Erin Miles put me onto some incredible music; ATLiens, Muddy Waters, Tracy Lee, Devin the Dude, Infamous, CNN and Illmatic (greatest album ever). Thank god for Intelligent Hoodlum, Large Pro, Premo, Rakim and Pete Rock.
Erin Miles, you say? You from Harford County?
If you are and you’re referring to who I think you’re referring to, this might fukk you up a lil’ bit- that’s my brother, LOL
-D!