Da Dirty 30: Strictly Hip-Hop

11/24/2010

Been a lil’ quiet around here lately, eh? Not to worry, I just had to put some work in so that I could bring you this shit right here…

Not sure how much of a secret this is- after all, I’ve only been doin’ this shit for a year and a half- but I’m a big huge gigantic hip-hop head. On here, I usually cover a lot of the more popular artists of the day, but it definitely doesn’t stop there. I’m that kid who stayed up on alllll them new shits, even the ones by the most obscure artists on the most low-profile record labels. My appreciation of rap music started around the mid-’80s, but it hit a fever pitch in the early-’90s and from then on. Once I’d really become immersed in the whole culture, I even went back and got further educated on the older music that was considered to be classic at the time.

It may sound cliche, but Hip-Hop was everything in my life at one point- almost to a fault, in fact. I’ve often cited that my fascination with rhyming, DJing, writing, performing, and listening to the music may have gotten in the way of all the other things life had to offer just a lil’ bit. Would I go back and change that? Prob’ly not. Because of that, I know I lot of great records that I likely wouldn’t have known of had I not been as plugged in as I was.

And so today, on the eve of Thanksgiving and my birthday, I give you another Dirty 30: not my absolute favorites or my official “best of”‘s, but definitely all tracks I ran hard with back when they dropped, and still do. Click, listen, download, enjoy, whatever you want… HERE WE GO!

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Da Dirty 30: 2000s

12/31/2009

Annnd So… after Eminem‘s controversy, Jeezy‘s Snowman shirts, Puffy’s trial (and name changes), Michael/Aaliyah/Jam Master Jay/ODB/Left Eye/Pimp C/Pun/EY’BODY’s death, the breakup of Roc-A-Fella, the fall-off/comeback/second fall-off of Mariah Carey, the disappearance and tragic-lookin’ reappearances of Lauryn Hill, Crunk, Hyphy, Snap, “Intimate Club Music” (blah), the rise of the Southern hip-hop, the decline of New York hip-hop, 9/11, a dumb president, a Black president…

G-Unit vs. Murder Inc., The Game‘s bipolarity, Keyshia Cole‘s fukked-up family, DMX‘s crackish ways, Tweet‘s song about masturbation “self-love”, the all-around fuckery that was “My Neck My Back”, Nelly sliding credit cards down asscracks, that thong-tha-thong-thong-thong, Wayne‘s Carter series, Usher‘s Confessions, Rihanna getting “Chris Brown-ed” by Chris Brown, Da Band walking for cheesecake, the “Hip-Hop Is Dead” debate…

Throwback jerseys, button-ups, long-ass tees, tight-ass jeans, grillz, BET going to shit, Rick Ross getting exposed, Suge gettin’ knocked the fukk out, Cam’ron wearing pink, R. Kelly pissing on youngins, Alicia Keys wreckin’ homes, Jay-Z becoming a devil worshipper, Jay-Z “retiring”, Beyonce doing eyyy’thing, Mike Jones‘ phone number, Jadakiss’ asthma cough/laugh, Lil’ Jon‘s adlibs, Superhead‘s book, Tahiry‘s ass, Trina’s ass, Buffie’s ass, J.Lo’s ass, Lil’ Kim‘s ass bid, Shyne‘s bid, T.I.‘s bid, Freeway‘s beard, Ashanti‘s sideburns…

Autotune, iTunes, iPods, iPhones, 2-way pagers, ringtones, Being Bobby Brown, SMACK DVDs, BEEF DVDs, singers with names like Lumidee and T-Pain, rappers with names like Chingy and Webbie,  OutKast winning Grammys, Three 6 winning Oscars, Kanye crying over awards, every rapper in existence making mixtapes, rampant file sharing and downloading, Harlem Shakin’, leanin’ back, leanin’ wit’ it, rockin’ wit’ it, crankin’ dat Soulja Boy, jerkin’, and “ballllliiiinnnnnnnn’“…

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Da Dirty 30

11/25/2009

“You couldn’t pay me a milli to be born in the 80s. You guys can have Keyshia and Wayne. I have Mary and Biggie.” – dream hampton, October 2009

Mama told me one day it was gonna happen, but she never told me when. She said that it would happen when I was much older, I wish it woulda happened then. As of today, I am officially 30, and therefore officially an oldhead. Ah, well. *Kanye shrug*

I’ve been an oldhead for years anyway. Matter fact, I was lovin’ old music back when the old music I talk about on here was new. When I was 5 and Stevie Wonder was makin’ that “Part Time Lover” type shit, I was listening to his ’60s/’70s hits on my lil’ record player. Even as a teenager bumpin’ Mobb Deep and Jay-Z, I was still buyin’ Kane and EPMD tapes from the late-’80s.

Old movies and TV shows? Ditto! I still watch old Martin and Married With Children episodes like I haven’t seen ‘em a GANG of times already. I just bought Krush Groove on DVD, and I remember when it was a new release at the video store. I SAW Gremlins IN THE MOVIES for fukk’s sake. *cringes*

I say all that to say this: it’s all good. You’ll get no “30′s the new 20″ talk outta me- I willingly embrace my oldassness. Would I trade this shit to be 15, wearin’ tight jeans and doin’ the “You’re A Jerk” dance or whatever they call it? Hell nah. Would I rather be 10 years younger and likely have an infinite Gucci Mane playlist on my iPod? FUKK no! #NoShots at the young people at all, I’m just sayin’… not for me. See, I may be old enough to fondly recall stuff that the youngins don’t give a damn about, but I’m glad to have been there. I take pride in all my ancient shit- from that red and blue Helly Hansen jacket that’s still hangin’ up in my closet, to the purple tape I still own.

Annnd so, to all my fellow oldheads (30 and up), oldheads in training (25-29), and future oldheads (teens-early 20′s) who’ve been checkin’ out DanjLovesThe90s: today, I celebrate my life AND old shit. I give you... Da Dirty 30. No definitive list or anything of the sort, just 30 random ’90s joints I fux with, and now you can too (if you don’t already). Click away… Read the rest of this entry »


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