Aiiiight, so… way back on September 29 of last year, I did my very own version of Hip-Hop Confessions. I owned up to some things, some of you did some owning up as well, and fun was had by all. Today, I offer a sequel of sorts: R&B Confessions. Read on as I drop some of my ’90s-related, personal, unconventional, unpopular, idiosyncratic opinions as they relate to my second favorite genre. Checkitout…
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DanjHatesThe90s, DanjLovesTheR&B, Guilty...Next Case, HA!, Wiggedy-Wack | Tagged: BOYZ II MEN, BRIAN MCKNIGHT, DanjLovesTheR&B, MAXWELL, NEO-SOUL, WHITNEY HOUSTON | 
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On the surface, a hit single is something that artists wish for their entire careers. Even being a one-hit wonder is a greater accomplishment than some will ever experience. HOWEVER…
24 Comments | DanjHatesThe90s, Fallin' And You Can't Get Up, Huh?, Just That Sh*t To Make You Laugh, Wiggedy-Wack | Tagged: BLACKSTREET, MASE, MYA, TEDDY RILEY | Permalink
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I hope y’all enjoyed Wu-Week. There’s some stuff I didn’t cover, such as a full-on appreciation of Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, RZA as a producer, or the magical staying power of Ghostface, but I’ll talk about those things at one time or another in the future. As y’all have probably noticed, Wu was definitely one of those crews that I stayed listening to. As I said on Wednesday, at one point in time, anything with the Wu symbol on it was at least worth a listen.
HOWEVER… because I did spend a number of years listening to anything Wu-related, it’s hard not to mention that every listen wasn’t a good one. Even in their prime years, the Clan has also provided some “WTF?” moments in stereo. You may not agree with all of these, or maybe you will, but here’s five not-so-great things that came from the chambers:
Method Man “The Riddler” (1995): I understand it was for the Batman Forever soundtrack. I understand that Mr. Meth prob’ly got a nice check and didn’t give a damn. But that doesn’t stop it from being one of the most half-assed songs from what at the time was my favorite crew in hip-hop. Thankfully, they were still putting out consistent bangers to compensate for this mumbo-jumbo.
RZA feat. Method Man & Cappadonna “Wu-Wear” (1996): Another soundtrack joint, this time from High School High, and another phone-it-in moment for the Wu. This one is practically an commercial for their clothing line (of which I definitely purchased a shirt or two), and the most memorable thing about it is how brutally MTV cut the video up, due to all the name-dropping and flagrant logo violation. Mighta worked better as a radio ad.
Masta Killa. No, not a particular song or album. Just Masta Killa as a member of the group. He started off killin’ shit on “Da Mystery Of Chessboxin’” and some of his other appearances weren’t bad either. Then, somewhere around “Triumph”, he forgot how to rap and just started talking reeeaaal sloooow with a monotone voice. I thought U-God was pretty expendable too, but I’d watch this video with the sound off before I rock with a Masta Killa album.
Method Man, Tical 2000: Judgment Day (1998): If it appears that I have somethin’ against Method Man like I’m Joe Budden or somebody, nothing could be further from the truth. At one point, he was the one whose solo shit I anticipated the most, and he’s arguably been the most successful of the Wu members. Clearly, he musta done something right… but not this shit here. Coupled with RZA‘s Bobby Digital, Meth’s sleep-inducing second album helped make late-’98 a bad look for the WTC. Smells like fish.
Raekwon, Immobilarity (1999): In 2000, one of the things that made Ghostface’s Supreme Clientele a big deal was that it proved Wu-Tang could still make something great. Of course, that had to be proven because they’d been droppin’ mediocre shit through ’98 and ’99. One of the biggest disappointments was Raekwon’s second solo joint, Immobilarity. Maybe it caught extra flack because it wasn’t the OB4CL sequel that everyone expected (and wouldn’t get until this year), but even without comparisons, it was pretty got-damn weak.
Again, thanks for reading all of these Wu entries, and I’ll be back thru on Tuesday with some more random ’90s fukkery. ‘Til then, remember that it’s a secret. Never teach the Wu-Tang.
-D!
8 Comments | DanjHatesThe90s, DanjLovesTheHipHop, Huh?, SMH, Wiggedy-Wack | Tagged: METHOD MAN, RAEKWON, RZA, WU-TANG | Permalink
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The other day, while upping some of the classic joints by Biz Markie and MC Shan, I thought about how tough the Juice Crew was in their day. In the late-’80s, Cold Chillin’ Records boasted a crew that consisted of such legendary names as Biz, Shan, Kool G Rap, Masta Ace, Roxanne Shante with her lyin’ ass, legendary producer Marley Marl, and my personal favorite… Big Daddy Kane.
At one time, Kane was THAT fukkin’ guy. He could do all types of songs and all kinds of topics. He had a flawless flow, berserko wordplay, crazy live performances (along with his dancers Scoob & Scrap Lover), and a GANG of swagger just to top it all off. He even had his fair share of soundalikes and knockoff versions, as most frontrunning MCs usually do during their prime. In one of hip-hop’s most competitive eras with talented MC’s poppin’ up all over, Kane was possibly THE best in the game by ’89.
Which made it all the more crazy in the early-’90s when he fell ALL THE WAY the fukk off.
See, even though BDK could destroy the shit out of a mic, he also had an R&B-ish side to him. And it was no big deal for a while- he’d been comin’ with at least one R&B-style joint since the first album, so it was part of his repertoire from day one. He did album covers with chicks and champagne bottles and the whole thing. Only problem is, once this became a successful component of his music, he started basing his entire image and sound around it. Even worse, he chose to do this as the ’90s arrived and hip-hop as a whole was heading into a harder direction.
Whereas before, Kane’s skills were undeniable, he started putting out records that made them questionable. Those Johnny Gill lookin’-ass album covers didn’t help matters either. Even the titles of those albums were nutso- Taste of Chocolate? Prince of Darkness? Nigga, what? He still had his lyrical capabilities, but everything else from the beats to the videos were WAY lame. Homie was even gettin’ dissed at his own birthday party by Big Ill (of Ill & Al Skratch fame).
Not that Kane had to give a shit. Sure, he was making weak records, but the girls still loved him (even with an AIDS rumor following him for a second there). He got to work with legendary artists like Patti Labelle, Barry White, and Quincy Jones- which is something to be proud of, even if the actual songs were ass. And uhhh… getting paid to fingerbang Madonna while she kissed Naomi Campbell doesn’t sound like anything to be ashamed of either… I’m just sayin’. Still, his relevance falls waaaay back, as a bunch of new artists come up between ’91 and ’92.
By the time ’93 rolls around, hip-hop is goin’ hard. Even groups like Quest and De La Soul toned down a lil’ bit of that happy-ass shit they were doing a couple years prior. And here comes Kane with his “coming-back-hard” album, Looks Like A Job For. The problem by this point was that he really had nowhere to go. The R&B style wasn’t cuttin’ it, and the idea of him joining in with the hardcore crowd wasn’t doin’ it either. Something about Snoop, Wu-Tang, Onyx, and other newer heads seemed way more interesting than hearing a Big Daddy Kane street record. It wasn’t his time anymore.
Bu-bu-but wait, it gets worse. Then came Daddy’s Home in ’94, led by a single called “In The PJ’s”. It was a song about the projects, but lookin’ at that album cover, it coulda just as well been about pajamas. The prime example of how far outta-the-loop Kane was, is a joint called “Show & Prove” featuring Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Jay-Z, Sauce Money, Shyheim, and Scoob Lover on the track. Cool record, but if not for Scoob’s (turrible) verse, Kane woulda been murdered on his own shit by every single guest. The same MC who five years earlier was arguably the best was now just lucky to be better than one of his dancers.
While Daddy’s Home was the nail in the coffin for BDK, it dropped right before hip-hop took another direction. In a twist of irony if I’ve ever heard of one, it became cool for rappers to do the same exact shit Kane lost his spot for doing. As much as his smooth playa style got him pushed aside, all of a sudden, every other East Coast rapper started smoothin’ the shit out of their singles. Whereas he caught flack for collabing with R&B artists, it started to be the in-thing. Unfortunately by the time it was poppin’, Kane was like an old pimp who lost all his hoes.
Meaning no disrespect to the man, Big Daddy Kane is still one of my favorite MCs ever, as he is to a lot of people who love his earlier work. In fact, he’s been able to salvage the damage that his career caught during those years. I could say he fell off ONLY because he was too R&B’d up at the time, and he got dissed for stuff that niggas can do today with no flack whatsoever (which is true). But a lot of the music just wasn’t good, and even he has to know that, because he doesn’t perform any of it today.
In the early ’90s, I don’t know how hard it was being the Kane, but I know it was hard as a muh’fukka to listen to the Kane.
Three ’90s BDK Songs That Ain’t Half-Bad:
“It’s Hard Being The Kane” (1990)
“How U Get A Record Deal?” (1993)
…And Three That Definitely Are:
“I’m Not Ashamed” (feat. Alyson Williams) (1991)
“Very Special” (feat. Spinderella) (1993)
-D!
22 Comments | DanjHatesThe90s, DanjLovesTheHipHop, Nuff Respect Due, SMH, Wiggedy-Wack | Tagged: BIG DADDY KANE | Permalink
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“I hear it all the time — ‘Yo, he should let the young guys, the new generation of guys come in.’ But you don’t become the front-runner in music because someone lets you. You have to claim your shoes”- Jay-Z
I’ve been meaning to speak on this for a minute. As someone who came up during the ’80s and ’90s, I can’t say I understand this recent mentality that some newer rappers seem to have. It seems that some of them harbor a lil’ animosity towards older artists that are still in the game, and feel like they should step away from the game in order to “let” the new dudes get theirs.
Now… I know it’s not the old days anymore, but that is the most half-assed shit I’ve ever heard of.
This is equivalent to bein’ a kid, playin’ a video game with your older relatives, and throwin’ your controller down because they won’t LET you win. Can’t speak for anyone else, but if I were a new artist, that’s not even a win I’d WANT. What kinda bragging rights is that, to only be succeeding in the game because someone else’s absence allowed it? For these new dudes to have so much “swag” and stunt so hard, I’d at least think they’d wanna claim their own damn spot. How much swag can they really have, when they wanna win by default?
Take for instance, someone like DJ Webstar. If you don’t know who that is, you’re not alone. But anyway, when “Death Of Autotune” dropped, he went into this long weekend of Twitter rage. He tweeted about how a song like that was “takin’ food off his plate”, because he (like many other trend-hopping newbies) utilizes Autotune for his terrible records. Here’s where a so-called artist should question his own talent: you’re sittin’ around HOPIN’ this shit doesn’t play out, because then you’ll have to find another gimmick to ride… and this is somehow ANOTHER person’s fault?
When great artists made their way into the game, it didn’t happen because the people before them just left and let it happen. They did their thing regardless of anyone else’s presence. If you look at a Nas or an Outkast, their relevance didn’t hang on whether or not KRS or De La Soul were still making music. It hung on whether or not their own shit was up to par. They didn’t have to do anything but come to the table with music that was fresher and better than what the old schoolers were dropping. They surely didn’t get it by whining “why won’t they let the new niggas eat?”
Regardless of how some may feel about today’s top stars, such as Kanye, Wayne, or T.I. (or even new artists like Drake)- I don’t see ANY of them cryin’ either. They found a niche, made music that connected with listeners, and made people interested in them as artists. A lot of these ones complaining are the same ones faithfully making microwave music. They make songs that are hot for a month and never get played again after that month… but they don’t get why their shit can’t get over. Artists with real fanbases are still doin’ fine, whether on a mainstream or underground-ish level. It’s them ol’ fly-by-night muh’fukkas having all the trouble.
I’ve been saying that the rap game needs new blood, and it’s been hanging off of the old guard for too long. We’re heading into a new decade and people who were out in the earlier half of this one are still on top. Imagine if back in ’99, hip-hop had never moved past Public Enemy and Naughty By Nature *shudder*. At the same time, I can’t sit here and say someone like Busta should quit so some random-ass nigga like OJ Da Juiceman can get his shit off. So, the only thing left (as always) is for new artists to come in with new stuff that moves it past where it’s been sitting for the last few years.
I say all that to say this: fukk wantin’ older rappers to step DOWN… how ’bout the new ones step UP?
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I don’t care what niggas say… MC Hammer was NOT a sellout.
There was a point in time when Hammer was known (along with Vanilla Ice) as a threat to hip-hop’s integrity. He was dissed by everyone from Ice Cube to Q-Tip. He was called everything but a black man by others who thought his music was damaging the credibility of the genre. He was clowned for his commercial endorsements and sampling popular records, even by rappers who went on to do the exact same shit later in their careers. He had extravagant, dance-oriented stage shows that were considered “wack” by artists who were more content to walk back and forth on stage for 45 minutes. And for all this, he was labeled a “sellout”.
Now… was I a fan of Hammer? Nah! Even as a kid, I wasn’t exactly enthralled by most of his big hits. I mighta liked a couple of his videos, but I wasn’t rockin’ with most of ‘em. I wasn’t watching Hammerman, and I thought “2 Legit 2 Quit” was awful. I also laughed my ass off when Paul Mooney joked about that fateful KFC commercial, which is still one of the most unintentional/intentional racial innuendo advertisements ever. All that considered, I still can’t agree with the accusation that Hammer sold out- he simply got popular doing what he’d always done. It wasn’t his fault that MTV and mainstream media hopped on his dick, just like it wouldn’t have been Q-Tip’s if they hopped on his.
If Hammer had ever professed to be some kind of supreme lyricist who made “real hip-hop”, and then he switched gears… maybe. If Hammer went out and told people “don’t listen to Ice Cube or KRS-One because that’s not what hip-hop is- I’M hip-hop”… maybe. Taking it past music, if Hammer had gotten rich and disassociated himself from the people who supported him on the way up… surely he could’ve been construed as someone who turned their back. But he never did any of that. He came in making a particular brand of music, and he continued to do that as he became more successful. Actually, there’s a lot of “real” rappers from back then that the same can’t be said about.
I was just recently having this debate on the SOHH.com message board, and my stance was that the LAST thing anyone should call Hammer is a sellout. Sure, he wasn’t hardly street-level (at least not music-wise) but it’s not ANY rapper’s dream to get a deal, make an album, and still be in the projects. Hammer gave back to the community he grew up in, and also gave jobs to his friends and many others who were otherwise struggling. He actually ended up takin’ a loss from doing that, because in his own words, all of those people turned their backs once he wasn’t “megastar MC Hammer” anymore.
If anything, he sold out AFTER all the criticism. After he got dissed for his “hip-pop” music and his not-real-enough image, he decided it was a good idea to come back hard in ’94. So he put on his skullie and boots, and came back looking like he was on some type of gangsta shit. That made him MORE of a punchline because now, it was “look at Hammer tryna be hard now, nigga please!”. He couldn’t win for losing- the same people who didn’t like him before weren’t gonna switch up and start likin’ him then, no matter how many times he shouted out Tha Dogg Pound or mugged for the camera. And if that wasn’t enough, the “Pumps N A Bump” video certainly did it- nigga went from “we gotta pray to make it today” to postin’ up with Speedos on.
Today, Hammer generally gets respect from his peers. I think they realized that he wasn’t tryin’ to bastardize hip-hop as a genre, or even tryin’ to steer people away from those other artists. In fact, I’d even say his music opened a lot of people up to other rappers. I recall knowing white kids at my school who loved Hammer in ’90, but by ’92 were listening to Cypress Hill and Das EFX (who were about as far away from Hammer’s music as it got). At least a part of that came from them developing a sudden interest in rap music thru Hammer n’nem, and then tuning into the hip-hop video shows and seeing other stuff that they also found appealing.
Wack? Possibly so. Great MC? Maybe not. Sellout? Definitely not.
6 Comments | DanjHatesThe90s, Huh?, Nuff Respect Due, Wiggedy-Wack | Tagged: HAMMER | Permalink
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Alright, so… let’s say your name is Debra Lee, and you are the president and CEO of BET. The icon of icons has died three days prior to your channel’s award show. This artist is one whose music was not only once EXTRA-prevalent on your station, but has also influenced half of the people whose videos CURRENTLY air on your station. Although you only have three days to change things around, and no one expects you to perform miracles, you still have a chance to provide a fitting tribute (especially with more people probably tuning in than ever and all kinds of media outlets covering your event). Do you:
A) Deliver on your words, which were “this show is all about Michael“?
B) Include a tribute segment here, but opt to do a better-planned full-on tribute show at another time?
C) Put on an already half-assed show as planned, and add to its half-assedness by half-assing the tribute at that?
Two of those options would’ve been all good. But ultimately, Option C seems like the one they chose to run with. Good God Damn.
Don’t get me wrong, New Edition started things off right with the Jackson 5 medley. Jamie Foxx and Ne-Yo closed out on a high note with a performance of “I’ll Be There”. Even better than that, Janet Jackson herself came out and spoke briefly to the audience prior to the final performance. Everything between that was just a bunch of mambajahambo and WTF moments. I knew going in that it wasn’t gonna be a 100% MJ show… but I didn’t expect a 15% MJ show either, especially after it being specifically noted that it was now going to become a tribute to him. In fact, I wasn’t even gonna watch the shit under normal circumstances, and I’m sure half the people who did weren’t going to either.
The one thing about this, from a personal standpoint, that gets me is that it’s BET. It’s the station that always prides itself on the legacy of not only “Black Entertainment”, but especially “Black Music”. In fact, until recent years, all it really was (90% of the time) was a music video channel. If the people who work there are able to believe today that Michael’s legacy (as well as BET’s) was properly honored last night, then so be it. Closer to the truth, BET was a better station when they were in DC with a shoestring budget and the cheapest-looking shows ever than they are today with muhfukkin’ Viacom backing them. At least then, you could expect that they’d be on their A-game, even if it wasn’t so much as a got-damn tribute to Marlon Jackson.
Speaking of Viacom, the craziest part of this is that MTV and VH1 will probably top this shit without half-trying- the same way they do with the hip-hop retrospectives and even the damn reality shows. Because even with a heightened popularity, and better production value than they used to have, BET has been substandard-as-fuck for years. They have more TV shows, more viewers, more media coverage… and yet they still manage to be hot garbage in their presentation. They’ve had their moments, but they’ve been increasingly far-and-few between.
Again, my gripe is not with the fact that they didn’t give us an “OMG Michael Jackson All-Out Extravaganza Featuring Every Single Person You Can Think Of Doing A Stellar MJ Rendition!” given the time they had. It’s moreso with the fact that a semblance of that was advertised and they couldn’t even deliver that. What we did get was four mini-performances of MJ songs, a tribute to the O’Jays which was BETTER than the ones to Michael, and other things too random to remember. Worst of all, we got a (turrible) Drake/Lil’ Wayne/etc. performance that resembled four niggas rapping in a living room with their kids as the backup dancers. And THIS is the show dedicated to Michael Jackson.
BET can fix this… maybe. They can put together a well-planned show that properly pays respect to the man who made it possible for most of their current favorite stars to step on a stage. Given the time to do so, they could probably do it better than any other station would. Unfortunately, it’s probably not gonna happen that way. They’re likely fine with it how it was, especially since the ratings were great.
-D! (aight… back to business as usual tomorrah. The healing process has started, haha)
8 Comments | Hatin' On You, Huh?, SMH, TV, Wiggedy-Wack | Tagged: BET, MICHAEL JACKSON, that shit's ridiculous | Permalink
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Since I’ve already had the audacity to put that 6th grade pic up for my first post, I may as well continue the self-deprecation by admitting to something. It’s something that most self-respecting hip-hoppers wouldn’t admit although there’s a 50% chance that they did it too. Yes… there was a time between September and December 1990… that I actually liked Vanilla Ice. Don’t judge.
“Ice Ice Baby”, for all intents and purposes, wasn’t that bad of a song. I can think of many songs that were worse, some of which I’ll be talking about in the future. It’s clearly his biggest record ever, and maybe that’s why it gets all the hatred that it does- it’s the thing most commonly connected to the overall fuckery that was/is Vanilla Ice. However, for anyone unfortunate enough to hear some of his OTHER output, that’s nothing. “Ice Ice…” sounds like fukkin’ “Straight Outta Compton” when compared to a few of his other disasterpieces. Stop, collaborate, and listen…
Take for instance, “I Love You” (click to hear). Here, the Iceman melts with desire and shows us the real Rob Van Winkle. Channeling his inner LL, he salutes his girl’s “devastating body and sweet profile”, then invites her to wine and dine with him. He goes on to promise that he’d buy her everything… “yes, girl- even diamond rings!” After the verses and a sax solo, Rob gets on the phone and lets us all hear him confess to his woman that he looooves her. CLEARLY, if there’s somethin’ besides “Ice Ice Baby” to joke on, this fake-ass “I Need Love” could be a top candidate. It’s worth noting, though, that while Vanilla half-assed it, whoever played the sax on this shit WENT HARD.
Ice sold a gang of records with his To the Extreme album, and as a result, he was a superstar. He got to make a movie, had his own action figure, and even got to hit off Madonna. But better than all that, he got a cameo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze. In “Ninja Rap”, he hits us with burning questions like “have you ever seen a turtle get down?” He also breaks new ground in lyricism by being the first and only MC to rhyme “turtle” with “level”. Then there’s the hook: “Ninja, Ninja- RAP!” coupled with a classic refrain: “Go Ninja, Go Ninja, Go!” How does this song (that was actually a hit) fly under the radar of all things wack about Vanilla Ice? Hmmm… maybe that’s the Secret of the Ooze.
After being exposed as a fraud and becoming the ass of a million jokes, Ice felt the backlash. He practically disappeared after ’91 and wasn’t seen again until early-’94. There was half a chance that he’d taken nearly three years off to get focused and silence his critics with his follow-up album, Mind Blowin’. BUT- being Vanilla Ice, he managed to become MORE of a joke. Much like his pop-rap counterpart MC Hammer, Vanilla opted to come back “hard” for ’94, complete with blonde dreads and hockey jerseys. His single “The Wrath” saw him threatening to either start slittin’ rappers’ throats or using his Magnum on ‘em (pause). He even utilized gunshot sound effects and mentioned how he carries his “striz-ap to bust a ciz-ap”. The response to this newer, harder Ice was a resounding “nigga, please.”
But fuck all that: in the long run, Vanilla has nothin’ to be ashamed of. Sure, he became the personification of what it was to be wack in the ‘90s. Sure, he is now forced to perform a song he hates, just to keep his lights on. OK, maybe he did get his ass beat by Todd Bridges on Celebrity Boxing. And of course, there’s that time Suge may or may not have hung him upside down off the hotel balcony. Still, even Rob would have to admit- those six months of relevance between ’90 and ’91 were PROB’LY a lot of fun. Word To Ya Mutha.
-D!
11 Comments | DanjHatesThe90s, DanjLovesTheHipHop, Guilty...Next Case, Hatin' On You, Here Today/Gone Today, SMH, Wiggedy-Wack | Tagged: 1990, platinum?, that shit's ridiculous, Vanilla Ice | Permalink
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